Does anyone else feel that the Mutants are too tanky with zero reward?

[All_Mighty]

WALL OF TEXT

I am playing on the hardest difficulty, but the mutants (Snorks, Bloodsuckers, Controllers, Chimera - this one is ok, but listen) take way too much punishment.
Snorks can take 8 point blank shotgun shells (I stood on a box and killed it, so I know I didn't miss),
Bloodsuckers take 10 shotgun shells, it's kinda balanced but the rate that they spawn and attack you feels cheap rather than the ominous and almost mythical threat they were before.

Controllers can take 3 entire AK mags to the head, grenades, and a few shotgun blasts and not die, which feels off for an enemy that can attack you through walls.

And finally the Chimera.

I managed to glitch it out and have it stand still and:
250 rounds of 556 of various types to the small head.
16 buckshot rounds to the small head
Another 100~ AK rounds to the small head
And 30 rounds of 9x18, finally killing it.

For what should be considered a headshot and blood flying EVERYWHERE, I don't think it should've taken that much punishment. Maybe I was using the wrong ammo type for the most part, but there is no indicator to let me know that. (unless it's with an enabled crosshair/hitmarker, because I turned those off as soon as I started)

As for rewards, you get nothing. The only reward you can get from killing mutants is by having a quest to kill said mutants. No parts to scavenge off corpses and sell. So those 400 rounds of ammo are basically wasted. Mutant hunting was almost a second part of the game, allowing for another way to generate money, but now there is almost no point.

[Arbadacarba]

Yes

[Morghy]

Yes they are.

[Dr.doom]

just meet the controller in the waste plant and wtf lol i killed like 5 of the controlled turned around and 15 more spawned in their place

[Mike]

What guns are you using and ammo types? I have not ran into snorks yet but I have many bloodsuckers and once I upgraded my guns (stop using the starter guns asap) they started going down very fast. The last fight I have with one it went down in like 4-5 point blank shot gun shots, which is on par with OG stalker games.

The reward aspect has been touched on so much that its getting annoying to repeat. 2 of the 3 stalker games did NOT have monster parts for killing them (CS and CoP) and that aspect mostly came from mods. So this system has never been a main stay in these games like people think they are.

Many players are looking at the mutants in the wrong way. They are not meant to be gun fodder, they are meant to be terrors of the zone that stalkers try to avoid unless they are paid to cull some of them or prepared to take them on. So imo you should not be running head first to kill mutants, you should be doing your best to avoid them and only fight them when you have to.

Stalker is at its best when you are fighting for your life against these monstrosities not when you can just 2-3 shot them without even putting in any effort lol

[Mike]

Originally posted by Dr.doom:

just meet the controller in the waste plant and wtf lol i killed like 5 of the controlled turned around and 15 more spawned in their place

This is a mechanic not bugged spawns. The controller has Psy powers and this can "spawn" what you believe are enemies, but when you kill them they will disintegrate, showing it was all in your head. I thought the same thing and then I noticed that it was because the controllers Psy powers lol.

[All_Mighty]

Originally posted by Mike:

What guns are you using and ammo types? I have not ran into snorks yet but I have many bloodsuckers and once I upgraded my guns (stop using the starter guns asap) they started going down very fast. The last fight I have with one it went down in like 4-5 point blank shot gun shots, which is on par with OG stalker games.

The reward aspect has been touched on so much that its getting annoying to repeat. 2 of the 3 stalker games did NOT have monster parts for killing them (CS and CoP) and that aspect mostly came from mods. So this system has never been a main stay in these games like people think they are.

Many players are looking at the mutants in the wrong way. They are not meant to be gun fodder, they are meant to be terrors of the zone that stalkers try to avoid unless they are paid to cull some of them or prepared to take them on. So imo you should not be running head first to kill mutants, you should be doing your best to avoid them and only fight them when you have to.

Stalker is at its best when you are fighting for your life against these monstrosities not when you can just 2-3 shot them without even putting in any effort lol

Predator Shotgun (Unique Pump-action) with buckshot.
And it's hard not to see them as gun fodder when I had 8 SNORKS jump me at once, although that may have been an event at that location more than bad spawns.
But I've been attack by 2 blood suckers at once multiple times, and sometimes a third one will spawn in right after I finish killing those two.
The 'effort' that I want to put in is skillfully nailing a headshot and actually having it take down a target, rather than it just being a bullet sponge.

[𐂃]

you need to play smarter not harder

[Imperial Guardsman]

Its fine. Get better gear.

[Mike]

Originally posted by All_Mighty:

Originally posted by Mike:

What guns are you using and ammo types? I have not ran into snorks yet but I have many bloodsuckers and once I upgraded my guns (stop using the starter guns asap) they started going down very fast. The last fight I have with one it went down in like 4-5 point blank shot gun shots, which is on par with OG stalker games.

The reward aspect has been touched on so much that its getting annoying to repeat. 2 of the 3 stalker games did NOT have monster parts for killing them (CS and CoP) and that aspect mostly came from mods. So this system has never been a main stay in these games like people think they are.

Many players are looking at the mutants in the wrong way. They are not meant to be gun fodder, they are meant to be terrors of the zone that stalkers try to avoid unless they are paid to cull some of them or prepared to take them on. So imo you should not be running head first to kill mutants, you should be doing your best to avoid them and only fight them when you have to.

Stalker is at its best when you are fighting for your life against these monstrosities not when you can just 2-3 shot them without even putting in any effort lol

Predator Shotgun (Unique Pump-action) with buckshot.
And it's hard not to see them as gun fodder when I had 8 SNORKS jump me at once, although that may have been an event at that location more than bad spawns.
But I've been attack by 2 blood suckers at once multiple times, and sometimes a third one will spawn in right after I finish killing those two.
The 'effort' that I want to put in is skillfully nailing a headshot and actually having it take down a target, rather than it just being a bullet sponge.

EIGHT SNORKS!!! How far are you in the game (no spoilers) because I have not seen a snork yet besides dead ones. I must be getting lucky with my spawns because the only hard fight I had early on was 2 blood suckers and even them I lead them to a nearby group and we dispatched them.

If I saw 8 snork I would crap my pants and RUN lol. In OG stalker one snork was threat with its very scary lunging attack, 8 of them would have been a death wish especially not being prepared.

[Jäveln]

but terror isnt having to fire 20 shotgun shells at one enemy and between it having to use 4-5 medkits since you can barely dodge.
theonly enemies this is not a problem with is rodents and the skaven legion which can be handled with one grenade

[modiby]

Absolutely. Especially early game where they're spawned on top of you, they're pure ammo wasters.

[Forward Bias]

Just download the mod to reduce the mutant health; they are WAY too tanky at the moment.

[doscomputer]

mods = life

[Mike]

Originally posted by Jäveln:

but terror isnt having to fire 20 shotgun shells at one enemy and between it having to use 4-5 medkits since you can barely dodge.
the only enemies this is not a problem with is rodents and the skaven legion which can be handled with one grenade

Blood suckers are actually pretty easy to dodge, once you get use to them and if you have a decent shot gun with decent aim you can narrow it down to 4-5 shells and zero medkits. Dogs are also no much of a problem as they always run streight at you and a shell or 2 pistol shots to the face down them with ease.

I have not fought snorks yet, but if they are anything like the OG games they will be annoying and hard lol.

[frog]

Originally posted by Jäveln:

but terror isnt having to fire 20 shotgun shells at one enemy and between it having to use 4-5 medkits since you can barely dodge.
theonly enemies this is not a problem with is rodents and the skaven legion which can be handled with one grenade

unless you are on an open field with no obstacles where it really comes down to miniscule timing, you can indeed dodge them. I havent had the psy guys yet, but all normal mutants are managable if you have terrain to play with.

Ive had fight with bloodsuckers where I didnt use a single medkit.

they usually follow the same movement pattern after every attack, which is kinda sad but makes it easy to anticipate what where when and how.