Deciding to help or kill Squint in STALKER 2 is a choice you'll make when you find him in a windmill for the Needle in a Haystack mission. He's got Ward Sensors you need to get back, and it's up to you how you do that in Heart of Chornobyl.
There are actually three options here, with Squint ending up dead in two of them, but he can die in a couple at a couple of different points and the 'when' will affect what you can do with the sensors afterwards. Let's take a look at what happens with all the possibilities, depending on whether you help Squint escape, or kill him in STALKER 2.
Our STALKER 2 opening walkthrough will have go you this far, hopefully. So let's take a look at what's next.
Should you kill Squint in STALKER 2
You can kill Squint almost as soon as you meet him in STALKER 2. However, this is not a good option at all as it will limit who you can give the sensors to in STALKER 2 afterwards as you'll only have the option to return then Captain Zotov. Additionally, you also miss out on the Piece of Cake side quest, which gets you an artifact. It's far better to leave Squint alive (for now) until you can at least get something out of him, as explained below.
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, at the last minute, say you're keeping it, he will attack you and then you can kill him with no repercussions. This doesn't seem to block any option for who you can give the sensors to, once you've taken them off his dead body. This also lets you loot all his gear and the artifact, making this the best option technically. 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 make you decide if you should shoot Solder or knock him out in STALKER 2 at it's conclusion.
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