Zombified Stalkers

'These creatures ceased being human and rely upon whatever remains of their purely animal instinct'
― Professor Sakharov's explanation on the origins of zombies

Lore

'First Sergey thought they were common stalkers sticking in group. Then, however, something alerted him in their behavior only to

A zombified stalker.

make him instantly lie down holding the gun in front of him. A shout didn’t have any effect – these two failed to react in any way. When they came up closer, he had no single doubts remaining – the non-coordinated movements, rambling murmur, dragging feet. He faced zombified stalkers.

Sergey didn’t want to approach them fearing to recognize someone out of his friends missing in the Zone. He fired several times preventing the zombie from opening fire in response...

General Information

Zombies are made by the "Psi Field" given off by psi emitters such as the Brain Scorcher in Lab X10 and the Miracle Machine in Lab X16; when unprotected Stalkers are exposed to Psi emissions for a sufficient period of time, they start to lose their minds. This results from irreversible damage to the higher functions of the brain, eventually resulting in a Zombified Stalker; these zombie stalkers in turn rely on whatever remains of their purely animal instincts, such as hunting and feeding. Zombified stalkers however, still retain their skills to operate mechanical devices, such as firearms although they can't aim it like regular stalkers where they often inaccurately spray-and-pray their weapons from the hip. Stalkers approaching the "Miracle Machine" Emitter of Lab X16 in the factory complex at Yantar reported that once they get close to the gate, they began to hear voices and hallucinate. Following this they felt their brains literally boiling and melting inside their skulls, and they felt weak. If you are lucky enough to get away from the Psi field with your brain intact, you may also suffer from some detrimental side effects of exposure; for example, some Stalkers reported that they temporarily forgot their names after escaping the factory in time. Stalkers from all factions across the Zone may become Zombified, except those from Monolith. Monolithians are an odd case, in that while they display some signs of being zombified, they still retain tactical knowledge and some measure of sentience; it can be assumed that this is the result of their influence by the C-Consciousness.

Although Zombified Stalkers are still able to use their firearms and even reload them, they are rather stupid, and will often charge right in the middle of a firefight without cover, walking and firing from the hip. Upon encountering zombified stalkers you can hear them murmuring bits of meaningless phrases, establishing that zombies are incapable of coherent speech. In time, the zombie stalker's mind will eventually decay to a point where it will turn into a full fledged Zombie, unable to even operate the simplest firearm. Sometimes you may spot zombified stalkers around a campfire, sticking their hands out towards the fire. This may be a sign that they still hold some form of self preservation, as they seek warmth to prevent death by freezing. In combat zombie stalkers are most dangerous when they see you, as their utter disregard for personal safety results in a relentless assault, giving you no time to recover or gather your wits about you; in contrast, ordinary stalkers would usually seek cover upon shooting at you, giving you time to recover. Zombies also possess a grey shade around their chin area similar to Monolith troops, which may either be an effect of the psi-emissions or simply overgrown facial hair, as due to their mindless state, they no longer shave.

A group of zombified stalkers

In Combat

Although they are mindless zombies, Zombified Stalkers are actually quite capable with weaponry and can pose a significant threat, even when one is only facing several of them. Despite firing their weaponry from the hip zombie stalkers are quite accurate, especially in large numbers, thus making it inadvisable to get too close for a headshot unless you are undetected. They also seem to be tougher than their normal human counterparts, most likely because they do not feel pain; Zombified Stalkers do not flinch no matter how many times they are shot, and unless they are shot in the head (which does not receive armour benefits), they can easily survive several shotgun shells to the torso, or even 2-3 magazines of assault rifle rounds. Zombified stalkers are sometimes even capable of surviving a headshot with a handgun, though this most usually incapacitates them, requiring either a knife wound or one more bullet to kill. It should be noted, however, that given enough time, an incapacitated zombie will stand back up again. The best way of dispatching zombies is the stereotypical bullet to the head, as the head of any stalker does not receive the defensive benefits that armour gives. Grenades can also be used effectively against zombified stalkers, as since they do not recognize grenades in their zombified state, they will not attempt to escape the blast. The use of armour piercing rounds may decrease the number of rounds needed to kill a zombie, barring headshots.

Locations

Shadow of Chernobyl

Zombified Stalkers can be found predominantly in areas near or next to a Psi Emitter, such as Yantar and Lab X16, the Wild Territory (near the entrance to Yantar), the Red Forest and the Brain Scorcher of Lab X10, and even Pripyat.

Clear sky

Zombified Stalkers can be first encounter in the Agroprom Research Institute (near the entrance to Yantar) where the player helps a group of Loners. Later, the can be encountered in Yantar, Red Forest.

Call of Pripyat

Zombified Stalkers can be encountered in all 3 areas of the games (due to the emissions that occured daily), spawning randomly in every location. Though the only place they have not yet been seen is the Pripyat underground and inside the X8 Lab.

Trivia

• Although it is said that any stalkers caught in a psy emission will have his brains scrambled and be turned into a zombified stalker, no stalker in any of the three games has actually died and be turned into a zombified stalker after an emission. In Shadow of Chernobyl, stalkers caught in an emission will only be incapacitated. In Clear Sky, stalkers will always seek cover, and anyone scripted to stay outside will be removed from the game until the emission is over. In Call of Pripyat, emissions are non effective on all stalkers; if however, the player dies, uses anabiotics, or if the player has the Marked by the Zone Achievement, while with a companion, the companion will often die in the emission, or be incapacitated.
• The zombified stalkers in Call of Pripyat can sometimes be found crouched around a fire pit, murmuring meaningless words to each other, this can be a sign that they still hold some form of humanity, and attempt to communicate with each other.
• They rarely engage in combat with mutants as mutants never seem to attack them.