How to get ammo in Stalker 2
Here's how to make sure you never run out of ammo in Stalker 2
Looking for more ammo in Stalker 2? The Zone can be a punishing place, and it's not just food and vodka that you need a healthy supply of in Stalker 2. Ammo can become rather scarce if you're not careful, which can leave you in a very bad spot when the next group of bandits or mutants come a-knocking.
There are two parts to always making sure you have enough ammo. First is to conserve existing ammo where possible. Use your pistol to conserve primary ammunition, and consider switching your rifles to single-shot mode instead of full-auto mode. But even then, you might still run low on ammo, particularly in the early game. So you'll need to understand how to easily get more ammo of the right type. Follow the below guide to learn how to get ammo in Stalker 2.
How to get ammo in Stalker 2
The easiest ways to get ammo in Stalker 2 are:
- Looting corpses and unloading their guns
- Looting stashes
- Trading with Stalkers and other NPCs
By far the biggest trick that many new players miss out on is that every time you loot a dead body or container with a gun, you can hover over the gun and hit G on the keyboard (or LT on controller) to unload the gun. You can do the same action by right-clicking the gun and selecting "Unload".
This will take any ammo loaded into the gun, and put it directly into the inventory that the gun is in. You can do the same with guns that are in your inventory. You can even unload guns on the ground in the world without having to enter your inventory, by hovering your reticle over the gun and holding down the interact button (F on keyboard or X on controller).
Otherwise, you'll generally see certain types of ammo in most lootable containers (including corpses), but if you prioritise looting Stashes whenever you see them, you'll find it much easier to play through the game without running desperately low on ammo. Get into the habit of periodically opening your map and scouring your surroundings for nearby Stashes that you can hit on your way to your next destination.
It's also a good idea if you need a specific type of ammo to spend time in places where guns that use that ammo are more prevalent. For example, you'll likely find a lot of 9x19mm ammo in the Lesser Zone, because the Viper-5 - a very common gun in the Lesser Zone - uses that ammo. But you won't find much 7.62x54mm ammo in the Lesser Zone. For that, you should probably venture into Salvage or Wild Island, where you might find more characters using the SVDM-2 or other rifles which use 7.62 ammo.
If you're running desperately low on ammo, then your best bet is to engage in trade with NPCs. You can trade with a great many characters in Stalker 2, not just dedicated tradesmen. To see if a character is amenable to trade, simply interact with them to start a dialogue, and you should see a prompt in the lower-right corner of the screen to hit E (or X on controller) to trade with them, if it's available.
Many characters will be lugging around at least a little bit of ammo, so if you're really ammo-starved it's worth checking trade options for any nearby characters. You can also beeline straight to the nearest settlement and start a trade with a more dedicated trader, such as Hamster in Zalissya, who always has lots of spare ammo to trade you. Ammo isn't terribly expensive in Stalker 2, so you shouldn't have too much trouble stocking up ready for your next outing.
That brings us to the end of this quick guide on how to get more ammo in Stalker 2. For other handy primers on key mechanics in Stalker 2, check out our guides on how to fast travel, how to repair weapons, and how to use bolts.