Learn how to recruit allies in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. This guide covers capturing soldiers, special conditions for unique characters, and the benefits of different soldier careers.
You can't complete Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops without allies. Every mission contains enemy soldiers, and you can't capture dead ones. To recruit an enemy soldier, you must first knock them out, then drag them back to the truck (or a cardboard box later in the game) before they wake up. After completing or aborting the mission, they will appear in prison on the Squad Management screen. From there, you can view their skills, remove their equipment, change their name, and dispose of them. After a few in-game days, they will join your unit. Having a soldier from the Politician career in your squad will speed up this process.
Special conditions:
- If you rescue a captured soldier, they will join your unit immediately.
- You can recruit Unique Characters, but there are special conditions to fulfill.
The following characters will join your unit immediately after you capture/rescue them:
- Jonathan
- Para-Medic
- Python
- Raikov
- Sigint
- Sokolov
- Eva
- Venus
- Teliko
- Gene (in EU version)
- Any soldier you rescue during a mission
- Any soldier via AP Scan
- Any soldier via password (Using passwords is not recommended except for the GAKO soldier and Zero if you don't own the Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel. Every other soldier is obtainable without a password)
- Any soldier who joins you of their own free will via Cyber-Survival
Career:
Every soldier has their own career, which affects their abilities and the best unit to place them in:
| Career | Effect | Best unit to put |
|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Movement speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Quarterback | Throwing distance is longer | Infiltration Unit |
| Artist | Magazine (book) has no effect | Online Unit |
| Scout | Stalking speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Rescuer | Dragging movement speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Gambler | Increases chance of hitting weak spot/getting hit in weak spot | Cyber-Survival |
| Deliveryman | Can send items back to Campbell's truck | Infiltration Unit |
| Bait | Makes strong enemies appear more often | Infiltration Unit |
| Stuntman | Quick recovery from knockouts | Online Unit |
| Surveyor | Increases detail in stage map | Intelligence Unit |
| Spy/Agent | Decreases enemy life (by 10%) Note! It will also decrease your recruits life, so use them with caution! | Intelligence Unit |
| Arms Dealer | Increases chance of finding ammunition | Intelligence Unit |
| Arms Specialist | Increases amount of ammunition that can be carried | Technical Unit |
| Elite engineer | Very high technical development skills | Technical Unit |
| Engineer | High technical development skills | Technical Unit |
| Chemist | Works on medicine development | Medical Unit |
| Doctor | Increases life recovery speed for your squad | Medical Unit |
| Nutrionist | Increases stamina recovery speed for your squad | Medical Unit |
| Politician | Prisoners become allies more easily | ANY UNIT |
Cyber-Survival:
After gaining allies, you can use them in Cyber-Survival mode, which requires access to a WLAN point. The rules differ from the main game. After reading the rules, assign equipment to your unit and send them online. Check your unit's condition after 12 hours. If you lose, save the battle report and read it to identify what went wrong and how to improve your strategy. You may capture enemy soldiers, and some may even join you of their own free will and give you a gift. However, if you lose, your soldiers might be captured, so avoid sending your favorite soldiers into Cyber-Survival mode.
100% Human-Written. AI Fact-Checked. Community Verified. Learn how AntMag verifies content