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About this mod
The same weapons from Heart of Chornobyl, but now better, more lethal and realistic against the Zone’s faunas.
Say no to tanky mutants with this mod - just don’t forget what Gaffer told you about fellow stalkers in the Zone…
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
- Donations
Better Ballistics is a weapon overhaul mod that rebalances Stalker 2’s gunplay to a more realistic/hardcore flavor – more specifically, this mod adjusts weapon behaviors, ballistics, and damage models to create a more authentic shooting experience, without sacrificing the core fun/balance and existing mechanics of the game.
Please read the description in detail, before asking any questions here - thank you!
Stalker 2’s vanilla gunplay is, in my opinion, underwhelming at best – the core weapon system is very good and allows for a vastly more detailed weapon simulation compared to what was available in the original trios, yet what we saw at launch was at best underwhelming, and at worst, or what I’d always like to call – a literal travesty.
A great game like Stalker 2 needs a great gunplay system to go with it, hence - the creation of this mod. My aim is to not only fix baseline stats such as weapon damage and penetration, but also revamp other aspects of the weapon system in order to deliver a vastly improved gunplay experience, compared to what’s present in the vanilla game.
I hope you enjoy your journey in the Zone with this mod, as much as I do - any suggestions, bug reports, or constructive criticism are greatly appreciated, and your feedback will help make this mod better for everyone.
Complete overhaul of weapon ballistics:
• Each ammo type now feels properly distinct from each other - intermediate cartridges now delivers more damage and penetration compared to pistol rounds, full-power cartridges like 7.62x54mmR now hits as hard as they should, and everything in between feels just right.
• In-game weapons now feature authentic muzzle velocities and bullet drop. As a result, sniper rifles now shoot fast and flat at range, intermediate cartridges maintain effectiveness at distance, and pistol rounds are realistically slow at range. This will also apply to your enemies’ weapons too, so mind your positioning!
• Shotguns have been rebalanced and now are more effective beyond point-blank: slugs will reach out to medium distances, while buckshots stay reasonably effective instead of turning into airsoft after 10 meters.
Major improvements to individual weapons:
• Reworked recoil for most weapon types in game: pistols will now have actual muzzle flip compared to vanilla, SMGs stand out with lower recoil kick compared to rifles, and assault rifles now have their characteristic recoil patterns for each type in game.
• New, faster ADS speed for all weapon types in game for a more balanced gameplay experience. ADS is now faster by 20% on average, with the specific speed being dictated by weapon type and characteristics.
• New fire rate values for all automatic weapons - now each weapon platform acts distinctly in full-auto fire, offering a more diversified experience.
• Magazine capacities now match their real-world counterparts: everything from tiny PM magazines to drum-fed LMGs hold the right amount of rounds, and extended magazine upgrades provide realistic alternatives - like the 60-round PMAG for AR-15 based rifles, or genuine high-capacity options for your favourite SMGs.
• Accurate fire modes for specific weapons: APB and MAC-10 (M10 Gordon) can now fire in full-auto in addition to semi-auto, just as intended by their original designers.
• And of course, the mighty PKM (RPM-74) now use proper 7.62x54mmR - bringing all the firepower that you'd expect from a GPMG. Go forth and deliver destruction!
Greatly enhanced enemy manpower:
• Enemy NPCs now use weapons with increased lethality, featuring improved damage/penetration and range values, for a more deadly combat experience. Tread lightly, beware of enemy ambushes and made every move count, for every single one could be your last in the Zone…
• NPC damage changes will also apply to your allies’ weapons too, and just saying, but it’s not my fault if you lose to other stalkers in a bet now - get good!
• Want even deadlier enemies? Grab the optional file from this NexusMods page.
And various other tweaks:
• Nerfed ammo pickup from NPC's assault rifles, from 1 - 10 rounds to 1 - 5.
• Modified body hitbox damage multiplier to better suit the new weapon stats.
Open the “1 - Main installation” folder, and extract the "Stalker2" folder into the main Stalker 2 installation, and where the Stalker2.exe executable is.
As of v2.2, Better Ballistics now utilizes the refurl loading method for better compatibility with large overhaul mods - except Modular Hard Mode, for now. Not all files are converted to this method, and will be noted as such below.
Previous versions of this mod directly edits weapon/ammunition config files, and as such any similar mod that aims to change such stats will be incompatible - I highly recommend using tools available on Nexus to check for conflicts and merge changes as needed, due to the high chance of file conflicts that can happen with other mods.
This mod is built in a semi-modular fashion, using multiple .pak files making it possible to choose what to be included, or removed in case of conflicts. All the .pak files used in this mod include:
- BetterBallistics_Main_97_P.pak: The primary .pak file, responsible for most of the weapon changes in this mod. Modifies the following files:
- BetterBallistics_BotWeap_99_P.pak includes new weapon stats for friendly and hostile NPCs in game, and modifies:
- BetterBallistics_BodyHitboxTweaks_99_P modifies body damage multiplier, and contains the following:
- Furo Cindras, inf_solov, and many other awesome people on the GAMMA Discord server, for pioneering on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 weapon modding as well as giving constructive feedbacks on weapon balancing
- inf_solov (specifically): for the data on bullet trajectory/drop regarding the ammo types present in this game
- Oxide: for the assistance on getting refurl loading method to work with this mod
- whynexusmodswhy1231, for giving the permission to merge his mod – Proper Realistic Magazine Capacities, into Better Ballistics
- GSC Games World, for working tirelessly on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in spite of all the odds
Please read the description in detail, before asking any questions here - thank you!
Foreword
Stalker 2’s vanilla gunplay is, in my opinion, underwhelming at best – the core weapon system is very good and allows for a vastly more detailed weapon simulation compared to what was available in the original trios, yet what we saw at launch was at best underwhelming, and at worst, or what I’d always like to call – a literal travesty.
A great game like Stalker 2 needs a great gunplay system to go with it, hence - the creation of this mod. My aim is to not only fix baseline stats such as weapon damage and penetration, but also revamp other aspects of the weapon system in order to deliver a vastly improved gunplay experience, compared to what’s present in the vanilla game.
I hope you enjoy your journey in the Zone with this mod, as much as I do - any suggestions, bug reports, or constructive criticism are greatly appreciated, and your feedback will help make this mod better for everyone.
Main features
Complete overhaul of weapon ballistics:
• Each ammo type now feels properly distinct from each other - intermediate cartridges now delivers more damage and penetration compared to pistol rounds, full-power cartridges like 7.62x54mmR now hits as hard as they should, and everything in between feels just right.
• In-game weapons now feature authentic muzzle velocities and bullet drop. As a result, sniper rifles now shoot fast and flat at range, intermediate cartridges maintain effectiveness at distance, and pistol rounds are realistically slow at range. This will also apply to your enemies’ weapons too, so mind your positioning!
• Shotguns have been rebalanced and now are more effective beyond point-blank: slugs will reach out to medium distances, while buckshots stay reasonably effective instead of turning into airsoft after 10 meters.
Major improvements to individual weapons:
• Reworked recoil for most weapon types in game: pistols will now have actual muzzle flip compared to vanilla, SMGs stand out with lower recoil kick compared to rifles, and assault rifles now have their characteristic recoil patterns for each type in game.
• New, faster ADS speed for all weapon types in game for a more balanced gameplay experience. ADS is now faster by 20% on average, with the specific speed being dictated by weapon type and characteristics.
• New fire rate values for all automatic weapons - now each weapon platform acts distinctly in full-auto fire, offering a more diversified experience.
• Magazine capacities now match their real-world counterparts: everything from tiny PM magazines to drum-fed LMGs hold the right amount of rounds, and extended magazine upgrades provide realistic alternatives - like the 60-round PMAG for AR-15 based rifles, or genuine high-capacity options for your favourite SMGs.
• Accurate fire modes for specific weapons: APB and MAC-10 (M10 Gordon) can now fire in full-auto in addition to semi-auto, just as intended by their original designers.
• And of course, the mighty PKM (RPM-74) now use proper 7.62x54mmR - bringing all the firepower that you'd expect from a GPMG. Go forth and deliver destruction!
Greatly enhanced enemy manpower:
• Enemy NPCs now use weapons with increased lethality, featuring improved damage/penetration and range values, for a more deadly combat experience. Tread lightly, beware of enemy ambushes and made every move count, for every single one could be your last in the Zone…
• NPC damage changes will also apply to your allies’ weapons too, and just saying, but it’s not my fault if you lose to other stalkers in a bet now - get good!
• Want even deadlier enemies? Grab the optional file from this NexusMods page.
And various other tweaks:
• Nerfed ammo pickup from NPC's assault rifles, from 1 - 10 rounds to 1 - 5.
• Modified body hitbox damage multiplier to better suit the new weapon stats.
The Zone is now more unforgiving than ever. Stay alert, plan your moves, and remember – every shot counts.
Installation
Open the “1 - Main installation” folder, and extract the "Stalker2" folder into the main Stalker 2 installation, and where the Stalker2.exe executable is.
Compatibility
As of v2.2, Better Ballistics now utilizes the refurl loading method for better compatibility with large overhaul mods - except Modular Hard Mode, for now. Not all files are converted to this method, and will be noted as such below.
Previous versions of this mod directly edits weapon/ammunition config files, and as such any similar mod that aims to change such stats will be incompatible - I highly recommend using tools available on Nexus to check for conflicts and merge changes as needed, due to the high chance of file conflicts that can happen with other mods.
This mod is built in a semi-modular fashion, using multiple .pak files making it possible to choose what to be included, or removed in case of conflicts. All the .pak files used in this mod include:
- BetterBallistics_Main_97_P.pak: The primary .pak file, responsible for most of the weapon changes in this mod. Modifies the following files:
- AmmoPrototypes.cfg
- AttachPrototypes.cfg
- PlayerWeaponSettingsPrototypes.cfg
- ProjectilePrototypes.cfg
- WeaponGeneralSetupPrototypes.cfg (.cfg override)
- BetterBallistics_BotWeap_99_P.pak includes new weapon stats for friendly and hostile NPCs in game, and modifies:
- NPCWeaponSettingsPrototypes.cfg (.cfg override)
- BetterBallistics_BodyHitboxTweaks_99_P modifies body damage multiplier, and contains the following:
- GeneralNPCObjPrototypes.cfg (.cfg override)
Notes
- Detailed changelog for every update is located at changelog.docx, in the compressed installation file.
- This mod is primarily built, tested and intended to be played with vanilla difficulty options, therefore using any other mod that directly edits in-game difficulty may lead to unwanted issues.
- For the best experience, it’s best that you install other mods that balance out GSC’s default NPC accuracy values – Better Ballistics shouldn’t conflict with any such mods, and the new weapon stats provided by this mod will be unbalanced against GSC's bot configs.
- A rough Excel chart for every base ammunition type's damage and penetration is provided in the Files tab.
- Balancing is always an on-going process.
This will require you to have a Discord account and join the official GAMMA server
Credits
- Furo Cindras, inf_solov, and many other awesome people on the GAMMA Discord server, for pioneering on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 weapon modding as well as giving constructive feedbacks on weapon balancing
- inf_solov (specifically): for the data on bullet trajectory/drop regarding the ammo types present in this game
- Oxide: for the assistance on getting refurl loading method to work with this mod
- whynexusmodswhy1231, for giving the permission to merge his mod – Proper Realistic Magazine Capacities, into Better Ballistics
- GSC Games World, for working tirelessly on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in spite of all the odds