STALKER 2 Budmo walkthrough and should you steal the stashes?

This STALKER 2 Budmo walkthrough outlines exactly what you need to do to complete the Budmo mission. You’ll need to visit three stashes and decide whether you want to steal them or not, so knowing where to find these stashes and what’s inside them is going to prove incredibly useful this early on in the game. Technically, you're meant to be putting vodka in each one for someone called Panas, but the gear inside is a little hard to resist. Fair warning, Panas may get his revenge if you decide to thieve.

Below, we delve into what will happen to you if you decide to steal the stashes in the STALKER 2 Budmo mission and in which order you should visit them.

STALKER 2 Budmo reward variations

Once you have the Budmo mission in STALKER 2, there are three possible ways it can resolve depending on whether you put vodka in the stashes or steal them:

• If you put Vodka in two stashes Panas will appear at the third and say he's trying to give up drink and wanted anti radiation meds not alcohol.
  • If you give him meds he'll pay you 1300 coupons and leave.
  • If you say vodka is fine he'll end up back with his friends and they'll give you 1300 coupons.
• If you steal two stashes he'll appear at the third and attack you, so you'll have to kill him.

What's in the STALKER 2 Budmo stashes and should you steal them?

There are three stashes to find in the Budmo mission - the Concrete Block stash, Poisonous Hole Stash and Power Transmission Pylon stash. All of them have pretty good gear that you'll struggle to get elsewhere this early in the game - including a couple of really good STALKER 2 guns and attachments. So, yes, steal it all and murder Panas at the end. Circle of Life and all that.

Once things worth noting is that whether you help Panas or steal his stuff, he will always appear at the final stash you visit. Not a huge problem if you're being nice, but If you're stealing it all then it means the last stash will be empty and you won't get what's in it. So check the list below and see which one you're happiest losing out on.

STALKER 2 Budmo Concrete Block stash

You'll find the Budmo Concrete Block stash under some planks you can smash and it contains the following: :

• RNBW 2X Scope (Rhino, Integral-A, Fora-221, Kharod, Mark 1 EMR)
• M10 Gordon SMG
• Pistol Suppressor (PTM, APSB, Buket S-2, Zubr-19)

STALKER 2 Budmo Poisonous Hole Stash

The Budmo Poisonous Hole Stash is actually a little way away from the hole itself, in a cave flanked by two trees. You might be attacked by a Flesher inside so be ready. You'll find:

• Buket S-2 SMG
• 20 pistol ammo
• Grenade
• Optician Gas Mask

STALKER 2 Budmo Power Transmission Pylon stash

The Budmo Power Transmission Pylon stash can be reached by climbing a fallen tree and then a plank to get up the metal tower. Inside you'll find:

• HILKA detector (upgraded scanner with greater range)
• Flash arefect - weak electrical protection with weak radiation
• Moonlight artefact - medium electrical protection with medium radiation

It's up to you what you do here but even if you don't want the gear to use there's more cash value to selling it in Stalker 2 than you'll get for helping Panas.

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