Whether you should you give the Sensors to Richter or Zotov in STALKER 2 means picking between the Stalker and Military factions respectively. You can only chose one, and it’s effectively you pledging at least a brief allegiance by taking a side. It doesn’t make a huge difference initially, but will change how you access a subsequent mission, and move on to a new part of the map after that.
This objective is triggered after you decide whether to help or kill Squint in STALKER 2 as, whatever you decide, you’ll end up with the sensors and then have to choose who to give them too. While results don’t wildly send the game off in different directions, there are some things that change that you might want to be aware of.
Because this is an open world game you might already also have had to choose Dew or the Ninth in the STALKER 2 Lost Boys mission. But, if you haven’t done that yet, we can show you the options there.
Give the Sensors to Richter in STALKER 2
If you give the sensors to Richter in STALKER 2, he’ll explain that it would be bad if the Ward got them because they’d use it to incriminate the Stalkers. He’ll then explain that Solder is an IPSF tech and you need to get into the Sphere, a large domed building out in the Zone where you’ll find him.
The crucial difference here is Richter will give you a code that gets you into the Sphere via a keypad locked door at the end of a tunnel dotted with acid spots. This initially seems like a better choice than Zotov’s option, which involves a side gate into a heavily guarded area but it looks like the two choices are really the same route reversed, as Zotov’s plan has you escaping via the acid tunnel.
This decision will play a part later as well, when it’s time to track down Nestor, the name you got from Solder in Stalker 2. Richter will tell you to head to a Detention Center to speak to some people and get a key for the Northern Checkpoint. Zotov, on the other hand will send you to the Western Checkpoint both will reach the next stage of the map but via different routes and a different mission before joining up again.
Give the Sensors to Zotov in STALKER 2
If you give the Sensors to Zotov in STALKER 2 he, like Richter, knows about Solder being an IPSF tech working in the Sphere. The mission will unfold much as if you’d given them to Richter, as you infiltrate the Sphere base in the Zone to find Solder.
However, if you give Zotov the Sensors he will have a ‘man on the inside’ that can get you in through a side gate. This is a slightly more exposed option at the start compared to Richter’s route, as you’ll have to sneak through the base rather than go under it, but it will eventually see you using Richter’s option to escape. So the two plans are basically the same thing, but in different directions depending on which side you go with.
Once you’re out of the Sphere you’ll have the name Nestor, and Zotov will tell you to visit the Pontoon Bridge Checkpoint on the west side of the Lesser Zone to track him down. Richter, on the other hand, will get you through the northern checkpoint. Either option will get you into the new map area, with each side having one more specific mission before the threads join up again.
Ultimately, the decision alters rather than changes the way ahead and leads to another choice to shoot Solder or knock him out in STALKER 2 when you eventually reach him. I’d argue that Richter is the better option here, as doing the acid tunnel first gives you a easier way in over stealthing the main base area. However, the differences aren’t that huge that they should really sway your decision, so go with whoever you like the most.
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