S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 received Patch 1.4 — NPCs are even smarter and mutants eat corpses

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl received another major Patch 1.4 — enemies became smarter and stalkers learned to kick.

GSC Game World has released Patch 1.4 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl with over 700 fixes. The patch improves the AI, combat system, balance, and fixes many technical issues. Among the most notable changes are new NPC behavior in combat, the ability of mutants to feed on corpses, and the fact that stalkers will kick the player if he or she is crouched down.

What’s changed in patch 1.4

Artificial intelligence and combat system

• NPCs use cover better — they don’t rush around unnecessarily and even hide behind trees.
• Stalkers can throw grenades to knock the enemy out of cover. They have a limit on the number of grenades, depending on the faction — the military has more, the bandits have less.
• Melee combat has become tougher on difficulties «Stalker» and «Veteran».
• Enemies attack from the flanks, coordinate tactical actions and react to the situation in the battle. After the battle, NPCs look for bribes and treat the wounded.
• Stalkers have learned to beat mutants in close combat, and to kick smaller ones away.
• If a player sits down in a crouch — NPCs can kick him.
• The bureaucrats now catch and throw grenades using telekinesis.
• Fixed a bug when snipers used — cuts, now everything is fine with ballistics.

A-Life and behavior in the Zone

• Mutants eat corpses and become wary if someone is around.
• Blind dogs bark calmly if there is no player nearby.
• Fixed a number of bugs with the way NPCs move, react after being thrown, behave in ambushes, or die in water.
• Mutant bodies no longer twitch, stretch, or jump after death.

Balance and equipment

• RPGs and explosions have become more powerful, but the lethal distance of grenades has decreased.
• Added a new weapon characteristic — handiness, and updated the characteristic panels.
• Overalls «Zircon» can be upgraded, and more silencers have appeared in the caches.
• Weapons that have failed now have a red background.

Optimization and bugfixes

• Improved lighting, shadows, and grass LOD.
• Fixed dozens of bugs — from invisible anomalies and rain sounds underground to the fact that the player could get stuck in the door or jump into Pripyat ahead of time (using a railroad tanker on Janov)
• Sounds, effects, HUD transparency, dynamic shadows, saves — all of this has been cleaned up as well.
• NPCs no longer get stuck in doors, and zombies don’t fall underground.

Missions and the world of the game

• Fixed over 20 bugs in the main story, side quests, and open world. For example, now the task «Find the Spirit» can be completed normally.
• Fixed an issue where the character would not start a dialog with the player during the mission «Images of Absolute Truth».

A separate item from the developers*

• Fixed a bug that caused blood effects to appear when getting into the sausage (no more bleeding)
• Fixed a bug that caused ducks to plunge into the water after being shot instead of falling.

In general, the developers have done a lot of work on the battle logic, enemy behavior, and technical state of the game. We hope that this patch has not added any previously unknown «anomalies». The previous patch 1.3.2 focused on fixing bugs that prevented the completion of both main and side missions.

Earlier, GSC confirmed that official support for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 mods in 2025 year. And also already On May 20, the updated trilogy S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 — with full modification support.

Source: GSC Game World