Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain - 12 Crucial Tips & Tricks You Need To Know

4. Ranking Up Your Buddy's Bond Level Unlocks More Skills

I mention this as depending on how many trailers for Phantom Pain you watched beforehand, it could lead to wondering where actions like D-Horse's 'poop button' are (it's used to cause vehicles to skid or freak out guards). Well, you have to earn that ability, and the same goes for every Buddy you can take out with you. Spending time with them in the field and utilising their various skills - like D-Dog's marking or Quiet's... everything - will rank up their 'Bond Level'. Eventually - and it's different for each Buddy - you'll get a prompt at the close of a mission mentioning you've unlocked the requisite skill, and it's then free to deploy in every other mission going forward. Mix up your Buddies by say deploying with D-Horse for the sake of traversal if the landing zone is far away from your objective, then hop back to DD or whoever for the main thread. That way you're giving everyone points towards their respective meters, ensuring they don't go without upgrades for that time you may genuinely need them.