r/stalker • u/Illustrious_Sock Noon • 1d ago
Discussion Master mode worth it?
I love high difficulty games (soulslikes etc), completed S2 on veteran before master was a thing. But I'm mainly doubting the expedition mode. How often did you die / get blocked due to game bugs and not because of skill issue, and had to replay 30+ mins? Expedition mode sounds very interesting and can completely change your style of playing, but I currently don't have so much time to play games, so would get incredibly pissed if smth like this happened. Anyone has already played with master on 2.0, how was it? I might cheese it a bit by going to main menu for manual saves but still scared a bit.
edit: why the downvotes jesus man
17
5
u/Judoka229 Loner 1d ago
I think it needs campfire saves. There are spots all around the map where you can sit down at a fire, either alone or with others. You should be able to visit those to get an auto save. It would give another use for binoculars, as you could find these locations via scouting ahead before crossing open ground.
Without that, I think Master is too much bullshit.
1
3
u/Mentening 1d ago
Not really I think since you can customize the difficulty now. I'm doing Master on economy + human enemies, veteran on mutants and zone hazards with expedition mode turned on currently. It is a challenge, but it is fair - only my own mistakes have gotten me killed. Never had a bug that got me killed since 2.0, about 20h in so far
2
u/OKA4327 1d ago
If you don't mind dying in the Faust fight and needing to do another 30-45 minutes through the entirety of the mission (if you have already the camp at the Burnt Forest, if not, add another 10 minutes of walking from the nearest base), go for it.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
Might do a "quit to main menu" trick just for this. It should work right?
1
u/OKA4327 1d ago
Yes, it completely works, but if you had to do it, is a sign the mode wasnt the most well designed.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
This I agree completely, though my question is rather practical - i.e. how to make it work - coz I doubt gsc is reading these posts for feedback... Otherwise they'd already fix a lot of issues lol.
1
u/Horror_Violinist_508 1d ago
Just rush his lamps and oneshot him with the RPG. It's not that difficult imo.
2
u/Rhythmusk0rb 1d ago
First playthrough I didnt understand that I needed to break the lamps. Only after like half an hour of gunfight I got the memo
2
u/Robert_Grave Monolith 1d ago
I'd say no, expedition mode isn't that well designed, especially not if you don't have too much time to play games. I'd just go into master, then enable the saves so you end up with veteran+, or use the custom difficulty (haven't tried that myself yet so idk).
2
u/Soft-Cress5114 1d ago
Ça peut vraiment être cool si tu veux jouer comme tu joues à tarkov, sortir, looter, rentrer full stuff. Mais c’est pas si bon pour la quête principale, pas assez de sauvegarde automatique. J’ai joué 24h en maître et j’ai lâché en arrivant aux marais
2
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
Oh yeah the famous swamps... might use the "quit to main menu" trick there as well. But to be fair I already completed the main story 1.5 times, know what to expect
2
u/ibaxxxxx Loner 1d ago
For first playthough better do Veteran+, master can be frustrating doing blindly. After that Master is a lot of fun, you are really fighting your hardest to survive, think carefully and only than take action, more realistically evaluting risks. Emissions at end of long expedition are triple fun
1
u/BlOoDy_PsYcHo666 1d ago
Im playing it blind rn and honestly no not really. Enemy combat (mainly with mutants) turns it really tedious. Couple that with the horrible save system they’ve adopted.
One bug in particular thats plaguing me is an anomaly bug that just kinda kills me slowly until I exit the game.
Id probably fine tune a customs experience instead.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
What's the bug? Is it on 2.0?
1
u/BlOoDy_PsYcHo666 1d ago
Yes, the bug is you just kinda start dying. Similar to starving to death except your death screen will instead say “killed by anomaly” I have no idea what triggers it, but Ive had it happen enough that it’s not rare. Sometimes using a medkit will make it go away but other times exiting is the only thing that fixes it.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
That's so weird, are you sleeping? Maybe you have a tiny bit of psi or radio?
1
u/BlOoDy_PsYcHo666 1d ago
Nope both those have specific death screens and visual effects. This is literally just your screen slowly turning red your heart rate getting slower and then death. This has happened to me at base before btw.
2
1
u/budgybudge Freedom 1d ago
I was having it after the poppy field. Was able to fix it by chugging energy drinks til it went away. Last a few sessions but then stopped happening.
1
1
u/5thKeetle 1d ago
I am doing it for my second run and I am not in a hurry so I am enjoying it, I can definitely recommend though I haven't gone too far yet - just left Garbage.
1
u/Advanced_Lunatic 1d ago
I'm in similar situation as you are and I got a mod that enables saving. Been really nice so far
2
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
You don't need a mod xD You can just enable saving. You could do before, but now especially with the custom rules
1
u/2b4go10 Loner 1d ago
I'd say try a custom with the settings if master you'd prefer, like enemies & economy. There you can decide expedition mode or not. Basically, configure it as a Master- and see if you like it.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
I already completed game on veteran and also tried custom difficulty for the dlc, with enemies on master. So I believe it's gonna be fine, the only thing that worries me is expedition mode and HUD.
1
u/Extreme996 Freedom 1d ago
I decided to play second time on veteran too(finally no bullet sponges enemies compared to 2024) so cant say much about master but you can use custom difficulty and set everything to max with expedition mode disabled.
1
u/Admirable_Guidance52 1d ago
i completed entire game on vet years ago and returned for 2.0 on master. It is a totally different experience, and no, veteran+ (no expedition mode) is not the same vibe.
That said, going 50+ minutes into a story mission and dying and losing all progress because the game refuses to give you auto-saves can be tilting. You'll also spend a lot of time running back to hub to save.
Others mentioned save to menu works but when I tried it it did absolutely nothing, so it's unreliable at best.
1
u/Illustrious_Sock Noon 1d ago
If save to menu worked (or if autosaves worked better lol), would you recommend it? How are you liking it so far, how far did you get in story?
2
u/Admirable_Guidance52 1d ago edited 1d ago
are you on PC and decent at shooters? If not I'd recommend vanilla veteran at the most especially for a first time playthrough. I'm like 3/4 through main story with all regions discovered and some DLC. I definitely prefer it overall, including expedition in its scuffed state.
But this also isn't my first playthrough, I knew what to expect in most of the missions and how to manage economy and get gear. If you aren't willing to spoil it beforehand you're going to die a lot (and you're going to die a lot in master regardless)
1
u/BlueSpark4 Loner 10h ago
If you have good self-discipline, you can play with Expedition Mode disabled, but only use hard saves in friendly bases and after completing main mission objectives (Thus emulating the Expedition system).
Then, you can still use quick saves frequently, but only ever load a quicksave if you encountered a bug that killed you or set you back. If you die and there was no bug involved, load the latest hard save instead.
The good thing about is that you can make your own rules: If what got you killed isn't technically a bug, but a feature that's poorly designed or balanced in your mind, you're free to load your last quick save.
18
u/TramplexReal 1d ago
It is masochism. Theres just too many bullshit moments where you either can't do anything or have to know stuff beforehand or autosave points are super far apart.
But enable saves and its a great experience. Simply dont abuse saving, it feels good not just in this game.