The way the Metal Gear Survive level up system works is pretty standard. You collect a resource, in this case, Kuban crystals, and spend them to improve stats.
Kuban crystals are earned by defeating enemies or by finding special groups of crystals around Dite. The Metal Gear Survive level up system can be slow going and earning enough Kuban to level up can take a fairly long time.
So how can you be a Metal Gear Survive level up champion? Let’s find out.
Metal Gear Survive Level Up
In Metal Gear Survive the amount of Kuban you’re awarded for killing enemies depends on a few different factors.
- What type of enemy you kill
- What level the enemy is
- How you kill the enemy
The most basic and plentiful enemies you’ll encounter in your Metal Gear Survive level up quest are Wanderers. These are your stock standard, brainless zombie types.
For each kill, you’ll receive 100 times their level in Kuban. Kill a level 2 Wanderer and you’ll earn 200 Kuban. Level 12? 1,200. And so on.
Wanderers are very easy to kill and avoid. They can be problematic in larger numbers, but they shouldn’t be too much to worry about.
Going around killing every Wanderer you see and earning Kuban is going to help you level up, but it’s not as efficient as it could be.
In my review, I said that the only thing stealth was good for in Metal Gear Survive is earning additional Kuban and this is true. But only once you have access to the Wormhole Transporter; which is just Metal Gear Survive’s version of the Fulton System.
Wormholes are key to Metal Gear Survive level up
Once you have access to the Wormhole Transporter, you can send enemies and animals back to your base to earn bonuses.
In the case of enemies, you’ll earn an additional 50% Kuban when you use the Wormhole Transporter. The catch is, you can only use the Wormhole Transporter on enemies you’ve killed by stealth.
In the video above you see that the first Wanderer I kill is level 20. I don’t use stealth to kill it and I can only harvest Kuban by holding down Square.
The next Wanderer I kill is also level 20, but I use stealth to sneak up behind it and press R2 to take it out. Since I performed a stealth kill, I can choose to hold down Square to harvest the Kuban or hold X to use the Wormhole Transporter.
By holding down X I send the Wanderer back to Base Camp and earn 3000 Kuban instead of 2000.
You’ll want to be earning as much Kuban as possible, as quickly as possible so you can use the Metal Gear Survive level up system to your advantage. Like all systems of levelling up, in Metal Gear Survive, the higher you go, the more Kuban you’ll need.
Once you’re above level 15, the amount required for each level starts hitting astronomical amounts. That extra 50% sure does come in handy then.
Microtransactional Boosting
The other way to help you quickly earn Kuban is to purchase a boost from the SV shop. This will, in most cases cost real-world money. Konami has been giving away SV coins during the first few weeks of launch though, so you may have some without realising.
These boosts are a great way to quickly level up as they essentially double all of your Kuban earnings. As you can see in the video above, after harvesting the Wanderers, a notification pops up in the bottom corner reading ‘Boost Effect [+ xxx Kuban].’
If you’re not worried about spending a few dollars to level up more quickly or you have spare SV coins, it’s well worth it. Especially when coupled with the bonus 50% earned by using the Wormhole Transporter.
Metal Gear Survive is available now.
