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Pseudo-Geist

Left Src: Stalker Anomaly wiki | Right Src: r/Stalker, BlanchTheRaptor
Filtered for clarity
I've confirmed the left image is of a bugged Geist. See below.

Description

The Black Poltergeist (colloquially dubbed and hereby referred to as "Pseudo-Geist") is a dark and smokey Poltergeist variant that resembles a moving cloud of death.

The name "Pseudo-Geist" is likely due to its description as an "unfinished" or "transitionary" almost-poltergeist, as well as the typical hostility associated with the 'pseudo' nomenclature.

Visuals & FX

In Anomaly, Pseudo-Geists are depicted as a large cloud of dark smoke, and will emit red sparks and burgandy (or wine-colored) cloud-puffs as they interact and attack.

Like Poltergeists, Pseudo-Geists have a sort of 'core' within their field/aura/cloud. Their core is warped with balls of light, kind of like the PlayStation 2 ring of lights on the BIOS menu, but smaller and more jittery.

The Anomaly version of the Pseudo-Geist is in stark contrast to the originally uncut Call of Chernobyl version, in which the latter is an opaque, mundane, and powerless humanoid with only an upper body, which crawls along the ground.

Pseudo-Geists emit sounds similar to a standard Poltergeist:

• Their attack is accompanied by a high-pitched whirring or pulsing sound loop, akin to the object telekinesis of Burers.
• They emit a constant, sub-bass or bass humming sound loop. (may have been coincidental, need more data)

Render Bug

Due to a possible scripting error, the black smoke surrounding a Pseudo-Geist may not render properly, making them difficult to spot without using audio cues.

The apparent issue is that the clouds of smoke aren't particles, but instead are considered 'objects'. Smoke 'objects' will not render up close due to Dynamic Object LOD seemingly being set too low internally, mis-matching the slider.

Anything lower than MAX on the Dynamic Objects visual slider will cause unnecessary culling of the clouds, with very low settings rendering the Pseudo-Geist nearly invisible at point-blank range, aside from its core and burgandy attack-puffs. This was found by observing an oddly passive geist through binoculars after encountering one for a second time.

Cut Content

The Pseudo-Geist has been hinted at by GSC Game World in the past, but was never implemented. The Call of Chernobyl mod implemented a version of the Pseudo-Geist that's like a Poltergeist without abilities - only able to crawl along the ground, and without the ethereal effect typical of Poltergeist variants.

Behaviour

Pseudo-Geists float across the floor as a plume of smoke.

Unlike Poltergeists and Pyrogeists - whose cores are essentially attached to their moving body - Pseudo-Geists' cores are detached and will sporatically oscillate around in spiraling patterns, probably as a defensive measure against Stalkers or other mutants.

Players report that they move "VERY FAST", and can catch up to a sprinting player.

Needs more data.

Players report their ability to teleport and/or phase through walls to reach the player.

This may actually be a misunderstanding of the Pseudo-Geist's attack, which is disembodied from the Geist and can pass through walls. The Geist itself seems to not be able to do this, but more data will need to be collected.

Like Poltergeists, Pseudo-Geists tint the player's screen blue when nearby and aggroed.

Tactics

Similar to Poltergeists and Burers, Pseudo-Geists will attack using Telekinesis, but not in the same way.

Rather than object telekinesis, Pseudo-Geist attacks are a sort of telekinetic implosion or singularity (need some extra data). They use this to directly harm the player instead of relying on the environment.

When up close, Pseudo-Geists are EXTREMELY dangerous and can kill the player within seconds.

As their core is relatively small and moves around quickly, attempting to kill a Pseudo-Geist with small arms fire is doable, but difficult. Ideally, explosives can be used to guarantee hits on the core to kill it quickly.

Their health pool is seemingly low in comparison to their cataclysmic damage output, so keeping your distance is probably key.

Pseudo-Geists will also attempt to b-line and make physical contact with the player, which will kill the player instantly. [multiple players confirm, will test later]

[stub]

Spawning

Pseudo-Geists seem to only spawn within Yantar or sometimes within the Wild Territory trainyard. [multiple players report sightings outside of these areas, need to test on a longer playthrough. apparently they may be able to spawn anywhere randomly, which is concerning.]

Current observations show Pseudo-Geists tend to spawn in Wild Territory, either inside the Burnt Fuzz shack or near the construction building on the railway.

Pseudo-Geists are rare as they are dangerous creatures, so their spawn patterns should start low and ramp up with progression.

Skinning

Skinning is not possible without using a mod like "Poltergeist Dead Body" since, unlike the OG games, Poltergeists and their variants do not drop a corpse on death. Instead, they simply explode and disappear.

PDA Details

Pseudogeists are a rare cloud-like subspecies of Poltergeists.

Information
Essentially nothing is known about these creatures, as they are only a recent occurrence and have not been around long enough to document.

Appearing as a pulsating, burgundy-coloured series of clouds, they will attempt to kill anything unfortunate enough to wander into them.

There are no specific locations they are found as they tend to appear in the most unsuspecting of places.

Upon death they explode into multiple cloud-like formations before dissipating.

Statistics
- Attacks: Psychic
- Health: Average
- Speed: Average
- Traits: Psy-powers