Debts

Well... I had an old suit that was starting to wear out, so I figured I need a new one. Soon as I thought that, I saw a brand spanking new suit for sale... It had a closed-cycle respiratory module and everything... I counted my money this way and that but came up short every time... Then Jack, the seller, said to me, "Don't worry Vano, you can pay me the rest later." I was like, "What a nice guy!" and all that... I sold my old suit, got all my cash and brought it to him. Jack was like, "Well done, Vano, but what about the interest?" I thought, "Yeah, he's right... I need to get the interest to him..." I put together some more cash and took it to him. When I got there he said, "While you were out, more interest built up, Vano." Seems the interest grows so fast I can't catch up... I had to pawn the new suit and my weapons, too...
― Vano

Debts is a side mission in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.

Summary[]

Vano can be found at the bar in Yanov station. He explains the player he needed a new suit as his old one was getting worn out and then he saw a new SEVA suit for sale by a loan shark named Jack. However, he always came up short when counting his money but then Jack told Vano that he can pay the rest later. When Vano came up with the cash, Jack then demanded interest, which Vano obliged to pay. Much to Vano's dismay however, once he paid the interest, Jack then said that more interest builds up as he fails to pay him which eventually led to Vano selling his SEVA suit and weapons just to keep up with the ever rising interest.

The player can offer one's help to Vano to pay his debt to Jack once and for all and he will provide the player with 5000 RU to pay his debt.

Jack and his group of Bandits can be found at the Checkpoint. The player can ask Jack's bodyguard to enter and meet Jack.

Options[]

The player has a number of options for Jack when paying off Vano's debt:

Pay him with interest[]

Pay Jack a total of 7000 RU. Vano only gives 5000 RU, so the other 2000 RU will come from the player.

Pay him without interest[]

The player can intimidate Jack into paying only 5000 RU. The player can access this option by saying that they are not afraid to use their shooter and that interest is no good to a corpse. In order to do this, the player must have at least one specific, high-tier weapon in either weapon slot. A Tunder S14 can be found by giving either Shulga or Loki Morgan's PDA and looting the Duty warehouse, and an RPG-7u can be found in the armory of the Volkhov AA Complex.

If one shows up with a common low-tier weapon like an AKM-74/2 or a TRs 301, he'll just laugh the player off and still demand interest.

Weapons that can be used to intimidate Jack:

Black Kite (including the Steppe Eagle)
SGI-5k (not including Strelok's SGI-5k)
GP37
FT-200M
Tunder S14 (including the Storm)
SA Avalanche
Vintar BC (including the Tide)
SVDm-2 (not including the Lynx)
SVUmk-2 (not including the SVU2-A)
RP-74 (including Zulu's RP-74)
SPSA-14 (including the Carabiner)
Gauss rifle
RPG-7u
Bulldog 6
Eliminator

Kill Jack[]

This can be done by simply attacking Jack's group or telling Jack that they "prefer to shoot [Jack] down for free", resulting in his group becoming hostile. The fight isn't especially hard, as most of Jack's group will be using low-tier weapons, the only potential threat being Jack's Eliminator shotgun. In case the player picks this way, it is best to taunt Jack as they will be able to shoot him and his bodyguard, then stay into cover inside the building and eliminate the rest of the group.

Another way is to lure a powerful mutant, preferably a Chimera or a Pseudogiant into the camp and let the mutant kill all the Bandits. However, these two mutants only spawn once the player has completed Night Hunt and Unidentified weapon, respectively. A Chimera is a very mobile creature that can easily wipe out the camp without taking too much damage (minus Jack's Eliminator that can kill a Chimera easily), and the Pseudogiant can withstand an incredible amount of damage and kill NPCs with two hits.

As well, the player could wait for an emission to occur. Once all the Bandits are grouped in the room, throw grenades inside - most of them will be killed, and the player can then simply finish off the survivors. With luck, one could also wipe out the whole group with a single RPG rocket.

Reward[]

There is no reward for completing this mission in the peaceful way, although it contributes towards getting the Diplomat achievement. If the player completes the mission by killing Jack, Vano will let the player keep the 5000 RU. Regardless of the outcome, Vano will also accept to join the player's squad during the mission Pripyat 1.

Notes[]

After the mission has been completed, Jack and his men can be found traveling across Jupiter. Because Jack's bandits are actually broken up into multiple squads, they will not all travel to the same location, but can be found in multiple areas of Jupiter before returning to the Checkpoint at night. Depending on the player's reputation with the Bandits, they may be hostile.