# S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Update 1.6 Night of the Hunter is live! - Product: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-heart-of-chornobyl) - Vendor: GSC Game World - Date: 2025-09-23 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1643320/view/511843796724483378 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-heart-of-chornobyl/releases/2025-09-23-update-1.6-night-of-the-hunter-is-live What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Night Vision Goggles - **changed** — Night vision rebalance for NPCs - **added** — Offset Aiming and Laser Pointer - **changed** — Updates to combat system and long-ranged battles - **added** — NPCs can now loot mutants - **added** — New anomaly: Fireball - **changed** — Tweaks to the controller inputs - **added** — New face and hair options for female characters - **added** — Local Save Backup Restoration option - **changed** — Rebalanced loot in stashes throughout the Zone - **added** — Auto-Lean Disable option in controls settings - **added** — Player stash items can now be sorted - **added** — New unique weapon: Honta's Drahunka - **fixed** — Fixed an issue where NPCs would take low cover behind trees incorrectly - **fixed** — Fixed an issue where squad leaders nearby would all shout the same phrase simultaneously after a fight - **fixed** — Fixed an issue where zombie NPCs could freeze midair after being headshotted - **changed** — Improved Chimera combat behavior - **fixed** — Fixed an issue where Chimera could get stuck after performing a jump attack ##### Stalkers! Welcome to the latest update of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, glad you are back and ready to see all the new shiny toys the Zone got. Let’s go through the changes, starting from the Highlights. ##### **☢️ **Highlights - Night Vision Goggles - Night vision rebalance for NPCs - Offset Aiming and Laser Pointer - Updates to combat system and long-ranged battles - NPCs can now loot mutants - New anomaly: Fireball - Return of the old friend - Tweaks to the controller inputs - New face and hair options for female characters - Local Save Backup Restoration option - Rebalanced loot in stashes throughout the Zone. - Added Auto-Lean Disable option in controls settings. - Player stash items can now be sorted. - Added a new unique weapon: Honta's "Drahunka" **⚠️ WARNING** The Zone is ever-changing, and a new Update can shift Her structure. If you’ve chosen to walk the path with modifications, know this: they may not withstand the latest shifts. **If you have performance or stability issues following the release of Update 1.6, we recommend you to disable your mods**. If you continue to experience issues, please visit [https://support.stalker2.com/hc](https://support.stalker2.com/hc) for additional troubleshooting steps and assistance. For more information on how to correctly uninstall modifications, read the dedicated topic: [https://steamcommunity.com/games/1643320/partnerevents/edit/525346350588494399](https://steamcommunity.com/games/1643320/partnerevents/edit/525346350588494399) ##### **⚔️ **AI and Combat - Fixed an issue where NPCs would take low cover behind trees incorrectly. - Fixed an issue where squad leaders nearby would all shout the same phrase simultaneously after a fight. - Fixed an issue where zombie NPCs could freeze midair after being headshotted. - Improved Chimera combat behavior. - Fixed an issue where Chimera could get stuck after performing a jump attack. - Fixed an issue where Chimera and Snork could jump through objects if the player was standing on top of them. - Fixed an animation issue with Bloodsucker arms during melee attacks. - Fixed an issue where Bloodsuckers could remain permanently invisible when not attacking. - Fixed an issue where Pseudodog clones would get stuck if spawned during a Retreat action. - Fixed an issue where Burers and Poltergeists were unable to use their throw ability. - Fixed an issue where Pseudogiant stomp could damage player in the air. ##### **⚖️ **Balance - Fixed an issue where the Mercenary’s Light Suit could weigh 0.0 kg after upgrades. - Adjusted the weight of the Veteran rifle. - Increased the damage of the Predator shotgun to match its description. - Fixed an issue where the Flytrap artifact effect did not provide weight reduction. - Increased HP for boar mutants. - Reduced HP for pseudogiant mutants. - Adjusted the upgrade tree for Kora. - Fixed an issue where Kora’s extended magazine was missing from the Zone and unavailable for the player to find. ##### **🛠️🐞⚡ **Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance - Fixed an issue where Players could have incorrect rotation after teleporting via the Spatial Bubble anomaly. - Polished headgear on multiple NPC presets. - Fixed an issue where Zombies were unable to stand up during Scar’s boss fight. - Fixed an issue where Burers could constantly turn back and forth during combat. - Added missing combat barks for Bandits, Free Stalkers, and Military factions. - Fixed an issue where hostile NPCs did not react when the Player fired a PM nearby. - Fixed an issue where a hostile Mercenary Sniper could follow the Player across the entire map after the Underpass Exit encounter in the Rostok region. - Fixed an issue where A-Life NPC actions were interrupted and inconsistent after saving/loading. - Applied CPU optimization tweaks. - Optimized projectile performance. - Fixed a freeze that occurred when exiting the 100 Rads Bar. - Fixed a freeze at SIRCAA during the _Wishf _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1643320/view/511843796724483378]_