S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Tips & Tricks

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is officially out, giving players the opportunity to jump into the Zone! Whether you're a rookie or already a seasoned Stalker, it's never a bad idea to go over some of the basics of surviving in this anomalous land. So, here are some tips & tricks to get you started!

Be Careful Rushing into Places

The Zone is a rather large area, and as you head out. Getting from settlements into your quests is going to take a while, especially depending on the number of items you're going to take on your expeditions.

Early on, as you're getting your footing and equipping yourself with some good guns, it might be a good idea to stick to the road. This will give you the best chance to avoid stray bandits and mutants, though it's imperative that you be careful and not sprint like a mad Stalker to places, not only for your Stamina but also the anomalies in the path. You'll be travelling a lot if you...

Do Your Side Quests

I'm a big voucher for playing the way you want, and this still applies here, but I'd still suggest trying to embark on some side questing whilst you're out exploring, looking for artefacts, and defeating enemies. There are quests aplenty scattered throughout the world that aren't necessarily at settlements.

My advice is to try to do what you can (and still, what you want). Many quests give you the opportunity to explore different outcomes and — very importantly — give you expertise. Learn how to fight against mutants, humanoid enemies, and travel anomalies, and as you complete them, you'll get great weapons to boost you throughout your journey.

Pick Your Battles

In the Zone, there are all manner of foes that will stand between you and your goals. Warring factions and humans fighting mutants are some of the things you can expect in your ventures, and you can take advantage of the rivalry to swoop in and clear off the stragglers... or return and loot the remains of the losing party.

Whenever there aren't enemies fighting against each other, you'll have the opportunity to run away. Especially early in the game, when resources can be scarce, choosing to tuck tail and run — especially against Bloodsuckers — can oftentimes be the best way to face enemies.

Aim for the Head

When facing off against human enemies, proper aim is imperative. You'll often find yourself sneaking through the enemies, but when you're caught in a firefight, there is a lot of worth of getting headshots on your foes, with rewarding one-shot kills.

Weapons with high accuracy are great, but learning the recoil on auto-fire rifles is another surefire way to secure headshots on enemies. Body shots can still — eventually — disable and kill an enemy, but nothing is more powerful (and more satisfying) than landing the killing blow to the head.

Fight Smart, Not Hard

When all else fails, especially when fighting against mutants, you should opt for fighting smart. Bullets are a limited resource, but cunning will save you a lot of Coupons from having to purchase medkits or ammo for your weapons, especially with damage sponges like Fleshes and Bloodsuckers.

Notably, there are timers to dodging the Bloodsuckers attacks, and you can find high ground to outwit many mutants around the Zone. Get on cars or anywhere tall that'll prevent the stubbier, less-mobile ones from reaching you; though they'll try to hide, well-placed shots (or just tracking them to their hiding spots) will give you a clear shot to get rid of them.

Use Your Knife to Hit Storages

Maybe I'm stupid (it wouldn't surprise any of my co-workers), but throughout a big chunk of the early game, I was unaware of the fact that you can use your knife to hit storage containers. Medkits, crates, and ammo crates are scattered around the world, and your knife will give you the perfect opportunity to pry them open and get the items from inside.

This is especially useful throughout the early game, as you can get a fair bit of medkits and bandages to stop the bleeding that you'll encounter. It's a great way to ensure that you have healing items without having to spend your hard-earned Coupons, but even then, I'd recommend buying a few to prepare yourself for the journey.

Never Over-encumber Yourself

Fallout and Skyrim enjoyers... this one's for you. If you're part of IHA (Ingredient Hoarders Anonymous), then this one will resonate with you, and possibly in a bad way: you're going to want to be able to move around. Preferably, without having to carry kilograms upon kilograms of items that you — quite frankly — don't need. NO. DROP THAT BREAD!

Keep an eye on your weight capacity and make sure that you max out at most in the yellow bar. Going to red limits your Stamina regeneration drastically, and the problem with that is when Emissions come a-knockin', you're gonna need to drop items in a panic to get to safety or die trying. An embarrassing chunk of my deaths came from having too many items in my inventory, so make sure you're being careful with that.

Play the Way You Want

Or... ignore everything I've just said! S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a delightful title that, though it's not an RPG, lets you enjoy the game however you want to. There are numerous approaches to most quests, giving you the opportunity to explore various outcomes. Play a mean run, play a nice run, over-encumber yourself, ignore all of my tips and shoot enemies in the face with shotguns... it's all meant to be played the way you want to enjoy it.

At the end of the day, GSC Game World made an exhilarating title, mixing survival horror with open-world exploration; that's a rare combination that is all-too-rare at this point and time. Enjoy it, as it might be a while before we see another one like so!