During your time in the Lesser Zone in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, it won’t be long before you meet Mityay. He will quickly speak of his home and a religious icon that his family possesses, the Orthodox Icon, and request that you retrieve it for him. This kicks off the Poppy Field side mission, which has some decent rewards for the start of your journey.
During this quest, you’ll need to make your way to the poppy field that Mityay once lived in and locate the root cellar there, but you’ll run into Pomor along the way who has other plans for the icon. To help you out with the decision you are tasked with making during this mission, here’s our guide to the Poppy Field mission in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
Stalker 2 Poppy Field mission guide – Give the icon to Mityay or Pomor?
The Poppy Field side mission in Stalker 2 isn’t too tricky to complete, provided you don’t fall asleep during the process — and no, this is not just a bad joke. This beautiful poppy field has a terrible effect on those who go near, sending them into an eternal sleep if they aren’t quick enough to flee the flowers.
As a result, after receiving the mission from Mityay, I highly recommend stocking up on Energy Drinks before heading on over to the Poppy Field.
As you approach the area, a man named Pomor will radio to you, asking to speak with you. If you go into the nearby hut and speak with him, he’ll offer to tell you where the root cellar is if you pay him 2000 Coupons. Don’t bother doing this and keep the cash; the root cellar is easily found in the middle of the poppy field.
Instead, Pomor will offer to give you the coordinates for the root cellar if you bring him the guns and ammo of the corpses found around the poppy field. We could do that, but really, you need this loot for yourself more. It’s a dog eat dog world in the Zone, after all.
The root cellar where the Orthodox Icon is located is in a hole in the ground in the middle of the poppy field, but as Pomor mentioned, be sure to check out the surrounding homes and barn for some interesting lore reveals and loot — which fortunately includes Energy Drinks. Chug on these whenever you’re ready to run through the fields to the root cellar.
Retrieve the Orthodox Icon from the root cellar and return to Pomor. This is where you have a decision to make, though it doesn’t appear that your actions here have any major consequences.
If you want to do the ‘good’ thing and keep any loot you have found for yourself, I recommend ignoring Pomor and heading straight back to Mityay, reuniting him with the Orthodox Icon for a cash reward.
If you want to do the morally dubious thing and acquire additional loot, give the guns and ammo to Pomor. After he gives you your reward, a broken weapon that needs repairing, shoot him. You can now loot the items back and return to Mityay, giving the Orthodox Icon to him and receiving your cash reward — 1350 Coupons — like nothing violent ever happened.
That cash could also be put to good use repairing the weapon you received from Pomor, or you could sell the broken weapon to Hamster the Trader in Zalissya. Up to you!
For more on Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, take a look at all artifacts across the Zone, and all the anomalies you ought to try and avoid.