How to upgrade your weapons in Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter (FPS) set in the dystopian alternate-history version where the Soviets flourished. The game boasts a variety of quirky weapons appropriate for the period and the world. You can upgrade your weapons as you progress through the Atomic Heart story.

You will come across safe rooms with upgrade terminals resembling a vending machine throughout the game. Upgrading your weapons requires gathering materials from lockers, containers, drawers, and enemies. Atomic Heart contains a scanner that you can use to find loot.

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Upgrading weapons in Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart features a unique set of weapons, including an axe called Snowball, which, when upgraded, can be turned into a mace, along with an electromagnetic energy-powered Railgun. You must collect all the loot using gloves that pull the materials towards you, thus eliminating the need to check drawers manually.

You can use the scanner by tapping the R1 button and then holding it for the desired time to scan the environment. All lootable items, including defeated enemies, containers, and others, will be highlighted in blue. Run a scan after every encounter to scavenge all materials in the area.

You can upgrade your weapons using these terminals (Image via Focus Entertainment)

You can then head to one of the safe rooms to interact with the NORA upgrade stations. Here, you can upgrade your weapons with the help of collected materials. The terminal will only display the weapons you possess in the inventory. If you wish to upgrade any weapon you have in storage, transfer it to the inventory first.

The NORA terminal can craft new weapons and even dismantle loot. Items or weapons that you don't require can be transferred to storage. Safe rooms also possess save terminals, so keep saving the game frequently to record your progress.

The title is mostly linear, but some sections allow open-world exploration, adding to its game length. Since you can find some weapon blueprints during these sections, exploring every nook and cranny is ideal for acquiring all upgrades for your favorite weapons.

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Finding weapon blueprints in Atomic Heart

You will require blueprints to craft new weapons in the shooter game. Resort to the scanner and look for large chests at every level of the game. You are guaranteed to find one of these in the safe rooms along with the upgrade stations. So, even if you don't need to upgrade your weapons, check these rooms to collect the weapon blueprints.

If you run out of materials, you can always disassemble unwanted weapons. The advantage of dismantling them is that you receive the exact amount of materials invested in upgrading that particular weapon. This incentivizes you to experiment with all the weapons and stick to the ones you like the most.

It is ideal to have a melee weapon in your arsenal. You might encounter situations wherein you run out of ammo, which is when melee weapons can be a lifesaver. Zvezdochka is one of the best melee weapons with a spinning blade at the top. You can use this heavy, blunt weapon to defeat robots without wasting precious bullets.

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More about Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart is reminiscent of the Bioshock and modern Wolfenstein games. You can play the game in three difficulty settings: Peaceful Atom (Easy), Local Malfunction (Normal), and Armageddon (Hard). Go for the easiest difficulty to soak in the narrative experience without struggling in combat.

You can upgrade the protagonist P-3’s abilities and movement speed at the NORA upgrade station using Neuropolymer. You can also choose from categories like Shok (Shock), Character, Frostbite, Mass Telekinesis, Polymeric Jet, Polymeric Shield, and Energy Management.

Developed by Mundfish, Atomic Heart is backed by publisher Focus Entertainment and was released on February 21, 2023. The game is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.