Weapon upgrades are one of the main ways you can advance your character in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl It is important to understand how they work and what function they play in the game, as you will need to know everything you can that will help you navigate the Zone and stay alive. The game is difficult and can be merciless, so having a good weapon that you can rely on is of the utmost importance.

STALKER 2 has an enormous map filled with caches to find, loot to search for, side quests to complete, and factions wandering about the map. Each of them will have their own goals, and they will progress and interact with each other even when you are not there. Additionally, your interaction with them will determine what you can do and who your enemies are, and it will impact your ending as well. With that in mind, knowing when to use your weapon will be just as important as knowing how to upgrade it.

How To Upgrade Your Weapon In STALKER 2

Techs, Traders & Funds

Upgrading your weapon is a major feature in STALKER 2, and, to do so, you must reach the first refuge you are sent to by Richter. Once there, you can pick up a side quest quickly from a man standing outside the bar that will tell you where to find your two main sources of goods: a Trader and a Tech. The Tech is named Lens, but head to the Trader first and sell off anything you don’t need. You will need the coupons to upgrade your weapon.

Once you have some coupons (represented with a “K” in your inventory), head to the Tech and talk to him. There are a few dialogue options, so try out any you like and then use the option to “Upgrade” on the far right side of the screen. Once there, you can look at all of your equipment and see what kind of upgrades they can have. There are a fair number for each one, with even Skif’s Pistol having two separate upgrade trees.

You may have to repair your item first. That also costs coupons, so be aware of how much you have and if you would rather upgrade or repair more weapons.

Select the different modules on the weapons to view the upgrades. Often there is a choice - and in time you can get both. There are some caveats to this, but, for the most part, you can have everything you can see. There are a lot of options, from making the weapons more durable to adding a laser sight to making the bullets penetrate armor more readily. You can even change the ammo type on some weapons, although you may want to think carefully about how many weapons you want using the same ammo.

Once you know you want an upgrade, select it and confirm your selection. You will have a better weapon at the end of it, and you can also undo some of your upgrades if you feel they are not relevant anymore. However, your upgrades will make the weapon more valuable if you ever want to sell it, so keep that in mind as well.

Other Types Of Upgrades & When To Use Them

New Weapons & Choosing Not To Upgrade

There is no XP system in STALKER 2, instead, you will make progress by upgrading your weapons and finding different ones throughout the game. That said, you can often have a better weapon just by upgrading the one you have instead of buying or seeking out a new one. I found that, particularly in the early game, the weapons I found in the wild were about on par with the ones I already had if not worse, since mine were upgraded.

It then seems well worth the time and money to upgrade them, but there is a catch. The repair system means that you cannot just upgrade any time you want, as if a weapon is in too bad of shape, then you won’t be able to get it done. Do you repair a weapon you might need or do you upgrade the one you use all the time? That can be tricky, as running out of ammo can be a death sentence at the wrong moment, and you won’t be able to use the other gun if it’s broken down. Additionally, repairs can cost a lot of coupons, making it hard to save up for some of those upgrades.

If you seek out the Journalist’s caches, which is a mission you’ll get right before you enter The Sphere, you can find more weapons close by and throughout STALKER 2's huge area. However, I didn’t find the pistol any better than the one I had, so I sold it in order to get more upgrades before entering enemy territory. When you find a weapon you really like, stick to it and try upgrading it while unloading and selling off similar ones you find. There are 5 main traits your weapons have that can be upgraded:

• Damage
• Penetration
• Rate of Fire
• Range
• Accuracy

The one big piece of advice is to keep an eye on the upgrades and what they do. If it changes the ammo type, are you going to run out faster? If it adds a sight, will that impact how well enemies can see you? Another thing to keep in mind is that not every weapon can be upgraded by Lens. Some you might have to search out other Techs for. Additionally, you may come across parts that can upgrade your weapons.

Two early parts are available from Hamster, the Trader. Once you buy one, you will then need to go see a Tech, like Lens, and buy a new upgrade that will appear on compatible weapons. For instance, when I upgraded the Viper-5 with a new part, I had to get Lens to make it possible, before I then went into my inventory and equipped the part to the upgraded gun.

Finding these parts can change your weapon quite significantly, so try them out when you have the chance to see if you like them even better. You may also find or earn pre-upgraded weapons in the Zone, such as Valik Lummox’s weapon, so keep an eye out because these are likely to have special features. And that is how you upgrade your weapons in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.