Should you give the Ward Sensors to Richter or Zotov in STALKER 2?

Deciding who to give the STALKER 2 Ward Sensors to our of Richter and Zotov is one of the game’s first major choices, forcing you to pick a side - help the Stalker faction or help the Ward faction. This choice is triggered after you decide whether to help or kill Squint in STALKER 2 and whoever you hand the Ward Sensors to, you're effectively pledging at least a brief allegiance to. And while there aren't any world-shaking consequences to worry about, there is a slight diversion in the main quest of STALKER 2 afterwards. Bearing that in mind, I've laid out the outcomes for choosing to give the Richter and Zotov the Ward Sensors below.

Give the STALKER 2 Ward Sensors to Richter

If you give the Ward 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, to 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.

However, this decision plays a part later when it's time to track down Nestor, the name you got from Solder. Richter will tell you to head to a Detention Center in the Garbage region of the Zone to speak to some people, but you need to head via the Northern Checkpoint, which you'll also get a key for. Zotov, on the other hand will send you to the Western Checkpoint to go into the Chemical Plant. You'll then undertake some slightly different missions before joining up onto the main quest again.

Before you head out of the Lesser Zone, you might want to tidy up a few jobs and side missions first some of which have their own choices - if you've not yet had to choose Dew or the Ninth in the STALKER 2 Lost Boys mission, we can show you the options there.

Give the STALKER 2 Ward Sensors to Zotov

If you give the Ward 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 you can use Richter's option to escape instead. 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 Chemical Plant via the Pontoon Bridge Checkpoint on the west side of the Lesser Zone to find Colonel Korshunov, who might be able to help you regarding Nestor. Richter, on the other hand, will get you through the Northern Checkpoint and into Garbage, but either choice eventually leads to the threads joining up again as you look for Nestor.

Ultimately, the decision gives you a special entrance option for getting into the Sphere 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, you could also argue that handing the Ward Sensors to Zotov is better in the long run as you'll be directed to the Chemical Plant region before eventually going to Garbage anyway, so this helps you see more of the map. Although, the overall differences aren't that huge, so go with whoever you like the most.

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