Moral points in the Metro series have always been a bit of a mystery. There is no way to look up moral standing, or track progress in the menus. Instead, players will need to make what they think are objectively moral decisions as they progress through the game. Metro's moral system is completely different than the majority of games that incorporate a similar honor statistic.
The developers wanted to encourage playing the game naturally instead of having gamers hone in on every choice. In the first playthrough, people will enjoy the story of the game much more if they go through it without worrying about every minute decision. However, those decisions can and will impact the main story as this guide will explain.
A Subtle Flash Of Blue Light
Many players will not even realize that the flash or change of color exists in their first few hours of playing the game. When moral points are rewarded, the objects on the screen will receive the faintest of light blue hues. This is the only indicator in Exodus that lets a player know when they have boosted their moral standing. A lot of players in the community speculate that some deeds award more points depending on the risk or difficulty of the undertaking.
Still, there is no way to verify how each moral act impacts the overall storyline. What we do know, is that getting awarded the most moral points possible will trigger the so-called "good ending". Artyom's journey is altered by the number of times that blue light appears on the screen during a playthrough. On the contrary, objects on the screen will darken ever so slightly if an immoral action is taken by the player.
Artyom, The Peacekeeper
It is quite difficult to be a humanitarian in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, especially when essentially everyone has a gun. Unfortunately, moral points are directly tied to lives spared. In previous Metro games, killing certain docile mutants and creatures wouldn't have an effect on mortality, but that does seem to be the case in Exodus. As far as we know, sparing human lives is the primary way to gain morality points. There are plenty of people that will dislike this system, as we all know that humans can sometimes be eviler than the mutants in the series. However, it appears that the developers wanted to reward pacifism in this installment. Listed below are all of the moments where Artyom will have to risk his own life to spare the lives of hostile enemies.
Volga Missions
Let The Cult Members In Volga Live
Instead of killing the hostile cult members while fleeing the church in Volga, Artyom will need to find his way to the life raft without using his weapons. He can knock out the cult members, but not kill them. This is a simple task on lower difficulty, but an excruciating experience on higher difficulty. It will take somewhere near an hour to successfully stealth all the way down to the raft. Anyone on Hardcore mode will need some luck to pull this off. By getting these points and the points below, gamers can save Duke's life in the story.
Pirating The Vessel In Volga
Just like the church mission, Artyom will need to hijack the ship at the end of the Volga story without killing any hostiles on the docks or on the ship. Again, this can take a few tries on higher difficulties because of how many enemies there are from the docks to the front of the ship. Knocking out close enemies and speeding past the others is one potential way to get through this mission. Although, stealth is probably the only option on higher difficulties.
Get To The Leaders Room Without Killing Anyone
Doing this final mission during nighttime is preferable for stealth purposes. There are several different ways to get up the stairs and to the cult leader. Using the ropes attached to the life boat on the side of the platform is one way. If gamers succeed, Duke will jump onto the train. If they fail, Duke will be shot.
Caspian Missions
In order for Damir to join the crew, gamers will need to save human lives in the Caspian. In addition, freeing slaves will award more morality points. Artyom should not kill anyone in the caves or at the lighthouse during the story. There are a few other notable things that reward morality points in the Caspian.
- Get the photo for Gul below the lighthouse
- Talk to the slave on the road back from the lighthouse to the Aurora, revealing three side missions
- Use stealth to free the slave in Oasis
- Free the four slaves at the shipwreck (the roadside slave's side mission)
By finishing the story without hurting any slaves in the tunnel systems, Damir will choose to join Artyom instead of staying behind.
Taiga Missions
To keep Alyosha from getting wounded, Artyom will need to avoid injuring the pioneers in Taiga. Unlike the prior missions, knocking out pioneers will prevent Artyom from gaining the morality points. It will take some time to stealth all the way through the mission, but it will unlock an alternate cut scene. The pirates can be knocked out, but not the pioneers.
Anyone that can get through the entire Taiga mission without killing anyone or being spotted will receive an achievement/trophy as a result. These missions are but three examples, and refusing to kill humans during a playthrough is the only proven way to boost morality. Doing so will unlock a much better ending.