Should you shoot or knock out Solder in Stalker 2?

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After finding Solder in the Sphere base in Stalker 2, you can knock him out or shoot him dead

Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl Solder choice option shoot or knock out
(Image credit: GSC Game World)

The Stalker 2 Solder choice forces you to either shoot or knock out this sneaky devil in the Sphere base, but the choice is nowhere near as impactful as it might seem. With Solder being set up as a scumbag who sold you out with bad information in the prologue for STALKER 2, he seems like he might be quite a substantial threat, but that thankfully isn't the case. Regardless, you can't proceed without dealing with him, so I’ve explained the outcomes for shooting Solder or just knocking him out in Stalker 2 below.

Stalker 2 Solder choice explained

Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl Solder shot dead on the floor

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Both shooting Solder dead and knocking him out in Stalker 2 seemingly have no immediate consequences, so it’s up to you how you deal with him. You get the information you need before this choice, so you’re effectively just tying up a loose end. Whatever you decide, make sure you loot the entire room and his bunk afterwards for healing items, food, and the High-Capacity PTM Magazine attachment, a useful addition to your STALKER 2 guns.

Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl high capacity PTM pistol magazine attachment on floor in Solder's room

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

In the confrontation before this choice, Solder admits that he just marks anomalies on maps and occasionally sells that information on the side, so he did not intentionally stitch up Hermann and yourself with bad information. He also explains that he has no idea where the Scanner has been taken as a person known as Nestor oversees the “Scanner business”, not him, and he reveals that Nestor is north of Zalissya.

It might be that this Solder choice is more significant if knocking him out causes him to reappear later in Heart of Chornobyl, but no one on the GamesRadar+ team has seen him again. You also don't get anything for either option, unlike something like when you have to choose who to give the religious icon to in STALKER 2, a choice that comes with very different rewards.

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There are many other quest decisions in Heart of Chornobyl, and getting this far in the game means you’ve already decided whether to help or kill Squint and who you should give the sensors to in STALKER 2.

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Will Sawyer
Will Sawyer
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.

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