Stalker 2 Guide: Help the Wanderer or Side with the Varta Faction

When completing the main quest Wishful Thinking in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, you will encounter several crucial moments where you must make choices. These decisions can alter the course of the game, so it's important to approach each one carefully. In this guide, we will detail whether you should kill Herman, whether to reveal the truth about the wanderer's plan, and, of course, the consequences of siding with the Wanderer or the Varta faction.

Warning! This guide contains plot spoilers!

At the beginning of the quest, you will need to talk to a girl named Agatha in the Projection Hall. During the conversation, players must make their first choice — eliminate Professor Herman or spare his life.

This choice reflects only your personal preferences and attitude towards the situation. Herman stole scanners from NIIChAZ and plotted your death. However, regardless of which path you choose, the plot remains unchanged. Make your decision based on your own beliefs, as both options will not lead to significant changes in the further development of events.

Continuing to watch the cutscene, the woman will decide to find out from Skif if he knows of anyone's intentions to sabotage the experiment.

The situation here is almost identical to the previous one. If you decide to tell Agatha the truth, she will be grateful. However, if you try to hide the information, it is at this moment that the Wanderer will contact you and reveal the secret for you. This decision also does not lead to significant consequences. Regardless of your choice, you will still be tasked with convincing the Wanderer to abandon his actions.

After making your last decision, you will be directed to the Cryptobiology Lab's checkpoint to talk to Dubny. During the dialogue, you will face another choice, and this one is extremely important — its consequences will be inevitable and will significantly impact the further development of events.

You may have already noticed that there are armed fighters in the lab. If you choose the option I'm with you, you will not only have to fight the Varta faction immediately after making the decision but also continue to battle them when you go outside to find the flash drive with the NIIChAZ archive as part of the quest To the Last Drop of Blood.

If you decide to support the Varta faction, players will only need to get rid of a few Wanderer fighters, making the task significantly easier. After that, there will be no cutscene with the Wanderer, you won't have to look for flash drives and escape the organization's territory, just continue following Korshunov's instructions.