HIGHLIGHTS
- In Stalker 2, vodka acts like Rad-Away, providing relief from radiation damage and is found in various locations.
- Players must deposit vodka into hidden stashes across the Zone as part of The Budmo! mission.
- Choices and consequences in the quest affect player interactions with Panas, impacting potential rewards.
In STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, vodka plays a crucial role as a consumable item, primarily used to cure radiation exposure.
Players can find vodka in abundance throughout the game, making it unnecessary to purchase from traders.
Instead, players are encouraged to focus their coupons on more valuable items like ammunition and equipment upgrades.
Stalker 2 Vodka
Vodka functions similarly to Rad-Away in other games, providing essential relief from radiation damage.
It can be found in various locations, including crates and enemy camps. Players often encounter vodka while exploring, ensuring they rarely run short of this vital resource.
Upon initiating The Budmo! mission quest, players are tasked with depositing vodka into three hidden stashes across the Zone.
This quest begins in the Slag Heap area, where players encounter two drunken characters, Misha and Grisha.
Significantly, they request assistance for their friend Panas, who is struggling with radiation exposure.
Generally, Misha and Grisha provide vodka bottles and inform the player that Panas has instructed them to prepare for his return by stocking these stashes with vodka.
However, due to their intoxicated state, they cannot remember the exact locations, leading players on an exploratory adventure.
Players have to roam around the terrains searching for the stashes with vodka.
Power Transmission Pylon
Location: East of the Slag Heap.
Access: Climb a nearby fallen tree to reach a bird’s nest within the pylon structure.
Contents: If you choose to loot this stash instead of depositing vodka, you may find valuable items like a HILKA Detector and artifacts (Flash and Moonlight).
Concrete Block Stash
Location: Northwest of the transmission tower amidst debris.
Access: Destroy wooden planks covering a cylindrical well to access the stash.
Contents: Looting may yield useful gear such as .45 ACP FMJ ammo, a Pistol Suppressor, and an RNBW 2x Scope.
Poisonous Hole Stash
Location: Further north from the concrete blocks stash.
Access: Enter a tunnel concealed by foliage.
Contents: This stash may contain an SMG and other valuable items.
Choices And Consequences
After visiting all three stashes, players encounter Panas at the final location.
Here, they face a choice: they can either give him vodka or anti-radiation medication if they have it.
If players opt to give vodka, Panas expresses disappointment since he requested anti-rads instead.
Choosing to provide anti-rad medication rewards players with 1,754 coupons.
However, if players steal from any stash during the quest, they will fail the mission upon meeting Panas, who will become hostile.
While looting offers immediate benefits in terms of gear, it prevents players from completing the quest for coupons.
