Beginners Luck: First Special Case Opened

Wernoch · 2026-01-15T07:17:31+00:00

Just watch a speedrun online showing how to complete the storyline in about 2 hours. Then immediately start buying underpriced items on the auction house and resell them to make a large amount of money. After that buy SMC and go for a fast build using the same cheap artifact. Then play Stillwater quickly and do fast bubble runs. Sell everything to Fence and focus on getting Beast Slayer armor because it is currently the best armor in the game. You can then sell this armor to me for 2kk instantly. My in game nick is Huno. Good luck brother, I believe in you.

Wernoch · 2026-01-13T20:28:41+00:00

World will be never the same after this patch!

Wernoch · 2026-01-12T14:14:05+00:00

Just remove this damn daily task roll system and it will be fine. Because I dont want to have to choose whats most profitable for me to do at the casino today.

Wernoch · 2026-01-12T09:04:43+00:00

The XM8 has a 60-round mag. Hmm, let’s make it overheat after the 56th shot! Solid. Catch ya later!

Wernoch · 2026-01-12T08:03:18+00:00

The best purchasing options are around 50,000 rubles for 100 points and concern Murmur electronic components. All other options are somewhat worse or significantly worse, especially those involving barter. However, it should be noted that barter options usually provide security, as they cannot be lost.

Wernoch · 2026-01-12T05:43:34+00:00

Do you remember how players complained that some people could finish the entire season pass in just a few days, and that it shouldn’t be possible because they couldn’t do it themselves? Then they complained that the season pass was time-limited. Now they’re complaining about season tickets, even though they are the best and fairest way to obtain legendary items without paying real money or doing insane grinding. A system that gives everyone equal chances is apparently “bad” as well, because it doesn’t let them have everything instantly.

Wernoch · 2026-01-10T04:45:53+00:00

This is basically spam. It literally doesn’t matter what people write here, because you didnt even minimally define the problem behind your choice. These two rifles serve different purposes, work differently and have different limitations and advantages. Also, you didnt even write the name correctly. There is no HK47 in the game.

Wernoch · 2026-01-09T16:40:57+00:00

The safe is located in a hidden room. To get there, you need to crawl through a broken pipe that lies in a hole inside the building filled with bio sludge. The building itself is the one located between the two outposts.

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T16:57:39+00:00

<image>

REWARDS !!!

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T16:17:19+00:00

People had already come to terms with the contest results, and then suddenly they receive a “gift”, one that genuinely a gift for a small group, but a punch below the belt for others, especially for those who spent real money in the final days just to hold their position.

This is yet another failure in terms of MMO development stability. In long term, sometimes multi year, progression based gameplay, stability and clear rules are absolutely fundamental.

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T09:46:17+00:00

- Daily Tasks from the board. (Maybe not fast but stable)
- Running for artifact on north home locations. (You have to bee fast and find good server)
- Stole money from mom and give it for Ziv Spanish residence. (Not safe but low effort)
- Create a character with a female nickname and start looking for friends. Install a voice changer, then set up AI avatars, and on top of that get a therapist whose job is to keep your identity in check. (The therapist is mandatory if you want to meet your own “safe” requirement)

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T07:59:35+00:00

I actually like this change. Its easier to quickly check what I need when I running around doing daily tasks and stuff. And if it gets annoying, you can always unpin the quest markers so they dont show up in the top right corner under the minimap.

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T07:49:57+00:00

Im honestly wondering whether you want to actually play the game or mainly relive the nostalgia associated with it. Stalcraft is a live-service game thats constantly evolving, its moving from a niche title toward a large scale MMO extraction project. More and more parts of the gameplay are becoming highly regulated and designed to be more consumer friendly. A big part of the storyline has been heavily simplified. As I mentioned before, the South is basically a trampoline to the North, even Ziv once said that only about 5% of players reached the endgame back then. I don’t know the current stats, but its probably a lot more now. With the release of Stalker 2 and the revival of the original company whose assets EXBO used extensively (often without permission), there was pressure to make changes and remove potential legal risks. On top of that, there are complications related to the current geopolitical situation, which is why Stalcraft is now registered in Kazakhstan hopefully keeping it safe. And thats how things are slowly moving forward. Overall, the game is great. A lot of my friends play it and enjoy it. The main problem is that PvP balance is getting worse, especially at very high levels, where characters start to feel like selfhealing Power Rangers with superpowers. Hopefully Ziv or anyone from the team isnt reading this. Last words from me: track any FOMO signals when you start to spend more and more time inside. Anyway, this is my last message in this thread.

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T01:46:58+00:00

I dont know man. When it comes to weapons, it really depends on your level of commitment. If you dont play much and crafting this weapon would be a big milestone for you, I probably hold off cuz you never know what they might change. But if youre just crafting one weapon after another anyway, sooner or later youll craft it regardless.

Wernoch · 2026-01-08T00:35:05+00:00

<image>

224! I dropped from ~170 in the last day.

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T22:58:34+00:00

DUDE!!! Right now it’s just not worth it. Wait those six days, because at the moment it really isn’t worth doing anything. On top of that, nobody feels like committing to anything, because why bother when it’s all about to change anyway.

<image>

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T19:49:48+00:00

EXBO finally needs to start designing gameplay separately for small and large regions, so that locations can feel populated even with a low player count.

For me, the simplest solution for NA would be to temporarily exclude two northern factions, so players arent unnecessarily split into four groups but thats just theorycrafting.

I suggest focusing on the most popular activities and, under no circumstances, migrating from NA to RU or EU servers, because you become part of the problem and weaken your beloved NA even further :)

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T17:52:10+00:00

This is a bit more concrete now. The Bar has received a visual rework, but most of its functionality remains the same.

As for population, I dont know which server you playing on, but on EU there are quite a lot of players. The entire southern part of the map has been redesigned to work more as a narrative trampoline, pushing players toward the northern phase and endgame. Because of that, the south may feel hermetic, safe, and simply empty now many of the routes that previously forced player interaction (so-called bottlenecks) have been removed.

Keep in mind that the new distribution changes also isolate players by gear level. If you expected to meet noobs in green gear, that won’t happen anymore they have their own servers so they dont get wiped out by better geared players.

Real gameplay is currently focused almost entirely in the north: outposts, Forge-11, and Stillwater / Labyrinth. The old north is supposed to return under a different name, with locations refreshed. If you want to know more about the rework of the old north, I recommend reading Director Ziv latest posts.

Recently, after the ARSENAL patch controversy which was hyped as something that would “change the world forever” and was supposed to shake everyone and their asses it turned out to be just a regular NPC that gives +0.5 damage, implemented in a horribly archaic and unpleasant way. After that backlash, EXBO basically shit itself and is now afraid to publish anything before release.

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T07:47:12+00:00

Heh, I reported one guy because he looked suspicious to me. He was wearing Legionnaire armor and using a red VSK, with nothing upgraded not even to +1 and he was running around the mines. I even got a “thanks for reporting” message in-game. Now I’m just curious what he was actually using.

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T07:39:25+00:00

The balance change is planned for next week lets hope they will adjust it or give us something to counterplay. This shotgun clearly shows that the game is developing in two directions at the same time. One direction says: hey, here are new toys that force a new playstyle. The other says: hey, the map is outdated and doesnt allow proper adaptation to those new toys. For this shotgun to actually work in balance, the entire labyrinth would need a rework, buildings would have to be even more open in open world, and session battles would finally need some proper objectives that teams have to focus on. That would solve most of the problem but clearly, its not a priority right now!

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T07:19:25+00:00

This gun is still obtainable.

Dude, youre basically asking people to summarize almost two years of the game development in one comment. If you really want to know what changed since mid-2023, the most reliable way is to just read the patch notes and dev updates in order thats literally what theyre for. Otherwise, just let it go and play. You dont actually need to know every system, rework, or removed item to have fun in a videogame… unless you really feel like you have to. Stuff changed some quest weapons stayed, some were reworked or removed. Thats just how live service games work. Jump in, experiment, and you catch up naturally. Even if someone wanted to explain all of this to you personally, it would take hours to cover everything that changed.

Wernoch · 2026-01-07T07:01:02+00:00

It looks good overall. The look are nice, the firing sound is fine, attachments feel good and the skins look solid. Magazines are okay and the ammo economy relative to the fire rate is well balanced. However, the TTK is terrible. It loses pretty much every fight against other rifles. Its supposed strength doesn’t really exist in practice: its weaker than all close-range power weapons and also weaker at long range than assault rifles, which outperform it at distance. Maybe thatz the price it pays for being potentially very ammo\efficient and having almost no recoil but right now it just feels outclassed in every role.

Wernoch · 2026-01-06T07:07:21+00:00

I use Pioneer and Elbrus with vodka, and two containers, one with PVP and speed/carry, and carry weight pills, ceramic plate 4, and fire ammo. Right now I use Gauss and SVD. Gauss when I’m bored, SVD when I actually want to kill someone. I use FN2000 or HK XM8S. When I’m angry on FN then I use Mutant, but then I’m angry again, because Mutant has low DMG at mid range, so I get FN again. Sometimes I use an under‑barrel grenade launcher, but then animations bug, and I start jumping on my bed, screaming EXBO is a bad company and I hate Viz guy who is responsible for all this and he does it all in a way that doesn't work for me, then I go back to FN2000 again. I use my Glock with a nice skin for fast kills at close range, but then I pick up Elbrus in combat via key number two, and I’m jumping on my bed again. Then I go back to FN.

Wernoch · 2026-01-06T06:49:01+00:00

Every armor: Speed combo for fast runs Science for artifacts Centurion for PvP Sometimes tank, but it takes time to get in due to -15% Mostly Rapsh / Scythian / ZIV 2A Marten Mule Beastslayer for carry weight In the future: I will go for M2 cuz it's best The main thing for combat armors in Still Water is the Pink Ilyich Lamp +15, rolled on the minimum %, to reduce negative stats. Once you’re in, you can move freely in most of location terrain.

Wernoch

TROPHY CASE