Metal Gear Survive: The Lord of Dust

[Part of the MGS Diary]

With the crew working on the rail gun and construction on the traps, I am sent to get the last thing we need: Iris energy to bait the Lord of Dust. Dan gives us the location of a teleport outpost he'd already activated (YAY) which is close to another singularity site: some hybrid of a shipyard and mine.

This is the worst defense mission to date with enemies coming from all around and a generally poor spot to defend. Even with guns and turrets I barely scrape through again, surviving thanks to a tracker kicking an explosive barrel next to me that also triggered a chain of bombers to detonate. Miranda patches me up back at base camp and once everything is prepared, it is time to face the Lord of Dust.

Once the bait wormhole is open, the gigantic creature comes running right into the traps operated by my crew - but its not enough to just railgun it then and there, first I have to fight off three massive armies of wanderers that he summons. There are a few defenses that are established for each, but really it comes down to the portable ones you can carry. While regulars and bombers are present in all, mortars show up at the end of the second force and a team of trackers arrive near the end of the third force: good thing I still had ammo for those!

The Lord of Dust, about to be dusted!

With all the minions defeated I head over to Sahelanthropus' rail gun and double tap the great centipede, finally killing the monster. Unfortunately we lost the disabled kid during the battle but the survivors now have a clear shot of trying to get home.

Insight: Your base defenses are somewhat useless here as you need to protect a trio of traps out on the field to the East. Between each wave you can sprint back to your storage area to resupply though.

Metal Gear Survive: Sahelanthropus Mansion

[Part of the MGS Diary]

After making preparations it's time to secure Sahelanthropus in one of the longest defense missions so far (15 minutes). The narrow passage is a great funnel for the first few waves to get caught on my fences and traps but bombers and mortars that appear towards the end push me back. Luckily there is a blind corner that is very handy not just for mines and balloon traps but the mortars tend to miss their shots which explode their allies who line up on the other side of the rock face.

Sending zombies into the stratosphere via hot air balloons is a thing.

Finally the rail gun is secured, but back at base Seth has shown his true colors: an infected agent for the Lord of Dust! With the disabled kid as a human shield he opens a portal back to the original base camp where Reeve and I chase him down. Grenades seem to do the trick in both stunning and killing the monster he turns into, and after some repairs both base camp and the FOB in the jungle are now accessible to the team.

Dan, who is actually a Charon Corps survivor, says we'll need a few more things before facing the Lord of Dust - the first being blueprints to a trap that can restrain the large creature. These are located in a mansion high up in the mountains and the trek there is both lengthy and dangerous as the jungle is full of grabbers. Somehow I sneak in and out and still have just enough oxygen to make it back to the Sahelanthropus outpost with the plans in hand.

Insight: Bait bottles will force grabbers to hop out of their hiding spots and investigate. Also don't be too greedy with looting in this mission as you have to make it all the way back before the game saves. That's unlikely to happen if you can only walk.

Metal Gear Survive: Dark Mire

[Part of the MGS Diary]

After the initial food scavenging I don't have much choice but to scout out the dust jungle and quickly find more enemy types: "grabbers" scorpion type bugs that pose as plants whose first attack is to rope your leg and immobilize you, "mortars" who are wanderers that can shoot either bullet like projectiles or explosive rocks from their hand, and the most deadly "trackers": kung fu wanderers who can leap great distances and enjoy spinning roundhouse kicks.

I am forced to flee from that last type on our initial encounter, hanging off a broken bridge to hide until a herd of goats distracted them away from me. I also recruit survivors Seth and Dan who really distrust each other but are in agreement that the Lord of Dust needs to be destroyed before any further wormhole research takes place. There is a weapon that arrived recently that can do it too, but I first have to reach it.

Literally hanging on by a thread...

Using a handy walker gear I make my way through a wanderer filled swamp - so many that I opt to simply ignore the teleporter outpost in the center and sprint past, following the river to the remains of a familiar massive metal gear: Sahelanthropus! The rail gun it sports is the weapon we need but first I opt to unlock the teleporter outpost right beside it. While my walls and mines deal with the regular wanderers, emplaced mortars in the outpost clear out enemy shooters that appear on the high ridge line. An easy defense!

Insight: Enemies seem to spawn around objectives. If you complete the objective stealthily and leave enemies alive, there's a good chance that they will just vanish on your next visit to the area.

MGSV: Big Boss

[Part of the MGS Diary]

Confident with my truth it is time to get things at the base back in order, starting with the traitor who mutated the virus and who helped Eli steal Sahelanthropus - Dr. Emmerich. While Miller calls for his blood I opt to exile him instead, knowing that fools like him are prone to suicide anyway.

Funnily enough it is revealed Dr. Emmerich was also behind Skull Face's attack on our base nine years ago after tricking Miller at that time too. With his failures mounting I opt to exile him as well and take his place as base commander.

As the intel team has located Eli and Sahelanthropus, I dispatch a whole squad of Diamond Dogs to deal with him once and for all - with helicopters, D-Walkers and  ZHUK missile trucks. He kills a number of them, but is eventually brought down by random S rank tough guy soldier, Bitter Gecko.

Metal Gear vs Walker Gear

The scrap is returned to base but Eli is nowhere to be found. I can only hope he died and burned in the wreckage because kids like that only grow up one way. They become snakes.

Insight: While the ZHUK missile salvo is cool, it is the fast firing auto cannon that really can tear Sahelanthropus apart - especially if aimed at his weak spots: the pod type things on his back, the shoulder ball, his core when he lifts his sword and his face. Destroying these all do bonus damage and stun the robot for a little while.

MGSV: Fortune and Glory

[Part of the MGS Diary]

Our previous victory has really brought the money pouring in, with jobs paying almost double from before and clients as high-profile as the CIA. Diamond Dog strike teams are now deploying and dying all across the globe for glory!

I continue to focus on Africa and Afghanistan though, mainly to clean up the numerous puppet soldiers the Skulls left behind. At the same time the Russians and the other private forces are upping their game in trying to kill me, setting traps and sending their heaviest armored men and machines after me.

With Quiet by my side and our newly developed wormhole fulton abduction device that can steal tanks, they still have no chance. Miller, who I am beginning to suspect is the worst base commander ever, then reports the child soldiers I previously brought onto the base have escaped - mainly thanks to Eli who also managed to steal Sahelanthropus!

You seriously left the keys for the giant robot just lying around?

Insight: For zombies, puppet soldiers are close to harmless. You can tranq or melee them down (a few times) or toss a sleep grenade to capture them.

MGSV: Sahelanthropus

[Part of the MGS Diary]

With his Skulls defeated, Quiet and I systematically fight our way against his more mundane troops into the ruined castle that is Skull Face's base. Unfortunately he apprehends me at the helipad and forces me to listen to his evil villain monologue about releasing an English strain of the virus while riding a jeep to his virus deployment platform: the metal gear Sahelanthropus.

For a nice change of pace, the main villain gives us a life to the next boss fight. :P

Unfortunately for him, the giant robot goes crazy - killing his men and his fire monster. It is up to me and D-Horse, and a few Diamond Dog helicopters to bring it down using as many rockets as is needed. I also make use of the many abandoned tanks and APCs but Sahelanthropus simply uses his rust gas attack to nullify those. D-Horse is also killed in the battle.

Once we bring down the metal giant, Miller and I find Skull Face pinned by debris. After destroying his vials of disease, we take turns to dismember him slowly as revenge for what he did nine years ago. We then return to base victorious, with Sahelanthropus in tow - much to Dr. Emmerich's delight.

Insight: Call for air support if/when your chopper gets carved out of the sky. Also I chose D-Horse for this fight for mobility purposes. Unlike last time, Sahelanthropus is super agile now - running and jumping after you.

MGSV: D-Walkers

[Part of the MGS Diary]

With Quiet no longer guarding the pass, I had a clear shot to get to one of Skull Face's scientists working out of a major encampment in Afghanistan. Getting past all the patrolling guards, helicopter, and walker gears (mini-robot weapon platforms) was easy thanks to D-Dog.

Getting out with cripple, Dr. Emmerich, was also pretty easy thanks to the spare walker gear he had in the lab as it moves fast and is able to carry him while firing its gatling gun. Obviously the Dr. likes his robots too much though, for his giant metal gear creation - "Sahelanthropus" came to stop us outside the camp.

Complete with crotch cannon!

Fortunately the big guy is pretty slow and easily distracted by helicopters so it doesn't take much effort to escape from him. It does try jump for us as we fly off, but a sustained burst from the door gun severely damages to robot, sending it crashing back down into the ground. Back at base, Emmerich agrees to develop walker gears for the Diamond Dogs and gives them a predictable code name: D-Walkers.

Insight: If he doesn't see you Sahelathropus will go for your chopper. Use this to bait him away before calling in the real extraction point.