For the location in Heart of Chornobyl, see Yantar (Heart of Chornobyl).

The legendary lake in the sector of the same name dried up a long ago, leaving a shallow swamp in its place. The place is morbid and sodden with death. Great dangers await any adventurous soul foolish enough to get near it. Anyone who dares to go too far goes insane. Zombie drones are rambling around the whole sector, waiting for new victims. If you walk around the lake and past the zombies, you'll end up at the scientists' camp, where the eggheads brought there by choppers are doing some research. You can have a chat with them; they buy artifacts and could even send you on a mission.

Encyclopedia

Yantar (lit. "Amber") is a location featured 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. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

Overview

Yantar is situated in the remains of a lake that dried up a long time ago. The area is dominated by the Production complex and the remains of the lake to the south. Yantar is home to numerous Zombified Stalkers.

History

Yantar wasn't always a swampy, desolate place. A long time ago it was a large lake, however, its fate was sealed when it was chosen as the perfect location for a factory. The construction crew caused an accident underground and the water drained from the lake, leaving a stinking swamp in its wake.^[1]

It is not known when the X-16 lab was constructed underneath the factory and it's entirely possible that the factory itself was meant as an elaborate cover for the secret laboratory. What is known is that after breakthroughs in Lab X-18, a prototype Kaymanov emitter was set up in the lab, powered by a massive artificially grown brain, with the antenna hidden inside one of the factory buildings.

After the Zone was born in 2006, the complex fell into disrepair and was abandoned, but the emitter was still active. This has proven disastrous, as many stalkers, lured by the prospect of scavenging an intact factory, fell prey to the emitter's disastrous influence and turned into zombified stalkers, almost feral creatures extremely aggressive towards anyone not zombified.

Sometime after the Zone's appearance, the Yantar area was chosen as a prime location for the mobile science lab ran by Professor Sakharov and his Ecologists. Their bunker was air-dropped into the swamp under heavy protection of the Ukrainian military and they began studying the Zone and its inhabitants.

The area proved to be a good choice, due to its relative calmness and remote location (the zombie infestation notwithstanding). However, the emitter's cooling systems malfunctioned in September 2011, increasing the output of the device and threatening the entire Yantar sector with its emissions. For this reason, Sakharov hired Lefty and his team to repair the cooling systems and make Yantar safe again (with major assistance from Scar).

Sometime between 2011 and 2012, the area became a war zone again. Apart from zombified stalkers infesting the area, the Monolith conducted a major operation in the area (which possibly included a BTR-70 ^[2]) and invaded the X-16 laboratory to reactivate the emitter to full power. The squad never made it out of the lab, but they did achieve their objective. Subsequently, a Spetsnaz unit conducted an operation in the factory and suffered major casualties – one fatality and three wounded.^[3]

Layout

The area is roughly divided into three parts – the massive Production complex in the north-west, the swamp with the mobile science lab in the south-west and a road leading from the Wild Territory to the factory running along the eastern end of the map.

Production complex

Main article: Production complex

Lab X-16

Main article: Lab X-16

The X16 facility is located in a building complex to the north-west of the area. The whole area is filled with zombies and snorks making it very dangerous. Later, after the psi-emission is disabled, even a Controller may appear there. The unique Healing Beril outfit can be found on a dead soldier in the complex. Entering the facility without obtaining the Psi-Helmet from the scientists first is highly discouraged, because the screen gets VERY bright, the player harms himself and the attacking zombies will kill the player in this condition without effort.

Mobile science lab

Main article: Mobile Lab

The bunker is protected by an airlock where the player automatically hides his gun. The player can only see a small part of the bunker – the office of Professor Sakharov, a single room with beds and a hall with Professor Kruglov. Professor Sakharov sells a quite wide range of useful equipment in Yantar, including shotguns, AC-96/2s and SSP-99M Suits (after disabling the psi-emissions, patched game). He also gives the player numerous missions which usually require him to bring Sakharov a specific artifact or a part of a mutant. After the player turns off the psi-emission, Duty stalkers start to cross the Wild Territory to defend the entrance against zombies.

The swamp

The swamp is usually inhabited by about 4-5 snorks and a few zombies. In Shadow of Chernobyl, several secret stashes are here, including a very rare Battery artifact (fire resistant version). In Clear Sky, an artifact spawns here. The artifact spawn may change, the player may either get a Kolobok or a Bubble.

Stalker camp

After the emissions are turned off, stalkers start to move through Wild Territory to a lowered place east of X-16. There are usually 6-10 stalkers there, including Sparrow – the target of an assassination mission given by Barkeep. The AI somehow makes the stalkers attack all the zombies they see. This action is triggered by the player luring the zombies or the stalkers to attack each other. This may end up in a massacre. The stalker camp has a car and a bus inside.

Appearances

Shadow of Chernobyl

Yantar plays a major role in the story, as it is the location of Lab X-16 which the Marked One must enter in order to find more documents about the Brain Scorcher. Shortly before the Marked One's arrival in Yantar, Ghost was hired by the Ecologists to infiltrate the X-16 lab with Professor Vasiliev. However, due to a controller, they were separated and killed – Ghost by the mutant, Vasiliev by the zombies in the swamp.

After helping either Kruglov or Semenov take measurements in the vicinity of the lab, Sakharov provides the Marked One with a powerful Psi-helmet which enables him to enter the lab without suffering from the intense psi field around it. With the helmet in his possession, the Marked One enters the lab, shuts down the emitter and finds the X-16 documents on Ghost's body.

Initially, only Zombified Stalkers can be found here. After the emitter inside Lab X-16 is deactivated, Duty will deploy a squad to protect the mobile lab (the Warrant Officer will be frequently among them) while Loners will settle at the nearby camp. Zombies will continue to spawn at the factory, although in lower numbers.

General Voronin will instruct the player to Destroy the zombies in Yantar for him, who are situated near the crashed helicopter; this mission is given automatically once per day when the player revisits Yantar after the Lab X-16 quest.

Clear Sky

Scar travels to Yantar in search of Strelok and must help the scientist bunker situated here. After doing a few tasks, Scar is eventually sent into the Production complex with Lefty and his stalkers who are tasked with restarting the cooling pumps to the X-16 lab in order to stop the psi-emissions affecting all of Yantar. After Scar completes this task, Sakharov tells him about Strelok and Scar can travel to the Red Forest.

Heart of Chornobyl

The Yantar area, expanded and more open, can be found to the south of the Red Forest. Both the mobile lab and factory are intact, however the former seems to have been abandoned at some point in the past 9 years. Zombies can still be found in the area, though the Psi Emitter remains offline. Freedom members can be found in the area of the Factory, given it's proximity to Rostok.

Inhabitants

In Clear Sky, the Yantar area is inhabited by large bands of loners, who make it a pretty safe location (outside the zombie infested areas, such as the Yantar factory. It is noticeably more dangerous here in Shadow of Chernobyl, as due to earlier events, pretty much only the Ecologists remain in the area. However, once the player disables the X-16 lab emitter, Duty and Loners will move into the area.

The main enemies in Yantar are zombified stalkers and Snorks. In the tunnels beneath the installation to the north, one will also encounter a Pseudogiant. In the boggy area in lake Yantar is where most of the snorks live, while the zombified stalkers roam everywhere and come from the complex above X-16. The swampy areas with the Snorks is particularly dangerous due to the reduced movement speed caused by the water, the high speed of the snorks because of their ability to jump and the sheer number of them. If one plans to kill the snorks to get their feet for Sakharov, then the best plan is the snipe from the edge of the bog, then wade in to collect.

Trivia

• In Shadow of Chernobyl, after the prototype emitter is shut down, military helicopters can be seen attacking the area, but their sound never stops even after the attack ends and the helicopters seem gone. This is a glitch, but not of sound timing: the actual helicopters never leave the level and stay hovering a few meters above ground, behind the Yantar Production facility. Moreover, the player can easily break out of the map at the hills west of the Production facility and, provided they has sufficient protection from the high radiation levels in the area outside the map, they can move north to find the helicopters, see them up close and even destroy them.
• In Clear Sky, it's very easy to break out of the map boundary. This can be done once the psy-emitters cooling system has been repaired, at the location where the dead stalkers PDA was found (behind the factory). Simply run through the remaining psi field near where the stalker teams bodies are; for some reason, the developers did not set up any barriers beyond this, allowing the player to explore behind the factory (eventually appearing on the other side of the fence where the furthest loner encampment is to the north). One can even run to gate leading to Red Forest and go into loading zone, but as a result the player can be spawned in various places: at the beginning of the Red Forest, on "sniper hill" in the Red Forest (it's the place where snipers with SVDm-2s spawn and try to stop Leshiy's group from lowering the bridge to Limansk), on the northern side of the Army Warehouses (on the west side of the psi field with Electro anomalies in it) or even somewhere in the Garbage.

See also

• Walkthrough
• Helicopter glitch

References

v · d · e Locations in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series
Agroprom Shadow of Chernobyl Agroprom factory Agroprom Research Institute Agroprom swamp Agroprom Underground Clear Sky Agroprom factory Agroprom Research Institute Agroprom swamp Agroprom Underground The Peaceful Atom
Army Warehouses Shadow of Chernobyl Abandoned farmstead Army Warehouses swamp Barrier Bloodsucker village Crooked beam Fallen chopper Far farmstead Mercenary checkpoint Military base Clear Sky Abandoned farmstead Army Warehouses swamp Barrier Bloodsucker village Crooked beam Fallen chopper Far farmstead Mercenary checkpoint Military base
Bar Shadow of Chernobyl 100 Rads Arena Duty base
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Shadow of Chernobyl Monolith Control Center Sarcophagus Clear Sky Deserted hospital
Cordon Shadow of Chernobyl Bus stop Camp near van Death truck Elevator Far outpost Farmstead ruins Locomotive Military checkpoint Northern farm Railway bridge Rookie Village Secret camp Tunnel Vehicle station Clear Sky Bus stop Camp near van Elevator Far outpost Farmstead ruins Locomotive Military checkpoint Northern farm Railway bridge Rookie Village Secret camp Tunnel Vehicle station
Dark Valley Shadow of Chernobyl Factory Gas Station Lab X-18 Old factory Pig farm Southern farm Clear Sky Factory Gas Station Gulp of Freedom Old factory Pig farm Southern checkpoint Southern farm
Garbage Shadow of Chernobyl Bandit camps Depot Duty checkpoint Flea Market Grimpen Mire Vehicle graveyard Clear Sky Depot Duty checkpoint Flea Market Vehicle graveyard
the area around Jupiter Call of Pripyat Cement factory Checkpoint Container warehouse Cooling tower Eastern tunnel Helipads Jupiter plant Kopachy Northwestern tunnel Pripyat 1 underpass Scientists' bunker Southern tunnel Substation Train with Tesla Ventilation complex Oasis Volkhov AA Complex Yanov station Anomaly fields Anomalous Grove Ash Heap anomaly Bitumen anomaly Concrete Bath anomaly Jupiter warehouse Parking Lot Plavni anomaly Quarry
Limansk Clear Sky Backyard with terrace Barricade at dead end Camp on construction site Limansk antennas Hideout near bridge House on fork in road House on hill Road to fire station Yard
Pripyat Shadow of Chernobyl Bus Station Ferris Wheel Hotel Kindergarten Palace of Culture Parking Lot Stadium Call of Pripyat Apartment Complex Book Store Department Store Ferris Wheel Grocery Store Hospital Hotel Kindergarten Laboratory X8 Laundromat Old Service Center Prometheus Movie Theater River Port School Vine Volcano Yubileiny Service Center Anomaly fields Volcano Anomaly Department Store Basement Roof of Yubileiny Service Center Vine Anomaly School Anomaly Heart of Chornobyl Ferris Wheel Palace of Culture School
Radar / Scorcher Shadow of Chernobyl Brain Scorcher Scorcher technical tunnel Bus stop Black Forest Lab X-10 Northeast base Pripyat checkpoint Southern checkpoint Heart of Chornobyl Brain Scorcher Scorcher technical tunnel Scorcher checkpoint (southern)
Red Forest Barracks in mine Bloodsucker's resting place Bridge to Limansk Dark Yar Devilish encampment Symbiont Mining Complex Notorious path Witch circle
Swamps Clear Sky Boat park Burnt farmstead Clear Sky base Encampment near truck Encampment under embankment Fishing hamlet Lookout tower Machine yard Northern farmstead Old church Pump station Southern farmstead Tuzla tunnel Village ruins
Wild Territory Shadow of Chernobyl Big House Burner tunnel Construction site Crashed helicopter Electro tunnel
Yantar Shadow of Chernobyl Crashed helicopter Lowlands with artifacts Mobile Lab Production complex Lab X-16 Yantar swamp Clear Sky Lowlands with artifacts Mobile Lab Production complex Yantar swamp
Zaton Call of Pripyat Dangerous Cave Dock cranes Fuelling station Izumrudnoye Krug antenna complex Old barge Preobrazhensky bridge Ranger station Sawmill Shevchenko Skadovsk Southern plateau Substation workshops Testing Workshop Waste processing station Anomaly fields Boiler anomaly Burnt farmstead Caves under the burnt farmstead Circus anomaly Claw anomaly Dredge station Iron Forest anomaly Oakpine anomaly Scar anomaly Swamp
Cut content Shadow of Chernobyl Dead City Darkscape Old swamp Old Yantar Generators Monolith War Lab Milrad Deadmil Clear Sky Black Digger's stash Cartographer's place Pripyat underground Bridge over river Pripyat Heart of Chornobyl Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Lab X-19 Lab X-16 Lab X-12 Lab X-10 Iron Forest Northern Pripyat Lab X-8 Korohod forest