Materials are an essential resource in Atomic Heart that you’ll need regardless of how you play. Whether you want to specialize in abilities, melee weapons, or firearms, you’re going to need materials to help you do anything. This guide outlines the best way to grind materials as you play so you don’t ever get to a point where you’re out of materials and need some ammo fast.
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How to grind for materials in Atomic Heart
There are a few ways you can grind for materials in Atomic Heart. The easiest is to use your glove to search every crate, piece of furniture, and chest you come across. The surface world is littered with these, and you’ll find plenty as you explore the major lab dungeons. Even the Testing Grounds have these items for you to search. They don’t give you much, but if you slow down the pace you’re playing at and search everything, you’ll end up with so many materials that you can craft ammo and upgrades without ever needing to worry about having enough resources.
Loot your enemy’s corpses
Enemies are another huge resource for materials. Each one you kill, be it organic or machine, will allow you to pull something out of it with your glove. As with the furniture in the game, you may not notice that you need these resources. Fail to collect them, though, and you’ll feel the strain. We spent a long time collecting something from each enemy after we cleared a room. Bosses give you some incredible materials, so don’t forget to check them each time a big battle is over. Follow that pattern, and you’ll soak up an incredible wealth of resources.
Related: How to complete Testing Ground 9 in Atomic Heart
Complete Testing Grounds
As we briefly mentioned above, Testing Grounds are a great place to pick up extra materials. They’re packed with enemies, sometimes include a boss, and always have decent loot to gather. You can access all of these from the mid-point of the game’s story. If you want to take your time and always be prepared, we recommend completing them all so you see everything the game has to offer and never need to worry about crafting supplies.
Dismantle unwanted ammo and items
You’ll pick up ammo for all sorts of weapons in Atomic Heart, but you don’t need some of it. You can stick the unwanted stuff in storage, but you’ll eventually get to the point when you’ve got a set loadout and don’t want to change. Once you’re there, you should dismantle all the ammo you have for weapons you don’t need. You can do this by putting the ammo into storage, switching to the dismantle option, and then dismantling everything you don’t want.
