There are a lot of side missions in "Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl", and Nightingale Hunting is one of them. This mission is one of the first missions you can participate in after arriving in Zalisia. One, it allows you to challenge relatively early.
How to complete the side quest Nightingale Hunting in S.T.A.L.K.A.R.
One of the first missions you can take part in after arriving in Zaliciya, allowing you to take on the challenge relatively early. If you want to earn a decent amount of credits that you can use to upgrade your favorite weapons, then this quest might be well worth doing, especially before diving into the main quest!
Start the nightingale hunting mission
After completing the Dogfight side quest in STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl, talk to Nightingale and ask him if he needs help. He'll mention looking for more e-collars that you can help with. From here, Nightingale will mark two locations on your map indicating where you can find the electronic collar.
One of them was in a group of blind dogs, and the other was in a mutant that was destroyed in a powerful mutation zone near Bulba. No matter which one you choose, the end result is the same. If you deal with the blind dog group first, the Mutation Zone mission will become ineffective.
Find the electronic collar in the mutated area
As you approach the anomaly in the middle of the water near Bulba, you'll see a weird ball that's constantly expanding and contracting. As the anomaly shrinks, it sucks everything around it into it, including yourself, which can cause a lot of damage to you.
To avoid taking damage from the aberration zone, quickly run behind a car or other heavy object while it expands, crouch down and hold it there until it contracts again. Continue to do this, gradually approaching the abnormality area, and eventually you will find several blind dog corpses and an electronic collar around the abnormality area.
Wait for the abnormal zone to shrink again, then quickly grab the electronic collar and start evacuating. You must use cover to escape as before. If you try to run out quickly, you will be caught by the suction of the mutated zone, which may lead to death. Soon after, you will receive an ominous call from Nightingale.
Looking for a blind dog collar
For an electronic collar on a blind dog, follow the marker to an abandoned village to find a group of blind dogs attacking a group of bandits. Concentrate on getting rid of the bandits first, because the blind dogs will attack the bandits, so you can eliminate the bandits quickly.
After the bandits are dealt with, turn your attention to the blind dogs, paying special attention to the one that emits a blue light. The glowing blind dog is the one with the electronic collar, which will take more damage, so it's best to deal with the other blind dogs first, as they can usually be killed in one or two shots.
A blind dog with a collar will occasionally run away for a short distance and then rush back. At this time, you can take the opportunity to heal yourself and be ready to continue shooting when it rushes back. After defeating the blind dog, search its body to obtain the electronic collar. You will receive a call from Nightingale to continue the mission.
Help Nightingale
After obtaining an electronic collar, Nightingale will send a distress signal via radio, indicating that he has been attacked by a vampire wearing a collar and suspects that he has been framed. Follow the blue mark on the compass to quickly reach his location.
Eventually, you'll reach an abandoned house hidden deep in the forest, and the atmosphere becomes eerie. As you approach the entrance to the house, you hear strange noises coming from around you. After pushing the door open and entering, he began to investigate the scene and found Nightingale's body. Search the bodies for electronic collars and PDAs.
Defeat the Vampire
After interacting with the Nightingale's corpse, the vampire will burst into the house and attack you. It is invisible, so it will be difficult to detect. To avoid confronting it directly, quickly run to the other end of the room and stand on the table in the corner.
Watch the door carefully and shoot the vampire as soon as you see it. The vampire will try to swipe at you a few times, maybe successfully hit you a few times, and then it will run back outside. If you get hit, take the opportunity to heal; if not, make sure your ammo is ready and waiting for it to come in again.
Repeat this process until the vampire dies, it becomes visible and falls to the ground. At this point you can search for its corpse to confirm Nightingale's guess. At this point, return to Zalicia with the electronic collar and face the hamster.
You can also increase the damage by throwing grenades, but this is not necessary as the vampire will always run back inside and attempt a few attacks before escaping. You may want to use this tactic if you run out of ammo, or you might consider using a knife... but we don't recommend it.
Take the electronic collar back to Zalicia and give it to the hamster
Return to Zalicia, enter the hotel, talk to the hamster at the counter, and question him about the electronic collar. After showing him the collar, he will ask you about the Nightingale's whereabouts, and you can choose from three different ways to answer, and you can lie to hide what happened. We chose to tell him that the nightingale was dead.
Next, ��You can tell him that one of the collars belongs to a vampire and he will increase the payment. He has almost no remorse for Nightingale's death, which makes the whole situation even more depressing. You can then sell the collar to the hamster, complete the Nightingale Hunting mission, and receive 850 tokens.
Although the rewards are not particularly generous, this mission will allow you to later discover blind dogs with electronic collars, eliminate them, obtain the collars, and sell them to hamsters for a decent reward. This may also pave the way for future assignments with clients who request collars, so keep an eye out for these opportunities!
