Learn how to recruit soldiers in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. This guide covers capturing, rescuing, and special conditions for recruiting allies, plus a breakdown of soldier careers.
You cannot complete Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops without allies. Every mission features enemy soldiers, and you can only recruit them if they are incapacitated. To recruit an enemy soldier, first knock them out, then drag them to the truck (or a cardboard box later in the game) before they regain consciousness. After completing or aborting the mission, captured soldiers will be held in prison on the Squad Management screen. In prison, you can view their skills, remove their equipment, rename them, or dispose of them. After a few in-game days, they will join your unit. Having a soldier with the Politician career in your squad can speed up this process.
Special conditions for recruitment:
- Rescuing a captured soldier will immediately add them to your unit.
- Unique Characters can be recruited, but specific conditions must be met.
The following characters will join your unit immediately after capture or rescue:
- Jonathan
- Para-Medic
- Python
- Raikov
- Sigint
- Sokolov
- Eva
- Venus
- Teliko
- Gene (in EU version)
- Any soldier rescued during a mission
- Any soldier acquired via AP Scan
- Any soldier recruited via password (Passwords are generally not recommended except for the GAKO soldier and Zero if you don't own the Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel. All other soldiers can be obtained without a password.)
- Any soldier who joins voluntarily through Cyber-Survival.
Soldier Careers:
Each soldier has a specific career that affects their abilities and the units they are best suited for:
| Career | Effect | Best Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Movement speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Quarterback | Throwing distance is longer | Infiltration Unit |
| Artist | Magazine (book) has no effect | Online Unit |
| Scout | Stalking speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Rescuer | Dragging movement speed is faster | Infiltration Unit |
| Gambler | Increases chance of hitting weak spot/getting hit in weak spot | Cyber-Survival |
| Deliveryman | Can send items back to Campbell's truck | Infiltration Unit |
| Bait | Makes strong enemies appear more often | Infiltration Unit |
| Stuntman | Quick recovery from knockouts | Online Unit |
| Surveyor | Increases detail in stage map | Intelligence Unit |
| Spy/Agent | Decreases enemy life (by 10%) Note! It will also decrease your recruits life, so use them with caution! | Intelligence Unit |
| Arms Dealer | Increases chance of finding ammunition | Intelligence Unit |
| Arms Specialist | Increases amount of ammunition that can be carried | Technical Unit |
| Elite engineer | Very high technical development skills | Technical Unit |
| Engineer | High technical development skills | Technical Unit |
| Chemist | Works on medicine development | Medical Unit |
| Doctor | Increases life recovery speed for your squad | Medical Unit |
| Nutrionist | Increases stamina recovery speed for your squad | Medical Unit |
| Politician | Prisoners become allies more easily | ANY UNIT |
Cyber-Survival Mode:
After recruiting allies, you can deploy them in Cyber-Survival mode, which requires a WLAN connection. This mode has different rules than the main game. After reviewing the rules, assign equipment to your unit and send them online. Check their status after 12 hours. If you lose, save the battle report to analyze what went wrong and how to improve your strategy. You may capture enemy soldiers, and some may even join you voluntarily, potentially offering a gift like the Stealth Camouflage. However, be aware that losing can result in your soldiers being captured by the enemy, so avoid sending your favorite recruits into this mode unprepared.
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