Stuck at Answers Come at A Price (Ward Path) - Missing Colonel Korshunov + Locked doors at Chem Plant

[Simpowitch]

Stuck at Chemical Plant, need help. Reddit, google and youtube has (kind of) failed me

Location:
Chemical Plants

Quest:
Answers Come at A Price (Ward Path)

SPOILER WARNING at "early game" content (14 hours in)


Main story choices
-Asked Zotov about Solder (Ward Path)
-Killed Squint
-Killed Solder

After this:
Exited the lesser zone to the west into the Chemical Plant and towards the Ward
Spoke with guard at the southern gate to the plant.
Completed sidequest with artifact (chemical tanks location) with guy at Chemical Plant gate.
Completed sidequest to kill mutants with wardens standing in ruined building east of Chemical Plant
Walked to the outpost to the north east of the chemical plant near the garbage region to find Colonel Korshunov (daytime)

BUG 1:
The colonel is not there!

Tries to resolve:
Reloading earlier save in the same region but far away from the outpost (arrived at daytime) - NOT FIXED
Used the guide to fast-travel to the lesser zone and then back again to the chemical plant region (arrived at daytime) - NOT FIXED
Tried a further back save in the lesser zone and sprinted towards the southern gate and then sprinted to the outpost (arrived at nighttime) - FIXED IT
Reloaded the same save as in step 3 but re-did all the sidequests as per earlier description since I wanted to do them to get gear and stuff (arrived at daytime) - NOT FIXED

I decided to find an alternative way and found out that if you skip that dialog and head down for the bandits you are supposed to take care of in the garbage depot you will still be able to finish the quest (as some redditer suggested).

Did the garbage thingy and got the PDA from Chornozem's body. Got a dialog with Korshunov over the radio and then the quest updated and said to speak with Colonel Korshunov, but now his location is at the Chemical Plant.

BUG 2:
Okey this is tricky, either
A. the quest should have ended already as per IGN walkthrough (https://www.ign.com/wikis/stalker-2/Answers_Come_at_a_Price_Walkthrough#Meet_with_Col._Korshunov_at_Chemical_Plant_.28Ward_Path.29) which it didnt for me, it points me to go and speak with Korshunov at the Chemical Plant.
B. something is really messed up at the Chemical Plant.

At the chemical plant i can enter through any gate except the southern where a guy is standing in the way of the gate opening. (looks like by design). I can enter without problem and walk around, BUT if I move close to the helicopter in the north eastern side, or even is spotted by some specific few guards, they will open fire on me. If I return the fire the whole base attacks me.

I cannot talk to the Colonel since he is inside the main building near said helicopter which has 2 doors that both are locked.

NO IDEAS FOR SOLUTION FOUND (applicable to my case)...

Idea:
The last radio message (the one after looted the body at the Garbage Depot) said: "Come to the outpost stalker: we need to talk". Maybe this part of the quest has the marker on the Colonel's actual correct position (hence why he is missing in bug 1 for me, he actually is inside the Chemical Plant maybe?) But maybe he is never supposed to be in the base since the radio message said: come to the outpost. If so: maybe in the previous mission checkpoint the quest marker (the outpost) is on a fixed spot rather than his actual position.

Help plz? <3 much love if you got this far and read all of this.

[LouminousBat]

Buddy I’m exactly where you are and the exact same situation and I have no clue what to do. Have you found a fix yet?

[devil_505]

If you went to the depot on your own and the colonel does not spawn after that you are in trouble.

Use UE tools and noclip to his position. Stay out of sight of the guards that shoot you. Best go at night and sneak.

Some wisea*s suggested to disable the AI with UEtools so the NPCs leave you alone, but he never bothered to state what command exactly does that...

[LouminousBat]

I fixed it. I played the game for a couple hours doing side quests and exploring. I killed the bandits then instead of chemical plant, it was to go to slag heap to do Diode's quest line and everything was fine from there. Scar was bugged before Wizard Island though

[Smaddeus]

I have slightly different problem. Colonel is there, but when I pick the optional quest of talking with the captured bandit, the quest fails right after I took the optional/side sub-quest to talk with the bandit to be able to talk with Chornozem.

At first I thought the captured bandit was supposed to be in the building in the outpost, but after the walkthroughs I found out that the locked cabin next to the anomalies near junkyard next to the outpost below, and there's some sort of dead body of bandit next to it.

I wonder if there are commands that can respawn the dude or reset his location, as that's probably the reason for it.

[LouminousBat]

Possible but i just got passed SIRCAA on this play through and everything now seems fine. but UETools comes in help for those issues tho.