Summary
Stalker 2is a game with few equals, already making ahuge splash onlineand receiving praise for its eerie, ominous environmental storytelling. Whether new to theStalkerseries or a die-hard fan, there’s a lot to love with this game, and as subsequent patches are released, there will only be more to enjoy.
While waiting for patches, however, there may be a few things poking at the players' thoughts, detracting them from the overall experience. Maybe the mutant combat is too difficult or tactical. Maybe the game doesn’t run as smoothly as it should. Likemany games that allow for mods,Stalker 2already has a host of fantastic mods designed to augment the game to the player’s liking. These mods are all fairly unobtrusive and designed to provide minimal but highly welcomed additions or changes to the game.
8Stalker Optimizer
Increases Smoothness And FPS
Doing right what it says on the tin, Stalker Optimizer optimizes various parts of the game in an effort to reduce stuttering and keep the framerate stable. What’s great about this mod is how it manages to keep things smooth without sacrificing the impressive graphics of this title.
WhileStalker 2is mostly stable, there are some issues in its newly released state, and having this mod to help keep things on an even keel while waiting for a patch to help fix the bugs is a great way to ensure you’re getting the best possible experience.
7Grok’s Modular Mutants Health
Adjust The Severity Of Mutants
The difficulty ofStalker 2isalready proving to be divisivefor many reasons, and while it’s inextricably part of the game’s charm, that doesn’t mean players should force themselves to play a game with nigh-invulnerable enemies that always have one over the protagonist.
Enter Grok’s Modular Mutants Health, which comes with both a generally balanced preset file and the option to change each mutant type’s health to one’s liking, ranging from a 20% to 80% reduction in their default health value, ensuring players have a combat experience a little bit more aligned to their preferences.
6No Weapon (And Optionally Outfit) Durability Loss
Keeps Weapons In Good Condition Permanently
Stalker 2has some exceptional weapons available on standby for playersbrave enough to find them, but the game has a common survival trope of item durability, meaning that no matter how good an item is, it will eventually stop serving its purpose.
Is this realistic? Absolutely. Is it fun? The jury is still out on this one, but for those who are staunchly against the system, this mod changes the files responsible for calculating item durability so they just… don’t, and players can keep using their weapons in perpetuity.
5Grok’s Balanced Difficulties
Adjusts Every Difficulty For Added Fairness
With balance changes promised in the next round of patches, it’s difficult to tell if the current level of difficulty in this title is what the developers intended or is more a matter of them shooting in the dark (something they can be hardly blamed for since that’s what players will be doing in this game anyway). For those who have found the difficulty spikes on higher difficulty levels a little too high, this mod has the solution.
Grok once again saves the day by modifying the files associated with damage output and enemy health on different difficulties, keeping to the spirit of each difficulty (i.e. “Hard” is still tougher than “Easy”) but making them more balanced overall.
4Longer Sprinting
Adjusts Stamina Consumption When Running
Players might not be faster with this mod, but they’ll certainly be able to endure more. This mod is a relatively simple one but with a very apparent and beneficial change for those who value exploring or running from abominations beyond human comprehension.
Simply put, it modifies the amount of stamina consumed when sprinting, meaning it’s a great way to make the game a little easier if some of the other mods that directly modify health or damage on this list seem a little too far.
3Jake’s Longer Days
Keeps Night At Bay For Longer
Likemany horror games, things get creepier inStalker 2when it turns to night. They also get deadlier. This mod doesn’t change the ratio of day hours to night hours, meaning that however long days become, nights also become that length.
This still gives players more time to explore in relative safety, however, and has compatibility with some of the other mods mentioned on this list, such as Grok’s adjustment mods.
2Reduced Melee Jump Stamina
Makes Melee Attacks And Jumps More Economic
Similar to NickMillion’s other work, this mod is a simple but incredibly efficient way of making the game marginally easier without directly changing how strong enemies are or how brutal the difficulty settings are.
Melee attacks and jumps are given reduced stamina costs so that the player can navigate easier or engage in hit-and-run tactics with better efficiency. It’s a great change to the game that doesn’t reinvent anything.
1Adjustable Carry Weight
A Godsend For Inventory Management
Like other survival games, inventory management is key inStalker 2, perhaps even more so, considering this game’s emphasis on scavenging and searching for valuable relics deep within the irradiated Zone.
NickMillion rounds out this list with another highly customizable mod for tweaking the game, this time with one of the most important adjustments in the game yet. Changing around carry weight can greatly ease the burden (ha) on the player when it comes to juggling what to carry and what to ditch, especially in the heat of the moment when survival is more important.
