33 articlesWith the release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, newcomers to the old franchise are getting beat down by the mutants that you can encounter all around the Zone. Among them are the psy dogs, which are a variant of pseudodogs that can create clones of itself. In this guide, we will be giving you some tips on how to deal with them!
How to Kill Psy Dogs (Blue Aura & Clones)
Psy dogs are not new to the series, but they are bullying newbies who are unfortunately unaware of their existence and are caught off guard by their ability to spawn illusions. If you want to avoid being mauled to death by these things, then read on.
First, especially in the early game, you will want to get rid of any illusions that are approaching you. These can deal damage to you, but you can typically kill them with a single hit. Pay close attention to your surroundings to avoid getting bit too much.
Next, you can simply spray at them until you find the one that bleeds whenever it is hit. Trial and error can be annoying, but once you find the real dog, you can get in some good hits before it can sneak away and spawn more clones.
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The real psy dog may also briefly emit a blue glowing aura whenever it creates more illusions. This is why shooting the clones is not necessarily always a waste. Obviously, you will want to waste as little ammo as possible so make sure to keep an eye out for that aura.
Finally, if you encounter one in a tight space, you should just run away and find an open area to make it easier to find the psy dog. The problem with fighting it in small areas is that it might hang back and spam clones from behind cover, making you waste way too much time and ammo.
When the real dog dies, all of the clones should disappear. If you can somehow lure them into a third party, fellow stalkers should be able to help you reduce the number of clones in the field. In fact, they might even kill the psy dog itself before you can identify it!
SIDE NOTE: Check out our guide on how to repair your weapons in the game as there is a high chance that your gun is going to take a beating from fighting one of these things.
That is all you need to know about psy dogs in the game. You really just have to find the real one as soon as possible and then burst it down before things get out of hand. Maybe the developers will nerf its illusion spawn rate in a future patch, but for now, you will just have to deal with the fact that it can create a comically large pack of fake dogs within seconds.
