“The Poppy Field” is an early side quest you’ll pick up in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. You’ll get it from a man named Mityay in the first town you reach, Zalissya, and he’ll ask you to find an Orthodox icon that once belonged to his family.
In this STALKER 2 guide, we’ll give you a full walkthrough of “The Poppy Field,” including where to find the Orthodox icon, where to find the root cellar, and whether you should give the icon to Pomor or Mitay.
Where to find the Orthodox icon in ‘The Poppy Field’
Image: GSC Game World via Polygon
The Orthodox icon is in a root cellar in The Poppy Field, which is an anomaly northwest of the first major town in the Lesser Zone, Zalissya. Carefully make your way to the marker on your map, being sure that you don’t accidentally trail some monsters behind you to the field.
Once you arrive, you’ll be contacted by a man named Pomor, who will offer to sell you information about how to reach the root cellar. He wants money up front or for you to do a quick job for him, which involves running around The Poppy Field and looting bodies. Ignore him for now, but we’ll potentially be coming back to him shortly.
Where to find the root cellar in ‘The Poppy Field’
As you walk into The Poppy Field, your character will start blinking excessively, heavily blurring the screen. Eventually, you’ll lose control completely, pass out, and wake up somewhere else, like in the barn or on the roof. If this happens too many times in a row, you’ll die.
In order to stay awake, you need to chug a Non-Stop Energy Drink. This will temporarily stop you from passing out, but you’ll need more than one to give you enough time to reach the cellar. There are two Non-Stop Energy Drinks in each of the main buildings in The Poppy Field.
Looking at the map, you want to make your way to the west side of the field, just to the east of the left-most green patch. Look at where the yellow circle is on the map above, if you’re having trouble. Here you’ll find the entrance to the root cellar just sitting in the grass and flowers (seen in the image above).
Drop down the hole and you’ll be safe from the poppies. Walk forward and pick up the Orthodox icon, which is the picture of a religious figure sitting on the shelf.
Should you give the Orthodox icon to Pomor or Mitay?
Image: GSC Game World via Polygon
You have two choices on who to give the Orthodox icon to in STALKER 2: Mityay or Pomor.
- If you give Pomor the Orthodox icon, he’ll hand over the Unknown Stalker’s AR416 (seen in the image above). This is a pretty decent rifle, with a high rate of fire, decent range, and good accuracy. However, he’ll give it to you at 10% durability, meaning it’s essentially useless until you devote a lot of resources to repairing it.
- If you give Mitay the Orthodox icon, back in Zalissya, he’ll give you 1,000 Coupons (money).
The choice is ultimately up to you. Neither option is so tempting that you’re going to hurt yourself in the long run if you make the “wrong” choice. However, Pomor’s gun is essentially junk until you invest a lot of money into it. And while 1,000 Coupons isn’t much, it’s something tangible and useful early on in the game, so we’d recommend giving the icon to Mityay (who is also much nicer to you, if that’s any consideration).