Drifters and cutthroats from all over the world, nothing's below them. Their motto is "Pecunia non olet - Money does not smell." There are artifacts here and so there's bound to be money. Mercs use mainly Western weapons.
― Multiplayer description
The Mercenary faction is a group of private military contractors operating within the Zone, though their exact base of operations and their client(s) are kept highly secret. They appear in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
Description[]
The most clandestine and secretive faction in the Zone; some don't even believe in its existence. There are those who regularly use the Mercs' services as they are true pros, able to quickly deal with any stalker and even annihilate a small group of opponents. Their services do not come cheap - the Mercs demand a king's ransom for their services in money or artifacts. The location of their base remains a secret, suggesting that it is deep inside the Zone.
― Encyclopedia, Shadow of Chernobyl
The history of the group is a mystery. The mercenaries kill anyone who gets in their way. Most stalkers know it well and prefer not to mess with them. Mercenaries are ready to do almost any job for money. They do contract kills, and sometimes rob stalkers.
However, mercenaries are not just hired killers. They perform a wide variety of tasks. It can be not only killing, but also finding rare artifacts, destroying documents, and many other things that most people are simply unaware of.[quote. 1] The main thing that distinguishes mercenaries from other stalkers is their professionalism and the quality of their services they are appreciated for.
Careful planning and outstanding preparation are the reason mercenaries achieve their goals.[quote. 2] Mercenaries take their assignments and their work in general seriously. Mercs have their own code, as they say, without it they are nothing. The most important rule of this code is that "any contract must be executed".[quote. 3] Mercenaries most often do not attack bandits, they were seen teaming up together at the Rostok factory.[quote. 4]
No personal items have ever been found on the bodies of killed mercenaries. However, those who manage to kill a leader or even a whole squad may find PDAs with different information on their bodies[2], which are valuable among traders.
Relationship[]
Mercenaries have neutrality with bandits, Clear Sky, and are sometimes neutral to scientists (depends on the purpose of the mission) and hostile to the Military. Mercs pose a great threat to Loners if they enter their territory. They are one of the most dangerous opponents of Duty and Freedom (they are neutral in Call of Pripyat).
In Clear Sky, mercenaries do not want to take part in the operation against the military, and try to avoid encounters with soldiers, as Hog tells it.[quote. 5]
In Call of Pripyat, the mercenaries try to prevent information about the secret labs from getting into the hands of the scientists by any means possible.[quote. 6] Mercs worked with the Duty member Morgan to supply mercenary groups with weapons.[quote. 7]
Equipment[]
Mercenaries wear gray-blue protective coveralls of an unknown model and are armed with the best Western weaponry. They wear three types of armor - Merc suit, SEVA suit, and exoskeleton - slightly altered in appearance and painted in the faction's colors. The Merc suit is common among mercenaries (with the difference that some wear a gas mask and some wear a mask, although all users in Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat wear gas masks). The body armor provides good protection against bullets and explosions, but offers little to no protection against anomalies. SEVA and exoskeleton are infrequent and only can be seen on mercenaries of Veteran or Master ranks: in Shadow of Chernobyl, for example, a mercenary in SEVA or exoskeleton can be found at the location after destroying a mercenary roadblock in the Army Warehouses or in the Wild Territory after passing Lab X-16. A mercenary, Leshiy, is known to be the only one to wear the Sunrise suit. Four mercenaries wearing SSP-99M Suit are present in Call of Pripyat (apparently they were researching the X8 laboratory).
Mercenaries are heavily armed and get their gun and ammo supplies from the black market. These are mostly weapons of Western designs, such as the IL 86, TRs 301, and the SGI-5k. Rookies can carry a Viper 5 submachine gun or a SPSA-14 shotgun. The mercs of Master rank of use GP37s and FT-200Ms. Mercenaries often attach a silencer on their weapon. Grenade launchers are not used, only hand grenades. The most popular weapon used by mercs is the TRs 301. Despite the fact that mercenaries prefer NATO weapons, there is an exception: in Shadow of Chernobyl, snipers on the approach to the Wild Territory are armed with AKM-74/2s with attached PSO-1 scopes. Mercenaries who attempt to capture the rookie village in the Cordon in Shadow of Chernobyl are armed with AKM-74/2s, and the commander of this group is armed with an AKM-74/2U. Also, both Morgan's bodyguards are armed with AKM-74/2s. In addition, Vulture and his entire group are armed with AC-96/2 assault rifles. In the entire series, there are only three mercenaries using RPG-7us. These are two fighters from Jackal's squad (Call of Pripyat) and one in Shadow of Chernobyl.
Famous representatives[]
- Wolfhound - a field commander of the mercenary squad. A brutal and ruthless stalker. Participated in the capture of Professor Kruglov's group.
- Wolfhound's assistant - un unnamed mercenary, aide and guard to the Wolfhound.
- Mercenary sniper - a sniper of Wolfhound's group.
- Ara - an Armenian mercenary, commander of a roadblock at the Army Warehouses.
- Hog - a commander of a unit based at the Army Warehouses in 2011. Reports to Scar about a group of mercenary Leshiy who got caught in a Space bubble.
- Leshiy - a mercenary who got into a spatial anomaly with his group while on a mission. After being rescued, helps Clear Sky lower the bridge leading to Limansk.
- Mercenary in Limansk - one of the mercenaries operating in Limansk. Killed by the Monolithians after an encounter with Scar.
- Vulture - a second-in-command on the mission to find the X8 lab.
- Jackal - a commander in the operation to find the X8 lab. Can be killed in a meeting with the client's man during the operation.
- Serbin - the client's man. Went to meet with Jackal to give him the coordinates of the X8 lab.
- Barchuk - Serbin's assistant, killed by the Monolith.
- Hatchet - the commander of a mercenary squad in Zaton. They have settled in the Substation Workshop. Hatchet's group is one of the groups of mercenaries sent to Pripyat to search for the X8 laboratory.
- Hook - a commander of one of the mercenary squads sent to Pripyat to search for the X8 laboratory. He and his group were stationed at the Waste Processing Station.
- Ridge - Hook's deputy.
- Black - the commander of one of the squads involved in the operation to find X8. He and his squad were hired by the scientists to guard their Mobile Lab.
Appearances[]
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
The mercenaries only respawn by the Army Warehouses, Pripyat, and the Wild Territory. In the latter, they're allied with the Bandits due to a large payoff on the Bandits' part (according to the Barkeep), and the prospect of mutual benefit from the two factions hunting any Ecologists and Loners that travel the Wild Territory.
Mercs are involved in several missions, the main one being protecting and escorting professor Kruglov and his group of ecologists from a mercenary team led by Wolfhound. On the first trip there, several mercs will attack the player from the first building and the tower. The player will then have to fight Wolfhound and his guards near the crash site, and protect Kruglov from other attackers on the way to Yantar. After this mission, Mercs commonly spawn by the construction site along with Bandits.
Another quest, Deal with the snitch, given by Lukash, requires the Marked One to eliminate a mercenary named Ara, who was obtaining information on the Freedom faction by a snitch named Pavlik. A quest given by Voronin, Find the enhanced rifle, requires the player to steal a Sniper TRs-301 from a Mercenary camp in the Army Warehouses. Mercs respawn by their north-western camp, and commonly explore the area, usually to fight Loners in the area, or the Freedom guards/Monolith fighters at the Barrier. They also spawn at the entrance of Pripyat, although they hardly make any progress since they'll usually be gunned down by nearby Loners, or the Monolith fighters that appear at the windows.
They make a minor appearance at the Cordon, where a quest given by Fanatic requires the elimination of a mercs team that wanted to seize the Rookie Village.
Afterwards, several repeatable quests given by either Barkeep or Voronin requires the elimination of mercs at the Army Warehouses or the Wild Territory.
Clear Sky[]
Shit man, what a screw up! What a rotten son of a bitch that Commandant. All that horse-shit he have us about the outpost was out of ammo. Those Freedom bastards wounded two of our boys!
Enough yapping! Let's cover our tracks and get out of here!
― Mercenaries radio conversation
The player takes the role of a Mercenary, as Scar. Scar was employed by a group of Ecologists to lead them through the swamps. It is unclear exactly what they were searching for or why, but everyone except Scar died in an emission. Scar passed out and was rescued by the Clear Sky faction in the Swamps.
In Clear Sky, the Mercs are typically viewed as a neutral faction that typically busies itself with independent missions into the deeper parts of the Zone, usually in search of rare artifacts. It is suggested that the Mercs' primary employer are the Ecologists, who either lack the proper military support or the proper gear for larger missions.
Mercs are first seen in the Dark Valley, during the rumors and raids on Freedom outposts in the Dark Valley. Lingov is giving the information to Mercs about Freedom's outposts in order to remove them from the Dark Valley passage. Lingov's betrayal is discovered once Scar finds out the recording of a PDA conversation about Mercenaries and Lingov's cooperation.
The player has only one opportunity to fight Mercenaries in Clear Sky, while assisting the Freedom faction. These Mercs are always hostile to Scar; whereas Scar can converse, trade, and even befriend the other Mercs in the game. The Mercenary Armor is surprisingly effective, and unlike Shadow of Chernobyl, Mercenaries do not carry Warsaw Pact weaponry.
Mercs appear more frequently as the story progresses. Hog's group appear in the Army Warehouses, and provides a quest that requires to rescue Leshiy and his group from a Space Anomaly. Leshiy later helps Clear Sky by securing the bridge to Limansk. A final merc appears in Limansk, having survived a crossfire between heavily-armed Monolith fighters and Bandits experts, and warns Scar about a RP-74-wielding Bandit in the nearby building.
Call of Pripyat[]
The Mercenaries take a more complacent, and less hostile role in the game. Only three squads of Mercenaries are active in the Zone, with two holding outposts blocking the way to Yanov, while the third has taken over for Duty in protecting the Ecologist laboratory. Owl pays handsomely for any information the player can gather on the squads, though eventually, the player will end up killing off all three on their own.
According to PDAs found throughout the storyline, the mercenaries seen in Call of Pripyat are under the leadership of Jackal, sent to recover documents about the secret research that was made in the Zone before the 2006 incident inside Lab X-8. The player can find out they work with a group of (possibly corrupt) Ecologists, who supply them with X-Lab keycards and other valuable information. The leader of this rogue Ecologist group, Serbin, is the target of an optional assassination mission, along with his counterpart Jackal. They also attempt their own raid on the X-8, but it appears to be unsuccessful - Serbin's second in-command Barchuk dies trying to restart the generator, and the only remaining keycard to Lab X-8 was recovered by the protagonist, Major Alexander Degtyarev. Multiple squads were sent close to Pripyat, waiting for someone to uncover a way to Pripyat, where the X8 lab is located. A first squad, led by Ridge and Hook, occupied the waste processing plant in Zaton. Another squad led by Hatchet occupied the Zaton Substation Workshop, but abandoned their mission. Another one, led by Black, was guarding the Mobile Lab in Yanov, but went rogue when Degtyarev was sent by Hermann to find documents in the Jupiter factory and was wiped out in the process. There is also another standalone group wiped out by the player and Yar. Ultimately, when Garry found a way to the abandoned city, they threatened him in guiding them there. The mission One Shot requires the elimination of both Jackal and Serbin.
As a result, these better funded Mercenaries pose a severe threat to a new player - there are several Merc experts that wear Exoskeletons (although this can be seen in the previous games as well), and nearly all of them employ scoped and silenced assault rifles, alongside the powerful Eliminator shotgun or even FT-200M and GP37 assault rifles at times. They can be found with Soviet weaponry more often than in Shadow of Chernobyl. However, once disposed of, the Mercenaries never return in Zaton or Yanov (unless Morgan has sent Mercenaries to kill the player, in which case squads of these Mercenaries will either stay in a random area and attack the player on sight, or act like a stalker squad and wander around until they find the player in Yanov) giving the player freedom to explore the areas they defend. During free play, Mercs spawn in Pripyat in larger numbers, commonly equipping the Exoskeleton and high-tier weaponry. They usually spawn by the Yubileiny Service Center and the School, though they also explore the city in groups like regular stalkers, and can be commonly found near the River Port where they will engage the Monolithians protecting the area.
It is never established who they work for, though it is suggested it is another faction interested not in artifacts, but rather the information developed inside the Zone, X Labs, and by the C-Consciousness.
The only Merc group that is not hostile is Hatchet's group, who reside in a substation in Zaton. They seem to be idle because of their lack of food supplies, and they request to the player that they need a half-dozen pack of foods. They generally will not attack unless the player provokes them by drawing their weapon near the entrance and/or trespassing the area without doing their quest. After Black's team leaves, the player can recruit them to guard the scientist's bunker in Yanov.
Rankings[]
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
Trained Mercenary[]
Trained Mercenaries are the most common members of the Merc faction. These Mercs are experienced soldiers equipped with decent armor and mid-grade TRs 301 assault rifles. They are noticeably tougher than Bandits, and slightly tougher than standard Sunrise Suit-wearing Stalkers, being roughly on par with basic Military soldiers in terms of ballistic protection. However, they are not quite as strong as Veteran members of Duty, Freedom, or the Military Spetsnaz Special Forces. Mercs can survive about 7 to 8 shots from their own TRs 301 assault rifles, or about a dozen shots from an AK-class assault rifle.
Old Hand Mercenary[]
- Rank: Veteran
- Armor: Merc Suit
- Weapons: SGi 5k assault rifle, TRs 301 assault rifle (scoped)
Veteran Old Hand Mercenaries are similar to Trained Mercenaries. They have slightly better combat skills, and are typically equipped with slightly more powerful Sig Sauer 550 assault rifles. In the Wild Territory, several Old Hand Mercenaries, equipped with scoped LR 300 assault rifles, serve as snipers on the rooftops of a few of the area's buildings.
Tough Mercenary[]
- Rank: Expert
- Armor: SEVA Suit
- Weapons: SGI-5k assault rifle
The highest ranking members of the Mercenary faction, Tough Mercenaries can be distinguished by the fact they wear SEVA Suits instead of Merc Suits. Their superior SEVA Suits give them better protection, allowing them to survive about twice as much damage as standard Mercs. Tough Mercenaries are fairly uncommon; a group of Trained or Old Hand Mercs may have a Tough Merc leading it into combat.
Tough Mercenary (Exoskeleton)[]
- Rank: Expert
- Armor: Exoskeleton
- Weapons: SGI-5k assault rifle
In extremely rare cases, a Tough Mercenary may be seen equipped with a power armor Exosuit instead of a SEVA Suit. Like any Exosuit-wearing soldier, they rank as some of the toughest Stalkers in the game. They usually appear in Pripyat, though they can rarely appear in Wild Territory.
Clear Sky[]
Experienced[]
The hostile mercenaries encountered in the Dark Valley are of Experienced rank and equipped with the standard merc loadout of a TRs 301 assault rifle and a Merc Suit. Their TRs 301s are often equipped with either silencers or SUSAT scopes. They use both RGD-5 grenades and F1 grenades, and primarily carry the Martha 9mm pistol as a sidearm, with the occasional .45 UDP Compact or SIP-t M200, which seem particularly favored by the mercs at their main outpost at the abandoned factory. Their durability is on par with other standard Stalkers, though their TRs 301 assault rifles give them better offensive capabilities compared to the Renegades and Bandits.
Veteran[]
Hog and Leshiy's squad of Veteran mercenaries are better trained and equipped than the Dark Valley mercenaries, primarily wielding SGI-5k assault rifles (though a couple of Leshiy's squad carry TRs 301 rifles). They also carry armor-piercing ammo, which they will begin to load if a firefight goes on for long enough. They carry either the SIP-t M200 or the UDP Compact as a sidearm. These mercs are neutral towards the player, with Leshiy's squad assisting Clear Sky in taking control of the bridge to Limansk as repayment for Scar's assistance in helping them escape from the subspace anomaly.
Call of Pripyat[]
Rookie[]
Semi-common in Pripyat, they use weak weaponry and usually do not last long on their own, as they will be usually quickly dispatched when attacked by mutants or Monolith fighters. They all wear Mercenary suits.
Experienced[]
- Armor: Mercenary suit
- Weapons: AKM-74/2, Scoped/suppressed TRs 301, IL 86
The most common type of mercenaries. Identical in appearance to rookies, they mostly differ in gear, as they can be seen wielding now the IL 86, and in some cases TRs-301 assault rifles with attached SUSAT scope and/or silencer.
Veteran[]
- Armor: Mercenary suit, exoskeleton
- Weapons: GP37, Eliminator, SGI-5k
Semi-common, Veterans can be seen wearing now the faction exoskeleton, and are now seen with high-end weaponry, usually packing powerful GP37 assault rifles or the Eliminator shotgun.
Expert[]
- Armor: Exoskeleton
- Weapons: GP37, FT-200M, Eliminator
This dangerous and uncommon type of mercs use exclusively the faction Exoskeleton, and use the same gear as Veterans, with the addition of the rare FT-200M assault rifle. They are very tough opponents and can survive mutants/Monolith attacks almost unscathed.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
General[]
- Their suits and equipment resemble of the British Special Forces' SAS.
- Only in Shadow of Chernobyl they use camouflage, in the other games they are dressed simply in blue suits with gray body armor.
- The faction has a regular spawn point only in Shadow of Chernobyl, when in Clear Sky it does not exist at all, and in Call of Pripyat new fighters appear rarely, in Pripyat (under defined conditions).
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
- Members of this faction don't appear in the 20 Best Stalkers often.
- Just like Monolithians, they have no lines when retreating.
- Mercs rarely walk around in gas masks, most of them wear balaclavas.
- Mercenaries rarely appear in exoskeletons or SEVA suits in Wild Territory and Army Warehouses locations.
- They can appear in Rostok (near the Wild Territory and Army Warehouses entrances), killing them will cause alarm and aggression from all (except the Barkeep and a few visitors in the 100 Rads bar itself) inhabitants of Rostok.
Clear Sky[]
- Mercenaries have the lowest possible relationship towards Scar (-5000) if he is labeled as "Mercenary". Joining one of the factions reduces hostility by a factor of five. At the beginning of the game, when Scar is fighting for Clear Sky, mercenaries are neutral to him.
- There are loners with the nickname "Mercenary".
Call of Pripyat[]
- In one of the endings, it is reported that the helicopter pilot Sokolov was shot down by mercenaries over Limansk. This means that the city is under their control (at least partially).
References[]
- ↑
<...> We agreed to locate a very rare and incredibly valuable artifact for one large corporation. I won't tell you which because of a non-disclosure clause. We found what we were looking for. How we did it is another story, but no amount of money will ever make me accept a job like that again. I value my life more than these watermarked pieces of paper. <...>
― Leshiy, Clear Sky
- ↑
I wish I knew something old about it. We're mercenaries, buddy. We go into the Zone to complete a specific mission, and rely on careful planning and outstanding preparation to achieve our objectives.
― Random dialogues in Army Warehouses, Clear Sky - ↑
<...> We're mercenaries and we got a code - without it we're nothing. A contract must be executed. Period. If we screw up a job that's our reputation down the toilet, and no serious client will ever give us work again! That'd leave us wandering the Zone as stalkers again.
― Random dialogues in Army Warehouses, Clear Sky - ↑
There's a gang of Mercs not far away, in Rostok. They hit it off with the bandits, so now they're scheming to block the passage through the plant. <..>
― Excerpt from the description of task of Barkeep, Shadow of Chernobyl - ↑
We positively cannot get into a conflict with the military. Sorry, merc, no can do this time. <...>
― Excerpt of the dialogue with Hog, Clear Sky - ↑
<...> "My man at the research institute will recommend that you lead the expedition. He will have to hire your boys to guard the bunker. That will make things easier for you. Remember, the client doesn't want ANY information about the operation of X-designated objects to reach the scientists. If it does, we will not be able to leave the Zone. Don't let me down, Black."
― Excerpt of Black's PDA, Call of Pripyat - ↑
This PDA contains details of Morgan's clients, as well as the coordinates of Duty's secret warehouse from which he took weapons. Morgan then sold the weapons to mercenaries and also established contact with someone called Sultan. <...>
― Excerpt of Morgan's PDA, Call of Pripyat
- ↑ Excluding Hog's group
- ↑ Black's PDA, Mercenary's PDA
External links[]
- Mercenaries entry at the Shadow of Chernobyl official site
- Mercenaries entry at the Clear Sky official site
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