This is my first time playing through mgs3 and was wondering if I'm missing out on cool stuff by killing him on the dock early on. I did it for the achievement but could reload my save without losing any progress.

The End is one of the best boss fights in the series, so I'd say it's worth reloading to beat him proper.

You miss out on a gun (Mosin Nagant with tranq ammo) and a camo.

Worth fighting him at least once, it really is a memorable fight.

But on most of my subsequent playthroughs I took that shortcut.

I agree. Take him on once. Its regarded as one of these best bosses. Period.

The End boss fight is pretty awesome I'd fully recommend fighting him the first time around. Also you're missing out on another great easter egg if you beat him early, the fast forward your ps3 by a week trick.

Christ, that still works? That's amazing, I'm so glad they were able to keep that in the hardware jump.

Don't kill him early if this is your first playthough. If you end up playing though MGS 3 again they kill him early, it's fun and a little tricky to pull off but it's not nearly as fun as his boss fight.

I didn't even know you could kill him outside of his boss fight. I know there's a ton of ways to kill him in the boss fight but damn. These games never fail to surprise me with shit I missed.

First time I killed him using the system clock. I replayed it properly and felt like I'd lived three lives during it. Experience both extremes.

@schreibertyler: The camo is worth it as it's (I think) the highest forest foliage level camo you can get.

@schreibertyler: Yeah, you're missing out on an entire boss fight. How do you even ask that question?!

I just used Tiger Stripe for the entire game...

I'd say if it's your first time through, you should definitely do the boss fight.

Get the achievement and then reload your save, that's what I did. You don't want to miss out on one of the most iconic boss fights in MGS ever.

That boss fight isn't that good. Each time I've done it his AI has been so bad that I've been able to walk up behind him and shoot him in the back, after which he runs maybe 20 feet away and turns around so I can shoot him in the back again. It's really stupid!

The End boss fight is one of the most satisfying experiences in the game. I say just do your own thing and whatever happens happens. But after, read up on all the possibilities and try them out on a second playthorugh or load an earlier save.

he has one of the best boss fights in all of Metal Gear. You shouldn't kill him early if you haven't played it before.

I too did not find The End to be an extreme Boss fight. I just moved around and used a cue the game provides to find him and shoot him, (I also had a sniper rifle)

I did however enjoy the boss battle, and I also had no idea I could take him out early. I felt I missed a lot of things It was my first play-through and I did not use a guide to prompt me.

Jeh, I'd say fight him the old fashioned way first time through. It'll give you an idea of what your skipping if you ever play it again.

You should fight him. I don't think it's much of a fight overall, but it is something you should do on your first playthrough

I really love the boss fight against The End. First time I did it I took almost two hours, I really treated it very carefully for some reason and it was incredible. It's still one of my favourite moments in a game. It may not hit quite that hard for you depending on how you approach it, but it's definitely worth seeing.

try to fight him on your own, it might take you a lot of trial and error, but it's a MAN'S FIGHT! He does lots of little things to show where he is, by the 3/4 mark he will be cheap and even screw up a few time. The whole experience is really awesome and really shows off well design variety for an enemy ai. I love the bits where he will try to regain his health and just stand up in the middle of the field with a glowing sun beam waiting for you to shoot him in the head.

But yeah, now, I can take him on just by sneaking behind him perfectly all the time.

Don't kill him early. Fight him the regular way.

Sniper rifle (SVD).

Camouflage options: Naked.

Face paint options: Black/Brown/Green/Woodland

No healing items.

Equipment: Binoculars/cigar.

No Konami code.

Extreme difficulty.

Restart if he hits you even once.

Do not skip this fight. It is easily my most anticipated moment of MG Scanlon remaining.

@bceagles128:

Given the way it's going so far I'm terrified they won't just cheapskate it and bypass the fight one way or another. Either by Dan flat out telling Drew how to solve the fight, killing him early or them pulling the old clock-trick on The End.

You should fight the End properly, he deserves a Warrior's death.

Don't and also don't use the therms! It'll be worth it.

A) Anyone reading this asking this question should fight him proper

B) I never thought The End was much of a memorable fight. I thought the fight with The Shagohod and The Boss was much more memorable (mainly because of the setting)