Some aspects of balancing are dismal

[SkacikPL]

I'm probably repeating same song as most reviewers but after playing for 10 or so hours i'm coming to same conclusions.

Mutants:
ABSOLUTE BULLET SPONGES and whilst that is no different from original trilogy - they had different aspects that mitigate the problem. SHoC had monsters drop bodyparts loot that could be sold for a price, refunding the cost of the fight.
Majority of monsters didn't have "extra" fancy moves, sure dogs could jump and get you literally anywhere but most of AI was pretty simplistic.
In here bloodsuckers can knock you down (repeatedly, even mid recovery), fleshes can jump up to like 2 meters in air and all animals will hide around nearest corners if you get off the navmesh (which is clever but plainly too clever for animals, dogs would've just circled around the object you stand on and then give up eventually). Maybe expand upon that and i dunno - give player a parry option where hitting a melee button when bloodsucker tries to knock you off stuns it instead - literally anything but this where you're just forced to sit and take it because you cannot kill it no matter the gun before it gets to you.

All of that makes fighting mutants a chore, there's absolutely no reward and every encounter is a drain of 3-5 bandages, half a dozen magazines and 3-7 medkits (multiply by 2 if bloodsucker) with nothing to give back in return.


Stamina/weight balance:
Jesus christ on a tricycle, i understand that fast travel was a commodity added by mods or in limited capacity by later 2 games but this game is an order of magnitude bigger than all 3 prior games combined.
IF you insist on having me run literal kilometers even in first area alone, don't make me run out of breath within literal 8 or so seconds and even less if i'm carrying anything.
Especially since this isn't an RPG - i cannot upgrade my stamina, my carrying capacity or anything. Player is just sentenced to suffer from first minute of the game up to the last one.
Another thing is that energy drinks and stamina artifacts have been severely nerfed so they don't mitigate the issue either.

I don't quite see the appeal of this design BUT at the very least this should've been configurable, whether you want to have more "gamey" or "tedious" balancing. As it is now, it makes playing the game a literal chore (leaving aside other issues like performance).

I feel that fixing those two issues alone would've made the game instantly a lot better in terms of moment to moment gameplay.

[marvinn]

Dude, let me just say, if you're using 6 magz and 3-7 medkits per mutant (double for bloodsuckers) you are the problem. Like jesus you're a terrible player.
I pretty much suck at mp shooters and I don't play them basically at all. But even I can usually deal with a bloodsucker with 4-7 shotgun shells and 1-3 medkits and bandages, and I play on veteran. Add maybe 2 shells if we're talking pre-balance patch.
I'm not a good fps player at all, but you're just BAD. Play on easy, you're the guy who this is for. No shame in that, like for real.

[BatriX]

When I play I'm dropping bloodsuckers with a m701 or Rhino , and they just fall over, when i watch anyone else play on twitch , absolutely nobody is ever getting the jump on anything, every engagement is them being attacked then waiting for the bloodsucker to attack them,

My fights with bloodsuckers are generally over before they have even begun, they die to 1 shot in the head or spine area with just 1 shot from a m701 then any area shots in the chest with the rhino. bloodsuckers actually set themselves up for failure with the way they like to attack , you can pretty much count on them walking up your gun barrel. any shotgun handle them quite well.

I've spent so much time watching people play stalker 2 on twitch @marvinn , I'd have to say well over the majority of people 'freaking suck at the game so yeah, they should play on easy if they feel this way.

Just use the environment to force them into your gun barrel, AND for the love of god stop using hip fire. It is not accurate, you need to be using iron sites for accuracy. its amazing how many people actually shoot without aiming and complain about how inaccurate the gun is. if you are not using a high calibre weapon , you are going to have to put a good stream of bullets into them.

Honestly if you make a helpful post address bad inventory management or play. everybody will ignore it on this forum. but you people need serious assist.

[Baron01]

I'm pretty much done with the game, last mission remaining.

One of the biggest fun killers of Stalker 2 are weight, encumbrance and stamina systems. Sure, they are introducing some level of realism but they are just not fun. All 3 of these systems could have been developed in much better way.

Add very simplistic inventory management capabilities and you have one boring and annoying game that does not give you much to alleviate the issue at hand.

I hoped Stalker 2 will get mild inspiration with Tarkov load-out and inventory systems and slightly touch them up to be more casual friendly and fit into the game better. Instead of having ridiculous weight system in place to prevent us from carrying infinite amount of medkits or ammo, we could have had a system that limits carrying space for ammo or healing items. Having load-out and gear system from Tarkov where you separate armor and tactical rig would let you use it instead of the weight system. It would not have to be so hardcore as to force us to have separate magazine and manually load ammo into them. The rig would be a place where to put ammo and you would have certain amount of space to bring or loot ammo for reloads.