Much like its predecessors,S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobylhas a vibrant modding community that’s constantly working to improve and expand upon the fantastic FPS created by GSC Game World. Although Stalker 2 has only been around for a few weeks, the community has already created hundreds of mods aimed at fixing bugs, improving performance, overhauling existing systems, introducing new features and more.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl: 7 Hardest Achievements/Trophies And How To Get Them
Some of these are easier to get than you may think.
Downloading and setting up mods used to be a complicated affair, but these days you can simply go toNexusmodsand install everything via Vortex. The only problem now is deciding which mods to install. While some mods are essential and can significantly improve your experience, others don’t bring much to the table and should largely be ignored. In the interest of saving you some time, we checked out some of the best Stalker 2 mods available right now and compiled them into a handy list for your convenience.
All the mods on this list are available only on PC. For now at least. The developers have already confirmed that Xbox players will also get access to mods at some point in the future, but they are not available on consoles just yet.
10Ledge Grabbing
More Verticality
Ledge Grabbing is a simple but essential mod that does exactly what it says on the tin. While ledge grabbing is already present in Stalker 2, the mechanic is limited and doesn’t work on anything taller than a couple of feet. This is somewhat of a strange design decision in a game where there’s a fair amount of parkour. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about this limitation anymore thanks to this mod.
There are three different variants of this mod, each allowing for more verticality than the last. If you don’t want to stray too far away from the original experience, we recommend grabbing the ‘Even Lower’ version. This allows Skif to climb obstacles that are about face height. Installing either of the other two versions might make puzzle solving and treasure hunting too easy.
9Detect Legendary Artifacts
No Artifact Left Behind
Detect Legendary Artifacts adds a feature that arguably should have been in the game to begin with. Specifically, the ability to detect altered items like theWeird BallorWeird Flower. It should be noted that the name of the mod is misleading since Scanners in Stalker 2 can already detect Legendary Artifacts likeLiquid Rockor theCompassby default. This mod is actually for detecting altered items.
Once you install this mod, every type of Scanner in the game will start detecting altered items while you’re exploring anomalous areas. This mod is especially useful for finding theWeird Water, a notoriously-powerful altered item that’s almost impossible to find without any help. With Detect Legendary Artifacts installed, your Scanner will now lead you directly to it.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – How to Get the Liquid Rock Legendary Artifact
Equip this Artifact and you’ll never have to worry about Radiation again.
8Mutant Loot
Add These to Your Trophy Collection
Stalker 2 is one of the fewopen-world gamesfeaturing enemies that don’t drop any loot when killed. Although this only applies to mutants, it’s still an unexpected design decision considering these enemies did drop loot in the original game. To make matters worse, most mutants in Stalker 2 are bullet sponges, so you’re always wasting resources whenever you fight one without gaining anything in return. Luckily, the Mutant Loot mod is here to provide a solution.
The Mutant Loot mod is self-explanatory. Once you install this mod, mutants will start dropping loot like meat, hides and blood. There’s no crafting in Stalker 2 and you may’t use these items as consumables (why would you even want to?), so the only thing you can do with them is sell them or keep them in your stash as trophies. Mutant body parts aren’t worth a ton of money, but even a few Coupons are better than nothing.
7Flashlight Customizer
Not as Good as Night Vision, But Close Enough
The humble flashlight is an essential item in a game like Stalker 2 where you spend half of your time roaming around in the dark. The vanilla flashlight can get the job done well in most situations, but it’s not bright enough to illuminate some of the darkest corners of The Zone. And seeing as how we don’t have night vision goggles (yet), the only way to get access to a better flashlight is to use a mod like Flashlight Customizer.
This mod gives players complete control over their flashlight by allowing them to adjust its intensity, radius and temperature. You can also have it cast shadows and even change its color. With enough tinkering, it’s possible to customize the flashlight in a way that mimics wearing night vision goggles. Having actual night vision goggles would be even better, but we couldn’t find a mod for that unfortunately. In the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with the Flashlight Customizer.
6Faction ID
Makes it Easier to Differentiate Friend from Foe
The Zone is home to a wide variety of factions, each with its own motivations and agendas. As you explore The Zone, you’ll sometimes stumble across epic firefights between two or more of these factions and can choose to support one side or another. Provided, of course, you can figure out who’s who. While members of certain factions tend to wear distinctive gear, others just wear basic Stalker gear or random pieces of equipment. This makes it difficult to tell at a glance which faction an NPC belong to. Fortunately, there’s a handy solution to that problem: the Stalker Faction ID mod.
Faction ID introduces a series of icons that allow players to instantly identify most NPCs in the game. The icons are small, easy to read and don’t look out of place next to the regular UI elements. According to the mod author, Faction ID doesn’t work for unique characters like traders or quest givers, but it should still be helpful for quickly identifying NPCs in the field. Pair this with the Factions Patch mod and you’ll never have to worry about misidentifying an NPC ever again.
5Project Itemization
More Loot for Your Backpack
There’s a lot of loot to collect in The Zone, but the game could use some more item variety in order to keep things interesting. Sure, it’s always exciting when you find a unique weapon or a Legendary Artifact, but those are few and far between. Most of the loot you find during a regular expedition comes in the form of Bandages, Sausages, bottles of Vodka, and if you’re lucky, a bit of ammo. While we wouldn’t expect to find crates of Yeezys and pairs of Beats by Dre hidden in old dilapidated houses built during Soviet times, there should still be more types of items to loot in The Zone.
The Project Itemization mod was made specifically for players who want a lot more loot variety in the game. The mod adds dozens of new items to Stalker 2, ranging from miscellaneous trash like socks and toilet paper to useful consumables and more. you’re able to look forward to 45 types of new items, which can be found randomly in stashes, containers and the dead bodies of your enemies. Project Itemization is fully compatible with the aforementioned Mutant Loot mod, but might now work with other loot mods. As always, check the mod page and comments for additional info regarding potential compatibility issues.
All Journalist Stash Locations in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Where to find all 12 Journalist Stashes and what you get from them.
4A-Life Extended
A Livelier Zone
A-Life is GSC Game World’s proprietary AI system and one of the main features that allows Stalker 2 to stand out from similar games. The system didn’t work exactly as intended when the game launched, but has since been improved and is now much closer to what was originally advertised. As of Patch 1.1, A-Life is in the best state it has ever been, but there’s still room for improvement. That’s where A-Life Extended comes in.
A-Life Extended is a mod designed to improve Stalker 2’s AI even further by changing enemy spawn times, spawn chances and spawn distances, as well as encouraging factions to interact more with each other. As of the release of Patch 1.1, the main version of A-Life Extended is on hold, but you can still grab the Alive Edition. There’s also a version of the mod that makes days significantly longer than nights. We strongly recommend grabbing the ‘Longer Days’ version or downloading a standalone mod that does something similar because Stalker 2’s day-night cycle is currently a bit iffy.
3Optimized Tweaks
All-in-One Optimizer
There are numerous mods aimed at improving Stalker 2’s performance, but Optimized Tweaks is the most popular one by a significant margin. Part of the reason for that is because the mod only makes small changes that don’t have a noticeable impact on the visual fidelity. It also helps that the mod is being constantly updated to ensure full compatibility with all the latest patches for the game. Unfortunately, a lot of similar mods haven’t been updated in weeks.
Optimized Tweaks reduces stuttering and latency, improves loading times and optimizes memory management, among many other things. Most players can expect a boost of 5-10 FPS with the mod installed, which may not sound like much, but will make a big difference when combined with the other improvements, especially the stuttering reduction. The mod page also mentions a few tips you can try to improve the performance even further, such as disabling Vsync in-game and enabling it in your GPU’s control panel, and making sure the game runs in DirectX 12 mode.
2Grok’s Economy and Difficulty Fix Attempt
Rebalances the Game in a Sensible Way
Grok’s Economy and Difficulty Fix Attempt is an overhaul mod that reworks several key aspects of Stalker 2. Just as its name indicates, the mod focuses primarily on rebalancing the economy and difficulty. The mod reduces the health pool of most enemies, including mutants, but makes human NPCs hit a lot harder. Good armor still provides significant protection, but will no longer make you nearly invulnerable like it does in the vanilla version.
In addition to that, Grok’s Economy and Difficulty Fix Attempt greatly reduces equipment degradation while also increasing repair costs. This change removes the need to visit a technician at regular intervals and disincentivizes players from swapping out their weapons and armor every five minutes. On the flip side, the mod also reduces the quantity of loot you’ll find during exploration, so you’d better take good care of your equipment because you won’t be able to easily replace it anymore.
1Maklane’s Better Zone
Your Go-to Overhaul Mod
Maklane’s Better Zone is a total overhaul mod that introduces a variety of changes to Stalker 2. Rather than being just one mod, this is a compilation of mods by the same author that work together to improve The Zone in many small, but noticeable ways. The goal of Maklane’s Better Zone is to make the game feel more balanced without taking it in an entirely new direction. This is still the same Stalker 2 we know and love; it’s just going to feel different once you install the mod.
The full list of changes introduced by Maklane’s Better Zone is too long to cover here, but some of the major highlights include better item spawns, reworked health pools for mutants, the removal of aimbot from NPCs, rebalanced weapon ballistics and more. The main mod file doesn’t include everything right off the bat, so make sure to check the optional files if you want to take advantage of everything this mod has to offer. Maklane’s Better Zone isn’t compatible with other overhaul mods, but you can still install it alongside other types of mods. Check the compatibility list before downloading.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a sequel to the award-winning game franchise developed by GSC Game World. Experience one-of-a-kind gameplay, featuring the elements of a first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror. The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is a unique, dangerous and ever-changing environment. It promises a lot — the artifacts of unbelievable value can be yours if you dare to claim them. The price you may pay, on the other hand, is no less than your own life. One of the biggest open-worlds to date, filled with radiation, mutants and anomalies, is yours to explore. All the choices across the way not only define your own epic story, but influence the future itself. Be mindful about what you see, do and plan, as you will have to find your way through the Zone or be forever lost to it.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - 10 Tips And Tricks We Wish We Knew Sooner
Some of these tricks will greatly increase your chances of surviving in The Zone.
