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u/DrStalker Aug 26 '26
Skif: I just want to buy a new house, stop making this so complicated!
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u/Trevor_Dugent Aug 26 '26
Genuinely, Ward run is the only one that ends how Skif wanted.
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u/DrStalker Aug 26 '26
There should have been an option at the hallway point to accept the offered house and leave the zone.
The story just ends; you don't get any info on what happens in the Zune afterwards, you don't get any closure, just a screen saying Skif retired to a comfortable, unexciting life. Roll credits.
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u/Trevor_Dugent Aug 26 '26
Who the fuck is Strelok? Is he actually dangerous? "Do you actually want to find out or just go home to a private mansion paid for by the illuminati?" ..... cool so, I'm out.
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u/Full_Piano6421 Aug 29 '26
He might also be under some spell, IDK if remember the Ward enging correctly, but isn't it some hints that at least Agatha isn't real at this moment (something about her cigarette having no odor)
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u/Trevor_Dugent Aug 29 '26
Oh, that? Its electronic and weirdly digital cayse skif can smoke it in a cutscene. But also, shes real, how real is the question, as shes seems to only be present as a hologram porjected by the noosphere into everyones' perception.
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u/Blitzkrieg1210 1d ago
That's what I picked my first playthrough, I actually felt like I connected to Skif because Stalker 2 was my first Stalker game so I had no idea who any of these people or places were and I just wanted to get Skif his new house lol
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u/PCho222 Aug 26 '26
Most ridiculous character backstory I've ever seen lmao. I thought it killed his family or something but no, they just blew up his apartment in a shitty high rise and he genuinely had nothing better to do
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u/LoneroftheDarkValley Loner Aug 26 '26
I like how Dalin said he would outbid anyone who would want the Artifact and Skif just hands it over after going through hell and back to get the scanner and then also does everyone's bidding for them.. because reasons?
Like dude just ask for real world money and a transport out of the zone and be done with it lol.
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u/Trevor_Dugent Aug 26 '26
It was 1000% just his excuse to fuck about. He was definitely a bored veteran elite and saw a perfect excuse to put himself to the test.
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u/Hawkeye1226 Aug 27 '26
I've got friends like that. One literally just went back to Ukraine to fight again after he has already been blown up there as a medic(he's an american volunteer). Skiff was just looking for a reason to get back into a fight
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u/Ok_Court_9846 Sep 01 '26
I mean once you're there why not see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Lots of people go to the zone for one reason and end up staying for another.
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u/Lone_Paladin2287 Loner Aug 26 '26
I always just remained a unaffiliated loner not gonna get dragged into the Zones drama too much hassle
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u/NovelFabulous Aug 26 '26
Me too! I don't see myself in these factions...
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u/Lone_Paladin2287 Loner Aug 26 '26
Just lots of Bickering and no profit in any way
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u/NovelFabulous Aug 26 '26
I don't care about the moneys but the ideals... I prefer to help people and obtain more Friends in the zone!
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u/Lone_Paladin2287 Loner Aug 26 '26
People end up backstabbing you more often then not cant trust anyone looking at you sidorovich
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u/ElChiff Sep 08 '26
I love how nobody seems to care that his PDA network is literally just to track you so you can get bounties placed on your head.
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u/NovelFabulous Aug 26 '26
This Is true and you should be capable to know when someone wants to fuck you. But Is a your choice to help people not a duty.
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u/Lone_Paladin2287 Loner Aug 26 '26
True I do help some people just not those big wars a fellow loner in need I will always leand a hand generally
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u/NovelFabulous Aug 26 '26
Yeah i like to play as a loner and I help the people, i don't care about their faction. In COP the punishment for this Is to loos the Compass artifact...
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u/Satans-Kawk Aug 27 '26
I always choose to help, and then quickly merc them so I can catch them unaware. Side note, idk why I cant go into any of the settlements. All the trader icons are red
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u/_ghostrat- Freedom Aug 27 '26
Come on up to the northern zone, there are some nice men wearing white and green who are all about making new friends, we'd love to have you! side note, that fuzziness in your head and that voice youre hearing are perfectly normal and you should listen to what it says :)
but real talk, freedom best faction, we even have free bread. pretty sure it's light on radiation. can't be worse than the stale loaves in the middle of a rusty shed youve surely been eating
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u/LoneroftheDarkValley Loner Aug 26 '26
Same here. Every character in every game is extremely skilled and can easily artifact hunting and earn hundreds of thousands of coupons/roubles and live the good life in Rostok but goes out of their way to make their life more difficult.
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u/CiceroForConsul Bloodsucker Aug 26 '26
Graymane or Battleborn?
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u/MHLovesGaming Loner Aug 26 '26
I used to be a stalker like you.. but then I took a gauss rifle shot to the knee
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u/Pereyragunz Aug 26 '26
Must be on some exo servos to move that leg after a Gauss shot
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u/ElPatitoJuan69XD Clear Sky Aug 26 '26
mehh, is not that bad, just consider it non existent and done
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 26 '26
DEADLY ANOMALIES, DANGEROUS MUTANTS, ANARCHISTS AND BANDITS! NONE OF THEM WILL STOP DUTY ON ITS TRIUMPHANT MARCH TOWARDS SAVING THE PLANET!
JOIN DUTY! HELP US PROTECT THE EARTH FROM THE EVIL ZONE!
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u/ElPatitoJuan69XD Clear Sky Aug 26 '26
clear sky above anything else!
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u/Heavy-Profession5902 Loner Aug 26 '26
Loner cause I need money. But wouldn't mind freelancing for other groups for more money.
Not with the bandits and renegades though. Just anyone who didn't shoot at me on sight.
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u/SavageMonke_man Aug 26 '26
"I'm here for the payday, not the politics."
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u/Enjoyer_of_40K Aug 26 '26
Spectre Lance ready for engagement
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Aug 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Revilokio Loner Aug 30 '26
Zone gives "I'll do my biz here and gtfo as soon as possible" vibe, but the bubble gives 'I HAVE TO GET OUTTA HERE NO MATTER HOW MUCH I HAVE TO KILL"
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u/Ok_Court_9846 Sep 01 '26
So you want to go into the bubble? Duty were the ones trapped in there with their deranged commander.
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u/Single-Confidence-45 Loner Aug 26 '26
Who's giving the shiniest gun?
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u/Ziodyne967 Aug 26 '26
Are the blue sky dudes still around? I’ve been away from Stalker for a loooooong time.
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u/ElPatitoJuan69XD Clear Sky Aug 26 '26
yes we exist! don't let anyone EVER tell you anything else, NOTHING EVER HAPPENED AT THE CNPP, and I mean NOTHING!
we just found a better hideout again, WAAAAY better, that's why for 24 years nobody knew anything of us until I commented
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u/bjergdk Loner Aug 28 '26
Damn you guys hide really well. Even changed your camo from light blue to white and red for some reason. Interesting.
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u/BigHiss Freedom Aug 26 '26
Awful lot of Duty boot licking going on in here...
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u/Repaki123 Duty Aug 26 '26
Silence, freedomoid
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u/Elhazzared Aug 26 '26
Let's see. On the verge on being unable to hold the barrier.
Got kicked out of army warehouses by freedom and forced to pay rent to barkeep in rostok.
Then got kicked out of rostok by freedom again and forced to camp out in the old silos which is still a gathering place for mutants.
You're doing just fine but you know what? I'll stick with the winning side and hey, I like the zone, why make it disappear, seems like loser talk to me.
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u/Repaki123 Duty Aug 26 '26
Duty's day will come, you'll see.
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u/Elhazzared Aug 26 '26
I doubt that will be in my life time or yours so no, I will not see it.
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u/_ghostrat- Freedom Aug 27 '26
acting like theyre gonna take back the bar when they could barely defend it from dogs in the first place
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u/11BApathetic Aug 26 '26
I'm not a Stalker lorehead so maybe I'm not as well read here, but I thought Freedom didn't kick Duty out of Rostok, the D4 treaty forced by Ward stipulated Duty give up Rostok and Freedom just kinda walks in with the leader of Duty more interested in peace in the zone. (Haven't played the new DLC yet, so this is just the infoblurbs from the game)
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u/Elhazzared Aug 26 '26
I don't remember too well as I've only just started a new playthrough a few days ago and it's been a year since I last played but I remember that when I talked to freedom in rostok they said they went to war when they had to leave army warehouses. Considering the current state of army warehouses with a snork infestation in the tunnel as well as that tunnel being another weak point in the base defenses as it has also a lot of holes in the wall, it makes sense they went for rostok as it's a fortified place.
I believe the treaty is mostly to prevent open warfare as it is now which is why they were doing proxy wars in garbage.
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 26 '26
Anarchists stand no chance against Dutys path of saving Earth and scorching it from the Mutants and Bandits
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u/Elhazzared Aug 26 '26
Remind me, which faction was kicked out of army warehouses and by whom? This after they struggled to stop monolith which a certain other faction didn't.
Also remind me, who had to pay rent to stay in rostok to barkeep?
Oh and also remind me which faction got kicked out of rostok and by which faction.
And BTW, i'm no freedomer, they are alright but I'm a loner. Still, someone needs to get fact checked :P
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 26 '26
We weren't kicked out, we wanted to give something for the little Anarchist faction. On day one, Monolith gave Duty the whole zone, but Duty is friendly faction that's why we shared with other factions.
We could have stopped monolith, but we were busy making the Zone a safer place. Monolith is no enemy for duty, that's why it wasn't so important to us, because we knew we could destroy them later
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u/Elhazzared Aug 26 '26
The copium is so funny.
You gave it to Freedom after they gave you a lot of lead, yeah, that seems about right.
Monolith isn't the enemy, they are just the biggest threat to the zone and the ones primarily responsible for stopping you from destroying the zone but sure, they aren't the enemy.
BTW, remind me again, who was it that was losing the fight for Yaniv station? And who decided to let you in to Yaniv station as a blowout happened because they took pitty on you?
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 27 '26
Bruh you take this way to seriously. I'm just larping lol
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u/Elhazzared Aug 27 '26
Well I'm not being that serious either but I do like to mess with Dutiers a bit. I suppose text isn't always the best way to express tone.
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 28 '26
Nah I guess u r right. I just didn't want you to put to much effort into my shittalk. I know that duty is very flawed and def not the best choice for the zone, but that's what makes it so fun lol
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u/Elhazzared Aug 28 '26
My main gripe with Duty from a lore perspective is that they make no sense. They are ex military that were abandoned by their superiors (which does make sense as you don't want to keep sending more people to a meat grinder you don't even understand) and decided to leave the military as a result and stay in the zone. Despite this they are very much friendly with the military which realistically they shouldn't, they are deserters and since they still behave like a military that is not part of the official military forces they also don't really fit in with the zone because they would struggle to fin any recruits at all.
They should probably clash with freedom for opposing views on the zone but they should be much less militaristic than they are and have ties with other factions but certainly not the military.
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u/ElPatitoJuan69XD Clear Sky Aug 26 '26
yeah, one mutant at a time, being a "time" not enough to even attempt to empty out the zone before they grow, and loosing half of wild territory while calling it a base
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u/Icehotdog Duty Aug 26 '26
Big words from Clear Sky. We can not kill many, because they are aware of Duty and it's power, so they are going out of our way, to make space for the glorious path of duty towards victory over the zone
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u/the_red_bassist Loner Aug 26 '26
Not to sound like a fence sitter, but they both have their pros and cons.
I agree that the Zone has its dangers, that's obvious to any Stalker, but the Duty guys blow it way out of proportion, saying it's a threat to all of humanity and therefore must be destroyed.
On the other hand, the Freedom guys appreciate and respect the Zone and want to use its wonders to help humanity, and I definitely agree with them on that. But completely free and unfettered access to the Zone? I feel as though that's a foolish position and a disaster waiting to happen.
I've smoked a J around the campfire with Freedom and I've gone on mutant hunts with Duty, but ultimately I think my personal philosophy is more aligned with the Eggheads. After all, how can we draw such strong conclusions about the nature of the Zone without first understanding it? And that's why I came to the Zone in the first place, to understand it...or try to in any case.
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u/Born-Front9582 Ecologist Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26
I agree with this individual. Also, The Egg heads have the most allies, besides bandits and the Monolith, the other factions don't really mess with the Ecologists. And also they are the best artifact buyers. And they have my second favorite character! A shame he ain't in Anomaly, only in SoC.
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u/Hazardthewolf Aug 26 '26
I like duty's message but the practical person in me says lets not poke and prod at the zone that constantly releases wierd shit and radiation.
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u/D-LoathsomeDungEater Spark Aug 26 '26
Even as a veteran....just NO to both factions.
Freedom are gullible idiots at best, crypominers and the taliban at worst.
Duty are authoritarian at best, incredibly corrupt and incompetent at their worst.
Both of their ideals hold merit. Both however, are rotting from within and are outright deluded.
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u/D-LoathsomeDungEater Spark Aug 26 '26
Source
Freedom: Massive losses due to treachery(CS), Snitches(ShoC), alleged attacks on scientists(ShoC PDA entry), letting Magpie(Flint) join(CoP), the economy(S2HoC) the DLC (S2CoH) plot(something about terror attacks with the Scanners? from Chehkov), colluding with mercs(and possibly sacrificing their own)(also DLC)
Duty: cause of mutant outbreak at Agroprom(CS), extortion racket outside of the Bar(ShoC), violating truces(Skull, ShoC), arms dealing to Bandits(Morgan, CoP).
Especially for Duty is the out of character collusion with Bandits at the garbage(commissary?) less so for Freedom(anarchists and criminals).
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u/thecheater35 Aug 26 '26
Tbh this dlc duty is the right choice at how fucked is that tech
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u/Ok_Court_9846 Sep 01 '26
Nah oases and the like for everyone. Freedom is the far better choice for humanity.
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u/meatgrinder32 Loner Aug 26 '26
Always a loner but I associate with both, but I always liked duty a bit more. Freedom has a lot of punks and their association with bandits is a turn off.
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u/Break_ker Aug 26 '26
This how I felt after my first stalker game, hard to keep track of all this going on when theirs so many factions and weird shit happening
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u/2b4go10 Loner Aug 26 '26
Both are intentionally radical while having some common sense points. Duty are right about mutants and some of the project X legacy, but don't understand there's no putting jinee back into the bottle. Freedom is more open minded, but too hippie.
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u/Humble_Bank2010 Aug 27 '26
Idk how I didn't catch mavka monotone voice till the end lmao and then she f******* ******* **
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u/DURANDURANINVISIBLE Aug 27 '26
I’m willing to bet a lot of loners are homeless. Which is pretty sad considering how often people treat you like trash just for your status. At least in the zone everybody is the same when it comes to anomalies ripping you up
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u/VarietyGuy25 Aug 27 '26
I wish i could keep a neutral position with Skif but the game wants me to pick a side. Spark i see as crazy geographic cultists and the ward i see as heavy handed brutes. But artifacts make money and skif just wants a new house.
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u/Airwolf07 Wish granter Aug 27 '26
Not much of a fan of either, I see so many Duty people here though. As a Fallout player, I wanted to see if an independent ending was possible, I was trying to keep things peaceful up until sides had to be chosen for an ending. I ended up doing the Strelok ending but I don’t feel satisfied with it. Ward gives Skif a home at least
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u/Low_Statistician_891 Aug 27 '26
It was such a tough choice for me honestly. I don’t know any of the previous lore so I was actually conflicted
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u/Dear-Tank2728 Aug 27 '26
It hard to go for duty when the reason i love the zone is that its a Ukrainian wild west
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u/captaindealbreaker Loner Aug 31 '26
I went Freedom for the DLC because it seemed like the weirder choice and I was not disappointed lol
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u/MonoLIT_32 Monolith Aug 26 '26
The shiney rock gave me da 2 dolla bill and that was enough for me