Road to Vostok Trading Guide: All Trader Locations and How to Barter

Road to Vostok can be described as a kind of extraction shooter without a multiplayer component. Your goal is to collect various resources, weapons, and even furniture scattered across the map, so you can explore more dangerous locations with better gear. Traders, found in the main locations of the game, will help you with this. In this guide, we’ll break down how bartering works, where to find all the vendors, and which tasks you should prioritize.

There’s no regular money in the wastelands of the East. Instead, all traders use a barter system. To get an item, you need to offer something of equal value, either a single item or a combination. On top of that, each trader has a markup on certain goods, which depends on their location. This fee ranges from 100 to 300 percent and can be reduced by completing tasks.

Trader inventories refresh on a timer – usually every ten minutes, and also after major trades. If you buy out large items like guns, backpacks, and crates, then close the barter panel, the trader will offer new goods for sale.

Every trader has a list of ten tasks, split into easy, medium, and hard categories. The more difficult the task, the bigger the reward. At the final level, each trader will give you keys to the local bunker.

Not all traders are available from the start. The game features an event system, with certain events happening on specific in-game days. For example, the Doctor only arrives at the school on the second day, and the Gunsmith appears at the outpost bunker on the tenth. This gives you time to find valuable loot and even prepare for some tasks ahead of time.

Also, keep in mind that on the thirtieth in-game day, all vendors will leave the territory of Zone Five, so make sure to stock up on useful resources in advance.

At the start of the game, the most useful tasks are those that lower trader markups, unlock shelters, or grant key items like maps, locks, or fishing kits. Below, we’ll go over the most rewarding tasks for each trader.

Leave the starting shelter, turn right, and follow the railroad tracks. After a while, you’ll come across a large red barn. Walk around to the other side, open the far left door, and step inside. Behind the table, occasionally grumbling, you’ll find the Generalist trader. He mostly offers basic survival goods like pistols, magazines, clothing, and small hardware. The base tax is 100%.

The first quests you should check out are Coffee Reserve, Sweaty Business, and Homemade. The first quest gives you your first map for a pretty modest price – just a pack of coffee and a coffee filter. For Sweaty Business you’ll get a fishing kit: a vest, tackle box, knife, and a fishing rod.

The last quest gives you a key to the upper part of the barn, which acts as a local shelter. To complete it, you’ll need to craft a drink called Kilju using a bucket, three bottles of water, yeast, sugar, and a special lock. All resources can be found in the open world or from events. Water is easy to find in airdrops, and the lock is sold by the next trader.

The Doctor becomes especially useful after your first tough runs, when you start needing medicine, containers, and items to treat status effects.

To reach the school, follow a specific route. From the starting shelter, go straight down the dirt path until you reach the main street with houses. Then look for a small path between the trees on the left. Keep going until you hit a crossroads. Turn right and just keep walking to the end of the area. At the border, you’ll be prompted to enter the school, which will cost you five hunger, ten thirst, and one hour of time.

In the new area, cross the bridge with the tanks and look for a yellow building on the left. Go through the farthest door, find the staircase on the right, and go up to the third floor. Step into the hallway and open the first door on the right. On the second day, you’ll find the Doctor trader there. His shop is stocked with medical cabinets, buckets, and medicines that help your character recover from many status effects. The base tax is 200%.

The most interesting tasks here are Hypovolemia and Substance. For three bottles of Saline, you can get a W.Lock, which is needed to make Kilju. If you bring three oil samples, you’ll receive a key to a classroom in the school, which works as a local shelter. Saline can be found with a small chance in any location, while oil samples are found in the Terminal area.

The third trader is in the area past the school. Instead of exploring the buildings, just keep walking down the main road until you reach the boundary between areas. To cross, you’ll need to spend ten hunger, twenty thirst, and two hours of time.

In the open field, take the left path, pass the yurt, and go past two tanks. When you reach the next turn, climb over the fence and swim across the river. Do that, then keep going straight. You’ll end up in one of the bunkers in the area, where the Gunsmith is waiting. Inside the bunker, walk straight, turn right, then left.

This trader sells weapon attachments, magazines, ammo, grenades, and other military gear, including hardware. The base tax is 300%. All ten of his tasks give you decent loot, but the one to focus on is the last: Hitman. To complete it, you’ll need to find and kill the boss called Punisher, who appears in Zone Five on the fifth day. Take the hat with a fire pattern from him and bring it back to the Gunsmith to get a key to the bunker room, which acts as the local shelter.