The Metro Arsenal

Overview

The most detailed stats and information guide on the weapons and equipment you’ll find in the Metro.

Introduction

There are plenty of guides for Metro Redux, but I have two big problems with all of them.
1: They’re terribly incomplete.
2: The ones that are remotely complete lack actual comparable statistics.

Anyone can read the magazine capacity of a Kalash, but people aren’t writing down the numbers and nuances that the game doesn’t give out. What are the reload times? How much faster does the Gatling Gun really fire? How many shots can a Helsing fire before needing to be repressurized? The answers to these keep coming in written descriptions like “highest” or “very good”, which are painfully vague at best and objectively wrong at worst.

This guide aims to provide actual numbers, tested and timed on the Developer map, as well as small details that nobody else seems to mention. I will not be providing walkthroughs or store prices, as both are irrelevant to the scope of this guide and can easily be found elsewhere.

For those not already familiar with the game, you may wish to reference unfamiliar weapon and enemy names with the Metro Wiki[metrovideogame.wikia.com] until I start putting pictures into the guide or something. You may also wish to use it for other information, but anything I give here is tested and should take precedence over other less-specific sources of information.

All players should install the mouse fix[community.pcgamingwiki.com] to fix the vertical sensitivity, which is otherwise hard-coded to be lower than horizontal sensitivity.

This guide is far from finished, but all of the actual necessary information is present.

Changelog

– Added notes about reading gas mask times from the watch. Minor changes and spelling corrections.

– Added note to gas mask: filter times are not affected by standing near a fire.

– Minor addition to trench knife (can switch weapons while swinging). Added initial Military Grade Round damage test against Watchmen. Really do not want to replay the whole game just to unlock all the chapters again.

– Fixed Duplet and Saiga hits-to-kill vs Shrimp. Added note to throwing knives concerning use vs Shrimp. Added B­astard overheat animation times.

– Updated the RPK damage bonus tip to better reflect its actual effect.

– Measured the time it takes for toxic air to kill. Timed NVGs + flashlight combo. Currently unsure if heavily-armored humans can be executed or not, and what qualifies as heavily-armored. Added Shrimp-related information to claymores. Added note about throwing knife damage. Minor text changes.

– Minor updates to Gas Mask text. Added a tip to the Ashot and Shambler.

– Added a tip to the Ashot. Moved caliber information from the category titles to the text. Minor formatting changes.

Lights and Other Equipment

The universal charger recharges the battery, which powers two of your three portable sources of light: your flashlight and your nightvision goggles. It takes six tugs on the universal charger to recharge the battery from empty. Thus, each squeeze recharges ~17% energy.

The flashlight uses battery energy, but does not require it to function. The light will simply dim as the battery runs low.

It takes 16 minutes for the flashlight to drain all energy from the battery. That translates to 25% energy every 4 minutes or slightly over 1% energy every 10 seconds. Each squeeze on the charger translates to about 2 minutes 40 seconds of flashlight use.

You need to be at around 85% power (2:30 of flashlight use) before you’re allowed to recharge. Attempting to recharge before then will make the “battery full” beep. You will receive a “power low” alert at around 25% (~11:30-11:45).

Nightvision goggles (NVGs) drain energy roughly 75% faster. This gives you a bit over 9:00-9:15 of total nightvision time. Each 25% lasts a bit over 2:15, and each 1% almost 6 seconds. Every squeeze on the universal charger gives you about 90 seconds.

The game will allow you to recharge after about 1:25 of NVG use. The low-energy warning takes place at around 8:20, the 10% mark.

You can have both the NVGs and the flashlight on at the same time. This is not particularly helpful and will get you spotted by anything that can see your flashlight. Energy usage does increase, giving you somewhere over five minutes of super duper night vision.

Artyom’s lighter. Its most important uses are burning cobwebs and seeing in dark areas where electronics cannot function. You can also follow the direction of the smoke if you get lost, as it points to the way forward.

You cannot use the lighter with weapons that are too long or massive for Artyom to fire one-handed. These weapons are rare in any case, so this should never become a problem.

Holding down the lighter button brings out Artyom’s clipboard, which shows current objectives, the way forward on its compass, and if you’re on Ranger mode, you can bring it closer to your face to see your current ammo totals and filter time.

Gas Mask

You need a gas mask with filters to breathe contaminated air, which is always but not exclusively found above-ground. The presence of a gas mask on your face can be determined by looking for water droplets at the edge of your vision. It shouldn’t be hard to tell when you need the mask, because you’ll hear choked breathing and your vision will begin to blur and bob.

Filters last 3-5 minutes depending on difficulty settings. Will need to time different variations of difficulty later.

Your filters are tracked by breathable time remaining, not by number of filters. You may have Artyom screw on a new filter as often as you wish and it will use only as much filter time as needed to fill your gas mask back to maximum capacity. Contrary to rumor, filters do not last longer if you replace them while standing near a fire.

If you’re playing on Spartan mode, the watch will display filter time as a number. If you’re playing on Survival mode, time is tracked by the red and green lines. The green lines track up to five minutes (as indicated by the rightmost green line), but it’s broken up into four intervals, meaning the distance between each green line actually represents 1 minute 15 seconds.

Filter time will not be consumed unless you’re standing in unbreathable air. You should still take your gas mask off when it’s not needed because damage will eventually break the faceplate, making the mask useless. Damaged gas masks can be replaced by finding another mask in the environment, but you can only take it if your mask is more damaged than the one you’re looking at.

Your filter time can drain faster if you’re standing in radiation. If you’re standing in radiation, you’re probably also taking health damage, so don’t stand in radiation longer than you actually need to. Filter time will not drain faster based on whether or not you perform activities that would actually make you breathe faster e.g. sprinting.

Not having a gas mask on does not cause gradual damage. It starts a ~35 second timer that will kill you instantly unless you put a gas mask on before it runs out. Thus, if you’re desperately low on filter time, you can actually leave your gas mask off and only briefly put it back on for a single breath of good air before taking it off again. This will save a lot of filter time, but it’s also really tedious and immersion-breaking, so don’t get reliant on it. You won’t be too short on filter time if you don’t skip supply caches in the environment and don’t take too long getting from place to place.

TODO: EXPAND ON FILTER MECHANICS AND USING THE WATCH TO READ REMAINING FILTER TIME, LIMIT TO BUYABLE FILTER TIME AND COST INCREASES, MASK DAMAGE VS FILTER TIME, HOW MUCH FILTER TIME THE MASK ACTUALLY HOLDS (3 OR 5 MINUTES)

General Weapon Modifications

• The obvious close-combat choice.
• Unlike the 2x and IR sights, going full auto won’t make the sight impossible to see through.
• Don’t feel pressured to get one. The ironsights in this game are perfectly serviceable for the most part.

• Great for picking off fascist heads at a distance.
• Don’t put this on anything you’ll use to fight off a mutant horde unless you plan to hipfire most of your shots.

• A 2x sight with nightvision. Obviously, this is only useful in darker areas.
• Unlike wearable nightvision goggles, the IR sight doesn’t require any charging. It also works in areas where flashlights/NVGs are disabled.
• Using it in lit areas won’t completely blind you, but washing over everything with a bright green tint is very unhelpful.
• Human enemies are the main reason to use zoomed sights, but the IR sight only makes their headlamps and laser sights more blinding.

• A very high-magnification sight only available to sniper rifles and the Hellbreath railgun.
• Only useful in rare circumstances, where the game might just give you a rifle with a 4x sight anyways.
• Some weapons with significant scope sway have access to this sight. It is useless on those weapons because the reticle only remotely lines up with where you’re actually shooting at the peak of the sway. The reticle spends most of its time low, causing you to shoot too high.

• Provides a visual reference for the center of the screen and reduces hipfire spread.
• Thankfully, enemies won’t see the laser even if you point it right at their eyes. The reverse does not apply, as enemies will happily shine lasers into your face to annoy you.
• Using a laser with a sight attachment can be slightly confusing, as the reticle and the laser dot don’t necessarily line up.

“Hides the muzzle flash and muffles the shots, decreasing spread at the same time. Projectile speed is also decreased, leading to more damage falloff.”

• Reduces the noise and flash of gunfire to make you less noticeable when shooting. Don’t expect this be perfectly silent or for people to not notice when bullets bounce off of the wall next to them. Also don’t expect to stay hidden in a gunfight.
• Does not reduce recoil.
• If it reduces damage, it doesn’t reduce it by any appreciable amount at close range. Long-ranged tests will be entirely too tedious for me to do.
• Shotgun spread is reduced by a third. Other weapons don’t seem to be affected.
• Mutually exclusive with extended barrels.

“Increases accuracy at medium and long range, but makes the weapon bulkier and heavier.”

• The pistols are already mechanically accurate – it’s scope sway and recoil that ruin your shots. This modification doesn’t reduce either, while the Stock will.
• The increased accuracy tightens hipfire spread too.
• Despite the “bulkier and heavier” description, it doesn’t seem to slow down either pistol in any way.
• Mutually exclusive with silencers.

“Makes shotguns more efficient at medium and long range by tightening buckshot spread pattern.

• Halves the spread of buckshot.
• Increases the range and consistency of well-placed shots, but punishes misses more harshly. Consider how well you can read and predict mutants’ animations for clean headshots, and how well you can shoot in general.
• Mutually exclusive with silencers.

PISTOLS

Pistols are excellent generalists, being useful at practically all ranges against nearly any target. At range, you’ll want to look for headshots to conserve your ammo. Up close, the excellent hipfire accuracy and stopping power give you a good chance to come out on top.

The AP-Incendiary round is only available in Kshatriya.
TODO: gather more information about the AP-I round

­• Revolver

Accurate and powerful, but tricky to handle, especially in intense fights.

Capacity: 6 per cylinder, 90 total
Rate of Fire: ~180 RPM (3/sec)
Reload Time: ~3 sec (Survival), ~2.5 sec (Survival)

> Powerful
> Recoil is a non-issue

> Low capacity
> Slow reload and rate of fire
> Awkward firing delay

TODO: ADD PICTURES HERE

• If you see an indentation on the round’s primer, you have 3 or fewer rounds remaining. This makes exactly zero physical sense, considering this is a 6-round cylinder and the round you’re seeing is the next one to be fired.
• For optimal viewing, use ironsights+stock, reflex sight (with or without stock), or make Artyom look at his watch. Use your flashlight if better lighting is needed.

• You can’t fire the revolver fast enough for recoil to matter.
• There is a brief delay when firing because of the double-action trigger. The cylinder needs to cycle and the hammer needs to drop before the round is fired.

• Revolver Modifications

The revolver can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight
• Extended Barrel

as well as the following:

“Turns the pistol into a short-barreled carbine, reducing recoil and increasing accuracy.”

• The accuracy bonus is twofold – a spread reduction and a scope sway reduction. The sway reduction is by far the more important of the two, as scope sway makes your reticle move, but the point the gun is actually shooting doesn’t follow it. The less scope sway there is, the closer the reticle is to where you’re actually shooting.
• The recoil reduction is helpful with a 2x scope but nothing game-changing.
• Most sights are brought slightly closer to your face. The ironsights will be brought much closer, the 2x and IR sights will see a minor difference, and the reflex sight actually gets pushed slightly farther.

• Lolife

The revolver’s high-speed sibling, more useful in close combat due to its rate of fire.

> Powerful
> Fast reload and rate of fire

> Less ammo-efficient than revolver
> Recoil without stock limits visibility
> Stock makes use as a backup weapon very clumsy

Capacity: 8+1 per magazine, 90 total
Rate of Fire: ~600 RPM (10/sec)
Reload Time: ~2.2 sec (Survival), ~1.7 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~2.8 sec (Survival), ~2.1 sec (Spartan)

TODO: ADD PICTURES HERE

• Make Artyom look at his watch to see the magazine.
• The standard magazine’s window shows up to three rounds. When you can’t see any, you have 5 or less rounds left in the mag.
• It’s nearly impossible to read beyond this. The two cutout holes above the magazine can technically be used to distinguish between 5 and 4 rounds remaining, but there’s little point to staring at a few pixels when you can just reload.
• For the extended magazine, the first readable change is at 16 rounds. When the magazine window appears empty, you’re at 12 or fewer rounds.

• The Lolife was introduced in Last Light, and cannot be found in 2033.
• The faster reload, responsive trigger, and higher magazine capacity make it much more forgiving than the Revolver.
• The recoil animation makes the recoil look higher than it actually is, making it easy to overcompensate if you’re dumping the entire mag into something.

• Lolife Modifications

The Lolife can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight
• Extended Barrel

as well as the following:

“The stock and foregrip installed on the pistol essentially turn it into a short barrel carbine, reducing recoil and increasing accuracy greatly.

• The mechanics of this upgrade are much like the Revolver’s equivalent.
• The Lolife has an painfully long unholstering time if you have the stock attached. Remember, there’s no point in a backup gun if it’s almost as fast to reload your original gun. God help you if you’re trying to knife something.
• The recoil reduction is much more useful here, as it makes the Lolife’s kick manageable and makes it visually obvious if you’re overcompensating for recoil.
• Unlike with the Revolver, all sights will be brought slightly closer to your face. The ironsights are technically brought slightly closer too, but the difference is a matter of pixels.

“Perfectly complements the pistol’s main selling point, its high rate of fire, allowing for longer shooting sprees with less reloads.

• Increases capacity from 8 to 20.
• Does not affect reload time.

“This modification allows for firing the Lolife in full-auto, essentially turning the pistol into a light submachine gun.”

• If you’re not using the stock, the recoil will make shooting much more difficult outside of close range.
• Your max rate of fire doesn’t actually increase. It’s just impractical to click as quick as the full-auto mechanism without mechanical assistance.
• Consider whether or not you actually need fully automatic fire, or if the usual quick tapping will save you from wasting ammo.

RIFLES

Assault rifles are the premier man-killers, easily popping heads in a few quick shots. Their utility against mutants is more limited, as hipfire accuracy is poor and other weapons are more efficient about killing. The main saving grace is you can stunlock a lone Nosalis so it can’t attack you, but that just makes getting headshots even harder.

Avoid firing in full auto. Simply holding down the trigger will make your weapon jerk up and down. Fire in bursts to stay on target.

Assault rifles are also the only weapon type capable of using Military Grade Rounds (i.e. firing money). To switch to MGRs, hit reload at the TAB menu or hold down reload while holding a rifle. Switching can sometimes happen by accident, so watch out for it.

You’ll know when you’re firing MGRs when your target lights on fire instead of bleeding. Preliminary testing suggests they do at least double damage.

TODO: test dirty rounds vs MGRs, dirty rounds vs MGRs image guide

• B­astard

A man’s first rifle, often used because few part with a Kalash willingly and for free.

Capacity: 30+1 per magazine, 360 total
Rate of Fire: ~600 RPM (10/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~3.7 sec (Survival), ~2.7 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~3.5 sec (Survival), ~2.5 sec (Spartan)

> Stock upgrade makes it the most stable assault rifle
> Very easy to inspect ammo

> Long reload time
> Overheats and jams

• The recoil is less horizontal than the animations make it seem. Still, the up-and-down spread of a six round burst could cover the area of a man’s torso at mid-range, so you’ll need to fire in shorter bursts. Adding a stock actually makes the B­astard the most stable rifle in the game.
• It’s also one of the ‘accurate’ rifles, whereas the Kalash is one of the ‘inaccurate’ ones. The difference is small, but tests against the glass in the developer DLC arena consistently show the difference.

• The weapon will overheat if you continuously fire a bit over two magazines without pausing. An animation taking ~3.7 seconds (Spartan)/~5 seconds (Survival) will play upon overheat, after which all heat will be removed. Doing this has a chance of making Artyom say actual words somewhere besides a cutscene or loading screen. For the record, he says “S­hit…”, which seems quite appropriate for the occasion.
• It’s hard to avoid building up heat. Even ten-round bursts with five seconds between each burst will overheat you soon enough. A heat sink is necessary if you’re relying on the B­astard to carry you through fights.
• Presumably, the name is derived from what people shout when it overheats and jams on them.

• B­astard Modifications

The B­astard can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Fixes the b­astard gun’s main problem – its tendency to overheat – by siphoning waste heat off its barrel via thin longitudinal metal fins.”

• This will give you over three magazines of continuous fire before overheating.
• I believe this increases heat dissipation rate rather than actual heat capacity. Repeating the ten-round-burst test with two seconds between each burst allowed me to fire almost 300 rounds before finally overheating, much more than what a 50% heat capacity increase would allow.
• Not mutually exclusive with a silencer.

“The anatomic stock makes the b­astard gun easier to control, which is especially welcome in full auto.”

• This is your ticket to the most stable assault rifle in the game. Recoil is reduced by about 30-50%.
• Sights will kick around much less, including 2x scopes.

• Kalash

A common rifle. Useful in a pinch due to its reload speed.

Capacity: 30+1 per magazine, 360 total
Rate of Fire: ~550 RPM (~9.15/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~2.1 sec (Survival), ~1.5 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~2.5 sec (Survival), ~2 sec (Spartan)

> Very fast reload
> Good magazine capacity with upgrades

> Higher scope sway

SAME AS B­ASTARD

• The Kalash is one of the ‘less-accurate’ assault rifles, along with the AKSU and RPK. The actual cone of fire is negligibly worse than a ‘more-accurate’ rifle, but the scope swaying will have you following a scope reticle that’s lying to you. Your actual point of aim doesn’t move, even as your reticle swings back and forth.
• The recoil is about as good/bad as an unmodified B­astard. What you’re really gaining here isn’t the ability to put rounds downrange more cleanly, but more quickly due to its reload speed and magazine upgrade.

• Kalash Modifications

The Kalash can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“This light machinegun magazine is capable of holding a ranger’s weekly earnings and allows for longer sustained fire with less reloads.”

• Increases capacity from 30 to 45 rounds.
• Like the description suggests, this magazine is taken straight from the RPK.

• AKSU

A slightly faster Kalash that uses the B­astard’s firing sound.

Rate of Fire: ~600 RPM (10/sec)
Other stats are shared with the Kalash.

> Inherits the Kalash’s good characteristics
> Slightly faster time-to-kill than Kalash

> Inherit’s the Kalash’s bad characteristics
> Cannot be obtained outside of Ranger mode

• Only available via weapon vendors while in Ranger mode.
• Its available upgrades are identical to the Kalash, including the RPK magazine.
• The increased rate of fire lets you put out damage ~10% faster.

• RPK

Extremely high-capacity rifle that offsets its lower rate of fire with damage.

Capacity: 45+1 per magazine, 360 total
Rate of Fire: ~450 RPM (7.5/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~2.1 sec (Survival), ~1.5 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~2.5 sec (Survival), ~2 sec (Spartan)

> Increased damage per hit
> Choose between very fast reload or very high capacity

> Low rate of fire
> Cannot be silenced
> Higher scope sway

• The RPK’s damage bonus is negligible or outright nonexistant under many circumstances, but can potentially give it a time-to-kill similar to the B­astard or Kalash despite being the slowest-firing assault rifle.
• The RPK is one of the ‘less-accurate’ assault rifles, along with the Kalash and AKSU. The actual cone of fire is negligibly worse than a ‘more-accurate’ rifle, but the scope swaying will have you following a scope reticle that’s lying to you. Your actual point of aim doesn’t move, even as your reticle swings back and forth.

• RPK Modifications

The RPK can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Holds much more ammo than the regular magazine, allowing for longer sustained fire.”

• Increases capacity from 45 to 100.
• Changes tactical reload time to ~3.5 sec (Survival), ~2.7 sec (Spartan)
• Changes empty reload time to ~5 sec (Survival), ~3.3 sec (Spartan)
• The height of comical tacticool bling.
• Strangely, it doesn’t seem like the side window that shows bullets actually works. It always looks like there are more rounds, even when you’re about to run out.

The RPK cannot use silencers.

• VSV

A high-damage assault rifle held in check by its short magazine capacity.

Capacity: 20+1 per magazine, 360 total
Rate of Fire: ~525 RPM (8.75/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~2.5 sec (Survival), ~2 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~3.3 sec (Survival), ~2.5 sec (Spartan)

> Increased damage per hit
> Fast reload

> Lowest magazine capacity

SAME AS RPK

• The small magazine makes it extra important to shoot accurately.

• VSV Modifications

The VSV can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight

No other modifications are available.

• Kalash 2012

The highest-DPS rifle, only let down by a lack of customization options.

Capacity: 40 per magazine, 360 total
Rate of Fire: ~720 RPM (12/sec)
Reload Time: ~3.2 sec (Survival), ~2.4 sec (Spartan)

> Increased damage per hit
> Highest rate of fire

> Obstructive ironsights
> Fast shooting makes for fast recoil

SAME AS RPK

• This is the fastest-firing assault rifle by a good margin. While it does reload slower and hold five less rounds than a fully-upgraded Kalash or AKMSU, you’re putting out bullets 20%-30% faster and each of them does ~30% more damage.
• The high rate of fire will throw your aim off should you give in to the urge to spray.
• A reflex sight is highly recommended.

• The AK-2012 can’t hold an extra round in the chamber like most pre-war rifles can.

• Kalash 2012 Modifications

The Kalash 2012 can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight

No other modifications are available.

SHOTGUNS

Shotguns are excellent mutant-killers with their forgiving aim and excellent close-in power. Use against human enemies is inconsistent outside of close-medium range, and if you aren’t delivering lethal blows in one or two shots, all that reloading you have to do is going to get old.

Shotguns all seem to fire 9 pellets per shot. Aiming down the sights actually reduces your spread by ~50%, greatly increasing the concentration of pellets at range.

Dragon’s Breath shells are only available in the Kshatriya level, where they take the place of standard shotgun shells. Their power is such that you can instantly kill a Nosalis with the Ashot.

• Ashot

Some weapons are all about the reloading, and this one won’t give you much choice.

Capacity: 1 in the breech, 120 total
Reload Time: ~2.8 sec (Survival), ~2.0 sec (Spartan)
Sustained Rate of Fire: ~21.5 RPM (~0.36/sec) (Survival), ~30 RPM (~0.5/sec) (Spartan)

> Slightly increased damage per shot

> Reloads after every shot

• The Ashot was introduced in Last Light, and cannot be found in 2033.
• You can sprint while reloading. Note that if you get hit, your sprinting is cancelled.

• Ashot Modifications

The Ashot can use

• Reflex or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight
• Extended Barrel

as well as the following:

“Turns the pistol into a short-barreled carbine, reducing recoil and increasing accuracy.”

• Accuracy is not actually increased, and the recoil reduction is meaningless on a single-shot weapon.
• All sights are brought closer to your face.

• Duplet

The description isn’t a lie. Two well-aimed shots will blow any beast in your weight class away.

Capacity: 2 at a time, 120 total
Rate of Fire: as fast as you can click twice
Reload Time: ~3.2 sec (Survival), ~2.6 sec (Spartan)
Sustained Rate of Fire: ~38 RPM (~0.63/sec) (Survival), ~46 RPM (~0.77/sec) (Spartan)

> Twice as many barrels as the Ashot

> Cannot be properly aimed without a crosshair or laser sight
> Frequent reloading

• The Duplet cannot be aimed. The aim button will fire all barrels simultaneously.

• Duplet Modifications

The Duplet can use

• Silencer
• Laser Sight
• Extended Barrel

as well as the following:

“Increases the Duplet’s firepower two-fold, enabling it to fire two or four shells at once, which leads to correspondingly increase recoil.”

• Each click will fire two of the four barrels. Naturally, this doubles your firepower and ammo use.
• Recoil is not increased.
• The firing sound is changed. It sounds more like a sniper rifle.

“Makes handling the weapon easier, decreasing the negative effect recoil has on accuracy.”

“This spring-loaded stock created by the smithy’s gun wizards effectively compensates for recoil, increasing the gun’s accuracy.”

• Neither of these seem to actually do anything but look pretty.

• Shambler

Your first automatic shotgun. A solid upgrade over previous break-action shotguns.

Capacity: 6 in the clamps, 120 total
Rate of Fire: 180 RPM (3/sec)
Full Reload Time: ~7 sec (Survival), ~5.5 sec (Spartan)
First Shell Reload Time: ~2.1 sec (Survival), ~1.9 sec (Spartan)
Shells 2-6 Reload time (per-shell, averaged): ~1 sec (Survival), ~0.8 sec (Spartan)

> Six shell capacity
> Can be partially reloaded

> Long reload, especially when panicking

SAME AS DUPLET

• Avoid emptying the gun and reloading/firing one shot at a time. Capacity is what makes the Shambler worthwhile over break-action shotguns, so keep the gun full as much as possible.
• Sprint away to avoid being eaten by mutants during your reload. Nosalises in particular like to rear up and perform multi-hit combos that will destroy you if you aren’t sprinting away.

• Shambler Modifications

The Shambler can use

• Reflex or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Extended Barrel
• Laser Sight

No other modifications are available.

• Bigun

The Shambler’s rarer cousin. Much of the same in a different package.

Capacity: 6 in the tubes, 120 total
Rate of Fire: 240 RPM (4/sec)
Full Reload Time: ~7.7 sec (Survival), ~6.1 sec (Spartan)
First Shell Reload Time: ~2.5 sec (Survival), ~2 sec (Spartan)
Shells 2-6 Reload time (per-shell, averaged): ~1 sec (Survival), ~0.85 sec (Spartan)

> Six shell capacity
> Can be partially reloaded
> Faster fire rate than Shambler

> Long reload, especially when panicking
> Only one modification available, and it’s worse than useless
> Slow to transition to knife

SAME AS DUPLET

• Unlike most weapons introduced with Last Light, the Bigun can be obtained in 2033 Redux. It is exclusively found in stores at Polis and the church. You won’t see it in Last Light’s main campaign.

• Bigun Modifications

The Bigun can use

• Laser Sight

The laser sight is NOT recommended. The dot is misaligned upwards and to the left.

No other modifications are available, unfortunately.

• Saiga

A compromise between capacity and accuracy, with more than enough of both.

Capacity: 10+1 per magazine, 120 total
Rate of Fire: ~240 RPM (4/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~2.9 sec (Survival), ~2.3 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~4.4 sec (Survival), ~3.3 sec (Spartan)

> Ten/twenty shell capacity
> Fully automatic

> Lower damage per shell

• The Saiga was introduced in Last Light, and cannot be found in 2033.
• When hipfiring, recoil becomes problematic after the fifth shot. Fire in bursts, not by spraying wildly.

• Saiga Modifications

The Saiga can use

• Reflex or IR Sight
• Silencer
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“A sustained fire aficionado’s best friend, it allows for longer bursts with fewer reload breaks.”

• Increases magazine capacity from 10 to 20.
• Reload time is not affected.

• Abzats

A machine gun that fires shotgun shells. Goes through mutants as fast as it goes through ammo.

Capacity: 20 per magazine, 120 total
Rate of Fire: ~240 RPM (4/sec)
Reload Time: ~5.1 sec (Survival), ~4 sec (Spartan)

> Twenty shots before reloading
> JUST KIDDING IT’S FORTY
> F O R T Y

> Lower damage per shell
> Cannot be properly aimed without a crosshair or laser sight

SAME AS SAIGA

• The Abzats has no ironsights. The aim button will fire a five-shot burst at ~500 RPM with ~2.5 seconds before you’re allowed to fire again. Sustained rate of fire is about ~100 RPM. This burst mode is mostly useless because leaving yourself vulnerable for two seconds and not being able to conserve ammo isn’t worth the up-front damage.

• Abzats Modifications

The Abzats can use

• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Decreases recoil, making fire more accurate.”

• Reduces recoil by ~50-70%.
• This makes the full-auto upgrade and burst mode much easier to use.

“Holds twice the number of chain-linked shells, allowing for much longer sustained fire.”

• Increases box capacity from to 40.
• Does not affect reload time.

“This trigger assembly allows for full-auto firing and increases rate of fire.”

• Increases RPM to ~400 (~6.7/sec).
• Does not affect the five-shot burst. The burst mode is even more useless when you’ve got this.

HIGH-CALIBER RIFLES

These are niche weapons, usually handed to you for a specific scenario or picked up for an interesting time. Their ammo is uncommon, to say the least.

The Gatling’s ammo pool is separate from and much larger than that of the sniper rifles.

• Valve

The first true headpopper, expressly made for vaporizing mutant skulls or particularly dense commies.

Capacity: 5+1 per magazine, 30 total

> Powerful
> Annihilates shrimp arms

> Uncommon ammo
> Slow
> Loud

TODO: ADD PICTURES HERE

• Your ammo count is 1 + however many rounds you can see, including barely-visible ones. Have Artyom look at his watch to get a clearer view inside.
• The extended magazine doesn’t extend the rear cutout window to show the extra five rounds.

• The Valve was introduced in Last Light, and cannot be found in 2033.
• Part of the bolt animation can be cancelled if you click when Artyom starts pulling the bolt back. This will put you back in firing position, allowing you to fire again immediately. You cannot skip the bolt animation when reloading from empty, however.
• One shot will annihilate a Shrimp’s forearms.

• Valve Modifications

The Valve can use

• Reflex, 4x, or IR Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Reduces recoil, improving accuracy; eliminates muzzle flash, which can be quite blinding in the dark of the tunnels.”

• Reduces the visual kick, making it easier to see what just happened to your latest victim through high-zoom scopes.
• Otherwise unimportant.

“The extended magazine allows for firing the rifle for twice as long but makes it much more cumbersome.”

• Increases magazine capacity to 10.
• “Cumbersome” doesn’t appear to translate to anything in gameplay terms. I don’t see any difference in any kind of speed, whether it be holstering/unholstering, aim-in time, or rate of fire.

• Preved

For when a commie sniper hides behind a wall and you need to make salsa out of him this instant.

Capacity: 1 in the chamber, 30 total
Reload Time: ~3 sec (Survival), ~2.5 sec (Spartan)
Sustained Rate of Fire: ~20 RPM (~0.33/sec) (Survival), ~24 RPM (~0.4/sec) (Spartan)

> Extreme power
> Can penetrate walls

> Slow and low-capacity
> Ammo is even less common

• The Preved was introduced in Last Light, and cannot be found in 2033.
• The same bolt-cancelling trick from the Valve can be used here if you’re using the Extended Magzine. You’ll have to wait for Artyom to finish pulling the bolt back on the Preved.
• Due to developer oversight, the Preved does not shatter Shrimp forearms like the Valve.
• It does almost, but not quite enough damage to instantly kill a Nosalis on non-Ranger. It takes only one knife stab to finish him.

• Preved Modifications

The Preved can use

• 4x Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Reduces recoil, improving accuracy; eliminates muzzle flash, which can be quite blinding in the dark of the tunnels.”

• Reduces the visual jump when you fire and redirects the muzzle flash to the sides.
• Also causes a bunch of smoke to rise from the chamber and into your face every time you fire. So much for visibility.
• It’s only of any help if you like looking at your latest victim through a 4x scope, as it reduces the otherwise view-ruining kick.

“Makes the rifle heavier and bulkier, but increases the rate of fire substantially.”

• Increases capacity to 5+1.
• Stats are changed to the following:
  Survival

  Spartan

  Rate of Fire

  ~33 RPM (~0.55/sec)

  ~45 RPM (~0.75/sec)

  Time Between Shots

  ~1.8 sec

  ~1.3 sec

  Rate of Fire
  (bolt-cancel trick)

  ~50 RPM (~0.83/sec)

  ~65 RPM (~1.08/sec)

  Time Between Shots
  (bolt-cancel trick)

  ~1.2 sec

  ~0.95 sec

  Tactical Reload Time

  ~2.5 sec

  ~2 sec

  Empty Reload Time

  ~3.9 sec

  ~3 sec

• Note that you can sprint while reloading, but you can’t sprint while working the bolt.
• Like all of these other ‘bulkier’ descriptions, the bulk is effectively meaningless if it exists at all.
• It’s more accurate to say that this adds a magazine to the weapon, rather than being higher-capacity than an existing one.

• Clapper

A special gun for a special mission.

Capacity: 5+1 per magazine, 30 total
Rate of Fire: ~160 RPM (~2.7/sec)
Tactical Reload Time: ~3.8 sec (Survival), ~3 sec (Spartan)
Empty Reload Time: ~6 sec (Survival), ~4.7 sec (Spartan)

> Silent
> Extreme power
> Can penetrate walls

> Bullet drops over distance
> Terrible vertical scope sway
> If you ever have to use the ironsights, they’re misaligned
> Why does a sniper rifle have this many accuracy-related downsides?

SAME AS PREVED

• The Clapper is only available in a certain extra mission for Last Light (and the developer level, if you count that).
• It’s good that you only need to hit the body to kill, because its accuracy is actually really awful. Bullet drop is modeled, travel time is slow, and the scope rarely points where you’re actually shooting. Disgusting.
• It’s a bolt action rifle in real life. In light of the above, it’s not hard to see why they changed it.

• Clapper Modifications

The Clapper can use

• 4x Sight
• Laser Sight

No other modifications are available.

• Gatling Gun

Even Librarians have to have nightmares too.

Capacity: 150 per magazine, 500 total
Rate of Fire (maximum): ~620 RPM (~10.3/sec)
Rate of Fire (minimum): ~180 RPM (~3/sec)
Reload Time: ~8.7 sec (Survival), ~6.7 sec (Spartan)

> It’s a rotary gun
> Fires from a box of heavy machine gun rounds
> If it bleeds, you can kill it

> Can only be hipfired with no laser sight
> Very slow reload
> Needs time to reach maximum fire rate
> May need cranking

Without the Gatling Engine modification, firing will lower the tension meter. The lowering tension meter reduces rate of fire, and illogically, damage per hit. This can get down to an absurd minimum of taking 20+ bodyshots to kill a Nosalis on Ranger mode.

• The Gatling Gun is given to you for a single level of Last Light’s story and can be found in a couple of the extra missions.
• Holding down the aim button spins the barrels without firing.
• The bullets will penetrate some objects, including Shrimp forearms.
• The tension bar lasts for 375 rounds and takes 16 pulls to fully wind back up.
• The bar shows green and yellow. Once the green is gone, you’re firing at ~350 RPM. When the yellow is about to fully disappear, you’re firing at ~180 RPM.

• Gatling Gun Modifications

“Increase’s Gatling’s rate of fire without additional wear.”

• Increases weapon condition by 50%, increasing the number of shots before breaking f-
• Wait, what do you mean this isn’t New Vegas?
• Well, I guess this modification does absolutely nothing then.

“This gyro stabilizer makes the gatling gun easier to control while spinning barrels and firing.”

• Reduces the recoil’s drifting tendencies by ~50%.
• Mutually exclusive with the Gatling Engine.

“Replaces the spring-operated spin-up mechanism, allowing for indefinite spin time.”

• Increases rate of fire to ~720 RPM (12/sec). Rate of fire no longer decays as you shoot.
• Mutually exclusive with the Gatling Stabilizer.

“Makes movement easier while spinning barrels and firing.”

• Reduces the movement speed penalty for having the barrels spinning.
• You suffer up to ~40% speed reduction instead of ~60-65%.

NON-BULLET WEAPONS

These are the unorthodox offerings. Unusual, but by no means underpowered. They all add an extra element of resource management in the form of a pressure/power gauge.

• Tikhar

A stealthy head-tapper, not to be underestimated in combat when overpressurized.

Capacity: 15 per magazine, 90 total
Rate of Fire: ~330 RPM (~5.5/sec)
Reload Time: ~4.3 sec (Survival), ~3.3 sec (Spartan)

> Silent
> Powerful with overpressure

> Slow reload

* I chose to extrapolate these values. Nosalis flinch animations and the low-pressure shot delay make it too frustrating to confirm via testing.

• The pressure gauge is marked with multiples of 2 from 12 to 0. 0-6 is marked as the ‘green’ zone, 6-9 the ‘yellow’ zone, and 9-12 the ‘red’ zone. With maximum pressure and no air leakage, it takes 86 shots to go from 12 (max overpressure) to 0 (no pressure). Going down a number on the pressure gauge (i.e. firing until the needle moves from 12 to 11) is roughly equal to 7 shots each. The end of the yellow zone also seems to be slightly inside the red-painted part of the gauge.
• Overpressure (the red zone) takes 30 seconds to fully leak back into the yellow zone if you don’t have the airtight valve. Between the leaking and loss of pressure from firing, you can get up to 15 rounds (a full mag) out before you’re back to normal pressure. With the airtight valve, you can fire ~21 rounds on overpressure. Since this is practically doubled damage, you’ll want the valve upgrade to use the Tikhar outside of stealth.
• On the flip-side of the coin, if you’ve been seriously neglecting the pressure pump, you’ll eventually hit the low-pressure zone that starts at the 2-marker. Your shots will do much less damage and take time to come out of the barrel. This makes it hard to hit a mutant even at close range, not that you’ll hurt it very much. Fortunately, the animation for pumping from that low is slightly faster.
• Rule of thumb: two pumps for every full mag you fire. I found the actual amount pumped to be full of consistent but unexpected rules regarding initial pressure and consecutive pumps, which makes me not want to look any closer at other weapons with similar mechanics.

• Tikhar Modifications

The Tikhar can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“The air bottle fitted with this high-quality valve of pre-war make does not leak air even when overpressured.”

• If you pump the Tikhar to max, it will stay that way.
• The overpressure only lasts one-and-a-half mags without further pumping, but the hits-to-kill table speaks for itself. It’s not a bad weapon until the fight starts dragging on.

• Hellbreath

The Tikhar’s loud cousin, capable of lasting much longer in a firefight.

Capacity: 15 per magazine, 90 total
Rate of Fire: ~260 RPM (~4.3/sec)
Reload Time: ~4 sec (Survival), ~3.1 sec (Spartan)

> Powerful

> Loud
> Slow reload

• Charging is infrequent and of little consequence. As long as you even know how to do it, you’ll be fine.
• It takes 75 shots to fully drain the Hellbreath’s energy and 12 squeezes on the charger to fully recharge it. Each tug is worth ~6 shots.

• Hellbreath Modifications

The Hellbreath can use

• Reflex, 4x, or IR Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“Increases the railgun’s energy reserves greatly, allowing for the weapon to be fired much longer without the need to recharge.”

• Increases the battery capacity to ~135 shots. Each squeeze on the charger gives energy for ~10-12 shots. It still takes twelve tugs to fully charge.
• Each quarter of the energy bar lasts 25-35 shots.
• The Hellbreath won’t make any electrical zappy noise when you try to shoot with no energy remaining.

“Makes the weapon accumulate charge faster, allowing for more rapid succession of full-power shots.”

• Reduces the battery capacity to 60 shots. It still takes 12 squeezes to fully recharge.
• Has no positive effects as far as I can tell.

The 4x scope is not recommended. The Hellbreath’s high scope sway makes the sight very inaccurate, which hurts the already-situational scope.

• Helsing

It’s a gun, Artyom. A gun that shoots throwing knives.

Capacity: 8 per cylinder, 32 total
Rate of Fire: ~125 RPM (~2.1/sec)
Reload Time: ~3.1 sec (Survival), ~2.3 sec (Spartan)

> Silent
> Powerful
> Recoverable ammo

> Bolts are uncommon, expensive, and you carry few of them
> Bolts drift at range
> Frequent pumping

• Unlike most pumpable weapons, allowing pressure to drain doesn’t seem to really affect damage. If there is any damage difference, it’s not enough to significantly change the hits to kill.
• There is a slight delay before the bolt exits the barrel.
• Like with throwing knives, Helsing bolts seem to completely ignore shrimp armor.
• The Helsing is surprisingly inaccurate. Bolts will drift horizontally by as much as a head-length given a decent distance, which is not what you want when sniping. Overpressuring the Helsing will not improve this.
• Vertical deviation is more consistent. The bolt will drop as it flies, but the arc does not vary with pressure. It does, however, vary with whether or not you’re hipfiring, because hipfired shots are consistently fired too high.

• The pressure bar has three numbered markings on it. The areas between the numbers represents ten shots each. The area above the 3 mark represents two shots and the area below the 1 mark represents three.
• Pumping while below the 2 mark adds about two shots’ worth of pressure. Pumping while above the 2 mark adds about three.
• It takes ~30 seconds for overpressure to fully drain unless you have the airtight valve.

• Helsing Modifications

The Helsing can use

• Reflex, 2x, or IR Sight
• Laser Sight

as well as the following:

“The air bottle fitted with this high-quality valve of pre-war make does not leak air even when overpressured.”

• If you pump the Helsing to max, it will stay that way.
• The overpressure only lasts two shots without further pumping.

• Flamethrower

The arachnophobe’s best friend.

Capacity: 200 per magazine, 600 total
Rate of Fire: ~230 RPM (~3.8/sec)
Reload Time: ~5.7 sec (Survival), ~4.4 sec (Spartan)

> Spiderbugs will hate you
> Ammo lasts longer than you might think

> Requires pumping
> Slow ‘projectile’

I believe the reduced damage begins once the flamethrower’s pressure is below the white bar.

• A single flamethrower is given to you in 2033’s story and the Spider Lair extra mission.
• The flamethrower burns ammo much slower than the 200 fuel tank capacity might suggest.
• Holding down the aim button activates the pilot light. This makes the flamethrower instantly responsive instead of requiring you to hold the trigger for half a second before any actual fire comes out. Keeping the pilot light active slowly drains pressure.
• The pilot light expends pressure at ~15 seconds per marker on the gauge. It takes ~60 seconds to reach the white marker, ~105 seconds to reach the far end of the red marker, and ~135 seconds to drain all pressure from full.
• Continuously firing the flamethrower drains all pressure in 30 seconds, expending 115 fuel in the process.
• Despite leaving very-visible patches of fire on the ground and on enemies, the only actual sources of damage are the puffs of fire that come directly from your flamethrower when you fire. The fire projectile benefits from headshots, though aiming is tricky given the nature of the weapon.

• Medved

TODO: this whole section

• The Medved is only usable in Heavy Squad and the Developer map.
• The grenades are taken directly from your throwable grenades.

Secondary Weapons

These are weapons that aren’t held out in front of you all the time, but thrown or deployed at the press of a button. You carry up to 5 of each expendable secondary weapon, except on Ranger, where you are allowed 10 throwing knives.

• Trench Knife

Artyom’s knife, primarily used for its kill/knockout animations. Very effective against humans in stealth provided you can get close enough.

Without execution animations, your knifing speed is dependent on your weapon. Some weapons take longer to equip, which will slow down your knifing. You can also attempt to switch weapons while your knife is in the middle of a swing, and it will bring out your newly-selected weapon after the swing finishes.

Fighting mutants with the knife is unsafe as they are generally far better within melee range than you are. Spiderbugs are the exception, as cornering them with light will eventually flip them over and give you a chance to execute them. They’re also less aggressively murderous in melee than other mutants, provided you’re not braindead.

Nosalises and Watchmen are far trickier to stab, and you’re practically guaranteed to take a few hits. Your best chance is circle around to their sides, because going head-on will see them using their superior reach and most difficult animations against you. Note that while Watchmen packs may hesitate to strike, Nosalises will attack you relentlessly, making this trick nearly useless against more than one Nosalis.

Forget about knifing most other mutants. They will generally hit you much better than you can hit back.

• Throwing Knives

The basic ranged weapon of stealth. Selecting throwing knives from the weapon menu will make a sharp blade noise.

Laser sights (or the crosshair if you’re a loser) can be used to aim outside of short range. Failing that, aim down the sights with one of your guns to line up a throw. Knives travel with surprisingly little arc, so don’t aim too high. The main limiting factor for throwing range is poor horizontal accuracy, which limits reliable throws to mid-range.

Using throwing knives for combat is difficult due to the throwing delay leaving a big window for enemies to move and attack you. However, few know that this is an amazing weapon against Shrimp. Due to a technical oversight, the knives outright ignore Shrimp armor, flying straight through and hitting anything on the other side. Remember that the knife can still hit the arms for reduced damage.

Throwing knives at the armored head of the Shrimp will completely bypass the Shrimp and land somewhere in the swamp mud on the other side.

The already-high damage is further enhanced when the enemy is not currently aggressive, which multiplies the damage you deal.

• Grenades

A simple pipe bomb. Selecting grenades from the weapon menu will make a thumping noise.

They take about three seconds to explode, causing excellent damage to anything caught near the blast. I’ve even seen the blast penetrate solid obstacles. The main problem is actually getting things to stay near the blast in the first place, as the area of effect isn’t very impressive.

Their bounce characteristics are poor. They can roll along the ground, but not always predictably. Bouncing them against objects robs them of all momentum, preventing you from throwing around corners at all. All of this makes accurate use rather painful.

Perhaps your best bet is to chuck one at your feet in a mutant fight. Mutants will aggressively approach you and not see the grenade for what it is, hopefully standing on it when it blows. There are plenty of better ways to use your time and resources, including reloading and shooting.

Sticky grenades are a variant only available in 2033. Its characteristics are much like that of a grenade. However, this grenade will stick to surfaces or living things instead of bouncing, making it much easier to use the incredible damage. Try sticking it onto a Demon.

• Incendiary Bomb

An incendiary device that bursts and ignites on contact. Selecting incendiary bombs from the weapon menu will make a liquid-in-glass noise.

This is a nasty area denial weapon that can make a horde a lot more manageable. Its actual area of effect is painfully small, but it gives you a 15 second fire that often stuns and melts anything man-sized. Because it bursts on contact, you can place the center of the fire directly on an enemy without much trouble.

Shrimp forearms will also fracture when exposed to the flames, making it easy to kill them if they somehow fail to cook thoroughly.

• Claymores

An explosive laser-activated trap only available in Last Light. Selecting claymores from the weapon menu will make a beeping noise.

The claymore will detonate when damaged or when an enemy trips its laser. Use it to watch your flanks, blunt an incoming wave, or as a trap. You can even use one like an explosive melee weapon. Try not to run forward into the blast.

Under rare circumstances, Shrimp can actually survive a claymore, mostly sustaining damage to their forearms. My best guess is that the arm trips the mine and the body isn’t in the blast zone, bringing the mine’s damage down too low to instant-kill. This will most likely not occur in the flat swamp areas where you’re actually expected to fight Shrimp.

ENEMY NOTES

I may put notes on specific enemy types down here.

TODO: test if spiderbug armor weakens after being burned by light

• Shrimp Males

• Shrimps can be killed by breaking their armored head shell, despite the game telling you your bullets are bouncing. The head shell takes damage separately from the Shrimp itself, so don’t waste ammo on it unless you’re going for the skullcracker kill.
• There doesn’t seem to be a hitbox that increases damage, like how most enemies take more damage to the head.
• Shooting them in the arms (or the forearm shield, surprisingly enough) does damage, but at a penalty.
• Each forearm shield is divided into eight sections, each taking three hits to destroy (with exceptions). The sections are not all of equal size. Explosions or the Valve will outright destroy the shield. Knives and Helsing bolts will pass right through, completely trivializing the Shrimp.

TODO: at what health threshold do they start blocking? what is the damage penalty for armshots? shieldshots?