I'm having issues getting S-ranks while playing missions. I don't know if I need to save more prisoners, complete the objectives faster, or just something else entirely. I'm mostly just wanting tips on what actually tallies into the S-Rank as I can figure the majority of it out on my own. Thanks in advance

I believe killing guards, entering alert mode and restarting checkpoints all count against your score.

@razorramen: I'm pretty sure that restarts only count if you reach a game over state. Don't quote me on that but....fairly sure.

They do. I don't kill unless the mission states to and I have a feeling its a time factor mostly. I progress through the levels pretty slowly trying to be cautious. I try to save prisoners but sometimes it seems like going for them takes too much time and then I get a worse score for having done so.

No, it also counts when you hit "Restart from checkpoint". You have to restart the mission if you screw up.

As for getting S-ranks, getting one for the Ground Zeroes mission isn't really that hard. You can actually get caught at least once and kill a few guys and still the S-rank. I think I had a time of like 28 minutes, this was the second time I got the S rank and I was pretty surprised by how easy it was. There's a cliff side near the starting point, that allows you to completely by pass the guard tower and guards near the fence. You can then sprint towards the next guard tower safely but you'll probably have to stop in the bushes to hide from the searchlight and the jeep that drives by. The guard in this tower seems to randomly spot you, I've tried it so many times when I first went after the S rank and I still have no clue what sets him off so I'd suggest just tranquilizing him. Then getting to Chico is pretty easy(go through the front gate of the prison camp) and from there on, it's pretty straight forward to get to Paz. Two more things: remember to shoot out lights and don't immediately extract Chico, set him down in the little cave by the extraction point and then go after Paz. Bring her back and extract both at the same time. This will save a couple minutes easy. Oh yeah and turn off the flashlight on your silenced assault rifle.

The only other mission I S-ranked is the Intel Operative Rescue and that one is pretty simple but can be a huge pain in the ass. Just equip that stun gun and abuse auto aim to shoot everyone. Don't worry a guard falls off something and dies when you shoot him, it doesn't count as a kill. Using the rocket launcher on the tank doesn't count as a kill either just be careful about splash damage because there'll be knocked out guards around there. And when the chopper shows up, shoot the two guys inside with the stun gun and you're good. You'll also have to aim down the sights for some shots so it's just a matter of getting accustomed to that.

P.S. Another thing I forgot, turn off reflex mode. It detracts from your score.

I learned that Retries or checkpoint loads serious drop points to your score. Had something like about -6000 in one playthrough. Restart Mission are okay.

I'm starting to realize CQC while making footsteps noise counts as reflex. Gotta creep slower.

YES!!! FINALLY GOT AN S RANK

34 minutes, 0 times spotted 5250 pt, 0 Kills 3500 and No Reflex bonus is 5250 pts

Okay, I took paz through the west exit, then walked south of the helipad to the original point where the game starts. There's enough room for you spot enemies and take them out well in advance. Biggest problem is after Paz there's good chances of guys getting up or being spotted by other guys. So I use the empty magazines a lot as distractions.

I really want to know the music of Paz rescue that one is very Vangelis. sounding

Some tips for the missions I've S-Ranked so far:

Ground Zeroes - First of all make sure to rescue the other prisoners that are with Chico because they're worth a lot of points. The prisoner in the west camp isn't worth grabbing unless he's directly on your way. After the cutscene where you put Chico on the chopper head up past the little guard shack. There should be a guard to your left and a truck on your right. Tranq the guard on the left and then hop into the back of the truck. Lay down so nobody can spot you and it'll take you past the gate into the base. This is the easiest way into the general area that Paz is in that I've found. I then took the corner door out of the base (when facing the outside of the base it's all the way to the right), and snuck my way to the LZ you start the mission at. There's only a few guards along the way, so you shouldn't run into too much trouble.

Eliminate the Renegade Threat - If you can get an A rank on this mission you unlock a sniper rifle, and that makes this mission extremely easy. From the start go up and tranq the first guy you run into, then lay down a bit further up near the little guard shack and wait for the truck to go by. Crawl towards the prison camp it stopped at and tranq all three guys. Now call the helicopter to the nearby LZ and take the two prisoners to it, which should net you a good amount of points. After this go up past the guard shack, and tranq the guy to your left. Once you have you want to climb the rocks to your right a bit so you can make out the guard tower on top of the base. This is where one of the targets is, and you can snipe him from there. After that you want to sprint down out of there and back towards the prison camp, as guards will come to investigate the noise.

Because a caution will be raised, the other target will bar himself up in the arms depot near the bottom of the map, across from where you start the Ground Zeroes mission. Sneak your way over there using lots of crawling and rolling, as it's the most effective way to not get caught. Tranq any guards that are too close for comfort, and wait near the gate leading to the Ground Zeroes starting point for him to exit. Once he does simply take him out with your silenced assault rifle, then exit through the gate behind you and call the chopper. The chopper will be noticed as you leave the mission, but this doesn't count as an alert. Killing just the two guys only loses you 400 points, which is more than offset by the 7000 you'll get from the two prisoners you rescued, and you'll get another 7500 if you never go into focus mode, which is pretty easy with this route.

Intel Operative Rescue - This one's mostly twitch reflex based. Once you've beaten the mission once with a decent score you'll unlock a knock-out shotgun, which you can use to do a no kill run. After you've landed and fought off all the soldiers in the area, first move all the unconscious guards to safe spots before walking up to Kojima, because getting close to him is what causes the tank to spawn, and you have to blow that up. Blowing it up doesn't count as a kill, but any guard caught in the splash damage will, which is why you want to move them out of the way.

Classified Intel Acquisition - If you stay in the truck it will go all the way to the base, at which case you can get out and climb up to the watch tower on the left corner of the base. Before going in walk around to the side and shoot the camera so it doesn't spot you. Grab the tape, and then stealth your way to the closest mission exit. You might also be able to just go back into the truck you entered in and take it out of the mission area, I forget if that's fast enough for an S-Rank or not.

Destroy the Anti-Air Emplacements - Once you've unlocked the rocket launcher by getting a decent rank you can instantly destroy three of the guns you need to take out right from your starting position. One guard starts standing next to the closest gun, but one kill alone won't subtract much from your score. Shoot this one, and then move back and position yourself in a way that you can get the one second from the right without the guards near the first gun being able to spot you. After that one blows up re-position the camera so the farthest right gun is in your sights, but don't raise your rocket launcher yet, as the guards below will see you. Wait for them to move left past the rocks in your view, and then blow up the third one. After the guns are all destroyed you then want to try to sneak to the prison compound before battling the armored vehicle, as destroying that triggers the countdown. If you make your way around the very edge of the map only rolling and crawling you shouldn't be spotted. Once you're at the prison jog the prisoners one by one to the LZ close-by. Use the pathway on the right, as some claymores are set on the dirt path near the guard shack. Once they're all down there call the chopper and then go up the path that's got mines (being careful not to blow any up of course) and shoot the armored vehicle with a rocket as it passes by. It should stop almost instantly, and two more rockets will destroy it. After this go back to the LZ, load the prisoners up, and leave.

@taku128: laying down helps a lot, crawling out of corners. It's basically the same idea of MGS3.

thanks for the tips man

Rolling is also super useful, as it seems to be about as visible as crawling but you go much faster.

I just figured out an S-Rank path for the last mission, so I updated it accordingly. Not sure if any of these strategies will work on hard, but they should all work pretty well on normal.

@taku128: The rolling is tricky, was expecting MGS4 controls on it. Just used it to get out of someone who pointed a flashlight at me.

hehe, and discovered the last XOF badge just plaing around with rolling. That's clever.

Thanks for the tips but I figured out my problem. Didn't realize there were three prisoners near Chico so I kept only extracting 2.

Also retries are only -300 points so its not that big of a hit. Had to retry cause Paz got headshot right as I was running to put her on the chopper but still got S-rank with 1 alert and 1 retry.

I was able to S Rank Intel Operative Rescue. Just spammed away the stun pistol, I did use the rocket launcher on the armored tank, and the helicopter. It read as 3 kills, still an S rank but not the pacifist achievement. I retried maybe 3 times, another time I retried like 12 times those deduction of points really dropped it. The final helicopter does have one point where you can shoot the guy out but I found that to be tricky and you need to aim a him a little to the right before firing.

Well S-ranks and achievements for everything but Deja Vu. Still need to collect patches to unlock it. For the operative rescue if you are going for it be careful when taking out the tank as the splash damage can easily kill someone. Usually what I did was let it come to you and then shoot it around the generators. Don't kill the helicopter but shoot the missile launcher guy with the stun gun and you should be good.Hardest part for me was getting the guys in the jeeps.

I've got a novel tip for anyone attempting to S-Rank Classified Intel Acquisition on Hard. Seeing as you don't start with the silenced AR you can't just shoot the camera out and grab the tape. This method involves going down into the boiler room and obtaining the real tape that you learn of if you go back and interrogate the first dude in the camps, after getting spotted by the camera.

Wait in the back of the truck until it passes under the bridge, just before it reaches the APC hop out the right side of the truck. Start moving at full-speed crouch over to the APC, using the concrete walls as cover. You will attract some attention from a guard who is standing by the building next to the bridge, but he shouldn't alert if you just get to the APC and hop in.

Now, seeing as you cannot be spotted in the APC you can just drive right up behind the truck you were just in, towards the gate. You need to perform a 3-point turn to have the rear end of your APC facing the gate, and the left hand sife of your APC adjacent to the door with the bars that leads to the admin building - while being careful to avoid hitting the truck. Get out of the APC and walk towards the door, you should have full cover behind you provided by your getaway vehicle. There is a guard you need to deal with on other side of this door, make sure he isn't looking through the bars before you approach the door and enter, swing round the right hand side and wait for an opening to choke him to present itself.

With him taken care of sprint down the stairs and start crouch walking at the bottom, the guard with the tape is a bald white man and is in the open-top area of the boiler room, with the stairs that have yellow railings leading up to the other side of the admin complex at the end. He rotates between staring at two surfaces with his back exposed, so when able grab and interrogate him and the tape you are after pops out. Choke him and grab the tape, sprint back the way you came to your APC and disembark, cutting across the heli-pads and over the bridge to success.

Easy S-Rank on Hard with no alerts, kills, reflexes or weapons used in under 5 Mins.

If you want to find the patches without a guide try surveying areas with the night vision goggles.

NO Reflex, and rescue all prisoners. I've achieved S-Rank by No reflex, no kills, rescuing all prisoners and finishing it in under 18 minutes. These two tips are most important.