Begin your adventure as a Loner in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl - Enhanced Edition. Learn about starting equipment, the Rookie Village, and the optional Training Day questline.
Alright, Stalker! Welcome to the Zone. This is where your journey as a Loner kicks off, starting out in the Cordon area. Your first stop should be to chat with Sidorovich; he'll get you rolling on the 'Lost To The Zone' storyline.
Before you dive headfirst into trouble, let's get you sorted with some gear. You'll start with whatever you picked out when you began a new game, plus whatever you can scavenge from the containers scattered around the Rookie Village. Don't sweat it if you don't know what everything does yet, just grab it all. Having at least one gun is your main priority.
You'll spawn in a humble house, which is your faction base as a Loner. First things first, open your inventory and equip your starting gear: your leather jacket (that's your armour), your backpack (this gives you an extra 21kg of carrying capacity), your respirator (it offers a small boost to resistances, stacking with your jacket's buffs), and your PDA (your map and all-around encyclopedia). You'll notice your jacket and respirator have green health bars – that's their condition. Mouse over them to see the exact percentage. As they degrade, their effectiveness drops a bit, but don't worry about repairs just yet. Your PDA and detector have blue bars; these are battery levels. They can't be damaged, but once the battery dies, you'll need to replace it. Batteries are cheap and last a good while, so you're good for now.
Your inventory will also be stocked with various other items. Hover over them to learn more. Remember, the flashlight and detector use the same slot, so you can't use both simultaneously. You've got matches for cooking or lighting fires, water for thirst, bread for hunger, a wallet for your cash, ammo for your pistol and shotgun, and a radiation arm patch – it doesn't actually do anything for radiation, but it'll show other Stalkers which faction you belong to later on.
Now, if you're feeling a bit green and want some guidance, find Fanatic in the middle of the Village. He's marked on your map. Talking to him starts the 'Training Day' tutorial questline. It's optional, but hey, free gear, money, XP, and reputation – can't argue with that! If you're feeling brave or just want to get straight to the action, you can skip this and head to the next section.
TRAINING DAY
If you decide to do the tutorial, Fanatic has a few tasks for you. First up, a cull.
TRAINING DAY: BOAR HUNTING
Fanatic will hook you up with some pistol and shotgun ammo and mark a spot on your map where some pesky boar are causing trouble. They're a threat to the Village, so they gotta go. Follow Fanatic out towards the road. Try to lure the boar towards you, then make a quick getaway and hop onto a vehicle or some other high ground to take them out from safety. Alternatively, you can fall back to the Village and let the other NPCs help you out. You'll still get reputation points for completing the quest this way, but you'll only earn rank XP for any boar you personally take down.
After the hunt, approach a boar carcass. You'll find your bayonet knife isn't strong enough to harvest parts yet – you'll need a hunting knife for that, which isn't available right now. However, you can skin smaller mutants like flesh and dogs, so make sure to skin everything you can in the Cordon!
TRAINING DAY: SPEAK TO FANATIC
With the boar dealt with, Fanatic becomes your companion. He'll stick with you until he dies or you advance the quest. This means you can actually put off the next part of his mission and use his help to clear out the Cordon, take down more mutants, and explore points of interest. You can even take him into nearby regions. Once you're ready, head back and Speak to Fanatic to continue his quest.
TRAINING DAY: REACH THE ANOMALOUS AREA
Before heading to the next objective marker, you might want to pop back to the Rookie Village. Talk to Wolf, who's standing outside Sid's bunker. He might have offered you a quest before, but now he should have more, including 'Tourist Safari'. This involves escorting two tourists to take down some nearby mutants. Accepting this quest nets you two extra companions, on top of Fanatic if he's still with you. A squad of three will make exploring the Cordon much easier. Like Fanatic, these companions will stick around until they die or the quest concludes. However, you might want to hold off on 'Tourist Safari' until after 'Training Day' is complete.
Anyway, if you're sticking with the 'Training Day' mission, make your way to the marked location to find the Trash Compactor Anomaly.
TRAINING DAY: SPEAK TO FANATIC
Next, Fanatic will prepare you for your first real encounter with an Anomaly, mentioning a couple of artefacts you can find. He'll give you an Echo detector, 5 bolts, a bottle of vodka, and an LLC. He'll warn you against picking up the 'Anomalous Bread' artefact but wants you to grab the 'Jellyfish'. Once he's done talking, he'll leave your party and wander off.
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