No matter how good you are, you’re inevitably going to take some damage in any kind of game with combat. Our Metro Exodus how to heal guide is here to tell you everything you need to know about restoring your health in Artyom’s newest and most expansive adventure.
Taking damage is an inevitability in a first-person shooter like Metro Exodus. Even if you’re on a low difficulty, you will probably need to heal at some point. Most players will learn about medkits as they play the game, but there are other ways to heal that won’t be immediately obvious. These new ways to heal will be available from the very start of The Volga, so read out and find out how to keep your health up at zero cost to you!
Metro Exodus How to Heal | Medkits
Medkits are one of the most reliable and most used ways to heal in Metro Exodus. You’re able to craft them for the relatively low cost of 5 Materials and 20 Chemicals either through your backpack or at one of the many workbenches spread throughout the game world. A single Medkit will restore all (or most) of your health depending on the game’s difficulty. Aside from crafting Medkits, you may also be able to find them in the world every now and again. To my recollection, this only happened a few times throughout my gameplay experience. If you have a full set of five and you do pick them up, you’ll receive the Dismantle value of 1 Material and 3 Chemicals.
Gas mask filters are arguably a little less important in Metro Exodus. If you take away anything from our Metro Exodus how to heal guide, it should be this: make sure to always have a full complement of medkits on hand. You don’t want to have to stop to craft any of them in the middle of a firefight. If you do get caught flat-footed, it is thankfully very easy to craft medkits from your backpack. Medkits are the default item when you go into the backpack menu, so it’s not that difficult to open your backpack and hammer the confirmation key a few times. You’re still very vulnerable when doing this, so make sure you at least duck behind cover before doing so.
Lastly, you should always avoid dismantling Medkits. You will always need them and the dismantle cost is paltry compared to what’s needed for you to make them. Break down ammo, grenades, or literally anything else before you even consider dismantling a medkit.
Metro Exodus How to Heal | Safehouses & beds
Another new feature in Metro Exodus is safehouses. Safehouses are marked by a green house on your map and are available in most levels. These locations will typically contain some Materials and Chemicals to salvage, a workbench, and a bed. They are also totally free from enemies, giving you a brief moment of respite from the terrors of post-apocalyptic Russia.
Safehouses can heal you in two different ways. The first is through your canteen. When you sit down, a menu will pop up with four options: exit, use your canteen, advance the time to day, and advance the time to night. If you select the canteen option, Artyom will drink a slug of water and restore his health in short order.
Alternatively, you can advance the time to day or night. A short cutscene will play as you see the time change happen at an accelerated rate from a third-person perspective outside whatever safehouse you happen to be in. Sleeping will fully restore your health. In addition, the differences between day or night can change how the gameplay. Daytime makes exploration much easier, but it’s more difficult to infiltrate certain well-guarded locations (and nighttime reverses that).
It’s important to emphasize that safehouses don’t run out or go away (at least as far as I can tell from my gameplay). The more open maps like The Volga and The Caspian will present many safehouses spread throughout the map. If you’re near enough to one, it might not be a bad idea to retreat there and heal up rather than using a precious Medkit.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t use a Medkit in combat! It’s better to heal up than risk dying and being bounced back to an earlier quick save or checkpoint. But when a fight is over and there are no enemies in sight, it may be a better idea to turn around and get back to a safehouse. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper.
