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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.  Clear Sky  BEGINNERS GUIDE
****************************************************************************
Copyright 2008 Val's Evil Twin*
Contact: vals_evil_twin@australiamail.com
v 1.1   30 OCTOBER 2008
CONTENTS
+-----------------------------------+
I              MAP                  I
I        Part 1  WALKTHROUGH        I
I        Part 2  GUIDE              I
I               +                   I
I        Version History            I
I        Links                      I
I        Acknowledgements           I
I        Copyright and Permissions  I
+ ----------------------------------+
****************************************************************************
MAP of the SWAMP:
****************************************************************************
MAP LINK: http://www.borntobefreeform.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1620
*********
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
PART 1   BEGINNERS' GUIDE
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
This is:
> a Beginners Guide played on "Novice" difficulty.
> a solo campaign with no faction affiliation.
> made with the 1.5.05 patch.
> contains SPOILERS.
> uses no MODS
NOTE: Due to different patch versions, objects may appear in different
locations or quantities, or not appear at all.
****************************************************************************
1.00     INTRODUCTION
****************************************************************************
Great game. Reminds me of why I enjoyed Shadow of Chernobyl (SoC) so much.
Much of the map is the same as SoC with a couple of new areas.
Outline of main mission maps (linear)
> 1.01 Swamp
> 1.02 Cordon
> 1.03 Garbage #1
> 1.04 Dark Forest
> 1.05 Garbage #2
> 1.06 Agroprom
> 1.07 Agroprom Underground
> 1.08 Yantar
> 1.09 Red Forest
> 1.10 Mines
> 1.11 Army Warehouses
> 1.12 Limansk
> 1.13 Hospital
> 1.14 Nuclear Power Plant
It is not necessary to have Played SoC first. This is a stand alone prequel.
The Swamp level of the game is a tutorial. You learn how to use the
controls, PDA, map, inventory, weapons, bolts, anomaly detector, to search,
converse, trade, upgrade  and repair weapons, interact with NPCs and use
the guide system for travelling. You learn to stay healthy, cure bleeding,
and radiation sickness. You have a huge freeroam area with a few
mutant boars, infrequent anomalies, easily skirted areas of deadly radiation
and only one "emission" event.
You don't join a faction in Swamp, but you do meet two factions.
Clear Sky is a research organisation working to understand
the Zone and benefit mankind. Since the emissions from the Zone have upset
nature's balance, the previously safe haven of the Swamps is being invaded,
by a second faction, the Renegades.  The AI is pretty harmless, although
you can die very fast on Stalker, Veteran or Master levels!
Play on 'Novice' if you want to learn the ropes, explore, collect, and plan
strategies for making money. Experiment with saving travel time by accepting
multiple missions. Then try it on "Master".
NOTE: You are well advised to read through Part 2 GUIDE SECTION below before
you get too far into the walkthrough, especially the 'PATCH' section.
Let's go...
****************************************************************************
1.01      SWAMP: CLEAR SKY BASE CAMP
****************************************************************************
The introduction shows Scar at the railway tracks, leading a team of
scientists south from Agroprom into the Swamp. The scientists are just
saying the next emission is reliably predicted for two months time.
But, of course, it happens in the next two seconds.
Don't worry about the story too much because there isn't much of a story.
Apparently a Stalker got past the Brain Scorcher near the citadel, or
the Monolith, or the Wishgiver...whatever. That upset the zone so now it is
firing off emissions.
The emission kills the whole team except for Scar. The local faction in
the Swamp, Clear Sky, take him back to their leader, Lebedev. Scar wakes
up with nothing but a headache, but his nervous system is damaged and he
has strange new powers.
IMPORTANT NPCs in the SWAMP:
****************************
> Guides. They act as sort of 'teleporters'. No charge.
> Cold is the barman. He will trade food, vodka, etc and sell info on stash
locations.
> Lebedev is the Clear Sky leader. He gives missions.
> Prof Beanpolev has some background knowledge of the Zone.
> Suslov is the trader. He trades guns and ammo gives rewards, and sells
stash locations.
> Gray is the technician (mechanic). He gives missions to find upgrades and
performs repairs and upgrades.
> Nimble makes a return from C of S. He explains the PDA functions.
Now take control of the game:
*Mouse click in your dialogue panel to answer Lebedev.*
NEW TASK:
*********
Talk to the barman. Have a beer to fix that headache.
The next few tasks are linear, and then it's freeroam responding to
multiple radio calls for help.
Stand up, look around, take a walk and check the video options you selected
are giving a nice smooth framerate, and head for the bar.
Press P for the PDA map and see yourself as the blue marker and the barman
as red.
Click on all the icons on the PDA map to see what they are and experiment
with the controls in the lower right corner. Try out the tabs for factions,
statistics and message log. Press P to close the PDA and use the minimap
to get to the bar. You are the white dot in the middle of the minimap.Duh!
When you get to the barman Press F to talk, and you will see that your
character is called "Scar the Mercenary".
NEW TASK:
****************
Go back to Lebedev.
Got the white-dot-red-circle thing worked out now? Lebedev explains
what's going on in the swamp, and sends you to the trader to get outfitted.
He also mentions the guide/blindfold system of travel.  Everytime you
change areas you need to find a guide. Guides are marked on the maps!
They are what CS has in place of vehicles. There are too many barricades
and obstacles for cars, and too many spoken interactions, so we have the
guide system instead. It is cheap, quick and practical. This is a good
time to make a main save via the ESC key. Name it "Start", lol.
Gee, lucky it's daylight outside, night time gets REALLY dark!
Now that you have your kit from the trader, start the next mission fast.
Press F5 for a quick save in case you stuff it up, then press X and
sprint to the guide. He will blindfold you and lead you part way to
the outpost. When he leaves you, press 6 for your bolts, and throw them
ahead to locate the anomalies. They will kill you stone dead even though
you were magically altered by that last emission. Press O to use the Echo
detector. Throw bolts ahead, avoid stepping in an anomaly, listen to the
geiger clicking, and when the detector goes crazy you are on line
for an artifact. Pick it up without stepping in the anomaly. Later when you
have armour with pockets,you can equip artifacts for various benefits. You
soon get nice CS-3 body armour (with pockets) from the trader as a reward.
The first artifact is a 'Jellyfish', which gives -2 radiation protection.
It's also worth a lot when you sell it. If you wish to re-do the mission,
press F9 for a quick load.  Fortunately you won't need to be throwing bolts
every five seconds in the swamp, it's just bad for this little area.
The artifact is on the northwest tip, just to the left of the first plank
bridge. Now follow the yellow arrow on the mini map and
reinforce the outpost. Press 3 for the shotgun and run for the
base of the tower.
There's time to search the first body (Press F and click 'take all').
Search the second body at the base of the tower, shoot two mutant boar and
climb the ladder. Take the shotgun ammo (press F to pick up). Climb down
the ladder (or jump) and seek shelter as another emission blasts through.
Scar needs to find shelter and wait until they subside.
The game takes control now, and you wake back at the CS base camp.
Stalkers have saved your sorry ass once again, and you owe them.
NEW TASK:
*********
See Lebedev.
Check your main map and mini map. The red circle is Lebedev, you have to
talk to him next. But the yellow mission reward circle is also lit.
See Lebedev first, your reward will still be there later.
Lebedev says that you have survived a second emission! The story is that
the emissions are caused because a STALKER got past the Scorcher and now
the Zone is upset. Poor Zone!
Scar must help the Clear Sky faction stop the emissions, because if the
emissions continue they will kill him. Lebedev says, "This may sound like
a line from a corny movie, but you really don't have a choice."
...and I thought the merc talk in FarCry was cheesy!
NEW TASK:
*********
Talk to our old friend from SoC, Sidorivich.(But not just yet.
You need to do the whole Swamp first.)
NEW TASK:
**********
Go to the swamps with the guide.
Test out saving a game here. Press ESC to enter the main menu.
First, check the PDA, and click on the "Collect your Reward" icon.
On your way past Nimble, you will hear a chime/tone from the PDA.
If the message flashed up too quick to read, look in the PDA message log.
OK, Nimble is offering to give a guided tour of the PDA.
Well I already gave you that. =]
New tasks are coming fast on the PDA, but relax. Talk some more to Nimble.
Ask Nimble, "What can you offer me?" and he will offer you stash locations,
but the cost varies from 200 RU to 900 RU. You have enough to accept the
cheapest one. The types of task where you must pay for information for a
stash location can go either way. You might find a valuable Flash drive
with weapon Upgrade info, or you might get a lemon in the middle of a
field full of anomalies.
The trader, barman etc will also sell info on stashes. Stashes are only
used once and then disappear from the PDA. You can store loot in them once
they are emptied out, but it is probably safer to use boxes.
MULTIPLE NEW TASKS:
*******************
You will get a million radio calls for help, but don't stress about it.
Just get to as many as you can. "Cancelled Mission" messages are not
important. It's only the "Failed Missions" you need to stress about. =]
You have the option of fighting alongside Clear Sky faction members
(Green dots on map) if you want to walk with them. Or just clean up the
Renegades(Red dots) on your own.
First task will be to reinforce the fishing village. Then head to the
observation tower. Use all the usual FPS strategies: reload before an
action. Quick save. Find cover. Use Crouch/Low Crouch.  Make headshots.
You know...
New tasks will come in for the old church, Pump Station, etc.
Pick and choose, either take them on your own or in company with Clear Sky.
CLEAR THE ROADS/REDUCE RENEGADE NUMBERS:
****************************************
Now help the CS faction reduce Renegade numbers in the swamp.
Check the faction tab in your PDA for allies and equipment levels,
and overall missions/status with the Renegades. Lots of missions pop up and
the game is no longer linear. See the Guide to get you north into the swamp.
Missions come through on the radio for Fishing Hamlet, Old Church,
PumpStation. Clear out the renegades and mug their corpses for everything you
can carry. Remember, headshots rule!
If you're feeling poorly, use bandages/medikits/anti-rad drugs/food/drink.
Talk to the Stalkers you meet to see what missions they will give you. After
you have seriously reduced Renegade numbers and answered various calls for
assistance, you can stroll around a bit checking stashes, collecting loot,
asking for and completing all the side missions.
COLLECT A REWARD:
*****************
On the PDA map, click on "Collect Reward" and a  mission sheet will
overlay your map. You can use the "eye" to place the location on the map,
and the "move" icon to centre it there. Press X to hide it away again.
Collect your reward to date from the trader. Talk to him a bit and
the TRADE option will appear. Go into your inventory screen and unload
any weapons before trading them. Your items coloured red cannot be sold
here, take them over to the bar and unload some weight/make some roubles.
STEALING THE AK and SCOPE:
**************************
Next let's pay a visit to Gray, the technician.  I feel bad about this
but we're going to rip him off for a scope and two (2) AKs.
Maybe he won't know it was us.
He's a good guy,  he will repair and upgrade your weapons and armour.
Head up to his shop and look in the back. See the scope in the vise and
the two AKs in a rack on the left wall? climb under the floor, get under
the scope, and jump straight up until you no-clip through the floor.
Hold F as you jump to collect it. Same for the AKs. The one on the table
cannot be taken! (peetz)
Update: I could only steal the scope with 1.5.05  =(
SPECIAL ITEMS LIST:
*******************
> Scope and 2 AKs from the Technician (no clip cheat)
> Scope on Lookout Tower
> Viper 5 at the Pump Station and Southern farmstead.
> Silenced pistol in a stash underwater in the big chimney at the
Village Ruins. ( I paid for that info, but maybe it's there for
everyone to find.)
> Chaser 13 in a stash east of the Pump Station.(Paid for info.)
> Vintar Sniper Rifle at the train wreck.
> CS-3 armour as a reward from the trader.
> Veles artifact detector.
> Various artifacts (type may vary)
ACHIEVEMENTS LIST:
******************
You can now manage the PDA and inventory, faction display, navigate with
the main/mini maps, trade, upgrade weapons, find/use stashes, use the guide
system, locate anomalies and artifacts, quicksave/load, jump weave and duck.
CONGRATULATIONS!
BEFORE LEAVING THE SWAMP:
**************************
> collect all your rewards from the trader!
> hand over any Flash drives to the technician.
> you should have the Chaser 13 shotgun, Vintar Sniper rifle, and silenced
pistol. You can get a good assault rifle at the Army base later.
Take lots of roubles. There's no need to carry a lot of ammo and medikits,
there are heaps to find in Cordon.
> if you found the Veles detector in top left (NW), you would have located
many artifacts in the Swamp.
> Faction relations with Clear Sky are not important once you leave the
Swamp, which is really just a tutorial area.
> If you go to Cordon and immediately return to Swamp, the northern Agroprom
exit and Northeast Cordon exit is now open. This will allow you to avoid
the machine gunner covering the tunnel exit from the army base, but beating
the m/c gunner seems what the devs intended.
> Depending on what patch you use, ammo may be very hard to come by.
Accumulate as much money and ammo as you can before leaving the Swamp.
Spoiler: Spend your money freely on upgrades in Swamp, Cordon and Dark
Forest for reasons that will become apparent when you get to Garbage.
*****************************************************************************
THIS IS THE END OF THE BEGINNERS GUIDE WALKTHROUGH.
*****************************************************************************
The following sections include spoilers for areas of difficulty. Wondering if
your insoluble problem is a bug, or just something you have missed? This
should help you out.
The game is now truly freeroam. It is possible that moving back-and-forth
between areas in ways the devs didn't expect, might break the script. So
remember to save often in case you have to return to a previous area.
*****************************************************************************
1.02   CORDON: LIKE OLD TIMES
*****************************************************************************
Felt very nostalgic, coming back to Sidorovitch, Wolf and the Rookie Village.
IMPORTANT NPCs in CORDON:
*************************
Guides. They now charge an arm and a leg.
Wolf, the rookie leader. Gives side missions.
Sidorovitch the trader. Also gives main missions.
Father Valerian, Chief at main Cordon Base.
Shilov the trader.
Van Loner,technician.
Khaletskiy, Army Commandante.
ENTER CORDON FROM SWAMP:
*************************
NOTE:
>A bug in previous versions prevents the guide taking you from
Swamp to Cordon.
>Another bug in previous versions allowed m/c gun bullets to penetrate
the tree! Make sure you have 1.5.05.
To get past the m/c gunner, drop all excess equipment so you can sprint.
If you're carrying 59.9 kg you won't be able to run ten metres without a
break/redbull.
It's slightly easier at night, and easier if you holster your weapons.
It's not really all that hard once you know how.
Run to the big rocks between bursts. Crouch and bandage if necessary,
using  ] and [ keys for health and bandages.
Run to the fallen tree on the left, and either crawl under/hurdle it.
Run left to Cordon Village and the trader. If you keep a
good line you won't even get hit.
Aah, the Rookie Village, feels like coming home. Wolf is there but that
neat suit up in the rafters is gone.
Haul anything you find down to Sidorovitch and trade it.
The metal box at Sid's is a safe place to store your valuables.
Alternative entries to Cordon:
******************************
If you just CAN"T get past the m/c gunner, go back to Swamp and take the NE
exit into Cordon, which now is open. Or you could go out the northern
entrance to Agrprom.(The Renegades have set up bases on the northern road
so be prepared to fight or sneak past at night. It's nice and friendly in
Agroprom though.)
A CHAT WITH SIDOROVITCH:
**********************************
Sid tells you that in the past, Stalkers found artifacts in the Zone, and
the Army guaranteed their safe passage through the Cordon. Now they are
'bickering' and nothing is getting through. He asks you to bring out a case
for a valuable customer. In exchange he will help you in your mission to
find the unknown Stalker (Fang). He tells you Fang was buying up certain
weird items of equipment that allowed Stalkers to get past the Brain
Scorcher and enter the Centre of the Zone!
New Task:
**********
> visit the Stalkers on the embankment, and bring back the case.
The main missions are now fairly linear, with plenty of opportunities to do
side missions, buy stash information, etc. Remember to trade and
repair/upgrade equipment at every opportunity. Travel light, the game is
MUCH more enjoyable.
The 'Stalkers on the Embankment' are at the main Stalker base in Cordon.
Here are the trader, technician, and a safe box to store your loot.
Deal with the Army Commandante and his two henchmen and return Sid's case.
He sends you after Fang. This is the beginning of the main storyline/quest.
SUMMARY OF LINEAR TASKS (CORDON):
*********************************
> Talk to Army Commandante Khaletskiy about the location of his loot.
> Kill Khaletskiy's two henchmen.
> Eliminate military at elevator.
> Interrogate the commandante.
> Collect Sid's case and return it to him.
> See diggers at Garbage.
Escort Mission:
*********************************
When rescuing wolf's brother, have a cheap pistol in your inventory that
you can give him. Escort him all the way back to the Rookie Village or the
mission will fail.
THE ARMY BASE:
*********************************
There is a side mission to collect military medikits from the Army Base.
You can enter the base unseen. There's a tree over a fence leading to the
left side of the base. Climb over some junk against the wall and you're in.
Stealth works well here. You can low crouch most of the way unseen.
Grab the medikits and exit through the first story window to the ground
in front of the base. Elegant!
PDA at east end of railway tracks:
**********************************
On the way from the Army base back to Cordon Main Base, you find
Semyon Lambee (military faction) skulking in a tunnel under the road.
He asks you to find his friend. The friend's body is in a tunnel at the
end of the railway tracks that you cannot reach. Every time you enter you
are teleported back out! Talk to the guys guarding the pass under the
embankment. That weird Ball of Light above the embankment is some sort of
teleporter. The only use they found for it so far is to throw their
garbage in there, lol. OK?
Update on Cordon from Trith Leonharte:
**************************************
"Some people are vets of The Zone at the Cordon Rookie Camp. These "Vets"
don't have the newbie armor. Some had really nice weapons and armor, so, in
all my greed, I shot the one with that stuff. As it turned out, the newbies
in the village didn't fire on me, only the guys with the nicer stuff (which
I also stole). I ended up with a SPAS-12 (the better shotgun than Chaser-13)
and two IL86s and some other nice stuff. In other words, I think you should
try out some things at places like this, as sometimes there are multiple
teams within a non-faction base and their rewards can be very... rewarding."
Update on Rookie Village from wavelength121:
********************************************
"I failed to respond to a PDA distress call from the Village early
in the game and forgot about it... Later I was passing through and the
place was full of psyonic dogs, at least 50, didn't do any damage but
the game slowed to a crawl... After putting them all down I found
the village full of corpses... was a very eerie scene, but I got a lot
of high powered weaponry out of it... not to mention a lot of guilt.
That kind of unscripted carnage made me fall in love with this game."
Wolf's brother is dead, Wolf is gone. Some people even report Sidorovitch
is dead. (Unconfirmed, that.)
Next, head off to GARBAGE to see the Diggers.  They have more info on Fang.
****************************************************************************
1.03      #1 GARBAGE: HOME OF THE BANDITS
****************************************************************************
There are a lot of side missions in Garbage, and a lot of money to be made
offing the bandits and selling their pathetic possessions. They are easily
avoided if you are sick of killing them. It is not possible to eliminate
them at this stage, they only respawn.
There is a small STALKER encampment at the Flea Market.
If you are friendly with the Bandits you can play the Crow Shooting
mini-game. Pure frustration!
IMPORTANT NPCs in Garbage:
**************************
> Yoga, number1 bandit.
> Wasian.
> Limpid, Bandit technician.
> Borov, Bartender
> Tooth, trader.
> Skinny, crow-guy.
Flea Market:
**************************
> Wild Napr, STALKER leader.
> Gavin, technician.
> Timka, trader.
The bandits are waiting to rob you. You can sprint up the hill to the left
and evade them. The advantage of this is that the whole Bandit faction will
not be hostile to you. I don't like bandits so I just shot them all. The
only good thing about bandits is the upgrades from their technician. You can
shoot as many as you like to make money but forget about wiping them out.
They must have a lot of bandit women somewhere because they respawn faster
than rabbits. There's also no point in making a huge amount of roubles at
this stage either. So my advice is to avoid the bandits, detour around them
for now.
If you wish to join the Bandit faction, you should do so while they are
still neutral. Speak to Yoga, he will give you the missions to gain trust.
SUMMARY OF LINEAR TASKS (GARBAGE):
**********************************
> Get information about Fang from the diggers at Garbage. Too late,
the digger is already dead.
> Get information from the digger messenger. He is being attacked by dogs.
Climb onto the rock and help him out.
> Follow Fang to the Dark Valley. Fang went there to buy more weird
equipment from the Freedom Base. Freedom has good stuff for sale.
****************************************************************************
1.04      DARK VALLEY: FREEDOM TERRITORY
****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NPCs in Dark Valley:
******************************
> Egorka Partisan welcomes you to Dark Valley.  Stand still and holster your
weapon.
> Commander Lingov is second in command of the Freedom faction here. He is
also a "frigging rat" traitor.
> General Chekhov is the boss of Freedom. Talk to him to join this faction.
> Yar is the technician. Also upgrades the Vintar and Sunrise suit.
> Ganja is the barman.
> Ashot is the trader.
Whenever I enter Dark Valley there is a corrupted skybox that lasts until I
get close to the Freedom Base and then self-corrects, so No Problemo.
When you enter Dark Valley you meet a Freedom Checkpoint. Do as they say:
holster your weapon and stand still. Bit of chit-chat and you head for the
main Freedom base.
First up, talk to Lingov. He is the Commander (Second in command to Chekhov,
the boss of Freedom.)
Lingov gives you a few missions to establish trust. First is easy, kill
some pseudo-dogs. Next he asks you to go upstairs in the little building
next door to get some ammunition from the trader (Ashot). The mission is to
supply a patrol with ammo. When you reach them, they are all dead.
Check them over for TRs301 ammo. The PDA you need is with the dead soldier
on the mattress. The map target location is in the incorrect position here.
Chekhov asks you to bring him the PDA. Now you get to meet the real chief of
Freedom. Chekhov will tell you about Fang when you hand over the PDA. Fang
was trying to buy parts used in the army's old cryptographic machines. Hmmm!
The Freedom technician bugged Fang's PDA so Chekhov knows his location. But
you must do him a favour first: kill the traitor Lingov.
Do so, pick up Lingov's PDA and also find a nice, scoped TRs301 to replace
the IL86 or AK you have now. Whatever.
If you'd like to join the Freedom Faction, ask now. You are told you need to
do more missions to prove your worth. The missions involve capturing two
triangulators, at the swamp and a farmhouse. These will allow Freedom to
locate the tunnel where the mercs are entering Dark Valley. Once that's done
you can join Freedom. You get a reward for joining, an exit reward later,
and access to special upgrades from the Freedom technician.
Joining a faction extends game play exponentially. But it's also quite
acceptable to play right through and never join a faction.
A side mission for Yar (the technician) must be started at night. I saw him
at 2200 hours, it was pitch black and everyone had their torches on.
Know what he said to me? "Come back when it's dark!"
I came back at 0300 hours and he finally gave me the mission.
For rewards, missions, trading etc see Ganja (the bartender). Hard drink or
soft smoke.=)
peetz gave me these tips for Dark Valley:
"When I first went to Dark Valley and got the mission to kill the ghost dog
up on the hill, behind the Freedom base - I had some difficulty finding the
real dog amongst all it's ghost clones (which don't even hurt you, even
though they seem like they do). Then I found out that the real one shows on
your minimap. Then I figured out that an easier way to accomplish that part
was to stand at the back of the Freedom base and just snipe the dog - before
you get close and he clones all his images! There's a nice weapon bonus in
that mission as well.  I noticed that one of the Freedom guys guarding the
back entrance was carrying an SVDm2, so while I was across the pond, up on
the hill in the little camp where the dog was, I simply sniped him with my
Vintar from there.  No alarm.  My relations stayed good - so I simply picked
up the sniper rifle and got it upgraded at the technician there (Yar). Even
though ammo for it is a bit hard to come by, there are a couple of small
caches in the Dark Valley factory and there's a 200 shots package in a cache
in the tree by the back door of the Loner base in Agroprom. Getting that
cache took a few tries, until I figured out that you simply need to go up on
the roof, drop down and walk along the pipes, and then jump up on the tree
branch to reach it.  That SVDm2 is an incredibly accurate, 1-shot kill from
a LONG distance away.  Nice to have in your backpack."
SUMMARY OF LINEAR TASKS (THE DARK VALLEY):
******************************************
> Collect ammo from Ashot and deliver it to the patrol.
> The patrol are all dead. Get the PDA. Pick up an IL 86 if you wish. As
advertised, it jams frequently, even when fully upgraded. =((
> Take soldier's PDA to Chekhov.
> Find the traitor (Lingov).
> Take out mercs at Southern farm. Pick up a TRs301 if you like. Yes!
> Deliver Lingov's PDA to Chekhov.
> Follow Fang to Garbage.
SPOILER:
When you return from the Dark Valley, you enter the famous cellar door at
the Flea market and the Bandits take all your money.
So be warned. Spend everything! If you spend on food/drink you can resell it
later without losing money. (Speedcanhurt)
****************************************************************************
1.05     #2 GARBAGE:  MORE BANDITS
****************************************************************************
Drop your main rifle on the ground with some ammo before you head through
the door to get Fang's PDA. Don't drop everything because it'll take five
minutes to pick it all up again.
I hope you only have 2 roubles in your pocket, kiss it goodbye.
Lot of ppl had trouble with the cellar door not opening. Using the latest
patch, it opened fine for me. You get a blinding white light here.
If you have a 24" Samsung you will get snow-blindness. When you come to,
Bandits are discussing your erstwhile wealth. Pick up Fang's PDA and  pistol.
Back upstairs, pick up your rifle and find all your valuables in a stash
down the hill a bit. Shoot the two bandits guarding it. =))
I hurried on to Agroprom, but there's a lot to do here. The bandit music is
funny for a while and then it drives you crazy. You can hear it for miles!
There's also a couple of dudes sitting down and a skinny guy lounging behind
them. He runs a sort of mini-game shooting crows for pleasure and profit. =)
peetz: "The major plus with the new patch is that after you side with Loners
and clear out the Bandit Depot in Garbage, you get a Seva suit, money and a
Bubble artifact from the trader in Cordon.  That Bubble (-6 Rad) is the best
artifact to have with you!"
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1.06   #1 AGROPROM INSTITUTE: HOME OF DUTY
****************************************************************************
Agroprom is a lot friendlier and more relaxing than Garbage. And there are
still Bandits to kill and maintain cash flow.
There's a big lake here. Help the Duty guys out and you get a nice
"Sunrise" suit. Nice artifact in the lake too. The northern building is a
Loner base; southern building is Duty.
Tour the Mutant Zoo In the southern building, opposite Mitay the trader.
There's also a handy metal box there to store your stuff.
IMPORTANT NPCs in Agroprom:
***************************
Northern Building (LONERS):
> General Orest.
> Aydar, technician.
> Thrush, trader.
> Hermit
Southern Building (DUTY):
> General Krylov.
> Thunderov, technician.
> Mitay, trader.
> Kolobok, barman.
> Major Zvyagintsev, Shooting Gallery.
Missions given by Orest are rewarded back at Loner HQ in Cordon Main base.
There is a Vintar in mint condition in the north of the map. Thunderov will
upgrade it, even if you are not a member of Duty. He will also upgrade the
Sunrise Suit. Five pockets is nice!
The hermit who lives underground amongst the big oil tanks at Duty (N) base
gives a mission. I've heard that once you complete his mission and get his
stash info, if you point a gun at him he will pull out a RPG-7. Which
becomes yours for free. Didn't work for me though. =(
The Shooting Gallery mini-game is located through doorway on the right as
you head to the NW exit from the Duty base. Talk to  Major Zvyagintsev.
It didn't make me rich. =(
Weapons at the Gallery are: PMm
Martha
AKm74/2U
Viper 5
SG1 5K
SA "Avalanche"
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1.07    #2 AGROPROM UNDERGROUND
****************************************************************************
The Agroprom underground is teeming with mutants.Your mission is to turn off
the pumps that drain the sewers and drown the lot of them! The mini map will
suffice as the area is mainly linear.
The survival/horror atmosphere of SoC is nicely recaptured here.=)
You have to defeat a psi-mutant and turn off a valve. You then
have a timed run to escape the flood waters. Clean out a stash on the left,
there is plenty of time. A gate slowly raises, duck under and go down
a level. Turn left, run against all the fleeing mutants and climb a ladder
to an area above the floodwaters.
Now find a stash in a secret room. Finding the stash is the same deal
as in SoC: through a hole in the wall and up a ladder to the secret room.
Make your way to the surface and back to Agroprom Institute.
****************************************************************************
1.08   YANTAR: HOME OF THE SCIENTISTS
****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NPCs in Yantar:
*************************
> Dr Sakharov. Gives missions. Sells ammo and SEVA suit.
> Lefty, squad leader for assault on factory.
NOTE: You cannot join the Scientist faction.
Head north across Agroprom to the Yantar exit. Before you can enter
Dr Sarkhov's bunker you have to defend the base. Once all the zombifieds are
dead, the siren will switch off and the door to the bunker will be unlocked.
If it won't unlock, check that one of the zombies isn't still alive and
kicking on the ground. Check your main map for red dots. I had a lot of
trouble here, there was a red dot marked INSIDE the bunker. Had to go back
to an earlier save to correct it. Sakharov has nice ammo and a Seva suit for
sale =) Take his mission to find the stalker's PDA. This is outside on the
western edge of the factory.
You will be attacked by phantom dogs, which are unable to harm you. So don't
panic. The deal here is that ONE dog is real. Kill it, and all the phantoms
disappear. =)
There are also real dogs here, brown ones that do a lot of damage. So...
Sprint along the west side of the factory and climb on a box, duct etc.
Shoot the dogs from safety. Ignore the psi emissions, they won't hurt you.
BEFORE you get the PDA from the stalker corpse, check out the stone archway
thingy with your Veles. I found an "Eye" artifact here worth 20,000 RU.
NOW get the PDA and get the door to the bunker unlocked again. As long as
the siren is going, it won't open.
After clearing out the zombifieds on the margins, I climbed on the roof
of the bunker and took the rest out at my leisure. Once they are all dead,
the siren has stopped, and there are no more red dots on the map, the door
to the bunker will unlock. If not go back to a SG in Agroprom and try again.
Rest of Yantar to the Red Forest exit was bug free. =)) meet up with Lefty
and follow his instructions. Don't get in his way during the fight through
the factory. Follow a stalker onto the factory roof and protect the guys as
they turn the valves on the Cooling System. The sniper on the roof with you
drops a Vintar if he dies. After the Cooling system is stabilised, you get
a message to follow Strelok to the Red Forest. There's time to clear out
some stashes in the factory before you leave...
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1.09   RED FOREST: HOME OF THE FORESTER
****************************************************************************
Red Forest is a Death trap. It is also fairly linear, straightforward and bug
free. It is also very spooky, especially at night when the wolves are howling.
You will encounter Psy-dogs and BloodSuckers. The BS can only be killed when
uncloaked.Follow theirs eyes. When they are close and "uncloak" themselves
they are vulnerable to the knife. Or just shoot them in the face.
There is plenty of Vintar ammo around, and the Forester awards you an upgraded
Vintar at the end.
> Follow Strelok as he makes his way towards Limansk. You are just in time to
see him disappear into a tunnel.  He blows the tunnel so you can't follow him.
There's a bridge that Duty and Freedom raised, that can only be lowered from
the other side. And the other side is crawling with bandits! Just as things
look like they can't get any worse, you are ambushed!
> Don't annoy the Bandits across the River just yet.  There's a lot to do
before we lower the bridge.
> Prepare for some intense action. You escort some Loners through the Red
Forest anomalous area. Go ahead of them into the tunnel and protect them from
snorks. Or hang back and let them do the work. Past the tunnel, fight a
particularly powerful mutant ogre thingy. Calls for help to the Witches Circle
come on your PDA but I could never respond in time.
> As you escort the Loners through the anomalous zone, there is another camp
to defend. There's a four-arched rock formation here with two
artifacts. I died a horrible radioactive death here a few times getting the
second artifact (Eye). You might need to reload a few times, and snatch it
from the edge of the crater before it drops in.
> There's a Space anomaly above a tank that teleports you to the Forester's
place. There were Snorks sitting all over the tank, you can run/jump through
them to the teleport, or snipe them from safety. There's a machine gun here,
part of a quest, if you're aligned with a faction. Only the gun is required
for the quest, so you can unload it to save weight.
> Have a long talk to Forester. Get all his stash locations first.
Talk to him about the research institute at Limansk and get more of the
back-story. You can reach the centre of the Zone )Chernobyl NPP) through
Limansk without having to pass the Brain Scorcher! Hmmm!
> Before you head off and talk to the Outpost commander, check out the Red
Forest stashes. One to the west is a red valve in the mine pipe system!
****************************************************************************
1.10   MINES: HOME OF THE POLTERGEISTS
****************************************************************************
When I arrived at the mine everyone (except the poltergeists) was dead.
The Red Forest Underground contains a shedload of loot. There are AC96/2
rifles everywhere. Also several artifacts including the Compass. It's  Worth
50000RU but you can't sell it ( part of the main quest). I walked straight
inside, turned right, and there was the Compass artifact jumping around on a
table.  Didn't even need to use a detector.
> The Poltergeists here are a pair of mischievous spirits that throw stuff
around. You get hit with a crate or a gun it'll take two/three bandages to
heal! Thanks to ricoblack for putting me on the right track here. Climb down
the ladder then back to the top. This will trigger the two  ghosts. Use one
of the AC96/2s to shoot them from above. I used ten save points, 10 medikits
and 30 bandages before I killed them. Collect the stash over head, then go
down the ladder for an artifact. There's a passage back to the main tunnel.
> When you finish the mine and have all the Red Forest stashes, follow the
main mission again: 'Talk to the Freedom Outpost Commander.' You now have
a short excursion to the Military Warehouse map.The outpost commander tells
you that the army has lost control.
> See the mercenaries in the village. They have 'misplaced' a squad of
Stalkers during the last emission when they became trapped in a
Space Anomaly'loop'. First kill some bloodsuckers, then climb a tower to
receive a radio transmission giving the mercs' co-ordinates. When you climb
down from the tower, leap onto the lowest ledge and clean up the pseudo-dogs
waiting to ambush you.
> Talk to Forester. He requires the Compass artifact to lead the mercs out
of the Space Anomaly Bubble - loop thingy. If you haven't already done so,
fetch the Compass from the mine. Restart the conversation with Forester to
complete the objective.
Your bonus is a Vintar with upgrades:
Magazine +5
Flatness +50%
Accuracy +50%
Recoil -50%
Weight -10%
Not bad! =)
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1.11   ARMY WAREHOUSE
****************************************************************************
aka Military Warehouse.
> Talk to the mercs in the little village again. We need to get a radio
transmission to the trapped squad with the co-ordinates Forester found using
the Compass artifact.
> See Kostyan. Freedom will help you reach the radio transmitter in the
centre of the military base. Clear out the military with the Vintar and
climb the tower to send the transmission. Pick up a Tunder S14. Near the
tank at the entrance is a stash with an RPG-7u, which fires OG-7V grenades.
> Easy mission, fight off dogs at the Sports Arena.
> After the co-ords are sent and the guys rescued, go back via Red Forest
to the Limansk Bridge.
****************************************************************************
1.12      LIMANSK: WAR ON THE CITY STREETS
****************************************************************************
This map reminds me of MOHAA, but here the snipers are not static, they will
hide/circle/advance etc.
NOTE: Once you enter Limansk, you are unable to return. You are unable to
collect rewards in previous areas, trade, replenish ammo, upgrade, repair,
...nothing. This is a serious shortcoming in the game structure, probably
due to the devs running up against a publisher deadline.
NOTE: The way ahead through Limansk is totally linear.
> Protect the Clear Sky Stalkers lowering the bridge with the mechanism on
the other side of the river. Just a case of shooting more bandits, plus a
couple of snipers who appear on top of the hill.
You'll find the SA "Avalanche" on the dead bandits. Clear Sky and Lebedev
make a reappearance.
Various interesting bugs have occurred here, including the bridge only
partially closing, and dozens of mercs guys creating a traffic jam on the
bridge. With 1.5.05 patch, no such excitement.
> Talk to Lebedev: "Scout the road through Limansk to ensure safe passage of
the main CS squad. A war has broken out on the city streets, so proceed with
caution.".
If you are quick, you can save some bandits from execution by CS. Hand them
a medikit and they will warn you of a booby-trapped car ahead. Now I've
warned you, save your medikit and just hug the right wall to avoid the
tripwire.
> Clear the city of ground troops and snipers on rooftops.
> CS ask you to take out a machine gunner ahead. Duck in a doorway on the
left and clear the building. You will get some assistance from CS, even if
you are playing non-aligned to any factions. This is where you find some
nice weaponry: there's an RP-74 light machine gun (7.62PP ammo) and a
Bulldog 6 (VOG-25) revolving grenade launcher up near the machine gunner
on the balcony.
As you continue to clear the streets you will pick up weapons from various
dead factions, including Monolith:
RP-74 light m/c gun
Bulldog 6 Grenade launcher
SG1 5K Assault rifle (NATO 5.56X45)
Black Kite revolver (.45)
SVDm2 (7.62 &h14 ammo)
Plenty of ammo for Vintar and FT200M.
The AC96 has served well so far, and the SVDm2 is very nice for picking off
the bandits from a safe distance. The bullet doesn't drop as it does with
the Vintar!
> Meet up with CS Commander. The road ahead is blocked with anomalies,
but there's a gate on the right. Go through to the house.
> Talk to the CS commander. Take out the defenders on the bridge over the
canal and in the house ahead. If your suit has a bit of wear and tear, see
Vadik Phantom (CS) for upgrades and repairs. I found him on the upper level
of the house. Downstairs on the right is the back door leading the way to
the canal and bridge.
> Scout the road through Limansk.
There are Space Bubble Anomalies right across the road, but it's easy to
wind your way around and under them, and climb through the bus. Stand by the
giraffe in the children's playground to receive the next objective.
> Find a way through the construction site.
There are a lot of crates here with nothing inside, and a lot of buildings
with locked doors. =(   There's the occasional bit of loot, eg. medikits
behind the three tin sheds here. From the giraffe, head upstairs to the
construction site.
The AI at the front are fairly aggressive, but easy to outflank. AI on
higher floors are fairly dumb and don't even turn to attack. There's some
medical supplies on the top floor. You can see the sniper in the tower to
the north,and scope out the whole area. Go down to the floor with the fire
and scramble down to ground level at the back (north). Duck through the
hole under the back gate by the two CS Stalkers.
> Take down the sniper in the tower and generally help out the CS guys.
> Report to the commander. Ahead is an electrified fence blocking the way.