This guide will help you earn an S Rank for the story mission Voices in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. We have also composed a list of the mandatory and optional objectives for the mission, but keep in mind that you don’t need to complete the optional objectives to achieve an S Rank. One of the best ways to earn an S Rank for most of the missions is to get the time bonus, as this can help you earn the 130,000 points necessary for an S Rank score.
Objectives
- Extract Shabani (Mandatory).
- Successfully hit the floating boy with an attack (Optional).
- Fight off the Man on Fire (Optional).
- Pinpoint the route to Ngumba Industrial Zone, West Guard Post from an intel file (Optional).
- Extract an African wild dog near Ngumba Industrial Zone, West Guard Post (Optional).
- Extract the prisoner at Munoko ya Nioka Station (Optional).
- Listen to the conversation about the “bodies at Munoko ya Nioka Station” (Optional).
Walkthrough
Our goal with this guide is to help you get the S Rank for this mission by showing how to complete it quickly and efficiently. Thus, we will be skipping most of the optional objectives in order to save time. However, there is quite a bit to do in this mission including a boss fight at the end, so you may want to attempt the S Rank on a second play through so that you don’t miss out on any scenes or materials. If you are ready to obtain an S Rank for this mission, then continue to follow along.
After dropping down at the landing zone, mount your trusty D-Horse and begin to ride east toward Ngumba Industrial Zone. The mission typically requires you to follow the road leading to the Munoko ya Nioka Station, but this causes you to encounter quite a bit of enemies and will ultimately slow you down. Instead, simply bypass the station and go straight to the main objective waypoint.
About halfway between the LZ and the Industrial Zone, you will encounter an outpost as you pass through a canyon, near a small ‘20’ indicated on your map. You can take down the few soldiers stationed here if you wish, or you can just sneak past and avoid the outpost entirely.
Continue to follow the road until you come upon a guarded fence gate. Dismount off of D-Horse to begin and approach along the rocks on the left side. Use the environment to your advantage and sneak past the guard post stationed at the gate. You can take down the guards if you wish, but you should be able to avoid the soldiers and go straight to the gate without being spotted. Just keep to the far left and follow along the rocky wall until you reach the fence gate.
Once you have reached the fence, climb over through a gap in the barbed wire on its left side. Before you proceed, bring up your iDROID and call in D-Dog to your location so he can help you spot enemies. Continue down the path until you reach a collapsed bridge. It seems you can’t cross here, so you’ll have to make your way through the valley instead.
Move to the right of the collapsed bridge and head down into the misty valley. Keep to the left side as you follow the creek toward an outpost, making sure to snag that Rough Diamond on the ground along the way. Stay prone and keep your tranquilizer pistol ready as you approach the area. Tranquilize the enemy soldiers as you continue up the path, opting for headshots whenever possible. If you are quick, you can also use the Fulton Recovery Device to send some of the sleeping soldiers to Mother Base if you wish. Keep in mind that you will receive bonus points for completing the mission with No Kills, which will improve your chances of earning an S Rank.
Keep heading up the path until you reach a large tunnel opening in the rock wall. Pass through the tunnel to make your way to the Ngumba Industrial Zone. Enter the area through an opening in the fence on the right side, and take a moment to locate a gas tank near a reservoir in the center of the area. You will need this for the boss fight shortly.
Enter the building ahead through an open door on the left. Follow the blood trail that streaks down the hallway leading to a body on a table, triggering a cut scene. Feel free to skip the cut scene if you have already seen it or wish to save some extra time. Turn left and pass through a bloody curtain into another room full of bodies, and continue to follow the trail until you trigger another cut scene. Skip the cut scene if you wish, and prepare to fight the Man on Fire.
There are several ways to deal with this fiery foe, but we will show you the quickest method in order to ensure a decent time bonus for this mission. Remember the gas tank we mentioned earlier? Now is the time to put it to good use. Sprint outside and equip your rocket launcher. The strategy here is to lure the Man on Fire toward the gas tank, blowing up the tank with your launcher when he gets near it. The gas from the tank should blast the Man on Fire into the water reservoir on the ground, vanquishing him immediately. Just be sure to avoid the fireballs he attempts to shoot toward you, as you clearly are not fireproof. You can also attempt to temporarily defuse him using the water towers in the area as well, but blasting him into the water reservoir is the more quick and efficient way of putting him out.
Once you have defeated the Man on Fire, sprint back through the tunnel you entered from, heading toward the LZ and concluding the mission. If you were able to complete the mission in under 10 minutes, you should be very close to what is needed for an S Rank. Combine the time bonus with the points earned for completing the mission with No Kills and No Retries, and you should have secured the S Rank easily.
Continue to Mission 21: The War Economy, or return to the Metal Gear Solid 5 Walkthrough and Guide.
