Should you help or kill Squint in STALKER 2?

Choosing to help or kill Squint in STALKER 2 is an important decision posed to you during the early Needle in a Haystack mission. It’ll affect how you get your hands on the crucial Ward sensors, as well as who you can give them to after. With such a big decision, there’s actually three different options you can choose for dealing with Squint in STALKER 2 Heart of Chornobyl. Two will kill Squint, and another will help him. It’s a hard choice, so we’ve gone through all the outcomes of your decisions, so you don’t have to. Here’s what happens if you help or kill Squint in STALKER 2. Then, it’s up to you to decide.

Our STALKER 2 There and Back Again walkthrough will have gotten you to this point, hopefully. So let's take a look at what's next in STALKER 2’s second mission.

Should you kill Squint in STALKER 2

You can attack Squint almost as soon as you meet him in STALKER 2, but this is not a good option as it will limit who you can give the Ward Sensors to in STALKER 2 afterwards as you'll only be able to return them to Captain Zotov. Additionally, you also miss out on the Piece of Cake side quest, which leads you to an artifact. It's far better to go along with his escape plan (for now) until you can at least get something out of him, for the Zone is a harsh place in STALKER 2.

Should you help Squint in STALKER 2

Choosing to help Squint in STALKER 2 with his escape plan will have you heading off to a cave to find an artifact he says he can use to get away. This starts a side mission called Piece of Cake, where you'll have to find a cave entrance inside a house, which is here on the map:

Be careful in the cave as you'll get attacked by an invisible bloodsucker when you enter, so be ready for a fight. Once it's dead, move through the cave, being sure to search several bodies you'll find along the way for healing items and ammo.

The artifact can be found in the part of the cave full of acid pools and gas. Use your detector to locate it, by finding where the bleeps are fastest. It appears to be a little fiddly and the artifact might only appear when you're more or less right on top of it. For me it was here, right by the exit out of the acid area:

Once you have the Mold artifact you can head back to Squint. The only thing he can give you as a reward for getting it are the Ward sensors, admitting that he doesn't even know what they are.

Help Squint then kill him in STALKER 2

There is a third option that's actually the best depending on your attitude to simulated betrayal and murder... thought so. If you get the artifact for Squint and then say you're keeping it, he will attack you and you can kill him with no repercussions. Collect the Ward Sensors, the artifact you retrieved, and all his other gear, making this the best option - for you at least.

This is far from the only time you'll have to decide someone's fate and this mission thread will eventually lead you to deciding if you should shoot or knock out Solder in STALKER 2.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission