So you want to play Ironman? A STALKER Anomaly Survival guide

[@BlackBirdLTU]

More for the Invictus challenge: I think fast travel is not disabled so use it. If you can't avoid chimeras like in a video, you can hide in bushes, they don't attack. Poltergeists can't see you or throw things at you if you don't move or walk slowly. Also, if you play as Monolith, you are immune to emissions and psy-storms.

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Wait what Poltergeists dont throw stuff at you if you move slow? I literally just finished Lab-X18 crying the whole time, if thats true thats big news

[@ttttttttony]

@@CheekiBreekiTv it's what the Butcher tells you) learn his secrets in a dialogue, it's exactly what it tells you about Poltergeists - rookies run from it, but experienced stalkers don't move)))

[@music.kompozitor]

@@CheekiBreekiTv you didn't know?

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

@@music.kompozitor i HAD NO IDEA. I just have 3k+ hours over the stalker games. don't judge me :O

[@MrCarnage117]

@@CheekiBreekiTv I believe a stalker in call of pripyat points out that poltergeists perception is based on fluctuations in the gravitational field and that moving slowly will slow down their reaction time. Although you will still have to stop for a few moments until they lose track of you because you are indeed moving slower the movement is too consistent and tells the creature that something is there.

[@RobinsonLaneScaryNed]

Just had my first brutal Ironman death. A soldier snuck up behind me in garbage while I was eating beans by a fire. Melted me down with an AK. Spent about 30 hours on that file. Thanks for the vid. Helped me remember that I'm not the only one who experiences these gaming low points.

[@Lereco]

😢 bro died eatin beans

[@Mister_K-J]

Glad to know I wasn't going crazy; the AI really does know when you turn around. There have been too many times where I'm just waiting for an enemy to pop out, I check behind me for a split second, then suddenly find myself on the wrong end of a KS-23.

[@Snoogen11]

6:01 I completely agree with this. Planning is just as important as doing. First, determine your objective, are you attacking a fortified location? Travelling through anomalous areas? Are you going to have to fight both, going to the objective AND returning home, are there places you can stop for rest on the way, do you know the terrain and anomalies in the area, are you expecting mutants, what factions hang around that area? For an average day in the zone, you can get comfortable with a "standard" loadout, but during larger ops, tailor your gear to what you need. Assume that EVERYTHING will go wrong, and bring as much gear you can that will help you recover from that. Yes, bringing more gear WITH you, means leaving more loot behind, so some ops are going to lead to net financial loss, but that's okay, because being dead is worse than being broke. Lastly, don't rush, if you don't have the gear to do your next planned op, take a few in game days to do some jobs, grab some cash, stock up on ammo, maybe even do some recon, or pre-plannning, get some stashes set up in case you need a top up in the field. This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, the only place rushing will get you is the afterlife.

[@Styxx3916]

Prone gets you home, there’s a reason nothing rhymes with rushing in like an asshole

[@JeffarryLounder]

@@Styxx3916 rushing in like an asshole will let you live another day to drink alcohol.

[@karlrumenige3602]

Started ironman back with misery and since then it is the only way to play. Biggest success was to disable the brain scorcher with my Freedom dude. One trivial but helpful tip is to transverse maps on the edges/borders. With a fence in your back it's hard to get surpised. Also only mutants who are faster than you are a real threat, because there is always the option to run away.

[@mollyscullyscully80]

That and before going in, try to spot cover and high grounds that you could easily jump on in case of surprises. Also... Keep the hours in mind, night in Ironman is 10x creepier

[@izaakburningham3188]

For the Turn your back tip, another strategy for this is to open your inventory. It's as if they hear you opening a bag and go to rush you.

[@mycalle82]

Great video, every point is spot on ..always play ironman, nothing comes close to the immersion you feel, the intensity and challenge. Every time you leave a safe spot you need to be prepared and alert, sometimes even playing it safe and staying close to friendly bases, if you get close to no lives. Sure it can be tedious, but for me the satisfaction of getting north, disabling the brain scorcher, making it to the priprayt is amplified tenfold when you do it on ironman!

[@ttttttttony]

except disabled animations. Without animatinos the game is so much easy, feels like a tourist difficulty

[@kelvincasing5265]

I've been playing iron man since call of chernobyl... just awesome

[@IrrationalDelusion]

Or if you don't want to be feeling wasteful record strictly all deaths in a notepad, set special realistic rules and keep track of mistakes to be extremely immersed. You will still feel aware and daring, but won't be necessary to replay tens of hours because of sudden cat attack.

[@mycalle82]

@@IrrationalDelusion Well I play with 5 lives and 1 new one every 3 days, which acts as a buffer for stuff like that. So, ...if I am outside a safebase with 1 life and a cat gets me, than that's on me ..lol

[@cbremer83]

Small tip, put your quick detach for you backpack on one of the F keys. I use F4. That way, when you get attacked by a mutant you did not see you can drop the heavy load making dodging easier. Especially when you have a very heavy load to get back with.

[@RFX91]

Holy shit I didnt know this was a mechanic. Outward has the same thing.

[@cbremer83]

@@RFX91 it works pretty slick. Drops your bag with anything not combat necessary. So, you still have the ammo for your weapons and meds. When you get your stuff, just hit "take all" in the looting screen. All goes into inventory, including the bag. You need to equip the bag again. It is not the smoothest operation, but a pretty clever way to hack the feature in.

[@cbremer83]

@@RFX91 if you do not have a quick disconnect in your inventory, you can by one from most traders.

[@crunchy7200]

I'm playing ironman mode with monolith right now, it's incredibly tense, but I love it

[@LuisC7]

Welcome back bro!!! Excited to watch this video!

[@mrorlov2706]

Overconfidence is a slow and incedious killer but hesitation is a defeat

[@conchosewing]

fellow darkest dungeon enjoyer i see :D

[@alanlawz]

I am 50 hrs into an iron man game at the minute and playing slow and cautious is by far the only way to play it.

[@IrrationalDelusion]

Do you get sweaty when surrounded and no cover nearby?

[@uknow2908]

My biggest in-game death reasons are greed and over confidence. When I loot too much, I begin to be slow. After that I lose more money on meds than I earned. And time - I could've complete twice tasks but I carry all those rifles with wounded leg. Over confidence is another one. EVERY TIME I play Rambo - I get killed. It works in Call of Duty only. When in doubt - retreat! And switch positions. And don't stay out of cover for too long. And BINOCULARS!

[@IrrationalDelusion]

and headphones. Download that Solarint sound mod if it's not included already to hear distant sound of mutants instead of fake unexisting animals that aren't present nearby.

[@uknow2908]

@@IrrationalDelusion thanks! I thought Soundscape does that

[@dylanram4653]

where can i get this?@@IrrationalDelusion

[@tacline2]

I love that you mention turning your back to lure the enemy out from cover. I usually utilize my inventory or I fake looting a corpse to pull the enemy out from cover. If enemies attack you every time you do X, then X just became the perfect ambush

[@unatcomgaming2440]

Cloath mask is the best suportate material for Field repairs. Gives +12 repair after the mechanical warfare achievement. Weight is very low and it can be used with almost all outfir repari kits and most of the weapon repair kits

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Yes! having stashes of cloth masks for all kind of repairs is the way!

[@v.s.4166]

07:25 beautifully executed chimera juggling, a little overconfident at the end tho Edit: I thought they only sneak up on you when you loot corpses, the more you know

[@lukasgroot]

Or when you're in inventory screen :p

[@blob643]

Or when you are stalking a enemy

[@AspirinSGD]

I prefer Duty, because you allie with Military and in begging you can go to South to safe farm gear and quests to kill bandits and go to North when you have good gear.

[@leohal456]

I agree with this. Not only do you have immediate access to both high and low tier loot areas to give yourself time to build up, but being immediate friends with Military, AND ecologist, AND clear sky, AND loner all at once is amazing. It makes it easy to give artifacts to the ecologists in yantar, get cheap/effective gear from duty and military whilst simultaneously selling high, and using the 4 entirely separate factions to get plenty of early game quests, all within their own little areas. Garbage is king for mutants and bandits, cordon is perfect for early game quest farms, agroprom is great for those early game assassinations, and the ecologists LOVE any and all artifacts you manage to bring them.

[@paulclarke1207]

The Darkest Dungeon reference just won you a subscriber, Cheeki Breeki. Now, at last, wholesome marine life can flourish, if indeed there is such a thing.

[@MarkoVuckovic32]

I didn't expect a Darkest Dungeon reference in a Stalker video but it definitely fits perfectly, especially for ironman runs.

[@imtehkilla24567]

Great video, I'm not quite good enough for ironman and was guilty of save scumming a lot in the past. Tried out gamma after your videos and have really enjoyed it. I never have progressed past mid game in 3-4 anomaly runs, as I tend to main only a sniper and shotgun as the ammo for full autos is so expensive but after watching your guide I think I need to grind out the better gear and try out the main mission. I really liked the UMP at the beginning, reminds me of Tarkov, and seems like an interesting hybrid weapon for mutants and humans.

[@samarthur407]

Was guilty of save scumming as well until I switched to Gamma. Only able to save at campfires or friendly bases reduces save scumming and its generally more immersive imo, makes planning out a safe route to the next base/campfire satisfying as fast travel is pretty expensive early game.

[@JeffarryLounder]

I hate save scumming things. I always at-least enabled campfire mode to stop myself from doing it subconsciously in vanilla Anomaly. I don't mind that it is required in GAMMA (although you can disable it in the mod menu).

[@yannickkhalil3355]

@@samarthur407 the problem with Campire mode is that there are very few campfires north of Red Forest.

[@jamesrustler8853]

i like having loads of IEDs for turning off the brain scorcher. as i run in to turn it off i plant them all over so all the boys that spawn get a nice surprise! even then, you still bring 2x the ammo you think you'll need (all AP) and grenades. starting with the better suit option is also very nice for the random radiation patches. My first GAMMA Ironman ended nearly immediately to radiation as it sapped my endurance and trapped me. the faction id mod sort of takes away from the usefulness of the binoculars, so i never start with them. blackjack and quicksave can be abused in a big way =^.^= looking forward to your next invictus run. I plan on going all in on GAMMA 1.0!

[@rahuldoes]

What a beautiful line at 11:00, "And, don't get too attached to your loot. You will die and lose everything at some point, anyway!"

[@beanie7965]

That Fighting Trick is an insane tip. Great example too, that area specifically is a pain for Monolith refusing to leave cover or advance.

[@Someone-yi8de]

Quick tip ,for the brain scorcher, if you enter it through red forest you only have to figh like 6-7 monolith soldiers on your way in

[@1chaplain]

I roleplay as a military invasion force that tries to clear out the zone starting down south. I always meet my end in the middle of the map, usually Limansk or Red Forest where it's too open or enemies can ambush you from behind. If you can't kill the zone, kill the ones in the zone lol

[@felikfelik1942]

Thank you so much for explanation of every section i need to know, i'm gonna learn much for this pain 🙏

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

You’re welcome 😊

[@Sireristof1332]

My favorite quick start is actually Ecologist in Agropom, you can quickly run down to the doc, start the quest and do the underground and 2-5 bandit kill quests depending on your rewards difficulty, and can go up to yantar buying the calibrated psi helmet in less then a couple of hours, and then you can farm all ressources for 2days you need to get the miracle machine down full speedrun style. I also usually change to mercenary later on for the better suits You can also cheese cordon if u want, because the "tourist safari" quests give you 2 follower you can throw away clearing out the military base pretty much first minute of the game. I dont know if thats vanilla anomaly or gamma only quest tho, i only play the latter these days

[@shadedergu9921]

High end gear isn't that hard to get with Ecologists, it just can't happen immediately. But later on you have the best access to all of the best gear when you have high rep with all of the best factions, can take your pick of exosuits and weapons, and have multiple medical vendors to buy very large amounts of meds from That and the large amount of income from having access to a large variety of quests and vendors. You can own the economy as an ecologist, and the more you play into it; the more powerful you become in the endgame compared to other starting options I reiterate; the slower weapon progression is just when starting out The only exception to this is if you play Gamma where you can't buy guns. But even in gamma, befriending people from various factions and taking them into gunfights (including against people who are not hostile to you) is always a way to get more equipment at zero risk. Ecologists due to having access to the most factions have the largest and best access to companion options and quests; so that makes up for the heavy hit Gamma delivers to their strength by removing weapons from vendors. That and Ecologists are a lot less likely to get killed by random grenade throws, because less factions that have grenades will try to kill you If you want to do something really funny, learn how to use the disguise system well and take advantage of it to befriend the Bandits and Monolith later on. Then witness as all hell breaks loose around you and you can just walk freely at no risk.

[@yannickkhalil3355]

1. When you play as Ecologist starting in Yantar, you can get free ammo by starting with a SMG that uses 9x18 bullets and two vodkas. Give the vodkas to the guy that sells food and he'll give you a lot of 9x18's. It's not much but remember that money is tight at the beginnig and there is no weapons/ammo traders in Ecologist bases. 2. Always ask everyone what they have to sell. They might have some mutant parts that are often asked by npcs or upgrades compatible with your gear. 3. Always instruct your companions to not shoot anyone unless they attack you first. Otherwise your bodyguards will spot a Tuskhano a hundred miles aways and go berserk on it. 4. Being nocturnal is a good option to avoid enemy Stalkers. Of course you'll be finding more dangerous mutants, but these mutants often drop valuable parts that npcs ask for, and are way easier and cheaper to deal with than entire stalker squads. At least in my opinion it's a worthy trade-off.

[@NakedAvanger]

I'm completely new to this franchise I never played vanilla but am currently playing trough anomaly I legit thought about going ironman from the get go and I'm glad I didn't because I died SO MUCH

[@dat1doo766]

Thanks for the help every time I played ironman i died in about 10 minutes most the time because I was rushing but you helped me realize to take it slow and walk which helped me not land myself in the nearest anomaly lol thanks a lot!

[@jhonrock2386]

As someone who plays as an ecologist in most of his playthroughs, I have to say, this assumption of being an ecologist equals to slower progression isn't right. Its far from this, to be honest, so, let me make a few points: 1 - As an ecologist, because you are friendly with almost everyone in the zone, you can take a boatload of quests, from all factions, in all areas, and rack a ton of money pretty fast. Remember, there is a huge number of quests types that don't involve killing someone and even the ones that do involve killing someone, most of the times, the targets are bandits, so, no problem with the role play aspect, if you are into it (Personally, I don't have problem killing members of my allied factions, to be honest, I find it quite fun, cuz I like to do it while disguised). 2 - As your main antagonist in the southern areas of the Zone will be bandits, and it is not that rare for them to carry SVD, SVS, SV98, etc, you can get your hands on a good early game sniper rifle pretty fast. Once you get one, you can just head to Limansk, through the Merc base in Dead City and start to hunt Monolith zealots. Go in, hunt, loot, go back, rest, ressuply, go in again (if you make a temporary base inside the Merc base, you can make this process even faster). Rinse and repeat. I assure you that with just a few runs you will be geared to the teeth, ready to dive into the northen areas of the zone like if you were walking in a park. I must agree that playthroughs with the ecologist faction isn't as action packed as it is with other factions, BUT, its far from boring. At early game you will find lots of bandits, renegades, mutants, zombies, and even some monolith zealots to deal with.

[@sovietgopnik613]

I've been searching for something like this, finally found it

[@jansvoboda4293]

I (being quite new to Anomaly/GAMMA) am experimenting with setups. I am trying to come up with a setting for ironman (ish) setting where I do not necessarily try to finish the game, but interesting short stories to have aside of Clear sky slow campaign. I tend to up my bullet effect not to rely on that much on gymnastics, but on being aware of surrounding and being able to shoot them down with appropriate tools. I max loot and stashes trying to have at least chance of getting some equipment progress (basic tools are kind of gate keeper of any progress and in campaign I had to go all the way up to Dead city to fins some as most stashes spawned there.). Currently I am trying ETF-like variant where I would only save in base to avoid stupid deaths from not knowing, just losing the gear like ETF as a bandit. Had very interesting first mission when I had to clear a farm and by buddies got stuck at bridge. I murdered couple of loners with just 1911 and saw-off shotgun, the last one giving me a goodby from Mosin as he dropped. I quite like mercenary start. With bandit, the greatest challenge of all is that even weakest pocket of radiation makes a trap. Some ironman deaths are hilarious - bandit starting in Dead City school going to merc base, not knowing of psy-anomaly shoots himself in first minute. Another try - gets to merc base, hears shooting. Expects mercs fending of some basic mutants, then suddenly military guy breaches to base and shoots you before you recognize what's up...

[@cubablue602]

An Ironman 'soft'' playthrough is the only way to fly imo. A permadeath playthrough (1 life) is just INSANE, far too many uncontrollable variables can end it in an instant with nothing you can do (including the bugs and crashes) and YES it certainly does happen even in the pretty stable GAMMA. A soft Ironman is the ideal middle ground, I can't go back to normal and spamming that F5 and F9 anymore - there are no stakes.

[@simplemente9789]

I like to play as a militar, starts at cordon to do the things a little bit easier and stay there around 3 days while you produce your first roubles

[@JellyJman]

Gonna start an Invictus run soon in EFP SE. Let’s get this badge together man!

[@lordhapax7414]

I lost 2 attempts to dumb stuff in vanilla anomaly: One was because I ran out of ammo clearing the brain scorcher thinking the monolith would drop enough when killed, and the other was when I tried to kill a burer in lab X-8 with an IED and the sucker threw it back at me. If you suspect something can go wrong, it will, don't make risky plans when you can sidestep the problem entirely

[@Dark_Brandon_2024]

Misery taught me to carry a shotgun for mutants, preferably saiga, and an AR with GL for people.

[@AudioBoi1]

Very good advices. I didn't know u can put something besides the artifacts on your belt. I actually walket Living Legend and Sin quest lines tho 🤣

[@IrrationalDelusion]

5:26 Purposefully remembering surprises ahead is cheating. Skill is when you come prepared for unexpected and still survive against the odds. 9:42 Insane trick! By training you would get better at the game, but when new game releases and all rules change you won't be as adaptable. Much more interesting immersive way to play is to not know exact parameters of encounter and to intelligently improvise.

[@galoreorc01]

Whilst I agree, at some point you will know everything through repetition, but entering the game blind is definitely the way to a fuller and richer experience

[@IrrationalDelusion]

@@galoreorc01 the beauty of stalker is ALIVE system that surprises with npc spawns, so you can't exactly prepare for open field fights. But it's possible to exploit scripted events. Unfortunately spawn points and locations are the same

[@leohal456]

On stalker gamma, there is an achievement called Invictus. You play an ironman mode. You get ONLY 2 lives, meaning you can ONLY die once. You must play through the whole game without ever once activating the debug menu, only dying once, and completing all 3 main quest lines. You MUST play on Hard Survivalist, the hardest possible difficulty, and you may NEVER modify those particular settings. So, if you truly think that is even remotely possible without learning everything you possibly can, and preparing for those things, you have never tried an Invictus run. Lab X-18 is a great example. Right off the bat, any and all labs and underground areas are home to mind controllers, kirlaks, poltergeists, and more. To think you could even attempt a Lab or Underground run without knowing what to expect is idiotic. My first run on lab x-18, without ever playing before, on the EASIEST DIFFICULTY, cause me over 30 deaths. It has about 5 snorks at maximum, 3-5 poltergeists, a kirlak, and a possible mind controller. Not to mention a pseudogiant. The Miracle Machine as he showcased has a burer, a mindcontroller, multiple snorks, multiple bloodsuckers, some zombies, and even a pseudogiant as well. The freaking BRAIN SCORCHER, to even GET THERE has over 30 monolith soldiers guarding the place, then inside you have only FIVE MINUTES to kill about 5+ bloodsuckers, and sometimes even psydogs, and turn off the machine. Not to mention that after you turn it off, about 30 MORE MONOLITH spawn inside to try and kill you. And do NOT even get me started on CNNP/Monolith Control center, and the abandoned hospital leading to the generators fight for sin. You should really think about the implications of what you're saying, because if you possibly think you can do an invictus run like it's nothing without ever preparing first, you have never even once tried doing so.

[@leohal456]

Actually, for brain scorcher, I underestimated it. You have multiple chimeras or pseudogiants to fight along the path to the base, multiple zombies with guns too. Then you fight about 30 monolith soldiers before even reaching the base. Then fighting 30+ monolith soldiers outside/inside the base which is fairly irradiated, and then the rest.

[@RFX91]

@@leohal456 Cant you just fast travel out instead of facing the 30 more Monolith?

[@ttttttttony]

Show your belt artefacts! My ironman run with a single life (so far) is pretty much a walk in the park against mutants like snorks and all kinds of dogs. I am putting a single Empty on a Berill early game and pretty much my next gear upgrade is top-tier armor for the next part of my game life which is labs. Also show how you play with Hatchet! Hatchet allows to not buy tons of ammo and saves out of impossible to live situations like surrounded by 2 packs of psy-dogs. Ammo depletes too quickly and doesn't kill too fast Vs a good hatchet sweep. I really enjoy your videos, watching them the moment they pop. Thanks a ton!

[@raptor8184]

did you fount a Full Empty too?, i search for that artefact.

[@ttttttttony]

@@raptor8184 In another life I did found it in Agroprom) With current life I was happy to find it in a dead ecologist's loot at Yantar. My playthrough is especially tricky beacuse I can not loot all corpses due to a mod which does not let loot what you did not kill in presence of the rest of the squad or guys of the same faction. Very slower playthrough but also realistic and innovative to find ways to loot them. So you can see how lucky I am to find Empty in the loot)))))

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Never really use the hatchet, now I have to try ahah! Thanks for the tip!

[@ttttttttony]

@@CheekiBreekiTv ahahah, it completely changes the style, since with hatchet you run to catch a dog vs it runs to catch you by default. Let the inner aggressor out) Also it helps ease pressure on ears a bit, I love to hear the surrounding world and sometimes shots are disturbing the enviro sounds, whilst a hatchet sweep is a low sound.

[@lukasgroot]

@@raptor8184 keep looking you'll find one eventually ;) try zaton or jupiter with best detector.

[@mycalle82]

Cheeki, can you do an updated "optimal Graphics settings video" ...for gamma (including your zcp settings too!).🙂

[@Wojciech_Zakrzewski]

second to that !

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

I'm thinking about updating all my old tutorials at some point, it will be definitely part of it. Just need to find the time :)

[@page0809]

You can expand carry capacity for your companions if you give them bigger backpack ;D

[@izaakburningham3188]

Another tip for anomalies as well. Burnt fuzz, like that found in the tunnel in Cordon, can be walked through without taking damage by holding alt, or slow walking.

[@nuruddinshah684]

OH...

[@PablooWT]

Dafuck, another thing learned at 2k hours in game by just reading a comment on YT xD thanks!

[@yannickkhalil3355]

Do you mean that Burner anomalies don't trigger if you walk slowly?? No fucking way

[@protections0589]

@@yannickkhalil3355 no, only burnt fuzz, the mossy looking shit that isn't a typical anomaly

[@brandonvortex995]

Gamma have been very addicting and fun mod to play, I recomended this mod

[@jordanduoos879]

you know whats funny, first time playing, mutant pelts are 3 times more rare to find for me than the artifacts, had a stack of around 7 artifacts , then found a boar pelt

[@meegusmeeg2540]

1:27 "Easy Mutants" Cats are easy...

[@uknow2908]

Ooooh true true! Binoculars is THE OP item throughout the game. It helps very much.

[@tylercsm4690]

I would be great if you could put a download link to those softcore saves for practice! Been watching your channel for a couple days now as im playing GAMMA. Really high quality man, keep up the great work!

[@2sau88]

You can enable debig and spawn mutants and weapons,and if you tipe demorecord 1 you can use a free roam cam and teleport to places and make your save state 🙂.(sry my english)

[@JellyJman]

9:50 interesting 🧐 thanks for that, the game must think since your not in the general direction of the enemy it’s gonna try and rush you… good way to abuse in close quarters.

[@iamexplosion]

How does one prepare for entering a level just to find out an anomaly spawned right where you're standing? Do you just enjoy your final moments, savoring life as you pressed "any key to enter zone" and promptly eat shit? If so, dangit.

[@rekunta]

Going to start truly cheeki-breeki-ing tomorrow. First time Iron Man. I tremble. 💪🏽👀

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Ahhahah good luck!

[@CallMeAl411]

ill take the pistol/ 45acp gun idea to heart, was using the 2clip single shotgun with a scoped sks through the majority of my game so far. first time playing on gamma, got a mossberg all fixed up and a smg that used 9x19 rounds cant remember the name, went through darkvalley/darkscape area up to collect stashes, didn't realize the smg was that bad and wasted a lot of resources to get it fixed plus ammo and 5 mags for all that ammo. prob gonna take the sks out of storage and use it again. that thing is the bain of my existence but also my armor killer. (Best thing i can say is i need to learn what would have been a more efficient gun to repair in hindsight.)

[@cbushee099999]

Enjoying GAMMA as well. How do you quickly get a good suit and gas mask for the radiation patches? I found those to be the most punishing at high difficulties. Very hard to get a good mask early. I started as ecologist. Found I was slamming meds, cigs, food, water to heal through it. The over/under shotgun with buckshot puts down most mutants in two shots.

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

yeah thats the big issue with ecologists especially in GAMMA, you kill very few people compared to other factions, so your chances to get guns/armors/helmets are greatly diminished. Best way is stashes

[@yakivpopavich]

I have to use the life granter to do Ironman, otherwise it's impossible. Death comes so fast sometimes you can't even save scum if you wanted to.

[@NomadShadow1]

nice, i wasn't aware of the "fighting trick" at 9:39, I'm going to use that even though I have no plans of doing an iron man run. I always wondered how dudes snuck up on me, i just attributed it to stalker bs-ery lol also, you forgot the most important tip - don't die 🤪

[@VVilkacy]

I don't play the ironman, since it's simply impossible with my mods and settings, mixed with me always playing alone. Having said that I consider myself pretty experienced in this shit. My two cents: - Radar - when coming from warehouses, camp behind the first electroanomaly you see for few minutes. Very often mutants (including chimeras) come from the forest above in large numbers, so let them die without wasting ammo. When coming from Pripyat - go to the crossroad to aggro the mutants and run back to the bus. Mutants can't get into the bus*. - Be triple cautious when coming out from the dead city to warehouses and Yantar. Both of these tend to spawn a lot of mutants just few feet away from you upon loading in. - In truck cemetery, make sure you run close to the buses. They are your emergency safe spots and they are pretty much everywhere there. Southern hill is scripted and always spawns dangerous mutants every few days. - Darkscape - just don't go there. This place is a mutant terror. :D If you absolutely have to, stay close to the rocks, so you can leap on top (just good luck with chimeras lol). - Red forest - when coming from warehouses, camp near the bus and go in if the mutants come (oh boy they will). When coming from Limansk - camp behind the bridge (you can try jumping onto the truck). - Power plant - when coming from Pripyat don't go full way in immediately. Camp behind the bridge and let those many mutants (they are there, trust me) to come to you, giving you more distance and much cleaner shots. - Limansk - not many mutants, but make sure you don't let Monolith to come from different sides. Always pick a place where you only need to hold one angle. Btw. the path you cleared already tend to spawn enemies again and they come from behind to surprise you (mostly when camping in the houses near the river). - Dark valley when coming from garbage - a lot of mutants that will come for you eventually. Camp near the rocks for a few minutes and climb on top if needed. - Pay super attention to your surroundings when chilling in mercs' base. It's the least secure base of them all and very very often mutants or even stalkers allied with mercs, but hostile to you, just walk in and kill you when you are stuck trading with Dushman etc. - By miles the best strat to fight stalkers is to camp in the safe spot (and not grenadable - is that a word?) and let them come to you. Unless you can kill them from very far away. - Jupiter's factory always spawns dangerous mutants + stalkers (mostly freedomers) every few days. - Generators - a shit fest. - Chernobyl 2 (the one with many portals in SoC) - a shit fest. Many mutants. - If the game freezes for a second - something terrible has just spawned. Be aware. - If the game is super laggy in the next location you have entered - it has many mutants / stalkers in it. - Avoid nights in general. :D - Don't even think about going through the burner corridor in Agroprom's underground. - Don't spend too much time in your PDA / inventory when in the wild. You will die. Btw. hostile Stalkers tend to sneak up on you when you do that, so you won't even hear it. - Speaking about hearing, listen to the environment. The music can kill you too, sadly. - Shotguns are overrated. - If you hear the RPG or Gauss riffle - RUN. : D *there is at least one bus I am aware of that the mutants CAN get into and it's in the truck cemetery.

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Very good tips! Thanks for sharing! I agree with the Gauss rifle sound ahahahh, always send a chill through my spine

[@nuruddinshah684]

OH HOLY SHIT Are you butcher IN REAL LIFE Edit I take it back not butcher. " Shotguns are overrated."

[@nuruddinshah684]

- In truck cemetery, make sure you run close to the buses. They are your emergency safe spots and they are pretty much everywhere there. Southern hill is scripted and always spawns dangerous mutants every few days. Southern hill hmm is it that small forest type hill? Hmmm now where is the buses. any one have an image link

[@VVilkacy]

@@nuruddinshah684 There are plenty of them there. How could you not see any? :D And yes, that is the hill in question. But you hear right away when the spawn is triggered.

[@nuruddinshah684]

@@VVilkacy ok.....now I will just need a good gas mask for the radiation. And I'm all set.....

[@d_ruggs]

i got a vr headset awhile ago, and yea, its tons of fun. but i started playing gamma yesterday and im more immeresed in that than ive been in any vr title yet..... blade and sorcery star wars mods come close though, but it gets very boring after an hour of killing anakin.

[@The_Warlord_of_Blood]

Never ever get tunnel-vision,especialy if you can get flanked..Hit a military with sniper ( broken barell, no dmg ) and then for some reason forgot him and focused on his friend..Aaaaand the half dead military flanked me and killed me..Also i was undergeard so there is that too.

[@Rdboun]

1:31 except for the FUCKING CATS

[@zen_7748]

"You think you have enough ammo? No, you need twice that." Me, with 1.2K 5.56 NATO FMJ ammo at all times: "I concur. Never know when you'll need to gun down 500 Monolith guys in a row!"

[@chacknoris6552]

3:22 Like only for that Chimera pistol kill😎

[@cslantz4020]

The biggest problem I have with my Ironman runs is also what makes STALKER, well, STALKER. There was one time I was chilling in that basement in Garbage, next to the flea market. A psi storm had come in and so I told my companions to sit in the basement and I moved to the corner to have some space for my companions. Well, apparently, this corner was somehow different and I was killed by the psi storm. That is on the game, and there was nothing I could've done, except die and only when I died I would learn that you aren't safe unless you are in the special part of the bunker. Bummer. If I was playing without Ironman, I would think nothing of it, and just reload a save and hide deeper in the basement. But with Ironman, It stings badly, because I had gotten so far only to die to some bullshit like that.

[@RFX91]

Same happened to me, but not in iron man. Can't imagine how frustrating it would be.

[@7Deer7]

Very good video very true. I might add though, don't give your companions powerful weaponry, nor grenades. I've lost two invictus playthroughs thanks to that. Managed to pull it off on attempt 13 though. Can recommend the alife overhaul mod to ease up on the grinding a little bit early game thanks to the implementation of warfare mode. You can obviously also abuse that system a lot, so definitely test out before what you think is fair.

[@bhedgepig9653]

Or go the other way, spawn a RPG and give it to Fanatic on day one. Survive that noise for a day and call it done.

[@7Deer7]

@@bhedgepig9653 Gave rogue my guass rifle. Was 1-tap shot in the back by the bastard. Sure an RPG sounds like a great idea!

[@mrtango1824]

Gamma health items guide would be cool.

[@nicobrab9361]

There's one in the PDA guide if you need :)

[@S4B4T]

Very nic guide. My mistakes was super fast "detected" by the game. 14 times i try end the ironman. By the immersion, half our check the area, making good eq for travel, every mechanics in game are usefull only on the ironman mode.

[@HunterUv-ep1fk]

Dude this made my game so much easier 👌😭😭

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Glad I could help!

[@JellyJman]

You should make a video specifically for GAMMA since you seem to focusing on it

[@arxeus9998]

Thank you for this wondefull video, but what is the name of bullup you use in game? in secondary slot at 6:45

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

It's the Thales F90!

[@Arverni_Ursi]

I tried Ironman on my first game, talked to Fanatic to begin the tutorial quest. When we got out of the rookie village, we walked about 50m before being attacked by the boars and as soon as we finished the last one, i had a really loud and long tinitus follow by fast zooming in and out on a creature's face then died instantly. That was pretty scary ! I learned later that it was a controller. But what the heck was he doing here ?

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Yeah, really weird to have a controller in Cordon that early.

[@Arverni_Ursi]

@@CheekiBreekiTv And Fanatic didn't even cared about him. That son of a chick !

[@patrickdavis584]

How is your new game starting points that high? Mine starts at 1100 and drops to 700 on survivalist.

[@etiennevanderkorput7151]

Played briefly years ago but never even made it past cordon. Just downloaded anomaly two days ago and I am doing my first playthrough in Ironman. It's hella hard but I am loving it xp Noticing a lot of sound effects/mechanics that are almost shot for shot copies for the metro series. Did the original stalker have them and metro just stole them? Or is it added cause of Anomaly? It's been so long since I played the original I can't remember.

[@woodsnatural]

Me playing Iron man my first playthrough not knowing what's to come ahead (lots of death) what can I say? I like the idea of only 1 life in survival games.

[@ttttttttony]

I might add that without consumable, harvesting animations, there is much less risk involved. @Cheeki, are you not happy to run circles smoking after visiting an anomaly field and evading agressing mutant? Animation plays and one can't do shit))) That's ironclad balls of the ironman, so much fun)

[@MrFunkhauser]

ironman is fun as hell surviving the hobo phase and then dying to something unpredictable/dumb mid game, always the same for me I'm playing with EFP though so maybe thats just the 100 mods designed to make your life pain

[@lenorelestrange]

My playthrough was Ironman 1 life, and 1 life per 3 days, no fast travel, no vics, no item start loner, you get a bolt and your boots, that's it. Now the only reason you should ever need more than that first life is for BS like invisible anomalies that will instakill you without warning, sound, visual ect... looking at you random middle of the road spark...

[@vitorsalles5919]

Wish i was playing gamma as well but my potato pc can only run anomaly

[@alfredoaaron2664]

Impresive DD reference

[@arshiadehghan2187]

There is one advice I have that I think it would be useful for any one but it’s actually really useful for iron man play through one of clear sky’s heavy armor I don’t remember with a spartan helmet can give you better stats than nosorog armor it’s actually ridiculous I feel like it’s broken a lot of ppl would look for and try to carry around ecologist outfit for artifact hunting but you can do all by just switch your helmet with this set up .I learn it from a KZbinr my self

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Ohhhh I had actually no idea! I need to check this out! thanks

[@jamesrustler8853]

The Great Swamp is a terrible place to start an ironman though =^.^=

[@Strellok100]

As far as I can remember from my own stats testing, fully upgraded cs skat 9 and spartan/c/cus helmet gives u better overall stats than fully upgraded cs exo, since cs doesnt sell nosorog

[@arshiadehghan2187]

@@Strellok100 yeah that’s the suit

[@mr.bright5712]

I love your videos, you've played Darkest Dungeon, haven't you?

[@ross_boss]

I once paid a couple of Stalkers to come with me to do some tasks as to not be alone, the second we got into a fight with a single cat one of them shot me with a shotgun to the face and ended my run on the spot mfw

[@cslantz4020]

escorts are almost never worth it. the cash spent is better spent on things that will keep you alive, like medicine, ammo, or repair items, and not to mention they won't even help you in the north or in monolith controlled areas. companions are cheap, free, and will stay with you as long as you need them.

[@1MusicNote]

@Cheeki Breeki how can you setup groks body health system. I tried everything and it never worked, i even used JGME

[@GroleBrat]

i feel like ironman is the mod that stalker should always be played as. idk it just feels better than always being able to load the last save, makes the game more fun and every decision matter 100x more cuz it literally might be your last.

[@CitizenNoFDABE]

I honestly never bothered getting any weapons or gear at game start, I always pick the Russian ration and 2 medkits and a bandage, because medicine and food are always hard to get and expensive, but weapons and ammo can be taken from any corpse.

[@nuruddinshah684]

@@itzstone where tho for the food?

[@Razzlion]

Gamma has been beating my ass, but i'm pushing through!

[@cykablyat3680]

no thanks , id go insane and throw my pc otu the window when i would die from transitioning to an area and having the game spawn 6 bandits on my ass or steppting into an invisible anomaly , its fun to watch youtubers doing it tough btw ive been playing efp for a while now and wonder how gamma compares to it ,or if its similar but with more stuff added to it cause i rly liked some of the mods included in efp like mags redux, hd models etc and wonder if its worth it to jump to gamma

[@lukasgroot]

I'm wondering the same about GAMMA will try it eventually but just now feeling to fully grasp EFP. And yes the main thing keeping me from ironman mode is transition deaths.

[@kevorkyijan118]

Started as Loner my Hard+Survival , and joined Clear Sky as soon as i could Just to be an Eco killing people 😅 Cleared X-16 Miracle Machine, with ease , the freaking 30k RU helm and for good measure i stocked Psy protection drugs and bandages for bs's ( to be honest bullshit...cause they have an illegale amount of hp 😂); the i thought i was ready for X-18 ....and reloaded 10/15times idk.... at the bottom of "that stairs" , i believe everybody knows whats there.. for me was 3controllers, 2poltergeist.. and idk WTF was the last but fuck that thing.....the pseudo giant was not a problem but empty my bullets pile ....If i ever do X-18 in an iron man i want an Exo+ badass weapon and One billion medicals ..and i've Heard that's nothing compared to monolith guys and brain scorcher..But i love the game and you're guides have helped me a lot .thank you!!!😊

[@dominykaszakrys3373]

I am a masochist gamer and I enjoy permadeath runs like TLOU2 and RE4R pro without saving once. But stalker anomaly/gamma is way, WAY too buggy that it can be reliably played and enjoyed on ironman mode. Great video, but for anyone watching this and thinking of going ironman, be a sane person and don't waste your time, wait for Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl to be made into Anomaly/gamma. You can play at a snail's pace and you will still die if RNG wants you to die. You can get lucky and that's a fact, I did complete several ironman runs myself but that's because I was extremely lucky not to run into any game breaking bugs and gameplay glitches and I was using load a lot in the nick of time when the game just completely screwed me. Things like mutants spawning directly on top of you, breaking crate propels you high into the sky and you take lethal fall damage, enemy bullets going through solid cover like tires, wood logs, concrete bricks, metal slabs, mutant hitboxes hitting 5 meters away from you, mercs and bandits sometimes becoming neutrals and killing them for mission will make you hostile with anyone nearby even loners... those are just tip of the iceberg bugs that make the mode unplayable. TLDR i tried doing ironman without cheats like loadbacks but that proven to be impossible. The moment my 20 hour ironman run got lost because entering new area i got greeted by 3 military stalkers who immediately disarmed me and killed me was when i realized that original stalker build will never ever be viable on ironman. Maybe Stalker 2 will...

[@CusterPlays]

Maybe one day il give it a try :)

[@MaciejM891]

Great video, thank you. Can you share your GAMMA settings (graphic, fov etc.) ?

[@DuxLindy]

I only have a few hours in anomaly after not playing any game in the series in probably 7 years. does it make sense to jump right into gamma, or are the mods too much to digest without having enough time in anomaly first?

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

You should take 10 mins to read the manual / faq on GAMMA discord to understand the basics, but that's pretty much it. Most game mechanics are similar to Anomaly so nothing really complicated. It's much harder than Anomaly tho!

[@DuxLindy]

@@CheekiBreekiTv thanks!

[@deurikin2466]

What are some of the visual enhancement mods you are using, your game looks great. Does it also help performance? Because I’ve been trying to get my game to run smoothly and look good

[@pcb5135]

I think you can complete invictus runs by collecting bunch of invis artifacts and when you in a fight just equip it and you escape fight

[@Milsim_Man]

What mods/modpack are you using? (specificaly the ones that replace animations)?

[@Dorsidwarf]

whats the inventory/UI mod you show off while talking to Beard?

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

I used GAMMA to record this video so its all part of this modpack

[@ThaMentalGod2003]

me meanwhile: **last story thing i did was disabling the miracle machine, has never played ironman, has 350k+ rubles thanks to the glorious F5 and F9 keys** 😂💀well, im tryna quickload as rarely as possible from now on, dying is a rare thing anyways, the reason i often quickload is bcuz i was unhappy with how much health or ammo i lost after an encounter 😂(ik, theres campfire mode, but bruh 💀nah 😂)

[@dreamon-phonoi7365]

What modpack are u using :(

[@Cichlid_Visuals]

hey cheeki are you playing on the pre-1.5.2 version of gamma here? looks like the last version before the 1.5.2 change.

[@CheekiBreekiTv]

Yup! I finished recording all the footage of this video just when the latest version was coming out!

[@Cichlid_Visuals]

@@CheekiBreekiTv excellent thats the build im on currently, i think i will stay there since there has been some unforeseen things occurring in 1.5.2 alongside many mods. thanks for the reply and your vids are great brotha. great work.

[@kola2282]

6:14 golden Darkest cite