Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl pits players against the hazards of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, a site around the real-world nuclear meltdown in 1986. As you boot up the game, one of the early missions will require you to find an Artifact in The Anomalous Field in Stalker 2. To complete this mission, you must use one of the most essential game mechanics – the Echo Detectors. This guide will detail everything you need to know about finding artifacts in the game.
How to Get and Use the Echo Decector in Stalker 2
Anomalies and artifacts are at the center of Stalker 2’s mechanics. There are physics-defying anomalies around the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, and almost all anomalies have artifacts you can find. Artifacts give the character special elemental power or resistance. However, you need to use the Echo Detector to find the artifacts.
During the game’s first mission – There and Back Again – as you explore the area and reach the bunker, you will stumble upon the dead body of a scientist named Petro Yerokin. Loot his body, and you will find the Echo Detector.
Using the Echo Detector is fairly simple once you know how it works. But after you acquire it for the first time, the objectives ask you to find The Artifact in The Anomalous Field, which initially confused me.
To use the Echo Detector to find the artifact, first open your backpack and equip the device. To open the backpack on the Xbox controller, use the down button on the D-pad; on PC, it’s the ‘I’ button. Next, exit out of the backpack menu and open the Radio Wheel—it’s the L1 on the Xbox controller. Next to the Radio Wheel on the bottom left, you will see the Echo Detector. Press Left to equip it and start detecting artifacts.
To detect the artifact, go to the nearest anomalous field and follow the beep and repeated blinking of the Echo Detector. When you are close to the Arfrtifact, the Echo Detector will beep repeatedly. Keep going in the direction the detector is beeping the most, and the artifact will pop from the ground.
Find The Artifact in The Anomalous Field in Stalker 2
The next objective of the ‘There and Back Again’ mission is to ‘Find the Artifact in The Anomalous Field.’ To locate the Anomalous Field, follow the exclamation marker on your compass, which will lead you right to it.
You will see spots of yellow slugs on the ground at the location. Keep going ahead, and you will see a barrel. As you approach the barrel, the Echo detector will start blinking and beeping really fast. Go in front of the barrel on the right, and the ‘Slug’ artifact will pop from the ground.
How to Equip the Artifact in Stalker 2
Once you have found the artifact, the next objective is to equip it. Here is how to equip artifacts in Stalker 2.
- Open the Backpack (Xbox: down button on the D-pad; PC – I button).
- Drag and Drop the artifact in the Inventory slot.
- Hit the left control stick (Xbox) or Q (PC) to bring the equipment slot.
