Which Ending Is The Best? Still Haven't Finished The Game So Not Sure.

[Sally_Cat84]

I know the game has been out for a while but at first I was taking my time with the game and now I just sort of want to finish it so I'm trying to play as long as I can.  I'm really loving the game except I hate The Skulls.  I'm at 35% completion I think.  I know when the game is finished it's not at 100% completion due to the issue with Kojima and some other company I believe.  I know that Quiet leaves at some point but if you use the Butterfly emblem she doesn't leave apparently.  I have all the buddies maxed out in "love".  I was told to get the story to continue in true story mode I have to remove the butterfly emblem and let Quiet go and continue the story without her.  I also read there are four endings and the true ending is really hard to get.  I know I have a ways to go, I'm currently going to play mission 29 and I was going to avoid using Quiet but I read that there was a patch already installed long ago to prevent the save glitch.

 

So, basically I'm not sure which ending I should go for.  I know I could always replay and get the other endings but I may not replay the game for a long time, as much as I love it.  I've been playing Metal Gear Solid games since Metal Gear Solid came out and I played bits and pieces of Metal Gear 1 and 2 through MGS 3 Subsistence but never actually completed them.

 

Please help and thanks in advance for responses.

[hpknight]

You won't miss any endings in Phantom Pain. Just keep playing the missions and the important side ops and you should get every ending.

[FarSideOfSaturn]

What hpknight said. The credits will roll three times during the Phantom Pain, follow the missions, side quests and cassette tapes and you won't miss anything. Additionally, it seems like you'd prefer to keep hold of Quiet so after the third and final ending (the true ending) replay mission eleven (Cloaked in Silence) six times and the name will change to "Cloaked in Silence: Reunion". So beat it once more and you'll get Quiet back. 

[Sally_Cat84]

Thanks very much for the responses everyone.  My assumption was, based on what I read, you had to fulfill certain requirements to receive certain endings in the game.  Since that's not true I don't have to worry.  I'm now 39% into the game.  After mission 29 I decided to do some staff headhunting, going around different areas in Africa and getting lots of fuel resources.  I finally managed to get another upgrade to one of my bases (not the security one).  I didn't realize that if you fully upgrade the Base Development base first it'll take less time to process the resources you find such as Fuel, Common Metal, Biological Materials, etc.  I didn't find that out until I had decided to fully upgrade the Command Platform first.  I wonder if I'll finish upgrading the entire base before I finish the game...I hope to.

[Sally_Cat84]

OK so just finished mission 43 where you have to go to the Quarantine base and kill all the infected men.  I still have the butterfly emblem up, did all the side ops, except target practice and listened to all the cassette tapes. I even found that cutscene with Paz where she dies and blows up her part of the medical platform.  I haven't gotten any new missions since mission 43 except the stealth and extreme repeat missions.  Do I have to take off the butterfly emblem and when Quiet leaves I do Cloaked In Silence 6 times and get her back?  Does the story continue after that?

[FarSideOfSaturn]

You'll need to take the butterfly emblem away and according to a few websites have maximum bond with Quiet to go any further. I already had maximum bond with her so I didn't realize that was required before, sorry! Once she leaves that'll trigger side mission 150 which leads to mission 45, and completing that should unlock the final mission (46). 

 

I remember mission 45 not unlocking for me automatically after completing mission 43 so I replayed a quick mission (mission 4, I stayed in the helicopter and destroyed the targets from there, it was over in seconds) and once I returned to Motherbase, that triggered mission 45. So once the butterfly emblem is gone and your bond with Quiet is at maximum, try replaying a mission if mission 45 doesn't unlock right away and that should speed things along. 

 

One tip, before you start side mission 150, load up on heavy weaponry and armour (especially an RPG) you won't get the chance to prepare because finishing side mission 150 launches you straight into mission 45. 

 

Regarding Cloaked in Silence and repeating it, it's completely optional and doesn't effect the story in any way. It's just an option for players who didn't want to keep playing without Quiet. Sorry if that wasn't clear before.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited December 19, 2016 by FarSideOfSaturn
Incorrect spelling.

[Sally_Cat84]

Thanks so much for responding and for giving me advice about side mission 150 and regular mission 45.  I really appreciate that.  I want to keep Quiet she has been awesome so even though playing Cloaked In Silence 6 times sucks I'd rather have her around.  I was thinking on doing what I did last time where I use the binoculars to mark here then drop a supply box on her and just keep her aiming at me so she doesn't run away before the box comes.  Does it have to be non-lethal 6 times or can I kill her?  I was also thinking on dropping D-horse or a weapon box or D-Walker on top of her.  I know when I did her for the official mission I just had to drop a supply box on her twice and she was knocked out and I could fulton recover her.  But, it can be hard to mark her because first you have to find her and not get shot and sometimes tactics to knock her out or kill her don't work.

[FarSideOfSaturn]

Defeating her with lethal weapons is fine but you have to spare her when given the choice by Miller. I don't think you can drop D-Horse or D-Walker on her (but it'd be amazing if you could ). I beat her with supply drops too, after she changed position I ran out of cover for a couple of seconds to reveal her on the map, then marked her and ordered the second supply drop. If you take that route make sure you have at least one million GMP to spend, the payout for completing the mission reduces each time and the cost begins to heavily outweigh the reward depending on the equipment you bring, but you can always use a temporarily downgraded version of Pequod and take no weapons/equipment if you're using the supply drop method to save money. 

[Sally_Cat84]

18 hours ago, FarSideOfSaturn said:

Defeating her with lethal weapons is fine but you have to spare her when given the choice by Miller. I don't think you can drop D-Horse or D-Walker on her (but it'd be amazing if you could ). I beat her with supply drops too, after she changed position I ran out of cover for a couple of seconds to reveal her on the map, then marked her and ordered the second supply drop. If you take that route make sure you have at least one million GMP to spend, the payout for completing the mission reduces each time and the cost begins to heavily outweigh the reward depending on the equipment you bring, but you can always use a temporarily downgraded version of Pequod and take no weapons/equipment if you're using the supply drop method to save money. 

 

Great, thanks for that added bit of information as well.  Defeating her 6 times with Supply Drops will be expensive.  Before I used Supply Drops she would usually kill me 50 times, then I saw that method on youtube and was so happy.