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Better Ballistics - Hardcore Gunplay Overhaul

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…

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Better Ballistics is an overhaul mod that rebalances STALKER 2's gunplay to a more realistic and hardcore flavor. Gone are the days of bullet-sponge enemies - weapons now display authentic behavior and lethality that mirrors real-world ballistics, making combat genuinely dangerous and consequential.

The goal is to create a more immersive combat experience that challenges both veterans and newcomers, encouraging ammo conservation and proper positioning without sacrificing the game's core balance and mechanics.

• 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.
• Full emulation of damage/armor piercing dropoff, muzzle velocity and bullet drop up to 2000m – no longer will weapons have an arbitrary damage dropoff beyond 25m!
• 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.
• Reworked weapon handling for most weapon types in game: pistols will now have actual muzzle flip compared to vanilla, SMGs stand out with lower recoil kick and fast ADS speed, and assault rifles now have their characteristic recoil patterns for each type in game.
• Overhauled 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.
• New features for certain weapons such as extra firing modes, caliber conversion or buffs for unique weapons.
• Enemy NPCs now use weapons with increased lethality, featuring improved damage/penetration and accuracy 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…
• Rebalanced barter pricing for all ammunition types: pistol calibers and 12-gauge buckshots are cheap, intermediate cartridge gets expensive fast and full-size remains top dog in pricing.
• Tweaked barter pricing for certain weapons in-game: an OTs-02 Kiparis should no longer be exponentially more expensive than an MP5, for example.

• UI weapon stats are fake from Patch 1.4 onwards, due to the usage of arbitrary variables and removal of stats calculation system by GSC.
• 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.

• A rough Excel chart for every base ammunition type's damage and penetration is provided in the Nexus page's Files tab.
• Balancing is always an on-going process.


A list of mods compatible and recommended alongside Better Ballistics:

• No conflict checking, load order adjustment or merging is required: Better Ballistics already has a built-in patch for NPC Combat Overhaul.
• Original mod is still required for proper changes in NPC cover behaviour!


Because of how Stalker 2 handles conflict, any other mods that modify the same file is considered incompatible:

• AmmoPrototypes.cfg
• AttachPrototypes.cfg
• CharacterWeaponSettingsPrototypes.cfg
• PlayerWeaponAttributePrototypes.cfg
• PlayerWeaponSettingsPrototypes.cfg
• ProjectilePrototypes.cfg
• ObjPrototypes.cfg
• UpgradePrototypes.cfg
• WeaponAttributePrototypes.cfg
• WeaponGeneralSetupPrototypes.cfg
• WeaponPrototypes.cfg

• GeneralNPCObjPrototypes.cfg
• NPCWeaponAttributePrototypes.cfg
• NPCWeaponSettingsPrototypes.cfg

• DifficultyPrototypes.cfg

- GSC Games World: for working tirelessly on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in spite of all the odds
- Andrew Spearin, Fontaine: for being the main inspirations behind this mod
- 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
- Phobos2077, Silent Assassin2, Czelednikosaurus: for testing the mod and giving constructive feedbacks on weapon balancing
- Oxide: for the assistance on Stalker 2 modding, and getting refurl loading method to work with this mod
- inf_solov: for the data on weapon ballistics regarding the ammo types present in this game
- Maklane: for the permission to include Better Gunfights into this mod
- LetsWoolgather: for the assistance on image banner :D
- Ani_HVX: for tolerating my attempt on butchering Modular Hard Mode's damage model :P
- whynexusmodswhy1231, for giving the permission to merge his mod – Proper Realistic Magazine Capacities, into Better Ballistics