Should You Pick Duty or Freedom in STALKER 2: Cost of Hope? Mavka vs. Zulu, Explained

STALKER 2’s Cost of Hope expansion is here, bringing the most major evolution to the open-world survival shooter that we’ve seen since it launched in 2024. The beating heart of Cost of Hope is the bubbling war between Duty and Freedom, two of the oldest and most recognizable factions in the STALKER universe, but in this expansion, which should you side with?

As the story unravels in Cost of Hope, you’ll be presented with an opportunity to align with one or the other, forever shaping The Zone in an irrevocable way. It’s safe to assume that this sets the stage for whatever comes next, but for now, let’s look at the present and determine which faction you should side with while offering as few spoilers as possible.

Duty vs. Freedom Explained

In STALKER 2’s Cost of Hope expansion, you’ll come to learn that the entire thing revolves around two core factions: Duty and Freedom.

To put it simply, Freedom wants to use The Zone’s anomalies and ‘miracles’ to better the world beyond the wasteland, taking ethereal, impossible discoveries and using them for good (or their vision of ‘good’) all around the planet. They see The Zone as a bounty of treasures, and in their eyes, it’s not all bad, not all mutants deserve death, and not every mind-bending anomaly is a pure problem.

Duty, on the other hand, seeks to protect the outer world from the inherent danger of The Zone. They’re a militaristic organization that wants to rule The Zone with more of an iron fist, eliminating every trace of mutant from the area, eradicating every anomaly and more serious threat, and preventing any trace of The Zone from leaking into the outside world.

When the inner workings of Cost of Hope are revealed, it’s easy to see why these factions put aside a peace treaty and start biting at each other’s throats.

The embodiment of the faction-siding choice in Cost of Hope comes from an alignment with either Mavka (Freedom) or Zulu (Duty). When you’re a few hours into the story, you’ll be presented with a clear option to pick one side, but which is the best way to go?

Do You Pick Duty or Freedom in Cost of Hope?

It’s worth stressing that neither choice is ‘wrong’ in Cost of Hope, and it all depends on which side of the wire your allegiances and opinions fall. If you love The Zone and believe that the miracles it produces should be shared with the wider world, then you’ll want to align with Mavka and Freedom.

On the other hand, if you’d rather keep The Zone locked down tight and have a dire hatred for anything mutated or irradiated, you’ll want to pick Zulu and side with Duty.

I won’t spoil the ending of the expansion, but the choice you make takes a few hours to wrap up, and from there, you see the future of The Zone in black and white, clear as day. It’ll be interesting to see how GSC Game World moves forward, either making one ending canonical or allowing players’ choices to further motivate whatever comes next on an individual scale.

Can You Change Sides in Cost of Hope?

Once you’ve made your choice in Cost of Hope, fate is sealed, and destiny starts working hard to move events forward. You cannot realign your allegiances once you’ve made your choice, but you can reload an earlier save once you’ve completed the expansion and take a different path.

When you’re hunting Nord to determine what it is that’s causing all the drama in Cost of Hope and preparing an assault with Mavka and Zulu working together, that’s when you’ll want to make a hard save to revert to later.

I will say that both paths have unique missions, and it’s worth exploring both, just to see two sides of the coin.

Let me know on the Insider Gaming Discord which faction you sided with in Cost of Hope.

For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out my full review of STALKER 2’s Cost of Hope expansion, and be sure to subscribe to the Insider Gaming newsletter