Exploration and choices are important in Stalker 2, and at several points in the main story you’ll have to make key decisions that affect how events and the conclusion of the game play out. Overall, there are four main Stalker 2 endings in the game depending on who you align yourself with.
In this guide, I’ll break down how you can get each of them and the key decisions that play a role in deciding how Skif’s journey concludes. Keep in mind that Stalker 2 does not have any New Game Plus mode currently, and these decisions are cumulative over the course of the game. So if you want to see each ending, you’ll have to replay the main story or reload a save file from earlier.
Most of these decisions take place in the latter half of the game, but you can signal your intentions early on with a decision or two. Be warned: there are major spoilers below.
Align with Scar
Key choices
- During the Back To The Slag Heap main mission, don’t give Korshunov the Unusual PDA
- Side with Noontide in the basement of SIRCAA
- Side with Scar’s group when attacking the Duga
- Side with Scar and agree that The Shining Zone is real after seeing it
- When ambushed by the Ward and Korshunov, choose to escape (this choice locks you out of The Ward’s ending)
After the events at SIRCAA where Noontide and Monolith become one, you’ll work with Lodochka to try to remove the brainwashing that all the members of Noontide have succumbed to. Scar will then task you to set an emitter beneath the Duga that can be used to brainwash The Ward with Faust appearing throughout the battle.
You will then head to Ozersky and learn that Faust was a test subject, given the abilities of the Controllers you find throughout The Zone. You’ll then attack the Duga once again and confront Faust. After Faust has been stopped, you will talk to the representative of C-Consciousness with Scar, based on your choices aligning with his group. Following the conversation, you fight The Ward after they invade.
After a lot of missions, you’ll try to find Strelok before being ambushed by him. It turns out the man you were with, Dark, is an agent of C-Consciousness given the task of killing Strelok. Strelok will tell you that both Korshunov and Scar want to use The Zone for their own nefarious purposes and that he disagrees with both of them. He also tells you The Shining Zone is fake.
After seeing The Shining Zone for yourself, side with Scar and agree that it’s real and not fake like Strelok told you. While searching for a way to shut down the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. program, you’ll then be ambushed by Korshunov and the Ward. Here, choose to escape, which will lock you out of the Ward endings.
All outcomes lead to the Foundation, which is the point of no return. If you allied with Scar’s men, then you and Richter will infiltrate the control room and need to kill Korshunov. Richter will die here, and Dalin will try to talk with his dad, a representative of C-Consciousness. Dalin’s father will reply, convincing Dalin that The Shining Zone is real.
Later on you’ll make your way to the generators and have to kill Strelok as you aren’t aligned with him. You’ll then meet up with Scar who becomes the Mediator. Skif steps out into The Zone after The Shining Zone became real, or at least that is what Scar, Skif, and everyone else believes until we are shown that it is, and has always been an illusion.
Align with Strelok
Key choices
- During the Back To The Slag Heap main mission, don’t give Korshunov the Unusual PDA
- Side with Noontide in the basement of SIRCAA
- Side with Scar’s group when attacking the Duga
- Side with Strelok and agree that The Shining Zone isn’t real after seeing it
- When ambushed by the Ward and Korshunov, choose to escape (this choice locks you out of The Ward’s ending)
- Kill Dr. Kaymanov
For the most part, these choices are the same as the previous entry until you reach The Shining Zone. Instead of agreeing with Scar that it’s real, disagree with him, making you an enemy and siding with Strelok. Then, at the Foundation, you’ll be joined by Degtyarev and have to kill Korshunov.
Once Korhsunov is defeated, Dalin will try to talk to his dad, a representative of C-Consciousness. Unfortunately, he won’t reply, and Dalin blows up the device. When meeting Dr. Kaymanov, you also need to kill him straight away. Do not listen to his story when given the option to.
Later on you will head to the Generators and speak to Strelok. You’ll then meet up with Scar, who you need to kill. Finally, Strelok will become the Mediator and gain control over Monolith, instructing them to prevent anyone from entering or leaving The Zone. His goal was to ensure The Zone remains untampered with, and as the Mediator, he can now do that.
Align with Strelok while sparing Dr. Kaymanov
Key choices
- During the Back To The Slag Heap main mission, give Korshunov the Unusual PDA
- Side with the Ward in the basement of SIRCAA
- Side with the Ward when attacking the Duga
- Disagree with Scar after seeing The Shining Zone and tell him it isn’t real
- When ambushed by the Ward and Korshunov, ally with them (this choice locks in the Ward ending)
- Listen to Dr. Kaymanov and spare him
This ending is roughly the same as the previous one. However, during the final missions, you can choose to hear Dr. Kaymanov out instead of killing him as Strelok requests. Unfortunately, Kaymanov is taken by an emission, but you can find out the rest of his story by grabbing the cartridge in the room beneath his house.
You then learn that Kaymanov caused the second explosion of the reactor in 2006 and also gave birth to The Zone through his actions. The Zone also spreads across the world after you give it the choice to do as it likes. It is also revealed that Faust is Dr Kaymanov and neither actually died.
Align With Korshunov and the Ward
Key choices
- During the Back To The Slag Heap main mission, give Korshunov the Unusual PDA
- Side with the Ward in the basement of SIRCAA
- Side with the Ward when attacking the Duga
- Disagree with Scar after seeing The Shining Zone and tell him it isn’t real
- When ambushed by the Ward and Korshunov, ally with them (this choice locks in the Ward ending)
After the events at SIRCAA, you’ll head to the Chemical Plant with the Ward to discuss next steps. You will then try to take down the Monolith at the Duga, only for Faust to appear and all the Ward soldiers you came with to start attacking you, forcing a retreat.
You’ll then head to Ozersky and learn that Faust was a test subject, given the abilities of the Controllers you find throughout The Zone. With the Ward, you attack the Duga once again and confront Faust.
A little later on, after Faust has been stopped, you talk to the representative of C-Consciousness with Dalin, based on your choices aligning with The Ward. Following the conversation, you’ll have to fight Scar’s group as they invade the location.
After a lot of missions and visiting locations, you’ll try to find Strelok before being ambushed by him with someone named Dark. He’ll tell you that Dark was an agent of C-Consciousness, meant to kill him. Strelok will tell you that both Korshunov and Scar want to use The Zone for their own nefarious purposes and that he disagrees with both of them. He also tells you The Shining Zone isn’t real.
Once you’ve seen The Shining Zone for yourself, don’t side with Scar, and tell him it’s fake. This will make you his enemy. A little later on, after searching for a way to shut down the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. program, you get ambushed by Korshunov and the Ward. Here, choose to ally with them in order to lock in their ending.
When you reach the Foundation, you’ll be ambushed by Scar and his Spark teams after you learn Dalin has betrayed SIRCAA and the Ward. You will need to defend the area and kill Richter. You follow that up by killing Dalin for his betrayal.
Later on you’ll make your way to the generators and have to kill Strelok. You will then meet up with Scar who you’ll also kill. Finally, the Ward gains control of The Zone, dissipating it, and Skif can do as he likes or become a colonel if he wishes. However, the grip the Ward has over him and everyone else is shown through the final scenes where we see a TV screen showing Skif’s perspective.
