Only inStalker 2: Heart of Chornobylwill you find multiple gangs fighting over a literal giant pile of garbage. The leader of Slag Heap, the major colony of Garbage, has gone missing. This is a problem since that’s the guy you’re looking for.

Continuing your main quest search for answers will bring you to Diode, the local technician. He has an idea of where to find Nestor, the Slag Heap kingpin, but it will be risky. This kicks off the King of the Hill quest and leaves you with a tough decision: who do you kill?

Diode sitting in a chair in Stalker 2 Heart of Chonobyl.

How To Start The King Of The Hill Quest

As part of the main quest,Diode, the Slag Heap technician, will give you the mission naturally. Wanting more information about the disappearance of the heap’s kingpin, he directs you to one of the local rival gangs, Varan.

Go To The Plant

Varan and his gang can befound at the Plant, just south of Slag Heap.

While they look like bandits,his men are not hostile on arrival, allowing you to walk in safely and talk to their leader.

a map showing the location of the Plant in Stalker 2 Heart of Chonobyl.

Talk To Varan

Varan will explain thathe imprisoned one of the men who attacked you, and you are free to ‘question’ them, but only if you do him a favor. From here, you haveone of four choices.

Odds are you won’t have 20,000 coupons to spare, andwe don’t recommend choosing this option, even if you do.

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Should You Kill Shah Or Roosevelt?

Narratively,this choice doesn’t appear to make a difference, and you’re free to pick either target without consequence.

Between the two, going afterShah is the easier mission. You can go straight to his hideout, while going afterRoosevelt requires returning to Slag Heap for information, taking more time while still offering a similar experience.

A map of the Brood lair with markers in Stalker 2 Heart of Chonobyl.

How To Kill Shah

Shah and his gang, the Brood, are locatedwest of Slag Heap, appropriatelycalled The Brood on your map. They’re allholed up in the northwestern corner of the area, either inside the building’s main floor or in the area outside it.

On the north side of the area isa watchtower that overlooks their hideout. This can be a great vantage point in which to fight them. They will behostile on first sight, so expect a somewhat tough gun fight.

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The east side of the Brood (the area) will be full ofmagma-spouting anomalies; be sure to check here for any artifacts while you’re here.

The Real Answer: Neither

Once you get the rival gang leaders’s PDA, Varan will let you go see their prisoner. Unfortunately, said prisoner, along with Nestor, the Slag Heap kingpin you were initially sent to find, is already dead.

Be sure totake the “unusual PDA” from the dead body, as this will progress the main quest and will play an important role in multiple interactions down the line.

This is technically the end of the King of the Hill quest and the start of the next one.

You will be confronted by Varan, whogives his men the order to kill you. you may survive this fight by hunkering inside the room and picking them off slowly.

Since you’ll end up fighting him anyway,attacking Varan outright when you first meet him would save you from having to fight either Shah or Roosevelt. This way is the quickest, with the only downside beingthe lost potential for loot from the rival gang’s bodies.