With S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 out now at long last, many will be diving into its open world Chornobyl Exclusion Zone to brave its dangers- of which it has no shortage. There’s a lot going on in this game, and a lot of it is trying to kill you at all times, which means a handy guide with some beginners tips and tricks may very well be exactly what you need. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what we have for you here. With that out of the way, let’s get started.
DON’T BLEED OUT
You lose health quickly (and often) in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, which means you’ll be healing often- but there are times when healing won’t solve your biggest issues, which is bleeding. You’ll frequently sustain wounds that will cause bleeding, which you can tell be a bleeding effect on the edges of the screen. Ignore it for too long and you’ll eventually bleed out and die, so make sure you quickly nurse those wounds with bandages to stem the flow.
KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR HUNGER AND RADIATION
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 makes heavy use of survival mechanics, just like its predecessor, which means you’re going to be contending with everything from your stamina to radiation to hunger. Going hungry for too long and becoming too highly irradiated can both have nasty effects, especially if you find yourself in a hectic combat situation, so make sure those are things you’re always keeping an eye on.
DON’T FIGHT EVERTHING
The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is not a friendly place, to put it mildly, and around every corner, you can potentially run into someone or something trying to kill you. Our advice, however, is to not fight everything you see. On the contrary, you should try and avoid combat as often and as effectively as you can, not only because combat in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is more punishing than you think and can kill you with surprising ease, but also because avoiding combat means building up your ammo and resource stockpiles.
UNLOAD ALL GUNS
No, not the games that you’ve got equipped. The ones that you find lying about (like something a dead enemy may have dropped), or the ones that you’re about to drop from your inventory, however- those guns, you should always unload. Such guns often have bullets in their clips, and bullets are a highly valuable commodity in the Zone- so make sure you take the bullets out of every single gun you plan on not taking with you.
RELY ON YOUR KNIFE
As you spend more and more time in the Exclusion Zone, you’ll slowly but surely build up an arsenal of deadly weapons- though never forget how useful and versatile your knife can be. Sneaking up behind enemies, attacking mutated beasts that prefer to fight up close, or rushing in on a foe while they reload- these are all situations where your knife can be a deadly and effective tool, also allowing you to save bullets in the process.
SMASH BOXES
Thoroughly combing the rooms and environments you find yourself in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a rule of thumb, as you might imagine- and often, you’ll happen to find boxes, from wooden crates to medical boxes, lying about and begging to be smashed. Hack at them with your knife to break them open, and you’ll frequently find small but not insignificant rewards, like food and healing items.
USE BOLTS FREELY
The Zone can kill you in a variety of different ways, but without a shadow of doubt, anomalies are among the deadliest and strangest among them. From weird distortions in gravity and flying clouds of electricity to roaring plumes of fire and more, these can come in many different forms, and there’s usually no better way of dealing with them than throwing bolts at them, which triggers the anomaly and gives you a brief widow afterwards to run through. Bolts are an infinite resource, which is a rare instance of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 showing kindness to players – so use them freely.
UPGRADING WEAPONS
Progression happens pretty organically in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and weapon upgrades play an important role, unsurprisingly. In fact, heading to techs and getting them to apply upgrades to the weapons you like using most is one of the best ways you can spend your hard-earned cash in S.T.A.L.KE.R. 2. Just as importantly, you should unlock modules for the weapons that have them available as soon as you can, because there are certain mods that you won’t be able to apply to weapons until they have the relevant module unlocked.
DON’T NEGLECT YOUR WEAPONS AND ARMOUR
Among the many other things that you have to worry about in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, weapon and armour degradation should be high on your list of priorities. Ideally, you should be repairing them at a tech every time you visit one, while having at least a backup piece of armour in your inventory isn’t a bad idea either. You’re significantly more vulnerable without armour, while guns that degrade too much can jam unexpectedly, which is the last thing you need in a tense firefight.
LET ENEMIES FIGHT IT OUT WHEN POSSIBLE
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s emergent open world will often drum up situations where different factions or groups of enemies are fighting amongst themselves. If you happen to be in the vicinity when such fights are happening, it’s generally a good idea to hang back, wait for things to settle, and then scavenge the corpses left behind. It’s a great way to get your hands on some free resources and ammo, and maybe even a good weapon or piece of gear, if you’re lucky.
LOOK FOR STASHES
Stashes are something else that you should keep an eye on if you’re hunting for resources. These stockpiles of valuable items left behind by other stalkers are scattered throughout the open world, and a number of them are marked on your map early on if you happen to find a side quest. Regardless of how you find them though, it’s generally a good idea to keep an eye out for them in hidden rooms or areas, because the rewards they yield are quite useful.
SAVE OFTEN
Yes, we’ve said it before, but S.T.A.L.KE.R. 2 is a game where you’ll be dying often, which is why saving every chance you get is advice that you should absolutely take to heart. The game does have an autosave function, but it doesn’t kick in as often as you’d want, which means dying can often carry the risk of losing a decent chunk of progress.
PAUSING
No, this isn’t a Soulslike, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to pause- well, not always. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 does let you pause whenever you want by bringing up a dedicated pause menu (which is where you save), but always keep in mind that when you’re checking your inventory or your PDA (and you’ll be doing both of those things frequently), though you do bring up separate menu screens, the action doesn’t pause. If you need to bring up your inventory for whatever reason during combat, then, keep that in mind, and make sure you find the right time and place to bring up your inventory.
DON’T IGNORE OPTIONAL CONTENT
This should go without saying in any open world game, but it especially bears mentioning with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Thanks to the constant tension is generates, it could potentially discourage some players from doing anything not required by the story. Our advice, however, is to engage with as much of the optional content as you can, from side quests to organically exploring the open world. As we’ve stressed a few times, the rewards are often very useful (including some things that are best left unspoiled).
DON’T RUN AND GUN
This is a mistake that many will likely make, especially if you’re not too familiar with past S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. Going in guns blazing is usually the quickest and easiest way to an early grave here. Instead, combat demands patience and precision. Be tactical about where you position yourself, make sure you’re always behind cover, and use all all of your tools effectively, whether that’s finding the right time to use a grenade, or knowing when to stay behind with a long-range scoped rifle, and when to move in for the kill with a shotgun.