How to kill The End early in Metal Gear Solid Delta

You can kill The End in Metal Gear Solid Delta by changing the clock or sniping him before the boss fight, just as you could in MGS 3. The method is basically identical to the original Snake Eater, with only a minor point to be aware of on modern consoles.

It's a fun thing to do and I've done it all already to show you how below. However, if you are going to try either method, just make sure you have a save you can go back on. Not only is the boss fight really good and would be a shame to miss, but you can also get some good rewards. You can also catch the Metal Gear Solid Delta Tsuchinoko in one of the areas you fight him, so check my guide on that for more information.

So, if you want to kill The End early in MGS Delta, either by sniping him or changing the clock so he dies of old age, here's how to do it.

How to kill The End by sniping him early in MGS Delta

You can kill The End in Metal Gear Solid Delta when he appears in an early cutscene. Like MGS 3 you'll need to take a detour first to find a sniper rifle - if you trigger the cutscene before that you'll miss your chance.

So if you want to snipe The End so you don't have to fight him in a boss battle here what you need to do:

1. When you reach Ponizovje South look for a left turning just before you leave the map to reach the Ponizovje West area. Do not take the top north exit before the left turn, as you'll trigger the cutscene with The End in before you have the sniper rifle.

2. The left turn from Ponizovje South will take you to Ponizovje West where you'll find a weapons store behind an orange door with a light over it. Deal with the guards however you want and go inside the weapons store to find a Dragunov sniper rifle. (If you have TNT you can also blow the store up afterwards to weaken guards in the surrounding area.)

3. Once you have the rifle make sure it's ready to equip in your weapons menu, return to Ponizovje South back the way you came, and leave via the top, north exit.
4. Leaving Ponizovje South by the north exit will take you to an area called Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior where a lengthy cutscene will play the moment you enter. This will see almost every character you've met so far appear to explain and expand the story. Most importantly that includes The End, who comes out in a wheelchair.
5. When the cutscene is over The End is left out on the dock and if you immediately equip the sniper rifle you'll be able to snipe him.

6. There will be a number of guards on the dock so focus on hitting the one that comes to collect The End first as he'll block your shot otherwise. With him down, go after The End who will try to wheel himself to safety. Unload into the back of his head as he flees - you'll know he's dead when he explodes. Don't worry about the other guards until he's dead or he'll escape.
7. However, while you can kill The End here, you can also choose to only wound him and he'll start the boss fight with less health and stamina. If The End is killed, when you reach the area you would have fought him in you'll instead face several Ocelot unit soldiers.

How to kill The End with old age by changing the clock in MGS Delta

You can still kill The End in Metal Gear Solid Delta by changing the time, as you could in MGS 3. On modern consoles, however, it needs to be done a specific way to work thanks to how things like the PS5 keeps games running in the background.

To kill The End from old age in Metal Gear Solid Delta by changing the clock you need to do the following:

1. Once you've reached The End boss fight and the battle has started, save the game. Some radio dialogue will tell you it's a bad idea without explaining why.
2. Once you've saved the game, quit out of MGS 3 Delta and make sure the game is fully shut down, not in rest mode or running in the background in any way.
3. With the game fully closed, go into the relevant settings to change the date of your PS5, PC or Xbox Series X manually. You can change it to anything as long as it's at least eight days ahead. I tried that, and ten years into the future, and both worked.
4. With the date changed, start up the game again and load the save you made when the boss fight started. If you've done it right then a new cutscene will play showing Snake creeping up on The End only to find out he's died from old age.

You can also wait a week to get the same effect if you want, skipping the clock forward is just a shortcut for actual time passing. Just remember to ensure you've fully shut the game down - on PS5, for example, if you just access settings while the game is still running in the background it won't work. Obviously trying out either method will affect how long MGS Delta takes to complete, so you might want to factor that in if want a fast run.

It's also worth mentioning that while both these methods are fun to try out you might want to actually fight The End as the rewards you can earn are worth it:

• If you defeat The End non-lethally you'll get his Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle which fires tranquiliser rounds so you can avoid killing people at longer range. (It's unsilenced though so needs to be at long range to avoid raising alarms.)
• If you can sneak up on The End and hold him at gunpoint for long enough he'll give you his rifle and his Moss uniform, a camo pattern that can reach 100% in specific areas and conditions, namely when it's raining in the Svyatogornyj and Sokrovenno areas. It'll also replenish Snake's stamina in light.

Overall your best tactic when fighting The End is to take some shots at him on the dock beforehand to weaken him a bit, and then go through with the fight to get the gun and camo. If you've haven't started the game at all yet then check out the answers to the 'what MGS game do you like' question in Metal Gear Solid Delta, as one option specifically earns you a useful camo for this fight. We've also got a host of useful MGS Delta tips to help you with this, and the rest of the game.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.