Should you kill or knock out Solder in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl?

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl developer GSC Game World has inserted a ton of choice and consequence into their latest game. One of the earlier ones seemingly has no effect initially, but it does have implications further in the story.

Entering the Zone for the first time, the player will have an important and mysterious device stolen from them. In their early attempts to get it back, they will hunt down a technician named Solder, the contact who likely betrayed his position.

After doing a few favors for the residents of Zalissya, you’ll learn that he’s found in the lowest reaches of the Sphere. This base is heavily guarded, so after a lot of sneaking (and killing), Solder will be waiting in a miserable office to the side of a large underground tunnel in the Behind Seven Seals quest.

After forcing him to spill his secrets, Solder’s fate is ultimately left up to the player but should you knock him out or kill him?

Kill Solder in the Sphere

Dexerto/GSC Game World

With little fuss, you can choose to quickly dispatch Solder with a single bullet. The first thing this unlocks is the ability to loot him, but you’ll be largely disappointed by what’s on offer. A broken gun, a few rounds of ammo, and a PDA are all you’ll find on the body.

The latter does have an interesting tidbit on it. A message between Solder and the mysterious Nestor stating “We’ve got an emergency here, Nestor. The Ward knows about the scanners,” can be read, but this doesn’t offer much in the way of additional info for our travels.

After that, you’ll have to make your way back to the surface. In your way are several heavily armed soldiers, so pick your moments to move, take advantage of stealth kills and hit headshots where you can.

Knock out Solder in the Sphere

Dexerto/GSC Game World

Players who are feeling a little more merciful can take the option to render Solder unconscious instead. As well as being the morally righteous thing to do, it does alter things further down the road, even if the consequences aren’t immediately clear.

Solder will disappear from the story for a while before re-emerging during The Hornet’s Nest quest. During that sequence, he will provide invaluable assistance that draws on his unique skills, making it a lot easier to progress as Skif in that moment.

That quest provides a genuinely difficult challenge without him, and it’s well worth having Solder there to lend a hand. As such, it’s absolutely our recommendation that you go with the non-lethal option in Behind Seven Seals.

That’s all there is to know! If you’re struggling to choose between Pomor and Mityay, or Richter and Zotov, we have also prepared guides to those important choices in the early game.