GSC Game World has released patch 1.2 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which is the first major update of 2025. The patch includes over 1700 improvements, including balance, quests, performance, and A-Life 2.0 updates.
Among the technical improvements are changes to the NPC artificial intelligence, including a bug fix that prevented non-player characters from interacting with corpses. Now this is fixed and they will be able to pick up better weapons and equipment. In addition, there are some innovations, such as the new "growl" ability of the Controller.
☘️ Hello, stalkers!
After long preparations, stability tests, and analysis of your feedback, we are excited to introduce Patch 1.2 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. This update includes more than 1,700 fixes and is already live on PC and Xbox.
Patch 1.2 brings stability… pic.twitter.com/Xuwsyw27Pl
NPC shooting accuracy and stealth mechanics have also been improved, as well as mutant behavior during combat - they will now be less likely to get stuck and have fewer problems in general. Numerous fixes have been made to enemies, friendly characters, and mutants, covering both game mechanics and bugs, as well as animations and A-Life behavior.
The balance in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has also been changed. The anti-radiation effect of the Strange Water artifact has been reduced, pistols and silencers have been balanced, and the number of NPCs in exoskeletons has been reduced. Accumulated radiation will now deal more damage. Also, the chance of finding higher-level armor has been changed to be lower, the ability to trade with additional NPCs in hubs has been added, and other changes have been made.
More than 400 changes were made to the story and side missions in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. In particular, many problems that arose during the execution of tasks were fixed. In addition, the developers have improved optimization and added several general fixes, such as fixes for issues with saves, shadow for objects from the players' flashlight, as well as more than 100 other edits and changes.
In addition, many aspects related to zone exploration, interaction with the world, and interactive objects have been improved or fixed. Changes have also been made to the settings and game assistance, including fixes to the visibility of some items in the inventory, as well as HUD issues and many other aspects.