Quest Tactics (The check point) Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Vano owes something big to loan sharks and we are asked to deal with it.

I solved the whole issue with 5 mines and 4 mags of 5.56x39 AP rounds. Put anti person mine into F1 quick slot for faster setup. Instead of engage fire fight with bandits from the outside. Pretend you are willing to deal with "Jack". Right after passing the goon blocking the door. Set up 1 mine in the hall way. Engage conversation with Jack isn't essential, usually I start to unload into his head as soon as I see him, shot his lover inside the room with him. By now the goon at door will move in with gun raise. He will get killed by the first mine. Run into the hall way, get close to the main entrance and set up one more mine, run back a bit and hide behind the second door. The explosive will take out the first guy, sometimes 2 of them. Then fend off 1 or 2 more. Set up another mine in the hall way again, this time retreat back into the room. They move in and dies, push back to the first door again.

Repeat this process, won't take long before you can take out all 13 bandits this way, I didn't even get a scratch from the combat.

To maximize loot I go inside and kill Jack et al and then just wait where Jack usually sits and pick them off as they come in. If you don't have safety/time to loot and the rest pass a corpse any weapon they drop is automatically picked up and one weapon usually vanishes forever. By picking off new NPC's before they can loot it leaves more for selfish me I never use that many bullets, though. 2-3 per NPC is usually plenty.

Yeah I did notice they suck up the weapons on the floor. Problem with CQB is they move in like a line of fish. 2 to 3 at time. When I hosing them with automatic Ak fire they usually all die at same spot. Next group moves in and suck up everything before I get a chance to loot. There was one time I saw the goon at door was carrying Sig550 sniper rifle which I was looking for, I was afraid it will be lost later, I had to ask "nicely" just to get his weapon off him.

It's easiest with the mercs at the processing plant. Shoot one far out on his own and every time one heads that way pick them off right before they get close. Also, I forgot to mention earlier I think there is a chance whenever you use explosives of any kind that loot will be lost to damage. Sometimes it sure makes it easier though.

Try the check point again with my recon. Another good spot to have fun with bandits is the 2 floor building directly on the other side of main building. They will try to get on the stairs but no room for them to dodge.

I have found that this quest is a good one to do at the same time as trapper's chimera quest. Wait till night, agro the chimera and run it to the bandits. The chimera will lose so you can start helping it out if you want.

Good thinking. Never thought of that actually. I tends to stay away from Chimera as far away as possible. Only after it actively when I am fully geared.

Chimera AI is funny, they're set to prefer other human targets over the player. It will nearly always work through all the NPCs in the area before coming after you, unless you go out of your way to provoke it or get right up in its face.

If the Chimera at the Ventilation complex gets wind of the bandits nearby, it will often go haring off to the checkpoint without you even having to lead it there. I've also seen it charge through the minefield to get at a bandit group by the helipad. In my experience the bandits will always kill it, sometimes without even taking casualties (Chimera leaps don't seem nearly as accurate against NPCs as they do against the player) but generally two or three bandits will be killed. You can always go tossing grenades into the melee or pick off distracted guys as well.

Like most here, I find that a combination of explosives and camping in Jack's room is the strongest tactic for dealing with the checkpoint bandits. I have tried long range hit-and-run tactics from the outside with a sniper, firing from one spot and then using the low ground to get around to the opposite side of the checkpoint and pick off another. It's not so effective though. The problem here is that all sorts of crazy trouble can sneak up on you when you're running around taking potshots. To the north of the checkpoint there are often pseudodogs, cats, snorks. To the south and south-west mutants are quite rare, but high level merc and bandit groups spawn there. Gunfire attracts their attention and you can end up attacked on all sides. Camping in Jack's room is a lot safer as there's only a single access point, and you have good cover behind the crates nearby.