Buddies | Completing missions MGS V: TPP Guide

You may choose your buddy (and his or her equipment) at the beginning of every mission

Buddies are an important part of the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. They may assist Big Boss during his missions in many ways, like exploring an area or eliminating the enemies. During the game you may find four buddies which are D-Horse, D-Dog, Quiet and D-Walker. It is worth mentioning that only D-Horse is available from the beginning of the campaign. The rest of the buddies you have to unlock by yourself.

You can take with you on a mission only one of your buddies. You may select the one you want in the preparation menu screen and you may also choose his or her equipment as well as a camouflage or a weapon. You should choose the buddy that will be the most useful during a specific mission. For example if you are going to travel a lot you should choose D-Horse. In our walkthrough you will find information which buddy do we recommend for a mission. On the following pages you may also find some details about their potential.

You can give orders to your buddy from the expandable menu

Your buddies have different utility during the fight as well as during the other activities of the mission. Big Boss may use either D-Dog or D-Walker to move faster and safer, however D-Dog and Quiet are going to automatically follow you. You may give orders to every one of your buddies from the special menu. This way you may either order them to keep close to you, to go to a specific point or to attack a specific enemy. At the beginning of the game you are not going to have many orders to choose from however later on you are going to unlock more options.

The current level of your relationship is shown, for example, on a mission summary screen

Your character may develop his Bond Level related to every Buddy beside the D-Walker. You may accomplish that by taking them for missions and using their special abilities (which are described on the following pages). It is important to take care of it since it allows you to unlock their new abilities as well as new types of equipment. After every mission you will see all the Bond Levels on the score screen however you will also be able to check them while selecting a buddy for a next mission.