Cost of Hope adds 12 unique weapons to Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, each a tuned-up version of an existing platform. Some fall out of story fights, some sit in coded safes across the Iron Forest and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and several are locked to whichever faction you side with. Because of those faction splits, no single save can hold all 12.
Quick answer: One playthrough caps at 9 of 12 on Mavka’s (Freedom) route or 8 of 12 on Zulu’s (Duty) route. To see both weapon sets, keep a manual save right before the permanent faction choice in The Destructive Power of the Mind and reload it later instead of hunting the map for the “missing” guns.
All 12 Cost of Hope unique weapons and how to get them
Here is the full set at a reference glance. The right-hand column notes whether a weapon is a free-for-everyone pickup or tied to a faction branch.
| Weapon | How to get | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Justice | Dropped by General Tachenko during Shadows of the Past | Any |
| AKM-9B | Coded safe near the SWYD-West Checkpoint, Iron Forest | Any |
| Luftgarde | Tunnel room reached with the Water Drop artifact | Any |
| Rifled Barrel | Otter’s Chest during The Forgotten side mission | Any |
| Maximum | Locked room in the Module IB building at the CNPP | Any |
| Clapper | Side with Mavka in The Destructive Power of the Mind | Mavka |
| Warszawa | Side with Zulu in The Destructive Power of the Mind | Zulu |
| Leichtfuchs | Loot Myklukha after Status Quo | Mavka only |
| Guardian | Given by Mavka during The Price of a Miracle | Mavka |
| Mriya | Given by Zulu after The Price of a Miracle | Zulu |
| Freedom’s Bounty | Reward from the Territorial War post-game quest | Mavka |
| Stranger’s Rifle | Reward from the Territorial War post-game quest | Zulu |
Why you can’t collect all 12 in one run
Three decision points each hand out one weapon or its counterpart, never both. On top of that, Leichtfuchs only exists on Mavka’s side, which is why her route ends one gun richer than Zulu’s.
| Branch point | Mavka (Freedom) | Zulu (Duty) |
|---|---|---|
| The Destructive Power of the Mind | Clapper | Warszawa |
| The Price of a Miracle | Guardian | Mriya |
| Territorial War | Freedom’s Bounty | Stranger’s Rifle |
| Status Quo (Mavka only) | Leichtfuchs | — |
That leaves five guns you can grab on any route: Justice, AKM-9B, Luftgarde, Rifled Barrel, and Maximum. Add the branch rewards and Mavka reaches 9, Zulu reaches 8. The missing guns are not hidden anywhere on the map. They belong to the other ending, so the only clean way to own the full set is a save kept before the split.
Missable story drops: Justice and Leichtfuchs
These two are the easiest to lose because they land on the ground during chaotic fights rather than dropping straight into your inventory.
Justice comes from General Tachenko during Shadows of the Past. After the Shadow Chimera attacks him, the weapon falls where he does. Pick it up before jumping down after the wraith, or you will leave it behind. Justice uses 7.62×54 ammunition, so check your stock before making it your active rifle.
Leichtfuchs is the Mavka-only gun that makes the route totals uneven. It belongs to Myklukha, who you fight at the Arena in Rostok during Status Quo on the Freedom side. Kill him, then loot his body for the weapon before the mission pushes you out of the combat area.
Faction reward pairs: pick your side, keep your gun
The mutually exclusive rewards land at fixed story beats, so the choice you make is effectively the location.
Clapper or Warszawa arrive during The Destructive Power of the Mind. Go with Mavka and she gives you Clapper after you complete her task of retrieving a mercenary’s key card. Go with Zulu and you receive Warszawa instead.
Guardian or Mriya are tied to The Price of a Miracle. Guardian is handed to you by Mavka at the start of Zulu’s boss fight on her route. Mriya comes from Zulu after the final sequence on his side.
Freedom’s Bounty or Stranger’s Rifle drop from the post-game Territorial War side quest. Freedom players collect Freedom’s Bounty; Duty players collect Stranger’s Rifle. This quest can behave inconsistently, so make a manual save before you start it in case the reward step misfires.
World pickups you can grab on any route
AKM-9B: coded safe in the Iron Forest
This customized 9x39mm AK sits in a locked safe inside a building near the SWYD-West Checkpoint, in the northwestern part of the Iron Forest. Enter the safe code to open it. Live guides list the code as 3546 or 3456, so if one fails, try the other. There is no reason to postpone this pickup; grab it whenever you pass through the area.
Luftgarde: keep the Water Drop artifact
Luftgarde is walled off by a mercury anomaly, so you need the Water Drop artifact equipped to pass through. Water Drop appears in the world near the main building by the DPP-2 location in the Iron Forest; shoot it down and pick it up.
After finishing the Dangerous Way main mission, backtrack to the exit point of the Distant Mirage mission and head down into the tunnels. With Water Drop in an artifact slot, you can walk through the mercury walls and reach the small room holding the weapon. Do not sell Water Drop before this trip. If you already did, another one is available in the world, so the gun is not lost.
Rifled Barrel: The Forgotten and Otter’s Chest
Rifled Barrel is the reward for completing The Forgotten side mission. The trail starts in a hole, where you interact with a picture to advance, then leads toward a ventilation stack. Near the end there is a portal; use it and open Otter’s Chest on the other side to collect the weapon. Finish this quest while it is available rather than saving it for later.
Maximum: Module IB at the CNPP
Maximum is a late-game pickup because it sits inside the Module IB building in the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant region, which the campaign brings you to naturally. It is in a locked stash room. Open the keypad-controlled door with the code 2014, then check the desk in front of the large safe to find the weapon.
A collection order that avoids backtracking
Collect these as the campaign puts you near them rather than in checklist order. A practical sequence looks like this: Justice, then Clapper or Warszawa, then Leichtfuchs if you chose Mavka, then AKM-9B while you are near SWYD-West, then Luftgarde once you hold Water Drop, then Freedom’s Bounty or Stranger’s Rifle when Territorial War opens, then Rifled Barrel during The Forgotten, then Maximum after you reach the CNPP, and finally Guardian or Mriya during the ending.
Note: The two categories to watch hardest are mission drops and branch rewards. World pickups such as AKM-9B and Maximum can be revisited, but a weapon dropped mid-fight or gated behind a faction choice will not offer a second chance. Before leaving any area where you just fought or sided with a named character, check the body, the ground around it, your inventory, and nearby containers first. Keep that pre-split manual save and you can round out the full 12 across two ending branches without replaying the entire expansion.
