The game takes place in an alternative history of the USSR in 1955. Atomic Heart has many game mechanics and elements to explore. One of these mechanics involves ammo, the use of which is little explained in the game. With a wide range of melee weapons, using these ammo can give you elemental boosts like fire and ice. You can use them to make your upgraded weapons more powerful and gain an advantage over robot enemies around Object 3826. But some players don’t understand how to load ammo into weapons. Don’t worry, check out our guide to equipping and using cartridges in Atomic Heart.
How to use and equip cartridges in Atomic Heart
You can use and equip the cartridges by going to the NORA vending machine. But before that, you will need the cartridge drawings of the corresponding cartridge type. Once you get their blueprints, just head to the NORA Upgrade Kiosks to craft them. Once you’ve created them and are ready to use, here’s how you can equip and use them:
- For Windows PC players, you can install the cartridge by simply pressing the middle mouse button.
- However, for players on Xbox and PS consoles, you can equip and use cartridges by unlocking the weapon wheel.
- PS5 and PS4 players can hold the Square button to open the weapon wheel.
- And for Xbox One and Series X | S players, hold the X button to access the weapon wheel.
- Console players then just need to select the hexagonal section at the bottom of the wheel.
- This will prompt you with a section that will display all of your available cartridges. Navigate to your preferred ammo and press the trigger button to equip it.
Please note that you will not be able to use ammo on weapons that do not have cartridge slots. To do this, you need to approach the NORA update machine and interact with it. Then go to Upgrades > Ammo Pistol > select your preferred weapon > select Base Level. This will allow you to load different types of ammo into melee weapons.
What are the types of cartridges
There are three types of cartridges in Atomic Heart, namely:
- fire cartridge
- Ice Cartridge
- Electric cartridge
Each of the above cartridges has different elemental buffs and effects. When you use Fireball on a weapon, you can set target enemies on fire in Atomic Heart. The Ice Cartridge can freeze targeted enemies with frost damage. And finally, the Electric Bullet applies an electric shock effect to the selected opponents. Having said that, different enemies also have certain weaknesses or vulnerabilities. So, we suggest using these cartridges depending on the robot enemies or monsters that you will encounter along the way.
That’s all for gear and cartridge use in Atomic Heart. If you liked this guide, check out our guides.