The Volga is the 4th Chapter in Metro Exodus and contains 23 Collectible Location (13 Diary Pages, 5 Post Cards, and 6 Suit Upgrades). This walkthrough will guide you to every single collectible in Volga. If you missed something you can get it via chapter select.
- Diary Pages: 13
- Post Cards: 5
- Suit Upgrades: 8
Note: This chapter is open world and not linear. Only three collectibles are missable (Diary #8, Postcard #1, Postcard #5). The rest can be collected in any order. Due to the open world format of the chapter there’s no clear order and this guide is divided by collectible type. Give the 3 missables a look so you don’t miss them. As with any other level you can still get missed items through Chapter select.
Diary #1
As you exit the train, follow the rail to the west (if this is your first time off the train, you will have to go all the way around it to be able to get past the barricade). Follow it until there is a break in the railing to the north, where a rail car has slid down the hillside.
At the end of the car, look north and you will see a shack with two shrimp speared outside. Inside you’ll find the “Mouldy Log” diary next to a corpse.
Diary #2
When you are given the mission to find Anna, and you locate her in a sealed bunker, stick to the right of the walkway and follow the corridor making right turns until you reach a dead end to find the ‘Water-Logged Note” on a shelf.
Diary #3
Just south of the long rectangular building on the map above the anchor symbol, head down the stairs and kick open the wire door into the basement.
Straight ahead of you against the far wall will be some shelves with the “Faded Note” on them.
Diary #4
In a bandit camp inside a large structure that looks a bit like a castle, you will a ‘Folded Letter’ on a white table opposite the prisoner cells. Be sure to pick up Suit Upgrade #4 and get the key from the prisoners in order to get Suit Upgrade #8 later.
Diary #5
Quite near the gas station from Diary #6, there is a white van half buried in the earth.
Go around to the passenger side and look in the side door to find a ‘Sturdy Envelope’.
Diary #6
Quite near the white van from Diary #5, it will be inside the office of a gas station on the east side of the main island. Hop through the destroyed front window into the room on the left and find the ‘Weathered Notice’ on a rusty green shelf on the opposite wall.
Diary #7
Just below the middle right of the map, you have to climb up a ruined structure and then a ladder to find another ‘Faded Note’.
Diary #8 (Missable)
Collect this diary before you recover Krest’s railcar, as you lose access to the boat that lets you traverse the nearby waters. In the middle of the lower right island there is a large gap of water with a very small island at the top of it, the ‘Bandit Note’ diary will be found among the corpses.
Diary #9
In a safehouse that is built into the back of a transport truck on the road just southeast of the bridge you have to lower.
The ‘Torn Page’ diary is on a shelf to the right as you enter. Make sure to grab Postcard #3 right next to it before you leave!
Diary #10
As part of the story you will have to go after a passenger car in the terminal the far right of the map. The diary ‘Thick Ledger’ is in the room where you can earn the Fisherman trophy. The room is located near the end of the area after Anna radios you, where you throw a switch to align the second set of rails. find the ‘Thick Ledger’ on a chair to the left.
Diary #11
Inside one of the safehouses in the middle of the map, east of the train. This safehouse is the one that is overgrown with spiderwebs and fungus, making the interior a hazard zone.
Burn away the webs so that you can see, and the “Dusty Workbook” will be on the desk next to a corpse.
Diary #12
In a small shack in the bottom right of the map.
Enter the door and find the ‘Blood-Stained Diary’ on a wooden shelf on the opposite wall.
Diary #13
In a run-down clinic on an island in the middle of the southern lake. Chances are that you will have marked this location on your map when Krest gave you the binoculars as part of the story. Go inside and through a doorway to find the ‘Patient Ledger’ on a desk.
Suit Upgrades
Suit Upgrade #1 – Battery Charge Controller
At the bottom middle of the map there is a small island with a ruined house and nearby container.
You need to find the fuel canister behind this container and use it to power the generator inside, this will allow you to access the areas in the ruined house.
Follow the wire to the door that now has power to the switch next to it. Turn the switch and open the door.
Inside on the right, you’ll see a corpse hooked up to several wires. Flip the nearby switch and you will fry the body and blow the breaker, allowing you to then take the battery off of the corpse.
Suit Upgrade #2 – Reinforced Helmet
This is found in the bandit camp on the large island below the center island tracks on the left side, it will be marked by a skull when you approach. You will find it in a small room within the camp.
Suit Upgrade #3 – Metal Detector
In a small building in the bottom right of the map where you have to shoot a padlock to get inside, the upgrade is on a table to the left of entrance.
Though it has already been picked up in the screenshot, the Metal Detector can be found in the circle on top of the desk to the left of Diary #12.
Suit Upgrade #4 – Ammo Pouches
In the bandit camp in the middle of the map, it is on a crate by the door entrance inside the main building.
Suit Upgrade #5 – Throwing Weapons Harness
In the bandit camp on the far right of the large central area of the map, behind a padlocked gate which you can break open with a melee attack.
In the dark hallway beyond, the upgrade can clearly be seen glowing red on the left side of the hall.
Suit Upgrade #6 – Extended Filter
In the web filled toxic safehouse where you find Diary #11. The filters will be in a box on the far side of the room.
Suit Upgrade #7 – Compass
North of the train, in the cockpit of a crashed airplane.
Suit Upgrade #8 – Night Vision Goggles
In the bandit camp where you found Diary #4, there are prisoners to release.
When you do, one of them will offer you a key which will open a door in the northwest corner of the terminal. Inside will be the night vision goggles on the table right of the door.
Postcards
Postcard #1 (Missable)
This can only be obtained when you are inside the church, which cannot be revisited once you leave. After you meet Nastya and Katya, go to the room on the north side of the 2nd floor that has a sewing machine and a bunch of thread on the table.
In this room will be a yellow ladder.
Climb the ladder to reach a new room, move forward as far as you can (you should be next to a wooden elephant toy on the ground) then turn right. Postcard 3 is on the wall. directly in front of you.
Postcard #2
As part of the story you will go to a crane to meet Krest.
When you enter the crane for the first time Postcard 4 is on the wall directly across from you, right by the exit door.
Postcard #3
In a safehouse that is built into the back of a transport truck on the road just southeast of the bridge you have to lower.
‘Postcard 5’ is on a shelf to the right as you enter. Make sure to grab Diary #9 (The ‘Torn Page’) right next to it before you leave!
Postcard #4
In a safehouse just to the south of the terminal. You’ll find ‘Postcard 6’ on the wall right across from you as you enter the room.
Postcard #5 (Missable)
Near the end of the level where you are infiltrating the bridge compound with Duke. After sneaking past a group of fanatics that are chanting, you will enter a room with a guard on the left and a fire barrel just ahead, the postcard is on the wall right next to this barrel.
That’s 100% of the collectibles you can find in the Volga Chapter of Metro Exodus.
Next Up: Spring
For more Collectible Guides, check out the complete Metro Exodus Collectibles Guide.
would have been great if you made the collectibles in like order . i missed the postcard because of that . nice trophyguide btw
As it says at the start, there is no order in this chapter. Because it’s open world you can collect in any order. The missables are pointed out in red warning at the start of the guide.
yes it would be better if you given at order you find it the best so nothing can be missed .. i missed the postcard at church.. can i reply chapter and collect it ???
LOL so much hand biting. Thanks PowerPyx, for making a clear and easy to follow guide.
Even do it is an open area grouping the collectibles that are in the samd area, but i totally scrolled over the red missable text
The guide says diary number 8 is missable after a certain point because the boat is gone. I managed to get to the island by jumping in to the water, it pulls you out of the water on the nearest shore. If u manage to jump far enough u can get there without the boat.
I can’t reach diary 8. There is no way to get the boat to the island as the route is blocked by ice. Jumping from the nearest shore also isn’t working for me. How do you get to the small island where its located?
There is a rowboat docked right next to the rail line after you retrieve the passenger car. Just watch out for the damn shrimps.
Diary 8 is actually nót missable, as there are multiple boats/docks scattered around the area, recognisable by a sign with crossed paddles like the one you travel to for the terminal mission. So no need for randomly jumping in the water with the risk of getting eaten? You’ll need one for #13 as well.
For anyone that missed Diary #8; across the bridge (towards the ruins) there’s an outward bit of land that’s closer to the island. Take a running start and jump across towards the island. You’ll make it about half way and start to drown, but by jumping/getting that little extra distance, Artyom will grasp the ledge of the island and pull himself onto it. Follow the same steps to get back to land.
Suit upgrade #8 can also be accessed in the last room – where diary #10 is – by going through the red door to the left of the levers.
Where is postcard 3? It reads as though it’s in same safe house inside the van as postcard 5….but it’s not there.
There is no pics either for postcards 2 or 3? Struggling to find these ones….
My bad, didnt notice the #next to the headings of each postcard – makes sense now!
Also, just to note, you dont need the key from the bandit camp to collect the night goggles, you can just unlock another door when you are at the area to kill the catfish. The door into the night goggle room is up a couple of steps to the left of the bodies you cut down when looking directly straight at them
Tysm for this comment saving me from having to backtrack forever
There are 13 Diaries in Volga, not 12. Might want to correct that, great guide btw and thaks for all your good work.
Thanks for spotting, nobody noticed this in years lol. It’s fixed now. All 13 are (and were) listed in the guide, was just the numbering in collectible amount overview.