Just want realism in damage. Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Alright, I did a search, did as much digging as I can do before I give up on this mod altogether out of frustration.

I want realistic weapon damage.

Simply put, I do not enjoy the weapon damage at all. I have read the excuses about ammo types, etc, and the get good b.s. from the 'pros'. Is there something out there that brings realism to the weapons? I put round after round into mutants and to enemy skulls only to have them ruin me. How can it be that I get one shotted and I can't do the same to them?

If you can't help me with this can you point me to a mod that handles realism better while maybe retaining more features like this mod does. This mod without the artificial difficulty would be fantastic. I want to enjoy the work put into this but its clearly trying my patience.

I don't know what you're doing wrong, I regularly kill whole squads of bandits/mercs with a single magazine. I also want to point out that I miss A LOT due to some issues I don't know how to fix:
1) My PC is not powerful enough to run this mod and when I am aiming through my scope, I get a lot of lag and usually shoot where they are, but then I get lag, when the shot fires, my target is a couple of feet ahead of where I was aiming. I know a solution for this would be a new computer, but my finances won't allow it, so I've learned to live with it.
2) I have a too precise mouse, or not precise enough, don't know what it is, but when I do precise aiming, I can't do minute adjustments, the slightest movement I do on the mouse sometimes jumps by a lot. I tried reducing the sensitivity, but the just makes it impossible to play since I can't turn quickly enough...

I do however understand what you mean, when I shoot a boar with the Sako TRG in the head, it takes several shots to kill it. Isn't a sniper rifle powerful enough to pierce the skull? Is the skull that much thicker than even the armor on an exo-suit? It is a high powered rifle, yet a shot to the brain doesn't kill... ridiculous. Funny thing, using slugs in the Saiga and shooting from a distance on boars/fleshes, I usually one-shot them...

I guess I haven't advanced far enough? The Skorpion at point blank with AP rounds (with several attempts and tests) has gotten me killed more than any other experience with ANY game I have played. Burst, see blood, see them lose balance, burst, they run and kill me right away. This was done within 15 meters with over 10 tests before starting over. The few times I landed kills took so much ammunition it rendered me helpless. Maybe its the combination of low caliber and silencer? It cant be, because the mosin has shit damage too, as in I had to stop playing sniper because I couldnt manage to kill anything. Either that scope or the mosin itself is wildly inaccurate, and the gun is weak as to make killing any mutant 'impossible'. So whats the problem? I dont get it.

Yes my rig is terrible and I play at min settings with good fps and maxed viewdistance.

Hang in there...
I thought the same at the beginning, the mosin is crap. but I wouldn't use the scorpion either, you mentioned you play sniper, stick to the shotty and mutant hunting, or be the coward and do the shevchenko mission, and shoot the bandits in the back, save right before you start the mission and then just do it over and over until you get some decent loot. I recommend playing 2.1.1 too, the lot seems a lot better. I got my gun during that mission, I was so lucky to get an ak-97 nikonov regular. I'm still using this gun and I just started the road to pripyat. The game seems very difficult in the beginning, but once you get better equipment it get's a lot better.
Also, as a sniper, stick to sniper rifles and assault rifles, with a shotgun as backup and to hunt mutants, I recommend the Toz 34 full size until you find a protecta or saiga. I only bought two guns since I started, the toz and just recently, when comming back to zaton i saw that owl had a Sako TRG, I couldn't resist and spent all my cash on it (almost 100K).

dylanwhite3d wrote: I guess I haven't advanced far enough? The Skorpion at point blank with AP rounds (with several attempts and tests) has gotten me killed more than any other experience with ANY game I have played. Burst, see blood, see them lose balance, burst, they run and kill me right away. This was done within 15 meters with over 10 tests before starting over. The few times I landed kills took so much ammunition it rendered me helpless. Maybe its the combination of low caliber and silencer? It cant be, because the mosin has shit damage too, as in I had to stop playing sniper because I couldnt manage to kill anything. Either that scope or the mosin itself is wildly inaccurate, and the gun is weak as to make killing any mutant 'impossible'. So whats the problem? I dont get it.

Yes my rig is terrible and I play at min settings with good fps and maxed viewdistance.

IRL Scorpion has some very weak ammo, it's a browning 7.65. Have you ever shot .22lr, because it's the same. You would need a dozen of them at the center of mass to stop the boar completely.

I still remember my bolt rifle not putting down a basic dog after two point-blank headshots. This was the 2.0 release. I was hoping this would have been fixed by now, but it sounds like guns are still widely imbalanced?

Personally I think the weapon damage is Balanced, at least as far as the engine will allow it.

Sure in real life if you shoot someone from 5m in the Face with any calibre or weapon they wont stand to tell about it, but its a game...and we dont complain that we can still run as fast as ever after you have been shot in the legs a couple of times.

The damage and weapon behavior is a lot more complex then Vanilla, but after playing some time you get the dynamics of it, and things will be a lot easier.
Here are some general tips which might help you regarding weapon & damage output

- Ammo types are very important, check the Tissue damage class (vs mutants) and the AP class (vs Humans)
for example the .45 Hydro rounds has an excellent tissue damage and still very high AP, so its good in a lot of situations. the DU rounds on the other hand have more AP but less Tissuedamage so I prefer to sell them as they give a lot of cash.
Same goes for the 5.56x45 NATO rounds, the "normal" ammo is very good vs soft targets, so like with the .45 if you carry some of each type you should be ready.

Change your gear/weapons/ammo for each "mission" so if you go mutant hunting you should take other gear then if you fight humans. For example you will regret wasting valuable 7.62 rounds on boars and fleshs, when they can one-shot unarmed bandits and mercs. So seriously its easier to avoid a fight or just run if you are not prepared. It will cost you dearly, the least is lots of ammo, meds and repair costs.

No Matter what class you are you have 2 weapons, and they cover your combat areas, close & far.
As an Assaulter you have an Assault rifle and a Pistol, Sniper has a shotgun and Recon SMG & scoped Rifle.
Decide what upgrades and weapon attachments you use for what, for example change your 4x scope to 1.6x when you go inside ect.

use more "real" combat techniques. when you are crossing an area with a lot of bushes or the swamps where you cant see far, sprint from cover to cover. Never do stuff like eating/drinking/looking on map/sorting loot while you are just somewhere, always get to a safe spot. High grounds like rocks are ideal vs the usual mutants, and there should be enough rocks in most parts of the maps. the key vs Mutants is to see them first, and not get jumped. So watch an area closely. do you see a bloodsucker chasing some fleshs? if you dont have spare rifle granades the best way is to time it and run past them, since they usually wont harass you and its usually a waste of ammo to shoot running around fleshs and boars. If you want to kill them have a strong gun (with the right ammo!!!) like .45 or 5.56 or slug rounds and sprint right at them. once they charge you, they wont change the path during the charge and you can easily headshot them while they are coming for you. try to keep some objects between you and them.

Each mutants should be approached in a different way if you want to optimize. vs Chimeras you need to be in a room or have some tree between you and it. Dwarfs and controllers are best taken from distance with a couple of headshots, always swith back to cover when you see them doing their thing.
Listen to Gonta & Hunter, what they say about mutants is exactly what you should do. and always remember if its worth engaging or just letting them be.

vs Humans some things are the same as in Vanilla, mortar like granade throwing and sideway strolling with pointed weapons. Thats just part of the Xray engine I guess. after using the proper ammo, your movement is most important. Obviously its better if you spot the enemy first, and then deciding from which position you are going to attack. Choose the distance according to your weapon, like in real life its better to let them come rather closer if you are in a good firing position. Use Highground and watch the movement of the enemy so you can get them in one line and not when they are scattered trough bushes, which they will have absolutely no problem seeing trough. Dependent on your distance and cover situation you have to change position every couple of shots/seconds. By using a silencer and headshots you can bring down half their team before they see where you are, but make no misstake the granades will be flying in, and they will flank you eventually.

Use only AP rounds and make headshots or upper body shots at least. its more effective to land one good hit instead of 3 bad ones it seems. if there are several ones firing on you which dont stand too far apart try to hit them each in turn, as their staggering will prevent them from shooting. Tactical withdraw or firing on mutants so they engage is also easily possible.

The low damage resistance in the start is what is frustrating for you I guess. So especially in the start try to make kills without taking damage. Or just stroll around with stalker groups "whats you'r buisness? - can I join you?" and loot their gear after fights. Also if you hear shooting somewhere be sure to check for loot. The sound of mutants carrys quite far as well, so you might be able to hear the pack of pseudodogs and seek cover. Besides always having 3-4 hard saves always make a safe when you are ready to go out but still in base. so if things turn out shit you can just try again.

Hope some of this helps, It might seem a lot but trust me read the item descriptions, they are logical and when you know them you can use a lot of things to your advantage.

If you are in zaton and Iron forest / waste plant are too hard, consider paying 10k to go to jupiter and do some quests there to get more money.

if you have more specific problem let me know I'll be glad to help if I can.

hope I could help

good hunting, stalker

Good info, only comment i have is for the sniper ammo, be it for dragunov, green dragon, saiko or even 7.62mm rifles. Sometimes, from a distance I take my time to aim and side shoot fleshes or boars. Neither regular nor AP ammo will one shot them. What's up with that. The only exception is the KSVK, where I was able to kill 2 heavy armor wearing Dutiers with one shot .

Yes, I always go with Freedom even though in my last playthrough, I went with freedom to get the leader achievement (can you get it if you go with Duty, I never could for some reason) and then resumed to shooting ever human being i find in jupiter.