S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobylis a very difficult game that will constantly test your ability to thrive in The Zone. The Zone is meant to be punishing by design and the game offers next to no hand-holding for new players. Much like Bear Grylls, you’ll need to improvise, adapt, and overcome if you hope to survive in this harsh environment.
Review: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Welcome (back) to The Zone, Stalker.
Even though Stalker 2 is a difficult game, it is not an unfair one. There are plenty of little tricks you can use to make life easier for yourself while you’re exploring the irradiated wasteland, and we’re going to go over some of the most helpful ones down below. From increasing the lifespan of your equipment to successfully avoiding death by Anomaly, these are the best tips and tricks we learned the hard way while playing Stalker 2.
10Ammo Conservation
Stop Wasting Bullets
Ammo is almost always in short supply in this game and there’s no way to craft it yourself. Luckily, there are a lot of small things you can do to conserve the ammo you do have. For one, stop using expensive ARs and sniper rifles to kill weak enemies like rats, dogs, and common Bandits. Cheap pistols, shotguns, and SMGs can take care of these nuisances just fine, and it just so happens that ammo for these types of weapons is a bit easier to come by.
Also, don’t forget about your knife. The stealth system in this game is a bit wonky, but if you do manage to successfully sneak behind an enemy, you can easily take it out with one quick stab.
Speaking of ammo, always ensure to unload any weapons you find in the field if you’re not taking them with you. You’ll only find a few bullets on some weapons, but others will give you a full magazine. Either way, any extra ammo you find will come in handy. Even if you don’t have any weapons on you that can use the ammo, you may always stash a few magazines in your chest for a rainy day. Alternatively, you can sell the ammo you don’t need in exchange for a few Coupons.
9Break Stuff
But Be Mindful About it
Stalker 2 doesn’t have fully destructible environments, but there are plenty of things in this game that will break if you hit them hard enough. This includes crates, wooden boards, and even certain locks. It can sometimes be difficult to tell which objects can be broken as they are not highlighted like in other games. That said, once you spend some time hitting things left and right, you’ll quickly start to get a sense of what sort of objects can be broken.
Crates should always be at the top of your list whenever you’re looking to break some stuff. Creates containing ammo, food, and medical supplies are clearly marked with special icons, but some of the other smaller crates can be broken as well. While you can break destructible objects using the melee action button, doing so will also damage your equipped weapon in the process.
That’s why we recommend breaking objects using your knife instead. Sure, breaking crates with the knife doesn’t look as fancy, but it will save you a lot of Coupons in the long run as the knife doesn’t take durability damage.
8Sell vs Repair
Not Everything is Worth Fixing
It’s easy to get attached to a good weapon or piece of armor, but sometimes it’s better to just let it go. Equipment in Stalker 2 breaks down quickly and needs to be constantly repaired to maintain its efficiency. That said, repairs will often cost you thousands if not tens of thousands of Coupons, so it’s sometimes better to just sell a piece of equipment instead of repairing it. Just make sure you keep an eye on the Durability bar before you do that.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – The Poppy Field Quest Walkthrough
Like the lure of the siren, the Poppy Field calls to you, Stalker.
If weapons or armor fall below 40% Durability, vendors will no longer want to buy them. Rare and powerful pieces of equipment might be worth the absurdly high repair costs, but everything else should be discarded. If you want to prolong the lifespan of your valuable equipment, don’t hesitate toinvest in upgradesthat reduce wear and tear. Upgraded equipment will still degrade with use but at a significantly slower rate.
7Hazard Suits
Different Suits for Different Occasions
Some forms of damage are harder to mitigate than others. Most types of armor you’ll find in Stalker 2 offer pretty good protection against Physical damage and (sometimes) Radiation, but are not very good at mitigating Thermal, Electrical, and Chemical damage. Meanwhile, hazard suits like theSSP-99 Ecologistare the complete opposite. These suits are rare, but you’re able to find one fairly early on in the basement of the Factory located northeast of the Northern Checkpoint area.
Hazard suits don’t perform very well in combat, but they’re a must-have when navigating through most types of Anomalies. You’re typically better off wearing a combat suit when dealing with Gravitational Anomalies but as far as everything else is concerned, a hazard suit is a must-have. This usually also includes Radiation, though you’ll need to look at that one on a case-by-case basis.
Hazard suits can’t be worn alongside a helmet.
6Listen for Artifacts
Sounds of The Zone
Collecting Artifacts is one of the favorite pastimes of any intrepid Stalker. However, these things can be tricky to find. For one, Artifacts can only be found insomeAnomaly fields and there’s no way of knowing which ones contain them unless you get close and use a Scanner. When you do manage to locate one, you need todelve deep into the Anomaly fieldand manually capture the Artifact while doing your best to avoid all the Anomalies in the area. Not an easy task.
The most frustrating thing about this whole process is getting the Artifact to actually show up. Your Scanner will get you close to the source, but it won’t show you exactly where to find it. Luckily, you can rely on sound to pinpoint its location. Once you get close enough to an Artifact, it will start emitting a distinctive noise, which can best be described as something warping in and out of reality. Simply follow the sound, and you’ll find the Artifact in no time.
5More Than Just Food
Medkits Aren’t the Only Items That Can Heal You
Using aMedkitor anArmy Medkitis the most efficient way of healing yourself in The Zone, but it’s not the only way. Most types of consumables can also restore your health to a greater or lesser extent. This includesBread,Sausage,Condensed Milk, andCanned Food. Sausages and Canned Food are particularly good at healing while also providing strong Hunger reduction.
Although primarily intended to stop Bleeding, the humbleBandagecan also be used as a healing item if there’s nothing else available. Bandages are some of the most common items you’ll encounter in the game, and they’re also some of the lightest ones, too. Don’t hesitate to use a Bandage or two instead of a Medkit when you need to heal a bit of health. Medkits have the fastest animations and are best used in combat when time is of the essence. Food and Bandages have comparatively slow animations and should ideally only be used outside of combat.
Use consumables directly from the menu to skip all animations.
4Cheaper Goods and Services
Discounts on Everything
Coupons don’t grow on trees in The Zone. Quite the opposite. Money is difficult to acquire in this game and everything seems to cost a small fortune. Luckily, there is a way to get certain things cheaper if you’re willing to put in the work. Stalker 2 doesn’t really explain this, but the game features a reputation system that allows you to get on the good side of most factions. Once a faction likes you, they’ll sell you goods at cheaper prices. You also get a discount on repairs, upgrades, and guide services.
Getting a faction to like you takes a fair amount of time. Completing quests and killing rival faction members, especially their leaders, are the two primary ways of increasing your reputation with a faction. There are no progress bars or anything of that nature in Stalker 2, so you’ll just have to keep improving your reputation until the little icons that mark important NPCs turn from white (Neutral) to green (Friendly). Once you’re in the green with a faction, you should conduct all your business moving forward within their members to save on some of those valuable Coupons.
3Bloodsuckers Begone
You’re Never Alone
A lot of the enemies found in Stalker 2 could rightly be described as “bullet sponges”. Most types of enemies can soak up a significant number of bullets before they go down, but Bloodsuckers are arguably the worst offenders. Not only are these monstrosities hard to kill, but they can go invisible at will and temporarily stagger you. Every fight against a Bloodsucker is a bit of a nightmare, but a lot of the time you can use the environment to make these fights easier.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – How to Get the Army Warehouses Gate Code
The Army Warehouses are home to more than just premium loot.
Bloodsuckers and other mutants try to avoid Anomalies, but they can still be lured into a Fruit Punch or a Burner if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t want to risk stepping into an Anomaly field during a fight, you could instead try luring mutants into bases or NPC patrols. Even factions that don’t normally like you, such as the Bandits, will prioritize fighting mutants over the player in most situations.
Another trick you’re able to use to make fights easier is to find a high vantage point whenever you’re about to get into a fight. Mutants can’t climb ladders, so you’re generally safe while you’re raining down fire from towers or other similar structures.
TheVincadrug is highly effective when fighting Bloodsuckers thanks to its ability to mitigate blood loss.
2Don’t Ignore Radiation
3.6 Roetgen. Not Great, Not Terrible
Radiation is a constant threat in The Zone and can easily kill you if you stay in the wrong area for too long. Much like the real CNPP Exclusion Zone, Stalker 2’s reimagining of The Zone has places where radiation is more or less non-existent and places where radiation levels are through the roof. Your character has a built-in meter that shows your radiation exposure at all times. Once the meter fills, you instantly die, but even lower levels of radiation are dangerous.
It’s tempting to ignore low levels of radiation because theyseeminglydon’t affect your character. However, they do, in fact, harm you. Radiation will cause you to lose a chunk of HP at regular intervals and will eventually kill you if you don’t do anything about it.Anti-Radiation DrugsandCossacks Vodkaare your best friends when it comes to removing radiation buildup.
Take care when equipping Artifacts because all of them are radioactive, albeit some much more than others.
Why is Everything so Heavy?
You’re bound to find more loot than you can carry while exploring The Zone. Literally. You can only carry so much weight before your backpack starts weighing you down and eventually prevents you from moving entirely. There are a couple of ways of increasing the default carry weight, such as usingHerculesdrugs or equipping Artifacts likeSpringandStone Blood. If you’re lucky enough, you may even come across a suit that lets you carry a few extra kilos. All these items are helpful indeed, but it’s generally easier to reduce encumbrance than to increase carry weight.
One of the most obvious ways of reducing carry weight is to stop collecting every piece of junk you find in your travels. Most weapons and suits of armor are pretty heavy and are not worth picking up unless you can use or sell them. Ammo and Consumables are deceptively heavy as well. Don’t carry around more of these than you actually need.
Same goes for Artifacts. Remember that your stash is shared across every base and you may store as many items inside it as you want. If you absolutelymustcollect everything, consider investing in some upgrades that reduce the weight of weapons and armor. They tend to be fairly cheap, at least in most cases.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a sequel to the award-winning game franchise developed by GSC Game World. Experience one-of-a-kind gameplay, featuring the elements of a first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror. The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is a unique, dangerous and ever-changing environment. It promises a lot — the artifacts of unbelievable value can be yours if you dare to claim them. The price you may pay, on the other hand, is no less than your own life. One of the biggest open-worlds to date, filled with radiation, mutants and anomalies, is yours to explore. All the choices across the way not only define your own epic story, but influence the future itself. Be mindful about what you see, do and plan, as you will have to find your way through the Zone or be forever lost to it.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – How to Unlock Bonus Content
Seek, and you shall find.
