Stalker 2: Cost of Hope – How to Get to the Repeater (Unexpected Alliance)

Unexpected Alliance kicks off shortly after Skif meets Zulu and makes his first contacts in the Iron Forest. Nitro has a job waiting at the Testing Ground point of interest, and it is a vertical one. A repeater mounted on top of a rusted metal tower has gone quiet, and the only way to find out why is to climb the thing yourself.

Quick answer: Climb the ladder directly opposite Nitro, turn right at the platform and scale the broken metal frame, cross left to the next ladder, then jump the gap past the electrical anomaly (use an electro-orb, not a bolt) and take the far ladder to the top. Interact with the repeater, kill the Poltergeist that appears, then reactivate the repeater.

What Nitro asks for at the Testing Ground

The objective starts with a simple meetup. Head to the Testing Ground POI and speak with Nitro, who explains that the repeater on the tower stopped responding and wants Skif to go up and check it. There is no negotiation here and no alternate route around the structure — the climb is the quest.

Nitro talks to Skif at the Testing Ground and asks him to climb up and check the repeater — Nitro’s dialogue at the Testing Ground sets up the climb. Image: GSC Game World

Two things are worth sorting out before you start climbing, because falling off the frame or getting slammed by an anomaly halfway up means redoing the whole ascent.

Item	What it handles on the route
Metal bolts	Standard anomalies scattered along the metal structure. Throw one to set the anomaly off from a safe distance before you move through.
Electro-orbs	The new electrical anomaly near the gap you have to jump. Bolts do nothing to it — an orb suppresses it for a short window.

The climbing route up to the repeater

Face away from Nitro and find the ladder directly opposite him. Climb it to reach the first platform, which is where the actual ascent begins.

Yellow corner markers highlight the first ladder Skif needs to climb — The first ladder opposite Nitro, marked with yellow corner brackets. Image: GSC Game World

At the top of the ladder, turn right and start working your way up the broken metal structure. Keep bolts equipped and throw one ahead of you whenever an anomaly is in the path — getting caught by one up here does not just hurt, it can knock Skif off the frame entirely.

Skif aims up at the rusted tower ahead, highlighted with yellow targeting brackets — The rusted tower section you scale on the way to the repeater. Image: GSC Game World

Cross the metal structure to the left and move carefully toward the next ladder. Take it slowly here — the walkway is narrow and the drop is long.

After that ladder, walk across the beam and jump the gap to your left. An electrical anomaly sits close enough to shock you if you approach it directly, and throwing a bolt at it will not disrupt it. Use an electro-orb to shut it down for a limited time, then move through the window it gives you.

Keep crossing all the way to the ladder on the far side. That last ladder leads up to the tower section with the repeater mounted on top.

Walk up to the repeater and use the interact prompt on it.

The repeater device highlighted with a Press X prompt at the top of the tower — The repeater at the top of the tower with its interact prompt. Image: GSC Game World

Poltergeist fight on top of the tower

The repeater malfunctions the moment you touch it, and the objective changes to “deal with the causes of malfunction.” A Poltergeist attacks immediately, on a cramped platform, in the Iron Forest’s usual fog. Visibility is the real problem — the enemy itself is not especially durable.

Track the drifting cloud of electric sparks with your weapon and fire at it as it circles the tower. When the Poltergeist starts lifting objects to hurl at you, shoot the objects out of the air rather than trying to dodge them on a narrow platform.

Aiming down a holographic sight at an impact point during the Poltergeist fight — Firing on the Poltergeist through the fog at the top of the tower. Image: GSC Game World

Finishing the objective and reporting back

With the Poltergeist dead, interact with the repeater a second time to reactivate it. That marks the objective complete in your PDA — if it does not update, the repeater has not been switched back on yet, since simply killing the Poltergeist is not enough on its own.

All that is left is the descent. Take the same route back down rather than jumping, then find Nitro again to trigger the next stage of Unexpected Alliance.