The weapon customization in Metro Exodus goes a lot further than putting a scope on a gun.

The weapon customization in Metro Exodus goes a lot further than putting a scope on a gun. You can replace stocks, barrels, feeding systems and even the mechanism that makes a weapon fire. A gun you didn't like in its basic form can behave very differently after you change those parts. First, the backpack and the workbench do different jobs. Under the normal rules, your backpack lets you change attachments on the weapons you're carrying. You can also make medkits, filters, throwing knives, decoys, basic steel balls for the Tikhar and ordinary bolts for the Helsing. You don't need to walk back to the train just to change a sight or fit a suppressor. New Game+'s Backpack Limitations modifier changes the field-crafting rules. You do need a workbench for conventional bullets and shotgun shells, incendiary capsules, explosive bolts, grenades and Molotovs, cleaning weapons, properly repairing a damaged gas mask, and changing suit upgrades. The Aurora's workbench also lets you change your base weapons using the guns you've collected. A random shelter workbench is not the same thing as the train's armory. You don't craft weapon attachments or suit upgrades out of scrap. You find them. Look over dropped guns, especially the highlighted parts, and use the strip action even when you don't want the gun itself. Fitting a collected, compatible attachment doesn't cost crafting materials. There is also an inventory detail worth knowing: attachments aren't an unlimited unlock you can copy onto every gun. You can have a part fitted to a weapon and another copy in the backpack, but only one loose spare of a particular part. Extra loose duplicates are broken down. If you're moving matching sights between guns, fit the loose one before removing the other, otherwise you can accidentally scrap your spare. Most guns have five slots: stock/grip, barrel or mechanism, sight, magazine, and gadget. The Ashot has four because its barrel assembly sets its shell capacity. The Gatling is the exception with no alternate parts to collect. These are the base-game options. Revolver: • Grip/stock: Light Grip, Standard Stock, Sniper Stock, Heavy Stock. • Barrel: Short Barrel, Suppressor, Standard Barrel, Long Barrel. • Cylinder: 3-shot, 6-shot single-action, 6-shot double-action, 8-shot double-action. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 4x. The double-action cylinders remove the need to cock the hammer between shots. The eight-shot cylinder can be found in the Volga at the demon's nest where the teddy bear is, on crates near the outgoing zipline. Bastard: • Grip/stock: Light Grip, Standard Stock, Sniper Stock, Heavy Stock. • Barrel: Short Barrel, Suppressor, Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel. • Magazine: 15-round small, 30-round standard, 50-round extended drum, 100-round high-capacity box. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, closed reflex. The 100-round box is in the Caspian at a little coastal camp near the lighthouse route. Look for a fire pit and furniture on a bluff, with the gun resting on a chair. Bigger capacity still means the same handgun-ammo supply. Kalash: • Grip/stock: Light Grip, Standard Stock and Grip, Semi-Grip Stock, Heavy Stock and Grip. • Barrel: Short Barrel and Flash Suppressor, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Standard Barrel and Compensator, Long Barrel and Compensator. • Magazine: 20, 30, 45, or 75 rounds. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 4x. The 75-round option is a drum, so guides stopping at the 45-round magazine aren't showing every option. Also, a flash suppressor is not a sound suppressor. Bulldog: • Same four stock choices and barrel combinations as the Kalash. • Magazine: 20, 30, 45, or 60 rounds. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 6x. It shares several parts with the Kalash, but not the Kalash's 75-round drum. The Bulldog's largest magazine is its own 60-round version. Ashot: • Grip/stock: Grip Only, Grip and Handguard, Hunting Stock, Heavy Grip. • Barrel: Short Barrel, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Double Barrels, Four Barrels. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, closed reflex. There is no separate magazine slot. You can find the four-barrel assembly in the upper bridge/control-room area of the Caspian prison ship that Anna points out. It fires pairs of shells, not four individual shots. Shambler: • Grip/stock: Light Grip, Standard Stock and Grip, Semi-Grip Stock, Heavy Stock and Grip. • Barrel: Short Barrel, Short Barrel and Suppressor, Standard Barrel and Duckbill Choke, Long Barrel. • Feeding system: 3-shell small cylinder, 6-shell fixed cylinder, 10-shell shotgun magazine, 20-shell box magazine. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, closed reflex. The duckbill spreads pellets sideways. The 10-shell magazine turns up in an abandoned vehicle on the Caspian road near Anna's lookout route. The 20-shell belt-fed box is much later, in a side room at the first optional landing after you begin the solo boat section in the Dead City. Valve: • Grip/stock: Light Grip and Forend; Assault Stock, Grip and Forend; Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend; Heavy Stock. • Barrel: Short Barrel, Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel, Long Barrel. • Feeding system: single-shot/no magazine, 5-round single-column magazine, 10-round staggered magazine, 15-round extended magazine with the semi-automatic receiver. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 6x. The semi-auto conversion is part of the magazine upgrade. On updated versions, look in the Caspian cave hideout with a workbench and the Armored Glass upgrade. Some old launch-era guides omit this part. Again, no base-game suppressor. Tikhar: • Uses the same stock family as the Valve and Helsing. • Mechanism: Standard Pneumatic System, Airtight Pneumatic System, Automatic Pneumatic System, Railgun. • Magazine: Tube, Rotor, Horizontal, Helical, holding 9/18/27/36 steel balls or 3/6/9/12 incendiary capsules. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 6x. The airtight system preserves overpressure. The automatic system restores normal pressure for you, but you can still pump above that. Neither one means infinite ammunition. The Railgun changes it to an electrically powered weapon. Check Tokarev's benches during the Volga and Caspian for the pneumatic and magazine upgrades; the Railgun comes in the Dead City. Helsing: • Uses the same stock family as the Valve and Tikhar. • Mechanism: Recurve Bow, Compound Bow, Twin Bow, Pneumatic Bow System. • Magazine: 1, 3, 6, or 8 bolts. • Sights: iron sights, reflex, night vision, 4x. Bow upgrades improve the bolt's performance, but a larger magazine on its own doesn't remove the need to cock the bow. The pneumatic system does. Check the Aurora workbench before leaving for the Dead City for the pneumatic system and eight-bolt magazine. For all nine customizable base weapons, the gadget choices are no gadget, red laser, green laser, or infrared laser. The infrared dot needs night vision to see it. Those laser choices aren't the same as selecting a night-vision scope. Some compatibility shortcuts make looting easier: • Revolver and Bastard share their upgraded stocks and suppressor. Their standard barrel also works on the Valve; the Revolver's long barrel and the Bastard's heavy barrel can also serve the Valve. • Kalash, Bulldog and Shambler share upgraded stocks. The Kalash and Bulldog share the upgraded barrel assemblies and the 30/45-round magazines. • Ashot and Shambler share the short suppressed barrel assembly. • Valve, Tikhar and Helsing share stock upgrades. • The 4x family is Revolver/Kalash/Helsing; the 6x family is Valve/Bulldog/Tikhar. Closed reflex is for Bastard/Ashot/Shambler. That is why a weapon you have no intention of using can still be worth stripping. The part you want for one gun might be sitting on something completely different. Watch the actual tradeoffs when you install something. Longer or heavier parts can change damage, accuracy and stability in different directions. A suppressor trades some performance for quieter shots. A huge magazine keeps you firing longer but doesn't make ammunition free, and a different cylinder or magazine can change how long reloading takes. Then keep the thing clean. Dirt affects performance and can cause jams. Swapping attachments is not a substitute for cleaning. At a workbench, select the weapon and use the cleaning prompt. Cleaning normally spends chemicals, with Reader difficulty being the exception where it is free. If you're going for Gunsmith, put an upgrade in all five categories on one compatible weapon. Scattering five upgrades across several guns isn't the requirement, and the Ashot and Gatling aren't the right choices for that one.