How to survive in Stalker 2 – 12 tips and tricks for beginners

The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is as dangerous as it is alluring. It’s a land where the brutal horrors of unchecked violence and the silent beauty of a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland co-exist, interspersed with lucrative loot and opaque mysteries. It’s a frontier of sorts; a perilous, enigmatic land of opportunity.

Stepping into the Zone for the first time feels like a slap in the face as survival doesn’t come easy. Every step and decision is a gamble. Creatures and humans await the smallest mistake to pounce and bleed you for everything you’ve got. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some must-know tips and tricks to help you survive in Stalker 2.

Saving is your friend

At the risk of angering purists, save scumming is highly recommended in Stalker 2. About to enter a dark tunnel? Save. On the cusp of a fight against a gang of bandits? Save. About to talk to an NPC deep into a mission? Save. The Zone behaves in bizarre and unpredictable ways and saving often gives you some breathing room to decipher this land’s many twists and idiosyncracies. With four different endings, it’s also worth having save before critical crossroads should you want to dip back in and get them all.

Don’t take every fight

FPS games have drilled it into our heads that we need to engage and defeat any and all goon or monster that poses a threat. Stalker 2 is different. Sometimes avoiding a fight entirely is the best way to win it. Mutants and humans aren’t just hostile to you, but also to each other. They’ll regularly engage in small tussles against one another. Wait these out. See how the dust settles, then swoop in to take out any stragglers and score some easy loot.

You have an unlimited supply of bolts

When thrown, bolts allow you to track anomalies and even subdue or deactivate them for a short period of time. They are your first – and surprisingly reliable – line of defense against the Zone’s more esoteric phenomena. With scarcity a core feature of Stalker 2, you’d be excused for thinking this applies to bolts. It doesn’t; you have an unlimited supply of them. So, if you get even a whiff of an anomaly, chuck a bolt, then another, and another. Go wild. They’re limitless.

Understand what healing items do

A lot of Stalker 2 is managing your stalker’s brittle health bar with healing items. The most important distinction to understand is this: Bandages stop bleeding but restore only a little health, while Medkits recover huge chunks of health but don’t prevent bleeding. If bleeding is left unchecked, it will slowly eat through your health bar so it’s important to plug wounds quickly. Bleeding is represented by a blood droplet icon in the bottom left of the HUD.

Choosing your loadout

While different playstyles and preferences mean you’ll naturally gravitate towards certain guns, it’s worth having a balanced and flexible selection of weapons for taking on different enemy types. We recommend running with an AR or SMG like a Viper-5, AKM-74, or GP37 sided by a PTM pistol like a PTM and a shotgun such as an M860. 

Shotguns excel at close-quarters combat when you’re exploring claustrophobic corridors and tear through pesky mutant rats and dogs. On the other hand, an AR or SMG works wonders at medium distances against bandits, stalkers, and other human enemies. Lastly, a pistol is your fail safe for when the worst happens and you run out of ammo or your other weapons jam. You can also weave in a sniper rifle if you fancy picking off targets from afar before going in and mopping up.

Bullets are life

Without bullets, your guns are useless, so it can be tempting to stock up and loot every type of ammo you come across. However, ammo weighs on your Stalker, quickly chewing through your limited carry weight. Before leaving the relative safety of a camp, only take ammo you’ll actually use and in amounts sized to how far you’re going and what type of enemy you might encounter. A quick run to a nearby point of interest? A couple of clips will do the job, leaving room in your inventory to haul back valuable loot to sell. You’ll also want to pay attention to different variants of the same ammo type. Are you likely to take on those tough disappearing mutants? Opt for armor-piercing ammo for that extra punch. Taking on bandits? Regular ammo is more than enough to do the job.

Unloading guns

You’ll find ammo on enemies, in stashes, on shelves, in cupboards, and so on, but there’s also ammo up for grabs in dropped weapons. When you kill a human enemy, head over to their body, then hover over their gun and you’ll see the option to unload the ammo. The same goes for weapons in your inventory. If you’re short on ammo and in a tight spot, unload a weapon that uses a similar ammo type.

Weapon and gear maintenance

Stalker 2 has an unforgiving weapon degradation system. Using weapons chips away at their durability. Letting them wear out will reduce their accuracy and cause jams. To mitigate this, repair your favourite or most-used weapons at a Technician whenever you visit a major Stalker camp like Zalissya or Slag Heap. The same goes for your suit and gas mask, which wear out as you take damage and weather the Zone’s radiation and hazardous environment, compromising their ability to keep you safe from damage. It can be expensive to service your gear but you’ll be thankful for your well-maintained gun when you’re miles from safety and face-to-face with a tough enemy.

How to get a suppressor early on

As soon as you get past the tutorial and make your way towards the Zalissya camp in the Lesser Zone, you can make a slight detour to pick up a pistol suppressor. It will serve you well by helping you keep a low profile as you navigate early points of interest to gather up loot. Pick up the Dangerous Visitors side quest. Head to the marked building and talk to Gloomy up on the second floor. There’s a stash nearby, which contains a suppressor for Skif’s pistol but also any other PTM handgun.

Watch out for fall damage

Your Stalker will be fine jumping off small piles of rubble and down from low ledges, but anything beyond that and he’ll sustain damage. Heights are a real danger in Stalker 2. To save you a series of silly deaths like I racked up early on, find a safe way down whenever you’re on the second floor of a building or up exploring the top of a water tower.

Making money

Coupons is the currency that dominates the Zone. Scarcity means high prices and you’ll almost always be on the hunt for a few extra Coupons, whether that’s to improve your weapon or to stock up on ammo before venturing out. One of the best ways to make money early on is to complete main and side missions. The rewards aren’t too much to write home about but should set you up nicely to unlock your first gun upgrade or two. Beyond that, looting points of interest around main settlements like Zalissya then hauling back guns to sell them to Hamster is a reliable way to keep your Coupon balance up. If you’re not actively using a weapon, sell it. Found a better suit or gas mask? Sell the old one. There’s no point hoarding surplus gear.

Artifact slots

Your first armor suit only allows you to slot in one artifact. That’s fantastic for the early game, but as you venture deeper into the Zone and find more artifacts you’ll want to stack their unique benefits. Be on look out for suits that offer extra artifact slots, such as the golden Tourist Suit that you’ll find in a stash in the Maze, northwest of Slag Heap in the Garbage region.

Some mission objectives are there to be ignored

While you’ll generally want to stick to primary mission objectives, especially during story missions, there’s scope for improvisation. Try killing a mission critical NPC after a fetch quest. Or, maybe if you’re tasked with topping up a couple stashes, loot their contents instead. Told to kill an NPC? Maybe keep them alive. Diverging from the set path often leads you to interesting outcomes, and, more interestingly, rare loot. The Zone and its inhabitants will swindle and con you whenever they get the chance, so why not do the same?