Sortie Preparation

Sortie Preparation

Effective Sortie Preparation is paramount to success in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Before deploying into the hot zones of Afghanistan or Africa, a few moments spent in the Sortie Prep screen can drastically alter your mission outcome. This detailed guide will walk you through optimizing your loadout, buddy selection, and deployment choices.

1. Mission Briefing Review

Always begin by reviewing the mission briefing. Pay close attention to:

• Primary Objectives: Are you extracting a target, destroying equipment, or eliminating a specific individual? This dictates your weapon choices.
• Secondary Objectives: Often hidden, these can be revealed by intel or prior attempts. They frequently require specific gear (e.g., Fulton balloons for vehicles, tranquilizer weapons for specific personnel).
• Enemy Presence: Are you facing heavily armored soldiers, snipers, or vehicles? This will influence your weapon and buddy selection.
• Environment: Night or day? Rain or clear skies? Night missions often favor stealth camo and NVGs, while day missions might require more camouflage.

2. Character & Buddy Selection

Your choice of character and buddy can significantly impact your approach.

• Playable Character:
  • Venom Snake: Your primary character. His abilities and gear are fully customizable.
  • Combat Unit Staff: Later in the game, you can deploy as a Combat Unit soldier. This is useful for grinding resources or GMP, as their death doesn't result in a Game Over. However, they lack Snake's unique abilities and gear.
• Buddy Selection: Each buddy offers unique advantages:
  • D-Horse: Ideal for rapid traversal across open terrain, especially in Afghanistan. Useful for escaping sticky situations or reaching distant objectives quickly.
  • D-Dog: Your ultimate scout. D-Dog automatically marks enemies, plants, and resources within a significant radius, making stealth and resource gathering much easier. Essential for early game intel.
  • Quiet: Your sniper support. Quiet can scout areas, mark targets, and provide lethal or non-lethal cover fire. Her "Cover Me" command is invaluable for clearing out entrenched enemies or creating distractions.
  • D-Walker: A versatile bipedal weapon platform. D-Walker can be equipped with heavy weapons, act as transport, or even provide stealth capabilities with its "Stealth Mode" upgrade. Best for direct assaults or heavily fortified areas.

3. Weapon & Item Loadout

This is where strategic planning truly shines. Tailor your loadout to the mission's demands.

• Primary Weapons:
  • Assault Rifles (e.g., AM MRS-4, SVG-76): Good all-rounders. Consider equipping suppressors for stealth.
  • Sniper Rifles (e.g., MRS-71, AM D114): Essential for long-range engagements or eliminating specific targets from a distance. Prioritize suppressed variants (e.g., M2000-D) for stealth.
  • Shotguns (e.g., S1000, URAGAN-5): Devastating in close quarters. Less useful for stealth.
• Secondary Weapons:
  • Pistols (e.g., WU S.Pistol, AM D114): Your go-to for non-lethal takedowns (WU S.Pistol with tranquilizer rounds) or quiet eliminations. Always bring a suppressed pistol.
  • Submachine Guns (e.g., ZE'EV-36): High rate of fire, good for close-to-medium range.
• Support Weapons:
  • Rocket Launchers (e.g., GROM-11): Crucial for destroying vehicles, anti-air radar, or heavily armored targets.
  • Grenade Launchers (e.g., HAIL MGR-4): Excellent for clearing out groups of enemies or destroying light vehicles.
• Support Items:
  • Fulton Recovery Device: ALWAYS bring this. Essential for extracting personnel, vehicles, and containers. Upgrade it early for increased success rates and heavier objects.
  • Binoculars: Your primary scouting tool. Upgrade to "Marking" and "Rangefinding" for maximum effectiveness.
  • Cardboard Box: Versatile stealth tool. Can be used for quick concealment, fast travel between delivery points, or even as a decoy.
  • Night Vision Goggles (NVG): Indispensable for night missions or dark interiors.
  • Stealth Camo: Provides temporary invisibility. Extremely useful for high-threat areas or quick extractions, but consumes battery rapidly.
  • Decoys: Inflatable dummies that distract enemies. Great for creating openings or drawing patrols away.
  • Magazines: Can be thrown to distract guards.
  • C4/Mines: For destroying objectives or setting traps.
  • Supply Drop Marker: Allows you to call in additional ammo, weapons, or items during a mission. Crucial for extended operations.
  • Strike Marker: Calls in air support (e.g., bombing runs, strafing runs). Useful for clearing out large groups or destroying heavily fortified positions.

4. Vehicle Selection

For some missions, deploying with a vehicle can be advantageous.

• Jeep: Fast ground transport, can carry multiple passengers.
• Armored Vehicle: Offers protection and mounted weaponry, but slower.
• Tank: Heavy firepower and armor, but very slow and conspicuous.

Consider the terrain and enemy presence. Vehicles are often loud and attract attention, making them less suitable for pure stealth runs.

5. Drop Zone & Time of Day

The choice of your landing zone and deployment time can dictate your initial approach.

• Drop Zone: Select a drop zone that offers a tactical advantage – perhaps a hidden approach, a vantage point, or a location far from immediate enemy patrols. Avoid dropping directly into enemy sightlines.
• Time of Day:
  • Day: Offers better visibility, but also makes you more visible to enemies. Ideal for long-range engagements or when you need to clearly see objectives.
  • Night: Provides excellent cover for stealth operations. Enemies have reduced visibility, and you can utilize NVGs to your advantage. However, some objectives might be harder to spot.

Remember, you can use the "Phantom Cigar" item during a mission to fast-forward time, allowing you to switch between day and night cycles if your initial choice proves suboptimal.