S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Patch 1.3 Brings Quick Slots and Stability Fixes

GSC GameWorld has rolled out Patch 1.3 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition, marking the latest major update to the remastered collection of Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat. After two months of development, this patch emphasizes stability, bug fixes, and long-requested quality-of-life adjustments rather than raw performance improvements. Players hoping for higher framerates will not find optimization gains here, but for those struggling with crashes, UI inconsistencies, and gameplay bugs, Patch 1.3 makes the Zone considerably more stable.

One of the most significant additions is the introduction of quick slots to Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky, a feature previously exclusive to Call of Pripyat. This addition modernizes the control schemes across the trilogy, creating consistency that players have been asking for since the Enhanced Edition launched. These slots can be toggled in the settings menu, under the “Game” tab, offering immediate accessibility for inventory management.

Patch 1.3 also resolves a variety of technical issues specific to modern hardware. On Steam Deck, for example, the update corrects mouse simulation gyroscope support and improves font readability with larger, cleaner text. GSC has overhauled fonts across all games to better reflect the aesthetic of the originals while enhancing legibility for handheld play. HUD elements, optical sights in a 16:9 ratio, and overlapping textures have been cleaned up, while several common crash sources have been addressed. These changes ensure that, whether playing on PC, Steam Deck, or console, the games maintain smoother consistency across devices.

The patch goes further by correcting numerous gameplay bugs that have lingered since release. Animations for bolts and knives now behave correctly, previously duplicated stash data no longer grants players unintentional duplicate loot, and NPC voiceovers now sync properly when characters wear gas masks. Quest-specific issues across all three games, from Clear Sky’s stash handling to Call of Pripyat’s “Intermittent psy-emissions” quest, have been fixed, ensuring smoother progression for players who previously encountered broken scripting.

Community contributions feature prominently in Patch 1.3, reflecting the ongoing collaboration between GSC and dedicated fans. These include fixes to item spawn mechanics, adjustments to NPC accuracy scaling, and corrections to particle effects and solar coordinates. Notably, spawn logic for mutants has been refined, ensuring that areas like Cordon and Prypiat stadium behave as intended, while faction relationship mechanics now work correctly in Duty versus Freedom scenarios. In recognition of these efforts, GSC has updated the credits to include community contributors.

John Papadopoulos, reporting the patch release, emphasized that while this update does not improve overall performance, it directly addresses stability and bug issues that have frustrated players since launch.

“Patch 1.3 doesn’t really improve performance. So, don’t expect these STALKER games to now run faster. Instead, it’s all about bug fixes.” — John Papadopoulos, DSO Gaming

Check previous Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Patch 1.2 updates here.

For long-time fans, Patch 1.3 also restores several nostalgic touches. Fonts now better resemble those of the original games, item and ammo text alignments have been corrected, and in-game icons and PDA displays reflect greater consistency across the trilogy. These changes may seem small, but they contribute to preserving the series’ identity while adapting it for modern play.

Here’s the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition Patch 1.3 release notes list.

• QoL Feature: Added quick slots for Shadow of Chornobyl (SoC) and Clear Sky (CS), functioning the same as in Call of Prypiat (CoP).
• Open the settings menu
• Proceed to “Game” tab
• Use “Enable quick slots” checkbox to toggle the quick slots
• Fixed mouse simulation gyroscope support for better experience on Steam Deck
• Added auto-switching between gamepad and keyboard input on consoles

Bug Fixes

• Fonts: Major overhaul to make fonts more familiar to veteran stalkers and increased font size for better readability on Steam Deck.
• Fixed incorrect animations for bolts and knife.
• Fixed sky blurriness issue.
• Updated application icons.
• Adjusted artifact spawn chances.
• Fixed FSR sharpness slider being always active.
• Corrected overlapped textures on energy drinks.
• Fixed hand animations for SEVA suit.
• Resolved issue where stash information was given twice from different corpses, duplicating contents.
• Standardized Control_inertion_factor across all weapons.
• Fixed achievements not triggering without deleting progress_data.ltx.
• Eliminated “NPC doesn’t have enough money” error when selling many items to NPCs with infinite money.
• Applied multiple console-related fixes.
• Addressed most frequent crashes.
• Enabled binding for side mouse buttons.
• Fixed optic sights for 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Corrected key binds for PDA.
• Fixed several HUD visual issues.
• Restored input functionality after using quick slot attachment with disabled quick slots.
• Fixed HUD overlaps for health and armor bars.
• Added missing Wild Territory section to minimap.
• Ensured unique suit effects function correctly.
• Enabled ESC key to close inventory context menu.
• Fixed “START” button on controller closing dialogues.
• Resolved stash info purchase and save/load issues.
• Corrected Exoskeleton upgrade descriptions.
• Fixed Mipmap bias option altering antialiasing when changed via controller.
• Removed persistent stash markers after looting when info was gained twice.
• Fixed UI issues in menus.
• Prevented picking up quest items multiple times.
• Corrected localization inconsistencies.
• Fixed “Intermittent psy-emissions” quest issue where quest controller didn’t spawn if the player had already looted the artifact.
• Adjusted ammo and fire mode text alignment.
• Fixed Rookie Village stalkers permanently hiding in ambush after “Protect the Rookie Camp” quest.
• Enabled custom names for manual saves.
• Prevented dropping trader inventory items using the Drop key (G by default).
• Various stability improvements and minor fixes.

Community Contributions

• C++ Code Fixes: Adjustments to hunger damage, NPC accuracy scaling, solar coordinates, and item placement.
• SoC Scripts/Configs: Fixes for PSI emission audio, spawn logic, task icons, NPC money randomization, and faction challenges.
• CS Scripts/Configs: Improvements to stash handling, dialogue progression, and achievement tracking.
• CoP Scripts/Configs: Fixes for quest pickups, widescreen displays, and NPC animations.

While the Enhanced Edition still lacks significant performance gains, the refinements in stability, quest logic, and user interface collectively make the Zone a smoother, more reliable place to explore.