Narodnaya Solyanka

Last Revision: June 2023

kwag3.myers@gmail.com

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Introduction

This walkthrough is based on Narodnaya Solyanka Release 2018. If you're looking for a specific task, see the Tasks by Character section. At the time of this writing, much of the dialog near the end of the game are still in Russian. I have included my version based on Google Translate.

Disclaimer

Please be aware that this is a work-in-progress. At the time of publication, I have only two successful playthroughs following numerous attempts. My attempts at a second playthough has met with challenges as well. Subsequently, I know there are corrections to be made. But my hope is that this walkthrough might help you along the way. Not all tasks appear on the PDA - it's easy to miss something and not realize it.

Tips∨
Items to Keep∨

My suggestion is to have a separate backpack or stash box for these items. You will receive two or three backpacks early in the game, so use stash boxes at first. Also, many traders sell GPS beacons and it's a good idea to have three or four to keep track of your stashes.

It's important to keep your bank account at a minimum and only sell items when you need to. I can't tell you how many times I've sold one of these items by mistake and had to roll back to a previous save (I don't believe in using the Spawn Menu). So, always check this list before selling anything. Be aware that this list does not contain items for "I need a job..." tasks.

Artifacts

At specific points in the game, artifacts in your backpack and on your belt turn to Cobblestones. I will warn you about these points, but you can't always do too much about it other than store your most valued artifacts in a backpack before hand and retrieve them afterward. However, this is not always possible.This is especially important with Battery and Moonlight artifacts as you will need them later in the game.

Mutant Parts

Supplies and Suits

Weapons

Start∨

You start the game near the crashed death truck in Cordon with a Loner standing nearby named Astrologer. Talk to him and he sends you to the Northern farm to collect a cache, and then on to the Rookie village. Your ammo is limited, so avoid mutants for now. Use whatever weapon you have to open the cache, and head south toward the railroad embankment. You can bribe the military, as Astrologer suggests, or go up the embankment west of the military to the fence and follow the fence east to the opening at the bridge. The anomaly doesn't harm you, just messes your vision up for a few seconds. Go west on the tracks and jump onto the shipping container between the box car and fence. This gets you over the fence so you can continue on the the Rookie village. You can also go southeast and cross the tracks where the fence ends. But you'll have to deal with Bandits, Military, and radiation.

If you do bribe one of the privates, I've read that you can do some work for the Major. But the times I tried, he either wouldn't talk or was dead. I've even had them fire on me after returning from other maps. Also, you may need to try several times to get one to talk to you, meaning, if the first one doesn't say, "This area is off limits, Stalker." try another soldier (but don't pass by them). Then go back to the first one. Once you have the proper weapons, you can clear them out, but they respawn. This, and the Bandit camp where you rescued Nimble are good places to acquire loot and build your bank account.

Doc and Sidorovich are at the west end, just outside Sidorovich's bunker. Talk to Doc to get a dose of medicine that knocks you out. When you wake up, you're in the Cave. You spawn with a teleport and campfire on the west side and an intersecting passage on the east side. You can see on the minimap that there is a neutral NPC just around the corner. Go talk to him (note that the passage closes behind you) and he takes you to Miner, who gives you the Bring the container to Miner task. Complete this task and drink the medicine.

Work for Sidorovich∨

You wake up in one of the Rookie Village root cellars. Feel free to snatch the Playboy for an easy 169 RUs. Sidorovich is now in his bunker. Go talk to him and get the traditional Get the information from the scout task of the vanilla SoC. On the way, be sure to help Tolik and get the Find five dog tails task from him (you only need three as you'll get the other two in just a bit). Also, search the dead soldier inside the trailer to start the Find the military PDA task. Save Nimble and return to the Rookie Village. Kostya is a new character that spawns in the Rookie village once you save Nimble and turn over the flash drive to Sidorovich. He stands in the fence opening on the south side of the road at the west end. Talk to him to get the Find the cache in the Cordon task. Next, talk to Wolf and get a Jellyfish artifact, which you can use if you got the Find the Jellyfish artifact task from Nimble. There are other optional tasks you can easily complete to help build your inventory:

From the Rookie village, make your way to the bus stop and find the Goldfish artifact that you'll need for another task. This artifact gives off radiation, so put it in the container you got from Sidorovich. If you have not found the Night Star artifact yet, be sure to remove the Goldfish from the container before turning the Night Star in. Sid takes the container and you lose the Goldfish if it's still inside. Next, search the Mill for more supplies. Here you'll find Doc and Astrologer, but they don't have anything to offer at the moment. There are two fuel cans that you can sell to other stalkers (traders won't buy them).

There's a bug involving the Major at the train bridge, Astrologer, and Fox where they get into a firefight. Fox may end up dead and you miss out on some tasks and your reward for saving him from the dogs. The only thing that kills the Major is a grenade, and you probably don't have one yet. So, before you talk to Fox, check to see if Astrologer is fighting with the Military at the bridge. If so, the best thing you can do is wait it out. Astrologer will eventually kill the Major (or he kills himself with his grenade launcher) and, as long as you don't go north of Fox, he'll hang on until you get to him. Otherwise, once you kill all the blind dogs attacking Fox, he runs off to join the fight and you can't talk to him.
Strelok's Hideout∨

Meet up with Fox, save him from the dogs, and he offers these tasks. Follow the storyline to save Yurik and get the Find the modified MP5 for Yurik task (you can pick up the gun on your way to Agroprom), and Bes (who gives the Beer for Bes task. Both characters move on to Darkscape). If you still have Kostya's PDA, give it to him and get the next cache hint. Help Seriy in the hanger and get Nimble's jacket (a good place to cache items, sleep, and shelter from blowouts if you stay south of the backpack). I suggest that you wait to find Kostya's Find the cache in the Garbage until you come back from Agroprom. Also, while in Garbage you may get a message from a wounded stalker asking for help. I suggest you wait until you help Duty with the herd of mutants on your way to the Bar.

There are very few traders that buy Bandit or Military gear, as well as sawn-off shotguns (remember to keep three). You will meet one of them near the end of your first visit to Agroprom. So you may want to keep as much as you can with you. You need to build your working capital for things ahead.

Move on to Agroprom and help Mole in the Agroprom factory. Ask Mole if he has any work and he gives you the Find Mole's missing PDA task. He and Seriy both join the migration to Darkscape. In the underground, use the stash boxes to collect as much from the Bandits and Military as you can. Before you leave the underground, load up all the Bandit and Military suits and sawn-off shotguns as you can easily carry (you may need to do some sprinting).

In Strelok's hideout, find the floor grid that you can pick up (Shift+F), move it out of the way, and follow the passage north into the next room. Loot the backpack on the bed and search the small safe up on top of the large electrical box. Make your way out of the underground, and Find the Military documents in the army base. I've tried to do this stealthily between 00:00 and 04:00 like I have with other mods, but it's easier just to sprint to the third floor and shoot anyone that gets in the way. Sometimes the front door is too heavily guarded and I have to go between buildings to get to the back window.

Whenever you enter the Agroprom Underground, it's a good idea to check both ends of the traveling Electro anomaly for artifacts. Like the one in Cordon, you can start at one end and walk to the other end, picking up any artifacts along the way. Also, you may encounter a Lieutenant Eroleyev that you can only kill with a grenade (like the Major in Cordon). He has a document that opens the Agroprom to Cordon transition. He can also cause a lot of trouble later in the game by engaging NPCs in a firefight while you're trying to talk with them.

About the time you reach the road going into the factory, you get a message from Gray, a trader who likes to drop in from time to time. Gray, like Sidorovich, will take just about anything. Also, if you offered to help Mole find his PDA, now is a good time to go into the railroad tunnel and fetch it. You may have noticed a message from Adrenaline before you came to Agroprom. He is now set up in the factory and buys most higher-priced assault rifles and mutant parts. Ask if he knows of any paths and he gives you Bring the disc to Adrenaline. This opens the transition to ATP for later. Also, tell him you're going north and get the Bring the minigun to Adrenaline task.

Make your way back to the Garbage Train Hanger and talk to Artem, a trader who has set up shop in Seriy's place. He tells you about his brother, who you will meet later. Another trader has moved into the shelter along the south of the hanger, Raven, who is not as selective as Artem or Adrenaline, and trades weapons for artifacts (mostly customized weapons and FAMAS Prototype 3s).

Bar/Rostok tasks∨

Help the Duty outpost with the mutants, Find the cache in the Garbage, and talk to Prapor about Fox's weapon. Kostya's cache has the Bloodsucker tentacles Prapor is after. Save the other one for later. Once you have Fox's gun, see Prapor tasks for a complete list of optional tasks.

Go back to the wounded stalker in Garbage, near the swamp east of the Flea Market. This is really a Bandit ambush, and there may be another Bandit hidden in the Flea Market. Take them both out and when you approach the Bandit calling for help, you get a text message about Mercenaries in the area. They spawn on the hill east of the Bandit. You can sprint back to the Flea Market and use the rubble for cover. The Bandit calling for help has the Wounded Bandit's PDA, which is added to your PDA's Diary under Search for the missing scientists and the Find the military PDA task is updated to show that you now need to find the Bandit (Friar) who ripped off this Bandit. This is what I love about Bandits, they don't care about each other at all. You kill one and another comes to loot the dead, never checking to see what, or who, killed them.

Continue on to the Bar, but be wary as you past the Duty checkpoint as there is an Avenger waiting to take you out. In Rostok, there is another Avenger lurking behind the small building on the right past the southern Duty checkpoint. In the Bar, talk to Baldy and get the Search for the treasure task. This opens transitions from Garbage and Agroprom to Cave, where you met Miner. Other people to talk to are:

If you fall behind this walkthrough, just catch up when you can. For example, it may take you a while to get 10 zombie hands for Akim (whom you haven't met yet). Keep an eye on your Task List so you don't forget anything. At this point in the game, there is a lot to remember.

Before leaving Rostok, be sure you pack Fox's gun (if you have it), Yurik's MP5 (you can get a replacement from Raven), and Nimble's jacket. If you take Fox's task for medkits, he only accepts the red ones. You can stash these items in Garbage until you return from the Cave.

Search for the treasure∨

Accept this task from Baldy at the Bar to open transitions to the Cave. You are about to take on several Bloodsuckers, so be sure to have the right weapons on you (Fox's Franchi SPAS-12 is a good choice). Because one or more of the Bloodsuckers are electrified, meaning they are like a walking Electro anomaly, you may choose to wait on this task until you have the Bloodsucker enhancement to your PDA. This is performed by the Associate Professor at the Bar and requires two tentacles and 20 PDAs. The enhancement allows you to see where the Bloodsuckers are and track their movement. Either way, the trick is to lure them into chasing you back to the safety of the four fires, or sprint past them to the Burner anomalies surrounding Baldy's treasure, and blast away at them.

This procedure starts at the Garbage train tunnel.

  1. Go to the back of the tunnel to transition to the Cave. You spawn near the hanging sheer-black vegetation mentioned in Cave.
  2. Go straight (west) and follow the passage left and up the incline.
  3. Take the first two lefts into the large room.
  4. Go to the far corner and turn left.
  5. Follow this passage, staying to the right, to Miner.

Ask Miner for the Monolith fragment you left with him (on your first trip to the Cave) and he sends you to the Doctor. Miner also gives the Get the book for Miner task in the Forgotten Forest. This is an easy task and presents the opportunity for more tasks. But first, we need to get Baldy's treasure and Plichko's artifact.

  1. Follow the steps in Cave to the point where you climb down the ladder.
  2. Go right and right again. There are numerous mutants here, including up to four Bloodsuckers. So, start throwing grenades. Killing a flesh doesn't seem to harm your reputation with Miner.
  3. Once the way is clear, follow the passage east, then south to the three stalagmites surrounded by Heat anomalies.
  4. Find the clay jar on the east side of the smallest stalagmite and near the bones. Break it to find Baldy's coins. NOTE: There have been occasions where the jar wasn't visible and I had to walk around the bones (without stepping into an anomaly) until I actually kicked it. Then it appears.
  5. Now back to the end of the passage (and campfire) and turn right (north).
  6. Follow the passage until you get to an intersection with two campfires.
  7. Turn right at the first campfire and continue south (staying left) until you see another ladder.
  8. Take the ladder up and notice the small hole to the left. As you approach, some rats spawn. Take them out quickly, or they'll do the same to you.
  9. Go through the hole and work your way through the Heat anomalies to another passage. Notice the wall closes behind you.
  10. Turn right (east) to find the passage with green mushrooms and more anomalies, along with the Emerald artifact (sometimes there are two). When you encounter an Electro anomaly blocking your path, throw a bolt into it and sprint through as it discharges. Also, if you save when you pick up the artifact and reload the save, you may get another artifact.
  11. The passage turns left (east) with a Snow anomaly that is difficult to get around. Sprint-jump over the left corner to avoid the anomaly, but take care not to go into the Electro anomaly right after it.
  12. Continue to a small room on the right with a dynamite stash box that may have something for you. This passage takes you back to the large room.
  13. In the large room, take the passage on the right (east) and follow it down to the next intersection. If you look at the minimap you can see that it doesn't matter which way you go, but the right passage is shorter.
  14. Follow this passage and turn right at the campfire to go back to the Garbage transition.

You can return to Baldy and Plichko if you want, or go directly to Dark Valley and report to them the next time you're at the Bar. The Garbage to Forgotten Forest transition isn't available yet to Get the book for Miner. This transition opens when you return Fox's gun.

Lab X-18∨

Again, be sure you have Fox's gun (if you have it), Yurik's MP5 (you can get a replacement from Raven), Nimble's jacket, and Tolik's dog tails. If you take Fox's task for medkits, he only accepts the red ones. He asks about Army Medkits, but even if you have them he only takes the red ones. Also, Yurik will ask for a Burer's hand, which you should be able to get in X-18 (but he doesn't take the red Burer hands).

Head for the Dark Valley Bandit Base to get Borov's key. Note that Borov has a document, "Borov's Notes" that mentions Rat. This task does not show on your PDA, but is addressed here. Next, go down the road (south) and clear out the factory complex. As you do, you may notice a neutral character in the south building. This is Messer and, if you kill his guards and give him a med kit, he gives you information on a Snotty Porcupine. You may also find the Bandit who stole the Military PDA. If not, he'll show up in this area eventually. Once you find him, refer to Get 10 scientific kits for Prapor to complete the task series.

With the complex cleared of Bandits, you now have to deal with the electrified Bloodsucker guarding the lab door. My strategy is to have an F1 grenade ready as I walk down the steps toward the lab. Then I throw the grenade as soon as I hear the Bloodsucker spawn (about halfway down the first hallway), and sprint back up the stairs while pulling out the shotgun. Most of the time, the grenade does the job, but you may need to finish the Bloodsucker off with the shotgun. Just don't let it get too close.

Before entering the lab, put all artifacts into a backpack (if you have one). If you don't have a backpack, step into the elevator and drop them all. When you enter the lab, all of your artifacts (except the ones in containers) are taken by the security system. Don't plan on using the corpse just inside the lab as a cache, as it may not be there when you get back. But check him for the note to Kolya to start another cache series. On the first level down, use the small green dynamite box near the elevator to store artifacts that you find in the lab and can use on your multiple return trips.

The only real difference in the lab are the mutants and a Notepad with entries on the first dead scientist. Also, break the mirror in the lavatory next to the first dead scientist to get the Military Note. This is not listed on your PDA Tasks, but in the PDA Diary under Personal notes through searching > Search for Kalugin. On the second level of the lab, in the small room off the room with the second dead scientist, the refrigerator has 20 cans of beer. If you took the Get beer for Bes, he only wants five cans. You can sell the rest, or save them in case you run out of water.

From the bottom of the second-level stairs, take the left hallway to the end and turn right into a room with lockers and a document on top. This is a Simbion artifact recipe that you may need later. Pick it up and find it on the PDA's Encyclopedia page under Recipes.

Now kill the Pyrogeist and grab the document. When you exit the lab, don't forget your artifacts. When you exit the lab, the base is under attack by the Military with the addition of a BTR parked outside front gate. I recommend trying to avoid it and take one of these two options for leaving the complex:

  1. On the ground floor, use the crates in the northeast corner to get on the pipes running along the wall, then out the window. Now you must loop around the west side of the swamp and head south.
  2. Go to the top floor and using the fire escape on the south side of the building. Get to the elevated shack in the southwest corner and use the stairs to get over the wall. This is a shorter route, but you encounter more Military.

Stay on the east side of the road and continue south. Stay in the low area east of the road as there are Bandits in the Pig Farm. As you approach the gate to Darkscape, another BTR approaches with a support squad. Use a tree as cover and start throwing grenades. Two or three grenades is all you need to take out the BTR.

Help Brom∨

When you spawn in Darkscape, there's a white Lada waiting for you just up the road on the left. If you are not familiar with operating zone vehicles, the controls are listed in main Options with the exception of braking, which is the space bar. You may need to assign the Start Engine control in the General section. Also, if the Lada gets on its side, turn the wheel toward the ground and go forward to get back on all four tires. For a bonus cache, stop on the bridge going over the creek and walk toward the pumping station on the left (north). Just to the right of the pumping station is a cave with a dead Bandit and a backpack with goodies.

At some point your PDA quits on you and you must go to the Bar and have the Associate Professor fix it when you get the chance. You must give Garik a candy bar to get past him, and then step back so he can move away from the door.

The Bandits are camped in a fuel station located in the southeast corner of the map. However, you may find the area abandoned. Either way, approach from the west and you may be able to get into the building and out again without firing a shot. Find the main hallway going west and take the last doorway on the right. Go all the way to the last office and find the safe. Notice that the door is open just enough so that you can lean left to see the case on the top shelf. Grab it and take the road west until you come to a tree partially blocking the road. On the other side of the tree are some stalkers, including Bes, Mole, and possibly Fox. Give Bes his beer and ask if there is another job. He gives you the Bring Bes the box of ammo task. The ammo is in Garbage, on the tail section of the helicopter on the Vehicle Graveyard's north side. Give Mole his PDA. If Fox is not at the campfire with Mole, check your PDA to see if he's on his way. You may be able to meet him on the road. When you give Fox his gun, the Garbage to Forgotten Forest opens and you can Get the book for Miner when we get back to Garbage.

There's a bug that causes the NPCs to get stuck at the Cordon to Darkscape transition. If you transition from Darkscape, it unblocks the NPCs and they continue into Darkscape.
Find the family rifle∨

To retrieve Hunter's family rifle, there is a mining shaft that opens directly north of Bes' camp. You can also get there from the west side of the broken train bridge, but it's a long walk. Coming from the south, follow the passage to a large opening with civilian zombies. To the right is a passage leading to the rifle, which is guarded by four armed zombies and a Controller. Find the rifle in the center of the area on a table. Be sure to explore the mine and collect as many zombie hands as you can (up to 10). There's a shaft going east about halfway between the entrance and the end of the cart tracks where there may be more zombies.

Check your PDA for Yurik and take him the modified MP5. Ask if he has any more work, and he asks you for a Burer hand. When you're ready to leave Darkscape, follow the road west into the tunnel and transport back to the Cordon. Sidorovich greets you with the usual, "...stop by and we'll chat." only it's in Russian. Take the Steal the box from the outpost task. Be sure to collect on the Destroy the bandits in the Agroprom underground and Kill the bandit leader tasks. Give Nimble his jacket and head back to the Garbage.

At this point in the game, you can either leave the Lada in north Cordon at the Military Outpost, or go Darkscape > Dark Valley > Garbage (this transition is heavily guarded by the Military). Either way, go north to Cordon's Military Outpost, where a trader has moved in named Akim. He offers a series of tasks, mostly retrieving documents, but the first task is for 10 zombie hands. Either way you go, if your PDA hasn't quit working by now, it most likely will soon, so head back to the Bar. Talk to Prapor if you have any task items for him. In the Bar, complete the following:

After you bring Plichko his artifact, you have access to Duty Headquarters and can talk to see Voronin for the Repel the attack and kill Hump (which you must do right away, and you must be the one to kill Hump), Take the RG-6 from the Freedom base, and Find the thermoses tasks. Before talking to Voronin, take a good hard look at the Boar's head on the wall, focusing on the mouth. In it is the Commander's Note. This is what the Military Note was referring to, i.e., the note in the X-18 broken mirror. This is a clue to a cache that is covered in Rat. See Petrenko for Bring the Flash artifact, Return the prototype Gauss pistol to Petrenko, and Find Petrenko's flask tasks. Somewhere near Petrenko's office, find Captain Ivantsov. He gives you the Find the Playboy task. At some point he also gives you the Give the RG6 grenade launcher task, but I'm not sure when. So, each time you visit Rostok make it a point to talk to him. You can talk to Kostya about the cache in the Garbage, but he doesn't give you the next cache for a while.

Back to Agroprom∨

There are a couple of tasks to before moving on. With your PDA working, go back to Garbage and check the two large tanks near the Flea Market. If there is a corpse in the eastern tank, climb the ladder on the west side and enter the tank using the opening. Getting from the top of the ladder to the tank without falling back down can be tricky. Draw your assault rifle and start climbing. The weapon is holstered until you near the top. Inch forward until your weapon draws and jump forward. The corpse is the scientist mentioned in the dead X-18 scientist's note. This one has the Scientist's Notepad with an entry about parts to a door code. See ATP, Radar, and Meet Bland for locations of the code. To descend from the top of the tank, approach the ladder backwards until your weapon holsters again, and continue down.

If you happen to have Akim's zombie hands, turn them in and complete the Bring old documents to Akim task in Garbage. Take the document back and get the next Akim task, Bring old documents to Akim, pt. 2 in the Agroprom Underground. Otherwise, wait until you can complete the Zombie Hands task as there are more trips to the underground to come. If you're close to having 10 zombie hands, try the Cave's lower level. Civilian zombies can be found around the two campfire area. You may need to deal with a couple of Bloodsuckers, so be ready for that.

Next, stop at the Vehicle Graveyard and get Bes' ammo. If you haven't met Adrenaline yet, go back to the Agroprom factory where you first met Mole and introduce yourself to Adrenaline, who is a trader on the second floor of the southeast building. Ask if he knows of any paths and he gives you Bring the disc to Adrenaline. This opens the transition to ATP. Also, tell him you're going north and get the Bring the minigun to Adrenaline task. Go into the underground, get Akim's document, empty any stashes you have, and exit back to Agroprom (where you entered).

Any stashes you have and can cash in, now is the time. The object is to have 330,000 RUs before you leave Yantar. This enables you to purchase a bioradar that detects humans and zombies. You will have gear to collect in Wild Territory and X-16, but try to put yourself in a position to reach 330,000. Once you have the bioradar, keep your account at a minimum. However, if you are not interested in the bioradar, leave the stashes until it's safe to cash them in.

Lab X-16∨

Back to the Bar and talk with Garik about Voronin's thermoses. Next, talk to Lanky about Petrenko's flask. Lanky asks for five Wrenched artifacts, 50,000 RUs, and 10 microcircuits (which you'll get later). Now follow the vanilla storyline to save Kruglov and progress to Yantar. If you happen to have the "Elder Glassbeads" artifact for Sakharov from finishing Prapor's tasks, bring it along.

As you approach the watchtower in Wild Territory, take note of the helicopter's flight path. This will be useful information later. Also, be sure to grab Wolfhound's PDA. He is usually in the small building on the south end of the large tanks near the crashed helicopter. Just before you get to the Yantar transition you get an SOS from a stalker. When you spawn in Yantar, two Bandits are standing over the stalker's body. Take them out and get the Note from a dead stalker. This prompts a message to Barman, who then responds, promising to call the stalker's family.

If Kruglov gets killed, Semenov takes his place in the Mobile Lab (as in the vanilla version).

Ask Sakharov if he has any work for you and he offers the Find Ghost's PDA task. Then, help Kruglov with the measurements. My strategy for this task is to use a shotgun with slugs or darts, and to go ahead of Kruglov clearing out all the zombies in the area. Kruglov makes his first stop at the tunnel under the road and waits for you to join him before taking his first measurements. Next, retrieve Vasiliev's information and proceed to Lab X-16 (be sure to grab the Healing Berill-5M from the dead soldier outside the lab entrance).

In X-16, turn the Psi-emitter off, find Ghost, and put the Controller down. Next, Find Ghost's PDA and leave X-16. Turn in the PDA to Sakharov and ask about transitions to get the Find the "Elder Glassbeads" artifact for Sakharov task. Also, ask about Adrenaline's minigun. Talk to Kruglov to get the Bring Ghost's Diary to the Scientist task. As you leave the mobile lab, talk to Major Batya, and then go get Ghost's Diary. Come back and report to Kruglov, then get the detector (mentioned by Batya) from Sakharov. Take an SSP-99 or SSP-99M suit to Wild Territory, get the item, get Freeman's Desert Eagle, and return to Sakharov for the minigun. You can stash the weapon in your cache until you get the disc for the Bring the disc to Adrenaline task, or use it if you like.

Next, take the X-16 documents to Barman. This opens the Rostok to Army Warehouses transition, your next destination. Ask Barman about Ghost and he tells you about Ghost looking for his double. Before he gives you any more information, he requires a Simbion artifact. Hopefully, you found this recipe in X-18 and is now in your PDA's Encyclopedia page. You may also get one from Freeman when you give him his pistol and get the Bring the case to Freeman task. Before leaving the Bar, tell Barman you need a job and get the Kill the cats at the Bar task (you have to do it anyway, so you might as well get paid for it).

If you don't have the 330,000 RUs for the bioradar yet, come back when you do - it's worth a special trip to Yantar. After you have the item, keep your bank account no higher than 50,000 RUs and cache all your spoils until it's safe to cash them in (I'll tell you when). It's a good idea to either mark your caches with GPS beacons or make a note of them as you will most likely have them on nearly every map.
Army Warehouses∨

Go directly to the Freedom base (not getting involved with Skull's group). Ask the guard at the gate if he's ever been to Pripyat to get the Get the antidote medicine task. If you don't have one yet, a bottle of antidote is part of your reward for returning Adrenaline's disc, keeping in mind that these guards are often attacked by mutants and you may not be able to complete the task before he gets killed. This opens the CNPP2 to ATP transition. Get the Bulldog 6 information from the Cook and then ask him how his drinking allows him to get anything done. He gives you the Bring the crow eggs to the Cook task that you can complete along with Get the book for Miner (after you talk to Akim).

Next, talk to Skinflint and get the traditional Clear the Bloodsuckers from the village task (which, again, you have to do anyway, so why not get paid for it). Then, talk to Lukash about Skull's group and get the Kill all of the Duty members at the farm task. When the farm is clear, head for the village to kill the Bloodsuckers and get Voronin's RG-6. It's a good idea to check the weapon's condition before returning to the Freedom base. If the condition of the RG-6 is too bad, Voronin rejects it. See Take the RG-6 from the Freedom base on what to do if that happens. Take the RG-6 to Voronin and ask if there are any other tasks. He gives you the Find the documents task. Ask about Fang to get the Bring the camouflaged exoskeleton task. Ask why he looks worried and get the Get the sniper rifle from the Mercs task. You now have three tasks to complete in ATP: Voronin's exo, Adrenaline's disc, and finding one part of the door code. Stop by the Bar and collect on the cats task.

There's is going to be some back-and-forth between the Bar and Army Warehouses. So, this is the time that I like to move my main cache to the trailer next to Wolf. These are the items I want to keep and leave the things I want to sell. Eventually, I'll move it to the trailer in Radar as that becomes the center of activity later on.
ATP∨

The Rostok to ATP transition is just west of the Rostok to Army Warehouses transition. See Bring the disc to Adrenaline for what to do next. Afterward, go northwest toward the spot where the road ends at a pond. From there, go north to find the group of stalkers and talk to Kalinin to get the Kill Shnyra task, which spawns an attack by the Bandits. After repelling the Bandit attack, go on the offensive and attack the base. Generally, the best cover is where the road enters on either side (east or west).

If you're a looter and want to make some money, drop a backpack near the road on the east side of the base. Attacking the Bandit base from the east offers a lot of cover and Gray is about to land near that location. You may be able to sell most of your loot (provided you need the money).

With the base clear, see Bring the camouflaged exoskeleton for instructions on that task. If you took the Kill Shnyra task and Shnyra isn't in the base, he's most likely somewhere between the base and Kalinin's camp. You may need to circle around the area to find him (much easier with a bioradar). For the flash drive with the partial door code, follow this procedure:

You must have the scientist's notebook in your inventory to get the Search prompt.
  1. Locate the building with the Monolith sign and go north.
  2. Find the tall utility box with the number on the top panel (north side) matching the third entry of the Scientist's Notepad, PK10. Only it's in Russian and has a hyphen, so it looks more like nK-10. This flash drive contains the middle three numbers to the door code.
  3. Jump onto the fence post and move to north as far as possible without falling off.
  4. Sprint-jump onto the utility box.
  5. Search the cache and grab the flash drive.

Kalinin has two more optional tasks for you if you want them. See Kalinin for details. You can also ask about transitions. For a Mama's Beads artifact, he tells you about ATP to Garbage at the east end of the road. I don't see any advantage to this, and the artifact is hard to come by, so I usually don't ask.

Forgotten Forest∨

Go back to the Bar (or where ever your main cache is) and pack up the following:

Also, keep the Camouflaged Exoskeleton with you. Go to Akim, ask about the eggs and get the Bring the medicine to Akim task. With the Camouflaged Exoskeleton, now's a good time to do it. Before you leave, grab the television next to Akim and stash it in the Rookie Village for later. See Guide and get the vanilla Meet the Doctor in Strelok's hideout task. In my last playthrough I had two options:

In previous playthroughs the Find a Groza for Guide task was separate from getting Doc's location. I could accept it, go see Doc, and bring the Groza when I found one.

At some point when you pass the house where Guide sits, you get a text message from Sidorovich about paying someone 70,000 RUs. When you talk to the guy, tell him you're suspicious. Otherwise, you find out that he's a con artist and you're out the money.

Continue south to Sid's bunker and stash anything you don't need. Here are a few things you should know when wearing the Camouflaged Exoskeleton:

Now to the Military Checkpoint at the south end of the map. Because of the BTRs at the front gate and to the west, you have to approach the Military Checkpoint from the east using the fallen tree along the east fence and jump over the fence. You don't need to land on the outhouse roof, because inside the outhouse are the microcircuits for Lanky. Now go north to the front door of the barracks and inside to get the case. If a soldier blocks the door, sprint around the building to get him to move. If that doesn't work, use the guard tower stairs in the southwest corner and jump over the south fence. Then try the outhouse roof to the barracks roof to get to the case. Exit the barracks and go northwest to the nearby building on the east side of the gate. In the office (northwest corner), search the desk for five bottles of medicine. If a soldier is guarding the desk, you can jump onto the desk and lean right to get the medicine without getting shot. When you leave, use the guard tower stairs in the southwest corner and jump over the south fence to avoid the BTR guarding the front gate. Turn the case in to Sidorovich, who can't read the documents and sends you to Barman. Next, give Akim the medicine and he tells you where and how to find the crow eggs.

The Garbage to Forgotten Forest transition puts you in the northeast corner of the map. I find it easier to navigate this map on foot as the terrain is not easy to drive in. The nearby boulders hold a cache. There are more caches under groups of large boulders if you want to search for them (see the following list). While you search, if you happen to come across a radio antenna, take note of it's location for later. At the southwest corner of the map is a crashed helicopter with Miner's book. From the helicopter's tail section, go northeast to find the first two stumps with crow's eggs mentioned here. During your search for eggs, talk to Cross and get the Bring 15 Artifacts to Cross task. Next, see Get the ingredients for Kalmyk: The Night Star artifact and a dried bear paw about getting a bear paw on your way north to the second helicopter.

Caches I've found so far:

Once you have all the eggs and are done exploring for caches, go back to Miner to give him his book (taking Adrenaline's minigun, disc, and a good sniper rifle), Free the captive, and get the Find the necessary items. When you're ready to leave the Cave, follow the path to the second ladder (Help Brom). Instead of climbing the ladder, turn right and follow the passage to the Agroprom transition.

There are only a few tasks that bring you back to the Forgotten Forest and they are spread out over the course of the game. However, there are several trips to and through the Garbage. As soon as you collect Cross' artifacts, consider taking a side trip to complete the task and get the next one.
Task Cleanup∨

Take Adrenaline's items to him and get the Speak with Zahar task. Go see Doc in Strelok's hideout. If you haven't done it yet, get the documents for the Bring old documents to Akim, pt. 2 task, and then Find Documents for Sakharov. Use the new transition from Agroprom to Yantar and take the documents to Sakharov. This opens the transition going the other way. Ask him what's next to get the Collect scientific books task. You can get the X-16 document now, along with Kruglov's Return the missing decoder. Return the decoder and get the Bring the artifact to Sid task.

If you're falling behind in tasks, take a few minutes to try and catch up. For zombie hands, check the Cave's lower level, the mine where you retrieved Hunter's gun from, and X-16. For artifacts, check stash coordinates, do some "I need a job" tasks, and trade with Raven (he likes the FAMAS and customized rifles).

From Yantar, go Wild Territory > Rostok. If you're driving (or if you need to give Akim the underground documents), go back Agroprom > Garbage (talk to Akim if necessary - you should be on Part 3). In Rostok, talk to Kostya. Ask him if he had any success with the PDAs you gave him and he should offer the Find the cache in Laboratory X-18 task. Give Barman the case from the Cordon outpost. Next, pack up Bes' ammo (and anything else for Darkscape) and go to the X-18 building in Dark Valley. Go up to the second floor and out onto the ledge around the smokestack to get the first of Akim's documents (there are four). Go back inside and get the white case from the third machine (going south) from the stairs. Now go to the lab and don't forget to cache your artifacts before entering. Get Akim's next two documents, then Sakharov's blue book, Akim's last document, and Kostya's cache. Exit the lab and get Petrenko's prototype Gauss pistol. Continue on to Darkscape and deliver Bes' ammo. Then, to Cordon. Give Kruglov's artifact to Sidorovich and get the soap for Fima's Find the necessary items.

There is a possible bug with the soap bars where there may only be one. If you don't find three bars of soap, use the nearby transition to Swamps to leave the map and return. This usually spawns the remaining bars. Also, I sometimes have to low-crouch at the base of the ladder and jump onto the ladder to get out of the basement.

Take Akim his documents. He offers the Bring Old Documents, 4 Suits and a PDA to Akim: Part 4 task. This is one I've never been able to complete, so I don't take it. I save all I can find just in case I get all the items.

Go back to Rostok (Agroprom > Garbage > Rostok). Give Kostya the PDA from X-18 and get the Find the cache in the Agroprom task. Give Petrenko his pistol and ask, "Do you have another job?" to get the Exchange artifact task. Check Ivanstov on the Give the RG6 grenade launcher task. Give Voronin his Camouflaged Exoskeleton and documents (which open the Dark Valley to Radar transition). He tells you to talk to the Informant about Fang, which you can do now or wait. Next, talk to Zahar and get the Protect the hunters at the ATP task. Before starting this task, go to Army Warehouses to close out some tasks. Remember to take the Crow's eggs, the guard's antidote, and Lukash's Healing Berill suit with you.

Report to Skinflint that you cleared Bloodsucker Village. If you have Ivanstov's RG6, make the exchange. Talk to Lukash, who gives you the Follow the informant task. This is the same as the vanilla version, with a twist. One of the Mercs has Voronin's Sniper Rifle and the house has his small thermoses. Also, be aware that the informant spawns as soon as you accept the task and can be killed by mutants. Reloading a save doesn't always change the outcome. For this reason, you may want to load the autosave from the Rostok transition and lay a mine where it can take out the mutants but not the informant.

Pay no attention to the stalkers camped east of the village for now. As you approach the informant, take care that he doesn't see or hear you. Position yourself at the south end of the cement slabs in the road and get a task update. The informant doesn't move until the update. Kill the informant, his contact, collect some of Voronin's thermoses, and get his sniper rifle (if none of the Mercs had it, keep killing Mercs in that area until one does). On your way back to Lukash, go to the two NPCs on the hilltop looking toward the barrier and talk to Wolf to get the Find and bring the military radio to Wolf task. Stash Voronin's stuff for now.

The trailer near Wolf is a blowout shelter and a good place to move your main stash to when you're ready to move north to Radar. There's a stash box near the campfire and another in the trailer.

Report to Lukash to get the Protect the barrier task, which you should do now and get it out of the way. Completing this task unlocks Skinflint's Get the ammo box from Sidorovich task and you have a trip to the Rookie Village coming up soon. After the barrier task, get the Healing Berill suit and tell Lukash, "I hope we can work together..." to get the Bring the Controller brains to Lukash task. Ask if he has any important work and get the Find the "Healing Berill" military suit task. Give him the suit to get the Freedom Exoskeleton NV "Digital" UV-3. This is my preferred suit at this point as it is one of the few with third generation night vision. It's heavy and has a lower damage resistance than most exoskeletons (which means it costs a lot to keep it up). So, I can understand if you prefer another suit.

Go behind (west) the building and offer Screw a vodka to get the Bring the vise to Screw task. Stop by and talk to Max to get the Retrieve the flash drive from the insane Stalker task. And finally, take Cook the Crow's eggs. Kill the insane stalker and get the flash drive, retrace your path back to the Freedom base front gate, and turn the flash drive over to Max.

Pack up Voronin's sniper rifle and move on to ATP, where you have the Protect the hunters at the ATP and Find and bring the military radio to Wolf tasks. After you have the radio, return to Rostok and give Zahar the Hunter's backpack. He gives you the Destroy the Merc camp at Rostok task, which you can do at your convenience. Next, turn the sniper rifle over to Voronin.

Go to the Bar and speak with the Informant (Snitch), who gives the Bring Tyrant's PDA to the informant task in the Swamps. Stash Wolf's radio for now, load up all your Sid-only items and the artifact container from Skinflint. Also, vodka, cigarettes, and mushrooms are trading commodities for optional tasks in the Swamps. If you've been caching them, this is a good time to put them in your backpack. One task requires three vodka or three cigarette packs for each of three items (so nine vodkas, nine cigarette packs, or three and six). You can trade red Bloodsucker tentacles and red Burer hands for weapons with Sviblov, too. Oh, and if you still have room in your backpack, pack the television you took from Akim and the bear paw from the Forgotten Forest (if you have one). At this point in the game you probably only have one transition to the Swamps, which is from Cordon (south of Sidorovich's bunker). So, head for the Rookie Village and give Sidorovich the artifact container from Skinflint.

Clear Sky∨

Borov's note mentions a character named Rat who made off with Borov's PDA, and is hiding in the Swamps. There is a possible bug here; there's a possibility Rat might get killed by either mutants or enemies. So, I'm putting this series of tasks at the very start of entering the Swamps. Also, you must have Borov's note about Rat in your backpack to have Rat spawn. During one of your visits to Rat, remember the Commander's Note cache, which is southwest of Rat's camp. Go to the end of the dock, drop into the water, turn north to find the cache in a barrel under the overturned boat. This cache contains several artifacts, including a Simbion artifact that you can give to Barman for information on Ghost. When you see Barman, start the conversation with, "Well "Mr. Businessman"". Barman finishes by mentioning that the scientists want to see you in Yantar, which comes later.

You can drive the Lada in the Swamps, but it's a challenge. First, the transition is tight, meaning you have to get as close as possible. If you have trouble with it, approach from the south so the driver's side is close to the stop sign. Next, the terrain is, in some part, quite challenging with some narrow crossings. If you have the Agroprom to Cordon transition open, recommend taking the Lada for the Rat task as it requires multiple trips to and from the Bar. If the transition is not open, I suggest you look for Lieutenant Eroleyev and get the document that opens it (he's usually near the southwest corner of the main institute building). Otherwise, you're in for a lot of walking. I like to leave the Lada along the fence between where you spawn in Agroprom from the Swamps and the Agroprom to Cordon transition.

In Swamps, find Krysyk "Rat" camped directly south of the Agroprom transition. Talk to him to get the Fulfill the request of Krysyk task. This sends you back to the Bar to ask Barman if Rat can hide there. Barman wants Rat's cache, so you have to go back to the Swamps and give Rat Barman's terms. He agrees and gives you the coordinates of his cache, which is in the Dark Valley pond west of the Bandit base. Get the artifacts from the cache and take them to Barman. Then, go back to Rat and get the location of Borov's PDA. Rat starts the long walk to the Bar. Don't be surprise if you encounter him on the road somewhere in between, or find him at a campfire in Rostok. Now go back to the Southern Farmstead.

Talk to Dyak, the leader of the Clear Sky squad, and agree to lead his men in an attack on the Bandits. This is the Free the "Clear Sky" member from captivity task. Remember to get Tyrant's PDA before a Clear Sky member loots him first. Clear the church, talk to the captive Clear Sky member, and report back to Dyak. Ask about the location of the Clear Sky base and head back toward the watch tower west of the church where a Bandit sniper is stationed. Take out the sniper and continue south.

There's an empty dynamite case toward the south end of the farmstead that may have supplies following your work in the Swamps. Be sure to check it each time before you leave.

Go to the southeast part of the map, past the Fishing Hamlet and, if you like, take on some optional tasks from Cold and Vasily. Stash the television in or near the base. You must take the first two of Sviblov's tasks. If you take Vasily's Get 3 cans of Kalmyk Ointment for Vasily task, stop at the Pump Station on your way to the northwest corner of the map for Sviblov's Bring the unusual Controller brain to Sviblov task. You can stash the bear paw at the Pump Station if you like (that's where you'll need it). Take the brain and ointment back to the Clear Sky base and ask Sviblov, "Need any other work done?" to get the Obtain a rifle for Sviblov task. If you took Cold's Mark the red pseudo giant task, take the Modified Iglomet Rifle with you. On your way north, stop at the Burnt Farmstead and take out the electrified Bloodsuckers. Sprint to the watchtower to fire on them from a safe distance. One strategy is to drop an antipersonnel mine from the tower to the ground (the black ones). It's just far enough away that you won't take much damage when the mine goes off. If you happen to drop the mine on the tower platform, quickly pick it up before it activates and try again. A grenade works, too. But it's going to hurt for a while.

During the Obtain a rifle for Sviblov task you meet Dan, who gives you the Get an Unusual Parcel for Dan task. Ask Dan, "Looks like something is on your mind. What is it?" and he tells you about Monolith activities in the area. Dan suggests you meet Cat, but this task does not appear on your PDA Tasks list. If you took Cold's Mark the red pseudo giant task, shoot the beast, find Kostya's cache (unless it's APC location), and then go meet Arhara.

The dune buggy under the north side of the shelter is a working vehicle. However, I found it extremely difficult to control.

Go north from the Machine Yard and follow the fence west to the Agroprom transition. Meet Arhara and, while his men stand on the hill and shoot, fight your way into the complex and main building. I'm not sure how Arhara's plan is supposed to work, because I always meet with heavy resistance no matter which approach I take. Get to the third floor and find the dead scientist (if he isn't dead, make it so). Grab the parcel (if you have Kostya's APC cache, get it on your way out), head back to the Swamps. You may find someone (usually in a green scientific suit) with information on the Agroprom to Swamps transition (west of Arhara's camp). Otherwise, use the Agroprom to Cordon transition, then to the Rookie Village transition to get back to Dan. Dan gives you the Speak with Arhara task, but finish up in the Swamps first. Dan might give you the Fire Tears artifact you need to pay Barman for the broken PDA you got from Prapor. He may also give you the Electra Tears artifact, with which you can make a Fire Tears. Either way, it's best to turn in the artifact to Barman before your next trip through Wild Territory to avoid breaking the storyline. Go meet Cat, whose location is marked on your map.

After completing the Search the corpse of a Monolith and find a map for Cat task, Cat goes to the Clear Sky base. Go with him and collect your reward from Cold for marking the pseudo giant (another possible bug: the pseudo giant remains active in the area and you can kill it without causing an issue with any tasks). Give Sviblov the rifle (he has one more optional task if you like). Complete the Find the remaining Monoliths, Cat needs their personal notebooks task and head to Agroprom to find Arhara again.

Borov's PDA∨

Talk to Arhara and get the Bring the notebook to Arhara task. Get the items in the cache west of the Agroprom Underground transition. This includes Borov's PDA, which contains a door code and a hint for another cache. Jump into the underground and get Arhara's notebook. Next, go to Yantar and deliver the artifact container to Sakharov for the Exchange artifact task. When you do, talk to Kruglov. First, tell him, "I gave Sid the artifact container" to complete the Bring the artifact to Sid task. Next, ask, "Were you able to decipher any of Ghost's diary?" and get the Get the computer for the scientist task. And then ask, "Do you have more work for me?" and get the Find a unique artifact task. Get the artifact and bring it back to Kruglov to get the Universal Anomaly Detector.

Go to Agroprom and talk to Arhara about where to look for a working computer, give him the notebook and get the Bring the laptop to Arhara's brother task. Then, back to Rostok and report to Kostya. He gives you the next cache, Find the cache in Yantar task. He gives you this task and moves on to Army Warehouses. Go into the Bar to find Cat. Talk to him to get the Get Kalmyk's medicine for Cat task. Give Snitch Tyrant's PDA and learn of a Merc in Freedom's base. Give Barman the Fire Tears artifact. Give Petrenko the suits to complete the Exchange artifact task. Now on to X-18, again. This time you will encounter Bloodsuckers, Burers, Izloms, Poltergeists, a Controller, and biting rodents. So, stock up on the appropriate ammo.

In X-18, grab a computer out of the control room where you found the documents for Barman on your first trip. Leave the lab to find Screw's vise and the caches in Borov's PDA, starting with the Bandit base:

  1. Use the drain pipe on the west to enter the base compound and go straight (east), watching the platform above for Bandit snipers.
  2. Follow the basin around to the right and use the pipes to jump up to the ledge along the western side.
  3. Follow the ledge south, then east, and then north to the code-locked door.
  4. Enter the access code from the PDA and start breaking boxes.
  5. Stand on the stacked firewood to find the backpack hidden in the overhead duct.
  6. Open the gate and break a few more boxes.
  7. When you are done collecting loot, exit to the drain pipe and get Screw's vise.
  8. Go to the Fuel Station and search the pump with the same characters in the PDA.

Take the X-18 computer to Kruglov, who is able to decipher "Yakut... at... Warehouses". This does not appear on your list of tasks. While you're in Yantar, get Kostya's Yantar cache.

Meet La Havre∨

Once you complete the Get the computer for the scientist, you need to speak with Yakut. He is in Wolf's Army Warehouses camp but won't talk until you complete a few more tasks.On your way through Rostok to Army Warehouses, complete the Destroy the Merc camp at Rostok task and make sure you have Wolf's radio, Screw's vise, and Skinflint's ammo before you leave for Army Warehouses.

In Army Warehouses, Wolf's camp is also where you find Kostya (relocated from Rostok) and can turn in the Yantar PDA for the next cache in Army Warehouses. Complete the Find and bring the military radio to Wolf task. Go to the Freedom base, Bring the vise to Screw, deliver Skinflint's ammo, and get the Bring information to Skinflint from the Deserter task. If Kostya's cache is on the base, get that, too. Before you leave the base, go to the southern barracks building along the tracks to meet La Havre. Complete his first task and accept the second on his list of tasks. If Kostya's cache is not on the base, pick it up on your way to meet Bolt. On your way back to La Havre, report to Kostya and get the Find the cache in the Radar task.

Radar∨

As you fight your way up the road toward X-10, keep in mind the location of Kostya's Radar cache. Kostya's next task is in X-10. So for the Army Warehouses Transition and Rocks by Stalkers locations, you may want to grab the cache and the laptop for Arhara's brother, and stash them for now. Also, you can't get to the Pripyat location until after you turn off the Brain Scorcher. There will be more trips to X-10 and much back-and-forth between Pripyat and Army Warehouses. Kostya only has the X-10 and Pripyat caches for now, then he takes a break.

When you reach the first turnoff going north, take a little side trip up the road and check the truck bed for a document that opens the Radar to Dark Valley transition. This is a very handy transition. Before you reach the second northern turnoff (to Pripyat), stash your artifacts temporarily until the message that your artifacts have once again turned to Cobblestone. Then, go back and get them. For Arhara's laptop, I recommend approaching the helicopter from the north as there are less mutants. Outside the X-10 complex wall, find the dead scientist and trailer. Inside the trailer is a document that opens the Yantar to Radar transition. Driving a Lada through this transition is tricky, and may take a few attempts. Start parallel to the gate and reverse up the hill.

In some playthroughs, a large group (15+) of Monolith have spawned right behind me in X-10 and I had to sprint behind the shipping containers for cover. The easiest way out of this is one or two M203/VOG-25 grenades. In X-10, Monolith is there to greet you on your way in this time (another 30+). You should have the following tasks in X-10:

Turn the Brain Scorcher off. After the blackout, exit the lab and be sure to use the hole at the east end of the wall to trigger Sidorovich's message about meeting the Loners in Pripyat (otherwise, you may set up a bug). At this point, you can either follow the vanilla storyline and continue on to Pripyat, or complete the following tasks:

I prefer to complete the storyline to get it out of the way, and to earn the cache that Lukash gives you for the Controller brains; a Camouflaged Exoskeleton suit of your very own. Go to Pripyat.

Pripyat∨

Meet the Loners in Pripyat and get to the hotel. In the hotel, get the decoder and, as you leave the room, turn left (north) and go to the end of the hall. The last room on the right contains Voronin's large thermoses. Before you leave the hotel, be sure to take out as many Monolith as you can from the cover of the hotel. Especially the RPGer west of the Ferris Wheel as he overlooks a spawn point and can make it difficult when you need that spot clear for landing. Also, if you have a backpack full of loot to sell, the hotel is a good place to drop a cache backpack (if you can keep it from falling through the floor). A trader will be setting up shop nearby in the very near future.

Continue on to CNPP1 and save before you enter the Sarcophagus. When you spawn in the Sarcophagus, you get a message telling you that some of your artifacts have turned to Cobblestones. Keep the Cobblestones as you'll need them later. Hopefully, the remaining artifacts are sufficient to get you through the next few maps. If not, reload your last save and try again.

Monolith Control∨

This is very much the same as the vanilla SoC with one exception: the door to the hologram is locked. Go to the northeast corner of the room with the locked door and turn south to find a brown stash box containing the code for the door. Move around the equipment to the south and locate the keypad to enter the numbers and open the door.

CNPP2∨

When you first step out of the doorway, take a look around for chimeras. Also, there's a sniper to the right. Go north around the wall and then west to the break in the wall. When three Monoliths spawn, you'll have the wall as cover. Before moving to the rooftops, continue north to the road and then east to find a Controller for Lukash's Controller brains task. If you had the Associate Professor enhance your PDA for Controllers, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding them. Just watch out for snipers. Also, grab any Gold Chunk artifacts that you'll need for later (even if you only find one - you'll get another as a task reward). About the time you get to the road going east and west, you get a message from Voronin. You can't do much about it until you complete the CNPP2 map. Once you have the Controller brains and Gold Chunks, go back to the one of the portals where the level starts and complete the map.

When you finish the CNPP2 gauntlet, you are teleported back to the Pripyat Ferris Wheel. You may notice some friendlies coming in force from the south. The Loners, Duty, and Freedom are taking over Pripyat and you should help them. From the spawn point at the Ferris Wheel, go west to the House of Culture and clear out the Monolith there. In the basement, there is a book on the desk that you can pick up and get a message about Doc being alive. You may see two friendlies coming into the building from the southwest. This is Doc and a trader named Syak, who sets up shop in the basement. Give the book to Doc and he gives you the Find the Doctor's Medallion task. Talk to Syak to get the Bring the toolbox to Sid task.

Hopefully, you encounter a Monolith named Charon during this time in Pripyat. You may also encounter him as a zombie. Either way, put him down and loot his corpse to get the document starting the CacheCharon task.

Take La Havre the document. As you leave the building you get a message to meet Freeman. First, report to Lukash, "Your men at the barrier say that you're looking for a reliable person?" to get the Deliver the dynamite to Lukash task. Lukash will not take the Controller brains until you have 300,000 RUs. My suggestion is to wait just a bit longer to cash in on your stashed items. If by chance you have a lot in your account, go ahead and complete the task, even if you need to build up to 300,000 RUs. Talk to Kostya if you need to complete the Find the cache in the Radar task and move on to Rostok. You can complete the the laptop for Arhara's brother task, but Yakut won't talk to you until you speak with Freeman.

Meet Bland∨

If you haven't done it yet, jump over to Wild Territory and complete the Bring the case to Freeman task. Take Voronin his thermoses in Rostok and he gives you the Help the Dutiers in Eastern Pripyat task. You can also ask, "General, could you help me?" to get the Find the computer and the video transmitter task. Go to the Bar, talk to Freeman, and get the Bring Freeman the flashdrive from Bland task.

You get this task from Freeman as part of the Bring the documents from X-10 to Le Havre task. You may also have the Find the computer and the video transmitter task. Both tasks take you back to Dark Valley. It doesn't matter which you do first. Be aware that you won't get a task update for the computer as the transmitter is in another location. Also, Bland is going to require 50,000 RUs for the flash drive. And if you have Cross' 15 artifacts, this is a good time to drop them off and take is last two tasks, finishing the Bring the teleporter to Cross task right away (the reward includes 7000 RUs).

To meet Bland, you must clear the X-18 Building complex of Bandits and Mercs. I find it easiest to use the Lada as a platform, jump over the wall near the northeast corner, and work my way to the front. Bland's location may show on your minimap, but he's not there yet. When the last Merc falls, you get a message from Bland telling you he will meet and three characters appear on your minimap. Go into the back building and talk to Bland. Give him the 50,000 RUs and take the flash drive to Freeman. The information on the flash drive implicates Le Harve, but no task is listed in your PDA. Before you confront Le Harve, be sure to cache everything first or you will lose it. When you wake, there is a PDA on the floor nearby and your bank account is empty. Pick up the PDA to see that you need to take it to the Assistant Professor at the Bar. You/Strelok also have a thought to talk with Yakut.

At this point you can now cash in on some of your collected loot and build up your bank account. Your first objective is 300,000 RUs for Lukash to complete the Bring the Controller brains to Lukash task. After that, you need about 200,000 for upcoming expenses, to repair your equipment, and purchase supplies (if necessary). But only keep enough cash to get buy. There is still the possibility of getting robbed again.

Take Arhara's laptop to Yakut and he tells you about La Havre's group heading to the northwest checkpoint. The leader of the group (not La Havre) is marked on your map. Kill him and get the metal box he's carrying. Take that to Yakut and ask him about Ghost. He sends you back to the Agroprom Underground. Before you leave Army Warehouses, go into the village and pick up the video transmitter for Voronin. Go to the Bar and give Bolt's PDA to the Assistant Professor. If you have a Kolobok artifact, take it with you.

The Assistant Professor agrees to check the PDA, but wants a Kolobok artifact in return and promises to send you a message when the PDA is ready. This takes about 45 game-time minutes and you can either wait or come back later. You may notice that the speaking with the Assistant Professor and the artifact are two separate tasks in your PDA. You can get the PDA information without the artifact, but you still have it as an incomplete task. The information you get is, at the moment, of little use. You can read the code on the Diary > Journal page of our PDA under Personal notes through searching > Search for the code for the door to lab X-8.

See Voronin to complete the Find the computer and the video transmitter task, then go to Agroprom. In the Agroprom Underground, as you near the ventilation shaft going up to Strelok's hideout, you get a message from an unknown sender and the Find Ghost task. The message tells you to go to the Radar forest. This spawns a Controller and several civilian zombies.

Find Ghost∨

From Agroprom, go Garbage > Dark Valley to get to Radar. From the spawn point in Radar, continue (on foot) west through the hole in the fence and along the north side of the boulders. Follow the boulders around to find Ghost's camp on the south side. Talk to Ghost and get the Kill Tusk and get his flashdrive task. This task takes you to the northeast corner of the Swamps. Here's what you need to pack:

In Cordon, give Sidorovich Syak's artifact container. Next, move on to the Swamp Pumping Station and talk to Kalmyk about Cat's medicine. Now go meet up with Ghost's men to clear the Northern Farmstead and get two flash drives. You probably have some time still before Cat's medicine is ready, so complete the first part of the Bring information to Skinflint from the Deserter task by bringing the food and vodka to the deserter. Talk to him and get the Get the commanders orders task.

With Tusk's group eliminated, flash drives acquired, and Cat's medicine ready, return to the Bar. If you're driving, go by way of Dark Valley > Radar > Army Warehouses and walk to Rostok. If you're walking, go Agroprom > Garbage > Rostok. And if you still have Zahar's Destroy the Merc camp at Rostok task, this is a good opportunity to complete it.

Cat has more information and gives you the Get information of the Monolith in the Agroprom for Cat task. Now to Radar and give Ghost the flash drive. He gives you the Kill Tusk. Part 2. Bring the documents to Ghost task and a sweet little quick-firing Gauss. I recommend stashing the Gauss for now. You need to conserve ammo for it until later. For this task, I recommend bringing an RPG along. Use the Yantar transition in the northwest corner of Radar and drop off Sakharov's three books, and purchase an Elite detector. You will need two for an upcoming task, but Sakharov usually only carries one at a time (you can get the second one during another visit).

Now to Agroprom to Get information of the Monolith in the Agroprom for Cat. I suggest you leave the Lada at the Agroprom factory. Also, you may encounter a bug here where the freed Loners won't talk to you. They may even pick up weapons from the fallen Monolith and attack the Military in the institute complex. If they hold their position and just won't talk, restart the game and try again. If they attack the Military, or still won't talk, there doesn't seem to be any other option than to kill every living thing in the area (allowing you can grab Lukash's dynamite and the commanders orders on the second floor). When you talk to the Loners, they ask you to guide them to the factory complex. Once they are safe, talk to them again to find out more, then move on to the Cordon and the Rookie Village.

Complete the Tusk task and return to the Bar (take the Lada by way of Army Warehouses). Talk to Cat, who sends you to Skinflint on the Freedom base to find Rabinovich. If you have Lukash's dynamite you can drop it off. If you didn't get the dynamite and orders, you can try again after you get a Camouflaged Exoskeleton suit of your own during Unexplored Land.

Find Rabinovich∨

In Army Warehouses, ask Skinflint if there is anything exciting happening lately, and then ask him for help finding the trader Rabi. Skinflint sends you to the Bloodsucker Village (there's no update on your task list). If you have the Find the unique suit task, turn those in to complete the task. If you haven't taken the task yet, ask Skinflint, "Do you have more work that needs to be done?" to get it. You can pick the suits up during your next trip to Cordon. Also, give Lukash the Controller brains and 300,000 RUs to complete the task and get a cache with a camouflaged exoskeleton. This cache is in the Sarcophagus, but isn't needed for a while yet.

Take two bottles of vodka to the farmstead on the southeast edge of the village and talk to Joker. Now go to the northwest edge to find a wounded Modest. Give him a medkit and he tells you he saw Rabi on the road to Pripyat. This spawns an ambush by Avengers to the north and east. Fight them off, get Syak's toolbox from Sidorovich (if you stashed it), a Goldfish artifact (if you have one), and head for Pripyat, stopping by in Radar to give Ghost the Tusk documents.

In Pripyat, drop off Syak's toolbox and get the Bring the Goldfish artifact task. If you have the artifact, give it to him and get the Bring the Briefcase in X-18 task. Go south to the boulevard running in front of the hotel and turn east to the road on the east side of the hotel. There's heavy fighting between Monolith and everyone else, plus Duty and Freedom may go at each other, too. Don't get too distracted by it until you meet with Rabinovich. When you get to the bus stop with the bus partially blocking the road, you can see a neutral stalker in the building on the street's east side. Use the rubble to climb up and into the open window facing south. In the next room is Rabinovich. Talk to him until he gives you the information you're after, then falls to the floor. He then becomes hostile and you have to put him down. You get a task update to return to Cat, and a new task Find the Black Doctor.

You can go out the window in the room where you met Rabinovich and continue north along the ledge to take out the Pseudodogs in that area from a safe height. Just be aware of any enemies nearby.

Go back to the Bar and report to Cat. If you're driving, go Radar > Dark Valley > Garbage and leave the Lada at the Duty checkpoint. In Rostok, take Ivanstov the case of money for the Give the RG6 grenade launcher task. Go to the Bar and talk to Cat, who sends you to Zahar, who gives you the Find Brother Louis in the Swamps task. If you still have the Bring information to Skinflint from the Deserter task and now have the items, bring them along. Also, if you still have the Cross' 15 artifacts task, this is another opportunity to drop them off, get the Bring the Anomalous Bisons to Cross task, and complete the Bring the teleporter to Cross while you're there.

Go Garbage > Agroprom > Swamps. If you have the commander's orders, go west and give them to Skinflint's Deserter. If you don't have the papers, this can wait until you get your very own Camouflaged Exoskeleton. Go east to the Northern Farmstead again, complete the first part of Find Brother Louis in the Swamps. Go back to the Freedom Base in Army Warehouses (Agroprom > Garbage > Dark Valley > Radar > Army Warehouses). Complete the second part of Find Brother Louis in the Swamps, give Skinflint the briefcase from the deserter and get the Find the unique suit task. Load up your backpack with the following items (if you have them) and head for Pripyat:

In Pripyat, find the transition to Eastern Pripyat south of the school to Help the Dutiers in Eastern Pripyat.

Eastern Pripyat∨

You spawn in Eastern Pripyat near Plichko's group. Stash all but your sniper and close-combat weapon, then go talk to Plichko. Only talk to him about the Sports Complex, do not talk or ask about anything else or you set up a bug that prevents you from completing the task. See Help the Dutiers in Eastern Pripyat for instructions.

With the Sports Complex under Duty control, head northeast around the school to the Vine Anomaly and Find the person who sent the SMS. Matvei Kulinar is trapped by some Chimeras. If you have a Gauss gun, you can take out the Chimeras with ease, just be conservative with your ammo. You can also come in from the south so that you're on the east side of the Kindergarten fence and get up on the vine before the Chimeras get you. From there you can take your time using a weapon of choice. See Matvei Kulinar tasks for instructions on climbing the vine. Ask Matvei how you can help and he gives you the Help Matvei Kulinar task.

Complete the task and, as you leave the laundry mat, you may meet Hector, Matvei's partner and repair technician. Then you get a message from Sakharov about some missing scientists and get the Find the scientist in Jupiter task. This opens transitions between Eastern Pripyat, Jupiter Underground, and Jupiter. Jupiter Underground is full of mutant spiders. This is why I suggested you bring the Gauss. Grab your cached items and fill as many of Matvei's orders as you can. Use the stash box on the first floor (southeast corner) for incomplete or future orders and move on to Jupiter.

Jupiter∨

Check your map for the Jupiter Underground entrance, which is south of the laundry mat. Use a knife or crowbar to hit the door open. If that doesn't work, go to the other side and shoot the door from the back. Climb down the ladder, turn around and go south toward the door that appears to be blocked. You spawn to the underground, and now the door is west of the ladder (and when you return you must climb two ladders). Anyway, find the dead stalker and read his PDA. Then move on to encounter some snorks. When you get to the large room, it is filled with mutant spiders. Sprint to the ladder on the left (northwest) and up to the platform. From here you can safely snipe some of the spiders with the Gauss. But be conservative with your ammo as there are more spiders to come. Search the giant spiders for a Spider's Paw, which you will need later on. Be aware that the smaller spiders can kill from a few feet away, even if you're standing on something but not high enough off the ground. When the large room is clear, there are three bonus stashes:

Continue on through the underground and stay on top of vehicles or boxes as much as possible to avoid the small spiders. To get past the Fruit Punch anomaly in the narrow passageway, low-crouch and jump onto the cement block on the left and turn right to get around the pipe. There are more spiders at the top of the stairs, and another cache containing mutant embryos and anomaly capsules in the back of the truck just past the van. The underground passage ends at the large freight elevator, which is the transition to Jupiter.

In Jupiter, make your way out of the factory while watching for Mercs. You may get ambushed at the spawn point. If this happens, sprint to the right and take cover behind the shipping crates. As you continue through the administration building, you get a message from a wounded stalker and his location is marked on your map. Take the east road north to the stalker (Dimon Kalter), give him a medkit, and ask him what he is doing. He gives you the Help the stalker task. Follow Dimon around the north side of the quarry. When you get to the work camp, a pack of pseudodogs attack. You best option is, as you near the camp, stay below (south of) the top ridge (out of sight of the pseudodogs), sprint ahead, up the incline, and either jump into the back the truck or onto the roof of the yellow trailer (using the waste bin). The yellow trailer is high enough that the dogs won't jump at you. In the truck, you need to keep moving around as you shoot so the pseudodogs can't jump at you. With the way clear, take out your sniper rifle and continue following the stalker.

When you attack the train station, do not use explosives. This turns the scientists and trader against you.

Once the Bandits are eliminated, talk to Professor Plotnikov and agree to lead them to the mobile lab. Then go back to Dimon and report that there is a spy. This prompts the scientists to move out of the basement and out the south door (notice the working Lada). When you get them to the lab, Plotnikov stops outside. Talk to him again and he tells you of a cache. Let him go inside (you may need to back away a few steps) and you can also do some work for him. Plotnikov's first task, Find the three scientific suits, takes you to X-18. To locate the Bandit cache:

  1. Go to the Oasis and work your way up the northern tubes. At the third level, some roaches come at you.
  2. Go back down to the second level and off to the north. The roaches move off to the south.
  3. Continue on watching for bloodsuckers. The puzzle-maze has been disabled.
  4. Find the dead Loner and read his PDA. This solves the mystery of the spy, and you/Strelok send a message to Dimon.
  5. Go back to the puzzle-maze room and to the southeast corner.
  6. Turn north and jump up to the beam, and then to the air duct.
  7. Turn left (west) and follow the duct, low-crouching when necessary.
  8. Continue following the duct as it first turns right, and then turns left.
  9. The backpack is just past the left turn.

Go Jupiter Underground > Eastern Pripyat > Pripyat > Radar > Dark Valley to get back to X-18, get the suits, and grab Syak's briefcase. If you have completed the Deliver the dynamite to Lukash task, use the Dark Valley entrance to the mine and Find the Doctor's Medallion. If you have not delivered Lukash's dynamite, do that now. When you get to the second floor, don't forget the commanders orders. Take Lukash his dynamite to open the Mines transition in Army Warehouses and grab Doc's medallion. Then, go to Radar > Pripyat to give Syak his briefcase and get the next task, Bring the new armor.

Back to Jupiter to give Plotnikov the suits. Continue doing Plotnikov's tasks until you complete Find in X-8 briefcase with dosimeters. Completing the Check the crash site of the drone task opens a transition to Eastern Pripyat. Now you can bypass the underground and go Eastern Pripyat > Pripyat > Radar. You can use your Gauss as desired, too.

If you haven't acquired the TOZ-34 and the Uzi weapons yet, I suggest you look for them before moving on. Go on the hunt for red Bloodsuckers to trade their tentacles with Sviblov for an Uzi. Bandits in Cordon, Garbage, Dark Valley, and Agroprom Underground are the most-likely to have a TOZ-34. You can also barter with some of the traders. For example, Raven wants two Controller hands for a TOZ-34 and Sidorovich wants two Flash artifacts.

X-8∨

In Radar, go to the code-locked door accessed from the elevated platform at the end of the road to Pripyat. On your PDA, go to Diary > Journal > Door Codes to open it. Inside on the left is Captain Ivantsov's Playboy. Open the door on the right (west) and go down the steps to get a task update for the Find the X-25 laboratory in the Radar. Find and search the one corpse in a different uniform to find the prototype and get another update to see Kostya. Go on to Lab X-8, which is guarded by a Merc squad. Hop into the truck bed for cover and snipe them as they approach. When the way is clear, use the information from the ATP and X-10 flash drives, along with the Bolt's PDA information to open the lab door. You can read the code on the Diary > Journal page of our PDA under Personal notes through searching > Search for the code for the door to lab X-8. However, in my last playthrough the code wasn't in my PDA, so here it is:

X-8 Door Code∨

58813972

Clear the lab of Le Havre's men and grab Plotnikov's dosimeters. If you've completed the Find the TOZ-34 and the Uzi task, locate the 2nd order X-8 cache before you leave the lab. Take Syak's case to Skinflint and get the new armor. Get the Freedom Base cache from Matvei's 1st order. Then, go talk to Kostya and get two more tasks, Speak with Sakharov and Find the cache in Pripyat.

The area just inside the coded door where you found Ivantsov's Playboy is emission proof. However, X-25 is not.

Take the suit back to Syak in Pripyat and find Kostya's cache (which contains another Fire Tears that Barman is looking for - in case you missed the first one). Continue on to Jupiter. When you spawn in Jupiter, take a look at your PDA's Diary Journal page for Information from Le Havre's Map to see the locations of two caches there. One in Kopachy Village and the other on the south side of the factory complex. Depending on which transition you used, one of them is near you (see La Havre). Next, give Plotnikov his dosimeters, get Le Havre's other Jupiter cache, and go to Eastern Pripyat. In Eastern Pripyat, go to the flower shop (south of the hospital) for Le Havre's cache. Then, if you've complete Matvei's Find the Ravens Eye artifact and the "AEK-971" task, go to the bookstore and get Matvei's 3rd order cache.

Now go Pripyat > Radar > Army Warehouses and give Kostya the Pripyat cache PDA. Continue on to the Bar and report to Zahar to complete the Find Brother Louis in the Swamps task. Give Barman the Fire Tears artifact. This gives you the Find someone who knows about the missing group of scientists task. Deliver Captain Ivantsov's Playboy and go to Wild Territory to find Gray, who is between the underpass and Yantar transition. Get Gray's PDA and the task updates telling you to talk to Sakharov. Continue on to Yantar and tell Sakharov, "Professor, I need to talk with you." to complete the Find someone who knows about the missing group of scientists task and get the Find the group of scientists in laboratory X-10 and get all the details task. Tell Sakharov, "Good day, Professor. I have a little business for you." and he gives you the Find Vasiliev's PDA task in X-16. Go into X-16's first level, pick up the PDA, and go back up the stairs to exit where you came in. There's no need to go down the elevator shaft (other than Matvei's tunnel stash, which we'll get on our next trip). Return to Sakharov and give him the PDA. You should also have the key from Bring the teleporter to Cross. In turn, he returns the fully functional Handheld Teleportator (URT). Here's how it works:

  1. Select a map from the left navigation. This loads the main window with locations within the selected map.
  2. Select a location.
  3. Select either a Battery or Moonlight artifact. Note that the artifact is destroyed.
  4. Click Enter. It may lag a bit, but you see a white light and then the map loads with an autosave.

You cannot transport to any locations that you don't have access to yet. Before you leave, purchase a second Elite detector.

Owl's Note∨

Return to Radar and take a Gauss with you to X-10 (even if you're low on ammo). In X-10, find and talk to the wounded scientist. Then, kill him to complete the Find the group of scientists in laboratory X-10 and get all the details task.

At this point in the game, I like to park the Lada under the tower in the southeast corner and shoot the side planks out directly above so that when I'm ready to leave, I can climb the tower ladder and jump down to the Lada.

In the Kill Tusk and get his flashdrive task, Owl (one of Ghost's men) was killed. His flash drive contained information about a cache in X-10. Continue through the lab until you get to the last room before the Brain Scorcher. In the northeast corner, jump on the ventilation equipment to find the backpack on top. Taking the note out of the backpack spawns a host of mutants, i.e., Controllers, Burers, and more Bloodsuckers. Once you're out of the lab, take the note to Ghost and tell him, "Ghost, this is for you...". He copies it to your PDA and you can read it under Diary > Journal > The Search for Ghost > Owl's note to Ghost. Then tell him, "Ghost, I have something to tell you..." and he gives you the Find the Engineering Plan task, sending you to Freeman, who sends you to Darkscape to find Tamaz for some drawings.

Tamaz is located in the village west of the Stalker camp with Yurik. Because of the underbrush, you have to get in close. I suggest starting from the southeast corner of the complex. It doesn't take long for Tamaz's men to come at you. Go for headshots to conserve ammo and avoid getting caught reloading. When it's clear, find Tamaz and get the Detailed plan of the Radar bunker document. Take Tamaz's document back to Freeman, who discovers a transition from the Brain Scorcher room to the Sarcophagus. If you're driving, go back to the Bar by way of Garbage.

Safe∨

Collect Fima's necessary items, Cross' Anomalous Bisons (if you have them), and the items listed for Unexplored Land. You can stash the Bisons and Unexplored Land items in Garbage to save room in your backpack. If you go to the Cave using the URT, select the first location to spawn at the Garbage transition. Take the items to Fima and he gives you the Find the box and safe task. Complete the task, return to Miner and say, "I was in the Labyrinth and found the container and the safe." to complete the Find the box and safe task. Next, say, "My investigation concerning my friend is finished." and get The Way to the Unexplored Land task. If you have Doc's Medallion, say, "Hello Miner, I have returned." The conversation results in the Get 2 flashlights for the Miner task. Complete the flashlights task before you go to Unexplored Land. If you have Cross' Anomalous Bisons, take them with you when getting the flashlights as the task takes you to Forgotten Forest. If you still don't have them, they are used by the Avengers in Unexplored Land, so you should be able to fill the order soon.

Doc's Medallion task is unlocked by the Deliver the dynamite to Lukash task. You will be getting your own Camouflaged Exoskeleton soon and can complete the dynamite task. You'll have to make a special trip to complete the Medallion and Flashlight tasks.
Unexplored Land∨
A few notes about this map: When you spawn, you once again get a message that some of your artifacts have turned to Cobblestones. You can avoid this by dropping a backpack in Garbage before you transition. Just be aware that the transition back to Garbage doesn't open up right away and you have to complete a task without your artifacts.

The map is full of Avengers. They like to sit along the paths waiting to ambush. They also have the paths mined in several spots, so stay a few feet next to paths instead of traveling on them. You need to have your Firefighter Outfit from the Labyrinth to use the Fire Cave's Lower Entrance (this comes later on, so you don't need it right away). Also, bring the following items:
  • Two Elite detectors you bought from Sakharov
  • A Plasma Caterpillar artifact
  • A Gauss (either a standard or Ghost's)
  • Five Chimera Claws
  • 70,000 RUs

When you spawn in Unexplored Land you are greeted by Astrologer. Finish the conversation and go north to find Hermit's camp. Hermit sends you to find a box of ammo that fell out of a helicopter. Go north up the path to where a helicopter drops of two Loners. Talk to one of them to get more information. Then continue north to the swamp. Along the way, find a dead tree on the right (east) with a limb high over the path. Turn left (west) to look for Le Havre's cache. The path turns east and runs north of the swamp. Find the boulder along the north edge and go directly south and right of the small boulder in the water to find the box along the south edge of the pool. Return with the box to complete the Find out about the box task. Then, go north of the camp to find the Old Man. Talk to him and then go into the cave and find the Gynecologist. He gives you the Learn about the medicines task. Since he doesn't want you to kill anyone, you need a Camouflaged Exoskeleton. When you talk to Cyclops the transition to Garbage opens and you can get your artifacts back.

Use the URT to teleport to the Sarcophagus Wish Granter area, or use the X-10 teleport (which puts you on the opposite side of the area). While you are there, you can look for Charon's cache. You spawn in the northwest corner of the room, safe from Monolith for the moment. Remember this spot as there is a transition to open nearby later on. Lukash's cache is up near the roof and two of Charon's possible locations are on the way. The Camouflaged Exoskeleton suit has a weight limit of 100 kg, so you may want to cache anything you don't need for now so you can put the suit on as soon as you get it.

  1. Go south to the campfire and up the ramp.
  2. Use the slabs on the left (south) to get on top of the wall overlooking the main (larger) area. Be aware that you are visible to Monolith below.
  3. Turn north and, staying on top of the wall, follow the wall on the east side.
  4. At the north end, find a backpack in the corner. This is the first possible Charon cache location. If it's not there, go back south and drop down to the campfire.
  5. Turn west to the opening in the wall and sprint-jump to the ledge.
  6. Follow the ledge to the north side until you reach a ladder going up. If there is no backpack, continue on. This is the second possible Charon cache location.
  7. Climb the ladder and look south to see the end of a truss going north and south. It's actually two I beams put together.
  8. Make your way to the west side of the truss and move along to the south end. You may need to take out some Monolith to reduce the fire coming at you. But be aware that more are coming.
  9. At the south end, find the backpack between the south wall and the truss running east and west.
  10. Put the Camouflaged Exoskeleton on and make your way back down the ladder. Remember that the suit only keeps you invisible for about 25 game-time minutes. You may need to find a safe spot to take it off and put it back on again.
  11. Go back to the opening in the wall near the first Charon cache location.

If you did not find Charon's cache, see Charon for the remaining possibilities. If you dropped a backpack at the spawn point, retrieve it and use the URT to teleport to Cordon. If you took out both BTRs during the Kill Tusk. Part 2. Bring the documents to Ghost task, teleport to the west of Cordon's southern checkpoint. Go south, watching for mines, jump over the fence, and go east. If either BTR is still there, teleport to the dump north of Sidorovich's bunker and go east to the fence, south over the fallen tree, and along the south wall to the road. Go to the square two-story building on the west side of the road and up the stairs. Collect the medicine on the floor and syringes on the bed. If you have Skinflint's unique suits task, go across the road and get them, then go back to Unexplored Land. If you haven't completed the Deliver the dynamite to Lukash task and subsequent Doc's Medallion, Get 2 flashlights for the Miner, and Anomalous Bisons tasks, do this now. You can also Get the commanders orders while getting Lukash's dynamite. Take the orders to the deserter before moving on.

In Unexplored Land, give Gynecologist the medicine and talk with Jora about the safe. He gives you the Learn about the batteries task. Talk to the Old Man about the Fire Cave and then to Hermit about the location. Take the Camouflaged Exoskeleton and go east to the west edge of the large pond. Find the glow of a teleport. Walk to the teleport, turn northeast, and low-crouch to find the opening. As you approach a Bloodsucker spawns. Take out the Bloodsucker and follow the passage to the teleport. You are transported to a large boulder west of the large pond. Notice the Hunters nearby, you will need to visit this camp later on. And you may wonder why I had you go to the pond only to be teleported back to this spot. It's the only way to trigger the next character.

Carefully get down from the boulder and cross the valley to the east by southeast toward the pond again. Go about halfway up the mountain and look for a boulder. The western entrance is just to the south. You should see a friendly NPC named Pilgrim as you enter the cave. Talk to him and get the Find Pilgrim's Cache task. With the Camouflaged Exoskeleton suit, this is a simple fetch. You must pass an Avenger camp along the way. Go east along the path that runs south of the swamp to find the quarry (remember to stay off the path to avoid the mines). Approach the excavator from the southwest to jump on the tread. Work your way up to the west side of the cabin to find the backpack on the floor. Give Pilgrim the contents and he gives you Old Man's watch. You must come back for the batteries in 90 game-time minutes. Give the Old Man his watch to open transitions to Dark Valley and Army Warehouses.

It seems that you must give the Old Man his watch before Pilgrim will give you the batteries. I once tried sleeping in the cave next to Pilgrim for five hours, but still had to give the Old Man his watch and come back for the batteries.

Once you get the batteries from Pilgrim, give them to Jora. It may not come right away, but shortly after completing the Learn about the batteries task you get a message from Hermit. Go talk to him and get the Learn about the Ultra Detectors task. Talk to Hologram and get the Learn about the Elite Detectors task. About this time you get a message from Adrenaline. Ignore it for now until you complete the Ultra Detectors task. Give Hologram the detectors and a Plasma Caterpillar artifact and he sends you to Cyclops for a hint on the cache with the Ultra detectors.

Go back to Garbage and to the east end of the garbage pile south of the Flee Market. Find the backpack on the west side of the big dead tree. Take the detector to Adrenaline at the Agroprom factory and keep one for yourself. When you complete the task you get a message from Gynecologist that Cyclops has the safe open. So, back to Unexplored Land. Talk to Gynecologist to get the Learn about the floppy disk task. Talk to Cyclops for another hint, which opens a transition between the Unexplored Land and Labyrinth. Take the Gauss and Firefighter suit, and use the transition.

In Labyrinth, use the Gauss on the little green mutants while you take the left of three passages, left at the first circular passage, and then three rights to get back to the small passage guarded by three Burner anomalies. Throw a bolt to activate the anomalies and go into the passage. Just ahead is a wounded Merc with the disc beside him. Take the disc and tell the Merc, "Give me a one [sic] good reason I shouldn't put a bullet in your head right now, merc." When the conversation is finished, go back the way you came and get a message from Gynecologist. Talk to Gynecologist to complete the task and get a message from an unknown stalker telling you to make a copy and give it to Astrologer. Then, talk to Cyclops about the flasks needed to make the medicine and open the transition between Unexplored Land and Army Warehouses in the northeast part of the map, as well as to Dark Valley on the east side. See Reagent Flasks for instructions and return to Gynecologist with the flasks. While you're in Army Warehouses you may want to stop by and complete Skinflint's Find the unique suit task.

When you give Gynecologist the flasks, he tells you that he needs items from the Fire Cave and gives you the Find the power supply and the circuitboards task. He sends you north of the quarry to locate a key that will disable one of the teleports guarding the cave. Take the Firefighter suit with you and go to the eastern swamp again. Continue northeast past the swamp toward the small boulders on the map. Approach the anomaly field from the northwest toward three small boulders together. On the opposite side (southeast) is the teleport deactivator. Take the key to the eastern swamp entrance to the Fire Cave. Make your way through the passage taking care not to drop your weapon or fall through the hole and meet up with Pilgrim again. He agrees to help get the formula from the snipers and lets you search the cave for the other items. You can change out of the Firefighter suit if you want.

Continue north to explore the cave. Notice that the passage closes behind you and you can no longer get to Pilgrim. At the first fork, go left and find a small room with two circuit boards. Pilgrim doesn't seem to mind if you help yourself to the items in the dynamite box. Exit the room and turn left. Continue on south through the passage to find another small room on the left with two power supplies (and again the passage closes behind you). This deactivates the teleport at the opening where you first met Pilgrim. These are all the items you need for Gynecologist. Continue on through the passage and turn left to exit the cave. Go southwest back to Gynecologist and report to complete the task. You get a message from Pilgrim that he messaged the Avengers. Go speak to Chimera in the trailer and get the Kill Sidorovich task (and for some strange reason, you also lose the teleport deactivators).

Report back to Gynecologist and get the Learn about solutions task, sending you to Owl (a different one), a veteran Hunter on the mountain between the eastern swamp and Hermit's camp. Gynecologist gives you five Chimera Claws and 30,000 RUs, but Owl is going to want 10 claws and 100,000 RUs. Add your Chimera Claws and go northeast in the same direction as the eastern pond, only slightly more north. On the map, there are two large boulders in the southern central area. Owl's camp is just north of the northern boulder. When you talk to Owl he gives you the Learn about the Controller corpse task that sends you to Radar. The Controller weighs 70 kgs. so be sure you can take on that much weight. Go to Radar, and to the hole in the fence near X-25. Stay west along the rocks, past the large tree to two large trees together. Find the Controller between the west tree and the rocks. Carry it back to Owl, who says, "Screw this, you're asking too much." but does the job anyway.

Tell Owl you have the payment and he tells you the head is over by the wood pile, which is at the north end of the camp. Take the head to Chimera, but he doesn't give you the formula. He does, however, mention a cache with some formula, which is all Cyclops needs and he sends you a message. Chimera also offers a reward for finding a missing girl, but no task or information on how to go about finding her. Go back to Cyclops to get a hint on the location of the cache, which is in Radar.

Go to the Radar complex and through the south opening on the west side nearest the Yantar transition. Use the ladder on the left to go up to the platform, then another short ladder to the next level. Use the broken duct to get to the roof of the L-shaped building along the south wall. Go east to the hole in the roof and use the going northwest to southeast to enter the building. Turn left (south) down the hallway. Find the backpack, doll, and flasks in the first room on the right (again, you can put the flasks in an artifact container). Take the flasks back to Gynecologist and he sends you to Cyclops for one more cache (a backpack on the ground next to the tractor in Bloodsucker Village). Oddly, Gynecologist leaves you with two flasks. If you search the profuser (after talking to Cyclops), you can leave the last two there. You get a message from Fang telling you to meet him and Pilgrim at their new base, i.e., the Fire Cave. Take the Firefighter suit on and use the eastern swamp entrance. Again, no task appears on your PDA list.

Warlab∨

Your conversation with Fang opens transitions between Radar and Warlab, which is the door opposite X-25. There is also a transition between Warlab and X-16 that opens later. When you spawn in Warlab, there is a fight between Monolith and Mercenaries. My advice is to wait until the shooting stops, then go in and clear out any survivors (check your minimap for friendlies). There are two survivors that you cannot get to yet. Find the Mercenary with a notebook and take it to Fang, who is now in Army Warehouses. If you're looting the dead and have too much to carry in one load, drop a backpack outside the Warlab door and cache your loot there, not inside the Warlab (but don't leave the map until you're done looting). In preparation for what's to come later:

  1. Starting from the entrance, go to down the stairs to the right (west) of the guard/reception office (not the room with the hole in the floor).
  2. Go to the far (southeast) corner under the other stairs and break out the wooden planks covering a doorway. Continue on and break the planks covering the ladder down.
  3. Go back to the guard/reception office and down the steps to the room with the broken out floor.
  4. Turn left (south) through the doorway and follow the hallway into the room with a large platform.
  5. Go down the stairs and drop down (don't use the ladder) in the southeast corner.
  6. Follow the passage to the last area on the left.
  7. Go about half way and drop a mine, then to the end, going around the anomaly. This spawns a Bloodsucker on the opposite side of the anomaly. Hopefully, the mine takes it out. There's a wooden box of ammo and an empty backpack that you may need to check later.

Take your Camouflaged Exoskeleton and go meet Fang on the farmstead next to the Freedom Base. Fang sends you to Lukash, who gives you the Find the ring task that takes you to the Labyrinth. First, go the Bloodsucker Village, pick up the cache from Cyclops, jump over to ATP for Charon's Blue flashes cache, and on to the Wild Territory. Using the Wild Territory to Labyrinth transition puts you at the top level in Labyrinth. However, Spider is most likely on the second level somewhere near the coded door. Starting from the Cave transition reduces the number of Monolith you have direct contact with. Either way, find Spider and get the ring. This starts a message exchange between you and Lukash. The end result is the Meeting in the Warlab task.

When you enter the Warlab, turn right (west), down the stairs into the room with the hole in the floor, drop through the hole, and meet with Panther. She gives you the Retrieve the walkie talkie task. Give the walkie talkie to Panther and get the Get the stuffed psuedodog task from Dembel. Go back to Panther get the Disk for Panther task, which is a priority. Enter the Radar complex from the south, turn right (east), and find the lieutenant in, or near, the building set into the hillside. Take the disc back to Panther, get the Bring the suit task, and take your Camouflaged Exoskeleton with you to Dark Valley. Find and kill Lucky to get the suit for Panther. You can use the Camouflaged Exoskeleton if you want to go to Borov's office and grab the stuffed pseudodog on top of the cabinet in the southwest corner. If you took the Bring Old Documents, 4 Suits and a PDA to Akim: Part 4 task, get Akim's PDA and then on to Charon's Dark Valley cache.

Go back to the Warlab and break out the first lower glass pane before giving Dembel his trophy and Panther her suit. Another Merc, Dushman, shows up and blocks your way out. No one seems to mind if you take out the Merc guard to the right, either. Otherwise, you'll have a tough time with this next part. Low-crouch next to the left wall and talk to Dushman through the broken out pane. Keeping low protects you from friendly fire. Talk to Dushman, but only get close enough to be able to talk (too close and it doesn't go well), staying inside the room with Panther. Click through the conversation quickly (you can read it later) and jump back while Panther and her crew clear the lab (you'll probably land on the couch). When the last Merc is down, talk to Panther and again to Dembel. Leave the lab and report to Fang who is now in Rostok east of the Arena entrance. Next, take Lukash's ring back.

Oddly, the two surviving NPCs from before are gone and only Panther's crew are counted on your minimap. No worries, they'll be back.

When you ask Lukash for your reward, he gives you another task instead, to escort Vitamin's group to the Warlab. At this point you get a message from Panther that she's leaving the Warlab. Talk to Vitamin, who is standing behind you, and get the Help Freedom - Lead the group task. Meet Vitamin in Radar at the Army Warehouses transition, and lead the group to the fence opening to Warlab (they stop there). Talk to Vitamin again, and then move on to the Warlab. Inside, help Freedom clear out the pseudodogs. Vitamin turns off the teleport to the secret lab and stands in the same spot as Panther did. Talk to him to receive a Gravity Gun (needed for the Find the military survivor task and very useful for getting artifacts out of anomalies). Now you can access the secret lab:

  1. Go south through the doorway and follow the passage left (east) to the next room with a catwalk around three sides.
  2. Drop down to the next level and go east through the doorway into the far elevator shaft.
  3. Climb up the ladder to the third level and into the secret lab.
  4. Find the ecologist, Lazy, in the orange suit and talk to him.
  5. Make your way up the stairs to the next room and talk to Klenov, who gives you the Speak with Victor Hologram task. You get a message from Fang and Cyclops, too.
Unfinished Business∨

The storyline is about to go in a direction involving new maps and characters. This is probably a good time to take care of some open tasks, such as:

There is also a task to get more Kostya caches. You can use the URT if you have the artifacts to fuel it and start with Matvei. Take a Gauss in case you run into more spiders, Bloodsuckers, Chimeras, etc.

  1. Complete all Matvei's orders, or as many as you can.
  2. Assuming you filled all Matvei's orders (or at least transported all that you have to his base), use the East Pripyat to Jupiter transition and start the Find three flashdrives on Military corpses and bring them to Kostya task. You don't actually get the task until Kostya gets the information from the PDA. You will be visiting the locations later and can get the flashdrives then. While you wait for Kostya to arrive, you can get Matvei's Jupiter and Jupiter Underground caches.
  3. Find the Passenger car somewhere in Jupiter cache.
  4. Go to the Jupiter factory and find the Jupiter machines cache.
  5. Get the Jupiter Underground cache.
  6. Get the Pripyat caches.
  7. Go to ChNPP-1 for Charon's cache, Sakharov's bag, and Kostya's flashdrive.

When you've done all you can, or care to do, go Pripyat > Radar > Army Warehouses > Unexplored Land. If you're driving, leave the Lada near the transition. Get Matvei's Unexplored Land cache and continue on to Hermit's camp. Talk to Cyclops and get another cache, then to Hologram about the Bring Victor Hologram to Klenov task. Lead him to the Army Warehouses transition using the path going north from the camp. Try to keep Victor away from the mines in the path or the task fails. Then join up with him again in the Warlab. Bring along 10 Cobblestone artifacts and the Heart of a Poltergeist artifact if you have them, and go talk with Klenov. Use the elevator shaft to go down to the bottom level, switch to the other shaft to go up to the third level with Klenov's lab. After giving Klenov the artifacts, go to Rostok and meet Fang.

When you spawn in Warlab, you may see Victor walking down the steps. Wait for him to get to Klenov's lab before continuing. You get a task update when he does. If you get to the third level before Victor, he vanishes and you can't complete the task.
Red Forest∨

Talk to Fang and get the Find Denis in the Red Forest and rescue him task. The Red Forest transition is along Radar's south cliffs near the east corner. Before you leave Radar, take two Gold Chunk artifacts to Ghost. He gives you the Find 2 Gold Chunk artifacts for Ghost task (which you can complete right away), and then the Find the 3 Monolith Diaries in the ChNPP-2 for Ghost task. With the Gravity Gun, you may want to explore Radar for artifacts. Then move on to Red Forest.

When you complete the first task in Red Forest, you have access to a Gauss rifle and ammo, so there's no need to bring a sniper rifle. However, you may want to bring Ghost's Automatic Gauss for better/quicker rate of fire. You will need something for the mutants, e.g., shotgun.

When you spawn in Red Forest you get a message and new task, Help the group of stalkers. Talk to Shadowman and agree to help them clear the Mercs off the bridge to Limansk to complete the task and get the Help stalkers capture the bridge in the Red Forest task. You can either stay with the group or move up the road and take the Mercs on yourself (and collect all the loot). Talk to Shadowman again when the bridge is clear to complete the task. Be sure to check the backpack in the truck bed on the Limansk side of the bridge. Now move north to the mine.

Denis is in the Red Forest Mine, along with a couple Controllers, a Bloodsucker, civilian zombies, and kamikaze rats. You may want to first check on the stalker camp just outside the north gate to be sure there are no Mercs or Monolith. Next, find Denis and give him a medkit. A band of Mercs spawns in the mine blocking your escape. Go to the barred gate and take out as many as you can, but keep an eye on your bioradar as some will follow your path in. Escort Denis through the Mercs to the Red Forest north gate. When you get Denis to the camp you automatically send Fang a message. Denis couldn't find the documents, so Fang suggests you talk to Forester and gives you the Bring the documents from the Red Forest to Fang task. Get the documents, stash any loot you have collected (there's stash boxes at the north gate, north transition to Radar, and the bridge building's upper level), and cross the bridge into Limansk.

Limansk∨

Limansk is full of zombies. A shotgun with darts or slugs work the best (save the Gauss for mutants). Make your way through the city to meet Borman, a Freedom Master. He gives you the Help Borman task that has several steps to it. Continue on through the city and clear out the construction site. You get a task update when you get the last Monolith sniper. However, there may be more enemies between you and the jammer. At some point you get a message to Meet with Professor Sakharov, which you can ignore for now. With the construction site clear, go outside to the west and find the radio jammer in an open shipping container. Take the jammer back to Skinflint at the Freedom Base in Army Warehouses. The transition where you spawned in Red Forest actually goes to ATP (the Radar transition is north and you spawn in the northwest corner of the radar complex - surrounded by the Military). There may be a small stash box of items in the middle of the road going south near this transition. Be sure to check it if it's there.

Go ATP > Army Warehouses and talk to Skinflint. He needs five hours to work on the jammer (take note of the time). While you're waiting, go to Rostok and report to Fang. He sends you to the Rookie Village to talk with Astrologer (this does not show on your Tasks list). But first, go Wild Territory > Yantar, complete the following:

  1. Kostya's two remaining flash drives (just get the drives and wait to take them to Kostya)
  2. Cachein Laboratory X-16
  3. Matvei's tunnel cache
  4. Bring the bag to Sakharov
  5. Meet with Professor Sakharov and get the Find the courier in Radar task.

Complete the Find the courier in Radar task and then go meet Astrologer in the Rookie Village. Astrologer asks for Fang's map, and then asks you to kill Panther. Tell him you'll think about it and that you must see Sidorovich about something (which is just an excuse to leave). You then get a message from Fang that Pilgrim is missing and the Pripyat to Old Village transition opens in Pripyat (south of the Bus Station). But before you meet Pilgrim you need to get Matvei's Cordon cache and finish in Limansk. So, check the time and make your way back to Army Warehouses to pick up the jammer, and then back to Limansk. If you need to kill some time before picking up the jammer from Skinflint, check the Garbage piles for artifacts (using the Gravity Gun to avoid anomalies). Once you have it, put the radio jammer back where you found it (you must drop it from your backpack: you don't get a prompt).

Continue north through the construction site to the Hospital transition. In the hospital, talk to Cat and lead the Loners through a gauntlet of Monolith and Bloodsuckers. When you drop through the hole at the end of the second section, the Find the Black Doctor task is complete and you talk to the Black Doctor. At the end of the rather lengthy conversation, you pass out for a couple of minutes. When you wake up, continue down the stairs and through the doorway. You are then transported to the first section and can talk to Cat if you want (it's optional). Then leave the hospital (you have to hop out of the hole at the entrance) and report to Borman that the jammer is in place to complete the Help Borman task. Now go from Limansk to Red Forest, get the Cachein Red Forest, and continue on to Radar > Pripyat > East Pripyat > Jupiter. Be aware that when you spawn in Radar, you are cornered by Military. Jump up on the ledge to the east and sprint along the fence to escape the complex.

In Jupiter, go to Yanov Station and give Kostya the flash drives. He gives you the next task, Find two flash drives and bring them to Kostya. Go back East Pripyat > Pripyat and use the Old Village transition.

Old Village∨

When you spawn in Old Village you find yourself in a trap with Pilgrim and one other stalker. Talk to Pilgrim and learn more on the situation. Try to walk through the teleport and you get sent back (this is necessary to continue). Another stalker, Kolmogor, disables the teleport and comes in. Talk to him to get the Help Kolmogor task. This leads to the Help capture the headquarters and Find out where Panther is tasks. As you complete the headquarters task by entering the house, you send a message to Panther. Talk to Kolmogor and get the Survey the village task. Upon completing the task, a transition to Limansk opens and Panther responds to your message telling you she's in the Swamps. Go Limansk > Red Forest > ATP > Rostok > Wild Territory and get the Cachein the Wild Territory. Then, go Yantar > Agroprom > Swamps.

In Swamps, if you still have the commander's orders task, go west and follow the fence to the opening. Slip on the north side and go to Skinflint's Deserter. Give him the orders to complete the task. Next, go south to Find out where Panther is. Once you complete that task and are back in Old Village, talk to Kolmogor and get the Protect the village task. Completing this task opens the transition back to Pripyat. Afterward, talk to Pilgrim about him staying with Panther and get the Speak with Klenov task. Head to Pripyat > Radar > X-8, get Kostya's flash drive, and continue on to Warlab. At some point, probably near or in Warlab, you get a series of messages about Panther running off.

Generators∨

In Warlab, talk to Klenov and he gives you the Find the psi-antenna task. Go Dark Valley > Garbage and get Kostya's Garbage flash drive, and continue on to Cordon. In your travels, be sure you have enough Battery and/or Moonlight artifacts to power the URT at least four times. But do not take any to CNPP1. Also, leave all but essential artifacts behind for now. The best place to leave them is in a backpack on the stair landing between Radar and Warlab.

Complete the Find the psi-antenna task and leave the Warlab. As you do, Panther sends you a message explaining why she ran away. You send Pilgrim a message telling him you're on your way to him. You must complete all Ghost tasks before going any further. You should have the Find the 3 Monolith Diaries in the ChNPP-2 for Ghost task, which is the last task given by Ghost. Using the URT, go to the Monolith Control Center exit (last of the three options) and refer to the Ghost Tasks section. Once you give Ghost the diaries, go Pripyat > East Pripyat > Jupiter and give Kostya his flash drives. The next task is to retrieve flash drives from Jupiter and Pripyat. Since they're nearby, find them and turn them in to Kostya to get the Find the last flashdrive and bring it to Kostya task. Go East Pripyat > Pripyat > Old Village.

In Old Village, talk to Pilgrim. This starts a series of messages ending with Ghost offering to meet you at CNPP1 (take a Gauss with you). Before you leave Old Village, find Kostya's final flash drive. Next, go back to Jupiter and give Kostya the last Flash Drive. He then gives you the Find the Military Cache task. Now on to CNPP1.

At CNPP1, get inside the gate and go west to the road. The Chimeras you cleared out before have respawned, so be aware as you follow the road west until it turns northwest and go between the building on the left (south) and a short retaining wall on the right (north). You must go under a series of large pipes. Continue west to the next set of pipes, which are highly radiated with a hoard of Pseudodogs at the other end. The first pipe is broken off and low enough for you to jump on. Hop from one pipe to the next to stay safe from the Pseudodogs. Stay on the last pipe until you clear the area. Use your binoculars to check for any remaining mutants. Then, go to the end of the short retaining wall, turn northwest, and find Ghost in the northwest corner of the area. Talk to him and he leads you back the way you came to a gate just east of where you encountered the Military officer and BTR. Ghost stops here for you to talk again and he gives the transition coordinates. Then, proceed to the transition.

In Generators, you again have some artifacts turn to Cobblestone. Talk with Ghost and he leads you to a pond north of the Loner camp. As you start out, take note of the road with the closed gate as a landmark for later. When Ghost stops, talk to him again and continue south to the camp. At the camp, approach the guarded root cellar doorway and get a message that you must talk with Countryman. Countryman gives you a choice of paying for information or the Shoot down the helicopter task. The task is fairly easy.

If you accept, take your Gauss toward the closed gate at the north part of the map. As you cross the center part of the map with the generators, watch for the helicopter up over the road in the north. You only need two or three hits with the Gauss to take the helicopter out. When the chopper crashes, go back to Countryman and report to complete the task. He tells you of a scientist, Andersen, that escaped the base and is being guarded by Fritz. Go to the root cellar and talk to Anderson. As you do, another helicopter arrives carrying Black Doctor. Talk to Black Doctor, then to Ghost, then back to Black Doctor to get a ride to the Swamps and the Find Boatswain task. Walk up to the helicopter behind the landing gear to get on board.

A little bug here where Fritz moves back in front of the door and won't let you pass. Just back off a few feet until you see the messages between him and Countryman, and he moves out of the way.

Back at the Generators, talk to Boatswain and then to Andersen to get the Bring the gamepad task. Using the map in the Detailed Task Information, go to location 5 and climb up from the northwest using the tree branch/root and find the gamepad on top. Take it back to the camp, talk to Andersen, and then to Boatswain to get the Disable the Psi-antennas task. Take Boatswain to the base as far as possible until a counter starts and you have eight seconds to get back out of the danger zone. Wait for him to disable the antennas, sending you messages on his progress. Sometimes Boatswain gets stuck in the base, so be sure to watch his marker on your PDA Zone Map. When he returns and stops, talk to him and then go back to camp and talk to Ghost. There are some SMS messages from Fritz and Black Doctor's associate, Sapsan. After Fritz agrees to go along, talk to Ghost again to get the Save Panther task and start for the base's front gate.

After clearing the base, you get a message to check the tunnel between the fire pit and guard tower. You may encounter a couple more Monoliths down there. When you reach the other end of the tunnel, you see Astrologer getting into a helicopter and Panther lies dead. A series of SMSs comes in and Black Doctor heads your way. When he gets there, talk to him and then to Ghost. Head back to camp and talk to Boatswain. You pass out, watch a movie, and awake with no game-time passing. Now talk to Ghost to get Panther's Notebook with the code to open the Generators to Warlab door. This prompts another series of SMSs with Black Doctor ending with the Get the dossier task.

First, go to the base, open the coded door, and clear out any mutants. These stairs lead to the stairs between Radar to the Warlab. So, when you go down the stairs to the transition, you spawn on the landing between Radar and Warlab. Go up the stairs to Radar and down the stairs to Warlab. If you stashed your extra artifacts here, you can go through the transition, collect them now, and return to Generators.

Once you open the door, complete the dossier task. With the dossier, open your inventory, put the dossier in your pistol/weapon 2 slot, close your inventory, and activate the dossier. It's in Russian, but you really don't need to read it as there are more messages sending you to Unexplored Land (and bring your Firefighter suit) with the Find the cave task. Use the new passage to Radar and go through Army Warehouses to Unexplored Land. In Unexplored Land, take the path to the right (west).

Saving Fly∨

There is a plateau in the far northwest corner with large boulders. You can see someone on your minimap and bioradar. Low-crouch under the boulders to find the cave opening and complete the Find the cave task. You message Fang and he replies that you should come to the Fire Cave before trying to enter. Go back east toward the swamp where you found Hermit's ammo and clear the area of mutants and Avengers. Continue south to clear the way and check to see if Fang is in the Fire Cave's lower entrance where you first met Pilgrim. If not, continue up the hill to the other entrance and put your Firefighter suit on. Find and talk to Fang, and then lead him back to the secret cave. To do this, you must stay in the valley or pathway and go north, and then west as Fang will not follow you up a steep incline until you get to the northwest where he must in order to get to the cave.

At the secret cave, Fang disables the teleport protecting the entrance. Go down two ladders to the girl, Fly, and talk to her. Fang sends a message that someone is coming, so leave the cave and wait with him for the helicopter to land. When Panther and Astrologer get out, go talk to Panther, and then back to Fang. Finish talking to Fang and Fly comes out of the secret cave. Follow Fang as he leads Fly to Hermit's camp. Along the way you exchange messages with Panther, and when you enter the camp you get a message from Gynecologist. Go talk to him and get the Get the artifacts from Klenov task. Next, talk to Fly and get the Find an old doll task, talk to Fang, and then head for Warlab by using the Army Warehouses transition.

As you travel, you will need a Ruby Spring artifact in the very near future, which you should have in your cache from the caches given by Matvei Kulinar and Charon. You may also want to use the Camouflaged Exoskeleton to get the doll. Get the artifacts from Klenov, Fly's doll, and return to Hermit's camp. Give Fly her doll, talk to Fang, and head back to Rostok to talk with Voronin by way of Army Warehouses. As you approach the northern Duty checkpoint, take a moment to get the Cachein the Wild Territory.

Voronin agrees to help, but needs a few minutes before he sends a message about the helicopter crashing in CNPP2. This gives you the Find the flight recorder task. Do not leave Rostok until you get the task. If you leave the map, you don't get the task and there's no flight recorder.

You have a few options for getting to CNPP2, and you need to take the Ruby Spring artifact with you. The shortest way without using the URT is Army Warehouses > Radar > X10 > Sarcophagus > CNPP2 and take the Camouflaged Exoskeleton. The Sarcophagus to CNPP2 transition is in the northeast corner of the upper level. Put the Camouflaged Exoskeleton on, go south to the ladder, and east over the truss. If you use the URT, select the flaming smokestack spawn point and you don't need the Camouflaged Exoskeleton. The flight recorder is west of where you spawn.

The Sarcophagus to X-10 transition is in the northwest corner of the Wish Granter room directly north of the spawn point from X-10. The X-10 to Sarcophagus transition is in the Brain Scorcher shutoff room, southeast corner.

Use the procedure for Cacheat the ChNPP-2 to get to the helicopter (Burning Roof). The flames do no damage and you can walk through them unharmed. Go west, instead of east, to get to the flight recorder. This triggers a message exchange with Fang, who warns you not to trust the Military. You/Strelok decide to continue examining other helicopters. Continue the Cacheat the ChNPP-2 procedure and take the staircase all the way down. To the northeast is another helicopter with two black armored bodies. Get the information from both to get the Get to the crashed helicopter from the ventilation stack task and either jump down to the ground using the tank at the northeast corner of the roof (you will take some damage), or go back over the rail on the west side of the platform and follow the linear teleport path to get near the ventilation stack. When you get to the elevated walkway with a large pipe on either side going east and west, go east to the broken out section, turn south and jump to the roof with the two tanks, and climb down the ladder. This puts you on the ground west of the ventilation stack. There are some Monoliths waiting there for you. There is also an anomaly at the bottom of the stack blocking access to the ladder.

With Monolith out of the way, stand on the edge of the anomaly and drop the Ruby Spring artifact from your backpack (don't use the Gravity Gun). There is a white flash and the anomaly is gone. Remember the rifle trick when climbing ladders and climb up to the second catwalk giving you access to the helicopter pilot. Get the artifact and continue up for a bonus cache if you like, or make your way back down.

Use the URT or go east to the ATP transition, and then on to Rostok. Take the black box to Voronin to start messages between you and Fly's grandfather. Then, head back to Hermit's camp. Talk to Fly (be sure to take the Water Flower artifact out of your artifact container) and then wait for the helicopter to come in from the north. Fly tells everyone goodbye and leaves. Notice the box of ammo left as your reward. Talk to Fang and then head east to the swamp. At the swamp, give the injured crew member a medkit. Talk to him to start more messages. Put the pictures from the crew member in your pistol slot to view, and then go to the secret cave location. When you get near the area where Fang covered you while you talked to Panther, another series of messages starts and you get the Turn on the third generator task.

Go Army Warehouses > Radar > Warlab > Generators. Talk to Andersen and get the Disable the jammers task. Go out the south opening in the wall (watching for mines) and to the east side of the small fenced-in area. There are two openings in the fence, each guarded by an anomaly. However, you can jump onto the top of the fence and then drop down inside. To disable the three jammers:

  1. Get as close to the teleport in the southeast corner and jump the fence. You should see the first jammer on the east side of the southeast transformer.
  2. Go west between the transformers to find the second jammer on the north side of the southwest transformer.
  3. Turn north to pick up the third jammer on the west side of the center transformer.
  4. Now go to the northeast corner and find the fourth jammer inside the broken-down transformer structure. Notice the backpack cache.
  5. Go back to the teleport in the southeast corner that puts you on top of the southeast transformer.
  6. Sprint-jump northwest to the outside edge of the center transformer, taking care not to step on a mine.
  7. Sprint-jump to the southwest transformer and collect the cache in the stash box.
  8. Sprint-jump to the northwest transformer and pick up the last jammer.
  9. Jump back over the fence and report to Andersen.

Andersen asks you to speak with Vitamin about cooperating their efforts. After a series of messages, a meeting takes place and they decide you need to clear out Monolith in the north. This task doesn't appear on your PDA's Tasks list. Take out any Monolith at the northern gate, then go to the fenced in area at the center of the map to observe the third (southwest) generator. Once you are in position (directly under the wires), a series of messages are sent until the generator starts operating. Fang sends you a message to meet in CNPP2. Before you leave, check the area for another stalker and go talk to them. Go Warlab > Radar > X-10 > Sarcophagus > CNPP2. Again, getting from one end of the Sarcophagus to the other may be easier with the Camouflaged Exoskeleton.

In CNPP2, go north to the road and turn right (east). Follow the road and meet Fang at the northeast corner of a long building just west of the ventilation shaft where you found the Heart of the Poltergeist artifact. He tells you of a plan to ambush Astrologer. Go east to the northeast corner of the building north of the spot marked on the Detailed Task Information tab of your PDA. When you are in position, you send a message to Fang and several Monoliths spawn all around you. As you fight them off, Fang sends you a message to return to the meeting spot. As you approach, Fang drives off in a BTR to intercept Astrologer's helicopter. There is a large explosion. Follow after Fang and clean up any surviving Monoliths. You get a message from Black Doctor telling you to return to the Hospital. Use the URT or go Pripyat > Old Village > Limansk > Hospital.

At the Hospital, you get a message that the properties of some artifacts have changed and you receive two more. Go to the third (southern) section again to find Panther in a stand-off with Black Doctor's men. Note that the teleport blocking the doorway is removed as you approach. Black Doctor messages you when you walk through the doorway. Move into the room and walk over the mound toward Panther on the left side of the pillars (and not between the wall and pillars). As you pass the second pillar, Strelok responds. This starts a few messages, and then they all put their guns down.

If Strelok does not respond to the Black Doctor, you may have missed the spot that triggers it. Try moving back and forth along the left pillars (as you're facing Panther) between the doorway and Panther.

Use the mound east of Panther to access the second level and make your way around to the Black Doctor. Talk to him, then to Panther's Father, then again to Black Doctor. Go into the room with the white circle and drop the Heart of the Poltergeist. There's the usual white flash, followed by a second white flash to let you know that the transformation is complete. Take the Good Luck Stone artifact and talk to Black Doctor again. Choose to save the girl and go to the alcove next to her with the Springboard anomaly. Drop the Good Luck Stone artifact in, wait for the second white flash and the Compase Isomorph artifact, and go talk to the revived Fly. Next, talk to Panther and leave using the south transition to Agroprom. There's no need to wait for Fly.

In Agroprom, talk to Ghost, then wait for the helicopters to land and have a meeting. As they all fly off, Arhara shows up. Talk to him and then to the other stalker waiting by the Cordon transition. Jump into the teleport bubble to land on top of the Agroprom factory smoke stack. Jump down into the next teleport bubble to land in the watch tower nearby. Wait for a series of messages and then head for the Bar.

Finding Lighting∨

At the Bar, talk to Associate Professor to get the bug removed from your PDA and trade messages with Lighting. Use the URT or go to Army Warehouses > Radar > X-10 > Sarcophagus > Monolith Control to find Lighting in the northwest part of the map. Give her a medkit and talk to her to get the Find the wanderer in Limansk task. Now go back the way you came and go Radar > Red Forest > Limansk. Make your way north through the Construction Site to the house shown in the Detailed Task Information image of your PDA. You may notice a dead stalker to the east, which is the wonderer. However, you must use the teleport to get to that location. Enter the house from either the south or east entrance and use the ladder in the southeast room to the attic. Crouch to get through the east window and work your way west to the teleport bubble. You spawn in an enclosed area with the dead wonderer west of your location. Pick up his notebook and read the entry. Now go back east to where you spawned and turn north to find the teleport back to the house with the first teleport. A Loner, Yuri Semetsky, comes out of the north side of the house. Talk to him to open a transition to the Generators and learn about some 5.45x39 Isomorph ammo in the same room of the house as the ladder.

Trade messages with Ghost and go to Generators. Find Ghost and Maximilian in the northwest corner of the map. Talk to Maximilian and get the Find the Teleporter in the Sarcophagus and Take a photo tasks. You'll have a chance to pick up the Cachein the Old Village and Cachein Limansk. Take the picture back to Maximilian and talk to Ghost. Put the Isomorphicdetector on your belt (it requires two spaces). Your next task comes after you trade messages with Fang, Open the door, for which you need your Camouflaged Exoskeleton. This starts a series of Fang tasks ending with Find the Forester.

When you complete the Find the Forester task, (picking up from the Devilish Encampment) go north to the tank, where there's more big game. A transition to the Warlab is in a cave northwest of the tank, but the cave has a couple of land mines in it. Plus, as you approach, a pack of dogs and pseudodogs spawn. Jump on the boulders nearby to deal with the mutants. Then, shoot the mines from a distance to blow them up without taking any damage. The transition puts you in the Warlab basement. Go north, then east and up the ladder. Go up the stairs and around to the doorway in the northwest corner of the room, around the hole in the floor to the doorway in the northeast corner. This hallway puts you near the elevator shafts where you can use the far one to access the third level and talk to Klenov. He gives you the Take photos for Klenov task. Once you complete this task, head back to Monolith Control Center to Meet Lightning.

If you have anything to trade with Sidorovich, bring it along and go Radar > X-10 > Sarcophagus > Monolith Control. Talk to Lightning and drop the Crystal Isomorph first, and then the Globe Isomorph into the teleport. If you don't see a white flash, pick the item up, move closer to the teleport, and try again. Have your big game weapon ready should you need it. Talk to Lightning again and follow her instructions. However, she doesn't send you to Yantar but to Garbage instead. You get a message from Panther in the Rookie Village, so go see her. At the Garbage to Cordon transition is a Loner named Hog, who needs your help and gives you the Return the stalker's belongings task. Hog gives you some information that will be helpful in the near future. I usually find the Flesh with the loot in the northwest corner of Garbage, but check the ones between the swamp and the Forgotten Forest transition along the way. The reward is a backpack at the base of the large tree northeast of Hog.

At the Rookie Village, talk to Panther's father and follow him to Panther, but stay near the top of the hill. Once the bomb goes off, sprint down and pick up any mines that didn't go off. Otherwise, they'll go off when you don't want them to. Notice after the explosion that the most of the Loners turn from friendly to neutral, and may even punch you. I'm not sure what that's about.

After exchanging messages with Panther's father, follow him back to the village and talk to him again to get the Find the killer task. This starts a series of messages with Klenov, then Ghost, and finally Chernomor. Stay close to Sidorovich's bunker while talking with Klenov. Once the messages stop, go back to Yantar (by way of Agroprom) and talk to Chernomor. He sends you back to the Rookie Village to use the camera and determine which stalker is the Last Day member. Go to the peak of the house south of the bonfire and use the binoculars as before to locate the target area. Use the camera and put the picture in the pistol slot to view. Then, go talk to that stalker, and give the picture to Panther's father. Now get your Camouflaged Exoskeleton and an anomalous M-16, and move on to Find the stranger at the Freedom base.

The PDA Detailed Task Information for the task shows the watch tower on the south end of the bridge. Climb the stairs to the top platform and stand on the northwest corner. Find the target area with the binoculars and take the shot. Then, go down and talk to the Last Day member to get the Overhear the conversation task. Now head for the Unexplored Land transition from Army Warehouses. The large boulder is near, on the right side of the path. It's a good idea to clear the area of mutants first, to avoid the meeting participants from getting distracted. Stand on top at the east edge to get a message that you're in the right spot and wait until the meeting to overhear the plan. When Evil of Last Day leaves, go down and talk to Maximilian. Wait for another message exchange between Maximilian and Evil, and then you get the Find the teleport and use it task. Now go south to the Garbage transition and on to Agroprom.

Enter the Military base from the north and go through the opening in the wall on the left (southeast from the north gate) near the tower. Go to the tree in the northeast corner and, from the northeast side, jump to the first limb. Turn north to find the backpack. Stash the anomalous M-16 and Camouflaged Exoskeleton suit in the factory complex. Take the backpack contents to Sakharov and ask him about the teleport. On the north side of the helicopter there is a blade touching the ground. Use this to get on top and, continuing south, move to the teleport.

In X-16, collect the artifacts and document, read the document, and then go east (toward the dead scientist's head) and locate the cable with the teleport. Save and holster your weapon to avoid dropping it, low-crouch under the rail, and drop down to the cable. There are two ways to finish this task:

Stay inside the capsule until you get a message about the artifacts being transformed and then you get transported to the hanger roof in the factory complex. Move to the east edge near the north side and drop down to the tank below. Use the ladder to reach the ground and go out the front gate. Talk to Chernomor again and report to Lighting (Radar > X-10 > Sarcophagus > Monolith Control). Drop one artifact into the teleport, pick up the items that are returned, and watch Lighting leave. You then get the Find and activate the portal task. Go back the way you came and continue on to Red Forest and Limansk.

Dead City∨
The teleport to Dead City has a security system that prohibits any weapons except a knife or sword, 9x19 and 9x18 pistols with magazine capacities of 13 or less, sawn-off shotguns, and what ever suit you're wearing. You will have a chance to pick up weapons that use 5.45x39mm and 5.56x45mm ammo, so bring some of each. You can also take under-barrel grenade launchers, ammo, and scopes. The Gravity Gun is prohibited. There's a safe to store the prohibited items and it's recommended that you bring your favorite weapons to store there, along with the following:
  • Burner Anomaly capsule
  • Snow Anomaly capsule
  • Compass Isomorph.
  • Slime artifact
  • Droplet artifact

In Limansk, go to the north side of the Gastronom building and push your way through the door. The next door is slightly open and you can shoot the box blocking it. Save before you go through the door. Sprint to the right corner of the room putting the first pillar between you and the auto-firing security system. Toss a grenade toward the next door (putting it behind the invisible security system). The security system explodes and you may take some damage. If a grenade is too much (and you take too much damage), try a rifle-launcher. With the security system out of the way, walk up to the keypad and enter the numbers on the note in the cigar box you got when you dropped the artifact in Lighting's teleport. Now walk over to the white circle on the floor, but not too close, and drop the cigar box into the teleport in front of the switch. If you get too close you get transported to the north side of the room. When you drop the cigar box, a white light flashes and some ammo spawns at your feet. Now stand in the white circle, pull the switch, and you are transported to the room with the Dead City portal. You must remove all weapons indicated in the warning. Also, remove the URT and Monolith Teleport. Walk up to the teleport in the center of the room and get transported to Dead City (after the cut-scene).

In Dead City, you are greeted by Evil, Last Day's leader. Talk to him and move around the city's west side. Keep to the outside of the map to avoid the city's protection system. If you get too close a timer starts and you have five seconds to get a safe distance away. Also, you won't be able to draw your weapon until you get some distance away from the spawn point.

After talking with Evil, you get a message from Perfumer, who is waiting at a large pipe coming out of the city's northeast side. Talk to him, and then to Sanya the Tyumen, leader of the Loners. Sanya gives you the Rob the bandit camp task. Complete this task and get a message from Perfumer giving you the Find and protect, if necessary, the Controller task. After you talk to Norman there is a series of messages with Obmorok ending with him giving you a meeting location. Again, stay to the outside of the map to avoid Obmorok's men from seeing you. If they do, try to avoid contact (you may need to Quick Save when you reach the meeting spot and load the save to get them to retreat). Find the fuel truck and walk behind it to trigger a message to Obmorok that you're at the meeting spot and get the Get out of Dead City task. Talk to him and he gives you the Positioner, which goes in your pistol slot and gives you 10 minutes inside the first security belt.

Put Norman's map in your pistol slot to see the cache is northwest of the square. Put the Positioner in your pistol slot, enter the city from the northwest, and take out any resistance along the way. There are two doors facing the northwest. The left (west) stairway is heavily guarded, but provides direct access to the cache. The right (north) stairway is unguarded, but requires you to walk up a beam and jump on top of the walls to get to the cache in the southwest part of the attic. Get the items in the cache and put Norman's crossbow in your rifle slot. Move northeast to the platform overlooking the square. When you are in position, you send a message, but your weapon may become inaccessible. If this happens, move back away from the square until you can draw your weapon again. Don't be distracted by what's happening on the southwest part of the square. Focus on the Sports Complex building on the opposite (northeast) side. You may need to move back into the attic until you can draw your weapon again. Watch the ground floor for a green scientific suit. Unless you get a headshot, you need to hit him twice. Remember to shoot high as the darts will drop a little. Once you kill the Head of Area Protection, sprint for the ATP teleport, which is between the southeast road and south corner of the map. Don't wait for it to show on your map, get to the area as soon as you can.

As you make your way to the transition, watch for a Last Day squad either before or after you jump to ATP. You must kill them all in order to get the next task from Norman, Find the cache in the Agroprom. Once you have the Teleport Module, get your Camouflaged Exoskeleton and an anomalous M-16. Go back to Limansk and make your way to the Gastronom building again. Notice the Dead City transition on the south side of the building. Before using it, go back into the basement, stand in the white circle to be teleported to the secret room, and retrieve your equipment from the safe. This Dead City teleport no longer works. To leave the secret room, throw the switch in the northeast corner of the room. Now use the transition south of the building.

You spawn on the road going into the city from the northwest. Looking at the map, this is the transition to Limansk. There is also a transition to Wild Territory on the road going southwest, and the ATP transition on the southeast road still shows on the map. However, you get a message that it is disabled. You also get messages from Obmorok and Sakharov (asking about his wife). The west corner of the city is circled to show Perfumer's approximate location. Go to the house in that corner and talk to him. Perfumer calls Duda to make arrangements. When he finishes, talk to him again to get the Release the hostage task.

With Doc free, there are more messages. Wait to leave the building until you get a message that Zone A is disabled, then go out the back (southeast) door and make your way north to the building on the northeast side of the square. Clear the building and find Lighting. While you exchange messages, you cannot draw your weapon until there is a white flash. Then, you get a message from Perfumer to find Sparks' note (this task is not listed on your PDA). The note is behind Lenon's bust in the entryway of the southwest building. Pick it up and Perfumer walks through the front door. Talk to him and then use the Positioner to find the transition, which is in front of the school. Walk into the portal to go underground. Walk northwest, a message is sent to Perfumer, who wants to join you, but don't wait. Move ahead and blow up the barrels as you go. The dynamite boxes don't blow until you walk past them, but don't do much damage. Eventually, you get to the Zaton transition.

Both large buildings on the northeast and southwest side of the square have caches on the roof. The northeast building also has a security system like the basement in Limansk. There is also a cache in the room where you met Duda.
Zaton∨
At the time of this writing, many of the conversations had not been translated to English yet. So, not all of the tips and instructions are clear. Also, a cache is better than cash. If you find you have a lot of Rubles, buy from Karagoz, even if his prices are high. You can also see Serge about getting your equipment repaired, but you must complete the Find oil for Serge the repairman task before he offers any services.

You spawn in the Zaton sewer near the Stingray 5 crash site with Norman and Perfumer. A Monolith squad tries to stop you, but Norman takes them out. Examine the dead soldiers and put the notebook in your pistol slot to view the drawing. You examine Stingray 5 while the others head to the stalker camp. You get a message from Perfumer that you're needed at the stalker camp, which is just northeast of Stingray 5. Approach the Loners and get a message from Robinson, their leader. Talk to him and get the Meet with Beard task.

Continue north up the road, through the Sawmill, to the house on the north side. Find Beard in the northwest corner of the house and talk to him. The conversation is interrupted by a message that two Bandits were caught. Go out the front door to find Obmorok and Kit from Dead City. Wait through the message exchange until Beard sends you back into the house and up the ladder to the attic. The stash box is at the north end. Get the weapons and talk to Beard again, who is now back in his original spot inside the house. He gives you the Get to the barges task. Then, go out and talk to Obmorok first and Kit next. Follow Kit up the hill to the radio equipment and talk to him after he looks at the green box and then at the sphere. Then, go back and tell Obmorok that you're ready. Follow him to the Skadovsk and talk to him when he stops outside the door. You may need to open the door for him if he gets stuck. Talk to Karagoz, the bartender, then up two sets of stairs to Grandfather, the Bandit leader. He sends you back to Karagoz with the Examine the barge task. Go to the repair technician, Serge (in Call of Pripyat, Owl's location), and get the Find oil for Serge the repairman task.

Go out and talk with Kolka the Goby and he guides you to the Shevchenko. Kolka waits outside the ship while you go in. There are dogs and bats to deal with and buckshot is very effective. When you kill the last bat you get an update to talk to Kolka. Do that now before he runs back to the Skadovsk, and you get the Meet the bandits on the old barge task. Next, explore the ship, pick up any dead bats, and find the two corpses. The corpse on the very top deck has the transistors you need for Kit. The capacitors are in a stash box sitting on the ledge of the ship's north stack. To get to it, jump on the north side railing of the top deck and sprint-jump to the beam that connects the two stacks. It's a tricky jump and you may over-shoot, taking some damage if you do. So, you may want to quick-save first.

Check your map to find Vaseline and go talk to him. Enter the Old Barge (Noah's home) through the north side door, turn left, and go up the stairs to the deck. Continue up to the pole going across to a mined wooden platform with a ladder. Climb the ladders until you get to the top platform with the satellite dish. This platform is also mined, but you should get a message from Fang when you reach the top of the ladder. Go back down and talk to Vaseline again and get the Explore the situation at the substation task. After finding Vaseline's backpack, take the road north to the Sawmill, give Kit the items from the Shevchenko, and talk to Beard. He gives you the Find the strange hunter task. Complete the Follow the Bat task, return with the documents, and talk to Bloodsucker Hunter.

Return to the substation and drop down the elevator shaft. Use a Gauss on the moving green anomaly and proceed north to the doorway on the left. Go to the locked door in the northwest corner of the room and wait for the door to be unlocked. Go through the door and, ignoring the Bloodsucker, continue north to the stairs on the left. Go up the stairs and talk to Elsa. She gives you the Work as a postman task.

Translation∨
The remaining conversation with Elsa goes something like this: Marked One, "You are wrong, one more scientist survived. He died before my eyes when I found him in X10. Not that it matters, but how did you get here?. Did you run away? Then I'm impressed that someone at that your age could escape from a dangerous group. Pretty spectacular." Elsa, "No, it was different. About a month ago, they decided to bring me here to Zaton. Not far from this building we were attacked by bloodsuckers. I thought it was my end, but for some reason they did not touch me. During the confusion of the fight I managed to escape. Coming down here, I found that these bloodsuckers followed me. Since then they have been living here. I study them and they protect me." Marked One, "Interesting story. But how did you get past the bandits? There was a whole brigade of them upstairs. Or did they come here after you came down? And just one more question: you said you were in hiding for your husband's safety. What threatens him?" Elsa, "There were no bandits back then. As for my husband's safety - I heard several times that they are watching his laboratory. And if I had appeared there, I would certainly have brought trouble for him." Marked One, "That's understandable. You need to eat something. Or do bloodsuckers throw their victims to you? Heh..." Elsa, "Jokes on you... I still have some connections..." Marked One, "Okay - if you don't want to tell me. Can you share some more information?" Elsa, "I will, but only on one condition - you tell my husband that I'm fine and give him this notebook. It was carried by one of my escorts when he was killed by the bloodsuckers. I managed to pick it up. There are some notes that will be of interest to him." Marked One, "Good, I'll pass it on. It will be a pleasure to give him such good news, I mean about you, he he. By the way. Do you know that the people you worked for create weapons of mass destruction and use them?" Elsa, "I had no idea how they intended to use it. But I doubt it could be used as you say. These are charges from the energy of rare artifacts and they can only kill by direct contact. But you are mistaken about the true goals of these efforts, they are completely different. By the way, if there weren’t fanatics and some other inadequate ones among them, I probably wouldn’t have run away." Marked One, "Care to share information about their goals and bases?" Elsa, "Simply put, you won’t get to their bases, don’t even try. I will answer the rest of the questions to the best of my knowledge, but next time." Marked One, "Well... Thanks for that, too. Obviously, I will have many more questions for you. And Professor Sakharov - I'll have to tell him that you're alive - let the old man rejoice. I'll be back soon."

Now go southwest to the passage going west and drop down into the drain pipe (you must throw a bolt to discharge the Electro anomaly, or wait for the anomaly to cycle like the one in Cordon). Go south to the Dead City transition, and then to Wild Territory > Yantar. Talk to Sakharov to complete the Work as a postman task and get the Return to the bar in Zaton task.

Translation∨
The untranslated part of the conversation with Sakharov goes something like this: Marked One, "In the meantime, I'm going back. I'll do my best to get her back to you as soon as possible. Also, eliminating the cause that prevents her from returning is also in my interests. By the way, she says that your laboratory is under surveillance - so be careful here - do not go out without a good escort.

When you talk to Karagoz, he gives you the Detect the thief task. Complete the task and he gives you the Meet with the hunters task. This takes you to a camp southwest of the Oakpine anomaly, back to the Skadovsk to talk to Grandfather, then to the Substation Workshop.

Translation∨
The conversation with Scarab goes something like this: Marked One, "Hey, man. I passed nearby and you seem to be neutral. Actually, Karagoz gave a tip where to look for you." Scarab, "Hello. We are neutral to many. We don't get into other people's business. What does the bartender (have to) say?" Marked One, "Yes, here's a token of friendship, a gift to you from him. Or debt, I don't know. And I'm here on business - they say you were the first to inspect one of the crashed helicopters. I interested both at someone's request and on my own behalf." Scarab, "Wow... Noble causes. Didn't the bartender have someone who could get them? A helicopter did crash here near the substation. You're not the only one who's interested in this. Some other guys came and asked questions about it, too. Well, we said that apart from a couple of corpses, weapons, provisions and a few photographs, there was nothing there." Marked One, "What kind of photos?" Scarab, "Yes, so - everyone here knows the nearby Floating Island." Marked One, "Looks like you're a little out of touch... Your brother, Zahar, didn't treat me like this." Scarab, "Zahar? Ehh... That was a long time ago... Zahar is something - he sits at the bar and collects profits. About the pictures - a man was standing on this damn island. Who he is, how he got there and where he went is unknown. The picture is not good, only the silhouette could be seen. Definitely not military. Either he was dropped there from a helicopter, or by teleport. Well, since you came with a gift - I'll give you a tip - I gave that photo to Broadway." Marked One, Broadway? Who is this?" Scarab, "Well, how can I tell you, he is either a brother, or some other relative of Grandfather - the leader on the barges. And like relatives often are, they don't get see eye to eye on some things. So, this Broadway has a small base - further down the road, in the gas station. But I do not advise you to go there - they will shoot you. And if you shoot people there - I think Grandfather will not be particularly happy either - enemies are enemies, but still relatives. So, before you try to meet with Broadway, you may want to consult with Grandfather." Marked One, "Yes, man, valuable information. If I come across any rare mutant trophies, I'll bring them."
The untranslated part of Grandfather's dialog goes: Grandfather, "I think you have the diplomacy to end your conversation amicably. Here is the backpack. It contains several small solar panels. I'll make a mark in the PDA where this hack is." Marked One, "Don't follow me."
The conversation with Broadway goes something like this: Broadway, "Hello... What kind of people are messengers for my brother. Well, he's beginning to come around. Did you bring the goods?" Marked One, "Hello. I am my own messenger and work for myself, however, I'll work for anyone who helps me. But - first - I need a photo - what Scarab gave you." Broadway, "Photo? That was not part of the agreement. But then - take it - I don’t even need it - I don’t know and haven’t seen what's in the photo, but if I do see it, I’ll remember without a photo." Marked One, "Do you design models? Radio controlled? A friend of mine was engaged in this business - it was even before I came to the Zone... Judging by those panels, you are probably doing something that flies." Broadway, "I have it already done. That's it there. And yes, it flies. Not only that, but also photographs. However, there is one problem - the model is small and cannot lift a full tank of gasoline. Additional power sources are needed. Just like the ones you brought." Marked One, "Flying and taking pictures, you say? I don't believe it. I knew one Kulibin here - so even he could not launch... (Note: Ivan Kulibin was an 18th century Russian inventor. Marked One's reference is probably to a mechanic.) Broadway, "Eh, don't you believe it? Why argue? Let's wager 10 RUs. Do you have it? If so - excellent - consider that it is no longer yours." Marked One, "I don't mind paying you if you're right." Broadway, "Where to send the flying machine? The radio connection here is bad, so I decided to do it differently - I just set the flight coordinates. Are there any coordinates?" Marked One, "There is. Here they are. But how can you prove the drone was there?" Broadway, "I installed a camera. Follow me and prepare to pay up." Marked One, "I'm coming, I'm coming) He he..." Broadway, "I'll add the coordinates...Hmm... Strange... Ah, well, that's better, now all that remains is to wait. It's been flying for a long time. Did you give me the right coordinates?" Marked One, "Let me take a look. Strange, there is nothing interesting on it." Broadway, "What did you expect to see there? If there is something, it is probably hidden from the curious." Marked One, "Okay. Thanks. Come on."

Follow Broadway out the door to the helicopter drone. Wait for the drone to return and talk to Broadway, who gives you a picture that you put in you pistol slot to view. When you finish with Broadway, you get a message from an unknown sender to meet at the Waste Processing Station in the southeast part of the map, and you get the Explorer the garbage factory task.

Translation∨
Unknown, "Hello. Don't ask who it is. Someone told me you needed info. I have it. I will wait at the old waste processing plant - on the first floor. You will search - you will find. Yes, look carefully."

When you get to the specified location on the first floor, you are attacked and pass out.

Translation∨
Unknown 1, "Aha... Gotcha, darling. Looks like he's still alive..." Unknown 2, "So what? We'll just take the money. Who knows who this bastard is... Someone may see his gear on us - who knows what will happen. Let's go." Bloodsucker Hunter, "What did you get your ass into. I told you - be careful, do not poke your nose where it doesn't belong... Bronka rescued you - it seems - just a bruise. It may suck now, but you'll feel better later. Although - often the opposite is true - if it's good in the evening, then it will be bad in the morning... I'll pour some bloodsucking medicine on... In an hour you will be healthier."

When you come to, Bloodsucker Hunter is there and your money is gone (this is the last time you'll be robbed and you can cash in any loot you want). Talk to him and he gives you the Find the Bloodsucker task.

Translation∨
Marked One, "What the hell did you put on me? How did I get here?" Bloodsucker Hunter, "Well, I was on the move and saw some bloodsuckers run off. Some of them are tame, they live on a plateau, not far from here... I looked and thought someone was either drunk or wounded... I looked closely - a familiar person. I warned you - do not go where you shouldn't. And the ointment is healing, mostly used on dogs. True, bloodsuckers will stick to the odor like flies if they smell it. Heh... Bronik saved you, or maybe - the artifact on your belt - you got a bruise in the chest and a black eye. You asked for it. He he." Marked One, "Bloodsuckers? It painful, but tolerable. I'm a fool - I fell for someone else's information. You said you have a request. And I owe you, tell me what needs to be done? I still remember you mentioned that you would need a sensor that your friend hid." Bloodsucker Hunter, "Are you ready? Zadanice is not very typical... I have several bloodsuckers. They are almost tame and are used to me, and they won’t touch others, if they don’t make a fuss. But one - completely out of hand - aggressive, angry. Just like a person, excites the rest. It's business - it is necessary to eliminate that one. I tried - it won’t let me get close, and I don't know how the others will react in such a situation... Poisoning will not work - others will also be poisoned... You can try to eliminate the troublemaker, the rest - should not touch you. Although not a guarantee. But there is a plus for me in this - they will be offended by you, and not by me, I'm sorry. Specifically, kill the one before others go berserk, and don't touch the rest. It's best to be quick about it." Marked One, "And where are your bloodsuckers and how will I determine who needs to be eliminated?" Bloodsucker Hunter, "You will find the bloodsuckers on the hill. The way there is simple - from the village where we first met - go along the road through the burnt farm - and then - beyond the ravine and you will find them on the hill. How you recognize him is up to you. He'll probably jump on you and try to have dinner. Don't fall asleep. If you do the job, I'll give you approximate coordinates where there may be my deceased friend's cache. While you are gone - I will go to the pioneer camp - in the old place and we will meet." Marked One, "Wow! I mean, I just have to wait until he pounces on me himself? This should be fun. However, I owe you my life, so I have no choice. Deal."

After that, he gives you the Find a device with a sensor for the Bloodsucker task.

Translation∨
Marked One, "Hello. I have returned." Bloodsucker Hunter, "Well, he's back - it's good. How'd it go?" Marked One, "Success. I found the creature with the restless disposition. About the rest, not to worry... They survived." Bloodsucker Hunter, "What, did the rest of them take offense? Or did the bloodsucking ointment distract them? He he. Okay, it's done. As for my friend's device. The hiding place is probably in one of the caves. He often explored them, all the time looking for bats. By the way, one cave is very close to the place where one of the crashed helicopters lies. Don't forget to rummage around, maybe you'll find something. You will find the entrance to that cave on the hill - the one behind the big crater." Marked One, "That doesn't sound too bad. Where is the crater?" Bloodsucker Hunter, "From the gas station, go along the road towards the former waste processing plant. Just before you get to it- on the right side you will see it. Behind it - the desired plateau. So have you been to those places before??? From that crater, a piece of earth came off - the one that is called a Flying Island..." Marked One, "OK. If the cache is really in one of the caves, then I will bring you your device."

When you finish with Bloodsucker Hunter, take a Burner Anomaly capsule, Snow Anomaly capsule, and the Compass Isomorph, and head for the Dangerous Cave to Find the military survivor (select for translation).

Talk to Bernie and get the Detect and find the drone task. Immediately step out of the cave and look to the northeast sky to find the drone. Shoot it until it begins to smoke, then take the road south over the bridge and go west, passing on the north side of the Krug Antenna Complex. Find the drone west of the antenna complex, pick up the photo device, and return to Bernie. Talk to him to complete the task and get the Speak with Elsa Sakharov task.

Translation∨
The second conversation with Bernie goes something like: Marked One, "I shot down your drone - it has nothing to fly with... I found a photo device in it. I understand that you have access to the insides of this thing. You can extract the information, download it to your PDA. There are no printers in the Zone, even the Bartender writes his menu by hand." Bernie, "Is there something interesting?" Marked One, "Interesting? And for whom is it interesting???" Bernie, "Well, to the world..." Marked One, "Hmmm... It was wrong to deceive you in training for this task... The photos in the memory of this are probably worth a lot to someone. You will give this thing to someone who needs it - for a report, or maybe they will increase in rank. I exaggerate - at least - the death of your friends will not be in vain. What kind of equipment did you have on the drone?" Bernie, "I don't know. Probably the standard - infrared scanners, cameras and so on. Surely there was something else - such as radiation sensors, spotting anomalous areas..." Marked One, "Got it. You'll have to look yourself. When will they come for you? Is there a plan?" Bernie, "I do not know for sure. Inform. Yes, that's just one problem - for some reason all my devices for determining coordinates got confused with local anomalies, but I don't know the territory. There is food, thanks to this man." Marked One, "Good. Eh, if only they didn’t send another group of suicide bombers to search. I myself am not a big connoisseur of the local attractions... If I'm nearby, I'll drop by. Here, as a keepsake of the zone - one contraption - the artifact is called, you can show it to your friends."

Take Hunter Notes (that you got from the Follow the Bat task) to the Krug Antenna Complex building and down the elevator shaft. Talk to Elsa and get the Find Guilder task.

Translation∨
Marked One, "Hello. You have been (here) for quite a while. You must have had time to study this underground a bit. I found a burnt notebook by the crashed helicopter. It contains calculations and figures, as well as directions to this basement. But the code is incomplete... can you tell me (the rest)?" Elsa, "The code is probably for the console that is installed behind the breach in the corridor. Naturally, I was interested in how to turn it on and what would happen next. I failed the first one - I'm not a hacker, but according to the documents that were here, I can predict an approximate reaction. But - why do you need it?" Marked One, "I don't know yet, but there are a lot of coincidences. It turns out that many were interested and are interested in this remote control. I hope that after its inclusion there will be no second Fukushima..." Elsa, "There is nothing to explode here. By the way, these numbers in your notebook are familiar to me. Yes, that's right... the code should be quite long. I've seen it before. Maybe it's a coincidence - but that's how the code for unlocking the security system in the Dead City began..." Marked One, "Oh, so interesting. That's no coincidence. Do you remember the code numbers?" Elsa, "I remember how many hairs on the tentacles of the bloodsucker, but I don’t remember, or rather, I didn’t even try to remember this code. Go to Dead City - in the control room, in the building with the bust of Vladimir Ilyich, you may find it. Only you can’t get into the control room itself - the doors will withstand a shot from a cannon, and I never knew the code from them." Marked One, "OK. That's something. Tell me, who knew the code for that door? Do you know Spark?" Elsa, "Spark? How do you know this name? Poor girl... All these troubles are clearly not for her. Yes, she knew the code, but now she is under arrest at the base, which is near the bridge. And is she still alive... You can't get into the base. It's protected by a security field. However, this zone is freely accessible for group members." Marked One, "Taxi... You mentioned that you still have some connections, maybe friends..." Elsa, "Maybe. But - these are my friends, not yours. I've already told you too much..." Marked One, "Give me the name and where to find your uh... friend. In exchange, I'll give you papers on the genetics study. Remember the bloodsucker hunter's companion? He was a good man... He was studying mice, bats. He was recently killed by snipers from the Last Day, apparently for no obvious reason. I have his papers. I don't need them, but for you they are a treasure trove of observations and calculations." Elsa, "Killed? He's a scientist... Okay, find a man named Guilden. He is neutral, from the locals, supplies the base with artifacts, maintains contact with local bandits and stalkers. I will mark his location on your PDA - this is the place where he often visits." Marked One, "Here are the notes. Hope to see you again. Yes, here are the hunter's observations and calculations..."

Guilder's camp is just south of the Dredging Barge, so this is a good time to pick up Serge's oil (if you haven't already). Then, talk to Guilder and get the Spark. Release. task.

Translation∨
The conversation goes something like this: Marked One, "Hello. My name is Strelok. Sakharov sent me, Elsa is her first name. I was told to come speak with you because you're the leader here." Guilden, "Leader? Hmm... Leaders are found elsewhere, not here. We are just free stalkers with connections, and, accordingly, our own income from these connections. What did you say, the old lady is still alive? Cunningly, she deceived the local leadership... Well, since she referred you - I'll listen to you. My name is Guilden." Marked One, "I need some advice. They say that at this base, which is up the road, a girl is being held. We should help her." Well, you blurted out... For your information, she turned out to be the main assistant in the collapse of the clan's defense system in the Dead City. But - it bound to happen on its own... Wait, wait... Shooter? E... So you're the one responsible for the Dead City pogrom? There's a price on your head. It's amazing that you're still alive. I will say one thing - it will not be possible to perpetrate a pogrom here. The base is protected by a deadly zone and it will not work to turn it off from the inside. Yes, the girl is at the base and she is being guarded." Marked One, "But you, as an accepted outsider, will be able to enter the base?" Guilder, "Yes, we can go to the base. You are not welcomed. If you want to try, go for it." Marked One, "To protect what's inside, you are yours. What do you want for help in releasing Spark?" Guilden, "Uh... You play it cool, but direct. You don't play around. Yes, but we don’t need anything - we have everything we need. It's just impossible to use it here. Money is money, and you can't buy a Mercedes in the Zone, and if you do, you won't go far. And to go beyond the perimeter - it makes no sense. What to do there, in the God-forgotten territories of the former USSR? After all, you are just a Shooter, and not an old Hottabych (Russian comedy/fantasy), and therefore, you don’t have a magic carpet for flying towards Europe or America." Marked One, "Yes, there is no carpet, but there is an idea. It can be obtained from one local Aladdin. He knows the local places and coordinates, as, indeed, I do. Or rather, he knows the coordinates, but only the earth is local, anomalous, knocked down all the instruments... and you know the area." Guilden, "Who are you talking about? Are you cheating?" Marked One, "Not at all. Have you seen the drone? You won't see it again. In short, I offer a deal. Since I can’t get to the base yet - you, risking your asses, or show some ingenuity in how you go about it, free the girl and put up a fight. After that is my concern. Well, maybe not to America, but fly to a faraway place. I give you my word. And I do not throw words around. I can't say more - it won't make sense to you right now." Guilden, "Something dark. You are telling some stories. Although, you can take a chance - quietly remove the guards... It is impossible to agree with them. Only after - you have to run - these people will come at you from every direction. I hope you are not wasting words. You just don’t go further than the first gate, so that the guards don’t notice you ahead of time." Marked One, "So we agreed. I'll be waiting near the first gate. If anything, I will cover the retreat, but if you are quiet, then this will not be required."

Follow Guilder south along the road. When he passes the gate to the east, stop at the guardrail where you can cover the gate. If you get too close to the building, you die instantly. When you get a task update (which should be, "Cover the escape."), take out any Last Day. When Guilder, his companion(s), and Sparks are safely away, return to Guilder's camp.

Translation∨
The conversation goes something like this: Marked One, "Fig se...(obscene hand gesture) You call that, "quietly"? A tank would be quieter." Guilder, "That didn't work out well. The girl is with us. Cover the retreat, otherwise krantets (I have no idea what krantets is). Meet us at the fire." Marked One, "All conversations - then. Let's go from here in the direction of the burnt village, there is a surprise in the cave. Hope he's still there."

You get another update and send a message to Perfumer to meet in Bernie's cave. Lead the group there, talk to Bernie (you get another task update when you enter the cave), and then talk to Guilder.

Translation∨
The conversation goes something like this: Marked One, "Perfumer, I have a surprise for you. Take your feet in your hands blow on an abandoned pioneer camp. There, at the summer cinema, you will see a fire and a movie-thirsty little man... Wait for me there, or rather, wait for us. If you don’t understand where, ask the Beard. We're heading to a cave near a burned-out village and - immediately to that location." Inside the cave: Marked One, "Here we are. I hope the bird is still here. You wait for me here, and I'll talk to one little man... After talking with the American, we'll talk. Hello, Bernie. I see you're still here. And that's great. I brought some people - they know all the coordinates and places here. If your people come after you, they will help. But there is one condition - you must take them with you - take them out of the Zone, and preferably somewhere far away - closer to one of your bases... I think your leadership will agree, this information is worth sparing the life of a soldier." Bernie, "Hello. This is great. I'm already pretty tired of it. It is not for me to decide whether they will take them or not, but I think that for such help they will be taken to the nearest base." Marked One, "Well that's just wonderful. These guys are good. You will get along. I'll tell them you don't mind. Otherwise, the Shadows of Chernobyl will haunt you all your life... Farewell... I hope you get there safely. I still have something to deal with here - until I solve it - there is no way for me to leave the Zone..." Outside the cave: Marked One, "Well, got the job done. The man's name is Bernie, he's a commando. His group is dead. Don't ask why they were here - you can probably guess for yourself... They'll fly in for him. Necessarily. They don't forget their own. Your job is to act as guides. I don’t know who will arrive - I won’t be surprised if a Russian or Ukrainian vert arrives. You should be picked up, and then - spin yourself - tea is not small children (again, I have no idea what that means). I hope you brought everything of value with you - there is no time to run around the stumps." Guilden, "He didn't lie... Yes, we'll guide anyone that will fly for him. I hope they have a more honest military than... than we think they are. Heh.... Thank you. Maybe see you again." Marked One, "Maybe. Have an ocean view hotel room ready in a couple of months... Heh..."

Lead Sparks south down the road to Bloodsucker Hunter's where Perfumer is waiting. Talk with Sparks and she gives you the code. You get the Find the code in the protection control room in Dead City task.

Translation∨
The conversation goes something like this: Marked One, "Well, here we are. It's not as safe here, but better than being held captive. Do not look too hard at the old guy by the fire - his appearance is a deceptive thing. You may still have a lot to talk about with Perfumer, but I don’t have much time. There are a couple of questions. How to disable death zones in bases? And, most importantly, I need the code for the security control room in the Dead City." Sparks, "The second question is simple. The door code is 24121988. But with the zones at the bases... There is somewhere a remote control that turns on and off the power supply, with the help of which these zones are created. But it is probably encoded and I do not know the code. After the Dead City, you know, they stopped trusting me." Marked One, "It's already something. I think I can guess where that remote is. Okay, I'm off to Dead City. For the time being - stay here - I hope the three of you - can handle it. If anything, go to the neutrals - the Perfumer knows the way. Yes, thanks for disabling the security in the Dead City, without it it would be difficult to stir up this nest."
Last Day's Last Day∨

In Dead City, you spawn at the west corner of the building that you need to enter, but you're facing the wrong way. Take cover behind the nearby tree, clear your way to the door, and work your way to the second floor. If you can't get inside the building, sprint to the bus stop shelter and start from there, using it for cover. Use the code you got from Sparks to open the coded door and find the laptop. When you pick it up you get a task update to see Elsa. Leave the building out of the south door and get to the portal in front of the school. Follow the tunnel to the Zaton transition.

In Zaton, go back and talk to Elsa.

Translation∨
The conversation with Elsa goes something like this: Marked One, "Are you still here? And I thought the professor was already celebrating your meeting... with shock research..." Elsa, "I understand your sarcasm, but everything has its time. First, you need to finish something, especially since last time you threw in an interesting piece of literature. So, what's your crazy idea? Ah, I shouldn't have asked... everything is written on your radiant face. Cool Sam." Marked One, "Sam? Well, since I'm here, it means everything is buzzing. Sparks is alive and free. I came here to try turning off the remote. Based on your tip, I learned the key from comrade Spiteful's laptop... It's strange, but he had it practically as a screensaver..." Elsa, "Laptop? May I see? In the meantime, you can do what you came for." Marked One, "If you so want - then here it is - but I give it only for a while. Can you turn it on? Uh... Sorry... Yes, and please note that it is not edible. Ouch..."

Sprint toward the control panel in the west hallway and throw a bolt into the Electro anomaly before jumping over the opening. Try the code from the laptop, but it doesn't work. Go back and talk to Elsa again.

Translation∨
The conversation with Elsa goes something like this: Marked One, "This code is not working. Or any variations. Or - and so on and so on. What did you manage to fish out of this pile of chips with a display?" Elsa, "God, your face became distant again.. While you were quietly cursing at the remote control, saying slogans to the one who came up with all this, I managed to recharged the battery enough to learned something. Most of the information is coded, but I can answer your problem with confidence - the remote is working, not a working keypad, or as the former owner of the laptop put it in a medical way - a tablet... I have one single practical advice at the moment - take this dinosaur and go again to Sparks - for a long time she was engaged in just such office equipment when she was a full member of the group. And do not forget to say hello from the old galoshes... Or whatever you called me for the first time..."

Elsa sends you to Sparks, who needs 10 minutes to work on it (a timer starts).

Translation∨
The conversation with Sparks goes something like this: Marked One, "It's good that you're still here. How's it going? I have a problem. I was in the Dead City, I found the right laptop, and there is a code in it. However, it turned out to be fake. Sakharova sent to you - To you she says, "Try this piece of junk... Look, maybe you can fish out something. I don't think the owner was an advanced programmer. Yes, by the way, Sakharova asked me to say hello to you." Sparks, "Oh, Evil's machine. Two core, two gigs and zero sense, the last century. How did he forget this? Probably in a hurry. Give it here, let's see. Take a walk for ten minutes. I installed half of the programs for him."

This is a good time to take Serge's oil to him in the Skadovsk. When you return (and the timer runs out), talk to Sparks to find the correct code.

Translation∨
The untranslated part of the conversation goes something like this: Marked One, "Tax. Great I'll turn off the power supply, remove the protection, and then... We'll see what happens."

Go back to the control panel and enter the correct code to complete the task. You get a message from Evil and the Meet with Evil task.

Translation∨
The untranslated part of Evil's message goes something like: "I'll put the word out. Don't worry, my men won't shoot unless you start first."

Take your Ghost Gauss to the Ranger Station and meet with Evil on the second floor of the large building. Don't get too close, just close enough to open the talk dialog. The conversation doesn't go well, so be ready to close the dialog quickly and shoot Evil in the face. Clear out the rest of Last Day's men and get a message from Bland, and you get the Meet with Bland task.

Translation∨
The conversation with Evil goes something like this: Evil, "I see you've excelled in the art of stalking and are giving us more and more trouble. However, you did not take into account one thing - the gap between what we know and what we've accomplished so far is the same as from here to Cordon. You are unlikely to catch up with us at such a pace." Marked One, "No one was going to catch up with anyone, however - since I decided to pat your nerves - then I will pat you. And it's really time for you to stop." Evil, "Are you talking about bombs? Forget it, we haven't done this in a long time. However, it's up to you. I'm not here for persuasion. I need my laptop. Instead, I offer information. Is it coming?" Marked One, "Information? What else can you tell me? Although, there are a couple more mysteries.., but I will solve them over time." Evil, "Are you talking about the flying island? And there is no riddle with it, just a piece of land. Another anomaly of the zone, with a legend created for suckers like you. Once again I warn you, drop this idea and stop bothering us. Our developments have reached a qualitatively new level, and soon we, and only we, will command the Zone, and then..." Marked One, "Wow, how cool we've become. Don't forget to say - to command the world. Who will let you..." Evil, "Will you forbid it? You are hopeless. The conversation is over. So, for me - a laptop, for you - information. And then do whatever you want. More precisely, what you can, ha ha." Marked One, "Fuck you, master of the fucking world..."

Meet Bland at the Waste Processing Station. Go south, either over the bridge or down through the valley, and find Bland on the second floor. Talk to him to complete the task and get the next lab door code.

Translation∨
The conversation with Bland goes something like this: Bland, "At the next ejection, this piece was torn off the ground and carried to the other side of the Bay. Just an anomaly, but unusual. Did you see the electric discharges around it? It accumulates energy around it. Due to this, it rotates." Marked One, "Why are you telling me all this? You're from the Last Day." Bland, "Over time, I realized that we came here to destroy it all. All the uniqueness of the Zone and its beauty. After that, the capture will follow already outside the zone. I do not want it. I want to stay here in your world. I will leave the clan with my people and try to live as a simple man." Marked One, "Well, good luck with that. Tell me, how long has it been the Last Day in the Zone?" Bland, "Oh, a very long time ago. At first, everything was done quietly and imperceptibly, then they began to act more boldly and these actions did not go unnoticed. The stalker, named Ghost, got to one of the bosses and killed him. For a while, the clan again began to work imperceptibly. But bosses change... Lightning was assigned next."

As you leave, you get a message from Fang and the Meet fang at the gas station task. Go west down the road to the Gas Station and find Fang, Ghost, Arhara, and Pilgrim. Talk to Fang to complete the task and get the Eliminate the Last Day faction task, one of the few tasks suited for a PKM.

Head southwest to the Iron Forest and fight your way to the southwest corner. While your comrades take on a constant stream of Last Day fighters, go west to where the wall ends and go up the slope. This puts you directly north of the building with the lab entrance. Get to the stairs and open the door using the code from Bland. Follow the passage to the stairs and down to the first door (going north). Keep moving as there are enemies coming up behind you. Continue north to the next set of stairs and go to the bottom. You get a message from Lighting that she wants to talk. Drop a mine and enter the room. Find her at the far end of the room. Talk to her and watch her leave. Then, move away from the device and toss a grenade at it to blow it up. There may be a few more Last Day fighters between you and the exit. If none of them trip your mine, shoot it and go back up the stairs. When you get out, you find your friends made it, too. Talk to Arhara and the game is done. You can free play now.

Tasks by Character

Not all tasks are given by characters. This section contains those tasks that are.

Adrenaline tasks∨
Akim tasks∨

Akim arrives at the Cordon's Military Outpost after you clear out the Bandits. He sometimes wonders south down the road, so you may have to go looking for him to complete a task. His first request is for 10 zombie hands. At this point in the game, the places to find civilian zombies are the Cave and Darkscape (where you found Hunter's rifle). There are more in X-16.

After that, he asks for documents:

  1. Bring old documents to Akim
    1. Go to the Duty checkpoint at the north end of the Garbage.
    2. Jump onto the stack of cement black at the southwest end, on the north side of the road.
    3. Sprint-jump northeast to the cement block with a large pipe coming out of the top.
    4. Stand next to, but not on, the manhole cover and Shift+F to lift it.
    5. Move the cover to the side and climb down the ladder.
    6. Turn left (south) to find the documents in the corner behind some pipes. Sometimes the documents are on top of the pipes and you have to climb the metal frame up to a broken ladder to a platform. From there, you can get to the pipe and grab the documents.
  2. Bring old documents to Akim, pt. 2
    1. In the underground, go down the circular steps and follow the path to Strelok's hideout, only take a left at the curved passageway, away from the hideout.
    2. Go up the stairs to the landing with the Fruit Punch anomaly. To get past this, stand just on the edge of the landing and jump over the railing to the other set of stairs.
    3. Continue up the stairs as far as possible to the cave-in.
    4. Standing with the cave-in rubble in front of you, squat and look under the cement on the right to find the document.
    5. To exit, follow the traveling Electro anomaly as with the one in Cordon.
  3. Bring old documents to Akim, pt. 3 - There are four documents to find.
    1. On the second floor east room of the Dark Valley factory building, low-crouch-jump out the window onto the smokestack ledge.
    2. Move around the ledge to find a dead soldier with Old document 3, part 3.
    3. Go to X-18 (don't forget to cache your artifacts) and go to the bottom of the first set of stairs.
    4. On the landing of the stairs, turn to the rubble just left of the door, low-crouch, and find the backpack with Old document 3, part 2.
    5. Go down to the next level and straight (north) down the hallway.
    6. Turn right and enter the room with the large device hanging from the ceiling.
    7. Find the backpack in the southwest corner behind the steaming pipe, and take Old document 3, part 4.
    8. Leave the room and go down the steps to the north into the large room with shipping containers. Notice the two containers with a third on top directly in front of you when you enter the room. This is where the last document is.
    9. Go up the stairs on the right (east) and follow the platform around to the fallen pipe.
    10. Climb up the pipe and continue on to the southwest corner where you can drop down onto another stack of containers.
    11. Sprint-jump to the three containers and drop down to the opening.
    12. Find the backpack inside the container and grab Old document 3, part 4.
  4. Bring Old Documents, 4 Suits and a PDA to Akim: Part 4 - I've never been able to complete this task, but here's what I have found. The document is in X-16:
    1. Go down the elevator shaft and through the next room into the hallway.
    2. Stop at the opening in the floor and search for the document.

    The PDA is in the Dark Valley Bandit Base:

    1. Go into the southwest building and north through the door into a workshop.
    2. Turn right (east) and go up the circular stairs.
    3. Locate the Broken PDA on the shelf in the northwest corner of the room.

    Suits:

    • Military SKAT-10 - These are fairly easy to come by later in the game and there's one in the Pripyat hotel room.
    • Stalker Exoskeleton - There are a couple of tasks involving these, but you can get your own if you are patient. There's even one version with third-gen night vision.
    • Bandit Exoskeleton - You probably already have found several of these by now.
    • Duty Scientific Suit - This is the one I've yet to find. I've read where it's a reward for tasks, but I've tried even the "I need a job" tasks and still no suit.
  5. Bring the medicine to Akim - Using the Camouflaged Exoskeleton, go over the Military Checkpoint's east wall and into the build east of the gate. Search the desk for the medicine bottles and return to Akim.
  6. Get 2 flashlights for the Miner and Catch a pseudo dog puppy - Miner gives the flashlight task, but Akim won't part with them until you get his puppy. After talking to Akim to get the task, go to the antenna in Forgotten Forest. If you're unsure how to find it, go southeast toward the Dark Valley transition. The antenna is about two-thirds the way there. Stand near the antenna and drop the pseudo bear paw. You should see a white flash. There is a few boulders southwest of the antenna. Jump on them and see the message that you're in the right spot. Shoot the mother as soon as you see her (before she sees you) and then the puppy. Pick the sleeping puppy up and take it to Akim to get Miner's flashlights.
    When you get the sniper rifle from Akim, put it in your rifle slot and draw it out (not while you're standing in front of Akim or you may get punched). Check the ammo count in the lower-left of the HUD. You should see 3/0. If there is no count, copy the xrGame.dll in the Bin folder from the download to the SOC root Bin and try it again. Otherwise, the gun won't fire.
Arhara tasks∨

At the end of the Get the Unusual Parcel for Dan, Dan sends you back to Arhara for another task. When you return to Agroprom, Arhara may still be fighting with the Military at the institute, with Adrenaline in the factory, or somewhere in between. Arhara offers the following tasks:

Barman task∨
Beard task∨
Black Doctor tasks∨
Bloodsucker Hunter tasks∨
Captain Ivantsov tasks∨
  1. Find the Playboy - See Bring the toolbox to Sid for instructions.
  2. Give the RG6 grenade launcher - Take it to Skinflint and bring the money back to Ivantsov.
Cat tasks∨

Cat is a sick man and needs help with the following tasks:

CacheCharon∨
Cold task∨

Cold is a trader with an appetite for mushrooms. Ask, "Hello, who are you?" and he eventually offers the Mark the red pseudo giant task. The beast is located in Agroprom, north of the train tunnel. I suggest waiting until you get the Get an Unusual Parcel for Dan tasks that opens the Agroprom to Swamps transition. This makes the return trip much easier. Shoot the pseudo giant with the marker dart before you meet Arhara to get Dan's parcel.

Cook task∨

The Freedom Cook only gives one task, Bring the crow eggs to the Cook. The Cook suggests that you talk to Akim, who then gives you the Bring the medicine to Akim task.

  1. Starting from helicopter's tail section, go northeast to find the first stump with eggs on top. If you miss it and wind up in a Hunter's camp, go back west about halfway between the camp and the western edge of the map. Another stump is within sight to the east.
  2. Continue east to find another stump.
  3. Go east to the Hunter's camp and talk to Cross and go northeast to get the bear paw.
  4. Turn north and find another helicopter in the north-central part of the map.
  5. From the helicopter's nose section, go east past some smaller boulders, then turn north to find another stump behind a bush.
  6. Go back to the helicopter's nose section and find the stump to the southwest.
  7. You should have enough to complete the task, but if you need or want more, continue southwest to find another stump
Cross tasks∨
  1. Bring 15 Artifacts to Cross - Fairly common artifacts, five Droplets (Heat anomalies), five Stone Flowers, and five Sparklers (Electro anomalies, e.g., Cordon, Agroprom Underground, and northwest Wild Territory). Your reward is a Simbion artifact that Barman is looking for in exchange for information on Ghost's double. See Ghost for information.
  2. Bring the Anomalous Bisons to Cross - After completing the 15 artifacts task, ask Cross if he has any other jobs and he asks you to get six weapons. While Cross claims the Military uses this type of Bison, I've found them mostly on Monolith, Avengers, and Mercenaries - pretty much everyone but the Military.
  3. Bring the teleporter to Cross - Ask Cross if he enjoys hanging out with the local wildlife and he sends you to look for a soldier with a portable teleporter. Go to the northeast corner of the map. Using your minimap, find the dead soldier and get the teleporter (watch for the land mines near the campfire). Take the teleporter back to Cross, who tells you there's another teleporter somewhere in the Zone. Another item you get is a key for the teleporter. You need this for the URT.
Dan tasks∨

You can only meet Dan during the Obtain a rifle for Sviblov task. He offers the following:

Doc tasks∨
Fang tasks∨

See Find Ghost's PDA to start the quest to find Fang's killers.

Fima Coal tasks∨
Fly task∨
Forester task∨
Fox tasks∨

After you save Fox from the dogs in Cordon, you can ask him for these tasks. Also, Fox moves to Darkscape.

Freeman tasks∨

Freeman is an important contact as his help is needed later in the game.

  1. Bring the Desert Eagle to Freeman - Your reward for this task is a random artifact and may be a Simbion that is needed in the very-near future.
    1. Put on an SSP-99 or SSP-99M and any artifacts that increase your burn protection.
    2. In Wild Territory, go to the train station and crouch-jump into the open window on the northwest side (that faces the direction of the crashed helicopter).
    3. Leave the room and go southwest to the alcove on the right (opposite the building's front door).
    4. Find the metal box, open it, take Freeman's gun, and he gives you the Bring the case to Freeman task.
  2. Bring the case to Freeman - Talk to Freeman about hanging out in the Bar and the conversation eventually gets to him asking you to speak with James in Wild Territory. You can try talking to James, but the conversation quickly turns ugly. My strategy for this approach is to run out of the trailer and take cover behind the cement slabs north of the trailer door. However, it's much easier to just kill them all and take the case. If you're lucky, some Loners might take the crew out for you, leaving just the case.
  3. Bring Freeman the flashdrive from Bland - This comes when you complete the Bring the documents from X-10 to Le Havre task. You must clear the X-18 complex of Bandits and Mercs. I find it easiest to use the Lada to jump over the wall near the back and work my way to the front. When the last one falls, you get a message from Bland telling you he will meet and three neutral characters appear on your minimap. Go into the back building and talk to Bland. Give him the 50,000 RUs and take the flash drive to Freeman.
Ghost tasks∨

This picks up when you give Barman the Simbion artifact, which you can either make or get from Cross by completing the Bring 15 Artifacts to Cross task. Give Barkeep the artifact and he tells you more about Ghost's double. He ends the conversation by sending you back to Yantar. This task does not show on your PDA. See Get the computer for the scientist.

  1. Find Ghost - This task comes with a message from an unknown sender. But you will soon learn that it came from Ghost. Go to Radar and look for Ghost's camp among the boulders. Coming from Army Warehouses, use the opening in the fence where the road curves right (where you first encountered the sniper on the platform). Follow the fence north to the rocky cliff, then follow the cliff west.
  2. Kill Tusk and get his flashdrive - You meet some of Ghost's men just south of the Swamps' Northern Farmstead, where Tusk is camped. Owl's men attack from the south. I find it effective to loop around the west side where there's some boulders for cover and snipe from a distance. When the camp is clear, start searching bodies for a flash drive. As far as I know, there's no way to save Owl, but I have managed to keep the rest of them alive by drawing most of the fire away from them. Find Owl and take his flash drive, too. This gives you the Find Owl's Note in Laboratory X-10 task. Ghost gives you his semi-automatic Gauss gun. Use it sparingly, if at all. You will need all the batteries you can get soon.
  3. Kill Tusk. Part 2. Bring the documents to Ghost - Meet Ghost's men in the Rookie Village. This triggers an attack on the Rookie Village by Avengers. Help the Loners clear out the Avengers and head for the southern checkpoint. Use the trees on the west side of the road as cover and RPG the two BTRs. Neutralize the checkpoint and get the document off the now dead Tusk. Take the document back to Ghost to conclude his tasks for the moment.
  4. Find the Engineering Plan - You get this task when you talk to Ghost about the dying scientist in X-10 and complete the Find the group of scientists in laboratory X-10 and get all the details task. Click the link to jump to the Owl's Note section for instructions.
  5. Find 2 Gold Chunk artifacts for Ghost - The six spherical structures in the northern part of CNPP2 are surrounded by anomalies with artifacts. You should be able to find two Gold Chuck artifacts, along with other artifacts. Collecting these artifacts is much easier with a Gravity Gun, but can be done by hand. To exit the area, go south around the long building west of the water tower and climb the ladder to the roof of the building near the elevated pipes. Go east on the pipes to the teleport and follow the path to the last teleport taking you back to Pripyat. Completing this task opens a transition between Sarcophagus and CNPP2.
  6. Find the 3 Monolith Diaries in the ChNPP-2 for Ghost - Using the Sarcophagus to CNPP2 transition puts you near the exit from Monolith Control Center. Your first stop is the building directly north of the doorway, but there's no way to get to the roof from the ground. So, start through the teleports until you get to that building (near the northwest location on your PDA's Detailed Task Information map:
    1. From the roof, go down the ladder on the east wall that puts you on the elevated walkway.
    2. Jump over the north rail to the ledge and follow around to the ladder.
    3. Go down the ladder and turn south to find the backpack with Diary No3.
    4. Go back to the elevated walkway and use the teleport to get on the roof.
    5. Use the teleport at the southwest corner of the roof.
    6. Go up the stairs, east on the catwalk past the burning roof and crashed helicopter, and up the ladder.
    7. Continue east and jump over the rail to land on the slanted roof.
    8. Still going east, move to the air vent below (to minimize damage) and drop down.
    9. Continue east and then south to the next teleport.
    10. Make your way through the storage containers to the next teleport, putting you at the southeast location.
    11. Go east and jump on top of the wall.
    12. Turn north to walk on top of the wall to the second structure.
    13. Turn left (west) to find the backpack in between the ribs of the structure.
    14. Take the next teleport, go east, and then south to the lower roof on the left (east).
    15. Drop down to the roof and walk on the pipe running east that is joined by two more pipes and turns north.
    16. At the end before the pipes drop down, sprint-jump to the roof with the satellite dishes.
    17. Turn left (west) and jump to the pipes running west.
    18. Where the pipes cross four other pipes running north and south, jump to them and follow north.
    19. When you reach the northeast location where the pipes run east and west, use the right (south) two pipes to reach the backpack.

    At this point, you can use the URT or go back on the pipes and use the last teleport that puts you in Pripyat. To use the teleport:

    1. Retrace your steps back to the lower roof that you dropped down to from the spawn point of the last teleport.
    2. Use the cement blocks to go back up to the "spawn point" roof and turn right (north).
    3. Follow the rail along the edge of the roof to the stairs on the left (west).
    4. At this point you can follow the path you normally take in the vanilla version.
    5. When you spawn in Pripyat, go back to Radar and report to Ghost.
Gynecologist tasks∨
Hologram tasks∨
Kalinin tasks∨
Kalmyk tasks∨
Karagoz tasks∨
Klenov tasks∨
Kolmogor tasks∨
Kostya tasks∨

Kostya spawns in the Rookie village after you free Nimble from the Bandits, provided Petruha survives the attack.

  1. Find the cache in the Cordon - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you. When you take the task, Kostya moves on to the Garbage Vehicle Scrapyard. You can get the cache and stop him along the way to get the next task:
    • Rookie Village - East house on north side of the road, in the brick oven's bottom opening.
    • Mill - In the northwest room on the ground floor is a metal bin with a chute going up to the second floor. Jump into the bin, low-crouch (Ctrl+Shift) and look into the opening to the chute.
    • Train - Go through the tunnel with the moving Electro anomaly and go back up the hill to the fence. Follow the fence east toward the bridge again and go along side the train engine until your vision clears up (this anomaly doesn't hurt you or your gear). Continue east to the far end of the engine to jump up on the handrail, then on top. Go back to the west end of the engine and carefully inch off the top to the southern handrail. You need to be able to look inside the cabin through a small window. Break the window and loot the backpack inside.
    • Dump - Rusty cab under the drain pipe in the south side of the area.
  2. Find the Goldfish artifact - Metal box at the bus stop (Cordon). DO NOT collect this artifact until Kostya asks for it. I've had it disappear from my backpack by getting it too early.
  3. Find the cache in the Garbage - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you. When you take the task, Kostya moves on to Rostok.
    • Duty Outpost - Go to the west end of the pipe and use the cement blocks to sprint-jump onto the cement building. Jump onto the pipe and use the protruding joint to jump up to the next level. Lean left to find the backpack on the north side of the pipe.
    • Pile opposite of hanger - Stand at the hanger gate looking east. In line with the telephone pole at the top of the pile is a large square object with a pipe on the left side. The backpack is inside the pipe.
    • Roof of the hanger - Take the southwest stairs all the way to the top (in the northwest corner). Go south to the wall and east to the crane wreckage. Use the wreckage to get to the roof and go to the northwest corner of the opening. Drop down onto the beam to find the backpack just under the roof.
    • Ruins of the Duty outpost - On the south side of the Flea market are three small trees, the northern-most tree being directly in line, i.e., pointing to a pillar. Go to the west side of the pillar, turn west, and low-crouch to find the backpack under a slab.
    • Vehicle Graveyard - There are two red trucks on the south side. Jump on the hood of the western truck and low-crouch to find the backpack on the driver's side cab floor.
  4. Find the cache in Laboratory X-18 - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you:
    1. Acid Bath - On the first level, go around the elevator and into the green-tiled room. Next to the Fruit Punch anomaly is a piece of equipment with pipes coming out of the top. Jump up on the shelf and look for the backpack behind the pipes.
    2. Containers - On the second level in the room with the shipping containers. Go to the southeast corner of the platform where you found the second dead scientist and look for the backpack on the floor between the platform and the wall.
    3. Green Men - On the second level in the room with the test subjects (where you fought the Pyrogeist). There is a caged-in tank in the corner of the room. Use the opening to jump up on the top and look for the backpack on the shelf behind the tank.
  5. Find the cache in the Agroprom - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you (starting from the factory east gate):
    • Wagon - Go between the train cars and wall on the north side of the complex. Go to the second car from the east and find the backpack between the car bottom and first (east) wheel assembly.
    • Roof - Go west past the yellow trailer and south between the east building (with Adrenaline) and center building. Turn around (north) and climb the ladder. Go across the roof and find the backpack under the second of four pipes.
    • Radiation - Go west past the yellow trailer and south between the east building (with Adrenaline) and center building. Find the open door to the north at ground level. Go in, turn right (east) and climb into the pit. At the east end there is a blue stash box and two large pipes. Find the backpack under the pipes.
    • KAMAZ - Go south outside the factory complex to the KAMAZ along the road and under a tree. Use the truck to get into the tree and find the backpack in the crotch.
    • BTR - Go south outside the factory complex to the research center south wall and slip in through the hole in the wall. Find the backpack in the BTR driver's seat.
    • Trailer - Go south outside the factory complex to the research center south wall and slip in through the hole in the wall. Go west to find the yellow trailer and low-crouch under. Find the backpack between the frame and trailer bottom.
  6. Find the cache in Yantar - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you:
    • Bunker - Inside the scientists bunker complex, go between the Quonset huts on the north wall and find the backpack under the east hut.
    • Marshes - Go to the northwest bank of the island and low-crouch to find the backpack inside the south end of the pipe.
    • KAMAZ - Find the backpack inside the right-back window of the truck on the road (near the bus).
    • Ventilation - Go to the west wall of the building west of the overhead crane and find the backpack under the fan housing.
    • Boxes - Go to the east side of the building with the X-16 transition and find the backpack under the southern large pipe.
    • Roof - Go inside the building with the X-16 transition and go up the stairs to the top level. Look out the open window facing west and turn left (south) to find the backpack on the ledge.
  7. Find the cache in the Army Warehouses - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you:
    • Houses near the Merc outpost - The northern farmstead chimney. Use the barn roof to sprint-jump to the house roof.
    • Bloodsucker Village ruins - Ruins on the west side, southwest corner under a fallen piece of roofing. Low-crouch under the roofing to the south side of the broken floor and look northeast to find the backpack.
    • Bridge - Under the north side of the Freedom base bridge.
    • Tunnel - Go into the Freedom base train tunnel and work your way over the rubble to the back. Low-crouch as far back as possible and turn left (north) to find the backpack.
    • Freedom HQ Roof - Go to the south watchtower and up the embankment to the roof south of the HQ building. Walk to the northeast corner of the roof and take two or three steps back along the eastern truss. Sprint-jump to the HQ roof and go to the north side of the large hole in the roof (along the west edge). Low-crouch and look south to find the backpack.
    • Ventilation Trash - The scrap yard behind (west) the Freedom HQ building. Along the north side are ventilation duct parts on top of shipping containers. Find the backpack inside one of these parts.
  8. Find the cache in the Radar - This cache can be in one of these places, depending on the hint Kostya gives you:
    • Army Warehouses Transition - Find the backpack under a large boulder where the road bends to the right (east) when coming from Army Warehouses.
    • Rocks by Stalkers - This can be misleading as there probably are no stalkers here yet (you will meet them later - I'm not going to spoil it for you). The easiest way to find it is to go northwest from the Rock by the Road location, over the fence, and search the ground between the boulders and cliff. Looking at the map, there are two major rock formations in the center of the forest. The east-west formation at the north has a curve in the center. On the south side of the formation, northeast of the campfire, there are two large boulders with a smaller one in front. Look between the boulders and cliff to find the backpack on the ground.
    • Pripyat Transition - Find the backpack on the ground where the fence meets the southern wall of the guard house at the Pripyat transition. You won't be able to get to this until after turning off the Brain Scorcher.
    • Train - Find the backpack on the ground behind a piece of bent metal near the opening of the Radar complex west train tunnel. Go to the back of the tunnel and look east along the south wall.

    For all but the train location, you may want to report back to Kostya and save yourself a trip to the Monolith-occupied complex.

  9. Find and inspect the room behind the secret door in laboratory X-10 - Kostya doesn't tell you the first part of the task is to find another cache. This one is in X-10, in the first of three rooms, each with a large white tank just before you get to the Brain Scorcher. Find the backpack on the floor under the large ventilation unit, just below the louvered panel with a red frame. Use the numbers from your last conversation with Kostya and the hint in the PDA to figure out the sequence. Go back to the locked door near the stairs going up to the next level and open the door to access the small safe.
  10. Find the cache in Pripyat - Kostya gives you three of nine possible locations. Each location may contain some loot, but only one has the PDA Kostya is looking for:
    • In the ruins - This is a bit misleading as it says, "garden" but really means, "kindergarten". At the northwest corner of the kindergarten, look under the large slab with five red bricks on top and find the backpack on the ground.
    • Car park roof - Use the rubble on the northwest corner of the kindergarten to access the roof. Find the backpack next to a pillar along the north wall.
    • House of Culture - First of three possible locations: Go in the front door and turn left (west) to find a staircase on the left. Go up until you are stopped by the rubble and turn right (east) to find the backpack on the next set of stairs (about halfway up).
    • House of Culture - Second three possible locations: Where Doc stands in the basement, use the sofa to find the backpack where the duct meets the north wall.
    • House of Culture - Third of three possible locations: In the main room with the Monolith idol, use the fallen mural to go up and find the backpack on the catwalk.
    • Bus Station - First of three possible locations: Go to the stairs in the southeast corner of the building and up to the fallen section. Low-crouch jump onto the fallen section to continue on and find the backpack behind the blue stash box.
    • Bus Station - Second three possible locations: From the first location, continue up the stairs to find the backpack at the top near the green door.
    • Bus Station - Third of three possible locations: On the main room mezzanine, low-crouch on the east side of the western fire pit to find the backpack underneath.
    • Crane - Go south of the Bus Station and onto the platform of the crane. Low-crouch under the next platform and stand on the south side of the octagonal hole. Look northeast to find the backpack behind the electrical motor. You may be able to see it standing in the octagonal hole and low-crouching. Either way, it's very difficult to see it.
  11. Find three flashdrives on Military corpses and bring them to Kostya - In Jupiter, go the Checkpoint and find the officer with the Note with the code from the warehouse doors document. Now go to the Volkhov AA Complex basement (watch out for the BTRs) and use the code on the door. Break the boards covering the access to the air vent and go around the blocked passage. Help yourself to all the goodies and be sure to pick up the PDA on the crate in the center of the room. This triggers a message to Kostya, who then responds that he's on his way there. The time it takes Kostya to get to Yanov Station seems to vary. I've had it take up to five game-time hours. Look for a friendly to show up on your minimap in the southwest (Loki's) office. Talk to him and he promises to message with any information. About 25 game-time minutes later, Kostya sends a message to come see him. He gives you the first task (none of these corpses appear on your minimap or bioradar):
    • Yantar - The dumpster near the X-16 transition has three soldiers in it. Search the middle soldier for "Flash Drive # 1".
    • ChNPP-1 - Search the soldier sitting against the northwest corner of the sign at the entrance for "Flash Drive # 3".
    • Laboratory X16 - From the elevator shaft, follow the passage through the first room to the second, U-shaped room. At the opposite corner (between the passage to continue and the corner of the room), search the soldier sitting against the wall for "Flash Drive # 2".
  12. Find two flash drives and bring them to Kostya
    • Laboratory X8 - toilet - When you first enter the lab, turn right at the bottom of the stairs and go down the stairs toward the cafeteria (knife and fork - room with the hole in the floor). Cross the room and go up the stairs. Follow the platform left into the cafeteria and left into the bathroom. Go to the third stall, turn back toward the doorway, and jump onto the top of the partition. Look up into the air duct to find the backpack with "Flash Drive #5".
    • Garbage - hanger - Just inside the west door on the north side, search the electrical box to find "Flash Drive # 4".
  13. Find two flashdrives and bring them to Kostya
    • Pripyat mailbox - North of the bus station, on the west side, enter the apartment building, turn left, and find the stairs leading up to the mail boxes. On the left, search the empty space below the top box at the far end of the room to find "Flash Drive # 7".
    • Jupiter telephone booth - From Yanov Station, go north to the road going toward Kopachy village and then turns to the Cooling Tower. Follow the road west as it turns north into a small parking lot with a phone hanging on the wall next to a closed door. Search the phone to find "Flash Drive # 6".
  14. Find the last flashdrive and bring it to Kostya - In Old Village, go to the southeast part and find the L-shaped barn in (where the Fleshes spawn). Start outside the southwest corner where the fence in broken out and jump onto a post. Now jump to the roof and find a spot where you can drop down to the attic boards. Low-crouch east and turn north into the taller part of the barn to find "Flash Drive # 8" on the corpse.
  15. Find the Military Cache - Refer to Cacheat the ChNPP-2 to get to the Sarcophagus roof (where the flight recorder was). Make your way east past the smoke stack and onto the north side of the slanted roof. Go to the east edge and cross over to the south side, continuing down through the opening in the rail. Continue to the southeast corner and drop down onto a lower roof on the east (just above a teleport). Drop to the roof on the south, then east, and south again. Make your way to the east edge of this roof and, staying against the wall on the left (north), drop down east two more times. Find the opening along the north edge of the roof and drop down to find the backpack with "Order # 3409". There's no easy way back, and you may even have trouble getting back up onto the roof, so use the URT back to Jupiter and talk to Kostya to complete the task.
Kruglov tasks∨
  1. Bring Ghost's Diary to the Scientist
    1. Go to the factory hanger, turn right (north) inside the east door.
    2. Up the ladder and the second ladder.
    3. Find the backpack on top of the far square container (to the west) and take the diary.
    4. Give the diary to Kruglov. He plans to work on decoding the diary while you go ask Barman if he knows anything about it.
  2. Return the missing decoder
    1. In X-16, go to the main room and up to the third level.
    2. Follow the platform around until you reach some electronic equipment before you cross to the center.
    3. Find the decoder on the platform of the equipment.
  3. Bring the artifact to Sid - This is a simple errand you can do for Kruglov. Ask if there is any more work and Kruglov gives you the Find a unique artifact task.
  4. Find a unique artifact - The PDA description says to look near the hanger, but it's actually inside, in the northeast corner. Look on the ground between the structure and the north wall. This is the last Kruglov task for a while.
  5. Get the computer for the scientist - You first must talk to Arhara, who suggests you look in X-18. In X-18, grab a computer out of the control room where you found the documents for Barman on your first trip. Take the computer to Kruglov, who is able to decipher "Yakut... at... Warehouses". This does not on your list of tasks. See Find Ghost to continue.
Le Havre tasks∨

You meet up with Le Havre again in X-8. The information you gain from his documents is found on your PDA's Diary Journal page under Information from Le Havre's Map. Here is a list of caches in order of appearance:

  1. Jupiter - The only standing building on the north side of Kopachy Village. Go into the southeast room and search the furnace door.
  2. Eastern Pripyat - Go north of the laundry mat, past the flag poles, to the building made up of four structures. This appears to be a florist shop. Go in the front (northwest) door and jump up on the cabinet in the northeast corner. Low-crouch through the duct to the roof of the back (east) building. Drop in the hole to the ceiling (not to the ground) where you can see (and access) the briefcase along the north wall.
  3. Limansk -
  4. Unexplored Land - From Hermit's camp, follow the path north until you come to a large dead tree on the right. Turn west and go toward the target on Le Havre's map. Be aware that the area is inhabited by bears and frequently visited by both Monolith and Avengers. Go up over the hill and find the large boulders (much like the caches in Forgotten Forest). The stash box is hidden under them.
  5. Jupiter - Near the south side of the Jupiter factory complex, directly south of the door going into the building with the underground entrance, find the rusty duct work near the bus. Find the backpack in the southwest corner by looking through the broken-open part.
Lukash tasks∨

You must complete the Kill all of the Duty members at the farm task to open the following:

  1. Healing Berill-5M - Loot from the dead soldier outside of X-16.
  2. Follow the informant - Go to the northern farmstead, wait for the task update to kill the informant, and then go after the Mercs (one of whom may have the sniper rifle that Voronin is looking for. If not, another Merc squad attacks when you talk to Joker and one of them will have it. See Find Rabinovich).
  3. Protect the barrier - Report to the outpost commander and help defend against the Monolith attack. For this, I recommend getting inside the bus near the fence for the best cover.
  4. Bring the Controller brains to Lukash - Lukash wants the brains of two Controllers from the north side of CNPP, and 300,000 RUs.
  5. Deliver the dynamite to Lukash - This sends you to the Military base in Agroprom. You can run-n-gun your way in, or wait to get the Camouflaged Exoskeleton from the cache Lukash gives you for the Controller brains. The 20 kg dynamite case is on the second floor, southwest corner, top shelf. Completing the task opens the transitions between the Freedom base train tunnel and the Mines.
  6. Find the ring - A matter of working your way through Monolith fighters until you find Spider. Get the ring and Lukash gives you the Meeting in the Warlab task.
Matvei Kulinar tasks∨

Matvei is Artem's brother. If you spoke with Artem in Garbage hanger, he expressed his concerned about Matvei's disappearance.

Max task∨
Maximilian tasks∨
Miner tasks∨
Norman task∨
Panther tasks∨
  1. Retrieve the walkie talkie - This task has a five-minute timer that stops when you find the item. Save the game as soon as the timer starts. This (I suspect) locks the location of the item in case you have trouble finding it. Although, you should be able to check the following locations in less than three minutes. Once you find the walkie talkie, check the remaining backpacks as there may be supplies in one or two of them. These are the backpacks I've found so far:
    1. Go south through the doorway and follow the passage left (east) to the next room with a catwalk around three sides.
    2. Drop down to the next level and go west through the doorway into the room with the sunken floor.
    3. Go left (south) and then east down the hallway.
    4. Go left again (north) to find the broken out wall and a ladder up.
    5. Go south under the stairs, drop through the hole (don't use the ladder to save time), and west to find the backpack in the northeast corner.
    6. If it's empty, go back and up the stairs you just went under. Getting out of the hole can be tricky: climb to the top as far as you can (you will be pushed slightly to the right) and side-step right.
    7. Go up the ladder in the southwest corner to find the backpack in the southeast corner.
    8. If it's empty, drop through the floor down two levels and east up the stairs to the entrance.
    9. Go east to the farthest elevator doors and find the backpack in the slight opening.
    10. If it's empty, go back to the doorway south of the elevators.
    11. Follow the passage east and then south to find the backpack on the floor at the far end of the lockers.
    12. If it's empty, go back out and west through the left doorway and down the steps to the room with the broken out floor.
    13. Turn left (south) through the doorway and follow the hallway into the room with a large platform.
    14. Go down the stairs and drop down (don't use the ladder) in the southeast corner.
    15. Follow the passage to the last area on the left.
    16. Go to the end, going around the anomaly to find the backpack in the open cage on the north side.
  2. Disk for Panther - Enter the Radar complex from the south and find the lieutenant in, or near, the building set into the hillside.
  3. Bring the suit - Be aware that the suit weighs 25 kgs. Lucky is usually in the southeast part of the complex, either in or near Borov's office. If you use the Camouflaged Exoskeleton, try to isolate him, switch to another suit, kill him, and switch back again to get the suit. Or, kill every Bandit in the area.
Perfumer task∨
Petrenko tasks∨

You can talk to Petrenko after you complete the Bring the unusual artifact to Plichko task, which is part of Search for the treasure. Petrenko offers the following tasks:

Plotnikov tasks∨
Prapor tasks∨

Prapor is the Warrant Officer at the Garbage's north Duty Outpost. His tasks are a series of collecting mutant parts. To unlock these tasks, ask Fox, "Hello, Fox, how are you?" to get the Bring the gun to Fox task.

  1. Bring the tentacles to Prapor - After returning to Garbage from Agroprom and helping Duty fight off the Boar attack, talk to the Warrant Officer at the gate to the Bar, "Hello, Prapor, I have come for business..." Before he gives you Fox's gun, you must provide tentacles from one Bloodsucker.
  2. Bring four flesh eyes to Prapor - Ask Prapor, "Do you have any work for me?" and he asks for four Flesh eyes.
  3. Bring three bloodsucker tentacles to Prapor - Ask him if the medicine worked and he asks for tentacles from three more Bloodsuckers.
  4. Get 10 scientific kits for Prapor - Ask, "Hey Prapor, how's the service life?" and he tells you about a PDA he will give you for 10 medkits. This PDA completes the Find the Military PDA task. Take the PDA to Barman, who offers to repair the PDA for a price and gives you the Find the 'Fire Tears' artifact for the Barman task.
  5. Bring five pseudodog tails to Prapor - Ask him how he's feeling, and he asks for five pseudodog tails. This is the last thing Prapor asks for. The reward is an Elder Glassbeads artifact that you need for Find the "Elder Glassbeads" artifact for Sakharov.
Sakharov tasks∨
Sanya task∨

Rob the bandit camp - The Bandit camp is in the west corner of the map and consists of a few houses and a water tower. Take some 5.45x39mm and/or 5.56x45mm ammo with you. As you make your way from the Loner's camp, stay along the outside of the map. There is a Librarian in the south corner that you can sprint past. You may also see a canopy in the south corner of the map. Take note of this location as you will have other tasks in this area. Meet up with the Loners watching the camp and talk to them. Lead the charge and collect everything:

When you have all the items in the camp, you send a message to the other two Loners. Meet them at the water tower and lead them back to the Loner camp, staying along the outside of the map. Talk to Sanya to complete the task.

Scarab tasks∨
Screw task∨

Screw's task, Bring the vise to Screw, is only necessary if you want him to perform repairs. Ask him, "How's it going?", give him some vodka, and then ask him about repairs to get the task.

  1. Enter the complex through the drain pipe on the west side (near the pond) and take the connecting pipe north.
  2. At the opening, turn around (south) and go along the outside of the pipe on the east side.
  3. Jump up the slope to the top of the drain pipe and continue south.
  4. Crouch to get under the wall panel and into the southweast area of the complex.
  5. Go around the southwest building, into the east doorway, and north through the door into a workshop.
  6. On the opposite side of the room, between the grinder and cabinet, find the vise on the floor.
Serge task∨

Find oil for Serge the repairman - There may be an electrified chimera, so bring a Gauss. From the Skadovsk, go east to the Dredging Station. Approach from the south with the pipes on your left and go up the ladder to the back deck. Move around the left (west) side of the structure and climb the ladder to the platform. Go east to the broken railing, using it as a bridge to the opening, and drop down inside. Go up the stairs and find the oil can under a table in the northwest corner of the cabin. Scan the area northwest of the barge for a chimera. When the area is clear, turn south and drop down a level to exit.

Skinflint tasks∨

In addition to the vanilla task Destroy the Bloodsuckers in the village, Skinflint offers the following:

Sviblov tasks∨

Sviblov is the new Clear Sky leader in Lebedev's office. If you have red Bloodsucker tentacles, tell him you brought something interesting and he offers a trade for an UZI. Sviblov also offers the following tasks:

Syak tasks∨

You have to say, "Greetings" to Syak before discussing an active task. This can be confusing as it appears he doesn't want to talk to you. Plus, this is inconsistent with other task givers.

Vaseline task∨

Explore the situation at the substation - The substation is the Krug Antenna Complex. Approach the building from the south and take out the guards in front. Clear the ground floor, go down the steps to the elevator, and walk up to the door. Press the action key (F) to open the elevator door and complete the task. Do not drop down yet as there is no way out. Instead, go back up the ladder and out the back (west) door. Turn northwest and search the bush between the antennas for Vaseline's backpack.

Vasily tasks∨

Vasily is the Clear Sky repair technician, and a member of the Traders. He is also Sidorovich's brother and you/Marked One mistake him for Sid. Go to what was Novikov's hut and ask him what he is doing in the Swamps. He gives you the Get 3 cans of Kalmyk Ointment for Vasily task. Each can is worth three bottles of vodka or three packs of cigarettes, so be sure to have enough in your backpack. Go to the Pump Station, look inside the backpack on the floor, and take the grenade. This is your introduction to Kalmyk, who gives you the Obtain for Kalmyk his container task. The container is west of the Pump Station near the south end of an island (just north of the tall grass). The trick to this task is to find the right direction to approach the container without getting transported back to the northeast end of the island. Approach from the west. If that doesn't work, systematically approach the container from a random direction. Move either left or right about 10 steps (or points of the compass) and trying it again. Keep moving in the same direction until you find the window in the anomaly.

Voronin tasks∨

You can talk to Voronin after you complete the Bring the unusual artifact to Plichko task, which is part of Search for the treasure. Voronin offers the following tasks:

  1. Repel the attack and kill Hump - Ask him why he isn't the good life and Voronin gives you this task. You have to be the one to kill Hump to get credit for the task. As soon as Voronin gives you the task, sprint to the checkpoint before another stalker kills Hump, who is one of the few wearing an exoskeleton. You may be able to pick up an AEK-971 from the attackers. This weapon is required for another task.
  2. Take the RG-6 from the Freedom base - Same as the vanilla game with a twist - the cellar is mined. So, you must jump off the ladder to the left and circle around the outside of the cellar to get the weapon. Then, sprint-jump to the ladder and climb out. Sometimes, the condition of the weapon is too poor and Voronin rejects it. Here is a list of options should this occur:
  3. Find the thermoses - After repelling the Hump attack, ask if there is anything you can help with to get this task. Voronin sends you to Garik, the security guard in the Bar. Talk to Garik and he asks for money and 10 packs of cigarettes. There are five thermoses in the Northern Farmstead house (top shelf on the east wall) and five in the Pripyat Hotel (last room on the right, second floor).
  4. Bring the camouflaged exoskeleton
    1. Clear the Bandit base in ATP and find the build with the Monolith sign on it.
    2. Climb the ladder on the south side and get on top of the ledge near the chimney.
    3. Jump to the ledge of the chimney and onto the roof.
    4. Go east to find a hole in the roof and drop down.
    5. Go north to find the suit.
    6. Turn the suit in to Voronin and he tells you of an informant (Snitch) a the Bar. You can also get the Get the sniper rifle from the Mercs task.
  5. Find the documents - Voronin says there are some documents somewhere in the Dark Valley factory complex. Check the second floor, third machine (going south) from the stairs.
  6. Get the sniper rifle from the Mercs - This task is from the vanilla version, but with a twist. You have to take Follow the informant task to find the rifle.
  7. Find the computer and the video transmitter - You can get the computer without killing every Bandit in the base. Of course, if you want to, be my guest. Otherwise:
    1. Go in through either the drain tile on the west or front gate on the east and get to the pit (under the dump truck) by the front gate. Or, use the Lada as a platform to go in the window at the south end of the long elevated passageway and use the window near the prison cell to get to the stairs.
    2. Follow the tunnel to the ladder and go up.
    3. Take the stairs to the top and fight your way to the next stairs (south).
    4. Go up another level and turn left (north).
    5. Continue north until you're outside again (you may have to take out the tower snipers).
    6. Turn left (west) and drop to the next roof.
    7. Turn left again to find the window with a board over it and a wooden box on a metal frame.
    8. Shoot the board to get it out of the way and jump to the box.
    9. Low-crouch through the window.
    10. Pick up the book and transmitter at the south end of the room.
    11. Go back the stairs, down two levels, and out the front of the building. You can also jump from the window to the cement slabs below without taking too much damage and go out either the elevated passageway or drain tile.

    Now for the video transmitter in Army Warehouses. Check your map to see if you have a transition at the northeast end of Dark Valley that goes to Radar. This might be a shorter way to go. In Army Warehouses, go to Bloodsucker Village and to the white house on the north edge. Find the video transmitter on the floor of the southeast room. Be ready for the Military squad and electrified Bloodsucker that spawn in the house to the east. Sometimes the Bloodsucker comes after you instead of the Military, so sprint up the stairs to be safe. If for some reason the transmitter doesn't appear, but you can hear it clank when you walk along the east wall of the northwest room, go into the northeast room and walk along the west wall. Then check the northeast room again. Take the equipment back to Voronin.

  8. Help the Dutiers in Eastern Pripyat - Use the Pripyat to Eastern Pripyat transition on the eastern side of Pripyat, south of the underground car park. Report to Plichko and agree to help attack the Sports Complex. You must keep Plichko alive during this attack in order to complete the task. And save your Gauss batteries for later. Head north through the buildings and find some cover to snipe the Monoliths in the windows. Keep in mind that another Duty group is coming in from the north. After a few kills, get inside the building and clear each floor. When the last Monolith is down, you get a task update to report to Plichko, who stations himself in the room with the radio, second floor, east side. However, there is a possible bug where Plichko may tell you to "get moving". Check your task list for the Find the person who sent the SMS task. If you don't have it listed, patrol the area until the message comes in. You may need to leave the map and return. Once you get the task you can tell Plichko that the complex is under Duty's control to complete the task. However, on one occasion the task completed without me talking to Plichko.
Wolf task∨

Find Wolf in Army Warehouses east of Bloodsucker Village and ask him what he is doing there to get the first task.

Yurik tasks∨
Zahar tasks∨

When you complete the Bring the disc to Adrenaline task you get the Speak to Zahar task.