The Official Unofficial GiantBomb MGS V Non-Lethal Weapon Fight: Riot SMG vs. Tranq Pistol

Here's the thing about the tranq pistol: you shoot one guy in the leg, the next guy in the arm, and the last guy in the head, and suddenly they all drop at just about the same time. Impossible with the riot gun, they'd spot you almost instantly.

Tranq sniper rifle, stun assault rifle, riot SMG, bionic arm, smoke grenades.

• Infinite Suppressor Tranq pistol.
• Tranq sniper rifle.
• Stun grenade launcher.

Wish I had focused on getting the better tranq snipers earlier since I'm basically done with the game now.

Sleep grenades, magazines, and the tranq pistol is all you need for basically any stealth mission. Although I did carry a silenced tranq sniper for emergencies, but sniping dudes was always Quiet's job. Though I did stop using her in favor of D-Dog because it's so much more fun to do things yourself.

hmm, i don't think i ever got this? I got the tranq with the infinite suppressor though. I also never researched suppressed tranq assault rifles(didn't know they existed tbh), but by the end i started carrying a grenade launcher in case a boss fight showed up and the tranq sniper with a suppressor

Unless I missed them too, there aren't any tranq assault rifles. There are nonlethal ARs that shoot rubber bullets like the nonlethal SMG does, but no assault rifles that shoot a ton of little darts.

Water pistol. Electronics. Of course. It all makes sense. Dammit.

CQC > Tranq Pistol > Riot SMG > everything else in any order.

This is the true way to play!

Tranq pistol is the only correct answer.

I played tranq pistol for the story and all the side ops I did along the way, way more satisfying. Now that I'm kinda just ramboing my way through the rest of the side ops I've switched to SMG so I can just blast through shit while still fultoning dudes.

That said...

The truest of truths.

Yeah, man, didn't even think of that possibility.

Tranq pistol allows me to shoot a group of 3-4 guys in the leg and watch them fall asleep one by one while the remaining guys react. It's just too funny to me

Well its no fault of your own if you didnt think of cameras that whitstand heavy rain break by squirting them with a water pistol.

It's fun to ban yourself from using non-lethal weapons altogether, meaning you need to go choke that dude if you want to fulton him back to Mother Base.

Riot SMG miss = alert. Tranq miss = no alert.

the riot SMG is probably fine when upgraded, but since the Burkov line has a semi-auto tranq pistol I never bothered to try it. Burkov TB > all.

if you never bothered to research the Burkov's you made a huge mistake.

Only babies need the crutch of a 100 bullet clip! Tranq all the way!

But god I wish they would add Subsistence mode to everything. OSP for life.

Tranq pistol only wins until you get the infinity bandana. After that, you're just being ridiculous if you don't switch to the Riot SMG.

Don't be a ridiculous person.

Tranq. I love shooting everyone in a camp in the back and watching them all just fall asleep :)

Tranq was my preferred side arm, but I ended up doing a lot of hold ups. Holding a guy up, interrogating him, having him lie down, kicking him to stun him, and then fultoning him all in about 5 seconds was my favorite way to dispatch of guys and conserve ammo and suppressors.

Then of course the tranq sniper rifle with a suppressor made the game EZ mode, but I have other things to do.

The Second Tranq pistol, it fires quicker.

This man speaks the truth. They can't ever see you if you are out of their sight range.

Researched Tranq for Quiet too and we roll most outposts in under two minutes.

I've never used anything other than the tranq pistol and the rifle that you start with (upgraded of course). Tranq dudes that I want to extract, execute the useless ones, and melee the heavies.

I should experiment more.

A suppressed pistol and suppressed sniper rifle in non lethal configurations with a full-lethal assault rifle, should things get out of hand.

I mean, if you're going stealth, spaying inaccurate bullets everywhere seems like the worst idea. Just what kind of maniac would use the riot SMG?

Oh.

I prefer the Tranq, but like others have said the SMG can be useful when you don't think you're going to stay hidden for long and want to stun people amidst chaos.

I'm jealous of all these people repping their tranq snipers and infinite suppressors, though. I just finished Mission 40, have 68% of side ops completed, have all my platforms on Mother Base at level 54 or 55, and I haven't noticed any indication that either of these things are possible for me. Makes me frown.

Hand to hand is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.

You need to check the weapon requirements in R&D. Some require MB staff with specific traits - they can be obtained as prisoners or elite soldiers in some of the main ops.

I suppose I've completely forgotten there are side objectives in most of the missions that I didn't bother to do, but I feel like I've come across most of the prisoners in those missions; probably not if they're a common side objective though. I'm 15 or 16 deep on side ops for both skilled soldiers and prisoners, too.

I voted Riot SMG because the hate that weapon gets is totally unwarrented, but it depends on your playstyle. If you're going for a more head on approach Riot SMG is great because it still kicks ass even after the alarm goes off and it's a better weapon in reflex mode.

Check the requirements, still. Sometimes is a specific level in staff, sometimes it's resources. Pretty sure you need a Tranquilizer Specialist to get to the higher levels of the silenced RENOV.

Riot SMG is garbage, pistol all the way.

Tranquilizer pistol is just so much better that it's insane that it is even a debate. It is more effective when used properly and it allows more room for error if your accuracy isn't always pinpoint, and even has the better upgrade path--unlimited suppressor feels like borderline cheating.

The riot SMG's big selling point is its versatility, being able to fall back on it as a non-lethal option when shit hits the fan, and that'd be a great argument if you could only carry one weapon. Its AR counterpart is far superior as the non-lethal option when going loud. Riot SMG just ends up being this weird in-between that's not as good as either option.

Gotta go with the tranq pistol all the way. Until the suppressed sniper tranq becomes available. And that only until Quiet's suppressed sniper tranq becomes available. Once she has that, just point her at a base and waltz in to 20 sleeping dudes.