Atypical Guide to Metal Gear Solid V - Mission 31: Sahelanthropus

The first part of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain officially ends here, with the mission 31 which sees Big Boss attempt to take down Sahelanthropus, activated in the last mission (Skull Face). We have tried mission 31 countless times and we are ready to share the best way to overcome it, closing this chapter waiting for the "true ending" of the second part.

Main objectives of the mission:

• Destroy Sahelanthropus.

Secondary objectives:

• Destroy the head of Sahelanthropus;
• Hit the floating boy with an attack.

The approach to the mission - Who is Sahelanthropus?

In the Sahelanthropus mission we should face it one on one with the progenitor of Metal Gear. The previous mission ends with the awakening of Sahelanthropus, thus giving the opportunity to equip themselves at best. The bipedal machine owes its name to the discovery of a skull belonging to a hominid from the Sahel region, Africa, later called sahelanthropus tchadentis. The particular shape of the skull indicated that it was supported by the spine - in simple terms, it would have been erected before homo erectus and would have appeared 3 million before the australopithecus, making sahelanthropus theoldest ancestor of man, the ancestor of the breed, just as is Sahelanthropus compared to Metal Gear. If all this seems anachronistic to you, it is (the skull of the sahelanthropus tchadentis was only discovered in 2002), but Hideo Kojima played on the fact that Cipher had covered up the information and then returned the ancestor to the light when it was convenient.

Sahelanthropus is made from the scraps of uranium 235, a durable metal yet flexible enough to allow the biped to carry weight on its legs. The scariest ability of Dr. Emmerich's creation, however, is the ability to fuse this depleted uranium with the archaea in his body, which has become a self-propelled atomic bomb. As already mentioned, the very existence of Sahelanthropus would create mass hysteria, establishing a climate of global fear. For this reason we will have to put into practice everything we have learned during the previous missions to take down this Goliath loaded with explosives.

In this guide we will adopt a more schematic style, treating Sahelanthropus as a boss to all intents and purposes, in order to make the individual attacks more readable. The "arena" is a rectangle of land in Afghanistan near the power plant, which proves to be more than excellent for a fight of this type, especially counting the tanks positioned and the possibility of taking cover behind the rocks. Sahelanthropus has a rather large arsenal but it can be learned very early and even mutilated. Without wasting any more time, let's move on to the section dedicated to equipment, or the best weapons we can take with us for this long battle.

The equipment:

In Sahelanthropus we won't have to worry about running out of ammo, as a refueling helicopter will be sent automatically. That said, after several tests we have narrowed the two sets choice, also counting how long it is possible to shoot down Sahelanthropus.

1. Isando RGL-220 | ALM-48 | Uragan-5 (12+ minutes)
2. AM-MRS-4 | CGM-25 | Uragan-5 (8:50 minutes)

The primary weapons of the first group are a grenade launcher and a machine gun respectively, while the Uragan-5 is a secondary gun whose blueprint can be found in mission 18 that we covered in the past. This equipment gives a higher rate of fire and it's easier to find than the second set. However, the weakness of this first set is the slow reloading of the ALM-48 and the less general damage.

In the second set, Hurricane-5 remains secondary number one and the AM-MRS is one of the first assault rifles that can be obtained in the game. The real difference lies in the CGM-25, a rocket launcher that fires multiple homing missiles. CGM-25 is arguably the best weapon of all against Sahelanthropus, but to design it you need to have the Killer Bee weapon at level 3 and an R&D team of at least 38 - a level that, especially if you haven't spent the right time recruiting soldiers, may not have been achieved by mission 31. GROM-11 rocket launcher is a possible alternative but loses the CGM-25's search function during aiming, which can prove invaluable during the most hectic phases.

The second set, therefore, sacrifice the rate of fire and the large capacity of the ALM-48 in favor of amost destructive weapon and a less powerful assault rifle that will need to be reloaded frequently. However, with CGM-25 in their arsenal this malus is far bearable. We leave the companion at home, remembering instead to equip the Battle armor, which will allow us to better withstand damage and the night vision device. Ready? Let's go, Pequod!

The mission - The weaknesses and attacks of Sahelanthropus:

During the pre-mission Skull Face, surrounded by flames, will meet death with a smile on his lips at the hands of his own Sahelanthropus, sure that he will disappear from the history books but that traces of his plan will remain. The battle will begin immediately after the cut scene, with Sahelanthropus watching us from above.

The first thing he will do is push hers out of the breastbone whip special, plant it in the ground and push rock spikes out of the ground depending on the movement. The first thing we will have to do instead is go towards him, climb the rocks and aim for the flame thrower between the legs. Sahelanthropus, in fact, is made up of several parts which can be damaged to weaken it faster and not allow it to use certain attacks, such as the flamethrower. The main parts are:

1. Il flame thrower, positioned in the creature's groin;
2. Quattro White "missiles" positioned on the back;
3. La sphere mounted on the left shoulder;
4. Il Railgun on the right shoulder;
5. Lo sternum: when it opens and becomes colored with Orange it's the right time to shoot that spot, with a different sound effect.

Let's review all the attacks of Sahelanthropus, anticipating that it is divided into 4 phases:

• Whips of archaea: it is the first attack he makes and the one he will use more than frequent. The modus operandi is the same and sees Sahelanthropus unleash a whip of archaea and "barerge". Depending on the movement the shot branches into two variants: in the first, spikes of rock will come out in a straight line, warning us with a heavenly dust a moment before, in the second such sharp rocks will sprout directly under Big Boss and in the more advanced stages, they will surround him. In the second case, just shoot repeatedly to open a passage. Once we have avoided the attack let's focus on sternum aiming with the CGM-25 or with a simple machine gun until he closes it.
• Flamethrower: the flamethrower, in our opinion, is the second most dangerous weapon available to the boss and serves Sahelanthropus to protect himself from his one true blind spot. The attack sees flames investing the area around the bipedal tank, especially if we are too close to it. The best thing to do is to take advantage of his first attack, the whips of archaea, go around the rocks and aim for the flamethrower, spoiling it and rendering it useless for the rest of the battle. All that needs to be done is precisely shoot the flamethrower - you will realize when it becomes unusable, some will come out Sparks.
• Machine guns: Sahelanthropus manages to shoot bullets from the eyes. It is a weak and inaccurate attack that can be avoided simply by not standing still.
• Archaea grenade: signals the beginning of the second phase at about a quarter of life and is a grenade that releases one red cloud that limits the view and corrodes all vehicles in the area, neutralizing them. It does no harm and it is possible to get around the fog with the night vision device.
• Guided missiles: Sahelanthropus will get into position and fire several guided missiles from the thighs, about 4-5. To avoid a premature end just shoot them even once, watch out for the magazine, especially if you use an assault rifle.

• Explosive probes: They are probes that Sahelanthropus fires from the shoulders and they gravitate above him for a few seconds, only to turn into search missiles. These white-colored probes, like guided missiles, are the main weapon Sahelanthropus has against the chopper that comes to our aid and just neutralize them by shooting them before their search ends.
• Railgun: Signals the third phase and is themost devastating attack of Sahelanthropus. At about half life, the boss will jump back and land far away and on high ground. From there he will stoop and load his railgun (or rail cannon), capable of firing a high-powered electric beam and finishing Big Boss in 1-2 shots. It is possible to see what is pointing from a red laser that heralds the point of impact and the only thing to do in these cases is to exploit the territory and hide behind a rock until Sahelanthropus returns to the arena.

• Jump: Signals the fourth and last phase and using the CGM-25 it is even possible to skip it. It is the simplest of all because it happens to the slow motion. Sahelanthropus, reduced to the last quarter of life, will often jump backwards and then towards Big Boss activating the reflex mode, revealing itself under the control of floating little boy that will appear in front of its muzzle. We have several seconds to take a weapon that we know is loaded (like the Uragan-5, which has a faster reload) and hit the floating kid. Sahelanthropus will remain stunned enough to seriously harm him and wait for him to jump back to his death.

Epilogue - Goodbye Skull Face:

Shot down the progenitor of Metal Gear, Big Boss will return with Miller in the spot Skull Face he took his last breath, discovering however that he is in end of life, crushed by a beam. Big Boss will make room among the moans of Skull Face, who asks to die, collecting the vials containing the parasites of the English strain - the real plan of the XOF leader.

Noticing with amazement that one is missing, he will throw the others into the fire. Unfortunately, busy with the dying Skull Face, no one will notice that the floating boy saves a vial from the flames and then go away disappearing.

At this point we can decide whether or not to please Skull Face, whether to kill him with his rifle or leave him in agony where he is. In case we decide to "spare him", Big Boss will just shoot at each of his limbs, thus avenging Miller, then heading towards the helicopter. At that moment a shot will be heard and it will be discovered that it was Huey Emmerich, ex-prisoner in many quotes, who had the last word on the life of Skull Face.

Emmerich himself will welcome thearrival of Sahelanthropus at the Diamond Dogs headquarters, which now extinguished remains like a sentry in the middle of the ocean. Emmerich, along with Eli, will be the silent protagonist of the second part of Metal Gear Solid 5, but that's another story. Skull Face's vision has been thwarted and now one can only move forward, each with the phantom pain that war brings with it.

We take the guns in absent hands. We stand on absent legs. We push forward on the bones of the fallen. At that moment, and only then, are we alive. This "pain" is ours and nobody else's. A secret weapon we wield where no one can see it.

La second part of Metal Gear Solid 5 consists in the repetition of some missions in difficult modes and other more important ones that throw lights and shadows on the figure of Big Boss. We thank you for following us up to here and leave the door ajar for other possible missions together.

► Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a Shooter-Tactical-Adventure type game published by Konami for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 01/09/2015 The version for PC came out on 15/09/2015