Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain Tips

With so many different ways to complete main story missions in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, it’s hard to tell players where to go and what to do. Different play styles mean different paths for each person who steps into Big Boss’ shoes, but there are some universal concepts that will serve every gamer well during their time on Mother Base, and out in the field.

After spending more than 40 hours with the game, we have developed some tips and strategies that will help you to make the most of your time. Whether it’s completing main story missions faster, or building up your Mother Base and filling out your Diamond Dog roster, we’ve got you covered.

Know Your Enemy

Before you can move in for the kill, you must spend some time studying your enemy. Get to know their patrol patterns, and use your binoculars to identify anyone who is skilled enough to join you back at the Mother Base. If you can’t see an enemy’s skill level, try upgrading your binoculars.

If you do spot someone that would make a good addition to the Diamond Dogs, place a marker on them while viewing them through your binoculars. From now on, this person will always stand out, allowing you to track their movements, and most importantly, avoid killing them during a frantic battle. This strategy is especially useful as the game progresses and you start to see soldiers with A+ rankings all over the place.

Farm Resources

As you begin to level up your Mother Base you’ll be able to add more soldiers to your Diamond Dog crew, and each addition to the base gives you more unlocks. This is an essential part of progression in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and it’s really the only place where the game can feel like a bit of a grind.

Luckily, there is a way to help speed things along, and that is to farm the resources and materials that you need to expand. You are likely used to seeing these resources as little boxes sitting on shelves and tables, but they also come in the form of large shipping containers. You need the Cargo +2 version of your Fulton Recovery Device to get them, and if you’re trying to unlock that, try rescuing the prisoner from On the Trail. It’s not the only requirement, but it’s a major one.

In terms of locations to farm these resources, try the area around and inside of the Wakh Sind Barracks in Afghanistan, as well as the Mountain Relay Base in the same country. You can also find lots of containers at the outpost between the Bampeve Plantation and the Kungenga Mine, as well as at the mine itself.

Once you find a location that you’re comfortable with, head to your chopper and select the mission option. If you scroll to the side you can choose to free roam, allowing you to land somewhere near where you know there are containers. Use the Fulton Recovery Device to extract them, and then hit up another location that you know about. The best part - these containers will respawn, so you have an almost endless supply of resources to upgrade your Mother Base. You’re welcome.

Interrogate Enemies

One of the most useful things you can do is interrogate enemies. This is especially important early in your story missions, allowing you to pinpoint the location of key objectives, or even the position of enemy forces. Keep in mind that in order to interrogate someone, you must have an interpreter who speaks their language. Early in the game this is accomplished by completing side ops.

The easy way to interrogate someone is to sneak up on them, press your close quarters attack button, and then the corresponding input for the interrogate option. From here you can ask them to “Spit it out,” or “Where are the others?” The former will give you objectives and key information, while the latter will cause your foe to disclose where their friends are. Both options can be invaluable.

If you’re not sure how to sneak up on someone given their current position, try shooting them with a tranquilizer dart and then moving them somewhere secluded. Toss them on the ground, then press the attack button to kick them while they lay unconscious on the ground. This will cause them to wake up, at which point you can use the close quarters attack to bring up the interrogation option.

Complete Side Ops

Completing the game’s side missions is a huge part in being successful in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Almost each one of these short missions will see you rescuing a prisoner, or extracting a highly skilled soldier. Even the missions where you need to destroy tanks can be useful, as you can extract them with the Fulton Recovery Device (Cargo +2), adding them to your arsenal.

One of our early strategies was to complete as many side missions as we could, allowing us to expand our Mother Base, develop new weapons, and give ourselves the gear needed to beast our way through some of the harder story missions. It’s not a short journey we’re suggesting you embark on, but since you bought Metal Gear Solid 5, you’re likely already committed to the process.

Use Your Buddies

If you know what you’re doing, D-Horse, D-Dog and Quiet can be the difference between getting an S Rank and missing it. Each mission requires a unique approach, so the right buddy for the job will change quite often, and frequently right in the middle of your operation.

For example, you may need to travel 1,000 yards to your next objective, in which case D-Horse can help you to cut down on travel time. When you arrive at said objective, however, you might prefer to have D-Dog scout the area for enemies, or have Quiet cover you while you’re infiltrating. In fact, Quiet can be the most useful of all your buddy’s.

One of the options you have for Quiet is to tell her to go to a specific area on the map and either scout or attack. This is found on the Mission tab of your iDROID, and then Buddy Support. You can’t choose just any location, but instead must decide between some predetermined options. These tend to be outposts and other major camps, and almost any key location during your missions. One of our favorite tactics is to send Quiet ahead, telling her to attack an outpost that we need to clear later in the mission. By the time we get there she’s usually done, and we can just loot all the resources.

Those three tips should give you a solid start in getting off on the right foot with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Once you master interrogations, expanding Mother Base, and using your buddies effectively, you can pretty much take on anything that the game throws at you.