Stashes, Tips and Secrets

[RedRaven]

If you discover something not on the map, come up with an interesting way to complete a mission or simply want to share you progress through the Zone this is the place to do it.

BEWARE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

 

You have been warned!

Good Hunting Stalker

[RedRaven]

Unlike the previous two games, the Stashes in Call of Pripyat can be discovered with or without having informed of the location. After 4 days game time exploring Zaton I have learned the location of 4 stashes, only one of these was given to me and marked on the map. And as before there are also some supplies hidden in odd places. It certainly provides enough incentive to explore as much of the area as you dare!
Best find so far was a Vintar BC rifle (VSS Vintorez in real life). Its a mix between a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. Comes with a scope and suppressor, capable of single shot or full auto, though I wouldn't recommend full auto in any but the direst of circumstance as it only has a 10 round clip. The video below shows where it is and how I claimed it without becoming a charred and crispy corpse.

[smg id=1974 type=av]

When I found it it was fully loaded, though much to my dismay have yet to find any more ammo. Make those 10 shots count!

[Art Blade]

cool  :-X what made you want to examine the top of that house in the first place?

[RedRaven]

Past experience, the developers seem to like hiding useful items in dangerous places. Was looking for artefacts to begin with. Just got my second Stash marked on the map, shows it in the path of a pipeline and after spending ages carefully searching the ground managed to get on top of the pipe thinking it would be up there! Was originally looking for artefacts after an emission, came across it purely by chance. Saved the game, reloaded the save from just before the emission started and recorded how to get it because its a really good weapon to use, if not going to be used it's worth a fair bit so good for trading and one of the first tasks you are given is to find a basket case of a Stalker called Noah, he leads you through that very area to get to one of the Helicopter crash sites. So its possible to get it almost from the get go.

Have since sold it in preference of using Martha & Viper (Beretta 92 and H&K MP5) as they both use 9x19mm rounds and they are easy to come by. Read that they don't always use a weapons real name because of licensing laws or some such legal mumbo jumbo.

Just started day 6 in Zaton. Survived 7 emissions, completed 15 missions, killed 39 mutants and 34 stalkers (mostly bandits), found 11 artefacts and 5 stashes. Have a feeling I'm coming to the end of my time in this area though as most of the missions now involve meeting some one in one of the other 2 areas. Best get tooled up ;D .

[Art Blade]

 ;D cheers, good info, kind of a little strategy guide.  :-X

[Art Blade]

Zaton: I found a locked metal box in a car which was down a chasm next to a gas/fuel station. you can enter the underground either next to the station or from the anomaly that looks like a dome with three bent columns. Please help me with the location names :) Maybe, if someone knows where to find a map with English location names, I could use it... ;)

The box can be forced open by the mech on the boat for 500 credits. It contains a couple of modified weapons and helmet etc... not bad, really :)

[RedRaven]

The anomaly is the "Claw Anomaly", and the case is part of the optional mission from SNAG to find the "Unreachable Stash". I got Cardan to break into it and got all the contents instead of taking it back to Snag and sharing the loot.

The tunnels in that area have a corpse or two to loot but watch out for the Snorks, there was 4-5 of them when I went looking around. Usually an artefact or two down there as well.

Will w@&k on a Map with English place names for you. ;D

[Art Blade]

cool :) Maybe just screenshots of your PDA with areas enabled.

I did what you did, not knowing there was a mission. Cardan cracked the box and I kept the content :) I killed those snorks, yet no artefacts in the tunnels. But I got two out of the anomaly (bottom) and one which was inside a hole in the wall (+2 rad, kind of a weird sponge.) That artefact allows to use other arefacts that emit -1 or -2 points of radiation, it absorbs it :)

[Art Blade]

Another tip: (useful at least at the beginning of the game)

Stalkers that walk around or even those on the boat pay a lot more for ammo and hand grenades than the local information broker (who also sells weapons and other gear). So when I return with loot, I sell ammo and grenades that I don't need to those stalkers, and other stuff to the broker.

[Art Blade]

I found a secret (stash) near the helo crash site (here it's called iron woods/forest) which basically used to be a power plant, with those poltergeist kind of spook that throws objects at you. First, you'll find a map there when you loot the bodies near the helo, one of them has a map which you can give to "Pilot" who is a guide on your boat. After he's got the map from you, he'll only charge 1,000 instead of 3,000 to take you to Janow-Station (if it's the same in English)

Then you can walk into the only building that you can enter (has a stair case leading down, but I didn't have an access card for that door down there). When you enter the building, there is a room with a wooden desk, and if you crouch, you'll see there is ammo and a Black Kite (Desert Eagle hand gun) :)

[RedRaven]

Zaton with place names in English. Will get the other 2 areas done and up in next few days ;D

[smg id=2009]

could not be done as PDA screen shot in one go as area names only show when mouse hovers over it

[RedRaven]

A collection of pics showing 8 stashes in Zaton, all reasonably or very easy to get.

1 - [smg id=2014]Vintar BC sniper rifle.

2 - [smg id=2010]

Assault rifle and Bandages in Izumrudnoye.

3 - [smg id=2015]

Food stuffs in Izumrudnoye.

4 - [smg id=2011]

Meds and Drinks on Pipeline column.

5 - [smg id=2017]

Ranger Station Attic.

6 - [smg id=2012]

Attic in Sawmill area.

7 - [smg id=2016]

West of Skadovsk, start of pipeline.

8 - [smg id=2013]

South west of Iron Forest area (the stash Art mentions 2 posts ago).

[Art Blade]

cool  :-X Thanks, Red  :)

I have no idea how to get up that pipeline column. Can you help me?

[Art Blade]

Where are the tool boxes for the mechanic? In the map above, I found one kit in the substation workshop outside the building to the right (from entrance of compound) on a crate, and another kit in the sawmill, in the attic on a workbench.

I can't find the last one...

[RedRaven]

cool  :-X Thanks, Red  :)

I have no idea how to get up that pipeline column. Can you help me?

Take a running jump from the hillside next to it, it's tricky but not impossible.


Third set of tools is in a different map, not yet found them myself. :(

[Art Blade]

Alright. We'll find it :)

Found something useful (stash): south border of the swamp, there is a tunnel that leads to the Krug antenna complex. Follow until the dead end, there are some meds, best is: 2x "anti-emission" they allow you to survive an emission in the open  :)

[Art Blade]

I've found a useful post on a different forum (there are nice people out there...) ;)

Basically a detailed summary with linked pics.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=982613

[Art Blade]

found a full-blown walk-through :)

http://guides.gamepressure.com/stalkercallofpripyat/

[Art Blade]

Found out something that might be useful: When you enter the base in Zaton, there is that bandit Sultan. He'll offer you a job to take out Beard's stalkers on their way back to deliver some goods -- basically a raid or ambush against people that support me.

For fun, quicksave, I decided to take that offer and met with his guys at the nearby big ship, and I told them I was ready. We started walking in a row, me the guy in their backs... I killed them all before they could do any harm to good Mr Beards errand boys.

Well, now all stalkers around have turned green (friends, rather than neutral)  ;D

read on: Might have to do with the fact that I already had achieved something, "detective" it's called here, which was easy to obtain (increased the stalkers' respect and they put meds in my personal crate every night hehehe)

Detective Achievement:
There is one mission that leads you to take out those blood suckers (see Red's vid of them all sleeping while standing around). After that, you'll get the mission to take out that lair, findig poisonous gas to use on the air stream leading into that lair. I didn't buy the info where to look, it's on the big bridge with those anomalies and a rotting army convoy. In the truck bed is the box with the gas, yet it needs two keys. One key is in the jeep on the bridge, the second in a jeep at the base of the bridge (fell down). With both keys (some documents found along with the keys can be sold to Owl) you open the box, get the gas, and earn that achievement. :)

[RedRaven]

When I went through that mission I took the side of the Stalkers (bit of Stalker solidarity and all that), Got the same achievement and carried on feeling rather pleased with myself for sticking it to the Bandit scum. Though I wonder what the long term implications taking the side of the Bandits would be, if any?  Also took every opportunity to kill Bandits on my travels, specially when they were engaged in fire-fights against other Stalkers.

Think on my second proper journey through the game will go the other way, join the Bandits and take out any Stalkers encountered in the open. Be interesting to see the differences between the factions.

There are also one or two Bandit related missions in and around Yanov station in the Jupiter map and I'm now a little curious to see if decisions made in Zaton have any impact there?

[Art Blade]

Might be, later on in the game when you want to go to Pripyat, you're in a situation to deal with Freedom and Duty, where to put ex-Monoliths into either this or that faction; that's what I read. From CS I know both Freedom and Duty had issues with Bandits, so who knows  :)

[Art Blade]

special Armour tier3 upgrades

Alright, this is important if you want to get extra upgrades that can only be provided by the science lab in Jupiter. Once you start the scientists first mission (find out about a psi phenomenon) you will be escorted by four stalkers. Keep them alive at all costs! Once you got the artefact in the tunnel, a controller pops up from the tunnel entrance, coming through a waggon, who turns your four fellow stalkers into your enemies. Don't shoot them!

So prepare your weapon of choice, I opted for my good old yet simple AK with scope so I had a long range weapon. If you have night vision, turn it on, switch off your light, get your weapon ready and only then grab the artefact. Now quick save, you'll most certainly need it ;) Exit through the door (which is now unblocked) and exit towards the rails, but stick to a column so you can get out of sight of the controller. The trick is, you'll hear the psi wave start, just hide behind the column, it will stop, then shoot him, and repeat that until he's dead. Make sure you see four of your men on the radar when the controller is dead, then quicksave again. It's not over yet, I had some zombies or rats or whatever come at us on exiting the tunnel, keep your men safe! Quickly go to their leader and talk to him, "let's go together" to the science camp. This will be rewarded, and which is more important, give you the opportunity to do further jobs for the scientists.

Those jobs are to conduct some anomaly research, you being the stalkers' protector while they do the field research. Try to keep them alive, there are two locations. Near the village, there are waves of zombies, near the swamp there are waves of boars and pigs. It will not be easy, at least try to keep some of your men alive during the first job, so they will be able to conduct the next research, too.

Do all possible sidejobs for the scientists, so gathering data (that's what you'll read when checking tier3 upgrades for your suit: more data needed) will provide them with what they need to upgrade your suit :) For one of their missions, you'll need a...

level4 detector

There are three artefact detectors. cheap, alright, good. Hehe. But there is a fourth detector... it can not only show the artifacts, it also displays anomalies... good if you want to dodge the bastards :)

I think it's a game patch thing, I read you get it already from the scientists during one of the above mentioned missions, yet I didn't (1.06.01) -- I only received that Veles (level3) detector. But if you go to Zaton and do those jobs given by people on the ship, you'll eventually get Owl to offer you a job to give three Veles detectors to the scientists. That will lead to you getting the level4 detector. By the way, I got all three from Herman (one of the scientists, he's got a barter menu and sells them) one at a time, after each of three missions I did for the scientists.

Edit: If you have the prototype detector, you will see anomalies but... the artefacts are kind of ultra-tiny and they move quickly on the display. Therefore I decided to get (keep) a Veles detector which I can use once I have positioned myself somewhere safe yet close to the anomalies. Whip out your detector. Then open your inventory and put the respectively other detector into its slot and you'll see how you whip out the replacement, you can do that as often as you like in case you don't seem to find out if there are artefacts at all with the prototype.

Hope it helps :)

[Art Blade]

The prototype Swarog anomalies and artefacts detector
You see the white circles, those are the dangerous anomalies
Now you can out-manoeuvre them  ;D

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[Art Blade]

Secret Weapon

Oh, do I have your undevided attention now? Well, good. ;D

With that weapon, I have killed almost everything I have encountered so far, from rats, pigs and dogs to bloodsuckers, burers and snorks, you name it. It doesn't degrade, it doesn't use ammo...

The secret is, you have it and you don't know it. It's your bloody knife. You have no idea, what in CoP you are capable of doing with it. The only trick is, be quick. Use LMB and RMB for two different attacks, left mouse button is very short ranged but quick, right mouse button is longer ranged but takes a bit longer to return to another slash.

I kid you not, it is massive. Get good armour -- I use an exoskeleton, I ordered it from the guy upstairs on the boat, as soon as I could(n't) afford it. ;)

Anything that wants to get close and personal with you, well, you know how to return the favour. And you won't be blunt at all  ;D

[PZ]

lol, the word "secret" is always an eye catcher  ;)

Blades are rapidly becoming one of my favorite weapons - can't do without them in AC2!