by Dom's Roundtable
Welcome back, Stalkers! If you’ve made it deep into the Zone, you already know that survival is a brutal, unforgiving challenge. While my Ultimate Beginner’s Guide YouTube Video helped thousands of you get started, now it's time to prepare for the late game, where resources dwindle, enemies grow tougher, and survival becomes a constant battle.
Whether you're struggling with repairs, optimizing your gear, or just looking to squeeze every advantage out of the game, these 15 essential late-game tips will help you master S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and conquer the Zone.
Let’s dive in, and remember, trust no one.
Stop Using Armour-Piercing and Special Ammo
This might sound like heresy, but stop using armour-piercing, flat, or expansive rounds unless absolutely necessary.
Why? Special ammo types wear down your guns much faster, increasing your repair costs to insane levels. Late-game weapons can cost nearly 100,000 coupons to repair, and burning through special ammo will force you into constant maintenance.
Solution: Stick to regular ammo. Your weapons are powerful enough without the extra wear and tear. That said, if you're fighting heavily armoured enemies, switch ammo only when necessary, but don't leave it equipped for every fight.
Your Stash is Your Lifeline - Use It
Early in the game, hoarding can be a death sentence. If you are constantly over-encumbered, you will not be able to escape from unfavourable fights, and picking up too much loot is detrimental. But in the late game, having backup weapons, armour, and supplies in your stash is mandatory.
Always keep extra guns, even if damaged, because you might be unable to afford repairs for your favourite weapons.
Stockpile ammo instead of selling it. You’ll need it later when supplies run dry.
Keep a backup set of armour. If your main suit breaks, you're done for if you can't afford to repair it.
💡Bonus Tip: A fully broken gun is unusable, but a half-broken backup weapon might save your life.
Run with Your Scanner & Bolts Out - Not Your Gun
Try to get out of the habit of always running around with your gun out. You're far more likely to run headfirst into anomalies and injure yourself, and you're probably missing valuable artefacts.
The best artefacts in the game are hidden in powerful and rare anomalies. Instead of holding your weapon, keep your artefact scanner and bolts equipped. You'll find incredible gear that can completely change your build. If you haven’t upgraded your scanner yet, do it ASAP! The default scanner is garbage.
💡Bonus Tip: Combine radiation-resistant artefacts with carry-weight boosting artefacts to maximize your inventory space without poisoning yourself.
Stop Being a Nice Guy - Play Every Side Against Each Other
In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, betrayal pays off and being a "good guy" will leave you broke and struggling.
If a quest giver offers you money to return an item, sell it to someone else first, then kill them, and return the item for extra rewards. Play factions against each other and loot both sides whenever possible.
If you can scam, steal, or betray someone for extra loot, DO IT! This game rewards ruthless players.
Example: Early in the game, you retrieve a religious icon. Instead of returning it, sell it for cash, kill the buyer, and still return it for another reward. More money, more loot, no downside (as long as you ignore the path of death and destruction you're leaving behind).
Sell Gear to NPCs, Then Kill Them and Take It Back
This is one of the most profitable strategies in the game.
Find wandering NPCs in the Zone, as they usually carry around 700 coupons.
Sell them random junk, then kill them and take it all back.
On average, this nets you 1,500+ coupons per kill, and 10 of these encounters can make you 15,000+ coupons in minutes.
💡 Bonus Tip: This doesn’t work in settlements (where NPCs have unlimited money), but roaming stalkers are fair game.
Not All Vendors Pay the Same - Shop Around
DO NOT sell your loot to the first shopkeeper you see, as prices vary drastically between vendors. Different NPCs offer different prices for the same item.
How to check? Pick one item (e.g., a sausage) and compare its price between vendors. The highest bidder will always offer better prices for everything.
Example: One vendor might offer 15 coupons per sausage, while another offers 23—that small difference adds up fast.
💡Bonus Tip: Always check the "sausage-to-coupon ratio" before selling anything. If a vendor pays more for a sausage, they will pay more for all items.
Keep Your Pump-Action Shotguns from Running Empty
If you're using a pump-action shotgun, never let it run out of ammo completely. Manually reload before you fire the last shell, as reloading from empty takes significantly longer. This is especially important for the Tyrant shotgun, one of the best weapons in the game.
Smash Loot Boxes Instead of Jumping for Items
If you've ever struggled to grab items from ammo or food boxes due to the awkward positioning of some loot, instead of jumping up and down trying to get the right angle, just smash the box open.
Items scatter onto the ground, making them easy to grab.
Save time and avoid the frustration of trying to reach that last can of beans.
Mid-Game: Start Hoarding Broken Weapons for Extra Cash
In the early game, broken weapons are useless. But after reaching a certain point in the main missions, you’ll meet a vendor called Ragman, who buys broken weapons.
DO NOT sell anything else to him - his prices are terrible.
However, broken guns are worth something to him, and this is free money you wouldn’t get otherwise.
Surviving Emissions - Know Your Safe Zones
Emissions become increasingly more frequent in the late game, and you cannot survive them without shelter. Even if you have an infinite amount of the most powerful medkits in the game, the end of an emission deals damage so quickly that you physically cannot heal through it. And even when you do find shelter, try to avoid running around, as sometimes the outside walls of buildings or being too close to a window can still cause you to take damage.
Always know your nearest shelter - buildings must be fully sealed to work.
If you're near the edge of a building, you can still die - stay deep inside.
You cannot heal through emissions - even infinite medkits won’t save you.
Never Ignore Stashes - Blueprints Are Hidden Inside
Blueprints unlock powerful weapon modifications, some of which are required for late-game weapons.
If you can't reach a stash, portals (which unlock later in the game) might be the answer.
💡Bonus Tip: If you see a stash you can’t reach, mark its location and return later—portals can teleport you across kilometers of terrain.
Stop Upgrading Your Weapons—It’s a Money Trap
Every upgrade increases repair costs, making your weapon eventually too expensive to fix.
Late-game guns are already powerful enough and adding a few small perks isn’t worth the insane repair prices.
Some mods reduce wear and tear but if you do want to upgrade your guns, focus on these to offset the costs.
Example: One of my best weapons cost over half a million coupons to repair because I fully upgraded it and now it’s completely useless because it is very rare I ever have enough money to repair it.
Final Thoughts
The zone is an evil and ruthless place, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 doesn’t reward kindness—it rewards cunning, efficiency, and ruthlessness. Play smart, look for every opportunity to get ahead, and manage your money carefully, or the Zone will break you.
