Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Heroism guide to help you gain hero points or become demon snake if you wish to be.
Phantom Pain is the broadest game in the series as far as gameplay is concerned, and with the huge amount of freedom it gives, it also attempts to judge your decisions in the game, be it highly important ones or simple decisions made in the field.
For more help on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, read our Max Bonding Guide, Mother Base Guide, Emblems Unlock Guide and Wandering Soldiers Locations.
MGSV: Phantom Pain Heroism and Demon Values
Good and bad decisions are reflected by Heroism and Demon values, with the former being a visible stat that can be accumulated by performing specific good deeds on and off the battlefield.
This guide will let you get familiar with the ideas, and suggest how you can acquire/lose Hero Points.
Heroism
Heroism is an objective stat in The Phantom Pain which increases or decreases according to your actions on the field.
Whenever you use your iDroid, you can see the accumulation of Hero Points in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This stat determines your accumulative actions, and once you acquire over 150,000 points, you are granted a true ‘Hero’ status.
Purpose
Heroism is a stat that influences various things. The basic purpose is to unlock associated trophies, but Heroism also plays an extremely important role when it comes to FOB operations.
The Hero status will allow you to infiltrate all rival FOBs, including those owned by player who have developed a nuclear weapon deterrent.
Although the Hero status is achieved at 150,000 points, it stays even if your Heroism drops. The threshold for this is 100,000 points; dropping below that number will strip the Hero status from you, which will limit your FOB operations.
Gaining and Losing Heroism
Gaining and Losing Heroism is done through meeting certain objectives. Fultoning players adds to Heroism, as does unlocking trophies.
Similarly, developing increasing bonds with your Buddies as well as developing equipment for them also greatly increases your Heroism. Capturing Guard posts, rescuing prisoners, and interrogating enemies also increase your Heroism points.
You lose Heroism due to certain factors, some of which unfortunately may not be in your control.
Examples include a Diamond Dog member dying at the Mother Base or during Dispatch Missions, and your Buddies getting severely injured (forcing Ocelot to pull them out of the mission).
Nuclear Weapons
The biggest and most determining factor for Heroism is Nuclear Weapons.
As your Mother Base grows more powerful and you recruit better soldiers, you’ll have the chance to send your soldiers on Dispatch missions that involve disposing off nuclear weapons. Disposing ten nuclear weapons gives you a whopping +30,000 Heroism.
Conversely, you’ll also have the chance to develop your own nuclear weapons towards the later stages of the game.
Though powerful and seductive, it is an extremely unethical ploy, as it will deduct 50,000 Heroism points from you, making it impossible to achieve the Hero status.
Demon Snake
Unlike Heroism, there is another hidden stat with no visible counter that works the exact opposite of Heroism. Performing morally questionable tasks and opposite things of what grant you Heroism will result in the accumulation of Demon Points.
Effect
There is no way to see how many demon points you’ve acquired, but as you continue to acquire more and more, the horn-like shrapnel embedded in Big Boss’ skull will begin to grow outward and more apparent.
In addition to this, your clothes will begin to stay permanently blood-stained and will not wash off even after a shower, rain, or being in a pool, nor will it go away when you change costume (save for specials like Solid Snake, Raiden etc.). This disfigurement will become more apparent the more Demon Points you accumulate.
Developing Nukes
Developing Nukes will deduct 50,000 Heroism Points from you, and at the same time add +50,000 Demon points. This single action will immediately turn Snake into ‘Demon Snake’, with an abnormally long shrapnel horn and permanently stained costume.
