Decision-making has always been a strong point in any videogame, but when the effect of your decision changes the gameplay, you want to pay close attention to the choices the game dangles in front of you. In Stalker 2, you face a similar situation during A Needle In A Haystack quest, when you get the Ward Sensor in your possession. We get two choices, either to hand the Ward Sensor to Richter or Captain Zotov. This guide takes a look at both scenarios as well as recommends which one is the better of the two.
Give The Ward Sensor To Richter Or Captain Zotov
Here we are left with two choices, either hand the ward sensors to Richter, a fellow stalker, or give it to the Captain occupying Zalissya. Both will let you know about the reasons why they need the Ward Sensor but it is up to us to deliver it.
So the question you will have in your mind is, will the decision bring any noticeable changes to your game?
Yes, the option you decide to roll with will have consequences later in the game or to be precise how the game will play out for you. If you are following the storyline of Stalker 2 and don’t want to see drastic changes, then you need to choose the option that suits your morality.
Give The Ward Sensor To Richter
We are going to list out the changes you will see when you give the ward sensor to Richter.
- More Coupons: You will leave the mission with 2,024 Coupons.
- Route to The Sphere via Ribs: Richter lets you know about the route to the Sphere by going through the Ribs. The route here will have anomalies present in the area instead of people.
- Exit the Lesser Zone via Northern Checkpoint: Here, you get out of the Lesser Zone by taking the Northern Checkpoint key off Gaffer in Zelissya. This will get you 2699 Coupons.
- Changes in Answers Come At a Price quest: In the quest you will have a conversation with an NPC named Star, your mission will then lead to the basement near the factory lab. At the end of the mission, you will find a recording link Diode.
- Early Encounter with the leader of Spark: After you listen to the recording at the end of the Answers Come At a Price quest, you will get a call from Scar, leader of Spark, and boss of Star.
- Winning the Trust: After finishing The Price Goes Up and Deal with the Devil questline, you have a new quest “Back To The Slag Heap“. Here you will have your first meeting with Colonel Korshunov, which will not go well, as you have chosen the side of Stalker than Ward. Later, you will see Scar again, but since we are on the path of Stalker, he will have nothing but good words for you.
Give Ward Sensor To Captain Zotov
Here we will focus on the changes in the game if you decide to hand the ward to Zotov. The missions will play out differently and the character interactions will be the exact opposite of the first choice.
- Fewer Coupons: Here you will get around 1,350 coupons from Zotov.
- Route to Sphere via IPSF outpost: A loyal mole of Zotov will be waiting for us to help us get to Sphere by taking the IPSF outpost. You can decide to either take the stealth or action approach. It is better to stick to sneaking than going out on full call of duty.
- Exit the Lesser Zone via Western Checkpoint: Here we will take the Western Checkpoint to break out of the Lesser Zone.
- Changes in Answer Come At a Price quest: The path will direct you to the Chemical Plant, where Warden Mateus will give us the information to find Colonel Korshunov. The mission will lead us to the Chornozem’s Gang leader holed up in the Depot. It’s up to you how you decide to carry out the mission.
- Early Encounter with the Leader of the Ward: We will get an early encounter with Colonel Korshunov, Ward’s leader.
- Winning the Trust: The behavior from the Korshunov will be quite friendlier here compared to our last choice. Scar will be very neutral when approaching you, the treatment will be fairly the same.
Which Side Is The Best Option?
We decide to roll with Richter for the Stalker buddies.
Both side features two completely different approaches to the same line of quest. The only thing that will change is your approach to the next set of quests rather than the entire quest lines. If you are roleplaying a stalker, then supporting a fellow stalker makes sense but when you choose the side of the Zotov, you are breaking away from the path of Stalker and accepting the survival nature of the Zone.
Thankfully, the choices you make for this scenario will not reflect the entire game, in many other choices, you will have the option to counteract your old choices. Stalker 2 does throw these decision-making opportunities pretty frequently at you, and you can keep our guides on Back to the Slag Heap, All That Is Left, and Dangerous Visitors quests bookmarked if you want to know exactly how these pan out.