Metro Exodus

68 Achievements

60-80h

GOG

Hardcore

Complete the game in Ranger Hardcore mode.

Epic

2.1%

How to unlock the Hardcore achievement in Metro Exodus - Definitive Guide

M I K 3 ID v

TrueAchievements

24 Feb 2019 15:01

Ranger Hardcore.

Turns off targeting reticle
Minimizes the HUD presence
Limiting player's ammo reserves.
Increases combat difficulty
Makes enemies more aware of your presence
Degrades weapons at a faster rate
Makes workbenches scarcer
Turns off the manual save feature

Checkpoints are still enabled. The game is very forgiving with these.

I wouldn't say this is all too difficult, if you play on one of the lower difficulties first you'll have a much easier time with this. Knowing where to go and what to expect

Update:- Confirmed by Quiggzo that the Ranger Hardcore achievement can be unlocked in New Game+. This can be super handy using mutators like having all your previous load outs from a previous save including the powerful ‘Railgun’ Also note you can make the game even easier having the 24 hour clock modifier on. This will mean you can keep the game in night without having to worry about finding a safe house before the sun comes up on the previous 2 hour clock.

Tips that may be useful to you.

Search and loot as much as you can, especially from dead bandits etc.

Only craft items you really need, Don't bother cleaning guns.

Stay out of the light as much as you can. Turn off lights and candles to make yourself invisible.
Only shoot out lights with a silenced weapon.

Always keep your flashlight charged up.

Take advantage of your back pack on the move, select attachments that suit the style of approach, for example stealth sections, select a silencer. 6x Scope for long range assaults.

Always try to play at night. This make nearly every encounter 100x easier. And helps sneaking around bandits and mutants. Note that bandits can easily kill you in one shot so stealth is key.

Stock up on throwing knifes. These babies can help massively when taking out bandits as the throwing knife is pretty much one hit kill anywhere in the middle of your target.
Also as RH doesn't have a reticule I would recommend aiming your gun in at your target before throwing your knife. That way you know your throw will be lined up correctly.

Dismantle ammo and equipment you know you won't need. This helps give you more crafting materials for important things like health packs and filters.

Rest at a safe house if your health is low. This will save you wasting a med pack. Only do this if your confident enough you'll make it to a safe spot without dying. Also resting at safe areas auto saves the game. This helps in the open world regions in case you've been running around without a save in a while.

Speed run. This is why I would recommend playing the game on one of the lower difficulties before trying RH. That way you'll know your surroundings better and speed run sections that you don't want to waste resources on like filters and health etc. I point out certain areas where you can run past enemies to make them de-spawn.

Save Molotov's for Heavy weapon guys in the YAMANTAU and CASPIAN levels. You'll come across a few of these guys and their primary weakness are direct hits with the Molotov. Make sure to shoot the heck out of them after you throw one.

Any other useful tips you might have, add it to the comments section and I'll add it to the guide.

I'll try throw out there some useful tips for certain levels and missions.

VOLGA

YAMANTAU

CASPIAN

Play at night. Easier to stealth levels and stealth kill thugs and mutants.

I would run this mission with the Kalash and shotgun. Easier to one shot those mutants. You'll most likely find the Bulldog rifle later on in the mission. Swap the Kalash for this.

When you first arrive. Torkev will give you incendiary ammo for the Tikhar rifle. KEEP these. They will help you massively in the spider liar you visit with Guil while getting the maps. I would recommend using these when you have to crawl through the vent. Mentioned by GameXpert5000.

When acquired, use the vehicle at all times to get around. You'll be much safer too. If you get the car stuck then immediately restart checkpoint.

When playing at night with the car. Don't drive too close to bandit outposts as they will hear the car and see the headlights. Leave it not too far and take them on from afar. If your not too bothered about killing them then driving around them is an option.

Loot at your own risk. Find safe houses to save the game before taking on an outpost for resources.

Spider liar.
Stock up on meds and filters if needed. Keep your flashlight charged up. Pointing your gun at the spiders burns them making them flip belly up, the belly is the only vulnerable spot. You can speed run most of this section if you know where to go. If not, take it slow and move up while keeping the light on the spiders.
When you get to the part where you must climb though the vent, keep looking back and in front of you constantly to make the spiders flee. This bits quite difficult. Made a lot easier with a Molotov spare, you can throw one and block the path behind you so they can only attack from the front.
When Damir kills the lights, backtrack the path you just took rushing back, he will have to restart the lift, so while your waiting I would recommend getting into a corner, preferably by the locked door you came into the room from the first time, keeping your light on the spiders while you wait for the lift to come down.

Oasis (Getting the water tank)

This is best done at night.
When coming to the fight with the mutants in the caves, speed run past them and pass over the bridge to the right. As soon as you hold X to crawl through the gap it will automatically de-spawn all mutants.
Follow damir until the get into the section where you first come across bandits/thugs. You'll notice the bucket lift kind of in the centre. Get onto this bucket lift and take it to the top. This saves you time and resources. If you get caught, restart checkpoint.
You can get an achievement for doing this too, check out the guide if you need help:

The Roller coaster achievement in Metro Exodus worth 44 pointsUse the bucket lift on the CASPIAN level to reach the Oasis.

Try to stealth kill all the enemies on the top, their are 3-4 guys on the balcony level. And 4 and 2 dogs on the ground floor. When playing at night the dogs should be resting. So use your throwing knife to take them out and don't get too close or they will smell you.
If you get caught then I would take cover in one of the buildings and peek out when you think you can pop shot a bandit. Look out for their flashlights as their in cover. Shooting at the lights on their helmets will most likely net you a headshot. Or restart checkpoint.
I've always done this mission with good morality so on the escape I never got chased so if their is a different scenario when getting caught please let me know.

Gun fight at the Aurora.

Flank left behind all the rocks and slowly push up, coming in and out of cover. I went to my backpack and put on the 6x scope on my Kalash. Their should be 3-4 maybe more bandits that come on this side. Stay low and watch for the heavy gunner in the middle.
As you see the cars in the distance, stay behind the rocks and pop shot anyone that comes out.
For the heavy gunner I used one Molotov and shot him a few times with the Kalash. I believe he should just automatically die when he becomes the last guy left.
Don't forget to loot the bodies and check for supplies in the trucks.

Stealing the oil tank from the Baron.

Play at night!
If you can make sure you have 2-3 Molotov's.
Try to stealth as much as possible, watch out for the slaves. They will rat on you if you are caught by them.
First section has 4 thugs. 1 of them is around the corner with the dogs, take him out before you take out the thug that's overlooking the slave.
Next area has 8 thugs, most of them only have axes luckily if you get caught. I would recommend taking a right as you come in through the door and stay in the shadows, follow the path around. Their will be a guy kicking a slave. Wait for him to go to sleep and the slave too then keep following the path around. You'll come across a guy who's sitting at the centre of the dog fight around some slaves. Get behind him and wait for him to try the raw rat. He will throw up and walk off. Go past him into the next room, their will be a guy sleeping in here. Throw a knife at him, for some reason the stealth/kill prompt doesn't come up while he's on the floor. Run to the exit. It will de-spawn the thugs behind you.
If you're not bothered about stealth then its simple enough to just sprint past them all and get to the exit which will de-spawn them behind you.

When getting invited to meet the baron, holster your weapons and go upstairs to meet him. Don't shoot anyone.
When the baron escapes, you'll have to fight a couple waves of thugs. Hide in crouch behind the barons throne, popping out to shoot the guys that jump down. Some will try to flank you on the left to watch out for them too.
When Guil runs off a Heavy guy shows up, if you have Molotov's spare, light him up with direct hits. 2 direct hits with a Molotov will kill him. This bit can be tricky as a bunch of guys drop down. If you have a pipe bomb spare you can take most of the thugs out with one throw. If not take cover behind the gold barrel next to the Barons throne. Take out the guy flanking on the left and the one on the right. Try take out some of the ones in the middle and Damir will show up and kill the rest.

TAIGA

This level is pretty linear from the rest.
Following the guides to this achievement can help you get through it the easiest:

The Forest child achievement in Metro Exodus worth 63 pointsComplete the TAIGA level without attacking anyone or getting noticed.

But I will try help my best with some tips. I didn't take a complete stealth approach throughout the whole thing when I played as Crossbow bolts are scarce so looting the Bandits and Pioneers helped me a bunch.

Loot as much as you can, you'll need loads of arrows and Molotov's for the Bear fight at the end of the mission.

Play at night, stay in the shadows, their are three places on this level where you can sleep.
One in the tree house where you take your first zipline into the forest with the wolf packs.
The second is in a cave to the far left when you come across your first Pioneer camp after the Bear attacks the guys arguing.
The third is after talking to Olga and heading down the ladder. If you follow the far left most path after this you'll come across a gazebo with a bed and a crossbow with a ex mag attachment.

Before you fight the Bear (Master of the Forest) make sure you have at least 3-4 Molotov's.
2 can be found in a cave in the canyon, if you took the non stealth route the canyon will be opposite the gates that lead into the church. Make sure to get those Molotov's before entering.
The next 2 Molotov's will either be right next to the entrance as you come in or in the middle of the courtyard of the church. Sometimes their is a lonely Molotov behind the rope you have to pull.

You can skip the first bear encounter by running around the bear and cutting the rope and climbing the ladder, saves a hell amount of stress. Mentioned by GameXpert5000.

Making your way to the first objective.

When you get to the part where their is a massive statue of Lenin you'll notice a school to your left which if fenced off. If you continue down the path a couple guys will jump out of a tree and tell you to clear off. Jump down from there and go to the left where you can actually get into that school from the back of it. Downstairs in the basement you can get some ammo for your crossbow. Upstairs climbing the ladder, you can find a useful crossbow with a Night vision sight on it.

On the next part where you must get to the top of the tower to zipline down. You can either stealth around these guys. Or what I did was make a run for the ladder. Run up the stairs and quickly hit the zipline. They won't follow you plus they are only armed with crossbows so you may have better luck when going up the ladder.

After the zipline, get your map out. Proceed to the objective, you'll notice that tree house I mentioned on your left in the forest. You can sleep there to make it night and easier. If its of any interest their is a zipline on that tree house which will take you outside a shack. Kill the guy there and inside the shack is a couple Molotov's. The cave next to the shack can take you towards your objective.

First Pioneer camp. (After you are captured and the bear attacks)

After you get your backpack back. You'll come across a few Pioneers chatting, stay crouched and stick to the left constantly until you reach a cave. If you get caught, make a run for the cave, they won't follow you in. Watch out for the trap in here! In this cave you can find another Molotov on the chair and a crossbow with some nice attachments. Go into the backpack and put on your new attachments. Their is a bed here too, sleep so that it is night time.

Second Pioneer camp.

As you exit the cave you'll come across the next camp. Stay to the left and stealthy pass the guy who's overlooking the area. Take a left and drop down past the dead deer that's hanging.
Follow the path down and you'll come across a guy punching the wall. Take him out. Continue down the path and up the stairs.
Follow the path towards the objective, watch out for the guys in the rooms on your left.
Go up the ladder and their will be 2 guys in a room, Quickly get past them and down the zipline.

In the canyon, continue until you see a cave. Inside this cave by the campfire is two Molotov's.
Come out the cave and up the rocks and continue inside the Church courtyard.

Fighting the Master of the Forest.

This is the area that you fight the bear. Make sure you are all tooled up for the fight. Check your med kits in the backpack. Don't forget to pick up the Molotov's in here. Cut the rope, the bear then appears. The tip for this fight is to throw a Molotov's which will make him roll around. Shoot him as you walk backwards. When he stands on two legs he is about to charge again, Throw another Molotov and keep shooting him. Keep repeating this and he should flee. If you find you can't run back no more then sprint to the other side. This is a tough fight and I used up all my Molotov's to kill him.

You may fight him if you wish but the whole fight can be avoided by running around the bear as he charges and then cutting the rope to climb the ladder and escape.
Climb the ladder and their will be a work bench where you can stock up on things you need like arrows and Molotov's (Only if you have enough)

Getting the boat.

After meeting Olga and going down the ladder. Stick to the left path until you come up to a gazebo type thing which will have a bed and a nice crossbow with a medium magazine which lets you fire 3 bolts at a time. Take the attachments off this and put it on your crossbow. Then sleep so that its night again. Take the zipline down and continue down the path. Don't go near the camp entrance in the distance! Stay left. Go up some rock and across a bridge where you can see a boat sitting there and some people talking above. Wait for them to stop talking before you take the boat. This is most frustrating because as soon as you get in the boat they can hear it. If you can get away without being seen then great! If not I would restart checkpoint. One of them should eventually walk off. Or if you'd like you can go up the ladder and kill them to take their gear. Might help with the second encounter with the bear.

Once you are in the boat take it around the linier path. Their will be a guy on the bridge talking. Wait for him to finish talking then dock the boat to the left before the bridge and go upstairs into the first room. In this room upstairs is the switch to open the gate. Their will be a guy standing in front of it. Kill him and turn the blue light off then pull the lever. You can sneak past and do it. up to you,
Go back the way you came and get into the boat. (This is the hard part)
Take your boat under the bridge and immediately go left as that exit will now be open.
They will most likely hear you so keep paddling towards the next area! If you feel like you will be shot then stand up on the boat and take a couple shots. You can stealth kill these guys while going for the lever before but it can be risky.

Shrimp infested area. (Turning the power on)

When you reach this area you'll come into a room where the breakers are shutoff. Go around the back of the building and follow the overhead cables into a room where you can turn on a generator. Quickly run back the way you came and turn on the breakers that were off before.
Turn right and go up the lift.

Spider tunnel.

When you reach the tunnel immediately sprint and don't stop! Turn right and up the stair case. Your light won't work in this next bit so you'll need to guide yourself with the bullet lighter. When you get to the top of the steps and you'll see a door half open this is where you want to sprint. Turn right after going through the door then take a quick left. Keep running until you see the stairs. Go up and around and into the vent at the top.
After passing through the vent into the next room you can now use your flashlight. Immediately run up the flight of stairs and grab the red jerry can on the left. Go back downstairs and put the fuel into the generator. Now run back upstairs again and hit the switch to open the door.
Their will be your last workbench on the left. Use this to get ready for the final bear encounter.

Final Bear attack.

Same tactics as the first attack. Walk back while shooting, using Molotov's as the bear charges. After awhile the bear will eventually drag you to the ground prompting a QTE and cutscene.

THE DEAD CITY.

I'd recommend the Kalash, shotgun and Tikhar for this mission.

Make sure you're stocked up on at least 10 minutes worth of filters. If you don't have enough you might need to be quick in some radiation sections.

First encounter with mutants.

After getting to the part where the air is breathable you'll shimmy through a gap and be attacked by your first mutant. Immediately turn around and speed run through the door across the little bridge through the door and into the water, this will de-spawn all the mutants and help skip that fight. saving ammo and time.

Second attack.

You'll come to a door that needs opening and become ambushed by mutants. Crouch by the big door and burst fire the mutants that start to charge. If they get too close pull out the shotgun. They will come from the stairs and from the top of the train on the left. Millar will take most of the hits.

Third attack

When the child is pushed through the vent. Stay crouched against the big door blocking the path. Single shot/burst fire the incoming mutants. Miller will take out most of them with he's railgun. If you find yourself short on ammo, use the Tikhar as the bullets are quite cheap to make.

In the map room (The child's home)

Take Millar's Railgun from the side.
Use the crafting bench to stock up on things you need. Don't forget to dismantle things you don't need.

After leaving the child's room you'll be alone for the rest of the way , use the railgun here.
As you go up the stairs and into the train carriage looking down on the mutants. Make sure stand up here. The mutants will be forced to come jump up making them easy to shoot.

In the section where you must open the door. (In the room where the mutants come up through the wooden floor. Hide in crouch by the lever you have to turn. I used a shotgun and kept on shooting them as they got close. They come in groups of 3 usually. Now you can either wait it out and keep shooting them until they don't come anymore or when you shoot the 3 you can quickly turn around and hold X to turn the lever. Under the floor where the mutants came from is a lot of that green chemical stuff. Grab those if you wish as it can help craft filters etc.

The Putrid tunnel.

Take the boat.
Ehhh what can I say about this bit, not much of a fan of it. Watch out for those enemies that spit goo at you (Purple slugs on the walls) If you see any of these I would melee them or shoot them as they drain a lot of your health going through the tunnel. Continue down the tunnel until you see a passage on the left. You can either go in or pass this. Their is a chance in this room to find some crafting items and chemical recourses but of the cost of being attacked by mutants so enter if you want.
After the passage on the left continue down the tunnel.
You will notice those purple slugs on the wall awaiting your arrival. Stand up on the boat and shoot these things. I didn't shoot them at all on NORMAL and lost a few health packs. It's not worth it so get them before they get you.
You should now row safely to the end of the tunnel.

Giant sea worms.

I would recommend using the Railgun only for this bit.

You'll come across a part where you are dragged under water, as soon as your back on the boat, shoot all the worms with the railgun, one shot with the Railgun fully charged should kill one of these. Kill them quick as they spit acid on you.
After this you'll make it to a dock where you can exit the boat, go up the stairs and into the train carriage. Melee the purple worms in the way. Quickly exit the carriage up the stairs, through the control room and pull the lever. Go down and follow the linier path punching any purple worms you see. Then eventually getting to the lever that pulls the boat down into the water.
You will be attacked by the sea worms again before you get in the boat.
Now when you get back in the boat before going too far I would recommend standing up and shooting the sea worms as they float in the water before they attack you.
After they are dead. continue to row, if you see anymore just repeat the trick.
Keep rowing until the boat is knocked forcing you to stand up. Quickly shoot the sea worms that attack from the left and right and far right.
After these are all dead you can continue down the tunnel safely.

Dream sequences.

Just run through this as fast as you can looking out for filters.

Liberian Monsters.

Scared yet?.. their back!
Now you can go one of two ways with these monsters, you can either stealthily pass them as they walk around or you can take an aggressive approach and shoot them with the railgun.
I on the other hand chose to shoot them as it's easier to pass the sections where you need to bring the power back on.

The first one attacks you automatically. After you've got out of he's grasp you can either shoot him to bits with the railgun or run!! I shot him and he died within 3 shots.
Quickly run for the building and head downstairs. Turn on the power and as you turn around one of the monsters enters...Holy crap! Was the first thing that came to mind. Sneak around this one and run for the switch upstairs which will open the door that was locked. You'll run upstairs.. another monster comes in front of you, either shoot or run past it.
You'll see a vision of someone suffocating. After this another Monster will be in the next room, pass him and head for the door.

The last room is coming up after you see visions of your friend dead in the train around the bodies.
Their are two Monsters in here patrolling, I took them both out fast with the railgun. But if you want to sneak around then be my guest, just don't get caught lol. To your right in the corner is the breaker, turn it on. Head into the next room and up the stairs on your left. Work your way around and flip the switch to open the exit.
You'll come across a couple more dream sequences and fall down and elevator shaft.
Squeeze through the gap where you will come across your last fight with the Liberian.
A simple QTE.
After he is dead play the rest of the mission out and you'll come to the end of your adventure.

After the credits roll your achievement shall unlock... Gor'ko!!

Congrats

24 Feb 2019 15:01

42 Comments

Have checkpoint save for I die or restart of the begin on the story? I was just asking a question for this.

By on 24 Feb 2019 22:09

Yup, just use the Kalash for mutants and leeches. The fully charged railgun kills sea worms in one shot, and kills Librarians with 2 headshots.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 14 Mar 2019 17:49

You do get checkpoints in Ranger Hardcore. They are very forgiving with checkpoints in this game. If you die, you'll be put back to your last checkpoint. It won't put you back at the beginning.

Any difficulty below Ranger Hardcore lets you quick save at any time.

By M I K 3 ID v on 24 Feb 2019 22:23

thanks。

By ASChengW on 15 Mar 2019 02:39

These are all great tips! The only one I had no idea of was the first bear fight, I’ve took him head on for 3 playthroughs

I’ll add them to the solution with your credit

I wrote this out as I was playing along but I’m planning to make some alterations when I get some time as I can spot a few mistakes I’ve made.

By M I K 3 ID v on 25 Feb 2019 08:43

Good call on skipping the first bear fight. And also the tip for shooting those fucking spiders with flame rounds.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 26 Feb 2019 21:32

On the other difficulties, you will lose a portion of your resources between levels. However, this never happened on my RHC playthrough. The resource cap is 300 for each type on this difficulty (which I was able to hit consistently and maintain from Caspian until the end). Because this number is so low, the game probably doesn't bother with stealing away your resources for balancing purposes.

By Dresden N7 on 28 Feb 2019 23:50

I'm having trouble getting through the room with the train in the Moscow level. You have to kill every single enemy before you can board the train. I get spotted very easily and die in 2 hits. Shooting out the lights alerts the guards. How do you clear this section on RH?

By I Ebon Hawk I on 02 Mar 2019 00:39

Ahh that bit in MOSCOW was pretty tough. I started writing this guide when I got to VOLGA but that section in the train was a pain.
Going straight around the corner into the room would instantly get me killed.
So I backed up as far as I could do that I wasn’t butted up against the door leading into the room with the armed guards. Then I slowly went to the left then hip fired down the carriage where they all were going left and right constantly in and out of their view.
It’s frustrating as hell as it’s so narrow with not a lot of space to move around. Or you can try this method going left and right while snap shotting (aiming in and out quickly)
They will always be hiding on the left and right.

By M I K 3 ID v on 02 Mar 2019 08:13

I can't get past the bridge section on Volga. Been trying for around 2 hours. There are light sources everywhere and enemies spot me from a mile away and kill me in one shot. I made it to the part where you go up an elevator and have to get to where Silantius is. How do you get through this section in stealth?

By I Ebon Hawk I on 04 Mar 2019 05:22

Are you playing the section at night? Playing in the day will make you almost 90% visable as they have eyes in the back of their heads lol.
From what I remember when you take the lift up their will be loads of people hanging around in the middle listening to the man speak.
You’ll want to follow the guard around to the right of these people as he goes down a narrow pathway where no one can see you. You can knock him out but make sure he doesn’t fall off the ledge.
Hope over the boxes and break the lock on the metal door and then the light off in here.
Keep going through this building and out the door you’ll see one guard patrolling the stairs. You can wait for him to look away and go up the stairs or knock him out. (If you do make sure you turn off the fire barrel downstairs)
This is where abouts my memory fades but I’m sure as you get up the stairs you take a left, then up the stairs here. This should take you to the last floor where the door is to the guy speaking to all the people.
You’ll have to sneak past the two guys up here and follow the path to the door.
If you did it right you should just walk in on him as he’s speaking.
I think it is possible to get caught.
But you can’t kill anyone. As long as you make it to the door it will despawn all the enemies behind you.

By M I K 3 ID v on 04 Mar 2019 08:04

Does the PS4 exploit for doing this and the bad ending work on Xbox? I'm still on my first playthrough so haven't been able to test it. See here under 'Hardcore' Trophy

http://www.powerpyx.com/metro-exodus-trophy-guide-roadmap/

By Calex dEUS on 04 Mar 2019 18:58

Playing on RH right now......I encourage you to just do it legit. The game feels so much better playing stealthily.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 04 Mar 2019 21:17

@ M I K 3 ID v AH I fully intend to do it legit, The SCHWARTZ 00 is right based on playing the previous games they are at their best when played like that, was just throwing it out there as a possibility for people.

By Calex dEUS on 04 Mar 2019 22:04

@Calex dEUS - It doesn't work on Xbox. I tried it by uninstalling the game, turning internet off, and re-installing it without any patches; it didn't work. No chapter select was available. Moscow and Yamantau are the hardest two levels, anyway, the open world ones are pretty straight forward because you can skip a lot of the content.

By NoHeroes94 on 05 Mar 2019 08:47

Game is ridiculously hard on this difficulty or maybe I’m just rubbish taken me about 5 hours to get to the cannibals. Never had more than 20 ammo in my guns at one time. Stealth is broken AF you are continually seen for no reason i literally had a alarm go off standing in a dark room with one enterence with no one around me. Must be doing something wrong if this is easy 😂

By ccliffy90 on 05 Mar 2019 22:08

Are you playing at night? It felt easy for me as that was my third run through the game. I know some people like to jump straight in the deep end with RH but it's definitely not worth it in the long run. But what I mean by easy is it's very forgiving with checkpoints.
Best thing I found was to try rush VOLGA.
YAMANTUA you'll get tons of resources from Dead cannibals.
CASPIAN you can most certainly take your time with as the car keeps you safe, plus their are plenty of safe houses to sleep/save. You'll need a lot of ammo for the fight with the Barons guards towards the end of that mission. Luckily I saved myself a couple Molotov's and pipe bombs for the Heavy gunner. Used the Shambler to take out the two guys who try to flank from the left and right. Then Damir kills the rest.

By M I K 3 ID v on 06 Mar 2019 01:42

The Tikhar and knives are super OP in this mode. Never used them on my run n gun "good guy" playthrough but it's awesome how they take on a whole new role here. Knives especially, wtf, you toss them at a guys stomach and it's an instakill.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 09 Mar 2019 20:14

The checkpoint system on this difficulty is aids. I got cornered by a couple of mutants with low health and the game checkpointed. As soon as I reload the checkpoint, I instantly die. This game has single handedly destroyed an otherwise great series.

By Kongo Dragon on 09 Mar 2019 22:46

^ this happened to me on my first run in the Dead City. Got stuck at a checkpoint with no oxygen and I died instantly every time I loaded in. Had to restart the whole chapter.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 09 Mar 2019 23:31

That sucks. I managed to survive by the skin of my teeth and get away with it. Now I'm on Yamantau and forgot to craft Molotovs for the heavy guy

By Kongo Dragon on 09 Mar 2019 23:34

You can make some from the crafting items dropped by dead cannibals. Or I think their might be a Molotov in the actual fight area (Can't remember well)

For the Dead City I would recommend the majority of your crafting items get spent on Filters as in some spots in the DC level, your filter time will drop at twice the rate as usual.

I would recommend getting the suit upgrade that lets you carry extra Health and filters which can be found in the CASPISAN level. This is what I used and it should give you up to 15 max mins of filter time. In the Dead city. A lot of filters can be found on shelfs and in boxes in the section where Ayrton starts hallucinating. Although I would recommend speeding through these bits fast as these are the areas that your likely to lose a lot of filter time.

By M I K 3 ID v on 10 Mar 2019 01:09

not a new game but a chapter start, can i achieve it？

By ASChengW on 14 Mar 2019 04:03

I just did this. Had about 9 minutes of filter time left by the time I finished Dead City. Use the mask on/mask off trick and all those seconds eventually add up. I usually let Artyom cough a couple times before I put it back on. As far as the difficulty itself, most of it was surprisingly easy, just a couple of annoying parts like the sea worms at the end and the fight at the Baron's throne room. But even those weren't "hard", just a little cheap with the two-tap kills from the AI.

By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 14 Mar 2019 06:01

thanks。

By ASChengW on 18 Mar 2019 04:52

Fantastic guide

By Evolved Tdog on 16 Apr 2019 13:13

Just got this achievement on New Game +.

I highly recommend playing through the game once so you have all ammo/suit upgrades. Then start New Game + on Ranger Hardcore with “My Weapons” from your previous play through.
It’s pretty easy, especially with the Rail Gun.

By ShimaClassic on 25 Apr 2019 12:00

Thanks for confirming this! I’ll add that to the solution with a mention :)

By M I K 3 ID v on 25 Apr 2019 12:55

Good guide, I'm half way through. Wish I'd not also made this my collectable run haha

By El Burgerboy on 11 May 2019 04:39

Thank you! It’s much appreciated:)
Ouch haha! Yeah I can see the collectible run on Ranger Hardcore being a challenge! Especially in Volga with all the mutants and shrimp running around. Caspian collectibles you’ll run into bandits a lot! The rest aren’t too bad!

By M I K 3 ID v on 11 May 2019 09:35

Please leave a comment when you leave a negative vote. Would like to know how I can better my solution. I've spent a lot of time making it as perfect as can be. Shame really.

By M I K 3 ID v on 27 Nov 2019 22:38

During my runthrough of Volga on Harecode, I rarely had to shoot anything 'running around'. I simply ran from it and made my way around them. As for Caspian, there is a level skip you can use with the van - not full but most of it.

By Kanchanaburi on 04 Jun 2020 06:48

Hey. Ranger Hardcore is part of the main campaign and can be selected as one of the difficulties when you start the campaign.

By M I K 3 ID v on 21 Jul 2020 06:11

Having the mutators doesnt mean much when the resources you find in Ranger Mode are scarce. Stealth is your best friend

By Vaxarys on 27 Feb 2022 16:04

The set piece battles are the most painful. Yamantau waiting for the lift took multiple attempts. The Dead City worms big and small, were a pain. Otherwise, stealth, looting and night made it very doable. That's my 100% including DLC.

Overall if you enjoy first person shooter/ adventure with a good story, then this is still a great game with excellent DLC.

By Captain Heroic on 26 Jul 2023 07:31

Couple of things I've picked up during my playthrough:

You can only hold up to 300 of each crafting material on RH, so use them to craft whatever you like if you're nearing the cap. You also lose some crafting materials and ammo after Volga, however you don't lose medkits, filters, and throwables, so feel free to craft as many as you can in Volga. You also lose all of your thowables at the beginning of Taiga, so don't craft any you don't think you'll use in Caspian.

You can force an autosave by sleeping in any safehouse. Just in case you've been out scavenging a while and the game hasn't saved.

During the spider sections, the flame pellets on the Tikhar will kill a spider in a single hit. Makes the spider sections a hell of a lot easier.

And the first bear fight in Taiga can be skipped. Just sidestep his first charge, run to the gate, cut the rope, and climb the ladder. This lets you save all your molotovs for the second bear fight. Just be aware you'll miss the achievement to defeat the bear in the first fight, if you don't have it yet.

By GameXpert5000 on 25 Feb 2019 08:19

I don't think this would work as you can't back up your save on the xbox.
But you're open to try it. I'm not really a fan of exploiting the difficulties. It's easy enough to just do 2 playthroughs.
One for NORMAL or below getting the good ending and collectables/misc.
And one for RANGER HARDCORE with bad ending.

By M I K 3 ID v on 04 Mar 2019 19:37

@Calex deUS. Not too worry mate

! I really enjoyed the RH run! Really wanted to stealth the whole of the TAIGA level but the dam boat makes so much noise when you start paddling

Guess the link is there now for anyone intrigued about doing it that way.

By M I K 3 ID v on 04 Mar 2019 22:42

Congrats SCHWARTZ

the Barons throne room was a ball ache!

ASChengW- if you’re talking about chapter select for the last mission. Then it will give you all your items you collected from the previous mission before. It won’t give you a fresh start. I would recommend just putting all your resources into filters if you’re having trouble! 10 mins of filter time should be plenty though.
I would also recommend if you have it the Metal detector watch. This helped me massively pin point ammo I couldn’t see.
Their is also plenty of opportunity’s to get ammo inside the tunnels. Miller will kill most of the mutants if you run out of ammo. Plus thier is tons of that green chemical on the wall. You’ll only come across one another crafting bench and that’s the one in the child’s room.
When Miller gives you the Railgun I would recommend just using this for the entire mission. If you have any ammo in anything else I would save that ammo for the purple slugs on the wall that spit at you. Millers railgun fully charged is one shot on almost everything. Plus the ball bearings ammo is so cheap to make and you get lots of it.

By M I K 3 ID v on 14 Mar 2019 08:42

Anybody know if I can do this in New Game+ mode using the 'keep weapons from previous playthrough' setting?
It would definitely make it easier, but I don't know if it'll invalidate the achievement

By Z792 on 01 Apr 2019 17:35

I’m not too sure as I beat Ranger Hardcore on the standard setting but you could always give it a go.
I have a feeling it would work, I wouldn’t see why not. I would recommend using the ‘My weapon’ mutator and the one that sets the game clock to ‘Real 24 hours’ instead of it being 2 hours. That way you can sleep in the game and run around at night without worrying about finding a camp to sleep at before it gets lighter.
Don’t use ‘Iron mode’. If you do and die in the Moscow level, you will be reset back to the intro and lose all your guns from the previous save.

By M I K 3 ID v on 03 Apr 2019 06:58

Going to be continuously updating this with any other things I find as I progress over the next week or so! Seems a good guide

Volga:
- When you get the port, and are ascending upwards to meet Krest, you will come to a section where you have to wait for him to lower the crane arm so you can head to his safe house. Its super easy to just run around in circles and wait for him to do so; the section is timed

- When in Krest's safehouse, he has two molotovs on a table as soon as you enter.

- You get around 200 resources after getting the trolley. Be sure to craft molotovs/ammo/filters before heading to the tugboat and final bridge section

Yamantau:
- Around 100 rifle bullets in lift (at least there was for me)

- On machine gun enemy, don't use a molotov if they are directly facing you. Doesn't take as much damage.

- Can kill the heavy in 20-30 seconds if you have 3 pipe bombs and 2 molotovs (plus a weapon, but need to shoot very little). Spawn the machine heavy, then kill the 2 cannibals (on top level, one directly to your left facing the door, one directly above the door. IMMEDIATELY spam 3 pipe bombs at his feet (he's shooting straight ahead, can't hit you). If his armour doesn't start to shed, you've done it wrong so reload checkpoint. Circle around the left, and camp next to the boxes OP mentions. He'll walk to the left of this area (by the pipes, another decent hiding spot), and you can throw 2 molotovs (carefully) at his legs (or in the area by them, molotov has a large impact area). It only took 4 shotgun bullets to the legs to kill him after this. After 45 mins of struggling, this worked twice (first I died because I walked into fire...in my infinite wisdom).

Capian:
- I'd recommend doing the gas mask switch exploit. Basically, never keep your mask on fully unless you're swamped by spiders AND in a hazardous zone. Put it on just for a millisecond, then leave it off until you hear Artyom choking twice (once if you want to be safe) and then put it back on for a millisecond. It instantly replenish your air the second you put the mask on. I only used 1m 27s of filters here using this method. The only two times I left it on for an extended period was after crawling through the hole at the start, and the rush to the elevator at the end.

By NoHeroes94 on 02 Mar 2019 10:03

View all 42 comments Show less comments

o IExcision

TrueAchievements

21 Aug 2019 18:27

This could be a temporary solution ( it works as of 08.06.2022 )

The original method that i discovered does not work anymore, but here is an updated one from that was discovered by someone else in comments section below by: Djentlives

First I created a new game on Ranger Hardcore in a new slot, then quit and started the Two Colonels DLC from the menu. After loading I quit out of this too.

Then I loaded a save from my original completed slot. As described by other comments this leads to not seeing all of the chapters in the menu.

Then I quit the game from the dashboard and restarted. On reloading I had all of the Chapters available again as I was in my original save slot.

I loaded my Two Colonels save from the other slot, then I quit the mission after loading.

I then had access to all of the missions in my alternative slot and could start the finale. Although I somehow ended up with the bad ending instead.

The save swapping is the key to this, unsure how many of the steps are completely necessary or if this can be replicated as is.

21 Aug 2019 18:27

68 Comments

Would this work for Iron man mode aswell?

Do you think it would also work for the Windows 10 version?

By SDREW44 on 21 Aug 2019 23:17

It does not work with Iron mode, i have tried multiple times. But there probably is a way... :)

By o IExcision on 22 Aug 2019 10:52

could you better explain how you do this? When i go to chapter select it doesnt show all the chapters when I do a new game.

By KCX CaptainKirk on 24 Aug 2019 21:25

You must have the DLC in order for this to work

By o IExcision on 25 Aug 2019 07:17

Do I start a new game or new game plus on the same slot? Will this not delete all my chapter selects?

By ShaunTrooper on 25 Aug 2019 07:51

Start a new game, the new game plus doesn't seem to work

By o IExcision on 25 Aug 2019 09:27

I don’t get the finale level option after quitting from the dlc, only introduction and Moscow are available

By ShaunTrooper on 25 Aug 2019 09:41

If we start a new game in a new slot, the finale isn't available. How are you doing this?

By Sashamorning on 25 Aug 2019 17:05

^ Exactly what I was afraid of. If I finish the game once, do I ruin my chances of using that save for NG+ if I start another “New Game”?

By Skrubits on 25 Aug 2019 19:39

I started new game in slot 2, now I can't seem to switch back to slot 1 and select anything past Moscow. I'm not saying the solution is wrong, but there needs to be more explanation. He only got this 4 days ago.

Is it "start new game" or "restart first level"?

By Sashamorning on 25 Aug 2019 22:02

Well, can't seem to get this to work. I'm on version 1.0.2.1. I did the instructions as listed, starting a new game in slot 2 so I didn't overwrite the ability to skip to the finale. Then I had problems switching back to save 1 for collectibles.

I loaded up my save from Taiga on save 1 and finished it, but then all I could access past Moscow was Autumn, the chapter that started after Taiga.

I quit out of the game and went back in having made slot 1 active. I can now access all levels including the finale, and collectibles are safe. Whew!!

However, still can't get this to work. I have to downvote unless better instructions are supplied. I wonder how the game was fooled into switching into Ranger Hardcore when this can't be selected under options from the DLC options menu. You can't change difficulty TO Ranger Hardcore.

By Sashamorning on 25 Aug 2019 22:11

Was this done on an X or an older console?

By Sashamorning on 26 Aug 2019 02:42

Thanks for all of the information, Sasha. Hopefully he can provide an explanation soon. It does seem fishy.

By Skrubits on 26 Aug 2019 04:12

I will go through this step by step again. Like it says on the description that this could be a temporary solution and could he patched.

Will update with the results in next hour.

By o IExcision on 26 Aug 2019 19:54

I can confirm that the method described by DjentLives is still working as of December 4th, 2019. I got the Save Anna achievement too. Thanks!

By Gabwe on 04 Dec 2019 06:53

I have updated the solution, thanks for the updated information to keep this solution working. The game has received a few updates since the original post so a few things have changed.

By o IExcision on 05 Dec 2019 09:52

Still works as of 12/28/19, thank you so much! Didnt feel like doing another playthrough.

By Fuzzy Churro on 28 Dec 2019 17:21

+1. Works like a charm even if you launch a new game + on your first slot. It was my case. Thanks a lot.

By LibelluleGino on 31 Dec 2019 15:30

Works Great. Thank you very much! +1

By inFeCt on 05 Jan 2020 01:56

Yep, the tweaks by DjentLives definitely works! Got the bad ending, too, which is good because I actually replayed through quickly a second time, but I guess I was somehow "too good" and still got the good ending again. This time, since we skipped through, I guess I couldn't do anything good at all.

By Sashamorning on 05 Jan 2020 06:50

Confirmed. Works as of 01/09/20. Thanks Djentlives!

By on 10 Jan 2020 00:56

Confirmed, works as of 01/15/20. Thanks Djentlives!

By Panda M4X on 15 Jan 2020 15:58

Confirmed. Works as of 01/22/20. Thanks Djentlives!

It has been only a week from the previous comment, but you never now! It is better to confirm as many times as we can :)
Thanks again!

By LinKPePo on 22 Jan 2020 01:03

Solution updated

By o IExcision on 25 Jan 2020 00:40

Awesome thanks man still work 1/30/20. Achievement pops at the end of the cutscene

By Mr MahHa on 30 Jan 2020 21:11

Still works post Sam Story update 2/8/20

By El Jefe Kapu on 08 Feb 2020 21:35

Just did it. Worked like a charm! :) thanks a lot!

By IxTankShotxI on 19 Feb 2020 20:41

I have the digital version through game pass and it just unlocked for me. Great find, saved me hours!!

By pantyhamster on 06 Mar 2020 09:36

Still works as of 3/14/20!

By BiggDope on 14 Mar 2020 20:55

Worked great thx 15/03/20... should be top solution

By Sensei Neo on 15 Mar 2020 15:04

Worked 11/4/20
AmaZing thanks! I did this without the DLC using digital copy on games pass. Took abit of playing around but its all about glitching the saves, had to make sure on ranger hardcore save that i got to the First checkpoint (door at the end of the tunnel) to trigger an auto save otherwise it kept corrupting.

By GE SeaBeast on 11 Apr 2020 12:29

Nice! Good to hear it still works

By o IExcision on 11 Apr 2020 20:54

As of April 28, 2020, DjentLives's solution still works! I got the ranger hardcore achievement as well as the bad ending achievement

By FosterJag15 on 29 Apr 2020 03:33

Still works 5/9/20, No DLC, digital Game Pass version. thanks DjentLives!

What I did:
Beat Game
Start new save in Ranger Hardcore
Played Hardcore up to first auto save spot after first kill
Quit to Main Menu
Choose original Save Slot
Load Dead City
Save loads, open Guide, quit Metro
Start game
Load Ranger Hardcore auto save
Once game loads, quit to Main Menu
Load chapter, choose Finale, watch it, 2 achievements unlocked

By Frankie DrumsNY on 09 May 2020 17:38

Nope, this didn't work for me. I actually lost my New game plus save. I had started my new game plus, which seemed to lock my chapter select. I did both sets of steps and it never worked. Beware.

By Kanchanaburi on 04 Jun 2020 08:44

Still works - I used the no dlc method mentioned in the comments tho

By TillTheMorning on 18 Jun 2020 07:50

Wow thank you so much frankie. I may actually finish this now before it gets removed from game pass.

By UplandParasite8 on 19 Jun 2020 06:18

What Frankie suggests works. To be clear, when you start a new Ranger Hardcore game, you use a new save slot. I think that may be where Kanch went wrong. You aren't starting NG+ so you won't lose any previous save data.

By NBA Kirkland on 20 Jun 2020 19:00

I can confirm that Frankie's method works as for 24/06/20, just done it., no dlc, game pass version. Can I do same trick with Iron man and new game+?

By lvizzzz on 24 Jun 2020 19:21

Pretty sure you cannot.

The game is lot easier the second time anyway. No collectables, start with the guns, don't have to stealth, etc.

By Sashamorning on 24 Jun 2020 19:22

Yeah, doesn't work. You can still watch finale in same way but no cheevos.

By lvizzzz on 25 Jun 2020 00:24

Frankie's solution worked for me. 27/06/2020

By Slayor CX on 28 Jun 2020 00:29

I can confirm this still works as of 25/09/2020.

Tried it last night, followed instructions and I not only got the achievment for Ranger Hardcore but also the achievement for the sad ending.

By Maiden Ty One on 26 Sep 2020 09:23

This solution worked for me on 2/23/21. Thanks.

By Nyjak on 24 Feb 2021 05:21

By o IExcision on 17 Jul 2021 14:35

I can confirm it still works 11/14/2021. You have to have the game and the DLCs. I have a digital version of the game. My first playthrough, I played and aimed for the good ending. but after trying this method I managed to unlock the achievement for both the bad ending and the ranger hardcore difficulty

By Alumejr on 14 Nov 2021 06:47

still works 12-24-2021, thanks, my 1st few hardcore attempts ended up glitched so this saved me a huge headache

By Dizyne on 25 Dec 2021 04:33

Still works 22-2-22, I did it with my new game plus save that I finished on reader difficulty

By I BossK I on 22 Feb 2022 17:39

3-5-22
I didn't expect this to work, but it did to my surprise.
Thank you very much, not only did you get me the ranger hardcore acheivement you also got me bad ending acheivement :)
Have an upvote you magnificent legend :)

By anthony2690 on 03 May 2022 08:42

good to hear it still works.

By o IExcision on 04 May 2022 12:10

In case anyone is as late to this as I am. I can confirm that the solution that Frankie gave above in the comments still works as of June 03, 2022. Got both achievements.

By A ZombieTwinkie on 03 Jun 2022 07:50

Broooo, thank you for this! Simple as cake, got the bad ending and hardcore Achievement 20.06.2022.

By LV Drejz on 20 Jun 2022 07:58

I did this on my new account last night and its works perfect, im trying to do the New game+ now. Also you do not need to beat the game, u can press X to unlock all chapters and then follow the guide.

By Excdsd on 03 Aug 2022 12:33

Still works as of August 12th you wonderful savage. Cheers +1

By Trentamental on 13 Aug 2022 00:31

By o IExcision on 15 Aug 2022 20:25

Still working on 8/19/22. Great work finding this boys!

By FLAWLESSVICT0RY on 19 Aug 2022 05:02

This solution needs more votes. Still works 6/11/22 or 11/6/22 for those who prefer their dates nonsensical

By B0YD0 on 06 Nov 2022 13:04

Still works. You will get the "bad ending" however

By xXx B1GBR1T xXx on 01 Feb 2023 19:00

Still works. Thanks.
You can see it when checking the 2nd file, it says new game+ unlocked. Just start the Finale from chapter select.

By Dalmater on 24 Jun 2023 01:26

Have to do this "old school", multiple attempts using all the "save swap" protocols only gives me the option of Hardcore Finale, not Ranger Hardcore, so obviously no achievement.

Good job I loved the game. New Game+ Ranger Hardcore here we go......

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we give!!

By Captain Heroic on 21 Jul 2023 17:43

Method still works, Aug. 06, 2023. Thank you!

By Erukusaki36 on 06 Aug 2023 07:30

Still works as of 8/23/23.

By ACTiONHANSEN on 23 Aug 2023 22:03

Still works in May 2024, saved me another playthrough, thank god..

By EI Bikerboy on 20 May 2024 08:53

Still works in May 2024

By RMZ3S on 01 Jun 2024 19:39

I will go through this step by step again. Like it says on the description that this could be a temporary solution and could he patched.

Will update with the results in next hour.

By o IExcision on 27 Aug 2019 07:49

Hm, might try anyway, after beating Moscow I would have save made, would repeat steps from Frankie's solution.

By lvizzzz on 24 Jun 2020 20:02

I'm having no luck accessing later chapters, and I wonder if it's due to starting a NG+ on my original save, prior to learning of this exploit.

-My primary save slot is on a NG+ in Moscow.
-My second save slot is a new game on Ranger Hardcore, with an auto save point a few minutes in.
-Playing on version 1.0.2.6

I've tried loading saves from each, backing out to the main menu, quitting from dash, etc., and no combination allows me to load up a later chapter via Chapter Select. I believe LibelluleGino stated they were in the same state as me, but they did not have the same issue.

Any suggestions?

By PNibbles on 13 Jul 2020 01:35

Got this to work after a couple of tweaks.

First I created a new game on Ranger Hardcore in a new slot, then quit and started the Two Colonels DLC from the menu. After loading I quit out of this too.

Then I loaded a save from my original completed slot. As described by other comments this leads to not seeing all of the chapters in the menu.

Then I quit the game from the dashboard and restarted. On reloading I had all of the Chapters available again as I was in my original save slot.

I loaded my Two Colonels save from the other slot, then I quit the mission after loading.

I then had access to all of the missions in my alternative slot and could start the finale. Although I somehow ended up with the bad ending instead.

The save swapping is the key to this, unsure how many of the steps are completely necessary or if this can be replicated as is.

By LeviathanDjents on 14 Oct 2019 20:44

View all 68 comments Show less comments

MCmichaelD

TrueAchievements

27 Jun 2020 19:50

This is from Sensei Neo 's Metro Exodus Windows 10 Hardcore Guide.

The Hardcore achievement in Metro Exodus (Windows) worth 355 pointsComplete the game in Ranger Hardcore mode.

Which was based on a comment from Frankie DrumsNY

He referenced an old Xbox version glitch. When I went to the Xbox version guides, similar methods existed but they called for either DLC or uninstalling the game. I thought I would give this a try and it worked.

----------

Beat the Game
Start a new save in Ranger Hardcore (not new game plus)
Play the first level until the watchmen jumps out and you get an autosave. (You might have to kill another enemy)
Quit to Main Menu
Choose load Game and choose your save slot that has beaten the game.
choose the Dead City save on the next page
Once the loading screen finishes (when arytom finishes talking and press x to play pops up, force quit out of metro from the xbox guide.
Open the game.
Load the new Ranger Hardcore save slot
Once game loads, press X then quit to Main Menu
Load chapter, choose Finale, watch it and you'll get the Hardcore achievement.

27 Jun 2020 19:50

26 Comments

Don't know why, but it works! Also unlocked the bad ending achievement which is nice.

By Lockie on 30 Jun 2020 08:29

Clear and precise. +1 from me

By HollyRose78 on 01 Aug 2020 21:23

Worked perfectly and didn't have to do another play through. This should be the top solution. Thank you and thanks to Sensei for figuring it out!!!!!!!!!

By wildwest08 on 12 Sep 2020 17:02

force and quit means dashbord for linguistis ! i did at least 6 times the manipulation befor undersanding, in the end, i succeeded and it worked

By dj nike tou on 07 Oct 2020 11:06

Works as of 30 January 2021

By Quiffindor on 30 Jan 2021 19:07

For the step where you have to choose the Dead City save, actually any save will do from your first playthrough.
I went back to do some miscellaneous achievements via level select and could only load Taiga. Dashboarding there did unlock level select on my other save too.

By psybOltOn on 03 Feb 2021 22:14

I followed the instructions and got both the “Hardcore” and “Eternal Voyage” achievements. 5/3/21

By BudgetBallin360 on 03 May 2021 20:18

Worked like a charm! +1

By o0EviIToaster0o on 28 May 2021 22:47

Still works August 4th, 2021 on XSX with the next gen update. Great solution!

By Hurricane Matt on 04 Aug 2021 22:53

Still works 280921 - thanks for saving me a load of time. I had already beaten the game and then I started the dlc saving over my previous game saves.
I started a new save on chapter select and chose the finale and quit out once it had finished. I followed your guide and used this save and it worked brilliantly.

By Gouldy1972 on 23 Sep 2021 17:16

Does this get you the bad ending aswell?

By R3dD3vil1288 on 14 Oct 2021 10:52

Got it as of Feb 2022. Only hiccup I ran into was the Autosave wouldn't trigger after the watchmen part.

By Certain Finesse on 14 Feb 2022 08:05

Same here still works 17/2/22 , thanks for this dude saved me a 3rd playthrough. ✌

By ZaveGaming87 on 17 Feb 2022 00:21

Worked for me, also before i did this i went thru the chapter select of my good play through finding collectibles but i made some bad karma choices(killing surrendering ppl/ killing ppl in the taiga lvl. and when i did this trick it gave me the bad ending achievement as well as ranger hardcore!

By Spectre11950 on 28 Mar 2022 01:18

Great tip.....still works as of 6/13/22

By LRD SOTH on 13 Jun 2022 17:56

awesome! worked for me aswell. 16 July 2022

By XC ShadowClaw on 16 Jul 2022 17:51

Still works August 15, 2022. I didn't even have a "dead city" save to go back to on the original save slot

By Anser2Altus on 16 Aug 2022 00:16

thank you for this, saved me many hours of pain...

By II Dish II on 21 Sep 2022 20:02

Still works and yes you will get the bad ending so that achievement will unlock too.

By Debrimba on 31 Dec 2022 03:37

works as jan 10 2023

By VANDALOx11 on 11 Jan 2023 00:58

This is stupidly easy, and it WORKS! Thank You!

04.07.2023.

By JimmieWorld on 07 Apr 2023 02:33

Not working for me as of 14/07/23. Even though I have a save at Hardcore Finale. Playing through does not pop an achievement. I will leave it a few days to see if there is a delay.

By Captain Heroic on 14 Jul 2023 14:21

Worked for me (23 Aug 2023). Thanks!

By GenericCow on 23 Aug 2023 22:55

Worked for me as of April 2024!! Now one final iron mode playthrough to go

By Lentilus on 13 Apr 2024 21:49

HOOOO-LEEEEEE SCHNIKIES!! dude. you just saved me a 3rd playthrough!

This works perfectly as of October 22nd, 2020...

May I add a couple of notes?
1: my Game #1 slot was a NG+ Iron Mode run - and this worked! so no fear if you are in the same position and wondering...
2: because this solution involves a lot of steps that are precise, I would like to suggest clarifying that when you
"Load the new Ranger Hardcore save slot. Hold X to fully load the game.
Once you have control of Artyom, quit to Main Menu."

Just to reiterate - awesome solution. it works. you are my current hero of the day. Please, have a drink on me sir...

p.s. FULL props to Frankie DrumsNY and Sensei Neo for the actual solution - but huge thanks to the author MCmichaelD for writing this down clearly and independently of the other solutions.

By ShadyShall on 23 Oct 2020 03:39

Wow. This still works as of 2/6/2021.
I was not very hopeful about it as I had already started NG+ on my original slot. But, wanted to give it a try before the XSX update gets released (who knows, they may patch this up).
Here is what I did (not sure which steps were necessary):
I just have Save Slot# 1 with NG+ saved at Volga.
From chapter select loaded the "Finale". This created an Autosave at Finale for me.
Now, followed this solution above. Except the part where they said load "Dead City" of original Save Slot. Instead of that, I loaded the "Finale" as soon as loading finished and cutscene started, I force quit from the Xbox Guide menu. (Keep in mind that you do not get "Press X to continue" option after loading Finale.
After this just followed the guide.
Thank you so much for everyone who worked on the solution.

By pradDIABLO on 07 Feb 2021 05:42

View all 26 comments Show less comments

IloveTEST400

TrueAchievements

09 Mar 2019 19:09

Ok this is a touchy subject but I’ve read the terms and conditions on what classified as cheating etc, this method uses the games previous updates which from what I’ve read doesn’t count. I read somewhere (powerpyx guide, who credited danielwang008) that there is an exploit for Ranger hardcore were you complete the game on the easiest difficulty uninstall to update 1.0.0.0 complete the first mission on ranger hardcore killing all enemies to lock ending in then load up the last mission and watch the cutscene thus unlocking ranger hardcore and bad ending, from what IVE read and researched this could only be done on the PS4 due to achievements not unlocking offline on Xbox however....

DISC VERSION ONLY - won’t work with digital copy

I just did the EXACT steps in this order and it’s worked for me
-COMPLETE GAME ON ANY DIFFICULTY GOOD ENDING
-UNINSTALL GAME
-NETWORK SETTINGS (go offline)
-REINSTALL GAME
-START NEW GAME ON RH AND GET UPTO “winter”
-QUIT TO MAIN MENU WHEN SEATED NEXTO RADIO IN WINTER
-LOAD UP FINALE
-WATCH TILL END
-DASHBOARD AFTER BACK TO MAIN MENU, (go online)
-INSTALL 3G update
-CHAPTER SELECT THE FINALE MISSION AND WATCH AGAIN

If done correctly both achievements should pop after second time watching cut scene when you’re back online.

Credit to danielwang008 for the method, and from what I’ve researched I’m the first to confirm this for Xbox? If not please let me know I’ll shout them out

09 Mar 2019 19:09

i1i Reaper i1i

TrueAchievements

22 Feb 2019 01:30

For those who are going to do hard core make sure you have a minimum of 12:00 min of filter time on the Dead City Chapter. If you're lower than that don't bother cause you'll never make it all the way to the end. Found out the hard way had to chapter select and redo it cause i ran out of filter time and yes you can still get the achv . Also don't waste time walking around just speed run the things you can get by. I used the " Kalash " and " A-Shot " double barrel maxed ammo on both and Millers modded Tikhar you should easily kill everything, assuming that you're ok at FPS.

22 Feb 2019 01:30

Lord Razorblade

TrueAchievements

07 Mar 2019 14:09

In this video guide I will help you get through ranger hardcore. A few tips would be to utilize the time change stations because they not only heal you but save your progress. Since you can't quick save on this difficulty. Also using it to change it to night helps sneak past the humans a lot. Using the tikhar rifle with explosive rounds is pretty helpful against mutants since it pretty much kills them in one or two hits. Make sure to grab some extra gear for upgrades and loot the areas near your mission. I didn't explore too much and did just fine. Other than that watch what I do for extra help.

Up to level CASPIAN

TAIGA and DEAD CITY

07 Mar 2019 14:09

Everrdan

TrueAchievements

18 Mar 2023 14:06

In caspian level you can skip almost whole level

For the dead city to save alot of time I recommend check this video

After meeting first blindone you can finish level normally because second part of this skip is very hard to do.

18 Mar 2023 14:06

mikem192

PlaystationTrophies

First of all, there are two exploits that can be used in order to unlock Ranger Hardcore by starting the game, coming out into the main menu and using chapter select to play the Finale.

Instructions:

Exploit one: Includes deleting and reinstalling the game

Step 1 - Play and finish game on the latest patch, on "Reader" or "Normal" difficulty.
Step 2 - Upload your saves, then delete the game.
Step 3 - Revert the game to v1.00:
Digital using this: LINK
Disc install with no internet connected or just pause the update when it starts downloading
Step 4 - The exploit:
- Start a new game on Hardcore
- After the first autosave, quit to main menu
- Use Chapter Select and choose "Finale" (which can take up to 20 minutes is 'downloading content' displayed in the bottom right) then once the Chapter plays out (its all cutscenes) Eternal Voyage, Hardcore and Mutation will all unlock.

Thanks pfnorzli for posting that it works as of v1.07. Check out the thread here: LINK

Exploit two: No deleting or reinstalling the game

Not sure how or if this works but check out the thread below for information on this new found method and the possibility to unlock Iron mode and ng+ alongside Ranger Hardcore

Thanks Delameko for this information. Check out the thread here: Link

Going legit Tips and information:

Ammo and resources scarce - Pick your battles carefully, if you can avoid open world enemies then do so and if you can stealth move past others than definitely do so to preserve both.
You'll take more damage from enemy attacks - A bit obvious but even the jump from Reader to Normal is heavily noticeable so really try and stay in cover as best you can.
The Quick Save feature is disabled - This will make the good run a lot harder, I would recommend doing the bad ending here just in case you make a mistake. However there are still checkpoints.
No HUD - Annoying at best but nothing major.

nekov4ego

TrueSteamAchievements

02 Mar 2019 00:00

I made a video guide on both Full Strength and Ranger Hardcore since I think being sneaky helps through RH a lot. However, if you only care for the Hardcore achievement, ignore the optional objectives in The Caspian.

Note that this NOT a speedrun nor a seamless run, but I have done my best to edit out the parts where I failed or was too lucky in order to provide a more reliable way for you to follow. I hope that you find it useful. Please leave a like on YouTube if so and feel free to comment and ask questions if you need more help.

Chapters*
Moscow - 0:00
Winter
The Volga - 0:36:15
Spring
Yamantau - 1:48:15
The Caspian - 2:03:10
Summer
The Taiga - 3:34:20
Autumn
The Dead City - 4:21:25

* I have removed the scripted sequences/chapters and cutscenes where not relevant as you cannot die or make mistakes there. When I played, I skipped and saved time where possible. If you would like to build a relationship with your crew, listen to them and take part in the activities on The Aurora. It may help but is not required for the best ending.

02 Mar 2019 00:00

Scotty

XboxAchievements

This achievement can be unlocked in one of two ways. The first way is to play it legitimately on Ranger Hardcore difficulty. The mode will as you would expect, make you weaker, make enemies stronger, remove HUD elements and remove the manual save feature. You can play a large portion of the game in stealth so doing so will undoubtedly help you to complete this difficulty as even on the easier difficulties, the combat can be a little finicky. Some points to remember if you play on this difficulty;

Scavenge everything. The main focus of the gameplay is to craft useful items and ammo. Although the majority of ammo can only be crafted at a workbench, you can still craft steel balls and then later on crossbow bolts from your backpack, as well as medkits and filters for the gasmask
Keep your stocks full. At every opportunity craft ammo and medkits. As said above medkits can be crafted anywhere so try to keep your quantity at maximum. Whenever you use one or two, be sure to craft more as soon as you're able. Whenever you come across a workbench, use it to refill your ammo and clean your weapons
Find suit upgrades. See the description for "Old world pictures" for a video that includes the suit upgrade locations, or rather a link to a more comprehensive guide that breaks the collectibles down so that you can just find the suit upgrades, as they're the only important collectibles for this difficulty. Many of the upgrades have uses that will make the game much more manageable, from giving you more armour, to a higher ammo count, to a radar that shows enemy locations, perfect for stealth actions. It's well worth finding some of these upgrades
Play in New Game + if possible. If you play in New Game +, you can utilize certain modifiers such as the 'my weapons' modifier that will allow you access to your previous weapons from the last full game you completed. This of course makes the combat significantly easier

The second way to unlock this achievement involves a glitch that includes deleting the game and a subsequent patch, then reinstalling and playing the game offline without the patch. This can take an hour or two, but is of course much quicker than a full playthrough and the difficulty is trivial. Note that this glitch can ONLY be done with a PHYSICAL copy of the game and will not work with a digital copy.

Credit for the glitch information and subsequent spreading goes to 'IloveTEST400', 'Powerpyx' and 'danielwang008'. Follow the steps below exactly and the achievement should unlock with no issues;

Complete the game on any difficulty with the 'Good' ending.
Uninstall the game.
Change your network settings to 'Offline' - Press 'Home' button, scroll across to 'Settings', down to 'Network', Network Settings', 'Go Offline'.
Reinstall the game while remaining offline.
When the game is ready, start a new campaign on 'Ranger Hardcore' difficulty and progress only until you go through the first door you can after gaining control of your character. (Credit to Its Dan for this tip) to force an auto-save.
Quit to main menu after getting to this point then load up the Finale mission.
Let the cutscene play out until the credits start to roll.
When you're back to the main menu, quit the game fully, then go back online via the same pathway to go offline in step 3, then let the patch install.
Load up the Finale mission again and let it play out until the credits and the achievement should unlock as they begin to roll, along with "Eternal Voyage" for getting the 'Bad' ending, should you still not have it.

Rainnsk

stratege.ru

15 Feb 2019 16:56

This guide was translated automatically. Show original

This difficulty is available immediately, if you are aiming for platinum, I advise you to start with it. It’s hard at first, but stealth saves you. They kill with 1-2 bullets, mutants with 3-4 hits. I craft cartridges for a revolver, it kills all people and some mutants with one shot. When you get fire balls for Tihar, leave them for the spider scorpions from the first part, which you need to fry with a flashlight until they turn over on their backs. with these balls you can one-shot them without frying them with a torch

15 Feb 2019 16:56

26 Comments

version for PS5 digital game and extras purchased separately
Glitch works on the date 05/23/24

1. Start a new game on Ranger Hardcore difficulty in a new slot.
2. We reach the first monster and kill it. We see the autosave and go to the main menu of the game.
3. Select the “load” option and load the last save from the slot in which the game has already been completed, the final cutscene on the train begins. Close the game using the PS button.
4. Launch the game and load the last save from the Ranger Hardcore slot.
5. After loading, go to the main menu of the game.
6. Select chapter item => final level

By madboiz on 21 Nov 2021 22:08

The glitch also works on Digital!
29.09 Just got Hardcore and Bad Ending using the digital glitch version 1.06.
After completing the game, I started a new game on hardcore, using the save of the completed game. We reach the first QTE with the monster and go to the menu. The choice of chapters includes only Moscow. We leave the game. Disable the Internet (I pulled out the LAN). Let's start the game. In the selection of chapters, the last chapter, Conclusion, appears immediately after Moscow. We start it (it loaded very quickly)... there is a bad ending and trophies at the end.

PS. Oops. It also worked for the Iron Mode and Mutation trophies. But a little differently. I started NG+ with the iron mode. Came out after meeting the first QTE guard. Rebooted the game. Launched Conclusion. In the end nothing. I tried both with and without Internet. Nothing. I walked in iron mode to the depot, where I had to steal a steam locomotive. They were shot there. ((Upon exiting the menu, I loaded the last chapter. Conclusion. Both trophies were given) I didn’t turn off the Internet.

By Kruzhok on 29 Sep 2019 13:53

For those who want to use the glitch, it is not necessary to go through the first two chapters; after starting a new game with an existing save, it is enough to wait for the first checkpoint (when, having gained control of Artyom and going down to the subway, you open the first door). Having passed the first checkpoint, we also go to the main menu and select the chapter conclusion (it takes about 10 minutes to load - you need to wait).
I just got Hardcore and Endless Journey.
The game was originally played on 1.0

By Karandassh on 06 May 2019 22:55

I would recommend the first playthrough on simple difficulty, so to speak, for informational purposes and for the soul (we go admiring the views, fortunately there is something to admire, and so on), after which you can collect what is not collected, but the second one is on hardcore, so you will know that, where and how, where are some monsters, where is it better to shoot, and where to run, saving ammunition and filters. Difficult places with monsters (for example, Caves where we are going with Damir, we stupidly run to the place where you are already going directly to the water source, arrange a shootout with the beastmen yourself it will be more expensive), you can simply bypass the Pioneer camps in Taiga (although the last one on Kharkor caused me difficulty - for some reason I was always noticed on the boat, although before that I received a trophy

Child of the Forest on normal difficulty has no problems at all), in the battle with Baron’s bandits on the tower I strongly recommend having at least one grenade and 2-3 molotovs with you, since it will be difficult to shoot them, but throwing them with explosives will work very well, as well As for weapons, it is better to take there a Killer with an extended magazine and a Valve with a laser target and a collimator.

By himeo on 23 Feb 2019 10:30

Soldiers in armor and with a Gatlingan analogue are very vulnerable to Molotov cocktails. But the fiery bullets of the tihar don’t really hit them.

By riv666 on 18 Feb 2019 11:19

I advise you to go through the good ending on this difficulty, plus save all three crew members. Since on hardcore it is easier to bypass everyone by stealth than to engage in open confrontation.

By KirTheFirst on 21 Feb 2019 12:47

I started playing Ranger Hardcore, I was confused by the fact that you can’t check the number of cartridges, it turned out you can by holding down the button

.
I can also advise you not to mow down everyone all the time to save ammo. For example, when we fall into the bunker where Anna was suffocating, it is not necessary to kill all the beastmen, just get there and open the doors, all the beastmen will disappear and you can calmly explore the bunker, without wasting ammo and filters. It’s the same in the terminal, just calmly walk forward and shoot the fastest ones, or even run forward.

By trickreroll on 03 Mar 2019 08:21

As of 05/22/2020
Version 1.08. Glitch on Ranger Hardcore works
Completed the game with the Good ending on version 1.08.
Made a save on a save drive
Deleted the game
Downloaded 1.00 from the disk (with the Internet turned off)
Launched NG on Ranger Hardcore
Completed the beginning until the first mob, exited after the autosave
Game at 1.00 sees saves from 1.08
Clicked Conclusion and waited 20 minutes for the content to load
Trophy dropped

By NesvetskyLev on 22 May 2020 21:07

On version 1.09 the glitch does not work.

By FITIL on 29 Jun 2020 17:15

madboiz is less painful and crashes, 06.10.22 works

By deadcat27 on 06 Oct 2022 22:43

Shoot in the head more often, it goes down right away. If it goes under stealth, then use cans to attract the enemy and then you know. Sometimes there are shortcuts. Look wider. Basically these are homemade stairs from boxes and boards. Narrow openings. Manual checkpoints do not work on this difficulty. They are automatic. I recommend going through the bad ending on this difficulty. Because here you can kill everyone. And he doesn’t bother with stealth. And of course patience

By DesantnikRus on 19 Feb 2019 15:16

Disk version bug saving version 1.04 approaches 1.0

By Destroyer_45 on 06 Apr 2019 18:06

The glitch is valid for update 1.07!!!

By Greg5583 on 29 Oct 2019 10:16

The glitch works on 1.09. Update 11/19.
Completed the game with a good ending. Started a new game using an old save. And turned off the Internet. I ran to the first monster and closed the game. Then I launched it and selected the last chapter. I looked at the ending and got two trophies for completing it on hardcore and a bad ending

By smokkey1978 on 13 Dec 2019 20:26

If you don’t bother and want to go through two endings fairly.. Hardcore is better and easier to go through to the bad end.. At the Taiga level it’s just hell to go through the good end in stealth.. It’s many times easier to just kill everyone..

By vArvAr on 26 Jun 2020 17:33

1.09 patch (digital)
Does not work.
I did it via psxdownloadhelper, the game was swinging at 1.00 and the glitch worked

By maaxumka on 29 Nov 2020 18:18

07/15/2022 Hint from madboiz works 100%, PS5 version (Digital).

By G1Jesus on 15 Jul 2022 18:44

The instructions for the digital version of PS5 also work for the PS4 version. Patch 1.09

By MrBenderRodriguez on 29 May 2023 08:17

If you want to go without glitches, then you can easily start on NG+, and there with a rail (the cheapest ammunition) it will be an easy walk, with the exception of Novosibirsk with its worms and larvae that kill in two shots.

By serduk152 on 12 May 2024 02:34

There is a bug with the disc version of the game that makes it easier to get the trophy.
1) beat the game on any difficulty on any version and game
2) delete the game, turn off the Internet on the console, and install the game again without the patch, version 1.0
3) start a new game on the ranger with an existing save file where the game is completed.
4) Complete the first chapter, when the “winter” chapter starts, go to the main menu and load the last chapter of the game with the ending.
5) get a trophy.
UPD it is unknown how the bug works with the new save system introduced with the release of the Two Colonels dlc

By DrLogan on 07 Mar 2019 20:12

Important! The glitch does not work if you start a new game after completing the DLC.
Manipulations with saves must be done immediately after completing the main story campaign.

If you completed the DLC, then launch the conclusion of the main game, and then a new game for this save, and then everything else according to the instructions)

By OptikRUS on 27 May 2020 16:11

The digital glitch works, thanks to Kruzhok. Got a trophy on digital. 10/25/2019, I didn’t look at the version because... I have a habit of immediately deleting the game after losing platinum, but all the updates were there. At first I thought of going through the whole thing on this difficulty New Game +, because... The last two trophies were missing, for the bad ending and to pass on Hardcore. I reached the point where I needed to hijack a train. I played offline, closed the game, re-entered the game and the last chapter appeared in the chapter selection. I launched it, loaded very quickly, watched the bad ending and got two trophies.

By Dimkats222 on 26 Oct 2019 08:13

On 11/14/20 the glitch works fine. Just got platinum.
Completed the game on normal (patch 1.09), saved to the cloud just in case.
Then everything is as described above:
We deleted the game, installed a new one without patches, and went to the first checkpoint. All you have to do is go to the main menu and click on the chapters. And here they are all dear.
We chose a conclusion, waited for the content to load and three trophies, namely for the hard game, for the bad ending and the platinum itself in our pocket.
Got it right on the second try

By KurtLied on 14 Nov 2020 12:35

in the Caspian Sea I had a bug with immortal mobs, they died only from a knife and fire, Molotov cocktails, fire bullets from a tihar, so when you go to the baron on the ship, stock up on both, 3 Molotovs were enough for me and about 10 bullets, and I threw knives They won’t shoot oil workers, but they won’t want to die from simple bullets either

By saybean2 on 24 Feb 2019 09:45

I completed the game on the reader on version 1.09 and threw the save onto a flash drive (to be on the safe side). I downloaded version 1.00 (20.5 GB, 11 pkg files) via psx-download-helper, installed and launched a new game on Ranger Hardcore, when autosave appeared, went to the main menu and launched the final chapter, received a bad ending and this trophy itself, as well as a mutation from new game+.
I also tried to get the iron mode but it didn’t work, because the iron mode is not compatible with 1.00 and crash saves, only from version 1.04 and higher.

By deniskor_ on 06 Nov 2020 01:35

10.30.2019: the glitch works on digital with the latest patches, thanks to comrade Kruzhok and send him likes)

-after passing, we start NG+ on hardcore offline (although I also got the Conclusion online)
-we reach the KTE with the mutant and go to the menu, only Moscow will be in the choice of chapters
-exit the game, go back and the conclusion will appear in the chapter selection, download and get trophies for the bad ending and hardcore

But the iron mode didn’t work for me for mutation, although I followed Kruzhka’s instructions

PS it worked for the mutation and the iron mode as follows:
- started NG+ in normal difficulty + hard mode and “my weapon”, I did NOT turn off the Internet at all
- how the game started in Moscow, went to the main menu, left the game
- went into the game, clicked continue
- as soon as control was given, I went back to the menu, went to the chapter selection and loaded Conclusion

By skylark on 30 Oct 2019 09:06

View all 26 comments Show less comments

Diabolique

stratege.ru

22 Jun 2021 00:43

This guide was translated automatically. Show original

For digital PS5:
1. Complete the game
make a backup of your save (if you need it in the future)
2. Start a “New Game” (not NG+) in a new save slot
3. Go until the first attack on you (QTE + kill the next monster) this will launch an autosave
4. Exit to the main menu
5. Load the game from the first slot (where the game is completely completed) and load the latest save
6. As soon as the loading is finished and the cutscene starts, end the game (PS button)
7. Start the game and load the save from the 2nd slot (where the hardcore is). As soon as it loads (press square), exit to the main menu.
8. Through the selection of chapters, go to the finale, watch the cutscene and the trophy is yours!

22 Jun 2021 00:43

1 Comment

You don't have to go through the game to get trophies for Hardcore and the ending (although there is no difference).
PS5 natively has chapter select , but trophies will be locked when this feature is activated.
We do everything according to the instructions, and by moving to another save slot, the trophies will be unlocked . The main thing before points 6 and 7 is to exit the game.
Next, load the final chapter, and after the cut-scene we get trophies - for the ending and Rager Hardcore.
Therefore, the game does not need to be completed twice for platinum .
After receiving the Ranger and Ending trophies, we start a new game +.
We complete the game, get a different ending and trophies for NG+

You can also get it the other way around. Complete the game and then, using the glitch, close the Hardcore and Other endings, as described above in the tip.

By cyrax on 22 Jun 2021 11:17