In MGS Delta, you better not shoot everything that moves. This game rewards players for choosing the pacifist path

The Metal Gear series is a playground for pacifists. Nearly every installment in the series equips players with a tranquilizer gun, allowing them to complete the game without killing a single enemy. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is no exception, although the game’s definition of a pacifist is somewhat more flexible than one might expect.

What are the rewards for being a pacifist?

Enemies are better put to sleep than killed. Konami

Completing MGS Delta as a pacifist - without killing any enemies - will reward you with the PEACE WALKER achievement. Additionally, this greatly eases one of the later sections of the game - the fight with The Sorrow becomes more difficult the more enemies you have killed. Choosing pacifism also boosts the final grade you receive at the end of the game. Killing animals does not matter in the context of achievement, but just in case, we also recommend putting guard dogs to sleep, which you may occasionally encounter.

However, the main benefit of pacifism is during boss fights, which can be completed in two ways - by depleting either the boss’s health or stamina. Defeating a boss by fully depleting their stamina bar - using a tranquilizer gun or CQC - grants a special reward. Typically, the reward is a unique camouflage with special properties, but in the case of The End, it’s his Mosin-Nagant - a tranquilizer sniper rifle. It’s worth noting that even if a boss you’ve defeated non-lethally dies in the following cutscene, it doesn’t count as a kill on your record.

How to check if you are a pacifist?

This soldier will be killed by a vehicle explosion, not Snake. Konami

You can view your statistics for the current playthrough in the pause menu under the Records & Titles tab. There, you can see how many people you've killed so far. To earn the PEACE WALKER achievement, this number must remain at zero after defeating the final boss.

It’s worth noting that the game only counts direct kills - deaths resulting indirectly from your actions are not considered murders. For example, you can put an enemy to sleep, causing them to fall into water and drown, or knock an enemy using a flying vehicle, which then crashes and explodes. According to the game, your conscience remains clear - these deaths don’t count toward your kill tally and won’t prevent you from earning the PEACE WALKER achievement.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is designed for multiple playthroughs. This means you don’t have to stick to pacifism on your first run, which can be tricky in certain sections, like the motorcycle escape. However, if you’re only after the achievement, you can complete the game once on Very Easy difficulty - you’ll get the EZ Gun, a tranquilizer handgun with infinite ammo and a permanent silencer that also regenerates stamina, muffles your footsteps, and increases your camo index.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

August 28, 2025

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• Hideo Kojima
• Metal Gear (franchise)