Like with Subtle Matter, Dangerous Liaisons is a significant main mission in the Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl story. The decision you make will set you path as you make your way to the end of the game. This guide will cover your choices and their consequences.

• Go to the Troposphere Comm Station
• Enter the TCP (Spark Path)
• Enter the TCP with the Ward Badge (Ward Path)
• Reach the Control Room
• Decision: Work with or Deny the Ward

Go to the Troposphere Comm Station

Your goal in Dangerous Liaisons is to activate neuroprogrammers in Lab X3 so Strelok can figure out the location of the STALKER Program Control Center. The lab, however, is in Ward hands, meaning it won't be a quick trip.

It's especially not quick considering the site of the lab is in Malachite, far to the northwest of the Burnt Forest where Subtle Matter left you.

You need to head to the Troposphere Comm Station (TCP) northwest of STC Malachite. There aren't many settlements nearby that can assist you with a guide. If you managed to successfully complete the side mission On the Edge to save Zalissya, you can head there and make use of the guide. Otherwise, you'll have to hoof it to the station.

Enter the TCP (Spark Path)

Strelok calls once you get close to the station, warning that you'll get attacked if the guards spot a weapon. But there is a way you can sneak in: via a large anomalous area free of patrols.

To get to the anomalous area, approach the parameter of the complex and look for stairs leading up a wall. Climb the stairs and hop the gap to go over the wall and enter the section on the other side.

Keep note that the anomalous area has... anomalies. Surprise! Watch for them as you make your way through, going north and passing the helicopter.

Look for a way down into the station via a ladder leading into a large opening. It's next to a watchtower near the back wall.

Take the ladder down and use the Decoder on the key card reader next to the bast door.

Drop down from the broken catwalk and enter the gray door at the end of the walkway.

• Click this link to hop over to the Ward Path section.

Enter the TCP with the Ward Badge (Ward Path)

If you have a Ward Badge, Skif suggests to Strelok that he can use it to access the TCP as he approaches the complex.

Head to the entrance and press the button next to the blast door to call the guard inside. Skif tells him he has a pass and the guard opens the door. Enter the door to start a cutscene.

But things don't go according to plan. After Skif mentions Project FIBER, the guard hits the alarm and attacks.

Search the guard's body after he's dead and take the Yellow Key Card.

Use the card to open the blast door in the lobby.

Enter the next room and take out the awaiting guards.

Go down the hallway leading from the truck and enter the doorway with the light above to exit.

Clear the next room of guards and use the door to the left of the truck to enter a stairwell.

Ascend the stairs and enter the next door. At the end of the catwalk is a door with a padlock. Use a knife or gun to break the lock and enter.

Drop into the hole in the floor of the next room and walk forward to enter a hallway. Take a left and enter the gray door.

Reach the Control Room

Ward soldiers are guarding the stairwell beyond, so get ready for a fight as you climb up.

Keep progressing until you reach the lab area at the top of the stairs. Its hallways are unsurprisingly lined with Ward guards, so take them out one by one as you move along.

You'll eventually make your way into a room lined with computer terminals and servers. Strelok calls in, confirming you made it to the TCP.

Leave the room using the white door at the back.

Go downstairs and continue until you find yourself in a control room. Take the Project FIBER Report off the console for some background lore and then press the big red button to start the machine in the other room.

The door to your right opens up. Go inside and approach the door to your left to start a cutscene.

When the cutscene finishes, it's time to leave the TCP. Go back through the door and head to the next room down the hallway.

Look for an open vent in the room on the left and head inside.

Approach the door in the next room to start another sequence, this time with our friend Col. Korshunov.

Decision: Work with or Deny the Ward

Korshunov and his men have you surrounded. With Skif trapped and staring down many barrels, there's not much he can do but listen.

At the end of the scene, the colonel gives you two options. You must make a decision, one that will change the course of the rest of Skif's story in the game. Click on the text to reveal the spoilers and learn what happens next.

• I'm not your enemy./I'm with you.
  • Tap to Reveal
• [Escape]
  • Tap to Reveal

After you make your choice, Dangerous Liaisons comes to an end. If you turn down the Ward, your next mission is Escape from the Cage. Otherwise, jump to The Boundary.

Reward for choosing the Ward:

• K10,000
• AS Lavina
• Aeroprotection Gas Mask
• Army Medkit (3)
• 9x39mm SP-6 (40)