S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

[blessed king of longing]

Fuck that voice is horrible.

You don't play Stalker to hear Brits speak.

Yeah, I wish GSC hadn't gone "native" English VO for this one. I liked the heavy Eastern Euro accents in the original, I felt like it added to the Zone's character, gave it a better sense of place. Now I'm watching these STALKER 2 clips and the Zone sounds like a night out in London. I suspect they maybe didn't want the international audience to interpret accented VO as a budget constraint, but I think it backfired.

metro always did this pretty well, the voice acting was wasnt always great but atleast it felt like it belonged. even better, play it in russian - but then you have to pay attention to subtitles all the time

come to think of it, the radio music sucks ass too, i just found this: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/294

 

[ArchAngel]

Hard-locked the MQ ~17 hours in; judging by the mission list I'm nearly halfway through the story. I liked a lot about it, but it's a tough pill to swallow when there's so much lacking and underdeveloped. Going to shelve it for now.

The world feels dead, which is a problem when it's so large and there's very limited fast travel (might be story reasons or a bug, but the only travel option I have atm is to the Slag Heap, and even if you could pay neutral stalkers in the field to guide you it wouldn't be a fix because I've seen next to none wandering around). Feels like you're just running from one quest location to another. Missions are often far away, and you may go 5-10+ minutes running around without seeing any humans or mutants. Nothing is ever in the distance; I don't know why they even included snipers when everything spawns next to you. Makes sense they got rid of the binoculars.

Gear degradation feels a little too taxing. Weight limit/fatigue is also punishing when you have to go kilometers to stuff away or sell your junk. Loot is much too plentiful and the economy makes zero sense. Human AI is decent at times and impressively stupid in others. AI is completely incompetent at fighting itself but pinpoint when it comes to you. Stealth feels broken. No reward for wasting time/money on mutants (they could also use a 10-20% hp debuff to make them slightly less tedious). Radiation on-screen effect is overwhelming. Constant bleeding. Long animations I frequently interrupted at the last frame (like bandaging). If there is a complex faction/reputation system I didn't notice it. People don't acknowledge that you revived them. Can't control length of sleep. No NVG and the flashlight sucks for how dark the game is; days should be a little longer if they're going to be gloomy half the time anyways. No ranking systems or chatter. Placeholder descriptions that somehow made it through QA. Have to edit the .ini to get rid of mouse smoothing and other visual effects. Experienced small annoying bugs, but at least they would go away on reload (a few times I got stuck doing the corner peak when I left the wall, couldn't run, had weird objects floating off my gun, wall textures breaking, etc). I feel like I could go on and on. I'd suggest waiting at least a year or two to see if they fix it.

i recommend the following mods:

longer day cycle
longer sprinting
reduced repair cost
some mod that reduces weapon degradation

seems like common sense shit that should have been in at launch. i tried a stealth mod that seemed to do nothing, npc's have x-ray vision and see you through everything inexplicably. makes it very lame or even non-viable to sneak around

Stealth is useless, now I learned to hide behind trees when fighting enemies in the open as even with a slim tree they suddenly think you are in full cover and stop shooting :D

 

[baba is you]

It's true stealth, becoming one with nature.

 

[RomanRichter]

Fuck that voice is horrible.

You don't play Stalker to hear Brits speak.

Yeah, I wish GSC hadn't gone "native" English VO for this one. I liked the heavy Eastern Euro accents in the original, I felt like it added to the Zone's character, gave it a better sense of place. Now I'm watching these STALKER 2 clips and the Zone sounds like a night out in London. I suspect they maybe didn't want the international audience to interpret accented VO as a budget constraint, but I think it backfired.

metro always did this pretty well, the voice acting was wasnt always great but atleast it felt like it belonged. even better, play it in russian - but then you have to pay attention to subtitles all the time

come to think of it, the radio music sucks ass too, i just found this: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/294

Mod was banned, cuz lern ze ukrainian culture or GTFO you shovinistik swine!

For real, we now have mods purged cauze of music, changing logo with russian subtitle, how degenerate this can go?

EDT: Here is alternative link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2BrruPNP-cIYPP12LZiDbf3cnfTdncO/view
There are around 5 mods that replace radio, and cause meltdown

 

[blessed king of longing]

Fuck that voice is horrible.

You don't play Stalker to hear Brits speak.

Yeah, I wish GSC hadn't gone "native" English VO for this one. I liked the heavy Eastern Euro accents in the original, I felt like it added to the Zone's character, gave it a better sense of place. Now I'm watching these STALKER 2 clips and the Zone sounds like a night out in London. I suspect they maybe didn't want the international audience to interpret accented VO as a budget constraint, but I think it backfired.

metro always did this pretty well, the voice acting was wasnt always great but atleast it felt like it belonged. even better, play it in russian - but then you have to pay attention to subtitles all the time

come to think of it, the radio music sucks ass too, i just found this: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/294

Mod was banned, cuz lern ze ukrainian culture or GTFO you shovinistik swine!

For real, we now have mods purged cauze of music, changing logo with russian subtitle, how degenerate this can go?

EDT: Here is alternative link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2BrruPNP-cIYPP12LZiDbf3cnfTdncO/view
There are around 5 mods that replace radio, and cause meltdown

lmao wtf i thought you were making a bad joke but the mod is actually gone. i don't know why... all they did was add some music from that time period, similar to what was in metro exodus

 

[ArchAngel]

Fuck that voice is horrible.

You don't play Stalker to hear Brits speak.

Yeah, I wish GSC hadn't gone "native" English VO for this one. I liked the heavy Eastern Euro accents in the original, I felt like it added to the Zone's character, gave it a better sense of place. Now I'm watching these STALKER 2 clips and the Zone sounds like a night out in London. I suspect they maybe didn't want the international audience to interpret accented VO as a budget constraint, but I think it backfired.

metro always did this pretty well, the voice acting was wasnt always great but atleast it felt like it belonged. even better, play it in russian - but then you have to pay attention to subtitles all the time

come to think of it, the radio music sucks ass too, i just found this: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/294

Mod was banned, cuz lern ze ukrainian culture or GTFO you shovinistik swine!

For real, we now have mods purged cauze of music, changing logo with russian subtitle, how degenerate this can go?

EDT: Here is alternative link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2BrruPNP-cIYPP12LZiDbf3cnfTdncO/view
There are around 5 mods that replace radio, and cause meltdown

lmao wtf i thought you were making a bad joke but the mod is actually gone. i don't know why... all they did was add some music from that time period, similar to what was in metro exodus

nexusmods is full on leftard led retardoland. And they full on drink the MSM propaganda.

 

[whydoibother]

View attachment 57971
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1643320/discussions/0/4626981087516615102/

Oh dear, Russians are new wokesters.

I take it you don't play WW2 games, because Russians are always complaining about and 'cancelling' those.
Company of Heroes 2 had them spamming 4chan threads over the portrayal of the Red Army as wasteful of manpower, for example.

 

[ArchAngel]

View attachment 57971
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1643320/discussions/0/4626981087516615102/

Oh dear, Russians are new wokesters.

I take it you don't play WW2 games, because Russians are always complaining about and 'cancelling' those.
Company of Heroes 2 had them spamming 4chan threads over the portrayal of the Red Army as wasteful of manpower, for example.

Not really. I guess I am new to russians complaining about this stuff :D

 

[blessed king of longing]

View attachment 57971
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1643320/discussions/0/4626981087516615102/

Oh dear, Russians are new wokesters.

I take it you don't play WW2 games, because Russians are always complaining about and 'cancelling' those.
Company of Heroes 2 had them spamming 4chan threads over the portrayal of the Red Army as wasteful of manpower, for example.

Not really. I guess I am new to russians complaining about this stuff :D

doesn't seem comparable, this is actual contemporary NATO propaganda in a game that has nothing to do with the real world as we know it. they just don't care if it reminds people that they're just playing a shitty game made everywhere but urine, yet they plaster it all over the product

 

[RomanRichter]

nexusmods is full on leftard led retardoland. And they full on drink the MSM propaganda.

Actually that was on GSC part, apparently

 

[ArchAngel]

nexusmods is full on leftard led retardoland. And they full on drink the MSM propaganda.

Actually that was on GSC part, apparently

So? Nexus can tell them to pound sand.

 

[whydoibother]

doesn't seem comparable, this is actual contemporary NATO propaganda

.... is what people were saying about Company of Heroes 2 when the commissar shoots retreating soldiers.

 

[blessed king of longing]

doesn't seem comparable, this is actual contemporary NATO propaganda

.... is what people were saying about Company of Heroes 2 when the commissar shoots retreating soldiers.

ok.

 

[RomanRichter]

So? Nexus can tell them to pound sand.

But they ban mods accordind to that very message, how pecurial to live in this circus world.
Good thing people upload their mods other places, not only to this cloaca.

 

[anvi]

The draw distance / level of detail popping could use a mod or something too.

Has anyone seen a PP-19 Bizon for sale anywhere? This game seems to love the hobo phase so much that the starter stuff is all that I've seen so far. Strider gave me a good gun and Quiet sells some nice weapons, But still I'm limited on SMG's.

I've seen some random bandits with GP37s already in the Garbage while traders offer fuck all. Also my game keeps crashing when there's a lot of NPCs around (basically in any hub).

https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/273

I've been using this mod for a couple of hours and haven't had a group of boars spawn up my anus so far, so I'd say it works.

Is there a mod for the voice yet?

A mod for what?

To remove the fgt Brit voice over.

 

[NecroLord]

Fuck that voice is horrible.

You don't play Stalker to hear Brits speak.

Yeah, I wish GSC hadn't gone "native" English VO for this one. I liked the heavy Eastern Euro accents in the original, I felt like it added to the Zone's character, gave it a better sense of place. Now I'm watching these STALKER 2 clips and the Zone sounds like a night out in London. I suspect they maybe didn't want the international audience to interpret accented VO as a budget constraint, but I think it backfired.

metro always did this pretty well, the voice acting was wasnt always great but atleast it felt like it belonged. even better, play it in russian - but then you have to pay attention to subtitles all the time

come to think of it, the radio music sucks ass too, i just found this: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/294

Mod was banned, cuz lern ze ukrainian culture or GTFO you shovinistik swine!

For real, we now have mods purged cauze of music, changing logo with russian subtitle, how degenerate this can go?

EDT: Here is alternative link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2BrruPNP-cIYPP12LZiDbf3cnfTdncO/view
There are around 5 mods that replace radio, and cause meltdown

lmao wtf i thought you were making a bad joke but the mod is actually gone. i don't know why... all they did was add some music from that time period, similar to what was in metro exodus

nexusmods is full on leftard led retardoland. And they full on drink the MSM propaganda.

They ban mods that are anti w0ke or seek to remove such elements from the game in question.
Strangely enough, they do not ban p0rn mods, or has that changed?

 

[blessed king of longing]

selecting ukrainian is the best there is for now

The draw distance / level of detail popping could use a mod or something too.

Has anyone seen a PP-19 Bizon for sale anywhere? This game seems to love the hobo phase so much that the starter stuff is all that I've seen so far. Strider gave me a good gun and Quiet sells some nice weapons, But still I'm limited on SMG's.

I've seen some random bandits with GP37s already in the Garbage while traders offer fuck all. Also my game keeps crashing when there's a lot of NPCs around (basically in any hub).

https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/273

I've been using this mod for a couple of hours and haven't had a group of boars spawn up my anus so far, so I'd say it works.

Is there a mod for the voice yet?

A mod for what?

To remove the fgt Brit voice over.

 

[Mortmal]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

 

[ArchAngel]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

Why lol?! I just put it into stash to wait for better times. Better times did not arrive yet but I got some other 100% durability guns in the meantime so it can stay there.
I think devs want us to use new weapons if we run out of money to repair existing ones. When you find a 100% durability weapon never sell it and put it in your stash instead

 

[Mortmal]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

Why lol?! I just put it into stash to wait for better times. Better times did not arrive yet but I got some other 100% durability guns in the meantime so it can stay there.
I think devs want us to use new weapons if we run out of money to repair existing ones. When you find a 100% durability weapon never sell it and put it in your stash instead

So the game design is: find a good gun, don’t use it, and carefully store it in your stash? Clever.

 

[ArchAngel]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

Why lol?! I just put it into stash to wait for better times. Better times did not arrive yet but I got some other 100% durability guns in the meantime so it can stay there.
I think devs want us to use new weapons if we run out of money to repair existing ones. When you find a 100% durability weapon never sell it and put it in your stash instead

So the game design is: find a good gun, don’t use it, and carefully store it in your stash? Clever.

You got plenty of guns, but when you find extra that is in good condition you use it as a spare if you run out of money to repair what you usually use. I am not saying it is good design but that is how it is atm.

 

[NecroLord]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

Why lol?! I just put it into stash to wait for better times. Better times did not arrive yet but I got some other 100% durability guns in the meantime so it can stay there.
I think devs want us to use new weapons if we run out of money to repair existing ones. When you find a 100% durability weapon never sell it and put it in your stash instead

So the game design is: find a good gun, don’t use it, and carefully store it in your stash? Clever.

You got plenty of guns, but when you find extra that is in good condition you use it as a spare if you run out of money to repair what you usually use. I am not saying it is good design but that is how it is atm.

What are the best weapons?

 

[ArchAngel]

Kodex Kensus is a bit unclear on this one, some think it's stalker some think its not. Too hard to judge.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. The consensus on the game is unclear, but on Steam, it's mostly positive, so I can help you by finally playing it. Unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster.

First, you have to fiddle with the settings. To save others the trouble, here's the issue: frame generation, which is on by default, is broken. To enable HDR, you have to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and then to fullscreen exclusive. Otherwise, the option stays grayed out. It took me 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong—checking my FPS meter and even wondering if I was out of VRAM—but no, it was just that frame generation option.

Then there’s the game itself. It’s dull. Avoiding side missions seems like the best approach since they reward you with nothing worthwhile—just worn-out guns and a bit of ammo. It’s so much fun playing an FPS where most of your shots cause the gun to jam! You can’t tinker with the weapons yourself by using parts from similar guns, as far as I can tell, and repairs cost a fortune.

So, you think stealth is the answer? Wrong. Enemies can spawn behind you—literally out of thin air. I did a quest in the poppy fields and was granted a special gun. Guess what? It was completely worn out, and repairing it drained all my cash. After a few encounters with bandits, it was jamming again. So much fun.

The game is riddled with jank everywhere. NPCs float above their beds, and there are tons of absurd glitches. For example, I did a mission with the Ward to assault a factory. After clearing it, a group of bandits suddenly spawned in front of me. I ran into the factory for cover, only to see Ward soldiers also popping out of nowhere to engage them. Moments later, mutant dogs appeared in waves, all within two minutes. After dealing with that mess, I got a radio message from the Ward colonel accusing me of being a traitor and shooting his men.

This game is a complete disaster.

Why lol?! I just put it into stash to wait for better times. Better times did not arrive yet but I got some other 100% durability guns in the meantime so it can stay there.
I think devs want us to use new weapons if we run out of money to repair existing ones. When you find a 100% durability weapon never sell it and put it in your stash instead

So the game design is: find a good gun, don’t use it, and carefully store it in your stash? Clever.

You got plenty of guns, but when you find extra that is in good condition you use it as a spare if you run out of money to repair what you usually use. I am not saying it is good design but that is how it is atm.

What are the best weapons?

No clue, I am not far enough for that. I just got my first 100% durability pump shotgun so I can finally replace my TOZ.
As for other weapons I got upgraded Viper-5 and upgraded AKM74S with scope.

I got some other weapons as well but ammo for those is harder to find or upgrading them costs more. I got a sniper rifle but it is very damaged and I do not have enough ammo for it.
EDIT: I even started putting in stash extra 100% durability armors as repair costs for better armors are getting crazy.

 

[Turisas]

What are the best weapons?

For muties and close combat you'll want a shotgun, the M860 is the first one that isn't a piece of shit. For humans you'll just want something with steady/low recoil single shots and a big magazine since headshots are always instant kills whereas you can blast half a mag into a bum bandit's chest before they finally keel over. Even an SMG is enough for that; you'd think the lack of higher magnitude scopes would be a hindrance but in practice more distance just works against you - NPCs still have laser aim and perfect grenade throws so you might as well close the gap as soon as possible.

 

[baba is you]

Stalker series was basically the G37 as the best rifle. Stalker 2 is also decent. If you aim for the head, humanoid enemies die quickly. Shotgun is the best against mutants, but the mutant balance is currently broken.

And not only are the side quests boring, main quests also start to get boring after 5 hours. Most of them are structured in a similar way, and when I get asked to accept quests here and there, it feels like a Ubgame.