S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornoby: Beginner tips to help you survive the Zone

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a difficult game. There's no crosshair for your gun, there are few resources for you to pick up, especially in the early game, and enemies will take you out in just a few hits. There's no shame in turning the difficulty down, especially if you just want to experience the story, but if you want to take the Zone for all it's worth, and refuse to give in, then here are some tips to get you started.

Guns can be more valuable than bodies

A bit of a cryptic start, but what I mean by this is in the early game it's important to remember a dead body might not have everything you want on it. In fact, besides the odd sausage, a busted pistol, and a bandage, you won't really find anything of worth on most bodies. Instead, what you'll want to do is make sure you're unloading every weapon enemies have. Even from the most broken weapons, ammo is always useful, and melee combat is quite dreadful in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, so you'll want to make sure you don't hear the dreaded click of an empty gun. It's worth checking that you know the ammo for your weapon as well, as otherwise you can end up with stockpiles of useless bullets that are better sold or left in storage.

Take care of your weapons

While we're on the topic of guns, it's worth saving up coupons to keep them repaired. A broken gun is a real death trap in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. If your gun is in disrepair, you'll find that randomly it'll need fixing, which means that just as you're about to get jumped by a mutant, you can hear a horrid click and spend a few seconds in the animation of sorting out the malfunction. Techs are in most settlements, and they'll repair your gun for a fee. Once you've got a gun to 100%, it'll last a while, so I'd recommend just repairing them fully before you leave a settlement for a new area of the zone.

Keep it light

In the first tip, I recommended not picking up every gun you see, and that's because S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has a pretty strict weight management system. Your sprinting and walking will become slower if you go over your recommended load, and considering fast-travel options are lacking, you might be a while away before you can sell all your stuff to a vendor. If you've got a bunch of broken guns, you can't sell them for profit, either, as vendors won't take busted goods past a certain point. So, it's really just for the best to keep lots of ammo, lots of healing, and a few guns on your person. Even food can quickly take up lots of weight, and before I knew it I was carrying kilos of bread. Instead, just make the most of your stash that travels with you to each new area, and stuff all your extras in there.

It's better to help than hinder

Across your journey in the Zone, you'll come across random NPC encounters. These aren't as lengthy as side missions, and will only take a moment of your time to complete. While they might be a bit awkward, and you can just kill the person asking for help, you will get very lacking rewards for doing so. Even if you just get a nice sum of coupons (the in-game currency in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl), it's better than the aforementioned bundle of sausage and a useless pistol. The Zone might not seem a place where helping your fellow man gets you very far, but doing the odd side objective especially when you're starting out can give you the extra resources you need to make life a little easier.

Hold your position

Moving onto the more specific tips now, when you're in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, you will often find a swift and messy end if you go in running and gunning, especially when facing a mutant. Instead, the AI will usually lead themselves to you, and so picking a few spots of cover to hold can be useful, especially early on when you're getting used to aiming. Against invisible mutants, grabbing a corner and waiting for them to strike before filling them with lead will usually turn out in your favour, and so long as you dodge grenades from humans, they'll often end up looking down the barrel of your rifle as they round a corner, searching for you. It does sound slightly lame, and if you really can't be bothered being patient, grabbing a shotgun and diving in can be useful against human enemies, because any shot to the gut, chest or head at close-enough range will blow them to bits.

Don't fear the beeper

As you play more and more of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, you'll get used to the beeping letting you know an anomaly is nearby. While you will need to remove some of them momentarily with a bolt, for the most part, especially with the acid and fire anomalies, you can just run through, taking minor damage and avoiding the pain of trying to perfectly throw your bolts. It's a time-saving exercise really, and while you should probably have a bolt ready whenever you hear a beep, they're not always a necessity.

Save while you're travelling

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl does have an autosave function, and usually it kicks in throughout missions or at certain time intervals. However, when you're travelling from mission to mission, you may encounter some random enemies, perhaps a mutant or three. You could meet your end easily here, and have to travel all the way from the last mission end. It's a simple tip, but just be sure to save, as you never know when you're about to be ambushed by the other denizens of the Zone.

We hope these tips can help with your journey into becoming a Stalker. If you've got any tips of your own for surviving the Zone, be sure to leave them below!