GSC Game World’s Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl starts off with you being a stalker whose duty is to decide the fate of the whole zone. In every quest and side mission, you will be given a choice on how you want to interact with the other person or a thing.
You can either choose a positive response, a negative one or just leave them be. Each one will affect your gameplay in the end as you get different rewards basis your decision. There are missions and items that you can miss out on based on your choices. The game gets you making one of these decisions early on during ‘A Needle In A Haystack’ mission, where you have to decide if you want to Kill Squint or spare him.
How To Find Squint In Stalker 2
Squint is a stalker who’ll be hiding at a shady windmill. Talk to Zotov to start the Needle in A Haystack mission. The objectives will be to find Squint and to explore the warehouse with the radiation hazard signs. You’ll come across some enemies in the warehouse, who know where Squint could be found. After killing & looting them, head towards the farmstead.
Once you reach the windmill, there are many items you can collect before heading upstairs to find Squint. After finding him, you can choose either of the options:
- “Put your gun down.”
- “Easy, I’m a Friend.”
- “Attack- I’d Rather Kill You.”
What Happens If You Help Squint?
If you decide it’s better to help Squint out, you’ll be able to start a side mission called “Piece of Cake”.
Here, you’ll have to go to a cave under the area where he was hiding and retrieve an artifact. Keep in mind that a bloodsucker will be lurking around this cave, so save up some ammo and fight it as soon as you see it. Loot the dead bodies that are lying around. You’ll also come across some acid anomalies, so pull out your scanner and search for the artifact that Squint had mentioned.
Once you get your hands on it, just head back to Squint’s location and give him the artifact. This will complete the side mission.
What Happens If You Kill Squint?
If you choose the “Attack” option on Squint instead, you won’t be able to get the artifact unless you already know its location and go search for it after killing him. Loot the ward sensors off of Squint and head to the cave where the artifact is known to be present.
Killing Squint won’t affect the main mission much, but it can have consequences in the future of your gameplay. So unless you’re okay with not completing 100% of the game, you can totally kill Squint.
Needle In A Haystack: Kill Or Help Squint?
Killing or helping Squint does not matter in terms of the main storyline. However, story-wise, it is better to help Squint. If you feel bloodthirsty and want to kill Squint, you can do that after first selecting to help, getting the side mission done and killing him when you come back to hand over the artifact.
While this decision does not have that much at stake, there are other decisions like whether you should help the Ninth; or in the King of the Hill quest, should you kill Shah or Roosevelt that do have an impact in terms of the rewards that you get.