Metro Exodus has 10 main weapons in the base game. A lot of what looks like a different gun is actually one of those weapons with a different configuration.

Metro Exodus has 10 main weapons in the base game. A lot of what looks like a different gun is actually one of those weapons with a different configuration. This covers where to get each one. There are location and equipment spoilers, including a late-game weapon upgrade, but no ending spoilers. You normally have two regular weapon slots and a third slot for the Tikhar or Helsing. You can't turn that third slot into another ordinary gun slot. Also, most of these aren't unlocked by leveling up. You find them, take them from enemies, or receive them as the story progresses. • Shambler This is the shotgun you use in the opening Moscow tunnels, but that opening loadout doesn't stay with you. A straightforward place to get another one is the rooftop encounter at the start of the Caspian, where you get the van key. Check the dropped weapon before leaving. You do not have to kill the man who drops it. It uses shotgun shells. The different cylinders and magazines change its reload behavior quite a bit, so the three-shell starting version is not the whole story. • Kalash You get this during Moscow, and it turns up on enemies throughout the game. No hidden unlock required. This is the conventional automatic rifle, using assault-rifle ammunition. You can build it out for close-range suppressed work, longer-range shooting, or a heavier support-style setup. Those are configurations of the Kalash, not separate guns you need to find. • Revolver Yermak gives you a suppressed one in Moscow. You can find others on enemies and around the levels, especially in the Volga. It uses handgun ammunition. Don't confuse the original three-shot version with what the gun can become. The double-action cylinders change how quickly it can fire, and a stock and scope can turn it into a much steadier precision weapon. • Bastard Available in the Volga. Check the early riverside buildings and shacks on the way toward the church, and search bandit weapons as you explore. One early pickup is in the small shack near the boat landing. Despite looking like a small assault rifle once you build it out, it uses handgun ammo, the same pool as the Revolver. It fires quickly and can overheat. A bigger magazine does not fix the amount of ammunition it can burn through. • Ashot Available in the Volga, carried by enemies and found in shelters and other loot spots. The small southern-island safe house has a double-barrel version beside a chair and fuel can. It uses shotgun shells, not handgun ammo. Its barrel upgrade determines its capacity: one, two, or four shells. The four-barrel setup fires two shells together, so four loaded shells give you two shots. • Tikhar Tokarev gives you this on the Aurora during the Volga. Check in with him and use the train's workbench as the chapter progresses, because he supplies further upgrades. It fires steel balls, with incendiary ammunition available as well. The pneumatic version needs pressure as well as ammunition. Reloading it doesn't pump it up. Its basic steel-ball ammunition can be made in the backpack, which makes it useful when you are away from a workbench. • Gatling Pick it up from the heavy armored enemy in Yamantau. There are more opportunities in the Caspian, including heavy enemies and weapon pickups. It uses the same assault-rifle ammo as the Kalash and Bulldog. It is heavy, cannot aim down sights, and builds up its firing rate. It has no obtainable alternate attachment upgrades in the normal base game. Don't waste time looking for the five-barrel version shown in concept art or remembering upgrades from Last Light. • Valve Available once you reach the Caspian. Check the small tower/shack off the road between the Aurora and the early settlement area. Enemy snipers are another source; the large sniper crane is a useful place to look for a scoped version. This uses its own sniper-rifle ammunition. It starts as a manually loaded rifle, but magazine upgrades change that, including a semi-automatic conversion. The base-game Valve does not have a suppressor. The suppressed Valve belongs to Sam's Story. • Bulldog Available in the Caspian. A reliable early opportunity is the group attacking the lighthouse. Search their dropped rifles. It shares assault-rifle ammo with the Kalash and Gatling. Compared with the Kalash, it has a slower rate of fire and stronger damage and accuracy, but it needs more attention to maintenance. You don't have to discard your Kalash just because this appears; the two have different handling and upkeep tradeoffs. • Helsing You find the crossbow attached to the back of a statue near the beginning of the Taiga. It takes the special-weapon slot. It uses bolts, including an explosive option. Ordinary bolts can be recovered when you can reach them. The bow versions need to be cocked between shots, even with a larger magazine. A later pneumatic conversion changes that behavior, so it isn't just a larger damage number. And one important extra: the Railgun is a Tikhar upgrade, not another base weapon. During the Dead City, Miller leaves the upgraded Tikhar by the workbench in Kirill's room. Pick it up before continuing. It changes the mechanism from compressed air to electrical power. That is the full base-game gun roster. Throwing knives, grenades and Molotovs are separate tools, and the cans are distractions rather than another firearm. Don't forget you also have melee attacks and nonlethal takedowns. If you're doing Professional, you need a kill with each of the 10 base weapons. Different barrels, the Railgun configuration, and the DLC guns don't create extra entries for that achievement. Get the Gatling kill when you pick it up rather than trying to remember it later. Before swapping a gun on the ground, keep track of the one you drop and strip off any parts you still need. Picking up a new weapon doesn't mean every attachment on your old weapon has magically followed you.