The massive wasteland known as the Exclusion Zone awaits you in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Make no mistake, however, because most of your journey will be on foot, from rolling hills and lush fields to forgotten slag heaps and irradiated swamplands. Still, there are a few NPCs that might help you get to where you need to go. Here's our guide on how to fast travel in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. We also discuss all the fast travel locations in the game, so this article will contain some spoilers.
How to fast travel in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
The Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl fast travel mechanic is actually tied to a specific type of NPC: the guide. This concept is somewhat akin to the system seen in previous games, such as Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat.
Looking for a guide NPC on the map
While exploring the Exclusion Zone, you might reach various settlements that are home to all sorts of NPCs, such as vendors and technicians. The ones you're looking for if you want to fast travel are guide NPCs, which have an icon that looks like a star or crosshair.
Fast travel via guide NPCs
To fast travel in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, make sure to chat with a guide NPC in a settlement. You'll see the option to instantly travel to other bases as long as you've met the guide NPCs in those areas.
This service isn't free, though, since you need to pay in coupons, the world's chosen currency. The farther the destination, the higher the cost.
All fast travel locations in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Above, you can see all the fast travel locations in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The NPCs can be found in:
Lesser Zone: Zalissya
Cordon: Rookie Village
Garbage: Slag Heap
Cement Factory: Cement Factory Facility
Zaton: Sultansk
Chemical Plant: Chemical Plant Base
Malachite: Malachite Base
Rostok: Rostok Base
Yaniv: Yaniv Station
Prypiat: Degtyarev's Base
Note that the next section of our Stalker 2 fast travel guide discusses a few incidents that can occur during the course of your campaign. As such, be ready for spoilers.
Can you lose access to fast travel?
At a glance, you might think that the Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl fast travel system would work admirably in the player's favor throughout the campaign. Unfortunately, it's possible to lose access to fast travel in certain areas. This happens due to certain events as you progress. Here are a few examples:
A side quest called On the Edge has several objectives. The incidents here can lead to the loss of the fast travel NPC in Zalissya.
In our playthrough, everyone at the Chemical Plant Base was completely hostile to us.
After a main quest called Visions of Truth, we lost access to Malachite Base. We were able to fast travel to it, but all doors were locked and we couldn't leave the facility at all.
We've also been told that it's possible for both Zalissya and Rostok to get completely wiped out, with all NPCs completely gone.
In effect, it's possible to face issues when exploring the western and southwestern portions of the world map. While there might be an option to fast travel to certain locations, you might not be able to fast travel from them, so you'd have no choice but to walk longer distances just to reach quest objectives or stashes.
That does it for our guide on how to fast travel in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. For more tips, you can check our guides on how to increase carry weight and how to farm for artifacts. We also have an article on where to find all Journalist Stashes.
