Stalker 2 doesn’t like to tell you where to go. Besides mission markers, the map is surprisingly sparse, devoid of icons and collectibles, encouraging you to explore and find almost everything yourself. However, in the early game, you can feel incredibly underpowered at times and often like you're wandering aimlessly. That's why I've put together a list of some of the key places to go and things to do early on.

This list covers some initial story locations you should visit, as well as some side areas that hold valuable loot that you should grab as soon as you can. 

Loot the house by the third scanner spot

During the opening mission, you will have to scan three spots, with the third spot just next to a small house. While you can loot this building before you scan the area, we suggest you don’t as after you scan the third spot you will lose all your gear besides a pistol and some ammo. Instead, don’t pick up anything and complete the mission. 

After the cutscene, escape the anomaly you find yourself stuck in and talk to Richter. This will set you on your way towards Zalissya, which passes back by this house. This is when you should loot it, as you will get to keep the ammo, bandages, and food you pick up. All of these items stay in the house after the initial mission, so there isn’t any reason to pick them up beforehand. 

If you already picked them up, then it is worth going back to an earlier save if you have it as the items can help out early on.

Head to Zalissya

While this is your main mission objective after the initial opening, you don’t want to spend too long wandering around just yet. The best thing to do is to head straight for Zalissya, after stopping off at the post office on the way to the settlement. 

Once there, you can sell any gear which is taking up space, store items in your personal box, heal up, and upgrade your weapons. This will serve as a hub of sorts early on and you will consistently be revisiting Zalissya for the first 15-20 hours of your journey. So, it’s best to get everything complete here early on before you go exploring. 

Visit the Water Tower and complete Warlock’s Debtor

While in Zalissya, you can speak to Warlock, the barkeep in the settlement. Here he will offer you up a side mission called Warlock’s Debtor, which is well worth doing as soon as possible. The location you need to visit during the mission is right by Zalissya and during it you will have to help Valik Lummox with his bandit problem by obtaining some gear from the top of a water tower. 

Amongst this gear is a heavily customised AKM-74S with a scope. This fully automatic weapon was my lifeline during the first few regions I explored. It’s powerful, ammo is easy to come by, and the scope allows you to pick off enemies poking out from behind cover. It’s durability is also high off the bat, unlike most of the other weapons you will find. 

Visit the Pol Depot in the north-west of the Lesser Zone

In the north-west of the Lesser Zone, you can find this huge, sprawling depot that is unmarked until you visit it. Not only can you find a stash here, but there are a number of buildings you can search and some human enemies you can kill for weapons and ammo. You can then take these items to Zalissya and sell or keep them for yourself.

There is a lot to find in this area, which can be useful if you are short on money or ammo early on. 

Explore unmarked locations for Anomalies

Similarly, if you want a bunch of money early in your journey, it is worth artifact hunting. Explore unmarked forests, fields, and everywhere and anywhere with your scanner. The more it beeps, the closer you are to an anomaly which has an artifact. Generally, artifacts are in areas with a lot of anomalies bunched together. 

There are a lot of artifacts that you will want to keep, but any that have negative effects like increased hunger or radiation can be sold at Zalissya for a lot of cash. 

Visit a tunnel in the north of Garbage

This final place to visit isn’t accessible until you have access to the second region of The Zone lovingly named ‘Garbage’. It's worth bee lining to this spot once you've opened it up after completing the main questline in and around Zalissya. 

In the far north of Garbage, you can find an unmarked tunnel underneath a rail line. Inside this tunnel, there is a stash tucked under a crack in the wall about halfway down. In here you can find the Shah’s Mate SMG. This is a highly customised close-range weapon with 40 bullets in the magazine. You can also attach scopes to it, which helps with lining up shots. 

Other than the AKM I picked up in the Lesser Zone, this is the weapon I used the most in this area of the game and the next few regions too. You can pick this up later, but it's so powerful it's worth grabbing before exploring Garbage fully.