Final (almost) Bug Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

So...Couldn't for the life of me save the Stingray group at the final push to the helicopters and resorted to setting alife to 50. "Stroll to the chopper!" Except now I'm told to "hold out by the choppers"...forever. Everyone is just standing there and nothing happens. If I back-track (military host fall out of alife) almost to the school, the game jumps, like loading something, and I get "return to the choppers immediately". When I do, there's a big military coloured pile of bodies neatly stacked to the side of the helicopters.

Other than manning up and doing it properly (maybe nuking the place from orbit) can anyone shed light on how to get through this nightmare without losing anyone? Maybe how to trigger the objectives once we're all safely at the choppers at 50 alife?

Also, I refrained from posting this in the Bugs section as difficulty is not a bug, and the problem I've got is my own doing, tinkering with alife.

Edited by: htkblazer

You might have run ahead of your team while trying to catch up to Strelok. Strelok has a tendency to run ahead of everyone (and get himself killed). When you begin the final mission you have to stick with everyone, otherwise the military team will stop and wait for you to come back to them, while Strelok has no such restrictions and will run ahead. This usually happens around the kindergarten complex after the colonel tells you to go through the arch.

If Strelok runs ahead to the choppers and the rest of the team stays behind, the map target will follow Strelok. It's important not to get too far ahead of Colonel Kovalsky and the team.

Edited by: radasil

I don't think I follow you...everyone is still alive. Strelok did run ahead but survived. Now we are all in the 'pit' area next to the helicopters but they won't take off. Is it because Strelok ran ahead?

Also, the first time I got to the choppers with normal 400 alife several people dead, they took off ok and I stayed behind, an invincible Strelok and Tasarov and Strelok also stayed behind, just standing there...

Just checked something and although I gave Strelok his notes and got rewards, I didn't check my stats and so I didn't have keeper of secrets. I'll try it with that, see if it makes it any easier, though Kovaslky is usually the first to die at the choppers.

Failing all that, can anyone tell me how to edit the stats of certain characters, maybe give them more health? I tried editing squad descriptions to cut out some monolith spawns but to no avail.

You need to secure the helipoint, that means you got to kill several monolith members and then you can go. You might have to reload a save prior to starting this mission, it has a couple of glitches and such, generally you got to stick with the military and even ignore zombies wandering to you, cause they move on and on.

Cheers nyar that makes sense. I checked the pripyat squad descriptions and found the last monolith spawn has references to a Final Cutscene. I assume I'll need to kill them. I finished the mission fine with no glitches but Tasarov and Kovaslky died at the choppers :-/ was just trying to cheat my way around some hard work tbh. Going to have to do it again anyway to get keeper of secrets, no big deal the mission is easy until you get to the choppers anyway!

One way I deal with the monolith spam is to seed their spawn path with claymore mines and IEDs long before I do the Kindergarten quest. I've even gone into their buildings that flank the helicopter landing area and cleaned them out of Monolith (they just re-spawn when the team reaches the helicopters anyway). I had to clean the buildings out so that I could lay down the mines without getting shot. It's not much, but it does take care of a few of them during the final firefight.

I tried that in 2.02 but as I was walking back to laundromat, the bangs started as new monolith spawned lol. Although I believe 2.1 spawn times are 6 hours, right? Will give it a try if my rambo attempt fails! Thank you both!

Ok got it. Managed to save all but some guy "Highlander" who flew in with the choppers. Poor bastard. Got every ending now for freeplay!

For pathetic souls like myself wanting to save everyone but who have got so reliant on 3rd person camera and have forgotten how to fight like a man - set alife to 50 and escort the military through a deserted Pripyat to the choppers. Once there and everyone has taken up defensive positions, make a hard save and set alife to say, 150. Shoot like a bitch. Shoot everything. And pray nobody important dies. Stay in the zone after and check for bodies to be sure they all made it. You'll need to be familiar with the names of the remaining 8 military from the Laundromat to make sure any bodies are important as there are only four who come with the choppers. That's all I got.

Thanks, Htkblazer, good summary.

The lieutenant always dies for me around the same spot over and over in both my end games (recon/assaulter). The captain can survive with saving by the school and loading again, if you want him to survive. As HTK states lowering alife to under 100 makes it a lot easier, cause you have less stray enemies walking in.

Edited by: Nyayr

Haha even that is an understatement! Setting it to 50 was a pleasant walk through Pripyat, Kovalsky was telling me about how he got into the army, apparantly he had to cheat on a test. Krillov spent the whole time moaning about his wife texting him while he was trying to ambush Monolith and Strelok and Tasarov played I-Spy except nobody got it when 'Z' came up.

I still wouldn't recommend this method to anyone though, I'd always recommend doing it right. Only if you've been a good boy up until now and you really can't do the mission properly, then you could try this. Otherwise it's a bit of an anticlimax getting frustratingly stuck like that after so much care and attention in the rest of the game and the exciting prospect of Freeplay Pripyat Armageddon (so I've heard) looming just ahead.

hilarious