Metal Gear Solid 5 - Pitch Dark: Reach the Oilfield, separation tank, oil transfer pump location

Welcome to Metal Gear Solid 5 - Pitch Dark, the 13th main story mission of the game, following on from Hellbound.

Pitch Dark Mission checklist:

• Shut down the oil transfer pump
• Destroyed the oily water separator tank
• Extracted 4 child soldiers being trained at Masa Village
• Exfiltrated the hot zone before Mfinda Oilfield was sealed off
• Extracted the lappet-faced vulture that wandered into the burned-down village
• Extracted 4 Walker Gears sealing off Mfinda Oilfield

Once you're back in the air and ready to begin your next mission, select 13-PITCH DARK from your menu and adjust your starting gear as required - be sure to bring DD! Next, commence the mission, setting your Drop Time to ASAP.

Your new objective is to destroy the area's oilfield facility - which, it seems, has been polluting the local villages' water supply. This mission marks your first operation in Central Africa and, as you'll quickly see, things play out a bit differently here.

Primarily, Africa is much denser, with less clearly defined paths across the terrain. This means that you've many more options when it comes to approaching a target - and the thick foliage generally affords greater cover as you go about your business.

Mfinda Oilfield lies to the north-east of your starting position so begin the journey through the trees ahead. Once you pass the waterfall, the obvious route forward ends - you'll need to scramble up the rocks ahead in order to proceed.

At the top, wind your way along the path until you reach the clearing overlooking the village below. The area is packed with supplies, so it's worth exploring - despite the presence of hostiles.

Pitch Dark: Safely navigate the occupied village

As usual, break out your binoculars and scan the area for enemies before continuing. Next, go prone and carefully make your way down the hillside toward the encampment. Be sure to avoid the spotlight sweeping back and forth in the watchtower near the centre of the area. As you proceed, you'll notice that enemies are added to your HUD automatically once DD has sniffed them out.

There's a small illuminated hut at the bottom of the hill to the left, so head on down and slip behind it. As always, keep watch for any guards patrolling the area, dealing with them as you see fit. Once you arrive at the hut, climb through the rear window, grab the Fuel Resources from the shelf then climb back through the window again.

Back outside, turn north and make your way behind the building directly ahead. You'll shortly reach a ledge overlooking the main part of the village. Head down the slope and slip behind the long row of buildings to the left of the area. There are only a handful of guards patrolling here - but there are plenty more enemies asleep nearby. Needless to say, keep quiet to avoid waking them up!

Continue moving north along the buildings and slip through the illuminated doorway to your right. Grab the Minor Metal and Biological Material on the shelf and swipe the Rough Diamonds on the table. Next, head back through the door and continue your journey north.

Reach the oilfield

You can, of course, explore even more of the village if you like - but, for now, we'll focus on our the main objective. Continue north and soon you'll spot a wooden walkway running alongside an abandoned boat. Follow the walkway along and descend the ramp at the end. Next, take a left into the boat and swipe the Rough Diamonds on the table.

Head back outside and begin travelling north-east, following the dried-up river bed. Once you reach the bank opposite, scramble up the slope, moving back toward the village. You'll find yourself in a small clearing with a wooden hut to your right and a tarpaulin to the left. Grab the Fuel Resources and Minor Metal from beneath the awning and the Rough Diamonds from the table near the hut.

Next, carefully make your way up the wooden steps and move north-east between the buildings until you reach the rock wall ahead. Note that you can find Minor Metal and Fuel Resources on the ground inside one of the nearby hovels. When you're ready to continue, follow the rock wall to the right until you reach the wooden steps ahead.

Sweep the area for hostiles then climb the steps once it's safe to do so. This puts you back on the main road leading north-east toward the oilfield. At the top of the steps, look left (so that you're facing north-east) and locate the long building nearby. Use it as cover and carefully work your way forward, moving in the direction of the yellow objective marker.

Stick to the undergrowth and proceed north-east, travelling along the left-hand side of the main road. A little further on, you'll encounter a guard post, so cross over to the right-hand side of the road and head into the wilderness to avoid detection.

Don't bother trying to rejoin the main road from here: it's quicker to cut through the foliage, heading north-east toward the objective marker. Once you reach the rocks blocking your route forward, however, drop down to ground level and follow the main road again. Stick close to the rocks on your right and continue on toward your goal.

As the road bends to the east, the oil facility will come into view. Immediately drop to the ground and proceed cautiously. As Ocelot explains, you'll need to shut down the oil transfer pump and destroy the oily water separation tank to stop the leak and end the mission; the locations of both will be added to your map and HUD shortly.

Destroy the oily water separation tank

First, we'll focus on destroying the oily water separation tank - largely because it's the closer of the two targets. There are numerous way to complete this objective but we'll be using C4 - its remote detonation function is particularly useful here. If you don't have any C4 to hand, summon a supply drop at a convenient location away from the oilfield before continuing.

When you're ready to proceed, start heading east in the direction of the separation tank. Cross over the road and splash down through the sludgy water, moving toward the oilfield. There's a low platform on the west-facing corner of the facility so approach it then scramble on up. From here, climb the nearby steps and, at the top, ascend the staircase to the left.

Carefully move along the walkway and head down the steps at the end. At the bottom, take a left and continue forward, keeping the railing close to your left. Shortly, you'll spot a staircase leading down directly ahead. Use it then climb the two flights of stairs on the other side.

At the top of the steps, check that there are no patrols in the area and take a left. Next, proceed north-east, moving between the two grey boxes up ahead. Just beyond, there's a narrow walkway running along the side of the building. Make your way across it then climb the steps, keeping watch for the guard standing at the top.

Quickly eliminate the guard then continue along the walkway, taking a right at the end and noting the steps leading down to the left. There are likely several more hostiles up ahead. If they spot you, duck behind the machinery to the right and silently take them out when they approach to investigate. Next, make your way down the steps you noted a little earlier.

Head left at the bottom and continue onward until you reach the walkway to the right. Cross over to the other side then turn right at the end. Follow the right-hand railing all the way along the platform. As you turn left, you'll spot a staircase directly ahead, leading to the level above. Climb the steps and, at the top, pick the locked gate to the left. Be careful here: there are several guards standing watch by the gate on the other side of the perimeter fence.

When it's safe to proceed, head through the gate and deposit several C4 explosives around the base of the tank. Next, retrace your steps and return to the lower level. Note that you're free to detonate your C4 and obliterate the tank immediately - but this will alert the enemy to your presence. It's better to wait until you're clear of the facility then destroy the tank remotely.

Need help with The Phantom Pain? Our Metal Gear Solid 5 guide and walkthrough explains how to complete every main story mission, and explains their many optional objectives. We also have lists of Blueprint locations, Tape locations, Key Item locations, how to unlock S Ranks and a Metal Gear Solid 5 Achievement and Trophy list.

Shut down the oil transfer pump

At the bottom of the steps, backtrack east, heading around the corner to the right. Cross the walkway again, take a left then climb the steps to the right at the end of the platform.

Once you reach the top, continue forward and look beneath the walkway to the right. You'll spot a staircase leading to the level above so climb on up then take a left at the top. Follow the walkway along, take a left around the corner and make your way up the next flight of steps. Enter the doorway at the top and you'll find yourself in the transfer pump control room. Next, locate the panel on the machinery in the centre of the room and interact with it to shut off the pump.

Escape the facility and leave the hot zone

When the cut-scene is over, look to your left and leap through the window onto the walkway outside. From here, drop down to ground level and quickly make your way south-east. Wind your way through the pipes and machinery, moving toward the perimeter wall in the distance. Once you reach it, slip on through the gate to continue.

Next, take a left and follow the perimeter wall around as it turns north-east. If you blew up the oily water separation tank earlier, you'll find walkers blocking the route forward once you reach the main road again. Luckily, there's a handy incline leading up the rocks to the right so scramble on up and carefully make your way along the hillside, keeping close to the rock wall.

Once you've made it past the soldiers below, drop back down to the main road and follow it along as it winds its way south. When the enemy guard post appears in the distance, leave the road and tear across the swamp land, moving south-west. If you haven't already, remotely detonate your C4 to blow up the oily water separation tank!

Keep heading south-west and, eventually, you'll exit the hot zone, bringing the mission to a close. For your troubles, you'll receive the Questioning Huey [2] and At Mother Base [5] cassette tapes - and you'll now be able to develop the silent D-Walker armament to use out in the field. When the debriefing is over, summon a chopper and climb on board to leave the area.

- You can find the rest of our Metal Gear Solid 5 walkthrough from the first page of this article.

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