'Metro Exodus' Weapons List and Customization Guide: Using Workbenches, Crafting Ammo and Picking the Right Attachments

There are 10 available guns in Metro Exodus but the only way to survive post-apocalyptic Russia is to innovate, so the bandit camps, pirate villages and metro mini-societies are flooded with gadgets and customizations. Each weapon in Metro Exodus can be customized in hundreds of variations, which you can access in your backpack or at workbenches.

Metro Exodus opens in a nuclear-decimated Moscow, where Spartan Ranger Artyom dreams of escaping the metro stations that protect humanity from surface radiation. Early in Metro Exodus, Artyom discovers a shocking cover-up conspiracy and flees into the Russian wilderness with his wife Anna and a squad of Spartan Rangers led by Anna's father, Colonel Miller. From aboard their hijacked train, the Aurora, Artyom and his compatriots seek out the truth about the post-apocalyptic world and look for a place to call home.

Artyom is a scavenger, so you must hunt out resources, ammunition and new weapons and customization upgrades in whatever wasteland you and he find yourselves. In Metro Exodus, you can carry three weapons a time, including one from a Special Weapons class of pneumatic firearms. It's a dusty world that's hard on mechanical things, so upkeep and customization is key to improving your killing power. There are two primary ways to customize your guns, create ammo and maintain your weapons: the backpack and the workbench.

The first is your backpack, which you'll have with you at all times. Accessing your backpack doesn't pause the game, but enemies do seem to leave you alone unless they're right on top of you. (Trying to access my backpack as a boss charged headlong at Artyom turned out to be a mistake.)

Inside the backpack, you'll find two screens. On the first, you can build Medkits, Gas Mask Filters, Steel Balls (for the Tikhar), Bolts (for the Helsing), Throwing Knives and Decoys (tin cans).

On the second screen, you'll find your equipped weapons and available customizations. Exclamation marks indicate newly discovered customization options. You can preview how each customization will affect a weapon's stats—white tic marks show where the gun will be improved, red tic marks where it will be disadvantaged by the custom part.

Be mindful that custom attachments are limited. If you attach a red laser to one gun, it won't be available to use on another weapon simultaneously.

The workbench is like the backpack, but better. You'll find them all over the open maps of Metro Exodus and they'll be marked with a green house icon on your map after discovery. The workbench offers the ability to do everything you can with your backpack, plus additional features.

At the workbench, you can create four types of ammunition—Buckshot, Handgun, Assault Rifle and Sniper Rifle ammo—plus incendiary ammunition for the Tikhar and Helsing. You can also build grenades and molotov cocktails.

Everything you build has a cost in the two different crafting materials you'll find around the wastelands in boxes, lockers and chests: mechanical and chemical. Here are the costs of ammunition, throwing weapons and other crafted items.

Craft Item Mechanical / Chemical for X rounds, bullets, etc.

On the second screen, you can customize your weapons, just like in your backpack. But a workbench also lets you clean your weapons. Wear-and-tear on weapons can degrade stats like Damage, Accuracy and Rate of Fire, so cleaning your weapons is a maintenance must. Cleaning has a cost in crafting resources, found in the lower left corner of the workbench screen.

Workbench tables also have a third screen, where you can repair your gas mask and equip different body armor, electrical equipment, helmets and bracer upgrades.

One workbench is better than the rest. Visit the workbench aboard Aurora for one additional perk: the ability to swap out your weapons for any other you've discovered.

Most weapons you'll find in the environment as you play. The Tikhar is given to you by a fellow Spartan, Tokarev, who will periodically upgrade the gun. Make sure to field-strip enemy weapons to pick up new customization options and attachments. New gun attachments are highlighted orange when you cursor over guns dropped by enemies. Here's a list of all the weapons you can find in Metro Exodus, complete with the many, many ways they can be customized.

Ammunition: Handgun Ammo

"A simple and reliable weapon produced in the Metro. Has great stopping power but kicks like a mule."

Revolver Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip, Standard Stock, Sniper Stock, Heavy Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel, Suppressor, Standard Barrel, Long Barrel

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 4X

Cylinders: 3-Shot Cylinder, 6-Shot Cylinder, 6-Shot Double-Action Cylinder, 8-Shot Cylinder

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Buckshot

"This pistol, mass-produced in the Metro, is, despite being quite primitive, a powerful and reliable weapon that shines in close combat."

Made from water pipes, these are the workhorse weapons of the Metro. The basic Ashot is a reliable single shot, but little more. With a little customization, the Ashot turns into a sawed-off nightmare. This, not the Shambler, is the one and only boomstick as far as I'm concerned.

Ashot Customization Guide

Grips: Grip and Handguard, Hunting Stock, Heavy Grip

Barrels: Short Barrel, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Double Barrels, Four Barrels

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Closed Reflex Sight

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Assault Rifle Ammo

"The classic pre-war assault rifle. Despite being very common, it is held in very high regard in the Metro due to its reliability and performance."

Kalash Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip, Standard Stock and Grip, Semi-Grip Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel and Flash Suppressor, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Standard Barrel and Compensator, Long Barrel and Compensator

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 4X

Magazine: Small Magazine, Magazine, Extended Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Handgun Ammo

"This makeshift SMG has a high rate of fire which makes it overheat and jam rather rapidly, hence the weapon's name."

The Bastard is an early pick-up. In "The Volga" chapter, Anna will accompany you to a boat. Look in the shack to the right of the docks.

Bastard Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip, Standard Stock, Sniper Stock, Heavy Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel, Suppressor, Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Closed Reflex Sight

Magazine: Small Magazine, Standard Magazine, Extended Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Assault Rifle Ammo

"A makeshift rotating barrel machine gun capable of long sustained fire barrages. Required spin-up before it can actually shoot."

The gatling gun is equipped with a Quadrant-Type Magazine, Short Barrels and a Spring Mechanizm feed. I haven't found any customization options for the Gatling, but they could be out there.

A cautionary note: I'm not sure if it's a bug, or bad luck, but picking up gatling guns during battles have cost me hard-won customization attachments. When picking up a new weapon, our old weapon is left behind, with your precious attachments. It's typically easy to field-strip the gun and pack away your parts, but every time I've picked up a gatling, I was unable to find my discarded weapon on the ground after.

Ammunition: Assault Rifle Ammo

"The pinnacle of the Kalash family, this assault rifle boasts massive improvements compared to its predecessors in terms of firepower, accuracy, ergonomics and weight. It also has a lower rate of fire, making it easier to control in burst mode. The weapon's advanced design makes it hard to maintain in the postnuclear world, degrading its reliability."

Bulldog Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip, Standard Stock and Grip, Semi-Grip Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel and Flash Suppressor, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Standard Barrel and Compensator, Long Barrel and Compensator

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 6X

Magazine: Small Magazine, Magazine, Extended Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Buckshot

"This revolving shotgun is very effective at close range and stays so even at medium range, but takes quite some time to fully reload."

They're not kidding. Reloading this thing sucks.

Shambler Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip, Standard Stock and Grip, Semi-Grip Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Standard Barrel and Duckbill Choke, Long Barrel

Cylinders: Small Cylinder, Fixed Cylinder, Box Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Sniper Rifle Ammo

"This rifle, made in the Metro by skilled gunsmiths, is extremely accurate and powerful. A truly great long-distance weapon."

Valve Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip and Forend; Assault Stock, Grip and Forend; Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend; Heavy Stock

Barrels: Short Barrel, Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel, Long Barrel

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 6X

Magazine: No Magazine, Single Column Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

In addition to two equippable weapons, you have a third weapons slot for special, pneumatic weapons, which can be pumped up to deliver higher damage. The other big advantage to the Special Weapons class is that ammo can be built in your backpack. For most of the game, you'll be carrying the Tikhar.

Ammunition: Steel Balls, Incendiary Ammunition

"A makeshift air gun, surprisingly silent and accurate. Overpressurizing its tank increases power, but the extra pressure vents before long."

The Tikhar is good in a pinch because you can build the ammunition for it wherever you are. The steel balls it fires aren't very powerful, but the Tikhar suddenly becomes one of the most fun weapons in-game when you get your hands on the incendiary capsules.

Tikhar Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip and Forend; Assault Stock, Grip and Forend; Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend; Heavy Stock

Pneumatics: Standard Pneumatic System, Airtight Pneumatic System, Automatic Pneumatic System, Railgun

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 6X

Magazine: Tube Magazine, Rotor Magazine, Horizontal Magazine, Helical Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Ammunition: Bolts, Explosive Bolts

"A silent, revolving air gun that shoots metal bolts. Overpressurizing its tank increases power, but the extra pressure vents before long."

You'll acquire the Helsing in a late-game chapter. You'll be stranded without any weapons and find it strapped to a statue.

Helsing Customization Guide

Grips: Light Grip and Forend; Assault Stock, Grip and Forend; Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend; Heavy Stock

Bows: Recurve Bow, Compound Bow, Twin Bow, Pneumatic Bow System

Sights: Iron Sights, Reflex Sight, NV Scope, Scope 4X

Magazine: Small Magazine, Medium Magazine, High Capacity Magazine

Gadgets: Red Laser, Infrared Laser

Throwing Knives: "The perfect stealthy short-range weapon, a throwing knife can be cold-wrought from spring steel by any skilled metalworker."

Hand Grenade: "This makeshift grenade is, essentially, a length of steel pipe filled with explosives, but it can still be quite deadly if it goes off close enough."

Molotov Cocktail: "This primitve incendiary device, little more than a bottle filled with gasoline, is still a dangerous weapon if employed skillfully.

With all that in mind, you're ready to brave the deserts, forests and arctic tundras of Metro Exodus, out now for PS4, Xbox One and PC.