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Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobylhas its fair share of eerie and downright terrifying missions, with The Lost Boys being one of the earliest you can access, having you uncover a mystery of a missing squad while trudging through an abandoned base that is littered with carnage.
While it may not be the most action-packed side mission in the game, it’s undoubtedly one of the best, as it has all the suspense and dreadful atmosphere you’d expect from the Stalker series. From start to finish, this quest will have you on the edge of your seat, forcing you to make tough decisions and watch how they play out!
How To Start The Lost Boys In Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
To beginThe Lost Boysin Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl,head to Lens in Zalissyaandask if he has any available workfor you, having him talk about amissing squad of diggers.After he gives you the rundown of where they are and what happened to them,agree to look for themto begin the side mission.
From here, you will besearching for Mastiff’s Group,whohaven’t returned from an expedition they set out on a few days prior.Lens had a terrible feeling about where they were going before they even left, so he’s visibly worried about them and wants you to see if they’re okay.
Exit Lens' room andbegin following the blue marker on your compass,moving across desolate fields and abandoned tunnels until youreach a small structure with an open door.This iswhere Mastiff’s Group was last seen,so enter the building anddescend the steps, pressing further into the bunker.
Therewon’t be many enemiesin here, but therewill be many Anomalies,sohave your Screw readyto bypass them. Also,make sure you have a spare Medkit available,as you will need it for this portion of the quest. If youdon’t have enough,we strongly urge you tofind extrasand then returning.
Find Out What Happened To Mastiff’s Group
As soon as youenter the bunker, turn left and then take another sharp leftto see anarrow walkwaythat leads to a corpse. Make your way over to the corpse tofind a small device on the groundbeside them. Pick it up andread what’s on itto begin piecing together what happened to Mastiff’s Group inside the bunker.
Navigate Through The Bunker
Continue moving through the bunker,following the main pathway,until you reach abag on the ground next to a shotgun.Loot the bag to find aFuseamongst someammunition, bandages, and food.With the Fuse now in your possession,head into the room directly to the left of the bagto find theFuse Box.
Place the Fuse in the Fuse Boxand thenleave the room, following the main pathway.This will be crucial a bit later in the bunker, but for now, you did all you could with the Fuse Box.
Continue Navigating The Bunker
Move forward until youreach a room filled with Electricity Anomalies.Switch to yourScrewandtoss it at the Anomaliesto activate them, allowing you tomove through them after they deactivatebriefly. Keep doing this until you are in thenext room,where there will be ahandful of Rats.
Toss theScrewinto thetransparent orb Anomalytorip apart most of the Ratsin the room, thenfinish the rest off with your guns.After doing this, you willhear someone in severe painon the opposite end of the room, make your way over to them, anduse a Medkit to heal them.
Speak to Max Saturdayand ask him what happened to Mastiff’s Group,telling him that Lens sent youto check on them. He willexplain that a Monolithian ambushed the squad and kidnapped Mastiffafter wiping out everyone else.Agree to find Mastiffand have himmark where they wenton your map.
Find The Secret Room In The Bunker
Walkup the stairs behind Maxandthrow the lever on the wall to open the doorway that leads to the exit.However, instead of going through it,turn around and head back to the bunker’s entrance,where you found the first body. Once you get to this area, you will see anewly opened room.
Enter the room to find alarge duffle bag, several boxes of healing items, ammunition, food, and an Aurora Gas Maskresting on top of a shelf.Gather everythingin this room, thenmake your way back to where Max Saturday wasand make your way through the exit.
Exit The Bunker
After looting everything in the secret room of the bunker,make your way through the exit behind where Max wasto find another series ofElectricity Anomalies.Use yourScrewtotemporarily deactivate them,then make aquick break out and into the open fieldsyet again. Now it’s time to find Mastiff.
Find Mastiff
Justsoutheast of the bunkeris where theMonolithian took Mastiff,so beginfollowing your waypointuntil you reach alone house deep in the forest,surrounded by what appears to be tombstones and skulls. Approach the house cautiously and try to open the front door only to find it locked.
This will trigger agroup of Blind Dogs to ambush you,forcing you to deal with them before exploring further. Fortunately, theycan be dealt with relatively quickly.There areroughly five of them,so ensure you’re hitting your shots, as you don’t want to waste too much of your ammunition here.
Enter The House Where Mastiff Is
With the Blind Dogs taken care of,go behind the house to find a shed with a padlockon it anduse your knife to break it,allowing you to enter. Once inside, you will see acave entrance that leads to an underground tunnel,giving you direct access to the inside of the house.
Follow the tunnel until you’re inside the locked house,and push forward into thenext room to find a wounded Mastifflying on a bed. On the wall to the left will be aladder that leads into the atticof the house.Take it up to find the Monolithianpraying while anticipating your arrival.
Should You Kill Or Save The Ninth In Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl?
Confronting the Monolithianwill have you learn his name inThe Ninth,allowing you toask him questions about Mastiffand what happened in the bunker. He will claim that a mutant wiped the group out, that he’s the one who saved Mastiff, and that Mastiff is only alive because he treated his wounds and gave him a place to rest.
Do not attack him yetif you want to, as this will lead to another interaction where agroup of people looking for The Ninth will show up outside,giving you another choice to make. You cantell The Ninth that you want to help,allowing you toleave the attack and go outside—something we recommend doing.
Talk To Dew
Head outside and speak with Dew,who is also looking to put a stop to The Ninth.Say that you’re there for Mastiff,then select the"I got it"option next. From here, you will begiven the final choicetoside with Mastiff, the Monolithian, or simply not get involvedin the matter at all.
If itwasn’t clear from the recount of the events that transpired by Maxin the bunkeror why Dew is here,theMonolithian isn’t a good personat all, so it’sin your best interest to eliminate him and save Mastiff.Siding with The Ninth here will have you eliminate Dew and his partner, leaving Mastiff to suffer at the hands of the Monolithian.
Ultimately,the choice is yours,but westrongly recommend teaming up with Dew here to defeat The Ninth,saving Mastiff in the process.
Defeat The Ninth
Siding with Dew and Mastiffwill toss you intobattle against The Ninth,so prepare to use lots of ammunition. The thing aboutMonolithiansis, for some reason, theycan take a beating and are extremely hard to take down.Fortunately for you, you now haveDew and his partneron your side, giving youextra firepower.
After eliminating The Ninth,search his body, loot his PDA, and give it a listento learn more about his reasonings for why he was doing this. From here, all you have to do ismake it back to Lens in Zalissyato complete the mission.
Return To Lens In Zalissya
Make the long haul back to Zalissya andspeak with Lens,giving him thedetails of what transpired in the bunker, what happened to Mastiff’s Group, and where Mastiff currently is,letting him know that aMonolithiantook him to an abandoned house. After this, he will thank you for saving Mastiff and will give you a whopping1,000 Credits,making it all worthwhile in the end!
