Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an absolutely massive open-world game, so it is difficult to know what you need to do first. However, there are some things that are much more necessary to do first, and you will want to know how to navigate the world in the early hours of the game in the best way possible. There are so many options of things to do early that it is best to make a decision and stick to it.

Across the map of Stalker 2, there are hundreds of possible things to try and seek out. As soon as you exit the tutorial, the entire map will be open to you, and you can head off on whatever adventure you want. However, the difficulty of the game might prevent this, as you will find yourself in hard situations without the gear to be able to handle it. Therefore, you have to pick a viable path forward that will allow you to progress without too much hindrance.

10 Find Gloomy & His Stash

First Things First

Right away after completing the tutorial, you will by a group of enemies shooting at the inside of a house. If you choose to stop or if they see you, they will attack you. However, help the person inside out, and you will get to start a new quest called Dangerous Visitors. This quest will allow you to go find and rescue Gloomy, who is being held at a nearby location.

The main reason to agree to this quest is that the quest giver will give you the coordinates of a stash to help you rescue his friend. It will get marked on your map, and you will get a fair amount of healing items and a new weapon. You can also loot the enemies you just helped defeat before heading off after Gloomy. You don’t have to complete the side quest, but if you do you will get another stash location that can help you with the next item on the list.

9 Find New Gear

Characters Are Not Upgraded But Gear Is

Finding new gear is the first thing you should be focused on, as there is no XP system in the game. There are several decent options for getting new gear without spending Coupons on it. You can pick up weapons from downed enemies and find it in stash locations. If it is red, you might as well leave it where it is but be sure to unload it to get some ammunition. However, if the durability is yellow or greater, you should pick it up and take it with you unless you become encumbered.

Unload the guns by looking at them and selecting the right option. You will then have a lot fewer worries about running out of ammo.

This is mainly because you can sell anything of yellow durability or higher back to the merchant, which will get you some Coupons to make the gear you like best even better. Additionally, there is one very important side quest you should complete right away to get a unique weapon early in the game. Unique weapons are just like the regular versions, but they usually have a permanent attachment of some kind that changes how you use it.

8 Get to Zalissya

The Obvious But Correct Choice

Zalissya is the first major settlement you will come to, and the one that you are directed toward by Richter right away. While it may seem obvious, you do want to get there as soon as possible instead of avoiding and exploring the open map. This is because while you can go off exploring and find new places, you can do that after you stop by Zalissya.

The main reason for this is that you will want to unlock the main trader, Hamster, and the main tech, Lens so that you can immediately start pawning off items you don’t need and getting your weapons upgraded. Additionally, there is a slew of good side quests available, all of which will allow you to get some extra Coupons and some of which have good gear. You will also find a place to sleep, which is one of the places you can restore health without using an item.

7 Poke About When It’s Convenient

Be Cautious Of High-Danger Areas

While there is some temptation to go straight from mission to mission, you will want to check your map before heading off. There will often be points of interest on your map the more you travel, and you will likely want to scrounge through these points of interest on your way to other missions. You do not have to go super far out of your way, just poke about the nearby surroundings when you see something interesting.

The windmill, for instance, where you find Squint in Stalker 2, is one place where you can find an early piece of gear. The Debut Suit is in a house right next door, and you can slip inside by breaking the door down and get an upgraded piece of armor for free. This is just one example where a bit of poking about will save you from a lot of work without going out of your way.

6 Find An Artifact Or Two

Deadly & Expensive Trinkets

Finding an artifact in the early game might not help you too much, as many of them can cause as much damage as they could prevent. There are better artifacts once you leave the Lesser Zone, but in the opening hours, you can still find some.

Make sure you check them when you pick them up before equipping them, otherwise, you could find yourself in more danger than necessary.

However, even these negative artifacts will be useful for selling. They often sell for high prices, and this can be a lifesaver to get your hands on better upgrades, attachments, and other useful items in the game. So even if you can’t equip the artifacts you find, you can get good use of them.

5 Get Coupons Early

Money Is The Backbone For Your Survival

Some of the side missions mentioned earlier in Zalissya will result in you getting a nice heap of Coupons. There are other ways to get a fair amount of money fast, but missions are one of the most consistent ways. You will also get some for selling those weapons you picked up per the earlier task, but you will want to accumulate a fair amount of funds. However, you will want to have them on hand not to buy supplies but to use them on your gear.

Try to keep at least two weapons at 100% durability at all times, particularly early in the game. One hard-to-kill monster can break your weapon on its own.

You will need them to both repair your gear and upgrade it, both of which are among the other first things you need to do. You will be surprised at how fast your gear breaks in the early hours of the game, and you need that money to have working weapons.

Anything you have after repairing your weapons should be used on upgrades. You can also use Coupons to bribe people, but these typically aren’t good trades.

4 Talk To Everyone You Can (With Some Exceptions)

Being A Kind Stranger Is Important

Listening in on conversations and talking to other NPCs will help you get a good grip on the game. They will also offer tips about places to check out and many of them will offer you side quests as well. One of the big features in Stalker 2 is the new way the faction system operates and how the factions continue to interact in the background. This can give you a big leg up when you are seeking out how to get better gear and places to check out.

However, you may want to be wary, as some of the NPCs will become violent if you bother them. There was one moment early on when I was just walking up the road and saw a campfire with a Stalker next to it and thought I could make a friend. As soon as I sat down, the Stalker leaped up and attacked me for seemingly no reason. However, other NPCs in the Zone were perfectly friendly, so just be cautious and see if your sight is red or green when aiming at them.

3 Complete The Main Missions Through Returning The Sensors

Progressing The Story Has Benefits

While you have a perfectly fine time ignoring the main quest completely, you should at least return the sensors to either the Ward or Richter. While you can keep going and escape to other parts of the map whenever you want, getting this far will give you time to build up your gear, and it will set the tone for future encounters.

Additionally, it will unlock another key side quest that you want to have as early as possible and which will not appear before the point where you can head off to The Sphere. After you have completed this, by all means, go out on your own and explore and see what you can find.

2 Unlock The Journalist’s Stashes

DLC-Only But Very Powerful Upon Replaying

The key quest you need to unlock by progressing the main story is The Journalist Stashes. These will mark certain locations on your map and give you another friend in your ear to listen to. However, there is a different reason why this quest is so important to pick up and something you should begin working on, although you are unlikely to complete it quickly. Notably, this is only available if you have the DLC-based Ultimate edition.

Because the stashes are located throughout the map, and some are located in dangerous regions that you might not be able to handle right away. This is one reason you may not complete it right away.

This questline gives you access to higher-level gear and weapons by directing you to stashes located in many different regions.

There are multiple locations in the Lesser Zone alone, one of which is inside Zalissya. This is a great way to get good, sometimes unique, gear early and often. Whatever you don’t like you can sell, and there are necessary items like Health & Anti-Rad materials that will make your life much easier.

1 Test The Limits While There Are Less Stakes

Dying Is Sometimes Okay

The most important thing to do in the opening hours of the game is to figure out what hurts, what's annoying, and come to grips with the rhythms of the game's ecosystem. You will want to be fairly stealthy at first, so prioritizing things like a silenced weapon attachment are not bad ideas. Take chances while the stakes are low and you can just respawn right away. You can always save before going into a difficult area while you are relatively safe to return to the same spot every time.

There are no real consequences to dying, beyond getting a running tally on the reload screen of how many have been "lost to the Zone." This means you can keep attempting the same mission if you want, and you will likely end it with a higher success rate and less damaged weapons every single time. This can make a big difference in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.