Up the river to the warehouse docks and the hilltop lab, then back south through the trapped forest to the warehouse's red door.
This stretch starts where the caves drop you into the Ponizovje river. It takes the left fork for the SVD, then the warehouse docks, where The Early End is earned on a save and undone with a reload, the warehouse, the trapped forest of Graniny Gorki South and the lab on the hill, where the director hands over Key A. On the way back south the forest holds a boss fight with a stamina-kill camo, and a short detour down the river collects the Water face paint before the warehouse's red door. Bring the Mk22, the AK-47, Stun Grenades, the Thermal Goggles and the Scientist disguise; the Fake Death Pill and the Revival Pill you started with are used in the boss fight. The rule stays the same: no kills and no alerts, so tranquilize, choke or slip past every guard, and leave the red barrels by the guards alone. Everything here except The Early End, the boss's stamina reward and the Water face paint stays reachable until the drop into Krasnogorje Mountain Base, later in this run.
Area: Ponizovje SouthArea
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje South – Jump off the rock at the end of Chyornaya Peschera Cave Entrance and you land in this river. Move upstream slowly and keep out of the hovering soldiers' searchlights; shooting a platform down brings a Caution. Save here with a call to Para-Medic on 140.96.
Kerotan: Ponizovje South 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje South – Take a few steps up the river from where you land and look to your left: the frog sits on the rocks by the bank. Shoot it with the Mk22.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Ponizovje · Ponizovje South – Right where you land, look for the smallest of the fish swimming beside you (the bigger ones are Maroon Sharks). Shoot it and swim over to pick it up; caught alive or dead, it counts.
FISH A, one of the 48 plant and animal types for the King of the Jungle trophy, and the last of the three fish for Tall Tale. Holding it once is enough; you don't have to eat it.
Ponizovje · Ponizovje South – It pops the moment the Bigeye Trevally goes into your bag, as long as the Arowana (Chyornyj Prud) and the Maroon Shark (the caves) are already in it. If the Maroon Shark is missing, the bigger fish swimming here are Maroon Sharks: take one now.
Ponizovje · Ponizovje West – At the far end of Ponizovje South, take the left (west) fork. Wade west slowly; a guard comes into view first, and another stands at the armory building to the north with a red barrel beside him. Tranquilize them rather than shooting the barrel.
Kerotan: Ponizovje West 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje West – By the pier on the north side, look in the water to the left of it: the frog sits underwater behind a barred grate in the wall. Get a clear line through the bars and hit it with the Mk22.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Ponizovje · Ponizovje West – From the pier, climb out by the scaffolding on the west side and walk to the weapon storage building at the back (north) of the area, where the barrel guard stood. The SVD lies inside. Equip it once you have it, so it is ready at the docks.
A scoped sniper rifle, one of the weapon types for With All Guns Blazing, and the tool for The Early End at the next area. It must be in your hands before the dock scene there.
Before the warehouse docks: save, then shoot, then reload
The next area opens with a scene on the dock, and right after it you can shoot The End with the SVD for The Early End. That shot is a kill. The plan: with the SVD equipped, save with a call to 140.96 at the Ponizovje South fork just before you head into the docks, then go in, watch the scene, shoot him and take the trophy. Then reload that save at once and never save after the shot. The reload puts you back in Ponizovje South: swim up to the fork again and go on to the docks. Leave the Kerotan and the Tarantula on the docks until after the reload: the reload undoes anything you take there before it.
Area: Ponizovje Warehouse: ExteriorArea
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior – Swim back to the Ponizovje South fork with the SVD equipped and save there with a call to Para-Medic on 140.96. Then take the right branch north into the docks.
The Early EndHidden spoiler – activate to revealAchievementMissablePoint of no returnMinor spoiler
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior – As the scene ends, raise the SVD, find The End in his wheelchair on the dock and fire at his head until The Early End pops; the boss trophy The End may pop with it. Step aside if the wheelchair comes flying at you. Then reload the save you made at the fork, straight away, swim back up and let the scene play out with no shot.
Why you can lose it
The chance ends with the dock scene: once The End has been wheeled into the warehouse the shot is gone for this run. Save before the docks and keep the SVD ready.
Point of no return
The dock scene plays out and The End is wheeled into the warehouse. The early shot at him is gone for this run once you go inside.
Kerotan: Ponizovje Warehouse Exterior 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior – Back at the docks after the reload, with the scene over and no shot fired, look left from where you came in: the frog sits on top of the post of the red floodgate. Shoot it with the Mk22.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Food: Cobalt Blue TarantulaConsumableMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior – Cross the dock to the big red door The End was wheeled through: the small blue spiders crawl on the wall and the ground beside it. Tranquilize one with the Mk22 and pick it up. Tranquilize or slip past the dock guards on the way.
Why you can lose it
Tarantulas are last found in the Krasnogorje Mountaintop Ruins: once you climb down the ladder into the tunnel below Krasnogorje, none can be caught this run.
Point of no return
Climbing down the ladder below the red guard rails in the tunnel. The fight starts at the bottom, and Krasnogorje is closed for the rest of this run.
Going into the warehouse ends The Early End for this run. Check two things first: the trophy has popped, and the game you are playing now is the reloaded one, in which The End was not shot. Keeping that kill is not a small loss: it costs the PEACE WALKER no-kill trophy, and it removes his later fight, which takes the hold-up trophy You Snooze, You Lose, the Moss camo and the Mosin-Nagant with it. If you shot him and carried on, reload the save you made at the Ponizovje South fork now, then shoot Kerotan: Ponizovje Warehouse Exterior 1 and catch the Cobalt Blue Tarantula again before you go in.
Area: Ponizovje WarehouseArea
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse – Get past the dock guards and go in by the path to the north-east of the docks. You come in on a walkway above the ground floor; tranquilize or choke the guards below and on the stairs one at a time, and avoid letting the ones above see you.
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse – Go down the stairs to the ground floor and over to the bottom-left corner: the paint is behind a crate in front of the big red double doors. The ground floor's south-west corner also holds spare Thermal Goggles, and a Cardboard Box if you left the one at Rassvet.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Kerotan: Ponizovje Warehouse 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse – From the Desert face paint, look straight up: the frog sits on one of the concrete roof beams, and only the ground floor gives a view of it. Shoot it with the Mk22. On the way up the stairs, the food store halfway up holds a spare Mousetrap.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – Climb the warehouse stairs to the top floor and leave by the exit there; you drop down into this forest. Head north with the Thermal Goggles on, stepping round every tripwire.
Food: Fly AgaricConsumableMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – From where you drop in, walk straight ahead to a tree left of the climbable tree: a few grow at its base. Cut one with the knife or pick it up.
Why you can lose it
This forest is its only spot. Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
MUSHROOM D, a poisonous mushroom: one of the 48 types for King of the Jungle and one of the seven for Fungus Among Us. Hold it, don't eat it; it is useful in the boss fight here later.
Weapon: Book (may count for the weapon trophy)Weapon
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – From the Fly Agaric tree, go left past a log toward a tripwire: the Book lies near it. Another lies far to the left of the north exit beside a body caught in a trap. Take it now: this forest's pickups may not be there on the way back.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki South 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – At the north exit you hop up a ledge; look to your left as you do: the frog sits on a tree branch beside the exit. Shoot it with the Mk22.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Outside Walls – Hop up the ledge at the north exit of Graniny Gorki South. Go prone at once: the fence ahead is electrified and guards with dogs patrol beyond it, and a barking dog gives only a few seconds' warning before an alert.
Food: Red AvadavatConsumableMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Outside Walls – Tiny red birds hop in the patch of grass straight ahead as you arrive. Put the Thermal Goggles on to find one, tranquilize it with the Mk22 and pick it up.
Why you can lose it
Its wild spots are here and in Svyatogornyj South, and both close when you drop into Krasnogorje Mountain Base. Take it now.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki Outside Walls 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Outside Walls – Slip under the electric fence at its far-left end. A few steps further, a raised bank runs along the wall on your left with two trees standing on it, and the frog waits between them: dart it with the Mk22. The crawl hole through the wall hides in the grass just to its right.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Inside Walls – From the frog, crawl through the hole in the grass to its right and through the wall. Two guards stand near where you come out: tranquilize them or wait for them to turn, and stay low.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki Inside Walls 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Inside Walls – On the right side of the yard stands the hut with the boarded-up red door: the frog is inside, visible through its window. The west window gives the easiest angle; shoot it with the Mk22.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab 1F – Go back to where you came into the yard and along the lab's left (west) side: a crawlspace in the grass there leads into the lab's vents. Wear camouflage outside; the disguise is for indoors.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab 1F – Once in the vents, take the left-hand branch before anything else; a box at its end holds the face paint. Crawl back out the way you came, walk round to the front of the lab and slip in by the red side door, right of the main entrance.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki Lab 1F 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab 1F – Change into the Scientist disguise once inside; don't crawl, roll or punch where anyone can see, and don't let a scientist look at you for long. Past the red side door, follow the right-hand corridor; the frog is perched on top of a row of lockers along it.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki Lab B1 East 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 East – Follow the corridor to the very last cell on the right (the westernmost): the frog stands on the table by the door, close enough to punch. A Mousetrap lies in the same cell.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab 1F – Climb back up from B1 East and carry on up to the top floor. Go right, then to the second door at the end: the restroom. The last of its three stalls is locked; punch the door until it falls and the uniform is inside.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West – Step out of the restroom and drop over the railing to the area below, then take the stairs there down to B1 West.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West – Just inside, turn right into the small office by the stairs (the one a guard walks out of): it lies in there.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West – Cross to the room opposite that office: the break room with a table, a television and a scientist. It is in one of the lockers there; try both.
Kerotan: Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West 1CollectibleMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West – In the same break room, the frog stands on the table between the alarm panel and the lockers. Punch it.
Why you can lose it
Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki stay open until the small cliff at the start of Krasnogorje Mountain Base; once you jump down it they are gone for this run. Take it on this pass.
Point of no return
Jumping off the low cliff where Krasnogorje Mountain Base begins. The caves, Ponizovje, Graniny Gorki, Svyatogornyj, Sokrovenno and the Krasnogorje Tunnel are closed for the rest of this run.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West – Carry on through B1 West's doors past the break room to the director's office and go in; the scene plays as you enter.
The fight in Graniny Gorki South starts as you walk back in from the lab. Only a stamina win counts for Stamina Kill: The Fear and drops Camo: Spider, one of the uniforms for Fashionista; a lethal finish loses them for this run. Read the stamina row below before the fight: the AK-47 is safe only while he is stunned. On the way out of the lab, once you are back outside its walls and before you crawl under the fence, save on 140.96: nothing on that walk out needs taking again, so a lost fight is replayed from there.
The FearBoss
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – Leave the lab the way you came in, change back into camouflage outside and crawl out through the wall hole and under the fence. The fight starts as you come back into Graniny Gorki South. The Thermal Goggles show him. Fight with the Mk22 and Stun Grenades, and fire the AK-47 only while he lies stunned, when it drains his stamina alone. Treat bolt wounds in the Cure menu.
Stamina Kill: The FearQuest stepMissablePoint of no return
Location
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – At the start, back off a few steps and take the Fake Death Pill. He comes over to look and then turns away: take the Revival Pill, toss a Stun Grenade his way, look away from the flash, and while he is stunned fire the AK-47 into him, which drains only stamina. When he gets up, switch to Mk22 headshots and more Stun Grenades. Once his stamina is under half and he gets hungry, throw him the Fly Agaric (or a Poison Dart Frog) to poison him.
Why you can lose it
The fight's end is the only chance: a lethal win gives no camo. If his life bar is falling, reload the save from outside the lab walls and fight again.
Point of no return
The Fear going down: the fight is over, and whichever bar ran out decides the reward.
Graniny Gorki · Graniny Gorki South – When the fight ends it lies on the ground in the middle of the forest, just past the grass straight ahead of where you stand. Pick it up before you go anywhere.
Why you can lose it
Leaving the forest without it loses it: pick it up straight after the fight.
Point of no return
Leaving Graniny Gorki South after The Fear's fight.
Pick up the Spider camo before you leave this forest
Camo: Spider is gone once you leave Graniny Gorki South after the fight. Pick it up first.
No Tsuchinoko yet? Trap one here
If the Tsuchinoko is not in your bag yet, this forest is a known spot for it now the fight is over. Set your Mousetraps round the doorway to the warehouse, step into the warehouse and back, and check the traps; release whatever else you catch and repeat until one holds a Tsuchinoko. There are many animals here, so catch or clear the others first, or try Svyatogornyj South later, which has fewer. The warehouse food store and the last cell in B1 East each held a spare Mousetrap. Keep the Tsuchinoko once caught: never eat it or throw it away.
Face Paint: WaterArmorMissablePoint of no return
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje South – From the Spider camo, go back into the warehouse at its top floor, down through it and out onto the docks, then swim back down Ponizovje South toward the cave mouth where you first landed. Past the two hovering soldiers, dive in the middle of the river where it widens: the paint lies on the bottom.
Why you can lose it
It appears only after the lab visit. Take it before you open the warehouse's red door with Key A; do not count on finding it after that.
Point of no return
Opening the warehouse's red door with Key A and going through to Svyatogornyj South.
A blue face paint for water, one of the paints for Only Skin Deep. It appears in Ponizovje South only after the lab visit, so it is taken on the way back.
Before the red door: finish the forest and the river
Treat the warehouse's red door as the deadline for Face Paint: Water (the river in Ponizovje South, after the lab visit). Ponizovje and Graniny Gorki themselves stay open until the drop into Krasnogorje Mountain Base, but the paint is not promised past the door.
Open the warehouse's red door with Key AQuest step
Location
Ponizovje · Ponizovje Warehouse – From the Water face paint, swim back up to the docks and into the warehouse. The guards stand in new places this time. Go down to the ground floor and open the locked red door with Key A; Svyatogornyj South lies beyond.