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Microsoft® DirectX™Game Manual
Contents
Introduction
Main Menu
Creating a character - where to start?
Choice of Origin
Setting appearance
Naming your character
Character deletion
Character Development
Levels and Ranks
Skills window
Base Skills
Choosing your profession
Aliens' professions
Natives' professions
Specializations and Advanced Skills
Specializations' branches
"Equipment" branch
"Medicine" branch
"Weapon" branch
"Repair" branch
"Abilities" branch
Magnetic Artifact Gripping Device
People of the Zone
Quest givers
Traders and changers
Repairmen
Storage keepers
Guides
Guards
Introduction
Main Menu
After successful authorization (entering your login and password), the character choice menu will open:
In the left part of the menu, you'll see nine character slots, which are for now empty. The sign on the top slot will say: Create new stalker.
In the right-hand part of the screen you'll see a field displaying the characteristics of the character you chose.
Also here, in the very bottom, you'll see two buttons:
- "Back" - gets you back to the login menu and cancels the last step in creating a new character;
- "Play" - starts the game after you choose one of the earlier created characters.
In the center of the screen, you'll see the stalker character you have chosen/created.
You can create up to nine characters on one account.
Creating a character - where to start?
Your first step will be choosing a free slot with the sign "Create new stalker" in the character choice menu. After that, you'll need to choose your character's origin.
The "Natives" are the Zone residents who refused to leave their houses during the evacuation. Those tough people survived the first outburst of the anomalous activity, the construction of the Perimeter and setting up of the quarantine, the "cleaning" performed by the soldiers and all the mutant attacks that followed. Some learned to live in peace with the Zone, accept its gifts and keep their honor throughout all the trials that regularly come their way; others took the slippery path, taking up mugging, blackmailing, racketeering, illegal trade of artifacts and weapons.
Natives are more tolerant to severe life conditions, their maximum health points level is higher.
The name "Aliens" was initially used as a negative and derogatory term. This is how the locals named the stalkers who illegally entered the territory of the Zone during the first months after the Perimeter was built. With time, anyone coming from the mainland - army men, scientists, adventurers - were labeled "aliens"... Many have families and homes in the mainland, something they long to come back to after they make enough money to secure a comfortable living in the old age.
The aliens' body adapts quickly, they have a high health regeneration.
Your origin will also determine the set of professions you will be offered during the game.
After choosing the origin, press Next to choose your character's appearance.
The appearance is set against five parameters: face, basic clothing (shirt, jacket or sweater), gloves, pants and boots.
Move the slide to the left or to the right to choose the appearance to your liking.
The selected parameters will be your character's basic features, this is how it will look in the world of the game without armor.
In order to view your character from all angles, you can turn it by pressing your left mouse button and moving your mouse.
Click Random if you want random appearance for your character.
When you are done with the character's appearance, click Next.
In the last window, enter character name. It will be reserved for you in the Zone, displayed in the game chat and on your name tag for you and other players to see.
The following characters can be used in the name:
- latin alphabetic characters;
- numbers;
- one special symbol - the underscore ("_") is permitted.
If you attempt to use any other symbols, you'll get a message saying "Your name contains invalid characters". You won't be able to create an avatar with this name, so you'll hace to choose another name.
If you get a message saying "This name is unavailable for registration", it means this name is already taken. In that case, you will also have to choose a different name.
After you choose a name, press Finish to complete character creation.
To delete your character, choose it and press the "X" mark in the top right-hand corner of its name field. Enter character name for confirmation. The character will be deleted in six days, during which it will still occupy a slot on your character selection screen. During the six-day pending deletion period, you will not be able to play with this character; however, you can cancel deletion if you change your mind.
To cancel deletion, choose stalker with pending deletion, once again press the X mark in its name field and confirm deletion. After deletion, you will not be able to see or use the character.
After you create/choose your stalker character, press Play.
If this is the first character on your account, tutorial will start automatically.
Further on, when you create new characters, you'll be able to skip tutorial by choosing the relevant option in the popup window.
You can earn experience points by completing quests and defeating your opponents. You can increase your specializations and get new skills with these points. As your character accumulates experience, your level will increase. Each following level will require more experience than the previous one.
The maximum level as of now is lvl 30.
The level of the character determines the following gameplay aspects:
- most skills are only available at a certain level;
- your health and stamina will increase with each level (the exact increments depending upon the origin you chose);
- certain quests and dialog options will only be available at a certain level.
As your level increases, your character will also get certain ranks. Some NPCs will specify ranks required for a certain task; frequently it is the rank, not the level, that is specified among the prerequisites to certain skills, but in general ranks are there purely for decoration; they mark important milestones in levelupping and demonstrate the heights you have reached.
You will develop your character in the Skills window (by default, press K to open it).
Let us take a more detailed look at this window.
The top of the window displays character name on the left and Help ("?", the question mark) button and the Close ("X" sign) on the right.
The body of the window is divided into Base Skills, Specializations and Advanced Skills fields.
Base Skills are open for everyone, you don't need a profession for them. You can buy a base skills with your available experience points (you can see its value under left column). Double click on an icon of an available skill to learn it. If you have enough points you will get the skill you choose.
Specializations will be available for you after choosing your in-game profession. There are several groups of specializations. You can spend your available experience points to increase any specialization you like. Choose a group and a specialization in the middle of in-game window to spend some of your available experience points on specialization upgrade. At the left side you can see the upgrade modificator. It shows you how much will it cost you to get one specialization point. It depends on your chosen profession.
Click "^" button at the right of specialization name and type a number of points you wish to buy. Then click "Confirm" button. If you have enough experience it will be convert into specialization points.
Each specialization has different advanced skill sets.
Advanced Skills acquire in exchange for specialization points. Spending specialization points reduces specialization's effectiveness, but allows the use of acquired skill's bonuses.
Even after you get all available skills you can continue to put your experience into your specialization to become stronger.
Your "Specialization points" are displayed under the "Advanced Skills" field.
The lower part of the window displays a detailed description of the skill / specialization you have chosen.
The lower right-hand part shows your "Active Skills" (currently not available in the game).
Under the Active Skills there is a Cancel button (resets all changes in the window, if you have changed your mind or made a mistake) and Confirm button (sets all the choices). After you press Confirm, you will no longer be able to cancel any of the actions you performed in the window.
The bottom panel contains additional info about the character (left to right): total experience obtained, origin, current rank and level, profession and specialization (if any), total time online.
Your Available Experience points are the main currency of your character development.
Available Experience means accumulated experience points that you have not yet spent on specializations and skills.
Before you choose a profession, only Base Skills will be available for you.
In order to get a skill, you'll need to:
- earn the necessary volume of available experience;
- get the necessary level;
- open the previous link in a chain, if the skill you choose is part of a chain.
The Base Skills set includes:
- using various types of weapons and equipment - without those skills, stalkers cannot use the relevant gear;
- crafting - basic knowledge that lets you learn the secrets of disassembling, making and repairing various objects;
- leadership - a skill enabling you to create a clan or become head of an existing clan.
Stalkers can register their profession in Greek's office at the former police station.
Choice of profession is an important milestone in character development, that determines its future strengths and weaknesses, as well as opens access to specializations and advanced skills.
Military
The government troops sent to the Zone found themselves cut off from the mainland, due to the recent outburst of the anomalous activity. Disrupted communication, mutants, marauders - all that makes the sergeants seek assistance from the stalkers. Recruits with military backgrounds are especially valued for their skills with firearms.
Military specialties:
The Assaulter is the cornerstone of the strike forces, specializing in quick seizure of the key town districts and further clearance of the mutants. An Assaulter will be an expert in firearms, wearing assault armor, strong and quick enough, ready to handle any situation.
Main role: PvP (player versus player), offensive actions at a near and average distance.
The Sniper is mobile and strong, always in the shade, in the back, providing coverage. The enemy will not even know where the bullet came from.
Main role: PvP (player versus player), offensive actions at a long distance.
The Commando is an expert in heavy weapons and reinforced armor. Dubbed "walking tank", he will cover his friends with his own body, taking the enemy's shots or slaughter everyone around with his trusted machine gun.
Main role: PvP (player versus player), deffensive actions.
Doctor
Doctors in the Zone are honored and appreciated. People will seek a doctor's assistance, be it heavy wounds, mysterious diseases or mutant bites, as their last resort for survival in the cruel world. Most illnesses cause by the anomalies, are still unresolved mysteries for the mainland medicine, which frequently results in official scientific medical expeditions to the Zone, as well as private medical investigations.
Doctor's specialty:
The Physician will be proficient in pharmacology and personal protection equipment. He will be able to defend himself, while staying away from active fighting. His lot is to treat the wounded and save the ailing from death grip.
Main role: healing, support, drug creation.
Engineer
Indispensable craftsmen, capable of assembling anything from makeshift materials at hand: from automatic rifles and grenades to armor and elaborate gear. Alien engineers have no idea what to expect from the Zone but they are very well prepared, both in making new things and in disassembling broken equipment to get valuable components.
Engineer's specialty:
The Universal Craftsman knows a little bit of everything. He is a can-do person, but in the Zone he may lack some purely practical skills. However, for each new problem a universal craftsman will offer a couple of plausible solutions, one of which is bound to work.
Main role: repair, craft, restoration of items.
Scientist
People who come to the Zone for the sake of science, are extremely courageous and smart. They will usually need support in fighting immediate danger, be that mutants or robbers, but in future it is the scientists who will discover new methods of fighting the anomalous activity. Due to the specifics of their profession, they are not too eager to use thick clothing and burdening armor. Their gear of preference is suits protecting from various hazardous effects.
Scientist's specialty:
Theoretician is a former "armchair scientist" who strives to prove to the colleagues (and to the rest of the world) certain assumptions about the nature and character of the Zone that only he can understand. Genuine desire to uncover the truth and a healthy scientific interest have enabled him to overcome the fear before the dangers which any stalker is bound to face. Obviously, the Theoretician will seek support from the military men or from the private hired guards, otherwise he will have to rely only on the "Pistols for Dummies Crash Course" and on his unprecedented knowledge of chemistry.
Main role: PvE (player versus world, survival in anomalies).
Hunter
The Mutants of the Zone are not protectes as endangered species, which attracts crowds of professional hunters. These people don't have military gear to the extent of the army soldiers or private mercenaries, but they are well familiar with the behavior of wild animals and able to find, catch, kill and skin a mutant. Some of them can walk miles and miles into the depth of the Zone, keep an impressive stock of supplies and can carry heavy loads to great distances, efficiently using the available space in the backpack.
Hunter's specialty:
Mutant Hunters seldom care about politics or the balance of powers in the Zone. They are believers, almost romantics, fascinated by the very prospect of fighting dangerous beasts, unknown to scientists. They are not ideally fit for the coming overloads, but they adapt quickly.
Main role: PvE (player versus enimies \ mutants, extraction of rare mutant parts, weight carrying).
Warrior
When bandits or the alien army starts "bullying" a viilage, the villagers will call their warriors for help. However, during the years of fighting the aliens and the mutants, the natives were deprived of most of their territories, and their warriors got scattered all over the Zone. Now, when a relatively peaceful time of cooperated research came, many prefer to join the government army or the mercenaries. The Warriors may be not too comfortable with modern warfare, but their quick thinking and stamina are truly impressive.
Warrior's specialties:
Fighters prefer to attack head-on, their choice is a submachine gun and assault armor. A few years ago they were in the vanguard of an improvised militia of the natives, which fought the first wave of the mutants. Little has changed in their character since. They are still aleays ready to drink, have a fight, be it for greater purposes or "just for the hell of it".
Main role: PvP (player versus player), offensive actions at a near and average distance.
The Defenders were people of honor, trusted and respected in their villages. When they were no longer able to handle the mutants, many left homes and are currently living in the streets of Lubech or walk the Zone, seeking revenge for all the troubles their people faced. The Defenders are learning to use rifles and reinforced armor. They are not as tough as they seem, but they hardly feel any exhaustion until they fall dead.
Main role: PvP (player versus player), deffensive actions.
Druid
The "druid" is the name that the army men used to call the local herbalists, not even suspecting that soon this offensive nickname will become a proud term for a whole profession. When the aliens faced mutants and anomalies, it turned out their doctors could not handle the mysterious illnesses and weird wounds. The druids have no special medical education, but in the Zone their experience, intuition and knowledge of folk medicine prove more useful and reliable than the traditional method.
Druid's specialty:
The Healer is a self trained doctor who learned to treat illnesses and wounds inflicted by the dangers of the Zone. The Healer relies on his own experience and on the knowledge he received from his ancestors, as well as faith and intuition. His strength is medicinal herbs, plants, making infusions and cataplasms.
Main role: healing, support, drug creation.
Mechanic
The native Mechanics leared long ago that the Zone gives no useless things, any junk may prove useful and save one's life at a certain moment. They are not that familiar with the aliens' instruments and gear, but they are unmatched in everyday economy: they quickly learn to mend and patch up almost any item of clothing.
Mechanic's specialty:
The Handyman focus on knowledge and skills that will definitely be needed in the Zone: making devices and ammo out of makeshift materials, searching for armor components... Unlikely to succeed in the Mainland, they will definitely make a living here, inside the Perimeter.
Main role: repair, craft, restoration of items.
Researcher
Some rural school graduates have tried to understand the Zone based on rationality, not faith. They lack theoretical knowledge, but their empirical knowledge base would be priceless for any alien PhD.
Researcher's specialty:
The Naturalist possessing a vast base of empirical knowledge, as well as skilled in practical use of the Zone's objects and phenomena, in particular - learning methods of creating and using artifacts.
Main role: PvE (player versus world, creation of artifacts).
Pathfinder
When mutants threatened the village, the villagers would send out the Pathfinders. The well trained native hunters would trace and bait the beasts luring it away, to the depth of the Zone, or killing and cutting it up, if the village needed supplies. Frequent walk to great distances teach the Pathfinders to use the available space in the backpack with maximum efficiency, and their easily developing ability to carry heavy loads can only be envied.
Pathfinder's specialty:
The Woodsman learns to see what parts of the carcass are most valuable for sale and collecting, what can be safely eaten and what will be most impressive as a trophy. His remarkable health and stamina frequently get mentioned in the stalker legends, songs and anecdotes.
Main role: PvE (player versus enimies \ mutants, extraction of rare mutant parts, weight carrying).
Specializations and Advanced Skills
Specializations and Advanced Skills will be available for you after choosing your in-game profession.
There are 5 groups of specializations.
You can spend your available points to increase any specialization you like. The convertation price is different for every profession:
Advanced Skills acquire in exchange for specialization points. Each specialization has different advanced skill sets. Spending specialization points reduces specialization's effectiveness, but allows the use of acquired skill's bonuses.
Even after you get all available skills you can continue to put your experience into your specialization to become stronger.
Enables stalker to use various types of gear more efficiently, be it armor, backpacks or complicated devices.
This group includes the following specialties:
Armor... (Mobile, Assault, Reinforced) - increases the efficiency of using all types of heavy armor. The professional skills will help concentrate on protection from specific hazards: weapons, mutants or anomalies.
Suits - increases the efficiency of using various types of protective clothing, intended mostly for scientists. Your professional skills will help concentrate on protection from a specific type of hazard: weapons, mutants or anomalies.
Clothing - increases the efficiency of using light clothing. Your professional skills will help concentrate on protection from a specific type of hazard: weapons, mutants or anomalies.
PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) - increases the efficiency of using protective masks and helmets. Your professional skills will help concentrate on protection from a specific type of hazard: weapons, mutants or anomalies.
Uniform - increases the efficiency of using professional uniform, such as medical coats. Your professional skills will help concentrate on a specific type of uniform: technical, medical, laboratory.
Backpack - increases your weight-carrying capacity when you equip a backpack. Your professional skills will help concentrate on a specific type of backpacks and enable you to use new backpacks.
Devices - enables you to use complicated technical devices while increasing the efficiency of their use. Your professional skills will enable you to use metal detectors.
"Medicine" branch
Medical knowledge and pharmacist skills.
The group includes the following specialties:
Pistol
Submachine Gun
Shotgun
Rifle
Assault Rifle
Sniper Rifle
Heavy Firearms
Grenade Launcher
Knowledge and skills in handling certain types of weapons available in the Zone. Professional skills include increasing the accuracy of each type of weapon, slowing the wear etc.
Skills related to repair, creation and restoration of ordinary and anomalous items.
The group includes the following specialties:
Restoration... (Armor, Suit, Clothing, PPE) - enables you to restore worn items to their original condition.
Protection Components - creating various armor from ready details. Choose from three skill groups: protection from weapons, mutants or anomalies.
Weapons - knowing the components of weapons. Your skills include assembling ready-to-use weapons from parts and recycling its disassembled components.
Gear - creating gear from makeshift components.
Artifacts - knowledge of anomalous items. Skills include creating artifacts or disassembling them into components.
Devices - creating complicated devices from makeshift components.
Medicine - ability to obtain and create medical preparations from makeshift components.
Weapon Modification - creating additional details for weapons.
Ammo - making ammunition.
Explosives - knowledge of explosive materials and devices. Skills include arming and disarming bombs.
Building - creating other simple items.
Chemistry - knowledge of chemicals, ability to obtain them.
Carcass Parsing - includes ability to parse mutant carcasses into valuable organic components. In addition to skill, requires tools such as Knife.
Engineering - includes ability to disassemble other simple objects.
Herbalism - knowledge of herbs, ability to obtain and use natural resources.
Weapons Repair - repairing various types of weapons. Your skills allow you to concentrate on a specific type of weapon.
Gear Repair - repairing various types of armor. Your skills allow you to concentrate on a specific type of gear.
Every repair, done either by yourself or at the Repairman's shop, will reduce the maximum durability of the item. In order to return the items to their original state, you need the "Restoration" skill.
Your personal physical and intellectual achievements that enable you to find more loot, keep you from losing it, increase your health, stamina, weight-carrying ability, make you immune to certain effects etc.
The group includes the following specialties:
Health - increases your maximum HP value.
Metabolism - increases the speed of your HP restoration.
Stamina - increases your maximum stamina value.
Recuperation - increases the speed of stamina restoration.
Resistance is your body's abilty to resist negative impacts. Your professional skills allow you to concentrate on a specific hazard: cold, radiation, electricity, heat, injuries or biological impact.
Weight Lifting - increases the maximum weight carrying capacity.
Artifacts Compatibility - enables you to open additional slots for equipping artifacts.
Providence - ability to save your property in case of lost consciousness and robbery. Professional skills reduce the chance of loss and the quantity of lost items.
Robbery is the ability to find stashed belongings and steal them. Your skills increase the chance of successful robbery and the number of stolen things.
Magnetic Artifact Gripping Device
Magnetic Artifact Gripping Device (MAGD) is a high tech instrument intended for retrieving artifact from the anomalies from a relatively safe distance. It's a product of the engineering skill of Valeriy Gromokovskii, Doctor of Technical Science and former stalker. While MAGD may not be the most user friendly or power efficient device, yet it has saved many a life of researchers and artifact hunters.
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
ACTIVATION
Activate your MAGD by dragging it to the Equipment screen or by right-clicking on it in the menu and choosing the Use option.
If you place your MAGD in one of the Quick Slots, you can activate it by pressing the relevant number key.
In order to work, the device needs battery power (power consumption depending on the type of device).
USE
Any artifact within the MAGD detection radius will show on the screen of the device as a big blinking dot.
Note that for successful retrieval of the artifact it has to be within the retrieval zone, i.e. ideally the dot must be in the inner square, not the outer square, the closer to the center, the better.
Left click on the dot (hold down Ctrl or press Enter to switch to the mouse pointer).
If the target is within reach, the MAGD will attempt to retrieve the artifact.
The cells under the MAGD display will show digits and arrows, you have to quickly press the same keys on your keyboard to retrieve the artifact. If you don't make it on time, you'll have to start over.
There is no automated manufacturing of items in the Zone, most goods are imported from beyond the Perimeter or assembled manually. Manual labor, or Crafting, therefore, is widespread.
In order to learn Crafting, you'll need to learn the basic Crafting skill, available on Level 3 and up.
After you learn Crafting, you'll be able to get materials from various objects, using tools such as the Hunting knife.
In order to use a tool, open your Inventory ("I" by default) and right-click the necessary item (such as Solid Piece of Wood). In the context menu, choose Process. If your skills are not high enough, you are likely to ruin the item, resulting in garbage (Broken Stick) that can only be sold or thrown out. For each new attempt you'll need a new instrument.
After you choose your profession, the Repair specialty branch will become available for you, allowing for repairing, restoration and making of various items: from armor and ammo to complex devices and artifacts.
In order to work with complicated items, besides the relevant skills, you will also need schemes and a workbench.
Schemes can be purchased, found or received as reward for quests. In order to learn a scheme, open Inventory, right-click on the scheme and select Use from the drop-down menu.
In order to apply your newly obtained knowledge, find a vacant workbench, come up to it and press the "Interact" key (F by default).
Choose what you want to do with the items:
- make / disassemble,
- improve,
- modify,
- restore.
Keep in mind that the available types of work depend upon the type of workbench. Not all workbenches offer all four types of work.
Making and disassembling items on a workbench
A window will open; in the list on the left, choose the scheme you learned.
The required components are shown with grey icons in the central lower field. Drag all the required things into that field, or check "Autofill" - whatever necessary items are in your inventory will be moved to the field automatically.
The item you work on is shown in a separate top cell. On the right is information about the required skills and the chance of obtaining the item.
In the lower part of the window you'll see information about your chance of getting better item. You can increase that chance by adding the necessary catalysts to the field.
Living in the Zone is no bowl of cherries. Many NPCs will be glad to receive help from you and will offer reward. However, despite the numerous needs, people of the Zone are cautious. Talk to them, offer your help. Gradually, they will learn to trust you and will tell you more about their problems, which will help you get a quest or a job.
When talking to potential quest givers, keep in mind that:
- some potential employers will not open up to you unless you earn a certain amount of reputation with their fraction;
- when you are done with one task, talk to the NPC again - he may have another job for you;
- some quests may be taken repeatedly, usually, at several-hour intervals.
Trading for money or things is one of the cornerstones of existence in the Zone, a way to survive and make a living. Thanks to the well-developed market, weapons and supplies that come from beyond the Perimeter as "aid to the troops" are freely distributed across all the explored territory.
Trading in the Zone is officially permitted, thus an attempt is made to control artifacts and mutant parts trading (legal traders hand over all the goods to the authorities, not to the black market).
The main currency of the Zone is the ruble. Legal traders prefer buying and selling goods for rubles.
Traders of special (rare) goods use so-called "golden rubles", used as a substitute for the "big world" currency.
Lately, some traders have lost faith in money and rely on barter, trading some commodities for other.
When dealing with a trader, keep in mind that:
- official traders will usually offer one or two types of goods: weapons, ammo, gear;
- different traders buy different goods. Open the Sell tab and see if anything that may interest this particular trader is present in your inventory;
- some traders do not sell anything but they will buy various goods that other traders will ignore;
- unique things are purchased from special traders for golden rubles;
- some NPCs, even though they are not official traders, can over you trading for money or for other goods, usually after you complete some quests for them;
- medicaments can be purchased from doctors or pharmacists, and repairmen will trade your broken weapon components for whole weapons;
- after you buy a trading set, you will be able to buy and sell things in special trading zones.
Any gear will wear out with time. Repairmen will prolong the life of any stalker equipment for relevant pay. All fractions appreciate skillful repairs, so repairmen can be found just about anywhere. Anyone can learn the basics of in-field repairing, with the required experience and effort, but definitely not just anyone will get to the professional level.
Stalker! Look after your gear! After returning from a distant trip, seek a repairman's help. You repairman is your best friend.
When dealing with a repairman, remember that:
- they are pros, but not magicians: after each repair, an item will lose part of its maximum durability, and gradually even the strongest gear will turn to junk;
- repairmen collect broken components and other metal scraps that they use as spare parts; they will pay you for such junk with money or other things they have in stock.
Sometimes you find so many goodies in the Zone, you cannot carry it to the outside of the Perimeter in one trip. That is why stalkers would trust their stuff to other stalkers for safekeeping. With time, those responsible people began looking after any things that were too good to sell but too heavy to carry.
The first storage keepers appeared long before the Army men came and the fractions formed. As of today, they created their own network, with storages at all known residential places of the Zone and with their own couriers who can deliver things from one area to another, provided that a safe passage is available.
When talking to a storage keeper, keep in mind that:
- storage keepers are usually friendly, but usually belonging to a certain fraction - don't expect them to deliver your stuff to a strange camp;
- remembering where exactly you have left your stuff will always help...
Guides are often called the "true stalkers" meaning that showing safe paths for moderate pay is the essence of stalkers' profession.
The Zone is divided into several independent regions, the connection between which is still fiercely argued about in the scientific community. There is an opinion that the nature of transfers between the parts of the Zone cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind and must be understood intuitively, which means it is not available to everyone.
Things to keep in mind when talking to a guide:
- the Zone has areas and regions where you can only get with the help of a guide;
- in addition to charging a money fee, such guides will ask you to get them a "compass" and a fresh map of the anomalies;
- if you can get to a certain point of the Zone without a guide, you have to visit it at least once, before the guides agree to take you to that spot;
- not any guide will take you to the territory belonging to a certain fraction if you have a quarrel with that fraction; You can check your reputation by opening the Reputation tab in the Character window (press U) or by entering /reputation command in the chat field (the exact reputation will also be displayed in the popup window, hovering the cursor over the fraction name);
- if you are an outlaw (karma below 250), some guides will refuse to take you to the Army-controlled territory; you can find out your current status through the /pkstatus command.
Order in major towns and villages is maintained by guards. Armed patrols are surveilling the territory, watching out for mutants and delinquents. Any decent camp, let alone residential settlements, will offer protection to their people, be that aliens supervised by the Army men of Lubech, stalkers that kill time between expeditions in an improvised bar, the mysterious White Brethren or the Turnips brothers hiding in caves.
Guards will not be distracted by small talk. You cannot initiate a dialog with them, but remember:
- guards will shoot without warning at the enemies of the fraction - mind your reputation;
- the Army guards of Lubech may put you to prison if you have killed other players and you karma is too low; you can find out your current karma by entering /pkstatus command in the chat field;
- guards keep the mutants out of their controlled territory and can save you in a dangerous situation.
Attacking other players is not welcomed, but possible everywhere except for the safety zones (towns, villages, camps near fires). You will be notified of being in such an area by the No Marauders icon displayed in the top right part of the screen, on the Current Effects panel, near the mini map and compass.
When you leave the safety zone with PvP mode on, be alert, watch your back, evaluate the passers-by, but don't point your weapon at them, unless you want to demonstrate threat. Don't stand in open and unprotected areas, try to get to the safety zone as soon as possible.
If you do decide to perceive the PK path, remember:
- Anti-PK laws are in force outside of safety zones, except for the most remote and deserted areas.
- Shooting at players in such areas will make you lose karma and in the end get the Delinquent Flag - a red skull sign on the Character Status panel in the top left corner.
- While you are wearing the Delinquent Flag, any other stalker can shoot at you without harming his/her karma.
- Army guards will fire at will at any player wearing the Delinquent Flag.
- If you are killed by the Army guards, you will be put to prison.
- As a rule, finishing fallen players will also reduce your karma, so before you do it make sure you understand the consequences.
- The lower your karma, the longer will the Delinquent Flag be attached to you, and if it falls below 150, the flag will remain there permanently...
Stalker, be alert and careful!
The Zone is waiting!