STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl – All Arch Artifact Locations

There are many artifacts and anomalies to discover in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and you are going to be spending a lot of time searching if you want to get every single odd relic in the game. In this guide, we will be showing you how to find the arch artifacts, which are a set of aptly labeled “weird” objects that have some very powerful effects.

All Arch Artifact Locations

Before you start the hunt, it should be noted that these artifacts can be found within arch anomalies. In the event that you cannot find your desired artifacts despite being in the correct place, you might need to wait for an emission to pass, then you can check the area again.

With all of that in mind, let us go through each arch artifact starting with an unusual ball that can be found in the Lesser Zone! Make sure to save your game before attempting any of these, just to be safe.

Arch Artifact #1 – The Weird Ball

This one can be found at the Bulba anomalous area within the Lesser Zone. Once you get there, you will notice a few ruined vehicles in the area, and these will be useful in ensuring your survival. Bring some healing items with you as well before you run right in.

You will see the Bulba anomaly from a distance, and as you can probably tell, it sucks in everything nearby every now and then. This will deal damage to you and eventually kill you if you get sucked right into it.

To prevent getting damaged, you must use the vehicles and rocks all around the place as cover. When it stops for a brief moment, sprint closer towards it and then find cover before it triggers again.

The Weird Ball artifact can be found right under the Bulba itself, so you will need to act fast to grab it without dying. If you start getting sucked in, just sprint away from it and then promptly heal yourself if needed.

Arch Artifact #2 – The Weird Flower

This next one can be found in the Poppy Field. It is fairly straightforward, as you just need to run in and grab it from the marked location in the map image below.

As it is in the Poppy Field, it is important to keep in mind that you will constantly need to chug energy drinks in order to stay awake. If you let yourself doze off in this anomalous location, you will die.

Make sure that you set a hotkey for your energy drinks to stay alive as you approach it. Upon grabbing the blue Weird Flower off the ground, sprint directly to the north as it is the fastest way you can get out of the field and safely inspect the flower!

Arch Artifact #3 – The Weird Pot

This one is a doozy, as you will need to traverse the Mist anomaly near the border of the Burnt Forest and Duga regions. Make your way over to that location first and then let us go through the things you need to do at this anomalous location.

Once you make it to the Mist, you will notice that the area will keep changing every time you leave and re-enter this little zone. Keep doing this until the door leading downwards that is outside the house becomes accessible.

WARNING: You may encounter a bloodsucker as you shift between different versions of this zone. Be ready to fight one when you try to go for this artifact!

Go down the door and pick up the Door Key item right beside the skeleton in the tunnel. After that, continue through the rest of the tunnel until you are led right back up into the house.

Once you have ascended from the tunnel and are inside the house, break the lock on the door to your right. Go through it and then, in this new room, open the next door to the right.

Inside, you will find an open attic that you can’t access yet. In order to get up there, you will first need to head back out and run into the mist to reach another version of the house.

When you shift to another version of the area, go straight into the house (not the tunnel from earlier) and head to the same room as before. Now, there will be a set of crates that will help you climb up into the attic.

In the attic, you will find a hole leading down to a previously inaccessible room. Inside, you will find the Weird Pot in an open furnace beside the bed. With the weird pot on hand, you can now leave the Mist zone and you are good to go for the next one!

Arch Artifact #4 – The Weird Bolt

For the Weird Bolt, you will need to travel to Yaniv and head over to the Tornado anomaly in the compound to the west of this region. Before you head in there, make sure to save first as there is a chance that you will die while trying to get it.

With a bunch of healing supplies ready (you will need these), head over to the tip of the crane at the western part of the compound by doing some parkour over a few containers.

Once you are at the tip, you now have to wait for the tornado to hit you. Top your HP up before it gets there just to ensure your survival.

When the tornado hits you, immediately walk back up to the top after getting on your feet and get ready to grab the Weird Bolt as it zips by you in the air. If you failed to grab it, feel free to reload an earlier save and try again.

NOTE: There seems to be a bug that causes this artifact to just not appear at all for some players. Reloading might help, though if you still can’t get it to show up after a few attempts, just wait for a patch to fix it.

Arch Artifact #5 – The Weird Nut

In order to get the Weird Nut, you will need to head over to the Fire Whirl anomaly at the Cooling Towers. Ironic, is it not? Make sure to have some healing supplies and maybe even thermal protection gear and artifacts to keep yourself alive.

You will need to do a bit of platforming to reach some scaffolding near the central point of the anomalous zone. There are multiple ways to reach it, so just take your pick and climb up to the higher levels.

Just look for a ladder going up and start hopping your way over to the one platform leading to the scaffolding that the Fire Whirl anomaly will periodically swirl into.

The only thing to keep in mind is that if the Fire Whirl is too close, then the platforms will be glowing red. This means that you will take damage if you step on it, so just wait for it to move further away before you proceed.

The weird nut is right on the ruined scaffolding that the arch anomaly will often be burning. You have a short time frame to pick it up, so be ready to heal and then jump down the scaffolding to get out of the danger zone.

Arch Artifact #6 – The Weird Water

Finally, the Weird Water can be found at the Wandering Lights anomaly in the region of Zaton. Go here late at night and then just wander around the area until you find the Weird Water on the ground, which supposedly spawns in random locations.

Keep your eyes glued to the ground as this can take you either two minutes or two hours depending on your luck. Some have even noted that it might be bugged as they cannot seem to find it at all.

Our advice is to not stress out too much about this one and come back later if you can’t find it within a short period of time.

Arch Artifact Effects

Before you go, below is a list that briefly explains what each of these legendary artifacts do:

• Weird Water – Rather than being a consumable, this bottle of water will instead give you a decent amount of resistance to radiation while it is equipped. It has a downside of making you act “drunk” though.
• Weird Nut – This artifact will make your wounds take longer to heal, but in exchange, bleeding will stop being a problem while it is equipped.
• Weird Bolt – Equipping the Weird Bolt will grant you a decent amount of resistance to various damage types (thermal, chemical, and even physical).
• Weird Ball – The Weird Ball is truly strange, as it makes you more resistance to bullet damage but only while you are standing still.
• Weird Flower – Sleeping while this artifact is equipped will make it so that your scent is masked upon waking up, essentially giving you a stealth boost. This effect will fizzle out after a bit of time has passed.
• Weird Pot – It supposedly prevents you from getting hungry, and trying to eat or drink while it is equipped might have some unintended side effects. As of writing this, nobody is sure as to what it does, as some have reported still getting hungry while they have the pot equipped.

And that is everything we know about the arch artifacts in the game right now. At the moment, it seems like our only “must-haves” are the Weird Ball and Weird Bolt, but feel free to leave a comment below if you have figured out some good uses for the other ones!