I can't survive a few minutes at the very beginning of the game Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

I played all 3 STALKER games and finished them, but Misery is just different. I start the game as a USS Sniper, select "Enter Game" (Not the Black Road option), but run into some mutants and die. I tried to go west, but I run into multiple Bloodsuckers and they kill me. I tried to go east, but there still are mutants, and I'm not sure if there's a road leading to the Swamps. What I'm supposed to do at the very start? Which direction should I keep moving? And isn't there a compass or minimap?

I think you are just not that lucky with spawn. Sniper starts at far side of water body at very south end of the Zaton.
There will always be mutants on the hill directly north where burned farm is, usually group of flesh with couple of boars.
There will always something with 4 legs in the east where the bridge leading to Sawmill is.
If you want to get to the ship the direct route will be climb the hill and get around burned farm on the west side, ship should be north of the burned farm. It will take some luck and bit waiting to avoid mutants. Try not to open fire especially at night, there are quite few mutant spawn point near burned farm.

Above and what is more fun is a controller under a hill lol

Anyway, this is common. The spawner "A-Life" system will drop lots of mutants in that start area. Sometimes nothing at all, while sometimes 20 mutants.

Best bet for you to try is to run like hell to the left side of the lake and aim for the Dock. This is not exactly safe, but you can jump on to it and see where you want to run next...for like 3 seconds before something fast will eat you

A few tips. Under the dock is an item, the tree nearest you may have a few items at the trunk(base) or one of them anyway. Then for safety, haul ass to the ship you see to the left of the hill you first see at the start.

Example:

Game starts.
Run left of lake to dock. Face the direction you ran in TOO the dock and go that way to a rusty ship. That is your home base. If you find random items on the way, get them.

If your screen goes purple and you hear some wacky assy noises, GTFO of there because your brain will melt, as you went to close to the Controller cave.
(hes a grumpy mutant that melts yer brain and hammers you dead in 1-2 hits even with full protection)

There is no compass or minimap. You can take a quick glance at your PDA map though.

What I do when starting as a Sniper is quickly head east to the hill where you start in the vanilla game. There are usually Loners up there who'll cover you. Keep a careful eye out for Snorks and dog packs, since they're extremely aggressive and hard to run away from. From that hill I head straight to the Skadovsk. You can sprint pretty much most of the way since you're only lightly encumbered at the start.

I got a bit into the game, killed the Bandits together with the Stalkers at the Shevchenko, then raided the Arms Deal between the bandits and the Morgan from Duty. Now I am low on ammo, food, money, everything. I'm playing as Sniper and still have that shitty Mossin Nagant and the Saw-off shotgun. I have 9 rounds of ammo left for the Mossin Nagant. It's really difficult to progress and without ammo or food I can't go out and explore. I don't even have a Detector yet, so I can't go Artifact hunting. Any tips for starters?

Edit: I know Misery Mod is supposed to increase difficulty and turn the cakewalk of CoP into a more realistic experience, but I'm struggling too much after playing about 10 hours in total. I can't keep my health at good levels to begin with. How do I get healed? Do I have to pay the Doctor to fix me every time my health detoriates? Does sleeping not heal you a bit? How do I get rid of Radiation Sickness? Does it go away by itself?

Edited by: StalkerFan1986

StalkerFan1986 wrote: I got a bit into the game, killed the Bandits together with the Stalkers at the Shevchenko, then raided the Arms Deal between the bandits and the Morgan from Duty. Now I am low on ammo, food, money, everything. I'm playing as Sniper and still have that shitty Mossin Nagant and the Saw-off shotgun. I have 9 rounds of ammo left for the Mossin Nagant. It's really difficult to progress and without ammo or food I can't go out and explore. I don't even have a Detector yet, so I can't go Artifact hunting. Any tips for starters?

Edit: I know Misery Mod is supposed to increase difficulty and turn the cakewalk of CoP into a more realistic experience, but I'm struggling too much after playing about 10 hours in total. I can't keep my health at good levels to begin with. How do I get healed? Do I have to pay the Doctor to fix me every time my health detoriates? Does sleeping not heal you a bit? How do I get rid of Radiation Sickness? Does it go away by itself?

Cop.zsg.dk
loot some vanilla stashes, but if the stash is easy to find there is mostly crap in it.
better are the Misery stashes, link here: Moddb.com and Moddb.com

also follow other stalkers. you can ask them where they go and travel with them. or circle around skadovsk and sevchenko to loot mutants. Dont go in fire anamolies unless you have a real good suit, and chemical you need drugs at least. in zaton you can loot the dredger/tunnels under burnt farmsted/iron forest and scar pretty easy without special suits

Edited by: Keksfront

for radiatin sickness use cigarets, vodka , water or beards tea.... just use only one of those and wait till silver anti rad shield icon disapears and if you still have yellow / red icon for radiation exposure on your screen needed use another item.

using multiple items quickly one after another doesnt work, you need to let the one item work for a while.... newbies does use everithing quickly and wonder why it doesnt worked...

for your healt, best is avoid bulets they realy bad for you.... hehe..., use medkids if you are in safe spot, stimulants use during fight or flight... hehe... Avoid antirad medicine from stock cop, they take lot of your healt with radiation exposure...
for food you need hunt and cook, if low on bullets join stalker sqaud and scavenge their boars, do not eat row flesh, cook it damit... and smoke after or take a vodka sip...

9bullets , waw, you sound like you have a problem, suck it up !!! 9 bulets equal 9 haedshots , you are a Sniper after all Arent you ?!
do not even thing about art hunting until you have closed respiratory suit , regular suits are ineffective and take lots of damage, cost will ruin you... and you also do not sound like experienced elite player.... maybe later, its good thing you asking for help...
there is still hope for you yet.....

ShadoWdeGrey wrote: for radiatin sickness use cigarets, vodka , water or beards tea.... just use only one of those and wait till silver anti rad shield icon disapears and if you still have yellow / red icon for radiation exposure on your screen needed use another item.

using multiple items quickly one after another doesnt work, you need to let the one item work for a while.... newbies does use everithing quickly and wonder why it doesnt worked...

for your healt, best is avoid bulets they realy bad for you.... hehe..., use medkids if you are in safe spot, stimulants use during fight or flight... hehe... Avoid antirad medicine from stock cop, they take lot of your healt with radiation exposure...
for food you need hunt and cook, if low on bullets join stalker sqaud and scavenge their boars, do not eat row flesh, cook it damit... and smoke after or take a vodka sip...

9bullets , waw, you sound like you have a problem, suck it up !!! 9 bulets equal 9 haedshots , you are a Sniper after all Arent you ?!
do not even thing about art hunting until you have closed respiratory suit , regular suits are ineffective and take lots of damage, cost will ruin you... and you also do not sound like experienced elite player.... maybe later, its good thing you asking for help...
there is still hope for you yet.....

Like I said before, I did play and finish all 3 STALKER games (Vanilla), but Misery just makes you "miserable". It's a totally different difficulty. And a lot of things that weren't in the Vanilla games were added. A lot of bugs were fixed. The Stalker Factions might actually be working in Misery. The Vanilla games were full of bugs. I like Misery, but there have to be a way to enjoy the game without keep dying from hunger or radiation sickness. Not to mention the Aimbot accurate AI enemies.

Edited by: StalkerFan1986

Don't worry StalkerFan, I had these issues the first time I played Misery too. The game has a steep learning curve - closer to a learning right-angle - but once you're over the hump and learn how to get by in the Misery game world, things go a lot more smoothly. When you have a decent income in the game you can go more all out. I'll answer some of the questions from your last few posts.

You will heal naturally over time as long as you aren't hungry.

Radiation sickness will go away over time, as long as you didn't take too many rads. Cigarettes, water, alcohol and various medications will remove it.

AI aim is pretty accurate, but then so is the player. It's really a matter of who spots who first. In time you'll learn the hot spots where bandits and mercs are likely to spawn, for now just be super cautious everywhere. When you're in combat you shouldn't take more than a few shots from one position or you'll be on the receiving end of return fire (including grenades). Always have a retreat path that won't be exposed to fire. Don't be afraid to pussy out of a fight, especially at the start when you're just wearing a coat and armed with vintage low-end weapons. There is a Hardcore AI Aim option you can toggle in the options menu though, but even with that you'll want to keep mobile and make use of cover in combat.

Aside from the stashes, which will earn you enough to keep you fed and supplied for a while, you sometimes have to take risks to make money. As a Sniper you can do well hunting mutants, but hunting humans is usually more profitable (but more dangerous). An alternative early on is scavenging, playing like a coyote. Listen out for gunfire, cautiously head over to see if there are any scraps you can pick up. You can even hang around neutral stalker groups to loot mutants and bandits that they kill.

Sell everything you aren't using. I used to hoard ammo of all types just in case I got a good weapon, but now I sell it. You make good money selling ammo. If you're desperate for cash you can sell your repair kits too.

It's a good idea to invest in a multi-fuel stove. If you don't want to pay there is a stash available. Regular food is very expensive so eat cooked mutant meat, save a lot of money in the long run. You're running costs will only be jerry cans which are cheap as dirt. You do need a decent stash of cigarettes, water, etc to get rid of the rads but those are quite easy to come buy.

I don't know what the developers of Misery were thinking, but getting in and out of the Mercenary camp alive is impossible. I turned off the "Hardcore AI" option, but enemies still have ridiculous aim, much better weapons and armor than me, there are just too many of them and they coordinate. I don't expect to go Rambo All Guns Blazin' and survive, but stealth so far didn't got me anywhere. Sniping from distance? Good luck. The shitty Mossin Nagant doesn't kill on Headshot. I propably did a mistake by choosing the Sniper class, thinking it would be fun. Or just by installing this Mod in the first place. I don't know how anybody else survives multiple enemies, but for me it's just not possible.

Edited by: StalkerFan1986

StalkerFan1986 wrote: I don't know what the developers of Misery were thinking, but getting in and out of the Mercenary camp alive is impossible. I turned off the "Hardcore AI" option, but enemies still have ridiculous aim, much better weapons and armor than me, there are just too many of them and they coordinate. I don't expect to go Rambo All Guns Blazin' and survive, but stealth so far didn't got me anywhere. Sniping from distance? Good luck. The shitty Mossin Nagant doesn't kill on Headshot. I propably did a mistake by choosing the Sniper class, thinking it would be fun. Or just by installing this Mod in the first place. I don't know how anybody else survives multiple enemies, but for me it's just not possible.

If you are not comfortable heading to Merc camp don't go there too early. I have been playing all stalker games since they are out, I still have trouble when I am carrying decent gears. Mercs are known tough nuts in Zaton since they have got the best armor and weapons. It will take a lot of time and skill to grind them down, most of the time you will need plenty of luck too.

I imagine misery difficulty in combat is pretty close to real life. Before you open fire on anyone, check your surroundings. Know that if they return fire and hit you, it's bad. Like as bad as being shot in real life, as apposed to call of duty where you can sprint off and lie low somewhere till you heal. You should never factor taking damage in a gunfight in misery, if your strategy is to take out as many enemies as possible and rely on them missing you, you have to rethink. I've played on after ending in misery with the best gear and still have been hit so hard I had <2secs till I died. I'm sure you know what that's like. Take cover and only shoot when you know you will hit. Think about where the enemy will go, what they will do when the engage you, can they flank you or take cover themselves? Who's closest, who's weakest, who's got the best gun? Which of them dies first? Literally try and put yourself your characters place with all your vulnerability. Would you personally do what you're making him do, knowing if you get shot, you will likely die, and if you die, it's over?

If you're stuck on the processing plant, many on here have posted guides, I myself just posted one on the Insane AI thread

Also, I should point out, I just started a sniper game on dark road so I started with nothing. Sold the stashes on the schevenko and did the ambush and transaction missions which bought me a kar98 from Beard and a black gas mask and AP ammo from owl. No armour, no grenades. That's all I did the processing plant with so it's doable with the mosin, just needs a strategy.

the mercenaries at the waste station are extremly hard, when I played assaulter I came back after some time with Bullat suit & streloks SIG, that worked fine for me.

seriously just leave them be, go to yanov, do quests there and get a good suit/weapon. they will stay there till you are ready, and they wont get attacked by mutants either. Imo this is the hardest "people" fight in misery, since its so early in the game. Hospital @ pripyat you should have decent gear by then

StalkerFan1986 wrote: I don't know what the developers of Misery were thinking, but getting in and out of the Mercenary camp alive is impossible. I turned off the "Hardcore AI" option, but enemies still have ridiculous aim, much better weapons and armor than me, there are just too many of them and they coordinate. I don't expect to go Rambo All Guns Blazin' and survive, but stealth so far didn't got me anywhere. Sniping from distance? Good luck. The shitty Mossin Nagant doesn't kill on Headshot. I propably did a mistake by choosing the Sniper class, thinking it would be fun. Or just by installing this Mod in the first place. I don't know how anybody else survives multiple enemies, but for me it's just not possible.

You're trying to take on too much, that's your problem here. You're biting off more than you can chew. Your gear isn't enough to take the mercs on in any kind of firefight. If you try to stick in one place and just pick off everyone in view you'll get killed.

Know what I did as a Sniper? Played like a sniper. I'd creep up to the waste processing plant, peek around a corner, wait for one merc to come into view, and then kill him with one or two shots from a Dragunov. Then I'd run away immediately. No hanging around to let the mercs grenade me or push in as a team to riddle me with bullets. Hit and run. I'd set up in a new spot where I could shoot the mercs in the flank when they arrived at my old position. I'd try to kill another, unless they were bunched up in a large group that might kill easily me with return fire, and then I'd leave the area completely. I'd come back the same night and do the same thing again. I kept doing this until they were so weakened there was just two or three that never came out of the main building.

Creative use of IEDs will help with this too. Take a shot, lay a mine, let the mercs stumble across it.

A word of warning: when I did the mission this way, one of the merc leader's bodies disappeared while I was gone and I never got his PDA. That prevents getting the Trafficker of Information perk. You might want to leave the leaders until last for this reason. I beleive they always wear either an Exoskeleton or a Radiation Suit.

To survive the first few hours of Misery is to know where to go and what to do first. If players don't know exact where and what, they won't last long.