Best Weapons and Armor to Get Early in Stalker 2

Ensuring that you have good gear is the best way to stay alive in Stalker 2, but pristine, good-quality equipment can be quite hard to come by. Luckily, there are plenty of hidden (and not-so-hidden) items throughout the Zone that players can use to their advantage.

The following is a quick guide showing some of the best items players can get before they leave the Lesser Zone. Some might not be immediately useful, but they can set you up for an easier time once you finish the first few main quests in Stalker 2.

Free Debut Suits

The Debut Suit is the first step-up you’ll get in terms of protection. You can get one by finishing the Needle in a Haystack quest and giving the Ward sensors to Captain Zotov. Alternatively, you can get a free Debut Suit early in Stalker 2 by going to the Old Mill and checking one of the houses. The suit is on top of a drawer in the living room.

The Debut Suit offers significantly better protection against almost everything compared to the default Leather Jacket. If you’re having trouble surviving enemy encounters, make sure to grab the one from the Old Mill as soon as possible.

Free Gas Masks

To complete your newbie Stalker kit, you’ll need a gas mask. You can find an Aurora Gas Mask lying on top of a backpack stash northeast of Zalissya. The stash in question is on the rooftop in the square-shaped compound near the northern checkpoint. From the main gate, head to the back of the building on the right, then climb the ladder to the rooftop. You’ll find the stash and the gas mask a the ledge.

There’s also an Optician Gas Mask in a stash in the Cowsheds just west of Zalissya. You’ll find the stash tucked in a corner in one of the sheds. This mask offers better ballistic protection compared to the Aurora, though it is slightly worse against elemental hazards.

Explorer Suit

The next armor upgrade beyond the Debut Suit is the Explorer Suit. This one is found in the tunnels under the Dome. You can reach this area once you progress through the Behind Seven Seals quest and reach Solder. After your scuffle with him, eliminate all incoming enemies and search the adjacent tunnels. The suit is on a table in a dark corner.

The Explorer suit is better than the Debut Suit in almost every way, especially when fully upgraded. It’ll naturally get overshadowed by other suits you can find later on, though.

Valik Lummox’s AKM74-S

You can get Valik Lummox’s AKM74-S in Stalker 2 by going up the water tower just north of Zalissya. It’s a scoped AK that’s in good condition, making it one of the most reliable weapons you can use early on. If you want to get some extra loot or money along with this gun, speak with Warden at the Zalissya Bar and take the Warden’s Debtor quest, where you’ll be asked to help Valik Lummox himself get out of a sticky situation.

Weapons and Supplies from the Tutorial

Stalker 2’s prologue ends with Skif getting ambushed and looted by unknown assailants. This leaves him with nothing but his trusty knife and pistol in his inventory, and none of the fancy gear and useful supplies from the tutorial. You can keep some of those weapons and all the supplies you manage to get by stashing them in a nearby safe during the tutorial. Once you wake up, head back to the stash, and grab all the stuff.

The tutorial’s AKM74-S and AR416 will disappear even if you use this method, but the AKM-74u carbines from the military guys in the prologue won’t.

Full Durability Boomstick

Shotguns are your main form of defense against mutants, and if you don’t want to bother with bandit drops that are in poor condition, you can get a full-durability Boomstick by going to the windmill at the Old Mill POI. There’s a Boomstick rigged to a trap in the stairs. Disarm the trap, and grab the shotgun. It has a maxed-out damage stat, and it should deal the same damage as all other shotguns in the game. However, its range is poor, and it can only hold two shells at a time.

M860 Cracker Shotgun

This one will heavily rely on pure luck. There’s a small chance that Bandits will have one these pump-action shotguns, and if you do end up seeing one, make sure to bring it back to Zalyssia’s technician. The Cracker is leagues better than the break-action shotguns in the Lesser Zone, and it’s going to be your main weapon against Stalker 2 mutants like Poltergeists and Bloodsuckers. Repairing shouldn’t be too expensive, and it’ll be well worth the investment.

Unknown Stalker’s AR416

This is a possible quest reward from The Poppy Field side mission given my Mityay in Zalissya. Once you reach the poppy field, speak with Pomor, a Stalker in one of the houses. Gather some weapons and ammo from the field for him, and he’ll tell you the location of Mityay’s religious icon. He’ll also ask you to give the icon to him instead in exchange for a gun. Give the icon to Pomor to get the weapon.

This AR416 is a modified version that comes with some pre-installed upgrades, including a foregrip for mitigating the weapon’s recoil. However, its durability will be extremely low, and repairing it will set you back about 14-18k Coupons. Making money in Stalker 2 is hard at the start, but once you get past the Lesser Zone, it should be easier to come by.

SVD Sniper Rifle

You can get an SVD by going to the depot next to the northern checkpoint. From the closed gate of the checkpoint, head east to find a large warehouse. The building is full of booby traps, and there’s a bandit named Leshy perched on the catwalk. Disarm the traps, and kill Leshy so you can take his rifle.

Unfortunately, Leshy’s SVD is in poor condition, and repairing it will cost a lot of Coupons. However, since it’s meant as a long-ranged weapon, you’ll still be able to use it somewhat effectively, as you won’t really need to worry about your weapon jamming if the enemy doesn’t know where you are. Still, the possibility of the gun jamming could make follow-up shots more difficult to take if the first bullet doesn’t kill your target.