The Aurora is filled with a group of wonderful crew members and your decisions will decide whether or not they leave or stay. Our Metro Exodus save Duke guide is here to tell you everything you need to know to save him from a horrible fate. It’s not too hard to pull it off—you just need to know what to do from the very beginning of The Volga. Read on and find out!
Metro Exodus save Duke | What happens to Duke?
Duke is one of the few Spartans who escapes Moscow with you on board the Aurora. He is first introduced in the Metro 2035 novel and makes his way into the game largely based on the book as well. He’s young, boisterous, and always keen to compete with Artyom and the other Spartans for glory.
At the very end of The Volga, the Spartans must engage in a mission to get past a barricade occupied by the Tsar Fish cultists. While each of the Spartans have their own tasks to accomplish, Duke has been assigned to go with you on your portion of the mission. He will confront the cult leader Silantius with you at the end and it is at this point where his fate is decided.
If you’ve made the correct choices, Duke will survive the final battle in The Volga and jump down onto the Aurora’s passenger car with you. Make the wrong decisions, and Duke will get mortally wounded in a firefight, leaving you to escape by yourself. The difference between the crew’s mood after this level is like night and day. With Duke present, everyone is happy and laughing about previous exploits. If he dies, the overall mood is much more somber. Thankfully, you can save him if you do things just right!
Metro Exodus save Duke | How to save him
Mainly, your ability to save Duke hinges on how you deal with the Tsar Fish cultists in combat. You’ll first encounter their Paladins after getting trapped in the church by Silantius. You’ll have to slip past them one way or another, and you may very well be tempted to fight them. After all, you’ve just started the game and you’re probably going to want to get your hands on some much-needed equipment and ammunition.
The Metro games have always emphasized peaceful or less violent resolutions to get the “good” endings and Metro Exodus is no different. If you take away one thing from our Metro Exodus save Duke guide, it should be this: do not kill the Tsar Fish cultists.
At the climactic final battle, both you and Duke will confront Silantius on an elevator. If you’ve dealt with the Tsar Fish cultists by avoiding them or knocking them out, Silantius will essentially surrender peacefully. He’ll order his men to open the gate and the Aurora will be able to pass through and on to the next level with little trouble. Duke will safely jump down to the Aurora with you (as seen in the image above). However, if you’ve killed too many of the Tsar Fish cultists, Silantius will instead order his men to fight to the death. Duke will get shot and you’ll have to leave him behind.
I’m personally not a huge fan of stealth games and I prefer eliminating the opposition rather than evading them where possible. Thankfully, Metro Exodus gives you such an option through the knock out mechanic. When you’re in range for stealth kill, simply knock out the enemies rather than killing them with a knife. You’ll still be able to loot them for all of their gear and equipment, but you won’t rack up any points towards a bad ending for the level. If you do get spotted, you should quickload or attempt to run past the enemies so you can avoid having to kill too many (or any) of them.
As a final note, Metro Exodus has a surrender mechanic. If you knock out and/or kill enough enemies in an area, the remainder will eventually drop their guns and surrender. Please do not embrace your inner dictator and summarily execute the surrending bad guys unless you want to get the bad ending. Simply knock them out to play it save, pick up their gear, and move on. So long as you use your fists instead of your knife, you’ll be able to save Duke from a terrible fate.
