Between Mission 12 and 13: Side Ops & Upgrades

You can most likely now do the following Side Ops now (although might need to do other Side Ops first, see the section between missions 6-7, and you might need to refresh the list by going to the chopper): 6, 14, 15, 29, 30, 31, 52, 62, 66, 67, 68, 83, 84, 93, 94, 95, 114, 115.

- Side Ops 6 - Secure The [STUN ARM] Blueprint: Simply make your way to the back of Serak Power Plant via the west rock walls. The blueprint can be found in the back building; climb the stairs to access it.

- Sid[Subsistence] Ops 14 - Extract The Highly-Skilled Soldier 04: This requires you to extract a skilled enemy soldier from Da Ghwandai Khar, which is located on the northeast part of town. Infiltration from the east is a possible tactic. An alternative tactic is to pick enemies from a far distance with a tranquilizer sniper rifle (such as the Renov-ICKX TP). Even though it's not silenced at this point of the game, it should still be possible to take out a handful or two of enemy guards via this method.

- Side Ops 15 - Extract The Highly-Skilled Soldier 05: A fairly easy extraction mission, this one requires you to extract a skilled sniper at Aabe Shifab. Approaching him and his colleague from the south is a good tactic.

- Side Ops 29 - Prisoner Extraction 03: This requires you to extract a prisoner from the Afghanistan Central Base Camp, who is located inside one of the green tents on the far northeast of the base. Simply infiltrate the base the way you did in main Mission 12. Bringing D-Dog along on prisoner extraction missions is always a very good idea, as he can mark prisoners (and enemies) locations.

- Side Ops 30 - Prisoner Extraction 04: Bring D-Dog along or alternatively use the nearby hill on the northwest to mark (and/or snipe) all enemies from a distance.

- Side Ops 31 - Prisoner Extraction 05: This is an easy extraction mission. Infiltrate the small guard post, neutralize the enemy guards and Fulton rescue the prisoner.

- Sid[Subsistence] Ops 52 - Extract The Wandering Mother Base Soldiers 02: This is another extraction mission in which you'll need to neutralize/extract one of the former mother base soldiers. Remember that this is best done at night (with the aid of night vision goggles) and with a tranquilizer sniper rifle, opting for a clean headshot from a safe distance. Don't bother hitting the soldier anywhere else but his head.

- Side Ops 62 - Unlucky Dog 02: This is a prisoner rescue mission located at Da Smasei Laman. You can bring D-Dog, but the location for the prisoners is simply in the small cabins at the far corner of the area (to the right of the entrance of the cave). Neutralize all nearby enemies before extracting the two prisoners. Especially watch the guard high up the hill.

- Side Ops 66 - Eliminate The Heavy Infantry 01: This is the first and easiest of a series of side ops where you must dispatch/take out armored soldiers in the field. In this side op there are two armored soldiers in a small outpost who are not facing each other, making it rather easy to sneak up on them from behind and take them out one after the other.

- Side Ops 67 - Eliminate The Heavy Infantry 02: Again, you must take out two armored soldiers in the field. This time they are normally patrolling as a pair. You can split them up by having D-Dog bark from a small distance, to name but an example. You can also place a Decoy as a diversion.

- Side Ops 68 - Eliminate The Heavy Infantry 03: This mission requires you to take out three armored soldiers. They are relatively far away from eachother, so taking them out from behind is an option.

- Sid[Subsistence] Ops 83 - Mine Clearing 01: This is the first of a series of easy missions in which you have to clear some mines. If you bring D-Dog he will mark them for you on your map. Simply open up your iDroid and manually mark a couple of them. The mines use a red laser; simply approach them from the back and don't step in the laser, then pick them up when you're close enough. There are seven mines in total this time, located in the desert southwest of Spugmay Keep.

- Side Ops 84 - Mine Clearing 02: Again there are seven mines, this time in a canyon northeast of Lamar Khaate. There is usually a bear near the closest landing zone which you can extract (a tranquilizer headshot suffices to bring it down). Bring D-Dog and manually mark the mines on your map afterwards; avoid the red laser as usual.

- Side Ops 93 - Eliminate The Armored Vehicle Unit 01: This is the first of a series of missions in which you need to take out several soldiers who are accompanied by at least one armored vehicle or tank. This type of side ops becomes easier after you unlock Fulton Cargo 2 (definitely unlocked after Main Mission 15), although you can also choose to take out the vehicles with C4 (always do this last). For this side ops, DO NOT LAND AT THE CLOSEST LANDING ZONE. Instead take one further away and cover the distance by foot or with D-Horse. Sneak up on the two soldiers patrolling the road and tranquilize them, then go for the other two soldiers. Lastly sneak up on the vehicle and blow it up with C4.

- Side Ops 94 - Eliminate The Armored Vehicle Unit 02: This mission features about 6 soldiers and an armored vehicle. Pack a rocket launcher for emergencies. Put the patrolling soldiers to sleep when they're away from the vehicle, then sneak up on the remaining ones and plant C4 on the vehicle.

- Side Ops 95 - Eliminate The Armored Vehicle Unit: This unit is stationed south of outpost 1 and consists of two armored vehicles, a pair of patrolling soldiers on the road, and two pairs on the west and east side of the road with a sniper on each side. First take out the pair on the west by sneaking up on them and tranquilizing them (you can drag them away from the rest and extract them to be safe). Repeat the same for the patrol on the road when they're away from the rest, then take out the other pair on the east. After this you can sneak behind the vehicles and plant four C4 charges on both - take some distance and trigger the explosions.

- Side Ops 114 - Eliminate The Tank Unit 01: For this type of mission, the same unwritten rules apply as with the 'eliminate armored vehicles' ones; stay stealthy and use C4 (or Fulton Cargo 2 when you unlock it after Main Mission 15) for the vehicles, which you should save for last. In this particular mission, first eliminate the sniper and companion on the hill by approaching them from the south. After this you can sneak up on the rest of the batch. With all soldiers out of the way, plant four C4 charges on the vehicles and trigger them from a safe distance.

- Side Ops 115 - Eliminate The Tank Unit 02: Approach the unit from the closest landing zone. First take out the sniper and companion on the hill near the tree (with tranquilizer shots), then immediately go for the two patrolling the area. Place four C4 on both vehicles, then tranquilize the remaining two soldiers in the distance (indeed with distance shots). Lastly, trigger the C4.

- Useful Upgrades: There are various upgrades you should considering investing in. Of course, if you keep building your base facilities at a steady rate and explore/raid more areas during freeroam and virtual dispatch missions, more of these development projects will be unlocked. Here we'll go over the most interesting ones: WU Pistol 3 (ammo capacity up), Decoy ad Active Decoy (not necessary, but they can be useful as distractions sometimes), Capture Cage (for capturing animals), Renov-ICKX TP (your first tranquilizer Sniper Rifle, not suppressed yet but still quite useful), ATB-MINE (useful against heavy vehicles), EMN MINE (essentially an EMP mine that offsets electronical technology), Stealth Camo (can be useful for Side Ops).