Ground Zeroes

There are many ways you can complete your objectives like utilizing stealth and thin down the enemy ranks from the shadow, neutralize your targets with non-lethal means, or simply go loud and take out as many enemies as you can. You’ll have an evaluation at the end of the every mission which will grade you over criteria like completion time, enemies killed, number of retries, and completing secret extra objectives. Getting a called helicopter shot down, killing enemy soldiers, retrying, triggering Combat Alerts all lead to final score deduction so avoid these as much as possible while completing the tasks effeciently and quickly.

You have two silenced weapons with you; the Silent Pistol that fires non-lethal tranquilizer rounds and the AM MRS-4 Rifle that fires suppressed lethal rounds. The latter’s suppressor degrades over use. Use your binoculars to tag soldiers so you can always take note of their location in your map and in your normal viewpoint. Make sure to look around first before moving. If possible, move behind cover and don’t run unneccessarily. When moving slowly, you’ll still have a few seconds before the enemy discovers you. If an enemy discovers you, you’ll enter a slow-motion sequence, giving you enough time to tranq or kill him. Even if you have this helpful feature, it won’t help if you get spotted by multiple enemies at the same time. More importantly, make sure to hide the bodies of dead / unconscious enemies, especially if they’re along the main roads or pathways.

As soon as the game starts, you can turn around and check the cliff behind you to find an XOF Patch. After getting the first patch, you can immediately get the second patch by going prone and rolling around the ground it gets shaken off from Snake’s back. There are nine of these scattered in this mission and getting them all will unlock the Deja Vu (PS3/PS4 only) or Jamais Vu (Xbox 360 / One) Extra Ops missions. Aside from collecting XOF patches, you can also collect some Casette tapes found only on this mission. Since collectible-hunting strays you away from your main objectives, you just have to play the mission again after collecting collectibles if you want a better ranking.

First two XOF patches

Tag all enemies you can see and wait for the spotlight to turn away. Hug the rocks to the right and run ahead until you reach a ledge you can climb on. Find a good shooting position and tranq that guard. Now go down and unlock the gate. Head to the West Refugee camp where you’ll see some tents in the lower grounds. Jump off the railing and search for another XOF patch in the pile of trash in front of the shed.

West Refugee Camp XOF patch

Head to the northwest of the refugee camp to find a lone prisoner under the shed. Pick him up and carefully bring him back to the landing zone, just behind your starting point. Call in a chopper to load him and the "Rescue" achievement/ trophy.

Continue north and you’ll reach the warehouse area. Be careful of the patrols here since there is one guarding the closed gate leading to inaccessible area to the west and two more soldiers in the middle of the warehouses. To the north of the warehouses are several generator blocks inside a fence. Pick the lock and find another XOF patch on the top of one of the generators there.

Warehouse Generator XOF patch

After that, head east past the Eastern Refugee Camp. There are more guards stationed along the way so make sure to take your time learning their patterns and taking them out. Keep heading east until you cross the road and take the dirt road leading to the prison camp. There’s another XOF patch on the top of the guard house. After getting it, head to the prison camp and take out any guards that may see you. Once clear, pick the lock of the gate to find another XOF patch.

Prison Camp XOF patches

Once inside, you have to free Chico to proceed with the story. Make sure to loot the casette found on the connected cell behind Chico‘s (Here’s to You). You can bring him and all the other prisoners to the landing zone to the east. However, to retrieve another casette, DO NOT call the chopper and load him yet. You need to meet this first condition to get this specific casette tape. Just leave them in the RV and make your way to the admin building.

Return to the main road and make your way to the northeast. Beware of the camera mounted on the fence along the way. Deal with the guards here by avoiding or tranq’ing them. Keep in mind that you have to keep any alarms from triggering since you need some specific soldiers in their original posts to get the cassette we’re working on right now. Make your way to the pile of cargo by the wall to the north. There’s a drainage outlet here that has another XOF patch. Pick it up and enter the red door.

Drainage outlet XOF patch

Take out the guard here then climb one of the air-conditioning machines and grab to the nearby ledge. Search the active exhaust to find another XOF patch.

Exhaust XOF Patch

Now you need to get past the security cam instead of destroying it. Move under its blind spot once it turns away then wait for it to turn to the other direction before going downstairs. Once there, head to the boiler room ahead and stay in cover. If done correctly, you should hear the three soldiers talking about a recording they threw away. As long as you didn’t trigger any alert the three of them should have this conversation. Otherwise, you need to reload the checkpoint. Make your way to the northwest of the admin building and find Chico's Casette #5 in one of the dumpsters in the small alley beside the stairs.

After getting the cassette, make your way south this time. You should have a lot of cover to move in and reach the ladder leading to the platform connected to the Central Tower. Get in there to find Chico’s Casette #2.

Make your way back to the boiler room and take out the guards. Now free up Paz and carry her outside the admin building. Depending on how much you’ve alerted the enemies, you may find an armored vehicle guarding the exit or more guards than usual. Otherwise, it should be an easy run towards the landing point. For now, hide her behind the cover since you still have one more XOF patch to collect.

Unfortunately, it is located in the open space in the helipad, making you vulnerable to enemies. Since you’re only after the collectibles for this instance, it will be convenient for you to just kill some of the enemies; getting points deduction for killing soldiers shouldn’t matter for now anyway. Search the ground for a dark spot beside an electrical block, between two helipads. The last XOF patch should be there.

Helipad XOF patch

You can call in the chopper in advance so you don’t have to wait once you’ve reached the RV. The base will also discover Paz’s escape after a few minutes which will prompt everyone on full alert. As long as you didn’t make any detours, you should be safely on your way leading back to the RV. Once the chopper arrives, load Paz, Chico and the other prisoners (if any) then board the chopper as well to end the mission.