STALKER 2: All Status Conditions and Cures

This guide explains all the status conditions and how they can be cured in survival RPG STALKER 2.

You need to be cautious about these status conditions (Image Via: GSC Game World)

STALKER 2, also known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, is a survival FPS RPG that takes place in a post-apocalyptic open world of Zone. GSC Game World incorporates several real-life survival mechanisms such as hunger, sleeping, bleeding, and radiation into the virtual radiation-affected world.

This immersive status conditions mechanism in STALKER 2 adds more reality and elevates the ‘survival’ genre to the next level. As a result, you need to keep track of your various status conditions. Otherwise, they will cause trouble throughout your playthrough. Here we have listed all the status conditions in STALKER 2 and provided the cure for each one of them.

Related: 10 Beginners Tips for STALKER 2 Heart of Chornobyl 

What Are the Various Status Conditions in Stalker 2 and How To Cure Them

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Cure the status ailments ASAP (Image Via: GSC Game World)

Hunger, Bleeding, Encumbered, Radiation, and Alcohol are the major status conditions you need to track during your journey. Being inattentive to these status conditions impacts your gameplay and may result in death. Understanding how these conditions work will increase your chances of survival in the Zone. Here is how each status condition works and the ways to cure them.

Hunger

As obvious as the name suggests, the Hunger status condition in STALKER 2 is caused when you have not eaten for a long time. This status condition, indicated by a chicken drumstick, affects your mobility and combat performance.

How to Cure: The Hunger status effect can be cured by eating foods. Drinking water and alcohol also slightly reduces the Hunger status ailment. Since this status ailment is caused by one of the basic needs of humans, it can’t be avoided.

You should always carry food items and stockpile them in your inventory. You can check how much a specific food can reduce hunger via inventory. Every survivor knows the value of food, so don’t waste them. Consuming foods also restores your health.

Bleeding

The Bleeding status condition is caused by bullet wounds or attacks by mutant creatures. If uncured, it decreases your health at a quick rate.

How to Cure: The best and most straightforward solution is using bandages. Applying bandages completely gets rid of the Bleeding status condition. In case of a lack of bandages, you can use medkits to heal your health and reduce the bleeding to some extent. However, it cannot completely negate the status effects. Always carry a sufficient amount of recovery items such as bandages and medkits.

Encumbered

Stalker 2 Difficulties Explained
Carrying heavy weapons leads to inventory overload (Image Via: GSC Game World)

The weight limit mechanism in STALKER 2 allows you to carry only a certain number of items in your inventory. If you have exceeded the weight limit of your inventory, it will result in an Encumbered status condition. This restricts your movement speed and drains your stamina faster while running.

How to Cure: Always track your weight limit in the inventory for the items you are currently carrying. Your movement becomes hindered when the meter turns yellow and completely stops when it reaches red.

This status condition can be cured by dropping heavy/unwanted items and broken weapons from your inventory or selling them to NPCs. There are several ways to mitigate this status effect, such as storing excess weapons and gear in your personal stashes at bases or increasing your carrying weight limit. 

Radiation

Since you are traversing across highly radioactive regions, there might be chances that you are exposed to radiation often. The Radiation status ailment is caused when you come into close proximity to radioactive wastes or objects. You can monitor areas with radioactive hazards with the help of your Geiger counter.

How to Cure: This status condition can be cured by taking anti-radiation medications. It can also be mitigated by consuming alcohol.

Alcohol

The final status condition is Alcohol. Although consuming alcohol is a countermeasure to getting rid of other status ailments like Hunger and Radiation, it can result in another status ailment. This status effect causes a temporary debuff and impairs your vision by swaying the screen and increasing the brightness of colors.

How to Cure: The Alcohol status ailment can be mitigated by waiting till the debuff disappears. Consuming excessive alcohol increases the debuff stats.

In addition to all these status conditions, Sleep plays a huge role in STALKER 2. If you do not get proper sleep, it will affect your gameplay later. Sometimes, you will notice ‘Can’t sleep (status ailment)’ when you try to sleep. This happens when you have an active status ailment such as Hunger and Bleeding. You can get rid of the issue by eating food or applying a bandage. Once all the status ailments are cleared, you can go to bed and have a sleep.


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