Patch 1.7.1 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been released, bringing fixes for story quests and a range of smaller bugs

The updated patch, version 1.7.1, was released to fix glitches introduced by the previous patch, version 1.7, as well as address some long-standing issues and improve performance in general.

Although the change log for the patch is short, it mentions some very important features. There is now a crash protection system built into the game to prevent crashes when mod conflicts happen and the game fails to launch. Some images for cutscenes were flickering, and an issue regarding DualSense Controller has been fixed. After you reset or allow the game’s settings to be automatically detected, the settings will now display properly on your screen.

The developers of the game state that version 1.7.1 has also removed many irritating anomalies created by underground players who’ve stolen many of the artifacts from above ground. The patch has fixed the missing power lines that disappeared while players were in open areas and during periods of underground artifact generation, from early patches before version 1.7. Hopefully, the artifact generation will now function properly.

There were no details provided by the developers regarding story-related fixes, but the chaotic spawning patterns of the “Guard” and “Monolith” has been improved. Also, a small adjustment has been made to the game so that players can no longer sprint when they are overburdened—even if some players didn’t want this change.

In my experience, version 1.7 and 1.7.1 have greatly improved the game’s performance—especially with my AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics card—allowing players to use much higher-quality graphic settings, including settings for maximum XeSS quality. Compared to earlier versions of the game, it now runs much smoother.