Summary
- Siding with factions in Stalker 2 will impact your outcomes, with four possible endings.
- Factions like Bandits, Mercenaries, and Ecologists play key roles in the game.
- Joining well-intentioned factions like Freedom or Spark could be beneficial in gameplay.
Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl is brimming with content; its vast open world is home to menacing mutants, thieves trying their luck in the Zone and a round dozen established factions. You can’t join them per se, but siding with different factions will net you different results and one of four possible endings.
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These factions will form the core of your interactions in the game: though the game’s storytelling is fairly organic and doesn’t overemphasize the factions, there’s no denying that they are essential to the setting. Some factions are more appealing than others, so we’ve ranked all of them below.
12
Bandits
The Outlaws Of The Zone
Bandits are the most irksome faction in the game. The reason for this is simple: they’re impossible to work with. Bandits tend to be of a nasty nature and most of your encounters with them will start with them abusing another lone stalker.
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Most of the time, Bandits will start shooting you on sight, hoping to drop you for your loot. You’re unlikely to feel any sympathy for them as you return fire. Bandits tend not to have any good equipment on them, but you’ll find the odd medkit or sausage.
Bandits will betray you often after promising to split quest rewards with you, so you’re best off not trusting them at all.
11
SIRCAA
The Scientists At Chornobyl
The Scientific Institute of Research of the Chornobyl Anomalous Area is one of the most important factions story-wise, but their physical presence in Heart Of Chornobyl is rather diminished. This is because they’re scientists rather than fighters, and rely on other factions such as the Ward for protection.
SIRCAA are dedicated to researching the anomalies and environmental phenomena in the Zone. They’re not a very ethical organization, which coupled with their lack of story impact makes them hard to root for. They wear nice suits, though.
10
Mercenaries
Guns For Hire
Mercenaries are just Bandits with job security. They are contract killers, and if they’re hired to take you out you can bet they’ll shoot on sight. The best way to deal with Mercenaries is to avoid having them set after you. Other factions might use them to track you down if you antagonize them too much and fail to grease their leaders’ palms.
Due to their more disciplined approach than Bandits, it’s best to be cautious while fighting Mercenaries. Make good use of cover and ensure they’re all dead before you swoop in to loot the bodies.
9
Ecologists
Researching The Zone
Much like SIRCAA, ecologists are scientists rather than fighters. This doesn’t bode well for them and their exploration of the Zone, because there are far too many mutants and dangerous humans around. Most of the time, you’ll come across ecologists long after the Zone is done with them.
It’s a real shame that the ecologists are so mistreated, because they’re quite a nice faction. They study the environment, flora and fauna of the Zone in the hopes that their research will benefit mankind. Maybe their research won’t, but their death will: when they get killed, they drop some pretty good items.
8
IPSF
Enforcing The Exclusion Zone
The IPSF, or military faction, deserve a lot of credit: they willingly enter the Zone to keep civilians out. This faction boasts both guns and numbers, and its members tend to have high-end equipment. Their storehouses will become a vital source of ammunition and supplies for you during some story missions.
The IPSF lack as strong a role in the story as their counterparts the Ward, who are much more notable. However, they still sport some cool uniforms and can give you a decent firefight.
7
Noontide
Former Followers Of The Monolith
In the original Stalker, the Monolith was quite a dangerous institution. Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl features a faction called Noontide comprising those who managed to escape the Monolith. With their brainwashing wearing off over time, the Noontide group coalesced out of these now-aimless stalkers.
The Noontide faction are enemies of the Monolith, due to the indoctrination they suffered at the latter’s hands. The faction is also notable due to Strider’s involvement. Yes, that Strider from Stalker: Call Of Pripyat. If you’re a longtime series fan, you’ll be pleased.
6
Freedom
Keeping The Zone Free For All
The Freedom faction has been around since the beginning of the Stalker series. An anarchist group, Freedom is a loosely organized but extremely powerful clan of stalkers who believe that the Zone should become an autonomous region free from government intervention.
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Freedom members tend to be militarily inclined, and their demands for free access to the Zone often put them in conflict with the military and Duty factions. Freedom represents the stalkers who were unable to resist the allure of the Zone and view it as their home.
5
Spark
Back From Clear Sky
Spark represents a continuation of the Clear Sky faction from the Stalker game of the same name. They are involved with Scar, the protagonist of Stalker: Clear Sky, and have goals similar to the old faction. However, their importance is much less in Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl.
Although Spark members have some strange beliefs, they are mostly well-intentioned, and your friend Richter even advises you to visit them at one point. Like most factions that aren’t Bandits, they’re willing to work with you if you don’t mess with them.
4
Duty
Putting An End To The Zone
If you ever end up in a Stalker-esque situation, Duty is the faction you want to join. A paramilitary group with good equipment, Duty believes in destroying the Zone and is one of the most powerful factions. This makes Duty members the archnemeses of the Monolithians.
Although Duty has been around ever since the first Stalker, they’ve managed to maintain their story importance all the way through to Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl, where they’ve set up shop in a cement factory and formed an uneasy alliance with Freedom.
3
Loners
Just Trying To Live
Loners is a faction defined by virtue of not being a faction. You see, not everyone in Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl wants to join an organized group. This includes the protagonist Skif. Such stalkers are dubbed Loners and usually traverse the Zone using their own wits and weapons, with little to no help from other factions.
Unfortunately for Loners, their lonesome nature means that they get bullied often. A lot of your random encounters will involve a Loner being pursued or beaten by Bandits, or Bandits pursuing you when they realize you’re a Loner too.
Officially, Skif remains a Loner for the entirety of Stalker 2, although the final missions let you side with different factions for one of four different endings.
2
Monolith
Still A Problem
The Zone isn’t home to just thieves and mutants; it’s also filled with anomalies and strange mental effects. The ones hit worst by these psychological phenomena are the Monolithians, a faction consisting of eerie, cult-like members who pray aloud and insist they will save other stalkers.
The Monolith faction is the main villain of Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl, though you can side with them. If you do, you’ll get a bad ending where Skif and the other stalkers are doomed to wander the Zone forever.
The Monolith believe their own lies, and will often try to persuade you to join them. However, going against them gives much better quest rewards.
1
The Ward
Law And Order In The Zone
The Ward proves that even in an anomalous, chaotic area like the Zone, there can be law and order. This heavily armed, disciplined faction often rolls into other factions’ areas and simply takes over towns without question. Due to the Ward’s power and organized nature, most other factions really can’t do anything about it.
While the Ward might sound like an antagonistic faction, they’re actually quite well-intentioned and treat the other stalkers well. The game’s good ending involves you cooperating with them and getting a new house out of it.
- Platform(s)
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Xbox Series X and Series S
, Microsoft Windows - Released
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2024-00-00
- Developer(s)
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GSC Game World
- Publisher(s)
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GSC Game World
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
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