Stalker Mode is Brutal (and I love it!)

[Hylander]

I have to say, I'm really impressed by how much more difficult it is to stay alive when you're in Stalker mode. It really feels like a fight for survival now. I'm on day 20 of my second game in this new mode (my first game lasted less than a day). I really had to reorganize my priorities to keep alive.

I also really love the new crafted clothing - should make for much longer and more realistic games.

[Limited_Garry]

I'm on day three or four of my probably third game in stalker mode. The first game I spawned right next to the derailed train (and yes, there were wolves there) and in the second, I got myself into trouble at the forestry lookout, when I forgot that it's damn cold up there and went to sleep for some eight hours.

The main thing I love is that you're actually happy for everything you find, because you don't find a lot. Now I went to the Coastal Highway to loot the houses there and might actually set up a camp there, depending on if I actually find a rifle.

All that said, I'm guessing even this won't be enough There is bound to come an even more challenging mode eventually.

[Hylander]

I've found 3 different rifles in my current run:

- trapper's rest lodge

- below the bridge by the dam

- in a car backseat past the waterfront cottages

Ammunition is very cleverly hidden in a lot of places - I found a box under the overturned chair in the abandoned lookout.

The wolves are downright diabolical in stalker mode - there are more of them, and they are more aggressive.

[TLDFAN]

STALKER MODE KICKS ASS!

[TheGaffer]

I'm having the same fun experience as you guys. Even though I died fairly quickly I'll put it down to gaining some foolish experience fighting wolves.

I just kicked the bucket on my first try of Stalker on Mystery Lake after 4 days. It was a real fun experience though, brought me back to the challenge I had when I first got the game a few months back and had no idea what to expect.

It really feels well balanced for me. Staying alive seems to be realistically obtainable whilst really forcing you to make a decision every few minutes as to what to risk doing next; Do I try and find a new location or do I spend the night here to conserve calories and make a move in better weather?

Ultimately my downfall was not finding a sewing kit (first time I've had this problem) I started losing items of clothing to degradation and I couldn't utilise a cold fishing hut to replenish my dwindling energy stores without freezing. Coupled with several wolf encounters, everything just went a bit tits up.

Going to give Stalker another bash today or tomorrow on Costal to see how that plays out. Great stuff!

[Raphael van Lierop]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you hear you're enjoying it.

[Limited_Garry]

I've found 3 different rifles in my current run:

- trapper's rest lodge

- below the bridge by the dam

- in a car backseat past the waterfront cottages

Ammunition is very cleverly hidden in a lot of places - I found a box under the overturned chair in the abandoned lookout.

The wolves are downright diabolical in stalker mode - there are more of them, and they are more aggressive.

Well I have some 40 bullets right now but still no rifle. Can you believe that? The last time I've found a rifle, I had only 9 bullets after searching through the entirety of mystery lake. I also died on that run by falling

Damn it, I'm gonna start a new run, hoping to get better equipment.

[frunsi]

currently on my first stalker mode run in mystery lake (day 5). i've looted most of the map except the carter hydro dam and the forestry lookout, found a rifle and 18 bullets but still no sewing kit. i actually ran around the map with only a thin wool sweater and no top layer for 4 days. 1 wolf attack because i wanted to test the "following blood traces" but they disappeared for some reason, and so did the wolf. it worked the next time though (with .182), with the rifle. i really love this game mode so far, i got kind of bored with the standard one so this is a nice change. it's great how scarce the supplies are.

[pikkue]

Actually felt a bit bored of the standart modes, but was not couraged nuf to try out that stalker mode. But what was written above, like its giving back the actual feeling of the game when you bought it, guess out of that I'm gonna give it a try tonight!

[TLDFAN]

I don't think we are going to have anybody surviving for 900 days in this mode. No way no sir!

Does the weather turn bad more often in this mode does anybody know? I like it

[bennytastic]

Does anyone know what the default setting is? I was mid-play through when they updated to different levels of difficulty, and I haven't died yet. So I'm wondering what difficulty I'm actually playing at . . .

[Bill Tarling]

Does anyone know what the default setting is? I was mid-play through when they updated to different levels of difficulty, and I haven't died yet. So I'm wondering what difficulty I'm actually playing at . . .

From old save of pre-mode versions, you would me playing in the Voyageur mode

[bennytastic]

So the middle setting, huh? The wolves seem pretty aggressive. I'm wondering what they're like in the Stalker mode. I'm holed up in one of the coastal towns, I've killed 3 wolves and there are at least 3 more in the town.

[FoneBoneJay]

I got jumped by 3 wolves walking by the gas station, was not pretty and yes died. Their concentration in that area is intense, felt like a wolf pack attack. Finally something that needs to come into being, the wolf pack.

[Christoph]

I was excited first to hear about stalker mode, but unlike most of you guys I was kind of dissapointed in the end, since with the same few tricks as usual (scaring deer into wolf, give wolf headshot from up close, killing rabbits in their dozens, etc) it's no problem to survive at all. I am around day 30, have looted all buildings on both maps, have 9 hatchets, 4 knifes, tons of scrap metal, I crafted all the new clothes, have 3 rifles and more than 40 (!) bullets (plus some flares). I assume I could easily make it 300 days or more without even risking coming close to a really dangerous situation. Only problem: the game still becomes pretty repetitive at this point, since I don't even have to go further than 100 yards to kill deer/wolf or 20 rabbits.

I think as long as the devs don't fix the possibilities to scare deer into wolves and do mass animal farming with rabbits stalker mode won't be a real challenge for experienced players.

[Hylander]

I agree somewhat, it gets easier once you get set up - but getting to day 30 isn't trivial like it used to be. I'm on day 39, finally went back to mystery lake and found the bunker, and am currently hanging at Trappers Lodge for a change of pace.

The only really critical resource I can see as a big limiter is cloth, and thus bandages. I'm also very low on anti-septic this run, having only found 3 bottles. So I have to be extra-careful with wolves, and I think I'll probably move back to Trappers permanently, since there are much less wolves here than at the coastal townsite.

[brostoevsky]

Only problem: the game still becomes pretty repetitive at this point, since I don't even have to go further than 100 yards to kill deer/wolf or 20 rabbits.

Where is your base for rabbit trapping? I've had the most luck by the Trapper's Homestead.

For me the big limiter late game seems mostly to be cloth to repair clothes and gut since once you run out of bullets you will eventually run out of snares which require gut to craft.

[Ruhroe]

The only thing I've noticed about stalker mode is a couple more wolves and less clothing. The wolves do like to return after fighting, which frankly is more a benefit. Everything else feels pretty much the same. I've only made it up to day 16 without really trying to burn sleep cycles, still have half of Mystery Lake unexplored, haven't been to Coastal Highway, tons of food, and have most of the stuff I need for two of the new crafted items.

It does seem like the playthrough will be shorter, which is a good thing. There's a few mechanics I personally would like to see removed or altered significantly still. They just feel like they circumvent many other mechanics.

[Ruhroe]

I don't think we are going to have anybody surviving for 900 days in this mode. No way no sir!

Does the weather turn bad more often in this mode does anybody know? I like it

To be clear, I could have gone for 1800 days probably. I showed on Oedi's stream all of the items I still had remaining--including most of the town buildings left unexplored. We had a fun live event where the viewers chose how I should die--I ran naked from the Trapper's cabin to the third island on Coastal Highway and died trying to inch across thin ice. After getting the top spot it got really boring and repetitive, and I wanted a new run for the latest patch.

Using the same mechanics, I'm sure Stalker mode can be survived for several hundred days. I haven't done much in Coastal Highway to see how many supplies there possibly are, but with the new clothing system the only thing really limiting anything will be matches and the inability to start a fire at some point.

[Bill Tarling]

Using the same mechanics, I'm sure Stalker mode can be survived for several hundred days. I haven't done much in Coastal Highway to see how many supplies there possibly are, but with the new clothing system the only thing really limiting anything will be matches and the inability to start a fire at some point.

*note: It's always enjoyable watching everyone cheer Roe on to a death in the streams... Fun streams

Roe: Since you were using the save from the previous patch [which, I believe, unfortunately still gives more loot than normal because they were already registered in the previous playthrough], you would have been playing the Voyageur mode [med/regular setting] not the Stalker mode.

Give Stalker a try a bit more to see what you think of loot and wildlife activity, and see if it's a little bit stronger than the previous versions.

Note: if using a gaming mouse or macro keys that make wolf battles easy, then it's also not really a comparative experience for most players. There are times when physical requirements means macro keys are needed for some players, but it does alter the gameplay challenge when describing some game techniques and approaches.

[Christoph]

I agree somewhat, it gets easier once you get set up - but getting to day 30 isn't trivial like it used to be. I'm on day 39, finally went back to mystery lake and found the bunker, and am currently hanging at Trappers Lodge for a change of pace.

Yes, the first two weeks were actually a lot better and more challenging than before. Only this ends as soon as you have set up camp and gathered your stuff.

The only really critical resource I can see as a big limiter is cloth, and thus bandages. I'm also very low on anti-septic this run, having only found 3 bottles. So I have to be extra-careful with wolves, and I think I'll probably move back to Trappers permanently, since there are much less wolves here than at the coastal townsite.

Cloth isn't really limited, since the three new clothing items warm you up quite enough and you can reproduce them as long as you have bullets/traps. With 1 bullet you can have 4 deer hide and 1 wolf hide, so you can make shoes and coat (and mittens on the side) with 4 bullets, makes 10 of each if you have 40 bullets as I did. This will keep you warm for years I guess

Anti-septic was the only thing low for me too, but three bottles are still enough for a couple of wolf fights and if you know your terrain you won't run into wolves anyway.

Where is your base for rabbit trapping? I've had the most luck by the Trapper's Homestead.

For me the big limiter late game seems mostly to be cloth to repair clothes and gut since once you run out of bullets you will eventually run out of snares which require gut to craft.

You can place as many traps as you want on a single spot where you see a rabbit and a day later most of them will have caught a rabbit. So there's no need for a specific base for rabbit trapping in the current versions of the game.

Cloth: see above: you can craft enough new clothes so you don't actually need to repair your old ones.

Gut: also isn't a problem, since you can easily find more than 40 bullets. Even if you don't use the rifle at all you can easily scare any deer into a wolf, come back later and take the gut. So gut is unlimited ressource right now.

[pulkmees]

FFS, what goddamn game are you playing that you have so many deer ? I saw like 2 in my last Stalker play and they dont run into wolves at all.

And wtf is with the Wolf AI ? They still get stuck on walls all the time.And when you´re in a building without loading(lookout, fishing huts), they start circling you and running into walls.As soon as you exit you cant even react, they just bounce on you.Makes sense, but the movements are very weird.

Also snares shouldn´t guarantee a rabbit.It should take skill to get them, like you see where they are going and put the snare on their path.

Also what the hell happened to the can opener ? Are the spawns distributed equally on boths maps ?

[Hylander]

Deer eventually will run into wolves by themselves, but you can hasten that by controlling in large part where they go. When you approach a deer, they will run away from you, on a direct line away from you. So, you position yourself on the far side of the deer, and then start herding it towards where you know there are wolves.

Typically this strategy works best on the coastal map, out on the frozen ice, where you can see both from a long distance away.

[pikkue]

What is the problem with deer y'all, it's an elemental part of the game to scare them into wolves.

But I agree in the point that once you set up all your basics after like 5-7 days, it becomes repetitive and as long as you find clothes to craft bandages, you're all good.

[Hylander]

I just finished a 56 day stalker run with a double-wolf attack - I chased a deer over a blind snowbank, and when I crested the hill, the deer was down about 5 feet in front of me, with the wolf feeding. The wolf attacked immediately, and a second joined in, and I was done for.

I'm really looking forward to the story mode, and more maps.