Tihar

"A makeshift air gun, surprisingly silent and accurate. Overpressurizing its tank increases power, but the extra pressure vents before long."

- Last Light in-game description

The Tihar (Russian: Тихарь), spelled Tikhar in Metro: Last Light and Metro Exodus, is a multi-stroke pneumatic air gun that was created from scrap by the Metro dwellers at some point after the Great War of 2013.

Overview
Despite some shortcomings in comparison with conventional firearms in use, the air guns seem popular in the Metro. With pre-war laws, limitations, or regulations no longer applicable and with parts readily available, weapons such as the Tihar are a popular alternative to actual firearms.

The Tihar is extremely quiet and is capable of silently bringing down enemies from surprisingly long ranges. It carries fifteen 15 mm ball bearings in a tubular spring-fed magazine. The ammunition is propelled by a cylinder of compressed air placed inside the stock of the gun, which attains its pressure by a handpump at the end of the handguard. A pressure gauge mounted on the right side of the weapon shows how much relative stopping power and distance the next shot will have, with each shot draining a small amount of air from the reservoir.

It's possible to overpressurise the cylinder for extra stopping power or range, but the extra air will leak out eventually and the gun will revert to normal power levels. In Metro: Last Light, it can be modified to stop the air from leaking. The sound of the gas leak will not alert the enemy of Artyom's position.

In Metro 2033, the first Tihar is available as early as the "Lost Tunnel" level. It can be looted from a corpse in the dead end side tunnel near the exit from Riga station.

In Metro: Last Light, it appears that the Tihar is being phased out by the new version "Tihar-M" ("M" stands for модернизирован, transliteral "modernizirovan", identical to English "modernization" and commonly used in Russian weapon designations), as indicated by the production markings. All versions of the gun that Artyom comes across were produced by "Blacksmith Prokhorov" in 2030, which is stamped on the side. Tihar-M's performance remains largely unchanged in comparison with Tihar from Metro 2033. Its biggest improvement is the wider range of customization options.

Tactics and Use
The Tihar has a wide variety of uses and is quite effective from the moment it's picked up. While its pneumatic firing mechanism requires constant pumping and causes the Tihar's damage to often become steadily weaker in pitched firefights, it is also effective in combat situations and has little trouble picking off enemies

In emergency situations, the Tihar can fire rapidly - while this depletes its comparatively small magazine, and causes it to depressurise quickly, this feature can, if fully-pumped, cause considerable damage, making it quite effective when used indoors or at close-range.

The Tihar's damage is directly tied to its pressure; if fully-pressurised, the Tihar's shots cause heavy damage and can bring down a watcher in a single body shot.

This works both ways, however; if its pressure is too low, the Tihar is functionally ineffective, firing pellets that lack penetration power and have no capability to deal damage to a target. Because of this, it should be fully pumped at all times or at least, keep the pressure meter above 6.

A sign that the Tihar is pressurised is a sound of gas leaking and the pressure meter arrow is moving up and down quickly. The Tihar at this point also has greater power and accuracy; it can usually kill with a single shot to the chest, making it easier to dispatch enemies wearing helmets or gas masks. The amount of the pressure seems not to affect the dropping effect of the ball bearings, however, even the gauge is below 6, the Tihar is still moderately accurate.

As with the Helsing and the Volt Driver, when first found or exchanged, the Tihar will need to be charged before it can be used.

The Tihar, like the Helsing, hisses softly when over-pressurised. This hissing can be heard by enemies and can reveal your location if Atryom gets too close. Bear this in mind and keep a distance to maximize the Tihar's capabilities for stealth.

One issue with the Tihar is that the glass in its scope is somewhat cloudy and may cause problems with target definition, so those looking for a sniper-esque weapon may want to reconsider using the Tihar. A weapon equipped with the PK-AV scope may be better. The scope is not recommended for low-performance systems, as using it is known to cause lag.

The Tihar faces some competition for its role as a suppressed weapon from the VSV, revolver with silencer, scope and stock, the Kalash 2012 with a silencer and scope, and perhaps, the Helsing. The Tihar sets itself apart from these guns in a few ways; it is, by default quiet, does not require valuable 5.45mm rounds, has considerably better single-shot punch than the Kalash 2012 or revolver when fully charged, and is generally easier to use than the Helsing. Its ammunition is the cheapest on offer so it does not cost a lot to run one.

The Helsing is the Tihar's true rival, weapon-slot wise; both guns are pneumatic. The Helsing fires arrows while the Tihar fires small pellets. Also, there is chance Helsing's arrows can be recovered. The Tihar makes up for this though as its ammunition is the cheapest to exchange at kiosks. The ball bearings are also more common to find than arrows. In Metro: Last Light, the Tihar is similar in function, yet the gun and its ammo are not as common. Ammo for it should be purchased whenever visiting ammo vendors if intending to keep it, as it's a good weapon in stealth-based levels, without the need to purchase a silencer.

The Tihar faces some competition with Volt Driver as well; both use the same kind of ammunition and when charged to full power, they are both lethal to most enemies. Both are capable of sniping as well, though the Tihar is more accurate by a small margin. The Volt Driver, however, is considered to be more versatile, accepts more attachments and is easier to use. The Tihar's biggest advantage over the Volt Driver is the weapon's low price tag and more common, and the fact that the Tihar is completely silent, unlike the Volt Driver.

Metro: Last Light
The Tikhar has two attachment slots and five available attachments in total. Attachments in the Misc slot can be equipped both at once, so the Tikhar can have up to three different attachments at the same time.

Metro Exodus
The Tikhar shares stock upgrades with the Valve and the Helsing. It is able to equip all three laser gadgets and the Reflex Sight, NV Scope, and x6 Scope. The Mechanism and Magazine upgrades are unique to this weapon. Instead of upgrading the barrel, one can make changes to its pneumatic system, either increasing its efficiency or making it to auto-refill. It is even possible to replace the pneumatic system with a railgun mechanism, which essentially turns the weapon into a Volt Driver and increases the damage enormously, making most enemies a one-shot kill. With this upgrade, the Tikhar is can be a rather effective weapon, boasting huge damage, fast rate of fire and cheap ammunition that can be crafted on the go. To balance it out, this upgrade is only available in the last level, "The Dead City. After finishing the game, however, and starting a new playthrough in New Game +, the Railgun upgrade can be equipped right from the start.

Metro: Last Light
Facility – After entering the large room with the waterwheel, proceed to the bottom of the staircase. To the left is a set of lockers containing a Tikhar with x2 Scope attachment.

Revolution – After the room with the armoured train, Artyom will enter a room that will become filled with gas as part of an equipment test (requires gasmask). On the right side of the room is a ladder that lets one to cross the room by walking on pipes to get to the catwalks the left side of the room. Cross over to find a Tikhar with IR scope attachement on a crate to the left.

Contagion – At the beginning of the level, in the room where the firing squad executes infected civilians, on a table along with a box containing NV goggles, is a Tikhar with reflex sight, laser sight and airtight valve upgrades.

Depot – In the room at the top of the stairs where Artyom has a second encounter with Red soldiers (after the baby Dark One opens the door) there is a locker halfway along the right side of the room holding a Tikhar with x2 scope.

In the Chronicles Pack level, "Pavel", one with no attachments can be found upon entering the kitchen with the bandit practicing with his knife.

Moscow
None of the Hanza Guards in Jamming Outpost or on the Cruiser are equipped with the Tikhar, nor is there any found in the environment of Moscow.

The Volga
None of the Bandits or the armed fanatics in the Volga are equipped with the Tikhar, nor is there any found in the environment of The Volga. The only example is given to Artyom by Tokarev, and further upgrades are available at the workbench in the Aurora as you progress down the story-line.
 * There is one Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * At the Aurora, after the briefing from Miller to find Krest, Tokarev will give Artyom a Tikhar with a Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend equipped.
 * There is one Standard Pneumatic System for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * At the Aurora, after the briefing from Miller to find Krest, Tokarev will give Artyom a Tikhar with a Standard Pneumatic System equipped.
 * There is one Airtight Pneumatic System for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * At the Aurora, after the meeting with Miller and Krest, Tokarev will show Artyom the workbench in the Aurora and the Airtight Pneumatic System upgrade.
 * There is one Tube Magazine for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * At the Aurora, after the briefing from Miller to find Krest, Tokarev will give Artyom a Tikhar with a Tube Magazine equipped.
 * There is one Rotor Magazine for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * At the Aurora, after the meeting with Miller and Krest, Tokarev will show Artyom the workbench in the Aurora and the Rotor Magazine upgrade.
 * There is one Horizontal Magazine for the Tikhar in the Volga:
 * After returning to the Aurora with Krests' rail-car and the passenger car, the Horizontal Magazine is in the workbench in the Aurora.

Yamantau
None of the Cannibals in Yamantau are equipped with the Tikhar, nor is there any found in the environment of Yamantau. There are sights and gadgets that can be equipped to the Tikhar that can be recovered.


 * There are two NV Scopes for the Tikhar that can be found in the environment of Yamantau:
 * After passing through the frozen morgue and into the weapon storage room, on a table. Attached to a Kalash.
 * In the first barracks section, in the last room on the right, propped up in a chair. Attached to a Kalash.
 * There are two Infrared Lasers for the Tikhar that can be found in the environment of Yamantau:
 * In the first barracks section, in the last room on the right, propped up in a chair. Attached to a Kalash.
 * After passing through pile of rubble to reach a isolated bunkroom. Climb up the stack of boxes to reach the top of the small room, there on another crate. Attached to Ashot

The Caspian
None of the Munai-Bailer in the Caspian are equipped with the Tikhar, nor is there any found in the environment of Caspian. There are Stocks, Sights and gadgets that can be equipped to the Tikhar that can be recovered for use, along with further upgrades that are available at the workbench in the Aurora as you progress down the story-line.
 * There are four Assault Stock, Grip and Forend that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * Southwest of Saul's outpost, at the end on the exposed docks, on a leather seat next to a fire pit. Attached to a Valve.
 * One of the Munai-Bailer guards at the shipping crate camp northwest of the boat safe-house will have a Assault Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the middle of a lurker nest west of the Aurora, next to a dead tribal. Attached to a Valve.
 * One of the Munai-bailer guarding the foot of the crane will have Assault Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * There are three Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * One of the Munai-Bailer attacking the Lighthouse will have a Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * Eye the the Munai-Bailer sniper will have a Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the cabin of the crane that is used by Eye the Sniper as his hide. On a table next to a workbench Attached to a Valve.
 * There are three Heavy Stock for the Tikhar that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * In the boat safe-house between Saul's outpost and the Munai-bailer ship breaking camp, on a table inside the main cabin. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the bridge of the ship that is the center of the ship breaking camp, on top of a wooden crate. Attached to a Valve.
 * After recovering the maps from the communication center, follow the road to the northwest . Once you hit the salt flats, turn east and cross the road and climb the partially collapsed metal elevated road, next to a dead combat slave. Attached to a Valve.
 * There is one Automatic Pneumatic System for the Tikhar in the Caspian:
 * After returning with the maps from the communication center to the train station where the Aurora crew are taking shelter from a sandstorm, and being briefed by Miller on recovering the water tanker. The Automatic Pneumatic System is in the new workbench that Tokarev has set up in the train station.
 * There are three NV Scopes for the Tikhar that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * In the boat safe-house between Saul's outpost and the Munai-bailer ship breaking camp, on a table inside the main cabin. Attached to a Valve.
 * Following the road along the coast to the northwest, there is a wrecked ship on the north side of the road that is crawling with Humanimals. Inside the hull in the third compartment from the bow, laying against a partial buried wooden crate. Attached to a Shambler.
 * One of the Munai-bailer guarding the Prison Hulk will have NV Scope as part of his load-out. Attached to a Kalash.
 * There are three x6 Scope for the Tikhar that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * One of the Munai-bailer guarding the Oasis will have a x6 Scope as part of his load-out. Attached to a Bulldog.
 * Eye the the Munai-Bailer sniper will have a x6 Scope as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the cabin of the crane that is used by Eye the Sniper as his hide. On a table next to a workbench Attached to a Valve.
 * There is one Helical Magazine for the Tikhar in the Caspian:
 * After defeating the Munai-bailer that were attacking the Aurora. The Helical Magazine is in the workbench inside the train station.
 * There are two Infrared Lasers for the Tikhar that can be found in the Caspian:
 * North along the coastal road after leaving the Communication Center, off the east there is a demon nest on top of a rock outcropping. On the western side of the outcropping, next to a dead Munai-bailer. Attached to a Bulldog.
 * One of the fake guards for the "Baron" will have a Infrared Laser as part of its load-out. Attached to a Revolver.
 * There are three Green Lasers for the Tikhar that can be found in the the Caspian:
 * Head directly south from the Aurora into a small box canyon. At the end, next to a firepit and some bedding, laying on a wooden crate. Attached to a Ashot.
 * At the central crossroads southwest of the central oil field, there is a wrecked van and to the northwest of the van, on the ground next to a dead combat slave. Attached to a Revolver.
 * In the abandon helicopter base to the northwest of the map, in the northwest corner past the hangers. There is a shack made from sheet metal, on a table to the left immediately after entering. Attache to a Revolver.

The Taiga
None of the Children of the Forest or the Bandits in Taiga are equipped with the Tikhar, nor is there any found in the environment of Taiga. There are Stocks, Sights and gadgets that can be equipped to the Tikhar that can be recovered for later use.
 * There are seven Assault Stock, Grip and Forend for the Tikhar in the Taiga:
 * In the island cache, just east of the Forest Court settlement. Laying on a dirt filled wooden crate. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Follow the creek outside of the Forest Court settlement to the cliff face to find the entrance to a cave system with a Fire-pit behind Forest Court. Sitting on a chair next to the Fire-pit. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Two Pioneers and one Pirates in the Forest Court will have Assault Stock, Grip and Forends as part of their load-out. All three are attached to Helsing.
 * One of the Bandits in the abandoned village will have a Assault Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the abandoned village, on a windowsill in the northernmost house in the bandit occupied village. Attached to a Valve.
 * One of the Pirates in the Swamp Camp will have a Assault Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Helsing.
 * There are eighteen Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend for the Tikhar in the Taiga:
 * At the lower forest tree house with a fire-pit. In the upper level, sitting on a wooden chair. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Left behind after the Master of the Forest attacks the two Pirates and two Pioneers while Artyom is stuck in the Net. Attached to a Helsing.
 * The Pioneer Sniper on Over-watch just outside of the Forest Court will have a Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Helsing.
 * In the top floor of the two story structure in the Forest Court. Hanging on the wall next to the workbench in the classroom. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Three of the Pioneers in the Forest Court will have Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of their load-out. All three are attached to a Helsings.
 * One of the Bandits in the abandoned village will have a Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of his load-out. Attached to a Valve.
 * Head east from the bottom of the bell tower towards a stone cross halfway down the hillside, hanging on the cross. Attached to a Valve.
 * In the Gazebo Fire-pit overlooking the Pirate Swamp Camp. Resting against the side of Gazebo. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Seven of the Pirates in the Swamp Camp will have Sniper Stock, Grip and Forend as part of their load-out. Five are attached to Valves, and two are attached to a Helsings.
 * After rowing out of the Pirate Swamp Camp to the abandon lumber mill. Climb up the wooden planking that surrounds a large tree to reach a zip-line. Use the zip-line to reach the scaffolding outside the lumber mill. Laying next to a dead pirate. Attached to a Helsing.
 * There are five Heavy Stock for the Tikhar in the Taiga:
 * Two of the Pirates and two of the Pioneers in the Forest Court will have Heavy Stocks as part of their load-out. Three are attached to a Helsing, one is attached to a Valve.
 * Inside the storehouse that is in the northwest of the abandon lumber mill. On some shelving. Attached to a Helsing
 * There are fourteen NV Scopes for the Tikhar can be found in Taiga:
 * In the attic of the camp admin building, on a small pile of wooden crate. Attached to a Helsing.
 * In the basement of the Pirate Water Tower, past a re-bar door and leaning against a wooden crate. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Left behind after the Master of the Forest attacks the two Pirates and two Pioneers while Artyom is stuck in the Net. Attached to a Ashot.
 * One of the Pioneer reinforcements after the Master of the Forest will have a NV Scopes as part of his load-out. Attached to a Helsing.
 * Two Pioneers in the Forest Court will have NV Scopes as part of their load-out. Both are attached to Helsing.
 * Two of the Bandits in the abandoned village will have NV Scopes as part of their load-out. Both are attached to Ashots.
 * Six of the Pirates in the Swamp Camp will have NV Scopes as part of their load-out. Two are attached to Ashots, three are attached to Kalashs, and one is attached to a Helsing.
 * There are seven x6 Scope for the Tikhar in the Taiga:
 * Three of the Bandits in the abandoned village will have x6 Scopes as part of their load-out. All three are attached to Valves.
 * Four of the Pirates in the Swamp Camp will have x6 Scopes as part of their load-out. All four are attached to Valves.

The Dead City
There is only one Tikhar that can be found in the environment of Novosibirsk.
 * There is one Heavy Stock for the Tikhar can be found in Novosibirsk:
 * Once you reach Kirill's room. Miller will leave his Tikhar with an attached Heavy Stock on a shelf near the workbench.
 * There is one Railgun for the Tikhar can be found in Novosibirsk:
 * Once you reach Kirill's room. Miller will leave his Tikhar with an attached Railgun on a shelf near the workbench.
 * There is one NV Scope for the Bastard that can be found in the Novosibirsk:
 * Once you reach Kirill's room. Miller will leave his Tikhar with an attached NV Scope on a shelf near the workbench.
 * There is one Horizontal Magazine for the Tikhar can be found in Novosibirsk:
 * Once you reach Kirill's room. Miller will leave his Tikhar with an attached Horizontal Magazine on a shelf near the workbench.

Trivia

 * The word Tihar (Russian: Тихарь) means "silent one".
 * In Metro 2033, it is spelled Tihar. In Metro: Last Light and Metro Exodus, however, it's spelled Tikhar. This is due to there being no literal translation of the Russian name -Тихарь, as the Cyrillic 'x' is not exactly the same as an English 'h'. Although it's common to use 'kh' as a different romanization, neither is incorrect.
 * The Tihar has a pressure gauge that is easier to check than that of the Helsing.
 * The unique scope is actually "open optics" - a line of three aperture glass sights, which also accommodate compensation for pressure dependent bullet drop.
 * The three lenses of the scope appear to be backwards compared to reality, where a larger objective lens normally gathers light into a focus closer to a smaller eyepiece. The lenses could however have unusual non-convex shapes that change the focal point correctly.
 * One way to gain a lot of military ammo is to sell the Volt Driver found when fighting the bandits, with Bourbon for a Tihar with a scope in Market Station.
 * In the concept art of the Tihar, it appeared as it was originally to be equipped with a PK-AV sniper scope.
 * Despite being fairly common, a Tihar is never used by NPCs during gameplay. The intro cutscene, however, shows a soldier armed with one at the VDNKh fortifications.
 * If Artyom is left idle with the Tihar equipped, he will examine the weapon and fiddle with the front sight on the gun.
 * Many would believe this gun is technically a silenced sniper rifle, frankly because of its range and none already existing in the game without DLC, but it is more of a carbine because of firing speed and lacking penetration power. Also, the ball bearings may bounce off and remove armor.
 * Given the shape of the front grip and stock, the Tihar could have been built from a VSV.
 * In reality, a Tihar's ammunition would neither be particularly accurate nor possess much penetrating power against body armour - certainly not to the point that they could be considered useful sniper ammunition capable of accurately and quietly penetrating military-grade helmets at a good distance, like they can when fired from a fully-pressurized Tihar in the games. Spherical projectiles have all but disappeared from use in modern-day guns (one major exception being the spherical pellets used in shotgun ammunition, where low individual accuracy and poor armour penetration are not considered major issues), due to the fact that they cannot be effectively spin-stabilized by a gun's rifling and thus are not particularly accurate when fired. Using scavenged steel ball bearings as-is in a Tihar-like air gun would also restrict it to being a short-ranged weapon, both due to the aforementioned inaccuracy and the fact that the comparatively low density of steel, as opposed to the denser and more commonly-used lead-cored ammunition in conventional firearms, would mean that the steel ball bearings would possess low momentum and thus low effective range before losing too much velocity from air drag to be useful. These aforementioned factors, plus the subsonic firing velocity, would also make Tihar ammunition less-than-suited to penetrating body armour, as the steel balls would possess low sectional density (as opposed to a bullet- or arrow-shaped object) and thus be very hard-pressed to penetrate the metal helmets or other metallic body armour seen in the games.

Bugs

 * The Tihar's scope can be hard to use at medium or lower resolutions, as the cross-hair lines are extremely thin, resulting in them "disappearing between the pixels"
 * The Tihar's scope may cause delays when used, making it very difficult to aim.
 * In Metro Last Light Redux, if the Tikhar is equipped with a Laser Sight attachment, the laser dot will be misaligned, pointing a little bit to right and down from the center of the screen.