Ok how do I git gud at this game? I installed ZRP, I'm playing on Master and I'm getting my ass handed to me

Ok how do I git gud at this game? I installed ZRP, I'm playing on Master and I'm getting my ass handed to me.

Don't rambo, don't go alone, invest in better gear.

Some protips:
-To hit things better, do the Low-crouch, and aim with the sights. Get to higher ground.
-Use the Single-shot or Burst firing modes on Automatic rifles.
-Aim in "advance" if the target's moving, and slightly higher if they're really far away. This is to compensate for the bullet-physics.
-Go for the head for instant / quicker kills. At the distance, aim to center mass.
-Pistols and 00-buckshot have very short reach and weak armor penetration. Latter does wonders against exposed flesh though.
-Get a full-length AK, pop a scope on top, and load up AP-Rounds into it. Vola - you're the fucking god of the Zone!
-Don't hoard shit after the first mission! Choose what to carry, and try to sell useless / expensive shit ASAP.

Here's the good old STALKER Starting Guide, if there's total newbies lurking / wanting to start the STALKER series.

>don't go alone

I just know OP's most likely referring to THIS very first mission in SoC's Cordon. Hotshot console-shooter pros always try to beat the bandits alone.

True hotshots fuck people up at the military checkpoint and skip the pussy pistol stage

I wonder the same thing. I had to save scum a shit ton from the sewers and on

If you can't beat the bandits alone you might aswell quit the game since thats basically a shitter test

you literally have no talent for fps if you cannot clear that camp and the railcross with the starting weapon and whatever you pick up from the camp

First, find the merc outfit on the roof of one of the houses in rookie village. Second, get your hands on an AK or atleast a Viper, pistols are gay in SoC. Third, aim for the head. Fourth, if you don't seem to be hitting, close the distance.

that shit is easy, Agroprom is too fucking hard and when you leave the sewer its still fucking hard

>Not letting the other stalkers go first and taking their gear when they inevitably die.

there is 5 bandits and 3 military on the underground, ffs just peek around corners and the are all dead without touching you, the ai is not really smart when it comes to walls and corners, the only thing mildly dangerous of that place is the bloodsucker when you don't know its there

>cover is key
>your starting weapons have no range
>bandits have no armour and weapons just as shit as you so you can just sprint around cover like a mad cunt and point blank shotgun them when they're reloading
>you'll only get quick kills against anyone remotely armoured after you'/ve got yourself an AK at the least

Also bring as much ammo as humanly possible to the end. If you think you have enough, you don't. It's brutal and only gets harder when you need to scavenge throughout it

>52 hours on SoC on my first playthrough, simple and fun game that has it's charm
>can bear only one hour of Clear Sky with the obnoxious explanations and stupid tutorials, the stupid defend territory from other rivals sounds disappointing as fuck

Why did they fuck up so bad with the other games?

Being called a bitch back in camp because you let everybody die for a couple of shitty makarovs and some bandages

nah, not worth it specially since you have to wait until they die, its not like starting loot matters a lot on Soc, you get a suit right in the starting area and a weapon in the agroprom underground, that lasts well until half the game

*Why did they fuck up so bad with Clear Sky?

This ain't Halo. You're not going to tear through hordes of enemies. One bullet can end your game. And one bullet can also be all you need to kill someone.

Learn to peek around corners. Learn to use cover. Headshot when you can get close. Aim for center mass at a distance. ALWAYS watch your flanks, because the enemies in this game WILL flank your ass.

Travel light. 150 bullets for primary. 50 for pistol (I sometimes carry a shotgun secondary). 3 medkits. Some bandages. Artifacts geared towards stamina are good for staying mobile in a fight.

This game is hard as fuck, and immersive as fuck. THat's what makes it so fun

Good hunting Stalker

WHAT. There had to have been at least 30 soldiers, not bandits down there and the stairwell near the end of the sewers was a nightmare. I save scummed the fuck out of that.

You mean the thing you can't kill that forces you out of the sewers?

>Higher difficulty = better AI
I call bull. One of my first deaths was when a friendly AI walked behind me and shotgunned me in the back of the head to get at the enemy in front of me.

no thats the controller, you don't even need to kill it

there is around 5 bandits on the entrance of the sewer reaching the stair down and there is 3 soldiers, then there is a couple more soldiers on the stairs going up and then there is the base outside

you literally only need to hugh walls, lean to the sides and headshot everyone, humans are some of the easiest enemies in the game as long as there is some cover.

hell they don't even have snipers at that point which is one of the only really dangerous weapons they might have, with the exception of RPG snipers

I managed that mission and as far as I could only one of the helpers died. Aim really is something you have to get used to in this game, I consider myself alright at FPS but I have trouble landing consistent headshots here.

>spend the entire game struggling through simple bandits and dogs

>that last hour when you're in a full suit of exo-armor charging lines of military personnel and chaingunning 30+ people to death at a time

Goddamn no other game does 'satisfying endgame' quite like SoC

I always walk around with at least 900 bullets in my primary
and about 50 shells for my shotgun which I use exclusively for mutants
you don't need mobility when you choose your cover wisely
the only time you need to move is if they try to flush you with grenades, and when you do move you can sit your ass back down and start popping losers off

There was seriously 30 guys down there all with armor. On the stairwell alone there was at least 10 guys with rifles and no cover because you start from the bottom while they're at the top shooting you through grates and all you can see is muzzle flash. Maybe it's different cause I have ZRP installed?

Perhaps, ZRP does change quite a few things. Basically all us STalkers save scum, thats literally one of the only ways to get past the game mang.

>Keep a shotgun around for mutants
My stalker

I call mine "The Defender."

Install complete mod and play on normal.

>Maybe it's different cause I have ZRP installed?

No, first time I played SoC was unpatched and I remember an ungodly amount of soldiers underground. Last time was with ZRP and there were 3 or 4 right after the bloodsucker (supposed to be anyway, ended up fighting both at the same time), 1 in the tunnel to the stairwell and at least another 4 or 5 going up it. Never had just a few soldiers down there

No, complete literally ruins the fucking game you shitter.

ZRP might change the amount of people there but it doesn't matter at all

it's a corridor and they probably don't have grenades, just take cover kill, move forward and repeat

in the stairwell you only need to check the openings they can't shoot through the floors, only the actual stairs

Is playing on anything less than Master your first playthrough considered casual?

Probably more uninformed than anything, the other difficulty modes are more tedious due to everyone dying slower