New to Misery? Read here. Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Please post the most basic and essential tactics and gaming guide for Misery here. For these who are veteran Misery stalkers only share the tips are the most essential for new players such as how to obtain first weapon and armor, what to do to survive ect.
A lot of new players found Misery is extremely hard to the point of unplayable. If you have such problem post here and you will find answers.

1. Misery is designed for these who have been playing stalker for a while, it requires knowledge of vanilla game story line, quest line, map knowledge and above all, FPS gaming skill. If you are brand new to Stalker COP I highly recommend play vanilla game before try Misery mod, or else Misery will be true it's name and bring only pain and misery to stalker gaming.

2. Assume you already familiar with the maps. Each class will Enter the zone (Basically start the game with minimum gears) at different location. You should not get lost, only keep in mind go slow since all starting locations are not far from mutant spawns. You will find company very soon, and they are not always walk on 2 legs. Players will have some unlucky spawns where they will not survive the first 2 mins of the game, which is fairly common to the most skilled gamers, in that case just restart all together, better luck next time.

3. Enter the zone Black road will only spawn in Saw Mill for all classes. With only knife and no gear at all. Again players are expected to know which way to run (normally toward the ship). Again if players can not survive the first 2 mins either restart or choose enter zone with basic gears. Black road is designed for real hardcore survivalists, even the most hardcore and skilled players dies often within secs enter the zone. Don't be discouraged, the extreme difficulty was intentional by the designer, just find playing style most comfortable to you.

4. A lot of players are discouraged when they first arrive to the base, with next to nothing in bag and saw these 5 digits price tags at merchant window. Do not lose your hope here. It is again intentional by design. Players can and did survive long in the zone with almost no gears at all. All you have to know is which quest to do first and how to complete them with just shirt on your back. There are few quests can be done that way with no expense at all, each of them has good tactic posted by many other seasoned stalkers.

5. Do not be discouraged by the weapon and armor conditions in game. Player are not expected to have perfect condition equipment with in first couple of hours in game. A broken Ak74 will continue to fire even at 0 condition, they will jam as if they are at 50% condition. So always stay close to cover and expect weapon jam, they don't happen as often as ppl think. With broken armor and weapon some skilled players can last for a very long time, it is doable, only require caution and some luck. So bottom line is, expect your weapon stop working in the middle of gun fight, and don't get shot. Even in fully upgraded exosuit player dies from couple of hits at extreme range, luck is major factor after players are skilled enough to get behind covers.

Expert Stalker gamers: Please only post your tactic for the quest (The Hit) and (The transaction) here with no gears. At the end of these quest players should have enough to get started for rest of the game.

Edited by: DesertEagleV

Bombs.

Visit Shevchenko and raid the three stashes there. One on top of an engine, one at the bow, and one inside at the campfire. You now have enough money for an RPG based IED and a chemical IED from Owl. Buy them.

Place an RPG IED in the ditch at Shevchenko. Then place a chemical IED in the ranger station. If you stand looking in the big doors of the ranger station, you'll see a wooden crate. You want to place it a few metres back and a few meters to the left of that crate, almost at the pipes. This is important. If it's too close to the centre of the room, everyone WILL die and you will part-fail the mission. You have to actually shoot someone to fully succeed. Placing it there will allow Morgan to survive.

Start The Hit. Bandits will creep into the ditch and die. If they are spaced out a bit and any survive which you can't take out, try experimenting with jerrycans to make sure all the bandits die without you having to shoot them. When all are dead, speak to Sparticus and then return to beard.

Start The Transaction. Note large explosion in the distance. Approach the ranger station, observing the body count, and seek out Morgan. Shoot him once and flee to cover, let Sparticus finish him. Gather the loot and speak to Sparticus (this will fail if everyone dies without you shooting anyone) than return to Beard.

Done. Now go clear the waste processing plant

htkblazer wrote: Bombs.

Visit Shevchenko and raid the three stashes there. One on top of an engine, one at the bow, and one inside at the campfire. You now have enough money for an RPG based IED and a chemical IED from Owl. Buy them.

Place an RPG IED in the ditch at Shevchenko. Then place a chemical IED in the ranger station. If you stand looking in the big doors of the ranger station, you'll see a wooden crate. You want to place it a few metres back and a few meters to the left of that crate, almost at the pipes. This is important. If it's too close to the centre of the room, everyone WILL die and you will part-fail the mission. You have to actually shoot someone to fully succeed. Placing it there will allow Morgan to survive.

Start The Hit. Bandits will creep into the ditch and die. If they are spaced out a bit and any survive which you can't take out, try experimenting with jerrycans to make sure all the bandits die without you having to shoot them. When all are dead, speak to Sparticus and then return to beard.

Start The Transaction. Note large explosion in the distance. Approach the ranger station, observing the body count, and seek out Morgan. Shoot him once and flee to cover, let Sparticus finish him. Gather the loot and speak to Sparticus (this will fail if everyone dies without you shooting anyone) than return to Beard.

Done. Now go clear the waste processing plant

But I am talking about players with nothing in hand, had to do these mission with just knife.

1. If you're doing a mission that involves an artifact or are hunting for an artifact to sell, be sure to have a Lead-Lined Metal Container (LLMC) to store it in. If an artifact is in your inventory its radiation affects you whether you've equipped it or not, unless it's in a container.

2. If you're stuck for money, talk to Grouse on the Skadovsk and do the Bloodsucker Lair mission. Just buy a couple of cheapo grenades to kill the bloodsuckers on the first two floors. You can also stock up on ammo if you can afford it, then snipe the sleeping bloodsuckers from up on one of the machine cabinets in their room.

3. Another way to get money is to scavenge. The stalkers at the Shevchenko (the wrecked boat closest to the Skadovsk) and stalkers in the area to the north often kill large numbers of mutants. You can ninja some stuff here if you're quick. The stalkers don't seem to mind. Just watch out for dogs, snorks and bandits. They're not super common here but they do appear often enough to keep on your guard.

4. If you're looking for a cheap decent shotgun, a SPAS-12 (worn) is a bargain. The accuracy loss for being of 'worn' quality doesn't matter for buckshot that you'll be using at close range anyway. It only costs about 15000 RU (it will be less with discounts) and is way better than the sawn-off the sniper starts with. My Assaulters like shotties too. The ammo is cheap and it hurts mutants a lot. A nice budget weapon until you find something really good.

5. Related to my Assaulter comment: don't worry too much about class proficiencies. Medium proficiency in a weapon or armour is fine. Even low proficiency is workable. Obviously high proficiency is the best and is nice to have, but it's not vital and you should consider it a bonus rather than seeing Medium proficiency as a nerf. Low proficiency is a nerf but not a crippling one.

6. It's always tempting to replace that tattered shitty Light Overcoat as soon as humanly possible, but be patient and save your money for good armour. I find high quality armour makes more of a difference than high quality weaponry so this is what I recommend saving up for. The Heavy Overcoat and Sunrise Suit are both quite good, the more expensive Berill-5M and CS-3a 'Clear Sky' armour (available from Nimble) give even stronger protection. The Skat-9M 'Bulat' is very solid but isn't so easily available. The same advice goes for helmets - if you're going to wear one then save up for a Sphere M9 or M12. I sometimes get the helmet first because it comes with night vision.

7. Don't try going deep into fire or acid anomaly fields without a scientist suit or a SEVA. This includes getting to the plateau with Noah. You'll roast/melt in seconds.

8. Bandits and/or mercs can ambush you nearly anywhere, but the places they are most likely to be found in Zaton are in the southern and eastern parts of the map, from the Ranger Station down to the ruined bridge, Scar anomaly and waste processing plant, then across to the Fuelling Station (the gas station). Always be extra alert anywhere near here.

9. Learn to read the environment. Burning campfires are a sign that stalkers are there, and if it's in the southern part of the map (see point 8 above) it's usually bandits or mercenaries. If you see dead mutants and/or stalkers, that means something killed them and may still be around nearby. If you see fleshes and boars running around, take a look to see if you can see what they're running away from. These mutant piggies are like an early warning system or a danger barometer.

10. Learn the areas where neutral stalkers can most often be found. Use these as waypoints for journeys. Neutral stalkers are hostile to most of your enemies and often clear areas of danger for you.

tactic for the quest (The Hit) and (The transaction) here with no gears.

The Hit: your low-cost friend here is the once more the low-cost grenade. You only need one for this. Let the bandits go ahead into the little gully and toss a grenade after them. It may not kill them all - if it doesn't, either quickly gun down the survivors or run away back around the ship and let the Shevchenko stalkers finish them off. Be sure to loot the dead bandit bodies quick before the Loners get to them.

The Transaction: Again it's time for the grenade to shine. As soon as Spartacus gives the order to attack, throw one through the large entrance where the deal was taking place. If you've got more than one grenade, toss those too. After that it's just a matter of using cover, clearing rooms smartly and shooting anything hostile as soon as you see it. It's worth hanging back a little bit so you're not the first through the door (I usually check to see if I can kill anyone through the window to the right of the main entrance). Be careful not to kill your own guys.

DesertEagleV wrote:

But I am talking about players with nothing in hand, had to do these mission with just knife.

If I was going to do those with just a knife then I'd take one swipe at a bandit and then leg it, and hope the friendly stalkers killed the rest. As long as you hit a bandit you count as contributing to the mission.

A recon might have more luck since they can pierce the thick armour that Morgan and the mercenaries usually wear. You could try some crazy ninja stuff sneaking around the ranger station, but that's above my pay grade.

In both cases, if I just had a knife then I'd rather be out in the swamps wrasslin' with fleshes for profit, or on the prowl for dead stalkers to loot from.

Edited by: Lomlom

Even as recon with a spetznaz switchblade, I have never killed an enemy without dancing round him slashing madly and taking shots to the face for 30 secs. There is no way I'd advise a new player to try it, that's a shortcut to the uninstall folder. By looting the Shevchenko as the first thing you do ingame, you can go from having a knife to having bombs and the means of completing both missions with minimum interaction and thus risk, and as you point out, it leaves you able to comfortably explore the rest if the game.

You asked what one does to complete both missions with no gear, my answer is: you don't. And even if you could, the tactic should not be in a thread for new players.

Instead I gave new players a tactic on completing both missions at gamestart.

Edited by: htkblazer

htkblazer wrote:
You asked what one does to complete both missions with no gear, my answer is: you don't. And even if you could, the tactic should not be in a thread for new players.

Yes it would be challenging, but completely doable. It will encourage new players that there are options at beginning of the game, rather than complete stuck and dies of starvation.

Think stash raiding is more viable than expert mode engaged knife fighting...

This is only for Dark Road, starting off a normal playthrough, you won't even need half of the stuff I'm about to say.

I honestly got lucky.
My first attempt at Dark Road and CoP in general, I stayed in the roof, slept till daytime and I got lucky with a stalker group distracting a ton of the zombies.
I then booked it into the Barn where I heard there is a good stash and I was lucky to find it and got myself a DB Shotgun. Ran into another set of stalkers and got led to Skadovsk.

Few things to note about Looting and Selling :
1. Always unload weapons. You can be at a loss when selling Beard the weapon + ammo inside it. Its better to unload then sell both.
2. Beard and Owl are totally different traders. Beard is more of the Food, Research kinda guy while Owl is the Information and Ammo.

For the Hit, if you have only a pistol and not the Shotgun I just took from the stash, just let them walk a bit, shoot one in the back of the head and run back where you came from. Save often and you might get both sides to kill each other off. Loot.

For Transaction, since you got a decent gun from the Hit, let Spartacus or whoever is leading them go first. I'm not sure if it was me but Morgan just stood still while I shot him but inch your way into the front big doors. Stay in cover and, again, save often. The stalkers should finish up the bandits and mercs quite fast as they have the superior weaponry. Loot and loot fast. Follow some stalkers if they seem to be running off into some random direction.

If you feel like you need more cash, Head to the Shevchenko and look towards the open plain hills. Usually there will be either Loners, Duty or Freedom members shooting fleshes and boars. If you are lucky, one of them might die and you can loot them. If anything you should have gotten yourself a decent firearm and some ammo.
Sell all information items (Faction patches, Drug notes, Maps, Personal belongings) to Owl and Research items (Artifacts, Skins) and broken weaponry to Beard.
Save all your ammo you get into your personal stash but if you don't personally use Pistols (me), sell the ammo. Ammo is not too valuable but it does give some extra cash.

You should have enough now to buy a UPD, Headlamp, a Gas powered Stove and the 9L Jerrycan (Best price for 9).
Getting a suit is your secondary objective. You don't need it as far as anyone is concerned if you are dying of starvation. If you think you can take a few more bullets or scratches with a Sunrise or a Heavy Overcoat, you are badly mistaken. They will stop 1 extra bullet, yes, but when a Dog is eating you up is when I say, "Told you so".
Its gonna be hard but you kinda need to run a routine. Head to Ranger station to kill some mercs (if you are feeling daring), or head to Shevchenko and watch Stalkers kill Mutants. You need to learn the map. You want to know, "is there going to be any mutants from here to here? What about Mercs and Bandits?" You then can plot your course to kill mutants, bandits and all sorts. Usually when I do a run, I get around 10k per encounter aka 1 set of Bandits = 10k.

Here's a quick one. Let's say you've got your crappy early game gear and you're tramping through the swamps, looking for an easy score, when you're ambushed by hostile NPCs.

In vanilla CoP most players would crouch down right there, raise their weapon, take careful aim and drop the bad guys one by one like in a shooting gallery. Some try this in Misery and find it doesn't work, instead they're very quickly killed. Then they complain about it on a forum somewhere, saying how cheap Misery is and how the bandits have crazy perfect aimbot accuracy, and are impossible to kill even though the player totally shot them like a million times right in the head.

What you really should do in this situation in Misery is the following:
- Take cover immediately
- Move away from the point where the hostiles would have last seen or heard you, so that if they throw grenades you won't get hit
- Take stimpacks if hurt
- Take morphine or vinca if you have crappy armour
- Carefully sneak to a position with cover where you have line-of-fire to where the hostiles last saw or heard you, ideally off to one flank
- If you're in swampland in Zaton, the reeds are good at blocking line of sight. You can hide in a clump of reeds and hit the bad guys at point blank range.
- Kill the first guy you see coming to try to investigate your former position
- Repeat again from the first step (or if you have a really good position you could try your luck from there; it is a gamble though)
- Alternatively, retreat. There's no shame in running away to fight another day. If I was ambushed by four Mercs in exoskeletons and I only had low-end equipment, I'd definitely try to flee rather than fight (or hide until they went away).

These tactics work because NPCs are quite aggressive and will try to push in on where they think you are. They will focus on the last spot that they saw you or where they heard you making a noise (obviously gunfire in particular because the sound travels a long way). They don't have good vision to their sides or rear so they are vulnerable to being flanked. Using this behaviour against NPCs is the key to defeating them. They do have good aim and some of them are very well armed and armoured, but even these can be flanked and then killed at point blank with a long burst or a half-dozen buckshot blasts.

If you're a bit better equipped you can combine these tactics with laying mines or IEDs, or with throwing grenades.

neo_child wrote: If you think you can take a few more bullets or scratches with a Sunrise or a Heavy Overcoat, you are badly mistaken. They will stop 1 extra bullet, yes, but when a Dog is eating you up is when I say, "Told you so".

They do protect against pistols, submachine guns and the odd bit of buckshot, which can leave an unprotected stalker wounded and heavily bleeding. Rifles though, especially AP ammo, cut through them pretty hard still. Overall I find that mid-tier armour is worthwhile and will help a stalker survive a firefight, and that goes double if you stack some extra kevlar or carbon steel on top.

Regarding the prices of owl & bonesetter and beard & Hawaiian, they do make a huge difference. I feel like you can get sometimes more then 50% better prices for different items on the traders, so if you are not sure take the time and double check its very much worth it especially in the early game:

owl & bonesetter pays more for:
- ammo / grenades
- good condition weapons / suits
- weapon additions like grenade launchers, good scopes & silencers
- repair stuff. (some sell for for very very low cash even though they are very helpfull. its usually more cheaper if condition is below 90% to repair with stuff then at mechanic) doesnt include mutant parts
- faction patches
- electronics & "military" items like..shovel, broken flashlight, broken radio and similar

beard & Hawaiian pays most for:
- artefacts & gear including: artefact containers, detectors
- batterys and PDA's
- mutant parts & meat
- damages scopes & weapons (upgraded weapons, recognicable by the "screw" symbol on the top left corner bring more)
its very true and important to always always unload every gun and detach all attachments!!!!!
- suit attachments like kevlar plates ect
- all medicines and drugs (well IMA Medkit pays very slightly more but doesnt really matter)

What to take what to leave:
depends mostly on your need for cash and your distance to base and also a bit on your class.

- when you need desperatly some cash and are roaming close to base then you might as well take damages guns and boar/flesh pelts..after looting 1-2 squads they can give you around 5k for the damages guns easy...this is not a very profitable tactic if you have to move further distances since your stamina suffers severly.
in this case drop the guns and also boar & flesh pelts... (flesh pelt ~900RU and weighs 4kg i think) always always take ammo and weapon parts first, they are a light and good money income!

the next step is to loose heavy repair stuff which doesnt bring a lot of cash...this includes all kinds of ropes, hammer/crowbar, boots
if you cover larger areas then you have to reduce your weight of loot even on cocain ect. Remember the total stamina loss when overloaded as sniper or recon, it can make a big difference. so save/reload always after being down to normal gear again.

Personally I suggest as Assaulter & Recon the very first thing you safe up to is "March" or with slightly bigger mag "Alpine" handgun from Nimble which should be only ~20k
even though the ammo might seem expensive in the start its quite common and with this handgun you can easily hunt easy mutants with profit and also do some serious NPC damage. As sniper I would stick to the double barrel untill you finish the mutant quests and you get "Predator" which is a beast!

Next is to get a good suit, which can again be bought from nimble. If you play assaulter or sniper I suggest getting the CSa-3 armor which has very decent protection and upgrades...I think its around 70k or so?!
as recon do the iron forest as soon as possible and give the maps to the guide. once thats done you can travel to yanov and visit the freedom dude in the quarry. Speak to flint and then your stuff will be stolen. In the stash with your gear at the substation you will get a sunrise suit.

personally I always get a suit before ever repairing the one you start with, a good suit is very important to me!

This is a list of Misery's mutants and their key traits. This is something I made for myself originally, to help me remember differences from vanilla and what the new monsters can do.

My danger ratings take into account how difficult this mutant is to avoid and not only how dangerous they are in a straight fight. For example a pack of fleshes can do a lot of damage if they all attack at once but because they're so lazy, cowardly, noisy and easy to spot they aren't much danger to an alert stalker. Bear in mind also that the specific situation you're fighting in can make a big difference - gunning down snorks across the quarry in broad daylight with long range machine gun fire is much less dangerous than fighting them in caves at nighttime with a worn sawn-off shotgun.

Mutants prefer to attack things on their 'Primarily attacks' list over things in their 'Also attacks' list. This information is taken from the table in game_relations.ltx; mutants have their reaction to enemies set as either -1 or -2, preferring to fight those rated as -2. For less aggressive mutants like fleshes it doesn't make a lot of difference. However if more aggressive mutants become aware of one of their preferred enemies nearby while they are fighting a less-hated enemy they will often break off to attack the newcomer. This is why, for example, you may notice that snorks will come after you even if fat tasty fleshes are nearby too. This also works the other way around - mutants attacking a primary enemy will generally ignore lesser enemies until their current prey is dead and they can't detect any other primary enemies. For example, you may notice dogs hunting fleshes and boars will attack them until these prey are all dead, and then move on to attack nearby stalkers (including you). This is useful information because knowing which mutants can be distracted by other mutants, and which mutants will make killing you their priority, helps a lot with judging how dangerous a situation is.

If you want to know what an individual mutant looks like, check them out on the Stalker wiki : Stalker.wikia.com

Tushkano:
- Tiny bipedal mutant derived from rats
- Uncommon
- Found singly or in packs from 3-8+ mostly in ruins, sometimes in open ground
- Primarily attacks: humans, cats
- Also attacks: fleshes, boars, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, snorks
- Primarily attacked by: cats, snorks
- Also attacked by: humans, fleshes, boars, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs
- Weak bodied
- Quite fast moving and often erratic
- Swift clawing attacks used when as close as possible
- Sometimes aggressive, sometimes cowardly
- Occasionally squeaks or chitters
- Body parts are cheap and few
- Meat is not nutritious
- Danger rating: 1/10 individual, 3-5/10 pack (depending on size)
Notes: Also known as hamsters. These are unpredictable mutants - while a pack attack can be dangerous, as often as not the pack will scatter. My attitude is that it's better to be safe than sorry and always treat tushkanos as if they'll be aggressive. Shotguns firing buckshot work best on these pests.

Flesh:
- Large quadropedal mutant derived from pigs
- Very common
- Usually found in packs of 2-4 in swamps, open ground and hillsides
- Often associates with boars
- Primarily attacks: humans
- Also attacks: tushkanos, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, cats, snorks, bloodsuckers, chimeras
- Primarily attacked by: blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, cats, bloodsuckers
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, snorks, chimeras
- Tough bodied
- Heavy protection on the head and neck
- Medium speed but slow to turn around
- Slow, stationary attacks are avoidable and not especially damaging
- Only sometimes aggressive and doesn't pursue enemies far
- Often flees from enemies
- Noisily squeals and grunts all the time
- Body parts are cheap but a corpse usually contains several
- Meat is moderately nutritious
- Danger Rating: 1/10 individual, 2/10 pack
Notes: Flesh and boar herds are useful as living early warning systems. If you see fleshes or boars running around excited, take a moment to see if there's anything chasing them. This can give you a life-saving heads-up on the presence of predators in the area. If you see a lot of flesh or boar corpses lying around it probably means stakers passed through the area recently, but it could also indicate something even nastier like a pack of cats/dogs or a chimera. If a flesh/boar pack is just milling around without a care in the world then that means the coast is probably clear (not counting the fleshes or boars themselves of course).

Boar:
- Large quadropedal mutant derived from boars
- Very common
- Usually found in packs of 2-3 in swamps, open ground and hillsides
- Often associates with fleshes
- Primarily attacks: humans
- Also attacks: tushkanos, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, cats, snorks, bloodsuckers, dwarfs, chimeras
- Primarily attacked by: blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, cats, bloodsuckers
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, snorks, chimeras
- Tough bodied
- Heavy protection on the head and neck
- Slow moving and quite slow changing direction
- Uses a charging attack that is dangerous but can be dodged
- Often aggressive, especially if approached closely, but doesn't pursue enemies far
- Sometimes flees from stalkers and predators
- Occasionally grunts and snorts loudly
- Body parts are cheap
- Meat is quite nutritious
- Danger Rating: 3/10 individual, 4/10 pack
Notes: See the flesh's entry notes on 'living early warning system'

Blind Dog:
- Small quadropedal mutant derived from dogs
- Common
- Usually found in packs of 2-7 anywhere in the Zone
- Often associates with pseudodogs
- Primarily attacks: fleshes, boars, cats
- Also attacks: humans, tushkanos, snorks
- Primarily attacked by: cats
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, fleshes, boars, snorks
- Weak bodied
- Vulnerable head and rear
- Fast moving and agile
- Typically charges its prey head-on and makes a series of hit-and-run attacks
- Sometimes will stay close to its victim and bite it until it dies
- Occasionally uses a leaping attack
- Very aggressive and will chase prey for long distances, but may leave unreachable prey alone
- Often barks, snarls or woofs.
- Body parts are cheap and few
- Meat is not nutritious
- Danger rating: 3/10 individual, 5/10 pack
Notes: Individually weak, a large pack is a serious danger. Their leaping attack means they can reach stalkers who retreat from them up onto a high spot like a boulder or car. Fortunately they don't often use it and it doesn't reach to very high spots like the Oakpine Anomaly's branches.

Pseudodog:
- Small quadropedal mutant derived from dogs
- Quite common
- Usually found singly or in packs of 2-4 anywhere in the Zone
- Often associates with blind dogs
- Primarily attacks: fleshes, boars
- Also attacks: humans, tushkanos, snorks
- Primarily attacked by: cats
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, fleshes, boars, snorks
- Quite tough bodied
- Vulnerable head, tough neck and spine
- Fast moving and agile
- Typically charges its prey head-on and makes a series of hit-and-run attacks
- Sometimes will stay close to its victim and bite it until it dies
- Often uses a leaping attack
- Very aggressive and will chase prey for long distances
- Occasionally growls when attacking but is generally stealthy
- Body parts are quite valuable and a corpse may contain several
- Meat is not very nutritious
- Danger rating: 4/10 individual, 7/10 pack
Notes: Like blind dogs, their leaping attack means they can still reach stalkers up on a high spot, and they are more likely to use it than blind dogs.

Cat:
- Small quadropedal mutant derived from wild and domesticated cats
- Quite common
- Usually found singly or in packs of 2-3 anywhere in the Zone, but much larger groups have been recorded
- Primarily attacks: tushkanos, fleshes, boars, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs
- Also attacks: humans
- Primarily attacked by: tushkanos, blind dogs
- Also attacked by: humans, fleshes, boars,
- Quite tough bodied
- Vulnerable head and belly, tough neck and spine
- Quite fast moving
- Powerful claw attack
- Tends to circle around prey erratically before darting in to claw at it until it dies
- Aggressive but often loses interest in prey that moves out of its reach
- Cautious attacker
- Silent except when wounded or attacking with claws
- Body parts are cheap and few
- No meat
- Danger rating: 4/10 individual, 6/10 pack, 9/10 huge pack
Notes: Sometimes known as Zone cats. They're largely dangerous because they are stealthy and will often take unwary stalkers by surprise.

Snork:
- Degenerate human; former military stalkers lost to the Zone in its early days
- Quite common
- Usually found in groups of 2-4 anywhere in the Zone
- Primarily attacks: humans, tushkanos
- Also attacks: fleshes, boars, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, bloodsuckers, pseudogiants, chimeras
- Primarily attacked by: chimeras, pseudogiants
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, fleshes, boars, blind dogs, pseudodogs, psy-dogs, bloodsuckers
- Not especially tough bodied
- Vulnerable head
- Somewhat fast moving
- Emits slight radiation at close ranges
- Powerful but avoidable leaping attack
- Usually charges enemies head on and leaps at them when in range
- This often results in a series of leaping hit-and-runs
- Sometimes prefers to hide in bushes when attacked by stalkers to try to ambush its attackers
- Very aggressive, will attack even distant prey
- Screams and gurgles uninteligibly when fighting, sometimes its breathing can be heard
- Body parts fetch a good price and corpses may contain several
- Meat is not nutritious
- Danger rating: 5/10 individual, 7/10 pack
Notes: Snorks are quite unpredictable. Groups in certain areas - the Iron Forest, the Zaton plateau, the Jupiter Plant - seem to quickly return to their original location rather than chase stalkers very far. Other groups will attack relentlessly. One main danger is being ambushed. Once you're aware of snorks, accurate fire puts them down quickly, though it can be a challenge to wipe out a whole group before they reach you. If snorks are hiding from you in bushes or reeds then flushing them out with grenades is recommended. The snork leaping attacks can reach quite high and can also damage you through a roof if they're in the space below. Snorks are slightly radioactive but it's at such a low level that it's not dangerous.

Izlom:
- Medium bipedal mutant derived from humans
- Rare
- Usually found in groups of 3-4 in or around derelict buildings
- Primarily attacks: humans, bloodsuckers
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: humans, bloodsuckers
- Also attacked by: none
- Tough bodied
- Very vulnerable head
- Average speed
- Quite aggressive but will not always pursue enemies very far
- Can make powerful attacks with its mishapen arm
- Usually charges head on once a stalker is close by
- Sometimes snarls but is generally quiet
- Body parts fetch a good price
- Sometimes carries general items as loot as well
- No meat
- Danger rating: 3/10 individual, 5/10 pack
Notes: Also known as 'fractures'. They often look goofy in screenshots but when you're suddenly surprised by a group in a dark building you'll forget to laugh. Like many mutants they actually come in weak, normal and strong varieties. These are very similar in game, the biggest difference is that the weak ones are quite cowardly while the strong ones are almost fearless.

Bloodsucker:
- Medium bipedal mutant possibly derived from humans
- Quite common
- Usually found singly or in groups of 2-4 anywhere in the Zone
- Primarily attacks: fleshes, boars, chimeras
- Also attacks: humans, snorks, izloms
- Primarily attacked by: chimeras
- Also attacked by: humans, fleshes, boars, snorks, izloms
- Quite tough bodied
- Vulnerable head, tough spine
- Quite fast and erratic movements, good agility
- Very aggressive, will pursue enemies for long distances
- Very powerful claw attacks used with deadly hit-and-run tactics
- Has a special blood-draining attack that it can use from behind, usually fatal
- Turns invisible when fighting, only turning visible just before it attacks (see notes)
- Roars when it detects prey and when it attacks
- Body parts are valuable
- Meat is nutritious
- Danger rating: 6/10 individual, 8/10 group
Notes: One of the most feared and hated mutants. Learn to recognize their distinctive roar and the sound they make when going visible and invisible. Most stalkers always consider their 'Bloodsucker contingency options' just in case there are some nearby. There are weak, normal and strong varieties of bloodsucker, and while they all do similar damage (obviously increasing a bit from weak to strong) a key difference is that they 'decloak' at different distances, with weak bloodsuckers revealing themselves considerably further away than the strong ones. Bloodsuckers are mercifully helpless against stalkers who can get into areas where they can't follow, with high ground (e.g large boulders) and tight spaces (e.g wedged behind some pipes) being the most popular havens.

Pseudogiant:
- Very large bipedal mutant possibly derived from humans
- Rare
- Usually found singly but sometimes in pairs on hillsides and open areas
- Primarily attacks: humans (see Notes), snorks, dwarfs, chimeras
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: dwarfs
- Also attacked by: humans, boars, snorks, chimeras
- Very tough bodied
- Weak rear
- Slow moving and low agility
- Emits radiation at close range
- Very aggressive, will chase foes for considerable distances
- Very powerful maul attack
- Powerful stomping attack that can hurt enemies behind cover or in high places
- Roars, snorts and stamps around loudly
- Body parts are very valuable and corpses may contain several
- Corpses may also contain artifacts
- No meat
- Danger Rating: 5/10
Notes: Pseudogiants appear to prefer to attack stalkers other than you, if multiple targets are available. A tough waddling powerhouse, the pseudogiant has a relatively low danger rating because it's easy to spot and escape from, and because it can be safely taken out at a distance with RPGs or grenade launchers. Be warned that despite its large frame a pseudogiant is capable of getting into some surprisingly narrow spaces, such climbing up the stairs in the Shevchenko in Zaton or up the stairs running to the top of the Cement Factory's tower in Jupiter.

Psy-Dog:
- Small quadropedal psychic mutant derived from dogs
- Rare
- Usually found singly, sometimes in groups of 2-3, on hillsides or open ground and occasionally in ruins
- Primarily attacks: fleshes, boars
- Also attacks: humans, tushkanos, snorks
- Primarily attacked by: cats
- Also attacked by: humans, tushkanos, fleshes, boars, snorks
- Quite tough bodied
- Vulnerable head, tough neck and spine
- Fast moving and agile
- Medium strength psychic aura with a small range of effect
- Can manifest several psychic phantoms of itself that can cause physical damage
- Often uses a leaping attack
- Also has a strong bite
- Very aggressive and will chase prey for long distances
- Prefers to stand off while its phantoms attack
- Little or no sense of fear
- Occasionally growls when attacking but is generally stealthy
- Body parts are quite valuable and a corpse may contain several
- Meat is not very nutritious
- Danger Rating: 7/10 individual, 8/10 group
Notes: Also known as a Chernobyl dog. These mutants are very dangerous because a single psy-dog can quickly turn into a pack of ravening, bloodthirsty hounds. The psy-dog's phantoms do less damage than a pseudodog but are still dangerous. They vanish if they take any damage at all or if the original psy-dog is killed. The real psy-dog can be told apart from its phantoms by its distinctive behaviour - usually the psy-dog will be the one running around furthest back while the phantoms charge straight on in.

Controller:
- Medium bipedal psychic mutant derived from humans
- Rare
- Usually found singly or in groups of 2-3 in or around derelict buildings
- Often associates with zombified stalkers
- Primarily attacks: humans
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: humans
- Also attacked by: none
- Tough bodied
- Vulnerable head, protected everywhere else
- Slow moving
- High strength psychic aura with a medium range of effect
- Highly aggressive but sometimes prefers to stand off to attack
- Very powerful long range 'mind blast' attack that requires line of sight to the target
- 'Mind blast' has a charge-up accompanied by a ringing in the target's ears
- Can also batter enemies with its fists
- Occasionally mutters or shouts but is nearly always silent
- Body parts are very valuable and corpses may contain several
- Corpses also often contain assorted items as well
- No meat
- Danger rating: 7/10 individual, 9/10 group
Notes: A fearsome mutant that can smash stalkers' brains with a gesture. If you hear a sharp ringing in your ears, get yourself down behind cover quickly. Thankfully controllers have key weaknesses that stalkers can exploit. Often (but not always) controllers will hang back instead of pressing in on your position, which spares you from being caught in their psychic aura. Their attack also gives you a warning and enough time to get into cover that breaks line of sight - if you're quick and cautious, controllers will have a hard time hurting you. Peeking from cover to make headshots or attack with grenades is an effective tactic against controllers. Good psy-protection is recommended if you want to take controllers on but even then their mind blast attack is dangerous.

Poltergeist:
- Medium psychic mutant of unknown origin; manifests as a glowing bluish ball that distorts the air nearby
- Very rare
- Usually found singly or in pairs in the Iron Forest, Jupiter Plant and the tunnel beneath the Antenna Complex
- Primarily attacks: humans
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: humans
- Also attacked by: none
- Quite tough bodied but lacks protection
- Medium speed and erratic movement
- Emits radiation
- *EXTREMELY* strong psychic aura with a large range of effect
- Telekinetic powers that can throw loose objects with great force
- Extremely aggressive but does not alter its movements in reaction to enemies
- Can detect humans psychically regardless of line of sight
- Makes a crackling, humming noise
- No corpses to collect body parts
- Danger Rating: 8/10
Notes: Poltergeists are infamous for their brain-melting aura. This aura is devastating to an unprotected stalker, killing them in seconds, but a combination of suitably upgraded headgear and psyblock tablets mitigates this. You'll still take damage if you're caught in their aura but should have plenty of time to kill the poltergeist. Poltergeists are best killed at as long a range as possible, with well-aimed bullets being the most reliable method. In interior encounters grenade launchers or shotguns may be preferrable to kill them as quickly as possible.

Pyrogeist:
- Medium psychic mutant of unknown origin; manifests as a glowing orange ball that distorts the air nearby
- Very rare
- Usually found singly or in pairs in the Iron Forest, Jupiter Plant, the tunnel beneath the Antenna Complex
and the Circus anomaly
- Primarily attacks: humans
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: humans
- Also attacked by: none
- Quite tough bodied but lacks protection
- Medium speed
- Emits strong radiation
- Generates extreme temperatures in a small radius around it
- Strong psychic aura with a medium range of effect
- Aggressive, pursues enemies who approach
- Makes a crackling, humming noise
- No corpses to collect body parts
- Danger Rating: 8/10
Notes: The pyrogeist's psychic aura may not be as lethal as the poltergeist's, but the pyrogeist's aggressive movement combined with its heat and radioactivity make it a very dangerous foe nevertheless. Pyrogeists are sometimes found alongside poltergeists; I recommend killing the pyrogeists first because they're the ones that will push in on you deliberately.

Dwarf:
- Medium psychic mutant derived from humans.
- Very rare
- Usually found singly or in groups of 2-4 in or around derelict buildings
- Primarily attacks: humans, pseudogiants
- Also attacks: none
- Primarily attacked by: pseudogiants
- Also attacked by: humans, boars
- Tough bodied, protected everywhere except for the head
- Medium psychic aura with a medium range of effect
- Telekinetic powers that can throw loose objects with great force,
- Telekinetec powers that can pull weapons out of stalkers' hands and cause massive loss of stamina; has a noticeable charge-up that disturbs the air around the target
- Telekinetic powers that can directly strike at a target
- Can also create a psychic force field that deflects bullets
- Extremely aggressive, will attack on sight and pursue enemies over long distances
- Sometimes mutters while idle, usually silent in combat except when wounded
- Body parts are valuable
- Corpses also often contain valuable items as well
- No meat
- Danger Rating: 7/10 individual, 9/10 group
Notes: Also known as Burers. They are fearsome opponents because of their aggression and psychic powers and should never be taken lightly. Stalkers are advised to only take dwarfs on if they have psychic protection because they will most likely end up within the dwarfs' psychic aura due to the dwarfs' aggressive movements. Dwarfs are best dealt with using headshots from behind cover so that they cannot tear your weapon away or hit you with their telekinetic blast attack. One tip to remember is that dwarfs can't snatch pistols out of your hands which makes pistols a good weapon for dealing with dwarfs. Be aware that dwarfs immediately activate their force field if damaged, so you probably won't land more than one hit at a time. RPGs and grenade launchers can be effective too but dwarfs will telekinetically deflect hand grenades.

Chimera:
- Large quadropedal multi-headed mutant of unknown origin
- Rare
- Usually found singly, rarely in pairs, anywhere in the Zone but most often far away from safe camps.
- Primarily attacks: humans (see Notes), bloodsuckers, snorks
- Also attacks: fleshes, boars, pseudogiants
- Primarily attacked by: bloodsuckers, pseudogiants
- Also attacked by: humans, fleshes, boars, snorks
- Very tough bodied
- Vulnerable head
- Fast moving and agile
- Extremely powerful long range leaping attack
- Extremely aggressive, will pursue prey over long distances
- Screams while leaping
- Body parts are very valuable and corpses always contain several
- Meat is highly nutritious
- Danger Rating: 9/10
Notes: Chimeras appear to prefer to attack stalkers other than you, if multiple targets are available (I myself was once fighting a chimera at the Ventilation Complex in Jupiter when it decided to move away from me to attack a group of bandits it spotted at the nearby Helipad, charging through a live minefield to do so!). Chimeras don't make much noise but do have a distinctive scream they make when they perform their leap attack - learn to recognize this sound, it may save your life. Chimeras bear a passing resemblance to boars at a distance, but be sure not to confuse them. Chimeras are resilient but can be taken out most efficiently with RPGs or grenade launchers, or if you have found a good hiding nook that's too small for the chimera to follow you into, a shotgun works quite well.

Edited by: Lomlom

Great job there Lomlom. Very simple and informative.

I guess the only thing I can add to that is adding a factor to the danger rating. The narrow and tight space will have at least 2 to 10 times multiplication to the danger rating depends on the mutants. For example dwarfs in tight space is far more annoying than the ones in the open area. 2 cats in a basement is far worse than 10 cats in the open. If you got caught in the basement facing a pseudogiant (oh yes they can get in) like I did, let's just hope you saved the game not too long ago.

Open area always offer more safety since there are far more areas to move around. Generally speaking the best time and place to actively hunt mutant is during day light in open and well scouted areas. The worst time and place to actively hunt is during night and tight narrow places with few option to escape, at this point the player isn't the hunter anymore. So for these who are not familiar with Misery night hunting, just don't.

Stalkers in misery often facing tough choices when it comes to mutant combats. What weapon/equipment player carrying at time, distance to safe house, distance to possible enemy patrols, number of mutants and their possible profit, which area player is in, weather, time of the day etc. These are all the factors player will have to consider before pulling the trigger. Generally all the noob stalker like myself once upon a time, will pull trigger as soon as something is moving in front of the gun. Often result in reload the last save. The seasoned stalker in misery mod will think twice about engage the enemy/hostile mutants.

Nice protected spots like that are a great place to use those grenades you find. Save your bullets for things that shoot back Smart use of the terrain is your primary advantage over mutants. They are tougher, many are faster, and highly outnumber you. If you are unprepared, avoiding drawing their attention is your safest bet.

Gigants inside buildings can be a nightmare. I was trapped by a pair inside the Jupiter Admin building once. That was the only time I ran out of ammunition completely and crawled back to base. They can effect you two stories above and below them when you can't even shoot back. Mines are your friends then, hope you still have some in your pack ... I didn't.

How to kill chimeras if you don't have a grenade launcher:

1. Find a small, boxed-in space that the chimera will have a hard time getting into. Examples are: the security booths by the barrier inside the east entrance to the Jupiter factory, and the back of the truck at the bandit camp near the Acid Bath anomaly. Hide in these spaces and shoot the chimera as it comes into view. Be patient, chimeras can absorb a lot of bullets.

2. Find an area with a lot of vertical obstacles. Examples are: an area with lots of trees, or the pylons at the Iron Forest. Use these obstacles to protect you from the chimera's leap. This works best if you're only fighting a single chimera, it is harder to protect yourself from two at once attacking from different directions.

3. Stalkers tell me that chimeras can't leap in the water, so try fighting them in lakes or rivers.

4. Lure the chimera towards other stalkers. They'll often kill it for you. At worst, they'll distract it and injure it a bit.

5. If you know or suspect that chimeras are in an area you're about to enter, you can combine any of the above methods with explosive booby traps. Make sure you lay the explosives where the blast won't hurt you too.

I've tried luring chimeras into anomalies but I had no luck with it. If the chimera is close it just jumps over the anomaly. If the chimera is far away then it usually runs around the anomaly.

I took out the Chimera for Trapper's quest, just by using one tree and keeping it between us, then each time it leaps, put two barrels of buckshot into it and get back behind the tree. Kinda felt like exploiting the AI, I'm sure a chimera would have been able to rip that tree to shreds, or at least be smart enough to clock on to what I was doing. Another time I just put an RPG into it lol.

Also, is it just me but I prefer the double barrel shotguns (Specifically side by side I think TOZ34 as it does slightly more damage) up to pretty much anything but the Saiga. I find being able to unload 2 rounds almost instantaneously gives you a much better chance of putting down a bloodsucker or snork when it takes a swipe at you, or any NPC for that matter. Yes, with SPAS 12 you get more rounds in mag but I find you can only get one shot off at faster moving mutants due to the fire rate.

Don't feel bad for the mutants, bro! Exploiting AI is Misery bread and butter. Chimeras can kill you in one hit, so any advantage you can leverage is fair game. It can potentially go bad for you too, like if some dogs decide to show up and harass you out of your hidey spot.

Similar story for NPCs - the biggest advantage you have over them is brains. They have numbers on their side, the high level ones take and and shoot about as quickly and accurately as a human player, so outsmarting them is your best weapon. Well, that and a sniper rifle.

The SPAS 12 and Maverick 88 are nice when fighting a larger group of mutants. You can blast down cats and dogs in quicker order than using an old breech loader. The unique pump-action shotguns are pretty nice, especially the Maverick 88 "Predator" from Trapper. You can upgrade their rate of fire with a mechanic too.

Why would you want to play with fair Chimeras. After you reach Pripyat free play stage, they always in pair of 2 and you don't want to dance with them. Their leap distance is surprisingly high and far, damage so high that no gear in game can protect you from single leap attack. There are remote chance some have survive the first leap, but the beast will land right in front of you and next claw attack will not be possible to dodge.

The only down side (advantage for us in fact) is that their leap isn't accurate for the first couple of times, they always circle around and leap a few times away from players before the kill leap happens. Trust me, use anything you have got and around you would be smart. Trees, rocks, buildings, crates, pipes, pillars, fences and sometimes anomoly fields, all can be used to keep yourself alive.

Their aim should be slightly improved with change in that process factor.

The fastest way I found so far to make money is looting dead stalkersduty/freedom (don't kill stalkers, you risk upsetting Beard). Just be sure to complete a few quests before doing this since gear progresses based on quests. Doing a few quests makes the looting activity go from being a little better than breaking even to rolling in the dough.

Edited by: misterkat

Yeah definitely do some quests before doing TOO much scavenging - I knew the ropes from 2.1.1 and my first playthrough of 2.2 I scavenged for about fifteen expeditions and eventually I noticed that knuckles had stopped calling on me as I entered the Shadovsk and owl had "something to ask me" . Turns out I missed the 'attack on the Shevchenko' mission and now had to go straight to the 'trade' mission at the rangers station - on Morgans team! No chance.

Edited by: htkblazer

cool thread