The Zone in STALKER 2 is massive — a true open-world with 60 square kilometers of land and 20 complete regions to explore, all without a single loading screen. That makes it incredibly immersive to adventure through, but it also means trying to travel to areas you’ve previously been to can be a very time-consuming endeavor. The dynamic nature of The Zone also makes it a risky one, as at any time, you could stumble across wandering bandits or mutants hunting for their next meal. And even if you’re able to take them out, you might take a lot of damage from the encounters and be forced to repair your gear more than you’d like.
Many open-world games offer players a fast travel mechanic to make retreading old ground quick and easy, and while it may not seem like STALKER 2 has one at first, it actually does. However, the fast travel system in GSC Game World’s hardcore survival shooter has some notable limitations you should know about, and doesn’t unlock until you make some decent progress in your playthrough, either.
Below, you’ll find an overview on everything you need to know about fast travel in STALKER 2. This includes how to unlock it, use the system, and what its restrictions are.
How to fast travel in STALKER 2
Fast traveling in STALKER 2 is very easy and simple to do, though the game never tells you how to do it directly. To fast travel, you’ll need to find a Guide NPC in one of The Zone’s many different bases and pay them a small sum of coupons to take you to the place you want to go. Once this is done, you’ll be transported to the location you selected, with the time of day changing to reflect the time you spent traveling.
Guides are only found in bases and can only take you to bases, meaning that you can’t fast travel to or from any point outside of them. Note that guides appear on your map with a crosshair-like icon (see above), so keep an eye out for these and head towards them while at bases if you’re looking to fast travel somewhere.
The cost of fast travel is generally a thousand coupons or two, but it can potentially get more expensive depending on how far you’re trying to go. Keep that in mind while traveling, and also make sure you’ve got some spare money on you if you’re planning on fast traveling back after taking care of your business. Without it, you’ll likely have to complete an odd job or two to earn money before paying for a return trip.
It’s worth noting that guide fast travel only unlocks once you’ve come across two bases in The Zone, so you won’t be able to use it until you leave the Lesser Zone. Your second base will likely be the Slag Heap in the Garbage since that’s where the main story takes you, but there’s also the Rookie Village in Cordon to the east of the starting area.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and is one of this year’s best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
