Factions explained feature

This article is quite importat to understand each faction lore-wise and their ingame effects.

"One of the first factions established in the Zone, Clear Sky was dedicated to researching the Zone
and learning its inner workings, much like the Ecologists faction. However, unlike the Ecologists they are more then willing to resort to violence to get their way, and are as fiercely protective of the Zone as Duty, or even Monolith." - from STALKER wiki

After Lebedev died, or went missing, in the expedition to the Zone's centre, Beanpoleov took control of Clear Sky.

Goals:
A secret NATO mission that tries to put a western monopoly on the zone, or at least keep the east from getting all the splendor. Researching Zone's anomalies and artifacts could bounce technology by hundreds of years, giving the western countries the ability to tip the balance in world domination.

Features:
Clear Sky is the only faction that had some success in putting the results from artifact researching into
practical use, thus giving them the ability to manufacture better suits then other factions.
Since they cannot maintain a formal link to NATO they use whatever weapons they can obtain within the cuntry. Clear Sky's expedition to Chernobyl NPP turned out to be a disaster. The faction lost contact with alomst all of their leaving only a handful of people with low morale.

Ingame:

• Best suits.
• Clear Sky's squads have less members then other factions because they lost most of their men in the expedition to the Zone's centre.

A faction formed by Loners who fear that other factions might turn on them once the balance of power in the Zone is lost. Lead by Father Valarian as he proved himself a capable leader before the "Third Great Emission" uniting the Loners against the Bandits. Defiance members wear yellow armbands to destinguish themselves from neutral stalkers and mark their membership.

Goals:
Members of Defiance were originally neutral to whoever did not shoot at them but after the "Third Great Emission" they realized what will happen if someone else gets his hands on the whole Zone. It will be either joining him or getting kicked out. With this opinion spreading, a group of Loners decided to take radical steps and attack first.

Features:
Since Defiance has no external funding they don't have the facilities needed to produce new suits or conduct any fruitful research as their equipment is mostly made from scavanged parts. However this caused them to adopt a flair for trade and customization. Defiance members can make a tank out of two sticks and a soda can.

Ingame:

• Weaker suits.
• Can upgrade any weapon.
• Can upgrade military suits.
• Have better prices while dealing with non-faction traders and other Loners.

"Duty is a paramilitary clan of stalkers operating in the Zone, with members living according to a code.
Their mission is victory over Chernobyl through sheer brute force. They achieve this by raiding mutant lairs, killing mutants and collecting artifacts for scientists. They do not trade artifacts with the outside,
passing them to scientists for research. Only Duty representatives refuse to trade unique items from the Zone with the outside world." - from STALKER wiki.

Goals:
Duty aims at cutting the Zone off from the rest of the world completly. They see it as a threat to humanity
if temepred with. Whoever thinks otherwise is to be shot on sight, even if it is an old friend from the days
back in the military.

Features:
Beeing ex-military has its good sides. You get to keep your friends there. Some Duty "soldiers" still have
many contats within the Ukrainian Military who provide the faction with with equipment. Decomissioned rifles and suits always come in handy when in the Zone.

Ingame

• Duty trader buys monster parts at higher prices from other Duty members.
• Can only sell artifacts to their traders or scientists.

"A faction of anarchists and daredevils who declare themselves to be fighting for free access to the Zone,
and consequently find themselves in constant conflict with army units, military stalkers, and Duty. They believe that information about the Zone must not be hidden from humanity, and challenge the state's monopoly over the Zone's secrets and wonders." - from STALKER wiki

Goals:
Their goal is simple: everything for everyone. If you enjoy a camp fire with a mutant then sign up!

Features:
Freedom is beeing more naive then then anyone would think. Or maybe they are just playing it right... NATO sees Freedom as a failsafe in case Clear Sky would fail. It's better if a group of liberal anarchists held the Zone then let fanatics destroy it or even worse, get it locked down by eastern countries. In order to prevent such a situation NATO secretly supplies Freedom with weapons using unofficial contats. Whether Freedom knows where their weapons are coming from is unknown.

Ingame

• Their reinforcements arrive slightly faster on levels without a base.

"Bandits are members of the criminal underworld who came to the Zone for different reasons; to make money by selling artifacts, hide from the law or trade in weapons." - from STALKER wiki

Goals:
Bandits seek to control the whole Zone for profit. Simple as that.

Features:
After Borov took the mentale of the leader after Yoga he managed to actually unite some of the smaller gangs into one quite powerful bandit clan. His ambition has made others regard bandits as a formidable foe rather then just a nuisance. They usually trade with the military thus most of their equipment can resemble this used by the army.

Ingame:

• Weaker weapons.
• Can extort money and special items from loners.
• Cannot enter the Artifact Traders base (Depot).
• Bandit squads have always 4-5 members. A bit better than other factions.

Private soldiers of different sort, ex-military, assassins, unemplyed special agents... All seeking
work that pays much and requires getting hands dirty.

Goals:
Originally came to the Zone as private protection for the local scientists, but that might change...

Features:
Mercenaries are well trained in tactics, but since the Zone is far from a normal battlefield, mercs don't have the knowledge required to adjust their equipment to local conditions. They arrived under Wolfhound's command only with 3 squads and issued standard equipment by their employer. They have no real name or reputation in the Zone nor are they organized as a faction, but Zone's lucrative secrets can make anybody willing to hang around a bit longer...

Ingame:

• Weaker suits.
• Don't have a trader until they establish a base of their own.
• Start with HK machine gun and some ammo instead of money.
• Better weapons.

Nomads, scavangers, outcasts... Loners are opportunists and each one of them probably has a different
reason for beeing in the Zone. They trade whatever they can find with their outside contacts or with other stalkers. Usually friendly and helpful when money comes into play.

Goals:
Survive and make a living in the harsh Zone.

Features:
They travel mostly alone or in very small groups. Loners resort to violence only as a last resort.

Disclaimer: I copy-pasted everything from their original post because I believe that is what TFW team would have wanted.