Scavland Quests and Contracts

Scavland’s quest system is how the game teaches its world, moves its story, and pays for your kit. The journal on J holds contracts, main quests, and side quests. This page is how to read the journal, understand the job types, plan around distance, and turn work in before you shop.

The journal system

The journal is your quest log, your contract board, and your story tracker in one interface. The how to play page covers the interface. This page covers the content.

Open the journal before every departure. Note which jobs are nearby, which are distant, and which are in dangerous territory. A job marker on the far side of the map pays more. It also costs more to reach.

Types of jobs

Scavland’s jobs break into three categories:

Main quests — story objectives that advance Act I. They are the spine of the game. The roadmap plans two more acts. Main quests will grow with them.

Side quests — independent story threads that expand Zalesye, faction relationships, and character knowledge. They are worth reading even if you are only in it for the loot.

Contracts — repeatable jobs from factions and NPCs. Hunt a squad, retrieve an object, report a situation. Contracts pay for the kit. They are the loop that funds the long game.

Contract types and what they want

Creators and field notes confirm several contract patterns:

Hunt contracts — kill a target or clear a squad. Combat-heavy. Use stealth to isolate targets, or combat to clear the group. These are not stealth missions by default.

Retrieval contracts — find and return a specific object. The object may be in a bunker, a building, or a distant zone. These often require scavenging habits and careful route planning.

Report contracts — deliver information or an NPC’s message to another character. Travel jobs with no combat. Often related to faction relationships.

Fetch contracts — collect items from the environment. These overlap with normal scavenging; accept them when the target is on your planned route.

Distance and the pay curve

Distance on a contract raises the pay. It also raises the cost in resources, time, and risk. The map page covers why far markers are a tax. The practical version:

• Take nearby jobs first while you learn the area
• Accept distant jobs when you are already going that direction
• Do not walk across the map for a contract that pays for half a trip

The survival page covers why planning the return is part of the mission budget.

Faction contracts and standing

Contracts come from NPCs and factions. The ten confirmed factions in Zalesye are: Rada, Commonfolk, Acolytes, Mechanists, Palatines, Gunners, Strelki, Mutniki, and others. Each faction offers different contract types and rewards.

Faction standing affects contract availability. Higher rank can mean better-paying contracts, access to restricted areas, and more information. The reputation page covers the rank system.

Turn in before you shop

The traders page has a rule that applies to contracts: turn in before you shop. If you complete a contract and then buy supplies with the intention of going back out, the vendor money is spent before you have confirmed the delivery. Some contracts are lost if you die before turning in.

The correct order:

1. Complete the contract objective
2. Return to the quest giver
3. Turn in the contract
4. Assess remaining resources
5. Buy what you need for the next run

Quests and the demo

The 2025 demo had named NPCs, jobs, and story beats that appeared in public footage. Names like Mika 47, Arcadia, Dazbog Hollow, and Mudlark routes were in that demo. The Early Access build is larger. Quest names, numbers, and content will differ from demo recordings. Do not treat a 2025 YouTube walkthrough as a quest guide for the September 2026 build.

After Act I

The roadmap plans Act II and Act III with new regions, quests, and story content. Current quests are Act I only. When later acts release, this page will expand with the new content and update notes will appear in the updates hub.