History GameBreaker / MetalGear

* Farming the Tsuchinoko (an Ultra Rare animal that is a callback to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'') can utterly trivialize the game once you reach Africa. If you have a maxed Capture Cage, some Bait Bottles and know where to find it (a small inlet at the northern end of Lufwa Valley), it can net you a maximum of 940 Heroism Points and nearly 1.6 ''million'' GMP if you catch eight at once. When you unlock the helicopter drop-off close to its location, it's the easiest way to farm money, and can net hundreds of thousands in minutes.

* Sam's kick action command during his DLC chapter can be exploited to any nearby enemies, since even mid-boss-type enemies such as Grads can be '''instantly''' taken down if said enemies are near the stunned enemy that's ready to receive said kick, making VERY annoying mid-boss-type enemies a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMQxh5Klj14#t=11m22s breeze to deal with]] as long as you know how to exploit said kick action command during combat.

** To a lesser extent is Sam's Taunt action (covers all affected enemies in a reddish tint and puts a bolt-shaped icon above them) that makes all enemies in range much more weaker defense-wise, but in return for this boon it makes all parrying useless for as long as the effect lasts, so you're better off using the Defensive Offense or other evasive maneuvers to avoid taking damage to enemies affected by Sam's Taunt status effect.

** To a lesser extent is Sam's Taunt action (covers all affected enemies in a reddish tint and puts a bolt-shaped icon above them) that makes all enemies in range much more weaker, but in return for this it makes all parrying useless for as long as the effect lasts, so you're better off using the Defensive Offense or other evasive maneuvers to avoid taking damage to enemies affected by Sam's Taunt status effect.

* Sam's kick action command during his DLC chapter can be exploited to any nearby enemies, since even mid-boss-type enemies such as Grads can be '''instantly''' taken down if said enemies are near the stunned enemy that's ready to receive said kick, making VERY annoying mid-boss-type enemies a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMQxh5Klj14#t=11m22s breeze to deal with]] as long as you know how to exploit said kick action command during fight.

* There are several points in the game where, either due to a programming oversight or deliberate break, you can do something extremely minor and break any sort of challenge in the level, allowing you to waltz through whole stages easily:
** When fighting Crying Wolf, [[spoiler:hiding under the truck directly in front of Snake as the fight starts will make Snake impossible to damage except from directly in front, give him a fixed 99% camo index, protect him completely from stress or stamina loss due to the blizzard, and make the whole battle a matter of waiting for Wolf to wander into view and blasting her with the biggest, meanest gun at Snake's disposal when she does (unless you [[NewGamePlus already have her rail gun]], which is too bulky to use while prone but will pretty consistently kill her in one shot to the head).]]
** In the first section of the third stage, you're supposed to be disguised as Young Snake and sneak past the guards while tailing your mark. If you switch your [=FaceCamo=] to anyone else, though, ''everyone in the entire level ignores you''.

** The Mist Parasite cartridges in particular makes S-ranks '''incredibly easy''' to obtain -- not only does it last longer then the Stealth Parasite of equal rank, but it is very easy to bypass the drawback of reduced vision it has by using D-Dog as a buddy and his passive marking to avoid getting too close to enemies. You can also use Grade 4 or higher NVG to easily see through the mist you create, thereby bypassing the one thing that the mist cartridges do towards impairing the player's vision through the mist.

** The Mist Parasite in particular makes S-ranks incredibly easy -- not only does it last longer then the Stealth Parasite of equal rank, but it is very easy to bypass the drawback of reduced vision it has by using D-Dog as a buddy and his passive marking to avoid getting too close to enemies.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has the M14 EBR. In gameplay terms, it's essentially a cross between an assault rifle and a sniper rifle, with none of the drawbacks of either (it can be switched between an accurate semi-auto mode and a fast full-auto mode at will). It's also able to be modified (the only sniper rifle in the game that can be, in fact), almost eliminating any disadvantages of using it at close range, in third-person mode, or when you don't want to alert enemies. You can get this weapon very early in the game, before any setpiece battles; it's cheap enough you can often immediately buy one after Drebin's introduction with the points you retroactively gain for weapons picked up earlier on, or grab one and unlock it for even cheaper from the PMC snipers in the very next map area. Ammo is also incredibly easy to get for it, as about 95% of the PMC soldiers use weapons that share ammo with it.

** When fighting Crying Wolf, [[spoiler:hiding under the truck directly in front of Snake as the fight starts will make Snake impossible to damage except from directly in front, give him a fixed 99% camo index, protect him completely from stress or stamina loss due to the blizzard, and make the whole battle a matter of waiting for Wolf to wander into view and blasting her with the biggest, meanest gun at Snake's disposal when she does (unless you [[NewGamePlus already have her rail gun]], which is too bulky to use while prone but will pretty consistently kill her in one shot).]]

* The Fox Blade in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''. In terms of stats, it's similar with HF Blade, but is capable of ignoring armor. Fully upgrading this blade not only carry 50% chance ignoring armor, but also dismembering heavy enemies, eliminating the need of [[SuperMode Ripper Mode]]. You won't be able to get high regular combos, but that's easily remedied once you realize that combos ONLY count hit number and nothing else, as long as you make use of your blade mode to toss in a few dozen hits (really easy considering you don't even need to weaken enemies for it to work) and you can get easy S ranks provided you don't get hit. The only downside is the armor cutting doesn't do much to bosses so you're better off using one with raw power at that point.

** She had two modes as a buddy: Scout and Attack. Sending her to scout will mark all the targets that are in the open, thus working like the D-Dog. Then she will align herself on the best spot to pick them all out, just awaiting order to do so.

** Adding suppressors to almost any weapon that doesn't come with it for free? Check. Buffing suppressors for other guns so you run out of ammo before suppressors wears off? Check. Making a long-range assault rifle with good fire rate, suppressor and an underbarrel grenade launcher? Check. Using a ''[[MoreDakka 70 round drum magazine]]'' on a semi-auto sniper rifle to hardly run out of ammo? Check.

* Maxed-out Stun Arm allows to load a full charge into it, knocking out ''everyone'' in range of 45 meters. It also renders mentioned above Rocket Arm a pointless gimmick, since rather than single-target, it can easily clear entire outpost at once. Certain missions turn into a complete joke with it, allowing to finish them within minutes. And most importantly, there are no counters against it, nor it generates any sort of counter-equipment on enemy side. Thhe only downside is the amount of time it takes to load the charge and then to recharge the battery, so it has to be prepared in advance, rather than used in emergency, but other than that, there is nothing as effective as knocking out multiple targets at once.

* Playing with D-Dog is basically playing with a wallhack. Even before equipment or Buddy Bonds are factored into the equation, DD can identify enemies, prisoners, weapons, vehicles, medicinal plants, and pretty much anything of interest (aside from resource containers) from upwards of 100 meters away, marking them on the HUD without using the Binoculars, and essentially functioning as the Intel Team on steroids. He can be called upon to sit in a place and bark to draw attention away from Snake, and with the right equipment he gains the ability to ambush and kill, stun, or critically wound targets at Snake's command -- most notably, unlike the aforementioned Quiet, he can non-lethally neutralize Heavy Infantry instantly -- or be told to sit on a road to force vehicles to stop and honk their horn to force him to move, providing a window of opportunity to approach the vehicle from behind and Fulton it (and everyone in it) or take out the driver and/or passengers. Even walking near Snake has its benefits while sneaking, since if he gets too close to an enemy without trying to neutralize them, they'll stop whatever they're doing and try to shoo him away, making him handy as a distraction if an enemy gets too close. He can even be outfitted with a portable Fulton of his own, allowing him to extract targets for you. The only downside is that he can be injured while attempting to neutralize an enemy (especially if they're armed with shotguns), since they'll start shooting at him in self-defense.

* Playing with D-Dog is basically playing with a wallhack. Even before equipment or Buddy Bonds are factored into the equation, DD can identify enemies, prisoners, weapons, vehicles, medicinal plants, and pretty much anything of interest (aside from resource containers) from upwards of 100 meters away, marking them on the HUD without using the Binoculars, and essentially functioning as the Intel Team on steroids. He can be called upon to sit in a place and bark to draw attention away from Snake, and with the right equipment he gains the ability to ambush and kill, stun, or critically wound targets at Snake's command-- most notably, unlike the aforementioned Quiet, he can non-lethally neutralize Heavy Infantry instantly, or be told to sit on a road to force vehicles to stop and honk their horn to force him to move. Even walking near Snake has its benefits while sneaking, since if he gets too close to an enemy without trying to neutralize them, they'll stop whatever they're doing and try to shoo him away, making him handy as a distraction if an enemy gets too close. He can even be outfitted with a portable Fulton of his own, allowing him to extract targets for you.

** Among the weapons without suppressors that can be given suppressors with Weapon Customization is the AM MRS-73 Sniper Rifle, a rifle that happens to be one of only three Sniper Rifles in the game that can be fitted with tranquilizer rounds, and the only tranquilizer rifle to be semi-automatic (compared to the bolt-action of the other rifles, which greatly limits their rate of fire) and have a large magazine (20 rounds, compared to the 5 of the other tranquilizer rifles). Weapon Customization can even give it the medium durability Suppressor from the M2000 Sniper Rifle, which lasts nearly long enough to fire its entire reserve of ammunition and turns silently taking down even the largest outposts into child's play.

** Most importantly, weapon customisation allows to field superior weapons much, much earlier than it is even feasible to develop them and at a fraction of their price. Since the costs of fielding weapon are tied to the gun's base and its tier, it is possible to take low-tier version of the gun and slap on it all the GunAccessories of the high tier ''while not paying for those''. With legendary gunsmith on board, the only reason to develop new guns is to gain new accessories to mix and match between guns, but that's it.

* Infinite farming is an exploit related with repeatively playing mission 8, Occupation Forces. It takes about 3 minutes to finish and all it takes is having decoys and Cargo +2 upgrade for Fulton. With those it's a matter of riding on horseback toward the convoy, set up decoys, place D-Horse on the road and then just sneak behind the convoy when it stops and fulton all three vehicles. 250.000 GMP (from selling the fultoned vehicles), along with 1600 heroism and the money eared on S-ranking the mission are yours.
** If one is interested only in heroism, there is also mission 4, [=C2W=]. Once the local air radar is destroyed, it is possible to simply designate the landing spot right on the mission target, use the on-board minigun to destroy all 3 relay dishes and depart instantly from the site. It takes exactly 55 seconds to do so and nets 1600 heroism, along with enough income to always turn profit on it. It's also the fastest way of grinding bond with buddies and eventually provides A-rank and above volunteers after finishing the mission. This is ''also'' the fastest and safest way of getting medals for your personel, taking less than 5 minutes to field the same person three times and enjoy nice skill boost.
* Since the amount of active players greatly decreased over the years, but their [=FOBs=] are still online, the easiest, fastest and safest way to get obscene amount of resources along with S-rank volunteers is to continously raid [=FOBs=]. All it takes is finding low defense [=FOBs=] with the right platforms for the right materials as reward. Then it can be raided in less than 5 minutes with close to zero effort. Retaliation? Chances are the other player wasn't online for past year or three. It trivialize staff management and getting resources to the point there is hardly any initiative left during campaign missions to fulton anyone and anything, aside getting rid of the unconscious soldiers and fulfilling objectives.

** If one is interested only in heroism, there is also mission 4, C2W. Once the local air radar is destroyed, it is possible to just designate the landing spot right on the mission target, use the on-board minigun to destroy all 3 relay dishes and depart instantly from the side. It takes exactly 55 seconds to do so and nets 1600 heroism, along with enough income to always turn profit on it. It's also the fastest way of grinding bond with buddies and eventually provides A-rank and above volunteers after finishing the mission. This is also the fastest and safest way of getting medals for your personel, taking less than 5 minutes to field the same person three times and enjoy nice skill boost.

* Playing with D-Dog is basically playing with a wallhack. Even before equipment or Buddy Bonds are factored into the equation, DD can identify enemies, prisoners, weapons, vehicles, medicinal plants, and pretty much anything of interest (aside from resources) from upwards of 100 meters away, marking them on the HUD without using the Binoculars, and essentially functioning as the Intel Team on steroids. He can be called upon to sit in a place and bark to draw attention away from Snake, and with the right equipment he gains the ability to ambush and kill, stun, or critically wound targets at Snake's command-- most notably, unlike the aforementioned Quiet, he can non-lethally neutralize Heavy Infantry instantly, or be told to sit on a road to force vehicles to stop and honk their horn to force him to move. Even walking near Snake has its benefits while sneaking, since if he gets too close to an enemy without trying to neutralize them, they'll stop whatever they're doing and try to shoo him away, making him handy as a distraction if an enemy gets too close. He can even be outfitted with a portable Fulton of his own, allowing him to extract targets for you.

** Adding suppressors to almost any weapon that doesn't come with it for free? Check. Making a long-range assault rifle with good fire rate, suppressor and an underbarrel grenade launcher? Check. Using a ''[[MoreDakka 70 round drum magazine]]'' on a semi-auto sniper rifle to hardly run out of ammo? Check.

* The Cluster Guided Missile 25 Rocket Launcher eclipses the other Rocket Launchers in its default state, but once it gets upgrades to increase the number of rockets it fires per salvo, it starts to reach the point of absurdity. These upgrades also usually increase the damage per rocket even further, allow the CGM to lock onto more targets at once, and increase the number of salvos per resupply, making it capable of obliterating everything short of Sahelanthropus before it needs a refill. Just to drive home how much of a gamechanger adding more rockets to the mix is, the raw damage output from the final non-FOB upgrade is capable of shredding even the Extreme difficulty Skulls with only a few shots, when even the penultimate version struggles to bring them down.
* The final upgrade for the WU Silent Pistol comes with an infinite Suppressor, making it the only tranquilizer weapon in the game (aside from an identical, but separately earned, weapon for D-Walker) to have a suppressor that doesn't break after extended use. While the suppressor can't be added onto other weapons with Weapon Customization, it still means that, with proper aim, its possible to silently and non-lethally take down even the largest Outposts in the game armed with only this pistol and with its 30 rounds, and even extract every soldier in it without resupplying after only a few Fulton upgrades.

* The CGM 25 Rocket Launcher eclipses the other Rocket Launchers in its default state, but what really cements its position on this list is its final upgrade, which increases the number of rockets it fires per salvo, increases the damage per rocket even further, allows the CGM to lock onto eight targets at once (up from six), and increases the number of salvos per resupply to eight. The raw damage alone is capable of shredding the Skull units [[NintendoHard (the ones from the Extreme missions]], to say nothing of the ones from the standard missions) in only a few salvos, when even the penultimate version struggled to bring them down.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater [[UpdatedRerelease 3D]]'', the Photo Camo feature, which lets you create camouflage from pictures taken with the [[Nintendo3DS 3DS']] cameras, can generate camouflages that grant a 100% Camo Index, normally only obtainable with the Stealth Camouflage item only available in a [[NewGamePlus New Game+]], or the Moss Camo, obtained by holding up [[ThatOneBoss The End]].

* The Infinity Wigs from ''Sons of Liberty'' make a return as accessories for Raiden, albeit with different effects. Wig A (brown) grants infinite Sub-Weapons so long as it is equipped, making it easy to spam EMP Grenades and 3D Photo Frames. Wig B (blue/aqua) makes Blade Mode and Ripper Mode infinite (but Ripper Mode can no longer be used at the same time as Blade Mode). The Blade Mode Wig (blonde) has the same effect as a maximized Fox Blade, but only takes effect when Blade Mode is active. Using any of these has ''no effect'' on your battle ranking, but all of these have to [[EarnYourFun be earned]] by collecting enough Left Arms, Data Storages, and in the case of the Blade Mode Wig, finishing the game on Hard Mode.

* Downplayed with a number of items, including the Chicken Hat and the Stealth Camo Prototype. If you use them on a mission you won't be able to get an S-Rank, though since side-ops aren't graded, you can use as many of them as you want. D-Walker's Fulton Ballista weapon is of particular note, as it makes tank missions laughably easy by letting you stay a far distance away and extract them instantly.

* The Brennan LRS-46 sniper rifle. Yes it has a slow rate of fire, but its shots are so absurdly powerful that even the enhanced stone armor of the bulkier Skulls is about as effective as wet tissue paper in defending against it. The only enemy in the game that can take more than 3 shots from it are the red gunships and Sehalanthropus.
** The Serval has the power of the Brennan and semiautomatic fire. This allows it to shoot much faster, taking down enemies like the Skulls in seconds.

* Raiden's super sprint ability in the ''Ground Zeroes'' mission "Jamais Vu". Being able to run off at twice the normal sprint speed allows the player to reposition themselves far more easily during a firefight. It also becomes available in ''The Phantom Pain'' after [[EarnYourFun S-ranking every story mission]], which by that point qualifies as a BraggingRightsReward.