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As soon as you witness the starting cutscene ofStalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl, you’ll quickly realize just how dangerous The Zone is. Not only are you fighting the intense weather and the emissions, but you’ll also constantly be chased and ambushed by both humans and mutants alike.
If that isn’t enough, you’ll also face special environmental dangers all around called the Anomalies. This is a unique mechanic in this game, and it’s important to understand exactly what it is if you want to have a smooth experience.
What Are Anomalies?
As you might already know, The Zone of Chornobyl was created after a huge disasterthat also led to the spread of radiation everywhere. This disaster caused the environment to behave abnormally, creating different types of anomalies all over the place. You’ll find these anomalies quite commonly on your playthrough.
Unfortunately, since these are environmental hazards, you can’t exactly defeat these anomalies. Your only option is to avoid or counter them,while also removing them in rare casesif they happen because of a special incident nearby.
How To Counter Each Anomaly
Soon after you finish the game’s prologue, you’ll get a handy tool in the form of bolts. This will be yourmain method of discovering and countering most of the anomalies, and here are the anomalies you’ll encounter along with a way to avoid them:
What They Do And How To Avoid
Electric Orb
This is thefirst anomaly you’ll findwhile goingthrough the sewers areaat the start of the game. On your first encounter, this orb will simply follow a set path and you’re able to easily avoid it.
However, when you find it after the prologue,it will instead start following you as soon as you come in its point of viewfrom any direction. The only way to avoid it is by entering special rooms it can’t enter or avoiding its line of sight.
Firepits And Lava Projectiles
You’ll commonly find small random fires on the ground that will turn into a proper fire if you get close and slowly drain your health. As you progress,you can also find small lava pits that start throwing lavadirectly towards anything that comes close.
To dodge the firepits,simply throw a bolt at themand run through while jumping on top of it as soon as it stops. As for the lava pits,you have to avoid their rangesince there’s no other way.
Electric Ground
This is another common anomaly that first occurs after your first scanner placement.you’re able to easily see the electricity on the groundwhen they’re nearby.
These can also be countered easily bysimply throwing a bolt to trigger themand then running through.
Storm Vortex
This is one of the anomalies that are difficult to see with your eyes, especially when you’re sprinting. They can be identified with acluster of leaves going in a circular patternwith an occasional shine in the middle.
If you get too close, this anomaly will suck your character in for afew seconds before dealing damage. You can avoid it with a bolt as well.
Spark Explosion
You’ll start finding this anomaly once youreach the Garbage area, and it essentially starts a spark at the locationwhere your character would be in a couple of secondsif it kept walking on the same trajectory.
If you’re in its AoE,you’ll get flashbanged, concussed, and take damage. It can be difficult to avoid this if you start getting hit, so the best way is to bait its placement on one side and then run in the opposite direction.
Glass Shards
This is another anomaly that you’ll find in the Garbage area, and it’s also one of the few that don’t get a siren when you’re nearby. If you walk or run through these, they deal damage and give you bleeding status.
While they’re hard to notice,you may easily crouch past themif you notice them beforehand.
Giant Bubbles
You’ll start seeing this anomaly in the Swamp area and it’ll essentially be a giant bubble suspended midair. If you get too close,this bubble will start slowly moving towardsyou.
If it gets close or if you throw a bolt at it, it bursts into multiple small bubbles andyou’ll take poison damage if you go insidethese bubbles.
Acid And Acid Fumes
Another one of the most common anomalies, acid is the easiest-to-spot environmental issue in the game. you may easily see it from far away because of its bright green color for both the pools and the fumes.
While there’s no way to remove them,you can simply walk from the sidewithout taking any damage.
Gravity Orb
While going through The Zone, you’ll sometimes notice a big distortion in the middle of the air. This signifies the gravity orb anomaly thatsucks you in the middle and deals heavy damageif you get close.
You can easily avoid it by throwing a bolt through it first and thenwalking past before it respawns.
Upward Thrust
This is a non-lethal anomaly that you can identify with a bunch of flying debris in the air. If you get close to it, it’llsimply thrust you up in the air. It might help you reach special places in some areas.
While most anomalies are dangerous, they can also be a good sign in some cases.
Artifacts usually spawn inplaces with a bunch of the same type of anomaliesin a group.
