One clean Tanker-Plant game on Extreme for the Big Boss rank, with Pacifist Run and Complete Stealth earned inside the same limits.
The last run, and the hardest: Tanker-Plant on Extreme, played clean from start to finish for the Big Boss rank. The rank's rules cover two more trophies, Pacifist Run (no kills) and Complete Stealth (no Alerts beyond the ones the story forces), so all three come from this one game. Every tag, pickup and secret is already done, so this run takes nothing but the gear the story needs, skips every scene and optional call, and keeps a careful count of saves. It starts from the clear save of run 3, which carries the special items: they stay unused for the whole run. The menu modes in the next section can be played before or after.
What Extreme changes
There is no radar on Extreme, so listen for footsteps and peek round corners in first-person view. Cameras stand in new places, guards are quicker to notice you, and a guard put to sleep with a dart wakes again within a few minutes, so keep moving once he drops. Charges in the struts are harder to reach and there can be more of them. Twenty RAY units wait near the end instead of a handful. Two pickups change on Extreme: the Shaver appears in the Deep Sea Dock (it isn't there on Normal), and the PSG1-T moves from the Strut F duct to the flooded rooms under the Shell 2 Core. In this release the button-mash before the rooftop fight is short, and on Extreme you start that fight with the health you had at the end of it.
The Big Boss rank: every limit, at its strictest
Limit
For the rank
How to keep it
Game
Tanker-Plant
Start the full story, not the Tanker or the Plant alone.
Difficulty
Extreme
Picked when the new game starts.
Clear time
under 3 hours
Skip every scene and Codec call the moment it starts, and answer no optional call: they all run on the clock.
Damage taken
under 10 life bars
Every hit adds to the run's total, and refilled health doesn't take it back: avoid fights and hits you don't have to take.
Shots fired
under 700
Every bullet and missile counts, dart or not. The Coolant Spray, Book, grenades of every kind, empty magazines and the blade don't.
Alerts
3 or fewer
The story forces its own Alerts: cause none yourself. To be safe, don't let Caution start either.
Kills
0
Only non-lethal weapons on guards and on bosses with a stamina bar.
Continues
0
After a game over, load your save instead of continuing.
Rations used
0
Never eat one.
Saves
8 or fewer
Each Codec save counts. Plan where the eight go.
Radar
off
Extreme plays without it.
Special items
none
Never equip or use the Stealth items, the Bandana or any wig.
Machine damage
under 60, to be safe
Cameras, Cyphers and the RAY units all count, and the RAYs alone add 20: jam Cyphers and cameras with Chaff rather than shooting them.
Leave the special items alone
The clear save hands you the rewards of the tag runs: the Tanker and Plant Stealth items, the Bandana and the Infinity Wig. Using any one of them loses the rank. Don't equip them even for a moment.
Big Boss limits checklistHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Tanker · Before the run – Go through the limits above before you start. One plan that spends the eight saves well: save just before Fortune, Fatman, the charge units on the Shell 1-2 bridge, Vamp, the Oil Fence crossing, the first Tengu fight, the RAY fight and the rooftop fight. Save as soon as you step into a new area, since loading a save puts you back at the start of the area it was made in.
Summary
Plan the run before it starts: where the eight saves go, and how to stay inside every limit in the table above.
Start Extreme Tanker-Plant, radar off, no special itemsQuest stepNG+3
Location
The Tanker · Main menu – Load the clear save run 3 made, start a new game, pick Tanker-Plant and choose Extreme. If the options offer a radar, leave it off. The special items from the tag runs are in your items now: leave every one of them unequipped for the whole game.
Summary
The new game for the rank: Tanker-Plant on Extreme, loaded from run 3's clear save.
Pacifist Run, Complete Stealth and Big Boss are judged on the whole Tanker-Plant run. A kill anywhere loses Pacifist Run and the rank; an Alert you cause loses Complete Stealth and the rank; any other broken limit loses the rank alone. One kill, one Alert of your own or one broken limit can't be undone by playing on: load your last save instead, and never pick Continue after a game over. The Alerts the story forces don't count against either: the boss fights, the Deck-2 firefight, the scene after Ames and the Tengu fight beside Pliskin. Caution doesn't break Complete Stealth, and a guard who spots you but is stopped before he finishes his radio call doesn't start an Alert.
Run 4: Through the decks to the Navigational DeckQuest stepNG+3
Location
The Tanker · Aft Deck to Deck-E, The Bridge – Take run 1's way: the port hatch on the Aft Deck, Deck-A, the lounge stairs, Decks B, C and D, the beam corridor on Deck-D (crawl under it) and the steps up to the Bridge. Skip the lockers, boxes and photos. Dart a guard only when there is no way round him, and keep moving, as he soon wakes.
Run 4: Olga on the Navigational DeckQuest stepNG+3
Location
The Tanker · Navigational Deck, Wing – Leave the Bridge by the side door. As soon as the fight opens, shoot out the spotlight and the bottom corners of the tarp. She fires at the spot where she last saw you, so roll to a side she isn't watching and dart her from there. Your health is refilled when she goes down, but the hits you took still count toward the damage limit. The USP comes to you after the fight, empty: take its rounds on the Bridge on the way back down, as the Engine Room needs a few.
The Tanker · Engine Room and Deck-2 – Go back down to the Deck-A lounge and take the stairs on its right to the Engine Room. At the sensor panels, shoot the three Semtex control units with the USP, one shot each where you can, then take the hatch to Deck-2. The firefight there is an Alert the story forces; fight it with the M9 only, from behind the crates, because a kill still counts in this fight.
The Tanker · Holds No. 1 to No. 3 – Cross the holds as in run 1, from Hold No. 1 through Hold No. 2 to Hold No. 3; the upper railing route needs Grip Lv. 3, so use the floor route unless your grip carried over. Never harm or alarm a marine down here: it ends the game, and that costs a reload. Leave the extra photos alone this time.
Run 4: Photograph RAY and upload the photosQuest stepNG+3
Location
The Tanker · Hold No. 3 – Dart the pacing marine first, take the four shots from the same places as in run 1, and upload them at the white terminal by the entrance. Skip the scenes that follow; the chapter ends and the Plant begins.
Run 4: Start the Plant at the Deep Sea DockQuest stepNG+3
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Strut A, Deep Sea Dock – Climb out of the pool. The Thermal Goggles on the pool floor are worth the dive on this run, as they show Claymores later. Log in at the Node in the storage room, hide from the waking guards until the lift comes, and ride it up. Saving from here on is a Codec call to Rose on 140.96.
ShaverHidden spoiler – activate to revealItemNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Strut A, Deep Sea Dock – Before you leave the dock, flip over the railing beside the chain-link fence, shimmy past the fence and climb back up: the Shaver lies behind it. Have it with you when you walk into the Strut B scene, or the hand-over doesn't happen. It costs a minute or so and breaks no rank rule.
Check running stats on the Mission Failed screenOtherNG+3
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Any Plant area – After a save on the Plant, a game over shows coded figures on the Mission Failed screen: PRUD ENCE is saves, ALRTNUM is Alerts, NUET is kills, DMGA MMOUNT is damage and AMMOUS ED is shots fired. Read them, then load your save rather than continuing.
Run 4: Struts A to F, first passHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Struts A to F – Cross the Strut A Roof and Pump Room to the A-B bridge and Strut B, where the SOCOM is handed over (and the Shaver goes, if you carry it), then on to Strut C for the Coolant Spray, Sensor A and the Lv.1 Card. Until the M9 is in hand, sneak, knock on walls and punch rather than shoot. Then go round as in run 1: Strut D, the Parcel Room (the Mine Detector is down its left-hand stairs), the Heliport, the E-F bridge (Chaff the Gun Cyphers rather than shooting them) and Strut F, where the M9 is upstairs. In every strut, keep Sensor A on until its cloud is gone: on the harder settings a second charge hides under the hatch at the foot of the Strut D stairs, and one rides a box on the Parcel Room belt, so wait by the belt with the spray ready if the sensor points there.
Run 4: The charges, Fortune and FatmanHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Struts A, B, C and E – Freeze the Pump Room and Transformer Room charges, check the Strut A roof with Sensor A, then take Sensor B from the Strut C pantry and run for the Deep Sea Dock to freeze the charge there, letting Sensor B lead you to it. Fortune can't be hurt: equip a box, keep to the bottom edge of the screen and walk back and forth, turning the moment her second shot lands, while you watch for debris and exploding barrels. Fatman: stay close so you can freeze each charge as soon as he plants it; punch him over as he skates past, then dart his head with the M9 while he is down.
Run 4: The loop back and the Shell 1 CoreHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 1 · Strut F and the Shell 1 Core – With the Lv.2 Card and the B.D.U. from the Heliport scene, go round to Strut F and take the AKS-74u from the lower-floor Lv.2 room; the M4 and C4 can stay. Cross the branch off the E-F bridge to the Shell 1 Core, put on the B.D.U. and hold the AKS-74u so the lift camera lets you on. Open the hall at the retinal scanner with a guard's eye, find Ames, and stand still with the rifle out when his scene ends. The scene after him starts an Alert the story forces; head straight for the lift and out.
Run 4: The Shell 1-2 bridge and the HarrierHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 1-2 Bridge · Shell 1-2 Connecting Bridge – Take the PSG1 from the Lv.3 room on the Strut F top floor, then cross Strut E to the Strut D Sediment Pool, whose door opens onto the Shell 1-2 bridge. Shoot each Semtex unit with one round where you can, since every round counts. In the fight, grab the Stinger at once and fire at the jet whenever it passes. When it flies straight out, watch its trail for a flash and fire, then take cover. When it hovers overhead, fire straight at the middle without waiting for the lock. Against its rockets, wait up the left-hand stairs, then cartwheel across to the right as they come; against bombs, drop to the lower deck; against the gun, go behind the big grey box on the lower deck and keep it between you. Then cross the wreck to the Strut G ledge.
Run 4: Shell 2 Core, Vamp and EmmaHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 2 · Strut L and the Shell 2 Core – Follow run 1's way along Strut L and over the K-L bridge to the core, take the Nikita from the flooded B1 corridor and fly it through the 1F duct to the power box. On the swim to the fight, stop at the second air pocket in the wrecked room: on this difficulty the PSG1-T is there, and the Oil Fence needs it. Vamp: dart his head as the fight opens; when he dives, fire the Stinger into the water to drain his air. Then step off the edge so you hang from the platform, and climb up just as he crouches to strike, so his attack misses. Punch twice, step aside from his slash, punch twice again, and repeat. Lead Emma out as in run 1. Sea lice live in these flooded rooms: if one shows on a Ration in your items, flick quickly through the items to shake it off, since finishing the run with one on can give a different codename.
Run 4: The Oil Fence and the timed runHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: Shell 2 · Strut L, Oil Fence to the Shell 1 Core – Lead Emma through the Sewage Treatment Facility to the post. Wear the Thermal Goggles to see the Claymores and shoot them with the PSG1, but put the tower guards to sleep with the PSG1-T, never the PSG1, and leave the guards to your own darts rather than anyone else's rifle. After the duel that ends the crossing, run from Strut E over the E-F bridge (Chaff the Cyphers, Mine Detector on inside the core) to the lift before the clock runs out.
Run 4: The Ascending ColonHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: The Last Stretch · Stomach to Ascending Colon – Tap through the first choke; your health is refilled after it. Cross the Jejunum without being seen: with no gear, an Alert there costs Complete Stealth and the rank. In the Ascending Colon your gear comes back with the blade; in the practice that follows, keep the blade off Pliskin.
Run 4: The last fights and the creditsHidden spoiler – activate to revealQuest stepNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: The Last Stretch · Ileum to The Rooftop – Tengu waves: keep to non-lethal weapons; to shield Pliskin, stand still in front of him with the blade's guard up and knock their bullets aside while he fights. RAY units: use the Stinger and be quick, listen for missiles from the units outside the arena, and dodge bullets and single missiles by running sideways and cartwheeling as they reach you. Mash hard through the second choke, because on Extreme the health you keep is the health you start the duel with. Rooftop duel: switch the blade to its non-lethal side. Block his close attacks, then strike; cartwheel away from his missiles or cut them down. In the second half, hit him, run off, and block his charge when he comes straight at you. Let the credits roll to the results.
The Plant: The Last Stretch · Credits – It comes with the clear if nobody died by your hand in the whole Tanker-Plant run, bosses with a stamina bar included. One kill, one Alert of your own or one broken limit can't be undone by playing on: load your last save instead, and never pick Continue after a game over.
Complete StealthHidden spoiler – activate to revealAchievementNG+3Minor spoiler
Location
The Plant: The Last Stretch · Credits – It comes with the clear if the only Alerts in the whole run were the forced ones: boss fights, the Deck-2 firefight, the scene after Ames and the Tengu fight beside Pliskin. Caution doesn't count against it. One kill, one Alert of your own or one broken limit can't be undone by playing on: load your last save instead, and never pick Continue after a game over.
The Plant: The Last Stretch · Results after the credits – The rank is given on the results after the credits, and the trophy comes with it. If another rank shows instead, a limit slipped somewhere: play on again from a save made before the slip, if one is early enough, or start the run over.