"The game tracks kills and alerts on a checkpoint basis - during a multi segment speedrun you can save and quit upon discovery or accidental kill if you don’t enter a new area first. You cannot save & quit a continue screen. 

Achieving “Big Boss” rank requires you do not kill anyone - however there are instances where a “kill” does not count towards your score. Such as Ocelot - because he is not killed during your encounter lethal means are allowed during a Big Boss run. Knocking guards over the railings in the Underground Base do not count. They do count in Nuke Building 1F.

Soldiers killed by exploding barrels do not count towards your end score, required to successfully clear the Escape Route. 

...It is indeed a requirement that you play with Game over if Discovered condition turned “on”. 

• It is faster to roll upstairs then run up them¹⁾. This is situationally true when going downstairs. However, if you roll too early Snake will faceplant.

• Many of the options are personal preference. Switching Quick Change from unequip to previous is MANDATORY, or else it multiplies the amount of menus and ruins certain strategies. Turning radar off will save ~5 seconds from skipping a cutscene.

• Mash Start and/or B to skip cutscenes

• Double Tap A or Y to skip codecs

• Each Pentazem prevents hand trembling for 30 seconds, the effect stacks.

• In Game Time does not tick at the map screen, Start+B.

• Prozac Skip is not possible because there are no throwable items on the Docks

• Mash B or Start to skip Snake standing up

• The safest and easiest method is by leaning against the locker, then move when the guard's left foot lands past the white line in the floor.

• Don't forget to skip the cutscene as you enter the elevator, or the fadeout will take longer.

• Press down and A to go to B1.

• Follow the hallway to the ladder, climb with Y.

• Right trigger mash your way to the DARPA Chief.

• It is faster by x frame to exit the Chief's cell by rolling compared to running down.

• Make sure to exit the cell with the M9 equipped.

• After the cutscenes, move up and slightly to the right to call the elevator.

• Press down to go to B2.

• Go to the middle room to pick up 3 or 4 C4.

• Equip C4. From M9 R ▼ 1 (if magazine, throw it away then R ▼ 1 again from M9)

• There are different positions to place the C4. The fastest position blasts you into the loading zone. The easiest thing to do is place the C4 near the wall, lean against the wall, then blow it up.

• Blow up the first wall. Position the C4 by the girder.

• After you position the second C4, make sure to quick change to M9 before blowing up the wall. This will save a menu during Revolver Ocelot.

• Easiest fight in the game, but there are a few approaches to aiming here.

• After quick changing to M9, go into FPV. From here, you can either shift your weight to the left with Left Trigger, or stand still. Standing still requires you to aim the first shot through the gap in the column.

• Aim for the head, time out the invincibility frames.

• To dodge Ocelot's bullets, either duck in FPV with X, or shift your weight.

• Be careful when Ocelot shifts his own weight to shoot at you.

• After the cutscenes finish, you have two optimal opportunities to call Meryl. Make sure to hold Start + A to use the codec.

1. After the cutscenes finish in Armory South
2. As you enter the Armory

• Scroll left until you are at 140.15. After seeing 140.2X, wait about half a second then release left.

• Pick up the SOCOM ammo in the top right corner of Armory South.

• Do not roll through the exit door.

• Head towards the elevator and call it. You will do a turn to the right in the middle row.

• Press down to go to 1F.

• DO NOT hold Start+A after the load, wait until you see the elevator panel.

• There are several different approaches to the lasers. They will be listed out in order of slowest to fastest.

• Go into the room to the right of the lasers, pick up the SOCOM suppressor, and shoot out all of the sensors on the left wall.

• Pull out the cigarettes or shoot the fire extinguisher with the M9. Dodge the lasers until you get to the third set, then SOCOM the rest of the sensors. Or, continue to dodge the lasers.

• After skipping the Cargo Door cutscene and the door beep, exit the elevator. Between the first two lines in the floor in the laser hallway, roll forward. Stand up. If you rolled too early, you will need to crawl a bit to avoid the 2nd laser. Swap to SOCOM. SOCOM the remaining sensors from farthest to closest. Roll towards the door. Recommended for novice players.

• During the Meryl codec, hold ~ 2:30 - 2:45 on the Analog stick. Skip the Cargo Door cutscene. After getting off the elevator panel, hold down right and hug the wall. Turn the corner immediately and run forward. Roll at the line shown in the screenshot. You can roll earlier, but not by much. If you roll too early or late, you will get caught. Mash right trigger to crawl faster. Enter the door while in a crawl. Recommended for advanced players.

• Newest YOLO roll developed by Wallguy, which can be faster and has an easier visual cue

• Hold right to pick up the Chaff grenades. Move up and roll at the position shown in the screen shot to save frames. If you haven't swapped to SOCOM, now is the time to do it. M9 equipped, R ◄ or ► 1 for Socom

• Basically, the strategy is to get 4 or more magazines before you fight the tank.

• The attack pattern being: Stun → Mag → Mag → Stun → Stun → Stun

• We've got at least 4 mags to try to land two of them in. Landing any object inside (Triggering the mini cutscene) will allow you to M9 the gunner in the head to do the damage equivalent to a stun grenade landing in there.

• Even lethal grenades as long as you're able to hit him in the head before it blows.

• After the load, equip the chaff grenades, R ▼ or ▲ 2.

• Once you get through the wall, stand up THEN let go of the wall.

• Press down to go to B1.

• Hold downright after opening the door to the offices, pick up the Nikita Launcher, and return to the elevator.

• Press down to go to B2.

• Equip Nikita before exiting the elevator or after the generator cutscenes, Chaff Equipped, R ▼ 1 for nikita

• Hold Start+A after generator cutscene to open the codec immediately.

• After the Nikita missile turns the corner into the turret area, let the missile fly without adjustment, or else you risk the turrets shooting down the missile.

• Quick changing to Chaff Grenade just before the missile hits the generator saves frames.

• Unless you are going for RTA race strategies, throw away the remaining chaff grenade as you run towards the Laboratory door. Make sure to change back to Nikita.

• You can save a frame by doing a frame perfect roll as you go through the Lab door, but if you are early you lose over a second. Don't bother rolling through this door.

• You can save up to 12 frames rolling through the filtration room. Roll once the door begins to open, notice the blue light.

• After the bloody hallway cutscene, hold upleft on dpad. Roll towards the door once Snake fully rotates to the door.

• Ninja has 255 HP across all difficulties

• Hold right trigger after skipping the cutscene to immediately equip SOCOM R ▲ 1, ◄ or ► 1.

• Move as close to the Ninja as possible without bumping into him. Do a Punch, Punch Nikita (PPN) combo. This can be done by swapping to Nikita before the kick lands.

• After the Ninja jumps away, hold A and B to run and gun. Approach the ninja, shoot the SOCOM, and do one of two things after he deflects the bullet.

1. Punch Punch with the SOCOM out (SPP, SOCOM PUNCH PUNCH)
2. Punch, then roll into the ninja, making sure to swap to Nikita before making contact with the Ninja (SPNR, SOCOM PUNCH NIKITA ROLL)

• Repeat this process until the Ninja's health is low enough to be finished in Phase 2 - Optimally 4 SPNRS

• Try to finish the fight with the Nikita out if possible.

• If you didn't pick up the Chaff grenades in the bottom left corner of the Lab during the fight, do so during the exit.

• Roll past the corpse on the ground, or else Snake will walk on the body. Rolling over the guard saves up to 30 frames.

• Rolling back to the gas hallway can save up to 11 frames. If you roll too early, you will lose over a second. If you roll any later in the 10 frame window, you will lose frames. Roll once Snake is at the door frame.

• The second room on the right as you exit contains stun grenades. You may pick these up if you wish to use stuns during the Tower A climb in Disc 2.

• After you call the elevator, press up to go to B1.

• After entering the office, go against the wall and knock to attract Meryl's attention. Run downleft to get her to spot Snake.

• Run towards the women's bathroom, be careful not to bump Meryl as she runs into the restroom. Be in front of the restroom to activate the cutscene immediately.

• After the cutscenes, turn the corner by the elevator to go towards the Commander's Room.

• After running forward to activate the cutscene, roll through Meryl to save frames on the entrance.

• The fastest way to knock Meryl out is to knock her out with the Nikita.

• Mantis has 96 HP and Stamina across all difficulties.

• To do the Meryl phase skip, you must get him down to 46 Stamina, then do a critical shot. This must equal to 50 damage.

• 4 critical shots and 1 punch (12 + 12 + 12 + 12 +2 = 50)

• 2 body shots, 3 punches, 3 critical shots (4 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 50)

• There is a chance when dealing damage to Mantis that a 'phantom' psycho blast will hit you. In other words, Snake will take damage seemingly for no reason.

• Mantis can randomly say extra lines of dialog during the fight's cutscenes.

• If you have two controllers connected into Port 1 and Port 4, press Z a few times on the Port 1 controller before the blackout.

• Switch to Port 4 during blackout, and hold Z, right trigger and A.

• If you want to use M9 for Mantis, R ◄ or ► 1 after Hideo Blackout

• Meryl can be possessed, hold left trigger, right trigger, Z, and A during the cutscene. Drag your aim to Mantis's head.

• After she gets possessed a second time, hold left trigger, right trigger, Z, and A during the cutscene. A quick tap up will connect the headshot with Mantis.

• After Mantis whines, hold Z to go into FPV. Aim for his right leg (Snake's left) and shoot.

• Finally, connect one more shot in his leg, either as he is flying to the middle of the room or when he ends his flight.

• Hold Start+A when Mantis falls to the floor to open the codec immediately.

• Below is a nonlethal method, which is about the same speed and skips the Meryl possession

• Below is a nonlethal method, which is easier, a little bit slower, and doesn't skip the Meryl possession

Old Lethal Mantis

• Roll once you reach the edge of the stairs. You lose about 20 frames not rolling down the stairs.

• Roll through the door to the Caves. Safest thing to do is to wait until you see the door opening to roll. You can save up to ~8 frames rolling through the door.

• Watch for the gap in the door.

• TAS Variant where you roll before the door has visibly opened. This is risky, as you can lose over a second by rolling too early.

• Hold upright on the dpad²⁾, then upleft towards the overhang. Roll into the overhang.

• Dogs are extremely dangerous. If they dive Snake, their attack has PRIORITY over a Snake roll. This attack will knock Snake down.

• Roll once you cross the red line.

• Meryl's dog dialog loses four seconds.

• Shoot at her with a pistol between the green and red lines.

• If you cross the red line without Meryl in stun, you will get the dialog. You can shoot earlier than the green line, but it is slower. Watch the video below for examples.

• You can shoot multiple times and just bump into Meryl instead, rather than rolling.

• If you roll too late, Meryl can slap you down, forcing you to hear “What are you thinking?” Try to get up as soon as possible if she slaps you, as you may be able to get to through the door before her dog dialog.

• Sometimes, Snake will aim at the wolf pup rather than Meryl. You can either take your chances and hope Snake changes his aim, or FPV Meryl instead.

• If you trip a mine, you will lose about 12 seconds. You can trip a mine without taking damage, however you will still lose time from Meryl's cheeky behavior.

• After skipping Meryl's cutscene, go right. Be careful not to trip the mine in the bottom right corner by turning too early.

• Roll upleft at the top right corner. Be careful not to trip the mine by turning too early.

• Press downright on dpad to turn to the wall. Go left when Snake crosses the weapon's box in the GUI. You can roll into the Caves to save ~8 to 11 frames.

• Do a couple of Socom shots, you can do a single shot but this rarely (1/20?) doesn't get noticed by the dogs. Hedge your bets with 2-3 shots.

• Bump into the wall from downright, then downleft roll in the crawlspace.

• Puppy will come to investigate OR the big dog will sit by the crawlspace.

• Dog will howl once alerted.

• Run along the top to shoot or roll through the second dog.

• Roll at a certain line in the snow in the open area.

• Rolling through the commander's room door is free, it saves ~20 frames compared to running in.

• Rolling into Nuke Building B1 can save up to 9 frames. Roll once you get past the lines in the walls.

• Retrieve the PSG1-T, ammo, and pentaz in the bottom left corner of the offices.

• Rolling into the Commander's room can save up to 5 frames. There is about an 11 frame window to do so. Wait until you see the door are opening. This is the most difficult frame saver of the segment.

• As you enter the Commander Room, hold right on dpad to move straight. Change to holding up once the camera changes. This saves frames.

• Make sure to pick up the PSG1-T ammo in the Caves.

• Roll at this line to save the most frames. Rolling a step earlier or later will lose about 10 frames. Not rolling at all loses 23.

Wolf 1 Positions

• L ▲ 1 for Pentaz, use 1-3 (the effects stack)

• R ▼ 1 for PGS1-T from M9/Socom

• The most consistent approach is aiming just below the railing along Tower A.

• If Wolf is hiding, take the opportunity to pick up PSG1-T ammo and/or move as far forward as possible.

• Once you have delivered the final shot, immediately change back to the pistol and run forward.

• Three seconds after the final shot, roll.

• While rolling into the cutscene trigger, quick change to the PSG1-T. This sets up the inventory as you exit the Medical Room.

• As Johnny does his patrol, he sneezes at certain points in his route.

• Johnny responding to Snake making noise - “Hey.” and “Shut up in there will ya?” is faster than him sneezing.

• A common misconception is that you need to call Otacon for him to bring supplies. This is not correct, he will show up either way.

• You do not need to be in front of the door for the Otacon cutscene to start, unlike the original game.

• There are two optimal ways to exit the Medical Room. These methods break the story flags to save time later on.

1. Easy Prison Skip
2. Hard Prison Skip
3. Old Glitchless Medical Room

• If you are a beginner, do not go for Hard Prison Skip.

• Tap left so Snake is not so close to the door. Go prone. L ▼ 2 for Ketchup, Use ketchup, L ▼ 2 for Handkerchief

• DO NOT STAND UP UNTIL YOU HEAR THE DOOR CLICK!

• Run upright pass Johnny to make him move fast.

• Get into the torture room, then throw Johnny by the cutscene trigger.

• Don't delay, get out the door! If you hear Johnny hit the ground, you were too slow

• Roll towards the door, get interrupted by turret, this prevents you from getting shot twice

• You'll know you have succeeded if Snake exits with his clothes on, and there are no turrets.

• Hold left then upleft to return to the Torture Room

• Hold down then upleft, roll into equipment

• Be aware that the hitbox for the equipment is deceiving and not that big.

• Roll towards the door to avoid getting shot twice

• Quick change to M9.

• Call the elevator, go up for the Tank Hangar.

• Roll into the door to the Canyon, at the penultimate sensor line. This saves up to 26 frames over running forward.

• Features some strategies for Canyon, but not the fastest strategies, check below

• Wallguy's Dazzle Strategy

• Wallguy's Bulletless Double Bait

• VPP's Safer Dazzle Variant

• VPP's Safe No Ammo Variant

Repeat the movements for the rooms up to the Underground Passage.

• R ► 1 for Stuns OR R ► 1 for Grenades at some point during a roll after 1F.

• If you do not do Prison Skip, roll at the middle line to save up to 20 frames.

• In Game Timer is ticking during the Disc Swap.

• Gamecube's disc swap is faster than Wii, due to the popup disc cover.

• Prep Disc 2 before entering Tower A.

• Don't pop the disc cover/eject Disc 1 too early, or you will get a prompt to re-insert Disc 1. IGT does not tick while this prompt is up.

END OF DISC 1! GO TO DISC 2

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