15 Tips For Surviving Metro Exodus' Unforgiving Wastelands

Metro Exodus takes Artyom and company out of inhospitable Moscow subway tunnels and into the...inhospitible Russian countryside. Between the dangerous levels of radiation waiting to suck the life out of you in certain zones and the fearsome cast of mutant predators, you need to keep your gas mask at the ready and your head on a swivel. With roving gangs of cannibals, slavers, and religious fanatics thrown into the mix, Artyom has his work cut out to make it across the continent.

To help ease your burden, you can learn from our mistakes with these valuable tips for getting the most out of the game. 

Turn On The Russian Voiceover

One of Metro Exodus' biggest shortcoming is the wooden acting that robs emotional scenes of any weight. Do yourself a favor when you boot up the game and head into the options to turn on the Russian voiceover and English subtitles. Trust us, it's worth it. 

Turn Up The Difficulty For The Classic Metro Experience

Are you one of the Metro fans who enjoyed the tension that resource scarcity adds to the experience? Then I recommend turning up the difficulty. On the normal setting, we did a fair bit of scavenging in each region and almost always felt flush with ammo and resources. This should suit the run and gun crowd, but others may miss the stress attrition creates. 

Always Be Scavenging

Artyom and gang aren't exactly flush with ammo and supplies, which means you have to gather them yourself. If you see an abandoned building, broken down vehicle, or other structure on your way to the next objective, it pays to search the area for the vital resources, new weapon attachments, and gear upgrades. Don't forget to scavenge off the bodies of your fallen enemies as well.

Grab Those Glowy Shrooms

Those glowing mushrooms in dark spaces aren't just handy for illuminating your way forward, they also double as the liquid resource you can use to craft supplies. Given their abundance, staying stocked up on shrooms is a good way to make sure you are never too low on that critical resource.

Resupply On The Fly

You can't craft bullets for your main and secondary weapons while you are out on a mission, but by deploying your backpack you can still re-up on vital supplies like medkits, gas mask filters, and the bearing balls for the Tihar pneumatic air rifle. Before you head into a hot zone, make sure you are well supplied to deal with whatever may be waiting for you.

Follow This Workbench Checklist

Every time you find a safe house, you gain access to a new workbench where you can craft ammo, swap out weapons, and make the more dramatic alterations to your equipment. Each time you access a workbench, we recommend you:

1. Clean your rifles. They lose effectiveness and are prone to jamming when their condition deteriorates, so polishing them up every time you visit a workbench is a wise time investment.

2. Restock your ammo. Check which ammo types your guns use, and make sure you are flush before heading out the door. You never know when your next chance to craft ammo is going to come. 

3. Repair your gas mask. The more damage you take, the worse off your gas mask is going to be. Tab over to the equipment menu and repair the gas mask just like you would clean a weapon.

4. Install gear upgrades. While you are exploring you may come across a new flak jacket that holds more ammo, improved gasmask less prone to taking damage, a new attachment for your bracer, etc. Make sure you check to see if you have any new items to install each time you make a pit stop. 

Change Out Attachments On The Fly

The parameters of combat encounters should dictate what type of attachments you have equipped on your weapon. If you're in a wide-open space, it's smart to equip long-range scopes and long barrels to improve stability. Before moving into close-quarters spaces, swap out the 4X scope for a more accommodating red dot sight. Making tweaks like this can maximize your efficiency. 

Your Mask Is Your Friend

The second you hear crackling sounds emanating from the Geiger counter on your wrist bracer, hold down on the d-pad and equip your gas mask. This prevents you from taking unnecessary damage and lengthens Artyom's life expectancy. When you hear a beeping sound, that means you need to replace your filter on the gas mask. Tap down on the d-pad and Artyom will take care of it (provided you have a replacement to spare).

Keep Your Batteries Charged

Nothing is worse than beginning an enemy encounter in a darkened area only to have your flashlight or night vision goggles turn off due to low batteries. If you're exploring an area where you use these items extensively, make sure you occasionally hold down left on the d-pad to bring out the battery charger. 

Don't Always Shoot First

Not every group of humans you come across will treat you antagonistically. You can often sneak up and listen to their dialogue to see what they think of the outsiders who rolled into the region on the steam locomotive. This is a great way of determining whether they will be hostile upon seeing you approach. If they don't seem threatened, holstering your weapon and walking up to them may trigger some valuable dialogue that reveals new destinations on the map. 

Stealth Saves Supplies

Sure, you can go into any enemy encounter guns blazing. But the smarter course of action is often staying in the shadows and diminishing the enemy numbers with stealth takedowns. This lets you preserve ammo and medkits for when you really need them.

Sometimes Running Is Better Than Fighting

No matter how handy you are with a rifle, sometimes the odds stack up against you. When mutated spiders or humaninals start to overwhelm, it's smart to hightail it out of there. Mutants don't drop resources when they die, so killing them isn't worth it a lot of times, and if you stay for the fireworks you may find yourself with empty clips and no more medkits.

Manners Make The Man

Maybe don’t murder every faction you come across. You have a knock out option in combat and stealth for a reason, after all. Know that your actions toward each faction affect how the rest of that region sees you and interacts with you. How you act may end up determining whether a compatriot lives or dies in the long run.

Hang Around The Aurora

When you transition from a mission to a train sequence, don't rush over to the map and activate the next scenario. Take time to explore the train. The radio allows you to listen in to chatter from bands of survivors. Walking up to your compatriots often triggers longer conversations where you can get to know their personalities and motivations. These moments are vital to fleshing out the story and making you care more about your crew.

Be The Errand Boy

Artyom's compatriots sometimes lament they have lost a valuable heirloom or wish to hear the soothing strumming of a guitar again. While you're exploring the regions, keep your eye out for these things. Bring back those desired items and they will trigger some new interactions. 

For more on Metro Exodus, check out our review here.