STALKER 2: Cost of Hope – How to Get All Endings

STALKER 2: Cost of Hope has two endings, one for Freedom and one for Duty. You do not need to manage a long list of hidden choices to determine the ending. The important decision happens during the main mission, The Destructive Power of the Mind, where Skif must support either Mavka or Zulu.

Make a manual save during The Destructive Power of the Mind before the X16 standoff. That gives you a convenient point to return to after finishing one ending, allowing you to choose the other faction without replaying the entire first half of the expansion.

Major Cost of Hope story spoilers follow.

1. How to Get the Freedom Ending

Freedom Ending Siding with Mavka

The Freedom ending is obtained by supporting Mavka during The Destructive Power of the Mind. Mavka believes the strange mutants discovered during the mission represent an opportunity rather than something that needs to be destroyed, putting her directly against Zulu and Duty.

1. Progress normally through Cost of Hope until you reach The Destructive Power of the Mind.
2. Enter Laboratory X16 with Mavka and Zulu and continue through the mission.
3. Reach the point where the group discovers that the stolen technology they have been pursuing is connected to a mutant.
4. Listen to Mavka and Zulu argue over what needs to be done.
5. When the game makes you choose between them, side with Mavka.
6. Continue the story on the Freedom route until you reach the final main mission, The Price of a Miracle.
7. Finish The Price of a Miracle to trigger the Freedom ending.

Freedom Route Missions

Choosing Mavka changes the main missions you receive during the second half of the expansion. The Freedom route includes several faction-specific missions before eventually reconnecting with the final storyline.

The main Freedom path after the split is:

• Status Quo
• Dangerous Way
• The Road to the Center of the Storm
• Uninvited Guests
• The Price of a Miracle

What Happens in the Freedom Ending

After siding with Mavka, Zulu eventually becomes your enemy during The Price of a Miracle. Skif defeats him, but Mavka then betrays Skif, stabbing him before his consciousness is ultimately transferred into one of the mutants.

2. How to Get the Duty Ending

Duty Path Siding with Zulu

The Duty ending is the opposite route. Instead of accepting Mavka’s belief that the mutants could represent a new possibility for the Zone, you support Zulu, who considers them an unacceptable danger that needs to be destroyed.

1. Progress through Cost of Hope until The Destructive Power of the Mind.
2. Enter Laboratory X16 alongside Zulu and Mavka.
3. Continue until you discover the mutant at the center of the conflict.
4. Listen to the argument between the two faction representatives.
5. When you are forced to choose a side, support Zulu.
6. Continue through the resulting Duty route.
7. Keep following the main quests until you reach The Price of a Miracle.
8. Complete the final mission to receive the Duty ending.

Duty Route Missions

Choosing Zulu replaces several Freedom missions with Duty-specific quests. The two routes eventually lead back toward the same final confrontation, but the characters involved and events leading into it are different.

The main Duty path after the split includes:

• In Memory of the Fallen
• The Road to the Center of the Storm
• Gunpowder, Sweat, and Blood
• The Price of a Miracle

The easiest way to know that you are correctly following the Duty path is that Zulu remains your ally.

What Happens in the Duty Ending

By siding with Zulu, he remains Skif’s ally through the final mission. Together, they treat the mutants as a dangerous threat that must be eliminated, avoiding the events of the Freedom ending where Zulu dies and Mavka turns against Skif.

3. How to Get Both Cost of Hope Endings in One Playthrough

Cost of Hope Ending Cutscene

You can see both endings without starting Cost of Hope from the beginning. The entire ending split comes from the faction decision during The Destructive Power of the Mind, so a manual save immediately before that decision is enough.

Use this save method:

1. Reach The Destructive Power of the Mind.
2. Progress through X16 until Mavka and Zulu confront each other over the mutant.
3. Create a manual save before choosing either character.
4. Side with Mavka and finish the Freedom route.
5. Watch the Freedom ending.
6. Reload the manual save.
7. Side with Zulu instead.
8. Finish the Duty route and watch the Duty ending.

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