STALKER 2’s latest update adds an easily missed new questline, while dispersing accidental mutant crowds

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The latest update for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, called ‘Sealed Truth,’ is now available and includes a brand new, story-driven questline, plus a lot of bug fixes.

These new quests send you back to the monster-filled X-18 laboratory, which players explored in STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl. They really emphasize the horror aspects of the game and will connect, in a general way, to the story of the upcoming Cost of Hope expansion. This sounds promising, but you might have to load an older save file to start them, as they appear to be available for a limited time at the beginning of the game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope — Announcement Trailer

The window to start the ‘Sealed Truth’ questline is relatively short, though it can last a few hours if you explore away from the main story. You need to talk to Diode, the tech expert in the Garbage settlement, but only after you’ve met Scar at his sawmill and before you visit SIRCAA headquarters with the Scanner you find. If you try to start the questline with Diode before or after those two points – even if he’s still alive – the option won’t appear. It’s a pretty strict timing requirement!

Unfortunately, the official patch notes didn’t explain this detail, so I had to verify it myself by testing in my saved games. I only learned the exact timing from a video by the STALKER content creator, Vatislavovych. It seems the quest might need to be started before the SIRCAA events to make sense, which is a bit disappointing. Unlike STALKER 2’s earlier ‘Stories Untold’ update, this questline doesn’t offer as much freedom in when you can begin it.

The latest updates include several improvements everyone should appreciate. We’ve fixed problems that caused hazards to affect players over a larger area than intended, resulting in being caught, burned, or crushed. We also toned down some awkward hand movements. Most importantly, we resolved a serious issue where extremely large groups of enemies – sometimes just a lot of radioactive dogs, but often a dangerous swarm of Bloodsuckers – would unexpectedly appear.

The free ‘Sealed Truth’ update is available now! ‘Cost of Hope’ is planned for release this summer, and will likely be a paid expansion.

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2026-04-14 18:26