Should you kill Squint in Stalker 2?Here are the consequences of killing Squint in Stalker 2’s A Needle In A Haystack quest

Here are the consequences of killing Squint in Stalker 2’s A Needle In A Haystack quest

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/GSC Game World

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/GSC Game World

A close-up of the face of Squint, a character in Stalker 2.

In this guide, we’ll walk you throughevery outcome of killing Squintor leaving him alive during either of your encounters in the “A Needle In A Haystack” quest. So if you want to know which is the best outcome from a material or a moral standpoint, keep reading!

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Should you kill Squint in Stalker 2?

The short answer is thatit doesn’t matter much whether you kill Squint or not. If you want to finish the quest as fast as possible, kill Squint in your first encounter. Sticking it through to the end will net you an artifact, after which you can still kill him or leave him alive. He doesn’t have anything worth looting apart from the Ward Sensors, so you won’t gain much from killing him, so it may be worth leaving him alive on the offchance you see him again in more positive circumstances.

This is the man whose life is currently in your hands. Take a good long look. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/GSC Game World

The player in Stalker 2 engages in conversation with a Stalker named Squint, who is aiming a gun at the player.

If you kill Squint

You have two opportunities to kill Squint in the “A Needle In A Haystack” quest. The first is during your initial conversation at the top of the windmill.If you choose to attack Squint, then a quick headshot will kill him in a single hit, and you can loot his body for the Ward Sensors that you’re after. He doesn’t have much else on him at all, but you have what you need. Quick and simple.

If you help Squint

Bloodsuckers appear startlingly often in the Lesser Zone considering how tough they are. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/GSC Game World

A close-up of a Bloodsucker mutant in Stalker 2 attack the player inside a cave.

After killing the Bloodsucker and retrieving the artifact - called “Mold” - you can return to Squint. Skif will immediately question why Squint didn’t tell him about the Bloodsucker, to which Squint replies: “Would you have gone in there if I did? That’s why.”

If you give Squint the artifact, then he’ll repay you with the only thing in his possession worth anything: the Ward Sensors. He ends the conversation with an open-ended “Zone willing, we’ll meet again”, and you’re then free to take the Ward Sensors back to either Richter or Captain Zotov. No one on the RPS team has yet found evidence that Squint ever returns after this point, though.

So really, you might as well kill him.

Shouldn’t have screwed me over really, should ya. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/GSC Game World

The player in Stalker 2 looks down at the dead body of Squint lying on a wooden floor.

That wraps up this guide on whether to kill Squint or leave him alive in Stalker 2’s main quest, “A Needle In A Haystack”. We’ve also got you covered if you’re wonderingwhether to give the Ward Sensors to Richter or Zotov. Alternatively, you can read up on more general guides likehow to get more ammo,how to fast travel, andhow to repair weaponsand other gear.