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As part of the King of the Hill mission in Stalker 2, you’ll get some colourful insight into the three kingpins that rule the trash-riddled lands of the Garbage region – Varan, Shah, and Roosevelt. The quest ties into the Deal with the Devil quest, where you need to extract vital information from Varan about Nestor and the Scanner operation. But, as these things go in the Zone, he wants something in return: kill the Shah or Roosevelt, or fork out 20,000 coupons. No one has that kind of money this early in the game so murder it is. The choice is yours. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best way to complete the King of the Hill and Deal with the Devil missions.
Kill Varan instead of waisting time chasing down Shah and Roosevelt. Captured by VideoGamer
Loot Varan’s body to get the Metal Key. Captured by VideoGamer
Enter the cell in the basement and loot The Last One’s body. Captured by VideoGamer
Grab the Unusual PDA and exit the plant to progress the quest. Captured by VideoGamer
Kill Shah or Roosevelt? Kill Varan instead
The best way to complete the mission is to kill neither of the kingpins and instead kill Varan. The outcome is the same. If you kill the Shah or Roosevelt (or even both), Varan will let you access a cell in the Plant containing Nestor and The Last One’s bodies. He will then turn on you and you’ll have to kill him and his goons.
You can skip a step and kill Varan after talking to him for the first time or anytime thereafter. Loot his body and you’ll get the Metal Key to a cell. Go down the stairs to the left of where Varan was sitting, then go right at the bottom to find a locked door. Use the key. Enter the cell and loot The Last One’s body at the back for the Unusual PDA, which is needed to advance the story.
However, before killing Varan, there’s an extra step you can take to score some easy coupons. You’ll want to track down Borodulin (one of the mission’s optional objectives), who, after a spot of man hunting where you’re the prey, will give the details of a secret entrance into the Commissary, Roosevelt’s HQ.
Head to the Commissary to talk to Roosevelt before killing Varan. Captured by VideoGamer
Use the pipes to sneak into the Commissary. Captured by VideoGamer
Accept Roosevelt’s deal and leave the Commissary. Captured by VideoGamer
Make your way over to the Commissary and use the pipes to reach the second floor then enter the building and follow the gangway to Roosevelt’s office. Talk to him and accept his deal: you leave the premise unharmed and he’ll give you a reward for keeping him alive. Leave the Commissary and you’ll receive a radio call from Roosevelt to thank you along with 2,500 coupons. You can then head back over to Varan and kill him.
If you do want to kill Roosevelt or the Shah, Varan will still attack you after checking the corpse in the cell. There’s very little in the way of special loot involved when you take down either of the kingpins other than Roosevelt’s PDA or Shah’s PDA, respectively. It is, however, worth completing the No Honor Among Thieves mission and keeping Docent alive. He’ll hand over the coordinates for a stash containing the Shah’s Mate, a handy SMG and one of the best early game weapons you can get your hands on.
About the Author
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter, Survival Horror
