The Stalker Faction Tier List | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly, EFP and GAMMA

[@velkrovx-shitposting7926]

When you play the living legend story line as a mercenary, you actually do become allies with the loners once you disable the brain scorcher.

[@malloperator]

Is it just you as a player or the faction as a whole? I just started my mercenary play through a day ago so it’s interesting to hear I might be able to run through and trade at the Cordon with minimal issues.

[@velkrovx-shitposting7926]

@@malloperator the faction as a whole once the brain scorcher is disabled. sidrovich will always be neutral, just the rest of the loners in the rookie village, will be hostile to you.

[@moyu1616]

​@@velkrovx-shitposting7926 it's weird because in my merc run once I returned to rookie village loner were neutral to me.

[@markusfpv1349]

It also applies to military

[@TukihaMaza]

Sounds like it’s time for another merc run lmao 😂😂

[@vladimirvojtaml]

I'd rate Mercenaries as S tier because they can get both NATO and Warsaw pact weapons. Also main base is in the best central location of Dead City. On the map and you've got other bases as allies. Also doing the Living Legend and turning off the brain Scorcher makes you neutral to loners which is extremely useful. I recommend heading to swamps to farm a little and do a part of Clear Sky storyline for good easy start.

[@Slybby]

i think base wise is duty more central but yea the weapon part is a nice thing. instead of levling 2 traiders you just do one with double the inventory (if understand you right)

[@barrelsynapse]

Yeah. In base anomaly, mercenary traders have shit ton of rare weapons

[@verixsmelony7835]

From my merc run in efp I also noticed that mercs have arguably best late game weapons

[@imTheMrBEAN]

Nah man. Mercenaries and military are some PUNKASS BITCHES for interfering with my work. They disturbed my quest, and as such I raided their pathetic little base in dead city as revenge. Not a single mercenary left alive, same with military in Agroprom

[@CrimsonCrux]

It's worth noting that Mercs are the only faction hostile to loners that will call a truce with them after the Brain Scorcher but if you're playing as a loner no truce will be called for doing the same.

[@frxstbite909]

The Renegade, Sin, and UNISG factions can be unlocked legitimately in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly by completing all 3 of the quest-lines in the story mode. Renegades are unlocked first after reaching the CNPP and assisting Strelok, then the Sinners next after Mortal Sin is completed and the faction is cleared out, finally the ISG is unlocked by completing Operation Afterglow and receiving any of its endings. It is a long and difficult process beating the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly story mode but personally I found these factions to be a fun and satisfying reward for finishing the game.

[@emptycloud8669]

Thanks for info

[@mythicalumut6174]

Or you can simply type “Greh” to unlock sin, ISG for UNISG and Renegade to unlock renegade faction. Saves u hours

[@CoffeeTablemmm]

Or you can type greh,unisg,renegade in character creation to unlock temporary

[@miemsliva4464]

How does one get access to operation afterglow?

[@CoffeeTablemmm]

@@miemsliva4464 the story mode it’s the 3rd story after Strelok and sin

[@michelleobamagaming5937]

I started with Clear Sky, then I did Loner, and then Bandit. I can say, Bandit is so fun. When you're bandit, you're justified in shooting just about everyone, and your friends with some good factions like Merc and Freedom. The other thing is, you're right next to Garbage, which is the greatest and most entertaining excuse for an area. It's really just an arena where you snipe everyone. But the one of the best parts is disguises. Disguising and doing all the missions, and eventually betraying everyone felt so evil yet so rewarding.

[@isaiahjoseph7352]

I'm a bit like you, started with clear sky for my first playthrough on my old laptop, now I'm doing a merc playthrough on my other save file. It's been fun doing jobs for just about ANYONE willing to pay me. Was hesitant about helping clear sky out with the bandits at first but I remembered how fun the assault was during my CS playthrough. You end up making pretty good money as a merc since your clients are asking you to go after factions you're directly hostile to. For example, as a loner or member of CS I wouldn't normally help out with the duty vs freedom war, as a merc you can just aid freedom without any consequences and vice versa (as I'm pretty sure the military can do jobs for duty as well)

[@purest_evil]

Playing Monolith or bandit is fun, just going to war with everybody, doing hits and making it a game of just how many enemies you kill in a day

[@tacticalpitbull9156]

Yeah, I'm with yah!!!

[@OsnoloVrach]

Duty to me is the most fun, im playing semi-vanilla anomaly (just some experience enchancing stuff) and the grind isnt boring like in the loners, plus Rostok is atleast 10 times better than rookie village with scamorovich. I think ill get out of the poor phase soon for the first time

[@kaksksdjrheh9940]

​@@OsnoloVrachbro make a base in rostok

[@shadedergu9921]

Honestly, every complaint about ecologists you had goes away if you aren't playing gamma because trading exists and it lets you get the best gear from each faction really easily and early In Base Anomaly they are phenomenal for that. In Gamma though; the lack of trading indeed makes it tougher I do also love doing a befriend everyone Ecologist run, where I max every reputation and then use disguises to befriend Bandit (but not Monolith, you have to wish for Immortality at the wish granter for that, but as of 1.5.1 you retain your faction and relations in doing so) to the point where they wont attack me anymore. It is fun to be able to stroll the zone, watch people shoot at each other, and dust off my shoulders and continue with my day as nobody messes with me; not like anyone would want to in base anomaly though since I'd be packing my selection of each faction's best gear due to being rich and the "Zone's favorite stalker". It also does help to not have some random AI notice you and snipe you when you are busy fighting a mutant in Gamma Ironman runs; so they still have strengths in Gamma Ironman when it comes to not getting shot left and right. That and my RPG gaming brain goes BRRRRRRRR when I open the faction relations and see 3000s across the board at the end of an Ecologist run Edit: In short; I would put Ecologist at God tier in Anomaly Basegame (and any modpack that allows trading) because an experienced Ecologist can have everyone's best firepower, meds, stalker allies, artifacts, and funding to spare. In Gamma or any modpack without trading I would put them at F Tier for equipment but A or S for everything else cause it helps to have friends in ironman instead of enemies, yes you wont be gearing up as quickly, but your odds of having an early restart are drastically lower. This is ignoring story mode where they are of dire importance to the story and canon of STALKER (Strelok is an Ecologist now after all, and they are receiving increased funding as the franchise continues and they see more success), don't fuck with the boys that almost every faction would protect.

[@almightybogza]

Strelok is a Loner not an ecologist.

[@asdasdasdsadasd696]

lmao egghead

[@lupusinvictus2229]

@@almightybogza At the end of Pripyat, he was brought into some organization that's part of the Ecologist faction though I forget it's name.

[@hyperrandom7665]

@@almightybogza Yes he is. "The ending slideshow appears, telling the player what has happened after the escape. Major Degtyarev is given the opportunity to be promoted to the rank of Colonel which he declines - he later becomes the head of the Security Service in the Zone. Strelok - if he survives the finale - gives all the materials he had found in the Zone to the government, prompting the creation of a Scientific Institute for Research of the Chernobyl Anomalous Area, with Strelok taking up the position of chief scientific consultant." At the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat he becomes one of the leaders of the new faction that merges with the Army and the Ecologists and takes over the roles of both factions. So yes, at the end of the story he essentially becomes an Ecologists with the full support of the Army.

[@ikerpaezrodriguez9735]

And in gamma you can literally just enable traddrs to sell armor and guns.So not much problems

[@unitednagger9550]

Recently, I played as Freedom guy and found a funny thing. You can abuse rescue missions from stalkers in Cordon. Since followers counts as member of player faction in GAMMA you can just recrute prisoner and bandits dont really mind it. Also since Cordon is very safe its pretty nice free cash grab at early game.(if we ignore that you can just take safari mission and take down bandits)

[@Skuttlems]

Ecologist's play style is really disrupted by the inability to buy weapons and armor in Gamma. When I played them in base anomaly I enjoyed doing artifact quests, mutant hunts, retrieving data, etc. Then I would cash in the roubles made from those to get better equipment. Without that ability they just feel really slow to progress, which is unfortunate because I like that their armors are so uniquely catered towards anomaly protection, allowing access to more dangerous anomaly fields earlier.

[@Quarter324]

Totally. If research was an actual mechanic in Stalker I think the faction would be a lot better. Like, if you were able to keep a personal journal or would have to write data/research using the PC furniture piece.

[@theVlKlNGR]

I find that a playthrough as an Eco challenges you more as a player and especially in GAMMA in terms of role-playing. Unfortunately, you need a little more imagination to think of such aspects as a diary in the game. But hey! Do it youself with Pen and Paper! It´s realy funny and also ads a lot of immersion! ;) As already mentioned in the video and especially in GAMMA, you should understand the start as an ECO more like a collector and scav, until you have collected enough equipment and spare parts to later move north as a "combat cleric". You actually have a very good starting point on the map for this, as you can exploit the rivalries of the various groups very well. The rest is simply luck and RNG. After a fairly recent update of GAMMA, high tier tools have now also integrated the respective lower tool and I found advanced tools directly on the first day, which made my ECO start incredibly easy.

[@Fiendir]

Eco runs are high difficulty, slow progression style of gameplay and I love it. Yeah, artefacts are generally nerfed in GAMMA but I love hunting around for them. You really have to know where to find tool and repair kits thou, you're going to have to maintain your own gear a fuckton. All depends on what you think is fun in gamma thou

[@joaogomes9405]

I still think it's dumb that we can't buy weapons and armor in Gamma. I guess Sid keeps all those guns back there as decoration.

[@wasssted]

@@joaogomes9405 The game would be 10x easier if you could buy weapons, in GAMMA however you have to repair and find your own gear making the game much more difficult but in a good way. It also gives you a sense of satisfaction when you repair a weapon that you have been grinding for.

[@BalborValis]

If you start as a loner I find ecologists are a good faction to join late game once you have finished the Brain Scorcher mission, and defiantly once you finish the main quest line as it makes sense story wise.

[@Quarter324]

Clear Sky is also a good option under your criteria.

[@3a9le]

i started as an ecologist and spent most of my time snagging artifacts and killing mutants in the early game. unfortunately i lacked access to decent weapons and armor during the mid game and found myself having to fight off monolith with nothing but a sawed off shotgun 💀! i EVENTUALLY got lucky and found some decent gear but DAMN!

[@05-redacted77]

Thank you for doing this vid, i have been pretty scared of doing anythingother than loner and clear sky runs. But now i feel more confident in doing other factions. (Also, i love your proto)

[@jimmysgameclips]

Interesting = visiting all the underground areas. You absolute madman lol. I fear just thinking about it. Excellent video. Tempted to do a disguise run as a bandit

[@sprypry]

I disagree with F for renegades It's practically the exact opposite of ecologists, meaning you are able to kill almost anything and can progress relatively quickly It's definitely harder for a newcomer but it doesn't mean it's a bad faction to play as.

[@Quarter324]

True, but since Sin and Monolith are an option I think those factions are more interesting. The Renegades just lack a lot of good lore to cling to.

[@rendor0413]

@@Quarter324 They are great for roleplaying and warfare mod, however I do not recommend to play them in unmodified warfare, since its too fast for such a small faction.

[@username_2667]

Agree. Trophies is everything - the slogan of this faction. And when we talking about stalker, in early game we need A LOT of them. But the start equipment for renegades is quite decent, which is good. Much better than bandits I think. Good faction for those who like kill everything.

[@P.K.Veiller]

@@Swagmessiah8394 Just bandits with less cheeki breeki and more suffering

[@sprypry]

@@P.K.Veiller Bad times create strong men

[@xXRealXx]

The ecologist faction doesn't deserve to be in F tier. It's wayyyyyy better than the Renegades

[@Quirktart]

When i played through GAMMA I started as a loner and did all the important southern map stuff as a loner, like getting the psy helmet and going through the underground areas, then once I felt like i didn't need to travel through the southern half anymore i joined freedom and it made the northern half much more bearable.

[@TheSlyFawkes]

I'm going to have to disagree with your ranking of Ecologist, to me they are the best starting factions for an Invictus run (which is one of the hardest things to do) and has been the faction I have done so on twice now; here is my reasoning: 1)Location: Being able to spawn in Yantar and have quick and easy access to Military (Agroprom) allows you to get your rep up with them fairly quickly as you can bounce between doing missions for them in Agroprom and the Military checkpoint south of Cordon; Netting you a "quick" grind to the Military Nosorog armor in Anomaly and/or good weapons. If you prefer the Merc Nosorog then you start a short journey south of Dead City (once you get Psi-Helmet); Duty isn't far either. 2)Threats: In the video you mentioned that one of the main ways to get loot in STALKER is to loot the bodies of other stalkers but in ANOMALY and its Mod packs the quality of gear you get from stalkers is greatly diminished and by the time you head more up north the amount of hostiles you encounter as an Egghead is increased as Monolith, Bandits, Sin, and lots of Zombified can be found the further north you go dropping better gear than you would be getting south. On top of this you only really have to worry about Bandits in the early game which greatly increases your odds of survival in the slower said early game. 3)Starting Loadout: Arguably some of the best starter options to pick from, even on the hardest difficulty; In GAMMA you can get a Kar98 which is fairly strong early on and ammo is common; You'll get the ability to buy scientific outfits, but never get access to amazing combat gear from leveling your Ecologist factions rep up, but that's why Military is right next door and you spend most your time and effort leveling their rep up while having the safety of being an Egghead to move around the rest of the zone. 4)The swap: Once you get further North and are fairly geared, being allied with so many factions gives you the ability to change factions between whoever you feel would benefit you most in your play through. All in all I think you rated Ecologist fairly harshly for some pretty moot points that are easily mitigated even on the hardest difficulty.

[@williamlebeuf]

ayy, bandit S tier all the way ! Maybe A tier if difficulty decreases the ranking. It's in my opinion the faction with the quickest rouble grind i've seen. Task are local most of the time, easy to do, you can often get 3 teammates with Sultan's eviction notice quest and in vanilla anomaly, olivius practically buys everything you can posses in your inventory. Only down side is how disguising is mandatory to not have to always take truck cemetery if you want to go north quickly.

[@bloodwriter1]

I opened a fun mechanic on my UNISG run: because of everybody was hostile to me, I often use merc disguise and do quests for other factions just for the good rewards and some bonuses from stashes. When I turn off brain scorcher loners become friendlies with UNISG, but fun stuff comes later: I get to Yantar region pretending to be a clear sky dude and slept in the bunker. When I wake up I got a notification that my identity was revealed and there was “He’s a bloody spy! Shoot him lads!” Notification. I quickly draw my weapon and get ready to run away with hard fight just to notice that loners, ecologists and clear sky doesn’t attack me. Idk how much reputation you need to make faction stop attacking you on sight, but after a few cheeky manipulations and a lot of quests I was able to walk everywhere without fear. Every faction was friendly to me. Renegades, monolith and sin were still hostile, but it’s fine. When you do quests for hostile faction - you don’t get rep reduce for other hostile factions and no rep reduce for friendly factions, so it was very easy grind. Idk, maybe if you get max rep at hostile faction they will become friendlies with your whole faction?

[@ChaosUnfold]

I love playing foreign factions for the feel of an invading force with no clue what they're up against. I started Anomaly as a Mercenary with the playstyle of a scalpel. Now I'm playing as a member of the UNISG like a hammer.

[@username_2667]

I like to play mercs. They are always have enemies to shot some heads down. But after turning off the brain scorcher they simply becomes a 2nd freedom faction in the zone. But the early game for mercs is interesting.

[@papabear6382]

as massive fan of duty i totally agree with your list, great work.

[@ElectricityTaster]

My first run on stalker anomaly (not gamma) was as an ecologist. I went to Limansk really early on. I barely made it, but I got some nice gear. I then mainly went around collecting artifacts, improving gear, going quests, and killing monolith and bandits. Ecologists have the best armor. I loaded their proto-exoskeleton with two empties plus a full empty and other stuff I forgot about. I stopped playing after 6 months of maybe 2 hours a week. It just became too easy. I'm playing my second run as bandit. I think it's better. More challenging, and you're not an ecologist which, for me, whenever I kill a mutant as an ecologist, I imagine a "how dare you". But maybe that's the brain scorcher. I did try out Monolith for a short while, but found it way too hard to start.

[@Teyovio]

Oh dear, that gameplay looks awesome, i just lately entered midgame in call of pripyat... Video was good and informative, cant wait to see some more!

[@nullmoxy]

Thank you :)

[@heXan]

I fucking like the ecologist and think the are S tier because they provide a really different playthrough. They mainly focus on artifact hunting and mutant parts collecting, which I really like. It's a laid back gameplay and, as you said, you can watch the other factions fight each other and then let them be. Do your own stuff and slowly get better and better with your gear and your weapons while getting richer and richer from all the mutant parts and artifacts you collect from the zone for the ecologists. I really enjoy doing this slow walk through and I mainly doing stuff at early/mid game at jupiter and then expand on this and then start to slowly build up on some player bases around pripyat and the reactor

[@shadedergu9921]

Other plus, when trading is enabled (like when not playing Gamma), a befriend everyone run also lets you buy every faction's best gear. Huge plus in my book.

[@michaelmcd64]

The Duty faction can be a lot of fun if you like a lot of combat, my only problem with playing duty is that Rostok is the only faction base for them, even if it is centrally located.

[@brawler5760]

At least it’s Rostok and not the Great Swamps

[@michaelmcd64]

@@brawler5760 Real, but at least Clear Sky is neutral with everyone so they can stop by other faction bases. In the north of the zone, a lot of it is Freedom controlled so if you're playing Duty you don't really have many bases.

[@Sasaroly]

I finished the game as a loner and recently started again as Clear Sky in harder progression difficulty. I highly recommend dinamic faction diplomacy because it really spices up the game. I'm currently at war with Freedom and Mercenaries on top of all the regular ones (Freedom is also at war with the Ecologists). I pretty much have enemies everywhere. If I start the game again in the future I'll probably start with Duty, their armors look so cool and I've started disliking Freedom anyway, considering they shoot me on sight

[@arcane3419]

is that a mod within gamma or something you added?

[@HellishSpoon]

I think the primary reason i am not interisted in gamma is because of lack of trading for gear and weapons, kinda takes out the biggest reason you would want to have allies.

[@Fros789]

There's a mod included in GAMMA called Black Market which puts weapons/armor back in traders, allows you to fix up guns and sell them to the faction depending on what they request (there's a dialouge option letting you know what they're looking for) or selling them to any stalker willing to trade with you, but you will only get 10% of the base price, keep in mind its based around Gamma's economy so guns/armor are NOT cheap and will only be available after you rank up a faction's trader to at least level 3 and above. For reference it was about 150k for a basic AK74 and 30-50k for a 9mm pistol to buy them straight off a trader so it still emphasizes on crafting/fixing the weapons yourself. I've been playing with the mod for a while now and there's actually purpose to fixing up a LOT of different guns now apart from using them yourself and it just adds a nice layer to the gameplay loop while letting you make some extra money off it. Mod is disabled by default.

[@kelw5787]

being a loner and then setting up with freedom is reeeaaally rewarding

[@Quirktart]

It really is. You get great shit and freedom has a lot of perks in the northern part of the zone

[@Quirktart]

And besides, if you ever need to go south, it's really fun to shoot your way through rostok

[@lIrvyy]

putting Duty in S tier and freedom B is criminal

[@mrjarock1234]

nope 💪

[@Slybby]

Intresting. I i agree weith Duty because of the very central location buuuuut i very like Nato Weapons so Freedome is mostly my main But the main thing im clicked that video is: If you reach rank 5 on your faction you get a Rf location that for loners looks like in the darkscape with the frequence 123. But i run around here for ever and did not find a signal

[@judsongaiden9878]

5:11 Ackchyually, that's a misnomer. You only have to fight Monolith and bandits. "As above (tyranny), so below (criminality)." And mutants, of course. 5:20 For the early game, git yer mitts on a cheap machine pistol and a sawed-off, then go ambush some Monolith goons.

[@Strellok100]

As far as Anomaly 1.5.0 is concerned I just wanna say if you think you can go as Freedom or Mercs through Dead City down south as shown in the image in 3:49, good luck surviving extreme psi-radiation from Yantar without Sakharov's helmet when you get there from Dead City, not to even mention the sheer amount of mutants that tend to spawn around the factory. Also, if you play story as a Merc, after you disable the brain scorcher and the miracle machine, you become neutral to Loners As someone who played the Military extensively, yes you will VERY MUCH be shot by Loners and Clear Sky in Rostok Unless they drastically changed all these things in either 1.5.1, EFP or GAMMA

[@isaiahjoseph7352]

Seriously wish that they'd fix that tbh, got shot by a Duty guy earlier on the ship in zanton which sucks.

[@zerowulf96]

Clear sky personally id slip down to B tier or B+ simply Because its in the Swap Which is Big so its much slower proggresion imo due to the distances you have to go running to one end and back while also trying avoiding alot of radiation pockets and water it also has a lack of solid cover to hide behind during firefights. on the funny side for some reason clear sky decided to hide there main base stash behind the barkeep in the tiny window by the sidedoor. Good tier list tho moxy Thumbs up! would you ever consider doing starting out guides for each faction recommended starting loadouts and early game goals/things they should be doing?

[@nullmoxy]

Sounds like a good idea, I will definitely consider it. Thanks.

[@Quarter324]

You're points are totally valid, but Clear Sky being settled in the most southern end of the map is one of my favorite aspects to playing as a member of Clear Sky. I enjoy the long treks to point A to point B; it makes my playthrough feel like a true adventure. It also forces you to learn the Guide routes if you'd rather skip all of the hiking.

[@raresmocanu1743]

no fucking way I gotta check this out, is that where the stash was? I had no idea, I ended up doing a custom backpack one just because I couldn't find any storage there

[@propagandalf9511]

Duty is the best because i like them the most

[@jhonrock2386]

Personally, I don't see any problem in playing with the ecologists. I like the game pace this faction gives to the player, its very forgiving at the beginning and then it scales gradually. Also, I don't have any problem in gearing up as an ecologist. As you can take a fuck-ton of quests from almost all factions in the game, you can pick wathever type of quest you want at wathever region of the zone you want. You can fill your pockets pretty fast and also fill the world with stashes to loot (which will give you tons of gear and suplies). This is what I always do, when playing as an ecologist (and I play with this faction A LOT). At the southern parts of the zone, I can find plenty of bandits and renegades. Once I get from them a good sniper rifle (which is pretty easy, as they use lots of SVD, SVS, SV98 and such), I just move on to Limansk, through Dead City, and start to hunt for Monolith zealots. I snipe them from afar, loot everything, get back to my base, repair, ressuply and go for the hunting again. Thats all I need to gear my character to the teeth. It won't take more than a few runs to my pacifist ecologist turn into a futuristic killing machine, like, literally.

[@sharpasacueball]

Renegade warfare is pretty hardcore if you like that stuff. You get assaulted from like 4 different factions at all times

[@XTRAX-uj3nf]

Null Moxy tryna not be a W(impossible)(he put duty on S)

[@mickjaegar2379]

I can't speak for GAMMA, but in Vanilla Renegades start with one of the best starting armors in the game, and can pretty easily farm the "kill military at the lab" and "kill loners at the farm" quests to get themselves going. Lategame is still hell for them though, but Warehouses is a nightmare for any faction that's enemies with both freedom and duty.

[@landlockedcroat1554]

i would play bandit if i could actually rob people instead of always killing and looting them

[@petrkdn8224]

Damage them enough , but not to kill them, and they will surrender

[@Quarter324]

@@petrkdn8224 True, but it's not very consistent.

[@petrkdn8224]

@@Quarter324 it depends if he is alone or with others, if he's with others he's more likely to heal and continue fighting, if he is alone he will most likely surrender. Atleas that's my experience

[@ElectroBooze]

I decided to start a SiN run out of curiosity. It literally started bad. I spawned in the Outskirts building and was getting my gear on and started hearing shooting. I honestly think my game was glitched. After the shooting slowed down, I ran downstairs to a pile of bodies and a Clear Sky and Bandit fighting the Monolith and SiN guys. I killed the bandit and the last Monolith alive downstairs killed the Clear Sky guy. I didn’t think either was capable of mowing down a little over half a dozen Mono and SiN guys. It did get me good starting gear though once I started getting tools. Grenade launcher, a few good weapons, some decent medium armor at 38%. I didn’t think Clear Sky or Bandits were very typical in Outskirts, much less strong enough to almost make it to the base up in the building by killing most of the guards below. I don’t know enough about SiN starts to know if it was a glitch or not.

[@Gigglebitten]

I think you were just too harsh on ecologists, i used them to help me learn the maps, mechanics, repair system, etc etc for my first playthrough They have access to quests in almost any zone, but fun if you like slow progression or just want to play delivery man and scavenger

[@nullmoxy]

Fair enough, but I still think that loners are better to start as as you will need to learn combat at some point as it is a core part of the game.

[@Gigglebitten]

@@nullmoxy oh toally, but to put them on the same tier as renegade, as the lowest of the low was just too harsh imo

[@jensen7508]

my s tier is renegades and unisg, because i like to shoot at everything that moves, haha. and nothing feels better then getting your first good gun/armor for renegades run

[@hamleteagle534]

Current GAMMA has a new loot mechanic, u can't loot what u didn't kill, meaning that playing as a Scavenger Ecologist might as well be impossible now, since stalkers will not allow you to loot other stalkers that they killed, essentially locking you away from loot. Your way of getting money is jumping into anomalies, killing mutants, taking delivery quests & killing Monolith or bandits. A majority of kill quests are off the table unless they're a Monolith/Bandit. As for getting gear, your best bet is watching people get killed by mutants, killing bandits & Monolith or looting stashes

[@liamriddell8461]

You gotta be invested in doing research on the zone to appreciate starting as ecologists

[@Quarter324]

True, I just wish that research was integrated more into the mechanics. It's understandable why it isn't, though; GSC had no intention of making a pacifist run possible and Stalker's gameplay, regardless of mods, is centered around violence. I still like the faction in EFP/GAMMA regardless.

[@shadedergu9921]

That and if you aren't playing Gamma, the ability to befriend almost every faction and buy all the best gear you want is a huge plus

[@Nbodyone]

Like a wiseman said with nickname 5hontya. Militaries don't throw bolts, they put bolts on everything( on Russia putting bolts on something means don't give a fuck) because they have Berill 5m at start

[@LowBudgetProductions-IOU]

I have a duty save thats at least 60 hours played. I got to agree with you that its s tier because the amount of money and guns i have been able to fix is stupid. I dont even have to worry about money half the time when buying stuff its so nice.

[@TylerStupid]

I think loners aesthetic is the coolest but that’s subjective

[@SneakySnorunt]

Mercs are S. Easily the best, honestly. Only faction that loses hostility from Loners after the Brain Scorcher. They have the best weapon selection, solid base location, and the Merc boss gives tons of good loot(artefacts, 100% weapons or armor), in exchange for 25 patches (only if you're a merc)

[@janbornowski1267]

Blink twice if your being held hostage by a monolithian

[@nullmoxy]

:|

[@vampirematt101]

Loner and ecologists are the bulbasaurs of stalker, clear sky and duty are the squirtle, everything else is the charmander lol

[@neksizer1133]

Before i start watching, this is my tierlist for all factions for all modpacks. S: Freedom, A: Scientists, Mercs B: Monolith, ISG, Loners C: Bandits, CS D: Sin, Duty F: Renegates, Military i just hate military... Scientists are double-edge sword - all factions are nor eneemies, thats good and thats bad, because sometimes i just want to shoot somebody evil (bandits, military, duty) Monolith is good but i put them in B for almost same reason - you hostile towards every faction thats good and thats bad, but this a little bit worse than be friendly with all factions. Bandits... just bandits. i dont really like them, but i cant hate them. They my main way of getting money and parts for repairing equipment. Freedom is godlike faction, green color makes me happy. Great bases in 2 main location of the zone. Nato weapons and ammo.

[@TaliZVasTyria]

only reason i play ecologist is to LARP as Gordon Freeman, with dynamic faction relation I try to make the military hate ecologists and be hostiles, while still friendly to loners and freedom and duty.

[@cartixio]

you dont gotta run ur ass thru truck cementary, bandits have a guide to their northern outpost saving u from that run (gamma, idr if thats present in anomaly or efp) also personally, clearing limansk from 1 end to the other is one of my fave activities, which puts mercs high on my enjoyment scale, gamma tosses a wrench in that, but efp and anomaly let me go ham from day 1 which is nice

[@mrquang11212]

Duty is S tier for sure, the base location is between Low tier area and High tier area. The quest in rostok are easy to exploit, they even has an Arena to fight stalker or mutant for money. Early game you don't really have to worry about food or anything. Want to get gear and gun, go Wild Teritory and kill some merc. Sometime the Freedomer call stalker for barrier deffense, dress your self up and assign for better gear and armor, kill all freedomer in the process, takes their gun and go to Lukash for free bullet, they paid back 6 mag of for each weapon in the 2 main slot.

[@shaotonghe9188]

I almost love the ecologist most, I like to only perform very necessary kill as possible.

[@cappuccino1389]

Freedom should be higher because of weed lol. Nice vid

[@frxstbite909]

What a man

[@VonStrinmen]

Personally, most of the Advanced factions(ISG, Monolith, and SIN) are easier for me, since you can quite easily get better loot(due to starting in the north), and also because I don't have to think as much before pulling the trigger on someone, because their enemies with everyone. Renegade isn't up there because the Renegades have the same downsides as the rest, but without the upside of potential god-tier loot.

[@kloklify]

Hey,you mentioned that UNISG main base is in Jupiter Underground,should i just head straight there?I wanted to start a playthrough as UNISG but seems incredibly boring since you start in Darkscape with like 3 other NPC's who may or may not give you a task,also do i still need a psy helm?If so that makes it way worse you couldn't go to Jupiter Underground anyway

[@nullmoxy]

I believe you need to make your way to the merc base in Dead City, starting in Darkscape is rough but it picks up once you get to the base.

[@kloklify]

@@nullmoxy I somehow totally missed the guy that gives you that quest,tnx a lot !This modpack is really obscure so it's hard to find specific information like this,love your videos my guy

[@joemama3283]

I feel like ecologist is more for people who want to get more artifacts easily with the help of the suits you can get in base anomaly. Although it’s makes sense why ecologist would be less viable as you can’t buy suits or guns which makes the base basically just cheap meds and good prices for artifacts

[@NakedAvanger]

broooo i had no idea that you can unlock sin by writing greh in the select screen also, it seems greh is universal in other slavic languages!

[@nullmoxy]

It seems like greh literrally translate to "sin"

[@propagandalf9511]

@@nullmoxy Yep it does.

[@OsnoloVrach]

yeah, in Bulgaria we say ''G R Q H'', in our language the Q sounds like an ''IA'', so when we say Sofia we say ''Sofiq'', same applied to GREH (or grqh)

[@piotrj.451]

It's sad to see bandits in C tier honestly, they have well estabilished base in Dark Valley with Sultan, which gives you access to truck cemetry and garbage with a lot of loot from mutants and stalkers, quick road to Rostok, cool looking armors and last but not least monumental postive... you can legaly cheeki breeki. Also Freedom, renegades and mercenaries are neutral, which grant you access to their main bases across the zone too. The worst is probably renegades, as they don't really have their own place anywhere, but knowing the lore how they became one it's pretty obvious, they have cool scorpion logo tho.

[@nullmoxy]

My issue with bandits is there isn't much to do. Without a main questline, you have to make up your own adventures.

[@Derppinklepuff]

Freedom loves weed WEED APPROVED

[@izidoriusvis593]

Love the content. When can we expect pistol and rifle tier list?

[@nullmoxy]

Soon...

[@brawler5760]

If you were to update your tier list, what would you change about this one?

[@tripe2237]

Every faction has its downsides, but the one that drives me up the wall is running around the Duty base to turn in missions. Down to the bar all the time, from the north entrance to the southern, down to the leader, over to the merchant, the run to the garbage. It's a massively boring after you do it a few times. God forbid you forget something because you get to run some more. It's set up like a spoked wheel but none of the spokes are connected at the ends. Now that I think of it, there must be a way to move NPC's. Moving barkeep, the faction leader and merchant into the middle area would make it tolerable.

[@Beencheeling]

I mean, i'd rank the ecologists in D tier, it's too harsh for them to be in F tier, since what are you going to do really as an ecologist is collect artefacts, kill mutants, buy equipment or get bandit equipment (you can even get to kill high up bandits and get a really good military armor or patchwork monolith suit with is good for going up north since it has good radiation/chemical and phsy protection. It's easy to grind artefacts on ecologists so it's really if you want to have a easier time playing as a experienced player

[@brawler5760]

The problem with all of that is this stupid economy that GAMMA has by default that doesn’t really reward Ecologist players.

[@catsndogs98]

Ecology is...too much freedom, but you can loot quite a bit and decide to go where you want before picking a side.

[@johnsemeniuk8230]

Will say, when it comes to DISGUISES, Ecologist is the way to go, due to them being able to go just about anywhere and not get shot at. In base Anomaly, I find it makes getting good gear from vendors you would not otherwise be able to trade with to be invaluable.

[@ashtonsoulfire]

I like renegades cause everyone hates them basically lol. You are basically a bandit except everyone hates you, so having an early game stash at the bandit base is your first objective. Completing bandit quests and whatever kind of story quest they have is your basic jist of the game. However like bandits they are blessed with around 4-5 tasks in dark valley alone if you are fortunate enough, worse case they send you to garbage more than anywhere else outside of dark valley

[@tintim3]

Well, there is only one useful faction, loners, as long as they're thinking for themselves.

[@furiousfelicia5751]

Mercs could be S tier. Best gear, coolest dudes and can befriend loaners. But personally my S tier is Loaners.

[@bigdillan9612]

I'd rate Sin an A for the additional artefact buffs.

[@dualplay5956]

forgot zombified, by pressing Z you can play as a zombified stalker

[@puddingsimon2626]

UNISG iron Man Hard mode us where it’s at, the first hour of the game is the hardest trying to sneak by everyone to get to the dead city

[@Aztal]

No zombiefied stalker faction?

[@nullmoxy]

Technically yes I forgot them lol, but they play exactly the same as Monolith.

[@Spook_Boi]

i was hoping to see the Zombified Stalkers in there as a bonus faction. id put it in D for Ded

[@lukashuening]

Merc should belong at least into B Tier, since you have a very action based playstile and some of the best Gear and decent Access to many Areas, not as far of as Loners. Altough i always ended up playing with Warsaw pact Weapons, because you save a lot of Money, 556 AP is very expensive.

[@unkon129]

I would rate Clear Sky a lot, LOT lower because their base is far from everyone and everything, swamps have a shit ton of water which makes a pain in the ass with navigating and/or radiation issues and the grass is... painful. Very painful. Worst map by a lot, which equals a lot to worst faction too

[@Miikagu]

You forgot the "Zombified Stalker" Faction, unlocked by pressing Z (or Y?) in the selection scren.

[@kaestruukaestru9798]

Merc in a c tier with bandit is a crime 🤦‍♂️

[@allyrosewood5146]

omg a furry stalker player!! hellooo my fellow furry!!! your amazing!!!

[@jerzyfabjan1982]

Loners and mercenaries was super fun to play. Isg and bandits for fighting. Monolith for war

[@cyan2925]

Bandits are quite good early on.

[@funnyman3030]

Imo there is no objective best faction unless you say that the ones with a campaign are the best. Some people perfer an easier time so ecologist would be for them, some want a lot of difficulty so monolith or renegade and vice versa.

[@nullmoxy]

I agree, most factions have unique gameplay, but I had to have some measurement if I were to rank them.

[@spartantyler7]

Puts duty in S: FED ALERT!!!

[@HelghastGrunt]

OK hippie

[@govgamers2821]

6:57 level 5 sin trader give you access to rpg and rg-6 grenade launcher though

[@xamol732]

who said you have to be a pacifist ecologist? when im not a bounty hunting badass, i have no qualms gunning down almost any faction since i usually can take the hit to rep by just doing more quests for them. i like not getting shot by anyone but being able to do quests for both dutyers and freedomers.

[@mrorlov2706]

Puts ecologists in F tier and Sin in B tier higher than mercenaries. Yeah looks legit.

[@balisong9942]

very nice video👍

[@0furry035]

Hello Moxy - can you create a guide about Best Faction to start as achievement Invictus? Or maybe a full guide How to beat Invictus? Thank you.

[@F_Horrigan2000]

Fun fact:Greh means sim in either Ukrainian or Russian

[@MisterDvm]

I like to play as a Merc or Monolith One when I feel like story mode and the other for doom mode

[@Flyingtofu001]

Good content! when is the Rifles Tier list coming out?

[@nullmoxy]

Not too sure when but it will happen.

[@DGneoseeker1]

What's the point in playing as SIN as opposed to Monolith then? Do you get any of their weird bullet dodging powers?

[@nullmoxy]

In the current state, Sin is the same as monolith. In GAMMA they do start with a lucifer artefact but that's it.

[@lukalalosevic200]

Fun fact , GREH means sin .

[@prantokhan4217]

Which weapon mods addon do you add on your mod list in on top of Stalker gamma ?

[@nullmoxy]

I have a list on our discord server with all my additional mods.

[@holden3083]

👍. Out of efp & gamma which one do u prefer?

[@nullmoxy]

I don't think I have a preference as they both have different gameplay loops. GAMMA is more focused on survival and EFP is more focused on gunplay. But I have played GAMMA more.

[@looddienmark9707]

What mod do you use when the mission/conversation tab is on the right side?

[@nullmoxy]

I'm not quite sure what you are refering to.

[@looddienmark9707]

@@nullmoxy well, im playing vanilla anomaly. when i speak or trade to a character, the conversation to read is on the middle/center of the screen. which i notice to some players on yt its on the right side. Is that a mod ? if it is would you be kind enough to name it bro.

[@NeroFPS_]

How many Mainquests are there if u play as UNISG? I just started :)

[@nullmoxy]

Just 1

[@NeroFPS_]

@@nullmoxy :(

[@agnosticlibertarian175]

how are you able to get EFP weapons on GAMMA?

[@nullmoxy]

The only way is to extract the files from a EFP4 install.