[Story] Safety First

[Gundar 16]

This is a story about why you should get a ballistics helmet, or even a motorcycle helmet as soon as you can in this game. Getting shot in the head by a mosin nagant after killing someone on sniper hill (big hill/mountain north-east of elektro) is not something I would recommend. There's been some speculation as to whether helmets do offer any kind of protection, and my first hand account says they absolutely do, and you need it ASAP.

 

My character is about 1 day old (in-game time), and I've been playing him for about 2 weeks now. This means he is beyond kitted out. The game, sadly, becomes a bit boring when you are healthy status, have a fully modded M4A1 (the rifle itself is either worn or pristine) with RIS handguard, ATLAS bipod, MP buttstock, ACOG scope or red dot sight, weapon flashlight, all pristine. Not to mention everything I have; full TTsKO, fire axe, hunting backpack, military clothing, can opener, compass, 400 rounds of 5.56 ammo, 10 cans of spare food, a full cantine, all pristine. Everything you find, or everyone you have to kill loses it's excitement when there's nothing else you need. My point isn't to show off, it's to set the tone for the next part.

 

And while the direction or purpose of what I'm supposed to do in the game now seems a bit ambiguous (that's alpha for ya) other than for me to get into fights, you kind of still don't want to lose your stuff to a rookie mistake. To quell the boredom, I decided to head to elektro on a 40/40 server and keep a low profile on the northern outskirts, before I heard the very familiar sound of gunfire coming from sniper hill. Made my way over, flanked from the north, flanked down and along the western side, scouted the southern face, then heading back up to my northwesterly position; I couldn't find the shooter. I decided to make the (very) risky move of filling my canteen and filling up on water at the well, since despite my healthy status, I hadn't rehydrated for an hour or so.

 

About halfway through, I hear loud mosin fire from inside elektro. Another tip for newbies; if you ever hear gunfire, always assume it is aimed at you. I heard three shots and decided to move, but it turns out they were aimed at me drinking from the well on the hill. Suddenly, the minute I turn the corner around the house next to the well, boom, the guy with his mosin and a magnum drawn. Sprayed him down (and I mean sprayed, haha) before taking cover behind the house from the sniper in elektro. Now, gunfire is loud, even with a suppressor on your rifle. I waited a good couple of minutes before crouching out a short distance so I could loot this corpse, but more importantly, hide it (sick of fighting bandit kiddies with mosins everywhere, sorry). Boom, heard another shot, but before I could move, I heard another, and then the screen went black.

 

You are unconscious.

 

Fuck. Well at this point, I know the guy's either on the northwestern hill by elektro, or more likely somewhere in elektro, meaning it's gonna take him a while to get to my body and the body of the guy I shot. I wait for approximately 1-2 minutes before my screen flashes back to life and my guy staggers up, blood pouring out of his head. I crouch back over to the house, hide in some bushes, and quickly bandage myself. I didn't hang around to see if he came to the body because gunfire is like light to the flies in this game. I took cover further up the hill and proceeded to munch away/drink to regenerate my blood.

 

Nothing interesting happened for a while after that, except hearing the occasional potshots and pistol shots from inside elektro. The moral of the story is, always find a helmet, and regardless of whether they're the fashion statement of Chernarus or not, they will save your life from getting shot in the head by the most powerful weapon in the game currently. Something I will have to do now that my once pristine ballistics helmet is now ruined, presumably with a 7.62 round lodged in the front of it.

 

Have fun everyone, hope it wasn't tldr.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Gundar

[S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Dust 147]

Good story, never been shot in the face but its a great read.

[Slaughterhouse 16]

Motorcycle helmets the best imo but so annoying to look at.  Your immune to punch knockouts.  Every time i see a guy with guns after a fresh spawn run to elektro i bum rush him and punch him in the head, take his gun and shoot him.  Definatly needs toned down imo.  Maybe put some love into worthless melee items ( crowbar, bat, shovel, wrench, anything thats not an axe.)  

[Awruk 216]

Both motorcycle and kevlar helmet look like shit, I have hard time wearing them plus if they really work then they are way too common.

[Gundar 16]

Both motorcycle and kevlar helmet look like shit, I have hard time wearing them plus if they really work then they are way too common.

 

I know, I'd much rather rock a camo bandana, or at least opt for coloured variants of the ballistics helmet (e.g. special forces black, camo patterned) later on.

 

But since they make the difference between getting knocked out by one punch, and surviving a direct 7.62mm head shot, it's a trade off I'll have to live with.