STALCRAFT: X News

[p]In this article, we’d like to share what’s been prepared for the third wave of testing for Breach Operation![/p][h2]Access to the Operations OTS[/h2][p]As mentioned in our previous article, this wave of access is reserved for players who haven’t yet taken part in Operations testing. But don’t worry — everyone will get their turn! Global players will be invited to the next stage of the Operations OTS, which will introduce modules, one of the key rewards of Operations. You can learn more about Modules here.[/p][p]Join us on Discord this Saturday for a stream where we’ll be showcasing the latest updates to Operations OTS! Drop by, share your thoughts, and let us know what you think. The exact time will be announced in an upcoming news post.[/p][h2]What changes await us in the third OTS wave?[/h2]

• [p]New passive abilities added for Assault and Operative.[/p]
  • [p]Assault: Steadfastness — stability increased by 70%.[/p]
  • [p]Operative: Iron Grip — weapon recoil is reduced by 30%.[/p]
• [p]Active abilities (except Powerful Shot) and the passive ability At the Last Moment now have first-person animations when activated.[/p]
• [p]Added Difficulty Modifiers.[/p]
• [p]All checkpoints are now considered safe zones, which prohibits the use of weapons and abilities.[/p]
• [p]Added enemy abilities voiceovers.[/p]
• [p]Added zombie enemies faces.[/p]
• [p]The items Storyteller’s Cloak, Artist’s Cloak, and PROHelper’s Aurora are now considered combo suits.[/p]
• [p]Updated and added relevant articles on How to play Operations mode guide.[/p]
• [p]Reduced the health of enemies in critical condition.[/p]

[h3]What do we expect from this wave?[/h3][p]First and foremost, we want to evaluate the impact of the Modifiers on gameplay — to understand how engaging, varied, and balanced they are.[/p][h2]What are Modifiers?[/h2][p]Difficulty Modifiers are effects that remain active throughout the entire Operation and change the gameplay by adding extra challenges and/or advantages.[/p][p]The number of Modifiers depends on your Access Level. One Modifier unlocks for every three levels of Access.[/p][p]Access is the difficulty level of the Operation. The higher the Access, the tougher the enemies.[/p][p]Thus:[/p]

• [p]Access 1–2: no Modifiers.[/p]
• [p]Access 3–5: one Modifier.[/p]
• [p]Access 6–8: two Modifiers.[/p]
• [p]Access 9+: three Modifiers.[/p]

[p]Modifiers will change daily, and in the future we plan to rotate them weekly.[/p][h2]Modifiers of the third OTS wave[/h2]

• [p]Booming Day — the blast radius is increased by 25%, and the damage from explosion is doubled.[/p]
• [p]Freeze — you take 40 damage per second while not moving in space.[/p]
• [p]Plague City — upon the death of an enemy within a radius of 3 meters, an infection spreads, dealing 6 damage per second for 5 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Berserkers — enemies with less than 50% health deal an additional 20% damage.[/p]
• [p]Swirl — the speed of all entities is increased by 25%.[/p]
• [p]Ratcatcher’s Rage — rats appear at the location of enemy deaths, with their number depending on the enemy’s difficulty.[/p]
• [p]Vampirism — all incoming healing is reduced by 60%. Killing an enemy restores a percentage of health based on enemy difficulty.[/p]
• [p]Glass Cannon — enemy health is reduced by 25%. Enemy damage is increased by 25%.[/p]
• [p]Chrono Rift — enemy ability cast speed is reduced by 30%. Player ability cooldown speed is reduced by 30%.[/p]
• [p]Short Day — the duration of all effects is reduced by 50%.[/p]
• [p]Long Day — the duration of all effects is increased by 50%.[/p]
• [p]Equipment Interference — you cannot see the cooldown time of abilities, only whether they are available for use.[/p]

[p]You can also check the currently active Modifiers in the help menu by pressing ~  key.[/p][p][/p]

[p]The Zone loves to toy with the mind: one instant — and you’re no longer sure what’s dream and what’s waking life. Rustles turn into voices, shadows into living beings. At times, the tales whispered around the campfire feel more real than the world itself. Among stalkers, there’s one story still told with a shiver…[/p]

[p]I've heard there's a guy named Bucephalus. Do you know why? He's afraid of his own shadow. Seriously! He hides in a dark room during the day, only comes out at night and wanders the wilderness to stay away from streetlights. When asked what's up, he shakes like a leaf, says he saw his shadow moving on its own. Well, the guy is gone… crazy, haha.[/p]

[p]📞 When was the last time you stopped to listen to rumours?[/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Missed the stream? Here’s everything you need to know in under an hour: from hookah to signals, clan wars and hideout update.[/p][p]Watch ZIV and Plastinka answer your questions and share future plans here:[/p][p]YouTube[/p]

[p]
Last weekend, we added some artefacts to our collection — now it's time to test them out. And just in time, a fan of good gunfights has come forward with an offer we can't refuse. His name is Spartak.[/p]

[p]From 2:00 (UTC) on September 20 to 2:00 (UTC) on September 29, experience gained in session battles and combat tokens will be increased by 50%.[/p]

[p]So grab your gear and head into battle — prove that you are unbeatable in a fight![/p]

[p][/p][p]The longer the stalkers dwell in the North, the more legends and rumors appear in their stories, but are they all true? The wanderers and allies from your faction you pass by in the North can now tell you what happens in the area, whether it's artifact hunting, storming outposts, or something else. However, lately, their stories have started to seem increasingly strange and even eerie. The Zone has begun to reveal hidden fears, reality is distorting, and piercing screams of the unknown echo throughout the night.  And more often, the same advice is repeated: don't turn around at the sound of footsteps behind you, don't move, don't answer calls from broken phones. Or… Take a risk and find out where it leads.[/p][p]In this patchnote, you'll find:[/p]

• [p]Outposts changes;[/p]
• [p]Painting of short range detectors;[/p]
• [p]Exits from Klondike;[/p]
• [p]Arsenal updates;[/p]
• [p]Complaint system updates;[/p]
• [p]Balance and consumable adjustments;[/p]
• [p]Other improvements.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Outposts changes[/h2][p]Previously, you might not have received rewards from outposts when the eruption began. This has been fixed.[/p][p]If an outpost event is cancelled by an eruption, the outpost will be captured by the faction with more than 50% capture progress. If there is no such faction, but more than 5 minutes have passed since the boss was killed, the outpost will go to the faction with the most progress.[/p][p]In both cases, all participants of the event will receive the appropriate reward by mail.[/p][p][/p][h2]Painting of short range detectors[/h2][p]Added the ability to paint short range detectors — weapon paints are used for this purpose.[/p][p][/p][h2]Exits from Klondike[/h2][p]New exit points from Klondikes have been added to the Labyrinth.[/p][p][/p][h2]Arsenal updates[/h2][p] [/p][h2]Removal of limits on sales to Arsenal[/h2][p]We have taken into account your feedback regarding the limits on selling resources to Arsen. These restrictions have been removed.[/p][p][/p][h2]Item price adjustments[/h2][p]Due to the removal of limits on the sale of resources to the Arsenal, it was decided to revise the prices of certain items.[/p][p][/p][h3]Sale to Arsenal:[/h3][p][/p][h3]Drossel's exchanges:[/h3][p][/p][h2]Arsenal's daily tasks[/h2][p]Returned Arsenal's Test Drive task.[/p][p]It becomes available if you have upgraded at least one weapon at the Arsenal (the quest will not be available if you upgrade attachments).[/p][p][/p][h2]Paint compensation[/h2][p]In the near future, everyone who lost paints while completing the Test Drive task will receive compensation for those paints.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Penalty classification system [/h2][p]The penalty system for violations has been revised. The progression has become smoother, but you will receive longer penalties for serious violations.[/p][p]If you do not receive any penalties for a long period of time, the progression cycle starts over again.[/p][p][/p][h2]Update the list of complaints[/h2][p]Updated list of reasons you can complain on:[/p]

1. [p]Offensive content;[/p]
2. [p]Forbidden character name;[/p]
3. [p]Sexualized content;[/p]
4. [p]Illegal content;[/p]
5. [p]Political content;[/p]
6. [p]Unsolicited advertisement;[/p]
7. [p]Gambling or fraud;[/p]
8. [p]Personal data;[/p]
9. [p]Personal account data;[/p]
10. [p]Provocation of ethnic hatred;[/p]
11. [p]Racism, sexism, discrimination.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Complaints on profile[/h2][p]Now you can report a player on their personal profile:[/p]

• [p]Profile description button — Submit a complaint if the profile description contains insults, provocations, advertising, or other prohibited content. Complaints are not available if the player does not have a description.[/p]

• [p]Prohibited software button — Report if you suspect a player of using cheats or third-party software. You can only report again after 7 days.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Complaints on emails[/h2][p]You can report a player's email. To report it, go to the email interface and click on the report button.
[/p][p][/p][h2]Consumables adjustments[/h2][p]Reduced types of consumable effects: [/p]

• [p]Weak boost and Strong boost are merged into Boost.[/p]
• [p]Strength Improvement and Stamina Improvement are merged into Mobility[/p]
• [p]Bleeding Protection and Burn Protection are merged into Protection[/p]

[p]The changes were made to reduce the number of consumables that need to be used simultaneously to get the maximum bonuses. For example, previously it was necessary to use both Pea Soup and Alcobull to obtain the maximum weight from the sum of Weak and Strong boosts, but now one Pea Soup or Alcobull from the new Boost category is enough.[/p][p]Due to the reduction in the types of effects, the characteristics of many consumables have been revised. Now, consumables in the affected categories have a bias towards one main property and several (depending on the consumable level) additional properties that are weaker. The main property on average became stronger than the sum of the same properties from the two previously combined categories, while the secondary properties became slightly weaker.[/p][p]For example, previously a character could gain a maximum of 4.2% vitality from using Weak and Strong 10-level boosts. Now they can gain 4.6% vitality from using a single 10-level boost, which main property is vitality, but the sum of secondary properties will be weaker.[/p][p]Food now has a bias towards vitality, while drinks have a bias towards speed.[/p][p][/p][h3]General balance adjustments: [/h3]

• [p]Reduced sway duration after using certain consumables.[/p]
• [p]Reduced excessive rollback time for some consumables.[/p]
• [p]All consumables with the following effects: Boost, Protection, Mobility, no longer drop upon death (exception: Industrial Alcohol and consumables from direct sales by the supplier).[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Characteristic adjustments[/h2][p][/p][h2]Changes to consumable prices[/h2][p][/p][h2]Changes to Hideout recipes [/h2][p][/p][h2]Other changes[/h2][p]
[/p]

• [p]Added rumour mechanics to northern locations. Now, at faction bases and in the open world, NPCs can tell you about the area. Everything has its own story![/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the signal during WRD scanning could be terminated immediately after scanning began.[/p]
• [p]Updated third-person running animations at speeds above 108%.[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect display of glowing paints in the player profile.[/p]
• [p]Added ambients to locations: Lyubech-3, Serpentine, Institute.[/p]
• [p]The Pripyat Streets Assault map has been removed from the list of session maps.[/p]
• [p]Updated gunshot sounds for DSA-58, SA-58 CTC, FN Fal.[/p]
• [p]Updated the character landing sound.[/p]
• [p]Updated model, animations, and interaction sounds for SR-3M.[/p]
• [p]Updated models of KZS-M and KZS-MU.[/p]
• [p]Updated models of 5.45×39 calibre muzzles.[/p]
• [p]Updated models of 5.56×45 calibre muzzles.[/p]
• [p]The number of players required to complete the warm-up on the \[DM] Hospital, \[DM] GOST-17, \[AR] GOST-17, and \[DM] Glass maps has been increased from four to six.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple naming inconsistency bugs related to open world activities.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple translation inconsistency bugs across all languages.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the translation of several legacy items.[/p]
• [p]Corrected several minor localization bugs in all languages.[/p]