STALKER 2: Should you knock out or kill Solder?

The decisions you make and how you react to other characters in STALKER 2 impact the larger story and how events play out when you reach the end of the mission, along with future opportunities. As you advance into the Sphere, you’ll face off against Solder and have a choice.

Solder and you have a brief fight in his headquarters as you enter the Sphere looking for him. The two of you talk during the encounter, and Solder tries to reason with you by saying that while he sold out people in the past, he didn’t do that to you. It looks like he wants to kill your character, but you eventually overpower him, and take the pistol away. You are then left with a critical opportunity in your STALKER 2 playthrough, where you choose to knock out or kill Solder. The choice is yours, but it impacts future events.

What happens if you kill Solder?

Between the two options, if you choose to kill Solder, that’s the end of his story in STALKER 2. Don’t expect to hear about him again for the remainder of your playthrough. If you listened to what others said about him, and his actions, no one liked him. He didn’t leave a huge impact on a lot of people, in the stalker or Ward faction. Because of his reputation, they won’t think twice if you take him out here, so you don’t have to worry about that.

What happens if you knock Solder out?

However, if you choose to knock him out, Solder appears in a future quest called The Hornet’s Nest. We don’t want to go into too many details on how he does or what happens during this part of the story, but his appearance is positive. In The Hornet’s Nest quest, he appears to assist you during the mission and makes it easier for you.

Is it better to knock out or kill Solder in STALKER 2?

If knowing the future events of STALKER 2 helps you with this decision, then yes, letting Solder live is a better option because he helps you later. We found this a compelling reason to keep him alive. It boils down to you not being dead currently, and hurting him doesn’t do you any good when it comes to going after the people who attacked you. Plus, supposedly, Solder was not the one who sold you out, which means he might not be your culprit—no reason to harm him if he didn’t do anything this time.

This was our reasoning for keeping him alive during our playthrough. However, if this isn’t enough for you, you don’t have to worry about other factions losing reputation with you for taking him out. He wasn’t aligned too many other people that you should immediately concern yourself with. Killing Solder is a valid option, and you don’t have to see him again in your future playthroughs.

After you conclude this mission, get ready to set out further into STALKER 2 as more regions begin to open up for you. This means you can begin exploring additional areas that you haven’t been able to check out yet, which means more adventure, loot, and artifacts for you to find. Expect to make more difficult choices like the Solder one, or smaller choices where you have to choose between two people, such as The Poppy Field with Pomor and Mityay.