Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain Guide

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's ranking system can appear confusing at first. There's so many numbers going into its calculation that knowing what you need to do to get that acclaimed S-Ranking can feel impossible.

VideoGamer has put together a list of tips and tricks for you that'll help improve your ranks in every mission in the game. Following these steps will help you on your way to becoming an Octopus, or Spider, or any other animal the game wants to label Snake.

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Why try and get an S-Rank in Phantom Pain missions?

Why bother with most things? Money. The higher your score, the bigger the GMP payout. In order to get an S-Rank, your final score must be greater than 130,000 points, and the game will reward you a bonus 26,000 GMP for your efforts.

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Don't aim for an S-Rank the first time you play a mission

The first time you play through any mission in The Phantom Pain, don't worry about the rank. Every mission includes a series of bonus objectives, which remain hidden to the player until you either complete them, or finish the mission. Doing these secondary mission tasks counts towards your final score, and helps toward getting an S-Rank. You don't have to complete every mission task to get an S-Rank, but the more you complete, the higher your end score.

Also, playing through a mission once will give you a much better idea of what's in store, so you can plan much more effectively for the second run.

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Go stealthy and avoid kills to get an S-Rank

While it's fun to go in guns ablazing in many of Metal Gear Solid 5's missions, the game rewards you for completing objectives without the enemies ever knowing you were there.

On the score breakdown screen, there's a potential 20,000 points on offer to those who complete the game with 'Perfect Stealth/No Kills'. Perfect Stealth means no enemy alerts nor having to use reflex mode. You also can't kill anybody, but tranquilising targets is fine.

If you want the highest rank, make sure you plan to be a ghost on the mission.

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Be equipped for the mission

Once you know what's in store in the mission, make sure Snake is fully equipped for the task ahead. It's no good arming him with rocket launchers and an outfit that doesn't blend in with the terrain.

After you've progressed significantly with the main game, you'll have developed your R&D unit sufficiently that you'll have enough weapons and items to be able to complete these missions in the way the game requires for high ranks.

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Complete Metal Gear Solid 5 missions quickly to get an S-Rank

While on the first playthrough you want to explore every inch of the map, The Phantom Pain rewards speed. The faster you complete a mission, the higher score you're rewarded.

The speed at which you complete an op is one of the biggest potential payouts at the end of each mission, so try your best to get through quickly.

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What restricts my mission rank?

There are a number of items and tools which, if used during a mission, will restrict your rank to a maximum of A. On every item which affects rank, the game will warn you as such with red text in the item description. The rank-limiting items are:

• Stealth Camouflage - Once developed at Mother Base, stealth camouflage turns Snake temporarily invisible, and can be used multiple times on a mission.
• Parasite Suit
• Infinity bandana - like all Metal Gear games, there's an item in the game that grants infinite ammo, but equipping it will limit your rank.
• Fire support - Calling in fire support from your Mother Base combat units to help clear areas is a no-no for those looking for an S-Rank.
• Helicopter support - Your chopper can be called in and rain down fire or knockout gas, using it in any form will limit the rank.
• D-Walker's Fulton-extracting ballista
• The Chicken Hat - If you consistently die in the same mission, the game will offer you the chance to don the chicken hat, which makes it harder for enemies to spot you. Also, the hat has three feathers, these are basically three chances to get away with being spotted. When you go into Reflex Mode, you'll see one of the feathers fall off, and the enemy will not go into alert status.