Overview
A guide covering the challenges used to unlock all airplanes in the game. (For game version 1.404.)
Introduction
This guide is based on the 1.404 version of the game. In the future it may not be accurate anymore. I’m in the progress of updating the guide for 1.502.
The main PvE content of Vector Thrust are the challenges that let you unlock new fighters.
Currently my game let me unlock 247 planes in 34 families. However, the overall completion is stuck at 95.736%. As such, there seem to be another 11 planes somewhere in the gamefiles that are (at the moment) not unlockable through challenges.
Sadly this game is currently not as polished as it could be. Only about 50% of challenges are actually playable. In this guide I will denote the progress of development per challenge using borders. The legend is the following:
Dark Green: The mission is fully playable and balanced.
(This means rank times have been set by the developer and ACE rank is obtainable.)
Light Green: The mission is fully playable and was balanced by the developer but the balancing seems slightly off.
(This means rank times have been set but ACE rank seems unobtainable [to me at least].)
Yellow: The mission is fully playable but is not balanced yet.
(This means rank times have not been set and C rank is set to 50 minutes.)
Red: The mission is playable but impossible to complete.
(This can be either due to bugs, C-rank times being too hard or simply because the general mission parameters are impossible.)
Red B: This means the mission is not in the game and the airplane can only be unlocked by spending points (aka this plane is “buy-only”).
Quickest way to get points (fixed in 1.502)
In version 1.502 the “L1WAC-8” (Linear One-Way Accelerator Cannon) got fixed. Thus acquiring points using the Ziz_Hunt method got nerfed severely.
A-10 Family
Finishing the mission is easy, but killing 15 targets in less than a minute for ACE rank seems impossible. I remember this mission being different before, so the timing is probably left over from a previous game version.
(If any of you are able to do this mission in less than a minute feel free to tell me what I’m doing wrong.)
The intro of the mission is relatively boring and the enemies don’t really do anything. Just fly straight to the base. When you reach the base where you have to destroy the crates, things get complicated. I don’t think there are many tips to give, just try and survive while gunning down the crates. If you are not trying to get ACE rank, it is probably best to first thin out some of the AA guns in a couple of passes to increase your chances of survival.
Personally I dislike this mission because there are way too many targets and they have a long reach. Try to stay at 2000-3000m range to all of them and chip away at them in many, many passes. Eventually you will win. Rank times are currently not set.
This is probably the easiest mission in the family. A base assault with missiles. Not much more to say until the official balancing gets done.
A-12 Family
This mission states that you need a clear time of 0:00 to pass. I’ve finished it in around 1:10 and did not get a C-rank. I assume the only way to get to the other missions in the family is to buy a pass.
The mission has you fight a medium amount of ships. It’s not too hard to get it done in less than 2 mins, which is all you need for ACE.
This mission is similar to the A-12 one, except that you have to fight a very large amount of ships. Targeting is a problem as you have to cycle through a huge pool of enemies. As far as I know you need to kill everything (including fighters) to clear the mission. Make sure to pay attention to your missiles and also use the slowly regenerating SP ones. Running out of missiles is a real possibility here (and you have no guns). Clear times are not specified yet.
AFTI244_180 Family
The best way to finish the mission is using the unique capabilties of the airplane. It has fast acceleration but only average to low agility. As such, it is best to fight the bombers head on and hit the breakes while they are in range of you to maximise your lock on time vs missile cooldown.
Once the bombers have passed you, accelerate downward for a few seconds before flying an upward looping while slamming the breaks. This should put enough distance between you and the targets to shoot 4 to 6 missiles in each pass.
The first part of the mission requires you to kill 5 bombers (usually 4 missiles each) the second part requires you to fight a named bomber (takes around 8-10 missile hits). All in all the mission takes around 2 to 3 minutes (after two tries my best was 2:38). Rank times are not set.
Bird of Prey Family
The mission is possible but rather annoying. The problem is that the enemy Bird of Prey is so much faster than your version. Thus, you only have one chance to intercept it before it outruns you. Rank times are not set.
This mission incorrectly tracks completion time instead of kills (or points). So you can just suicide and complete it in 10 seconds. This will award you with ACE rank though the official requirements have not been set.
Either there is a target that I am not seeing, a fail condition that I am unaware of or this mission is bugged. Either way the mission fails after a short time (all planes are still on the map).
Personally I assume it is bugged but if anyone is able to complete the mission then feel free to tell me how.
Cavalier Family
The small Cavalier family was added rather recently and does not currently have challenges assinged to them. Both the Cavalier E and the Cavalier C are available only by buying a pass.
F-2 Family
The F-2 family (basically the Japanese version of the F-16) was also added rather recently. I assume more planes will be added to this family in the future.
At the moment only the Falcon SX-1 is available using points.
F-4 Family
Of the 12 missions, 4 are playable. The playable missions are: F-4D, F-4J, F4-S and F-4(FV)H.
This is a very simple mission. It has you kill three small bases and each target dies with only one missile. Despite my best efforts however, I am unable to finish this faster than 1:38 (I know exactly where all the targets are and I never let go of my afterburners).
ACE rank probably requires 1:20 or faster. I don’t see any way to even shave off 5 seconds from 1:38 so I’m going to say this is impossible currently. (That being said, maybe I am doing something wrong. If so, feel free to tell me. Thanks!)
This mission is pretty cool but the assorted timings are just wrong. I assume the dev replaced an older challenge with this one and forgot to adjust the times. Due to the large amount of (fairly dangerous) targets you need around 3:00 – 4:00 to finish.
The ACE time is something like 0:30 with a C-rank clear time of 1:10. I think neither is even remotely possible. (So the only way to get past this mission is buying a pass.)
This mission is the only one in the family that seems to be fully balanced at the moment. First it has you kill a small amout of ships (something like 4-5) before fighting a second and larger formation. This includes two carriers, which each send an A-12 after you (you have to destroy them as well).
Getting ACE time in this isn’t terribly difficult as long as you use both the unguided bombs and the missiles to take care of the targets.
This is an interesting mission that first has you kill 3 fighters (easy). After that you assault a large offshore base equiped with Jammers and SAMs while a significant amout of escort fighters are hasseling you.
The mission is interesting because the platform has alot of edges requiring different attack vectors to get your missiles to your marks. Rank times are not specified yet.
F-5 Family
Easy mission. Try to stay at high altitude to get a good angle on the targets. Thankfully the unguided rockets have a large blast radius and you should be fine only expending 3-4 to cover the area of a target. This should be an easy ACE rank as well.
(There is a typo in the SS rank time stating 20:50 instead of 2:05. Not that it really matters. But for completion sake I thought I should mention it.)
Any Ace Combat player will have a love-hate relationship with this mission. Personally, I love it. There isn’t any help I can give you except that it isn’t hard once you have gotten used to it. Getting ACE is not complicated as the time is very lenient. When I first tried, I wanted to rush it with afterburners blazing and crashed a few times. This is not necessary. As long as you don’t hit the brakes too much, you will get ACE.
Now this mission is just horribly boring. To dodge the missiles simply try to get a 90 degree angle on the radar to them. Your vertical bearing makes little difference in the simulation chamber.
ACE timing isn’t really hard more than it is annoying. I think I had it on an old save but right now I don’t feel like bothering (so I got A rank by just flying in a circle for 5mins).
Personally, I would suggest making this mission escalate more quickly (and reducing the number of counter measures). This could bring the ACE time down to 5mins, instead of having to sit through 5mins of boredom every time you want to get a shot at a high rank. I guess the mission is technically balanced … if you can stomach it.
An easy mission where you have to shoot down bombers. You do not have to kill the escort fighters but if you take some of them down they will not hassle you while you are aiming for the bombers.
If you want ACE rank I suggest ignoring the fighters, unless you have spare time while closing the gaps between the bomber squads. Should be relatively easy.
This mission is noteable for two reasons. Firstlym it has a nice cutscene of a plane starting from the carrier. Secondly, it does not natively unlock like most/all other challenges. Instead it only unlocks once you have unlocked certain missions in the MiG-21 family tree.
This mission itself isn’t too difficult. Fight 2 airplanes, then another 2 and sink a carrier. The ACE requirement is quite lenient as well. It is best to engage the fighters head on while deflecting their missiles with counter measures.
F-14 Family
This is slightly tricky. The best way to get this done is to target an area with a large clump of baloons. Now while keeping your initial target in the circle, cycle through all the targets until you get one that is in the circle as well. Keep doing that until you have a missile flying at every baloon in the circle at the same time. Once you get the hang of it ACE shouldn’t be a problem.
The mission is not difficult, just try to remember which bombers you already shot missiles at and for faster times makes sure to only target the bombers and not the escort fighters. Rank times for this mission have not been set yet.
Buy only.
This mission is easy. I suggest that you kill the first 4 planes with the ranged SP missiles and then set yourself up to intercept the three mirages. If you are lucky you can take them out head on with the rest of your regular missiles. If not, position yourself behind them to gun them down. As they fly straight for the carrier this is shouldn’t be hard at all.
The mission is fairly standard (ACE is also easily doable) but there is one thing you need to watch out for. One of the Jaguars that spawns at the start of the mission will constantly attack your submarine (and eventually destroy it): Thus, even though that fighter is not a target, you will have to take it out. The other one will come after you and can safely be ignored.
Guided bombs are much better than unguides ones as you will see in this mission. The ACE time is managable too so nothing to complain about.
Finishing the mission is easy. Finishing the mission with ACE rank is somewhat difficult as you need a little luck for your SP missiles to target the right planes and also destroy them. The best advice is to try to target a new 4 pack while your missiles are on CD so you can shoot right as they replenish. Also try to not target bombers as those take two hits and for whatever reason seem to be able to avoid the long range missiles better than the fighters heading straight towards you.
The mission is easy if you know where the SAMs are (and also which ones are defended by mountain ranges from your long range missiles). As a general flight direction I would go right first while staying over the water. After the northernmost SAM on the right pops up turn left and mop the rest up. Shouldn’t be too hard.
This mission is bugged. Instead of awarding you for keeping the base safe it rewards you if the bombers reach the base. In any case this can be marked down as not officially balanced.
Buy only.
The mission times for this are clearly wrong. Even acquiring a C rank (2:10) is fairly hard (but doable). Maybe the mission got replaced and the times didn’t get adjusted?
Buy only.
Buy only.
F-15 Family
A basic gun mission. Just make sure that the bombers do not get too far away from the middle of the map and you should be fine. Easy ACE.
This mission is easy as the only things preventing you from reaching your destinations are a few SAMs that are far away. Just hit your countermeasures and collect the stars. The ACE time is rather lenient, so getting it shouldn’t be a problem.
Buy only.
Just charge head on towards the three planes. Easy mission, easy ACE.
Another easy gun mission. As the enemy fighters are heading straight for you, you can shoot them down easily. Further, you don’t have to worry about their missiles as your counter measures will deflect them. This mission is doable in approximately a minute but official times haven’t been set yet.
A basic bomber intercept mission. Completeing the mission is not hard but getting ACE rank is. My advice is to shoot down the first two escort fighters you encounter with 1 missile each (otherwise you use up your counter measures too quickly). Then use your airbreaks and shoot missiles on cooldown at the bombers. Once the next escorts are in range, ignore them and use counters.
Since it is somewhat random if you need 2 or 3 missiles to kill a bomber, your results may vary but eventually you should be able to get an ACE time.
This mission is easy to complete and impossible to fail as you can respawn. It should take you around 2-3 minutes to shoot down 12 fighters (they largely fight amonst themselves and ignore you). As rank times aren’t set yet, there isn’t much more to say about the mission (aside from the fact that I really like the soundtrack for the mission).
Buy only.
This mission is a little annoying, mostly because the SP missiles are somewhat inaccurate and slow. Your best bet is to watch the whole map closely as the fail condition is you leaving the operation airspace and not the bombers. Thus, you can still complete the mission if you shoot them down while they are off the map. The rank times for this mission are not set yet.
Buy only.
This mission is fairly challenging, due to the large amount of enemy planes. Your best bet is to stay close to the starting area and destroy them as soon as they get into missile range, while spamming counter measures on imcoming missiles. After the initial onslaught you will have to fight two more Su-30MKI. These have increased HP and a better AI. It works best to shoot missiles at both while heading straight towards them. However, also use your guns on one to make sure that it is taken out. 1 on 1 it shouldn’t be tought to handle the remaining plane.
This mission can be completed in around 2mins. Official rank times are not set yet.
A quick intercept mission. The ACE time is relatively tight so you need to ignore all fighters if you want to get it. Use your counter measures against their missiles.
F-16 Family
The mission is extremely easy but has not yet been officially balanced.
Killing the 16 helicopters is easy if you use the lock-on aim assist. Keep in mind that your guns have limited range though. In general this should be an easy ACE.
(Note on “Aim Assist”: On small targets your guns are much more accurate if you have a missile lock on them.)
Buy only.
For whatever reason the mission thinks that the longer you take, the better. The timing is probably swapped with another mission. Just senselessly fly around to pass the mission. I’m marking it down as yellow (not balanced) for this reason.
The mission isn’t as easy as it looks as 4 MiGs will show up making your life difficult. As there is no time limit on the mission you can try to shoot them down but with unguided rockets this is very difficult.
Getting ACE rank in this mission seems (almost?) impossible. I acquired 7660 points (this is full clearing everything and shooting down 1 MiG) before running out of ammo. The description states that the helicopters regenerate some ammo which they currently do not. Maybe you could get ACE if you are able to shoot down 2+ MiGs and everything else with the starting ammo?
A basic mission to kill balloons. If you want decent times then you have to mostly use your guns and not your missiles. However, rank times are not set yet.
Another one of those missions that drags on for way too long. Technically I don’t think the mission is imbalanced but to me it just seems like a waste of time after a while. For best results try to shoot down the first 10-20 planes until they build up too quickly to be culled effectively. Then try to herd them behind you.
In my opinion 10-20 planes charging at you for 5mins would be a better experience. Spening around 30mins of flying in circles on a single ACE rank seems a little taxing.
A basic naval mission with slowly recharging missiles. It gets a little tedious becuase you are waiting on missile cooldowns. Other than that it isn’t a bad mission. Rank times are not set at the moment.
An easy mission. However, there is one small trick to it. At the start of the mission dive down to low alititudes to avoid the incoming missiles. Rank times are not set at the moment.
The best way to do this is to cycle through all targets until you get to the SAM balloons. Shoot these down with your missiles in a few passes. After that finish the rest off with your guns while making sure to keep a little distance from the explosive ones. Rank times are not set at the moment.
A basic dogfight mission. Most planes can be taken out quickly while they are heading directly for you. Rank times are not set at the moment.
Buy only.
F-22 Family
This is currently the only playable mission of the F-22 family. Rank times for it have not been set. In itself the mission is not difficult and can be completed in roughly 2 mins. Your best bet is to use your guns as your missiles will most likely be evaded.
F-35 Family
All fighters in the F-35 family are currently buy only.
F-104 Family
If you want to acquire an ACE rank you need to finish this mission before your missiles can recharge. Thus, you need two missile hits and finish the bomber off with the guns.
A standard bomber intercept. Easy ACE rank.
Just use your guns to destroy the hangars. They are large targets and easy to hit. Easy ACE rank.
To get ACE rank you have to finish the plane in one pass either by getting two missile hits or getting him with your guns. Sometimes the AI turns randomly, if that happens just hit retry.
It’s easiest to kill the planes from the front with missiles and guns. Another easy ACE rank.
This is somewhat of a tricky mission because it uses special fuel and you may have to look up how to activate it in the control menu since this mechanic is rarely used in other missions.
(If you use an XBOX controller the standard buttons in D-PAD left.)
As there are plenty of blimps on the map (the neutral yellow targets) to replenish your special fuel, make use of it freely and only deactivate it once you are close to a target. Once you are used to the mechanic it should be an easy ACE rank.
To get ACE rank here you have to kill 3 planes. The best way is to do this with a frontal approach, breaking once you get in range. Use counter measures if they shoot missiles at you.
This mission is rather annoying because the helicopters are increadibly small and thus hard to hit with your guns. However, the game does have a type of aim assist on targets like these. If you are locked on to them the collision detection is much more generous. So only try to kill targets that you are locked onto. Because of the large amount of targets it can be tricky to get the one you are going for but it is still better than trying to hit them without locking on.
Getting an ACE rank in this mission is very difficult and requires you to finish in 50 seconds. I was barely able to do it and it took quite a while.
Similar to the 104D challenge this one has you target small tanks and trucks. Kill the airplane first and make use of the lock-on help if you are trying to target the other enemies from far away.
Getting an ACE rank in this mission is fairly difficult as finishing within 1:20 is tricky but doable.
This is a simple naval operation. The only advice I can offer is to switch from main to SP weapon after killing each ship. That way you do not have to wait for your missiles to recharge.
Getting ACE is not too difficult if you memorize they layout of the map and make no unnecessary detours.
I think this mission is bugged in the current version of the game. The challenge does not end after the airliners leave the mission airspace. The left over enemy fighters follow them and shoot them down without me being able to interfere.
Shooting down all enemy fighters before the airliners leave the mission airspace seems impossible as well as the payload of the airplane is rather low when compared to the numbers of enemies you are facing.
In my opinion this mission either needs the map enlarged, the number of enemy planes reduced, the payload of the plane increased or a correct mission complete trigger. For now the only way seems to be to buy a pass.
Another bomber intercept. ACE rank isn’t much trouble either.
This mission uses unguided missles as its weapon of choice. At first the mission may seem difficult but it really is not.
There are two fighters heading your way. Hitting and killing them both from the front is not hard (just watch out for their missiles and hit your countermeasures). The 3 other planes do not even try to dodge and are easy kills once you’ve lined yourself up with their heading. Rank timings aren’t set yet.
This is the first mission in the game that uses UGBs (unguided bombs). Personally I hate UBGs as it seems completely random if they hit or miss. Locking on to your targets does not help you here. Still there are a couple of tricks you can use to increase your accuracy.
Stay between 500-700m. Try to level your plane both horizontally and vertically while dropping bombs. Also try to lead the ships a little bit as they are moving forward while the bomb is traveling. If all else fails you can perform a kamikaze nosedive at your target and release the bomb extremely close to the target. That way it is almost impossible to miss.
Getting ACE in this challenge is rather tough especially with the escort planes trying to shoot you down. Though it is doable once you get used to those annoying bombs.
Now this is more what I’m talking about! Instead of having to deal with bombs you get to use your gun. The ships are large so you don’t need to try and lock onto them.
Once you memorize the layout of the map ACE shouldn’t be a problem.
F-117 Family
A basic and easy mission. No official rank times yet.
Well nothing much to see here either. Easy mission, no official rank times yet. The plane is pretty much a flying brick.
Another easy mission with no rank times. Stay at low altitude and use counters on missiles heading at you.
Just fly towards the mission and kill some hangars. No problem and no rank times yet.
A tunnel mission. Lasts for about 90 seconds (unless you use your breaks a lot). No rank times.
A tedious mission. While the turrets are not terribly accurate their amount combined with the low agility of this plane requires many, many passes. No official rank times yet.
The best way to finish this mission is to destroy the first bunch of hangers that take one missile each and the radar tower (two missiles). Then try and fly out of range of the SAMs and try to gain a lot of altitude while avoiding the fighters missiles with couter measures. Then make a slight descent towards the second set of hangars which all take two missiles to destroy. Some of them are slightly dug into the ground which makes them hard to hit. Probably the hardest mission in this family until ACE times are set up.
J-35 Family
This is an easy fly check. Don’t hit your afterburners too hard (it’s not necessary). ACE rank is to clear in less than 0:30 which is not hard at all.
Another easy mission. Try to set up a good vector and just shoot it down. The mission is doable in around 10 seconds and an easy ACE.
Slightly more complicated, but still very easy. Just turn into the fighters and shoot them down. Use counters if they try to shoot at you.
A easy gun mission but the ACE timer is very tight. It largly depends on how you shoot the 3rd and 5th plane while turning. Never let go of your afterburners. The last plane is a UAV and not a bomber so hitting it is a little harder.
This mission is a basic intercept. Set yourself up to use the homing missiles for two of the kills and you will get an easy ACE rank.
The mission is giving me a runtime error and shuts my game down. It might not do that for you. But for me this mission is unplayable after shooting down the first UAV. Thus, I’ll mark it down as unplayable (red frame).
Easy ACE. Hit your afterburners and charge forward. Once you are behind the middle aircraft do a quick sideturn and kill it. Then go back for the one that was straight ahead of you. After that, turn counter clockwise to shoot the rest down and do a straight dive with full brakes for the very last one. For very good times you may have to kill him with guns, but for a basic ACE that isn’t necessary.
The best way to do this is to fly a 180° looping and hit your breaks. That way you should be able to hit “Ghostly Eyes” with 4 missiles immidiately (and maybe also get some gun hits in). That should take him down to about 50%. After that follow him closely and just try your best (no tips here really :S). My best times finishing him off are about 1:30-2:00. After that you have to take on a squadron that mostly ignores you and heads for allied helicopters. These guys are really annoying to take down as well.
In any case, eventually you should be done here. Personally I think the ACE time for this mission is pretty much impossible (although there might be a few players out there who are able to pull it off, with a little luck and a ton of attempts). It would probably be sufficient to lower “Ghostly Eyes” HP so you can shoot him down immidiately and save the 90 seconds chasing him around.
Well this mission is unplayable for me as I encounter another runtime error shortly after engaging Amber squadron (after destroying the radar post). I remember this challenge working properly in a previous version so a certain change must have went weird. The mission might work for you although I doubt it.
Buy only.
Jaguar Family
(Note: There is a display bug on the family tree picture next to the Jaguar ACT. I’m not sure what that is about. It looks like it wants to unlock another mission but in the wrong direction.)
Definately an interesting weapon. I however dislike the huge amount of targets on the map. This makes the mission rather tedious. I hope the ACE rank time for this will be generous (it isn’t set at this point), otherwise this mission will be very tough to do.
The Jaguar is slow and stable, making it ideal for a ground assault. However, the fighters make this mission a pain so keep the counter measures ready. As with the Br.121 mission this is fairly long. I think 15 targets would have been just as good. The ACE time isn’t set yet.
Hm, collecting 20 stars while constantly being targeted by missiles without countermeasures. Again a bit tedious but not a bad mission at the core. ACE times aren’t set yet.
The first quick and easy mission in this section. Finish off the 4 boats and you are done. This is doable in less than a minute. Official ACE times aren’t set yet.
Lampyridae Family
The Lampyridae turns slowly but does not stall too easily. So it is best to hit the airbreaks and try to turn into the birds of prey. Generally this challenge isn’t hard at all and neither is getting ACE.
This mission got changed in 1.502 but it is still impossible (at least for me). There just are too many planes. Even with good accuracy I can’t even take half of them down before my allies are gone. Further, due to the low payload of your plane you’d need almost 100% accuracy to finish this.
So yea … still have to buy a pass if you want to continue.
You can finish this in one pass now. Simply use your afterburners for a few seconds, then shut the engine off and hit your airbreaks. Then simply switch between targets and keep shooting.
(I think the missiles got changed in 1.502 but I’m technically not sure.)
MiG-21 Family
The mission is easy and getting ACE is easy now as well. In 1.502 either the damage of the missiles was increased or the HP of the bomber was decreased. Thus, it dies in 2 missile hits now and times below 0:40 are easily achievable.
Good fix!
The best way to approach this mission for ACE rank is to kill the bombers in this order (each of them usually take 3 missiles).
Back right, mid left, mid right, front right, after that fly a downward curve backwards and kill back left (it flies significantly lower than the rest) while it is flying towards you.
Easy bomber intercept mission. There is ample time to shoot all of them down with the regular missiles and get ACE rank.
Probably one of the easiest challenges to get ACE in. The approaching F-104 will shoot a missile (which you can avoid using counter measures) and then you can shoot it down with standard missiles.
This is a similar to the PFM mission. Kill the two airplanes to the left and right, then proceed to the far end of the map (the spawn point of the enemy planes, there will always be exactly 3 on the map at all times). While approaching it you can kill the remaining 4 planes needed to break 5000 points. Easy ACE.
Shooting the ballons is easy. As your ammo is running out over time, make sure to only tap your gun button to get a few extra seconds. Balloons can be killed with a single round so no need to use more than that. Getting 2500 points for ACE is a little tricky but not difficult.
This mission is another gun mission. It is rather annoying since the MiG turns very slowly and makes this rather unenjoyable. It is imperative to kill the two AA gun vehicles first (you have to scroll through all the targets to get to them). None of the other targets will attack you.
The best way to do this mission is to lock onto the target you want to kill with your guns to get the auto-aim aid. The lock on range of the MiG is short though, so you need to be closer compared to similar missions with other planes.
All in all a fairly difficult ACE rank, mainly due to how immobile the plane is (but absolutely doable).
This is the second mission that got changed in the MiG-21 family between 1.404 and 1.502. It now features slowly regenerating but very accurate unguided missiles. You should use your air breaks or shut off the engine while waiting for them to regenerate. That way you will never get in range of the bases AA armaments.
Getting ACE rank is very hard now (due to the missile regen time). But it is still possible. My best time now is 0:59.3 (when before in v1.404 it was 0:41).
The enemy planes you have to kill with your guns spawn in groups of 2-3-1. A decent strategy is to back up or break a little so they converge on you instead of spreading out if you charge towards one of them. Other than that you have to be a little lucky on the AIs decisions to get ACE time. It isn’t difficult to get though.
The mission is playable and the main funtionality is fine. However, the times aren’t set yet so ACE rank seems unobtainable. Further, it doesn’t make sense to me that the mission is to shoot ground targets with extremely slowly regenerating missiles and the animation suggests a larger explosion is supposed to happen. Therefore, I assume this challenge might still needs some work.
The mission is to shoot down 9 bombers (3 center, 3 left and 3 right) while avoiding being shot down by the escort fighters.
The strategy for this mission is simple. While you engage, use your SP long range missiles to shoot down the three bombers in the middle (one bomber takes two SP missiles). Then either go left or right and finish those 3 with regular missiles (one bomber usually takes 4-6 regular missiles). Now kill the bombers on the other side with your remaining SP missiles.
All in all not a difficult ACE rank.
MiG-23 Family
The mission itself is simple. It’s best to just dash for the ground base and ignore all fighters. Once you get in range of the base, use your guns (not your missiles) to destory the hangars. Should be doable in a little over a minute.
Though, the clear time is set to 0:00 so the mission isn’t doable at the moment.
A fairly annoying mission due to the short range of the stock R-60 missiles. Counter measures are your friend here so spam them whenever necessary. Other than that, the AI of the planes in the mission seems to be fairly random (so no general advice here). ACE time should be possible after a few tries.
This is probably one of the hardest challenges in the game. The reason for this is that your guns have a very short range (around 2500-3000m) while the enemies missiles can strike you from up to 5000m. Further, you cannot take the slightest hit in this mission because your HP is set to 1.
Certainly this mission is doable but completeing it in 1:40 for ACE seems like a bit of a stretch. To do this you’d have to shoot down all 6 fighters while they are heading for you without trying to dodge any missiles. While this is possible in the first and third wave, for the second it seems impossible as the three planes are too spread out.
As a kicker, counter measures do not seem to be working well in this mission, so you will likely get shot down during the first or second wave. In around 30 tries I was only able to finish the mission 5 times (and not even close to ACE time).
I think this mission should be rebalanced and the number of planes reduced to 4 or 5. Further the HP deficit makes little sense (at least to me). But then again, maybe I just suck or don’t understand something. If you are able to complete this on ACE feel free to give me any pointers. Thanks!
This mission is easy compared to the previous one. You have a full life bar and plenty of time to destroy the single enemy plane (guns work best). Ignore the SAMs and use your counter measures.
This mission is fairly difficult because the F22 will just fly circles around you if you don’t pummel it to death (or close to it) on the first pass. That isn’t easy either though, since the enemy plane will use both missiles and guns against you. I found it very helpful to turn your engine off. That seems to reduce the chance of getting hit. ACE time is fairly easy as long as you get a good first engage.
A medium difficulty mission. Ignore the fighters and use your countermeassures if they shoot missiles. Other than that fly in a circle and take the targets out. For ACE timing you will have to turn before ensuring a kill (at around 2500m distance). Otherwise you will get too far out of the middle.
Buy only.
MiG-29 Family
Something about this mission is off. It starts with a 1:20 timer and counts down. If you are able to beat it in 1:20 (which is hard but not impossible), it awards you an ACE rank (even though times haven’t been set yet).
In general you should try to aim for bombers that are far away from you as the missiles are very inaccurate at short range. Don’t worry too much about turning and switching targets as the missile cooldown is long so you have plenty of time to pick the one you want.
This is an easy mission if you do it right. Planes take 3 regular missiles to be shot down. As you have to fly past the first two anyway, take them out with 6 regular missiles. (Feel free to use air brakes and a lot of counter measures.)
Now, as you are closing in on the next 3 planes select your SP weapon and shoot the two down that are furthest away. They will get destroyed before you are even in range of the last one. Take that one out with your remaining missiles or guns. Should be a fairly easy ACE.
When I first started this mission it seemed hopeless because of the large number of targets, but it really isn’t that hard. Use the lock on aim assisst for your guns and shoot them down one by one from behind. Just don’t squander your counter measures needlessly and keep focused on the goal and it shouldn’t be a problem.
(Note: This mission is fully functional and ACE time is possible. But I still have to mark it as yellow as there are several bugs that make the mission very complicated to figure out.)
Ok so the first thing you will notice is the first bug. None of the enemies are marked as targets. Well I can tell you what the targest are: The 4 VISBY ships closest to the shore. The second bug has to do with killing them. Sometimes when you destroy a VISBY (2000 points) you will only get credit for destroying its gun (100 points) even though the ship is destroyed as well. Sometimes you will also get credit for both (2100). Well if you only get credit for the gun, then the mission completion will not trigger and you have to start over.
Getting ACE in this mission is somewhat difficult. As you have to aim the UGBs from high altitude (this increases their range and will ensure faster completion times). After a few tries (and hopefully not running into the gun bug too often) you should be able to get this done.
The mission times aren’t set yet so idk how hard ACE will be. I tend to find the plane it in the first third of the map on the left but I technically don’t know if it is always there. (I’ve only played this mission three times.)
The best strategy to kill the F-117 is to break to almost stall and then turn and use your guns. Missiles are not recommended as you will randomly lose your lock on due to its stealth capabilities. Anyway you should be able to complete this in less than 2mins.
A basic naval assault that shouldn’t be hard to complete in less than 3mins (rank times aren’t set yet). Take out the smaller boats with your missiles as they are useless against the stronger ships. Don’t squander your gun ammo senselessly as 5 more ships will spawn (first 2 and then 3) after you are done with the initial targets. The escort fightes are fairly docile and should be ignored.
This is a larger scale version of the previous mission with unguided missiles. Thankfully the iteration of this mission is really good with high accuracy even at large distances (up to about 10000m). So just pick a ship at close or medium range (you do not have to lock on) and shoot 3-5 missiles in its direction. Don’t bother waiting for the destruction confirmation and just move on. More often than not, it will die if you did it right. Thus, the mission can be completed in little over 4mins (probably faster but as rank times aren’t set, I didn’t try more than once).
By the way, the missiles used by the ships and the fighters are fairly accurate, so it is not recommended to get too close to the ships.
Buy only.
Rank times haven’t been set yet, so idk how hard ACE will be. Finishing the mission in 2 to 3 minutes isn’t hard though as you can finish off the first two F-15 in the first pass. Feel free to expend most of your counter meassures on them as you won’t need them for anything else. After the first two planes are down a F-15 ACTIVE will spawn with an annoying AI that mostly tries to fly around you instead of fighting you. Just use your skills/luck and try to get it down.
If you have problems with the fighters positions (due to their stealth capabilities), use the radar map. They show up on that.
Buy only.
MiG-31 Family
Buy only.
Mirage F1 Family
A basic mission to shoot down a plane. Hit countermeasures to deflect the missile attack and challenge the enemy head on.
My first try was 0:31 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
A basic mission to clear 4 fighters. Kill the two that you are facing head on and then either go left and right. They don’t try to dodge or anything. Easy mission.
My first try was 0:52 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
A basic gun mission. Head for the left plane and then for the respawned plane (getting the vector for a gun kill on the right plane is too screwy so don’t bother with it). Keep spamming your countermeasures otherwise you will likely get shot down.
My first try was 0:23 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
A strange mission. Just fly around and kill 20 tents that are spread rather far apart. Don’t really see the point of this one, but I assume it is a placeholder.
My first try was 4:04 and got C rank (aka a clear). Rank times don’t seem to be set yet.
Now this is more exciting. Fly up the corridor and kill the ground units on your way. Not difficult if you lock on them before using the guns.
My first try was 1:31 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
Another basic gun mission. Kill the attack helicopters while avoiding the fighters missiles.
My first try was 1:09 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
Buy only.
This mission is a gun battle against a small number of ships. Not difficult and could probably be done in a single pass and much faster than I did myself.
My first try was 1:04 and got ACE rank even though times don’t seem to be set yet.
Shoot down a few trucks with missiles while some fighters try to interfere. Not difficult at all. Sometimes the trucks randomly take two missiles to kill which is abit annoying.
My first try was 1:58 and got C rank (aka a clear). Rank times don’t seem to be set yet.
Model-100 Family
Buy only.
This plane is just awful. Half the time I struggle to keep it in the air while turning. Oh well. There are only two targets that will attack you during this mission (two F-104s). Take them out as this “sneaky” hunk of metal will not be able to stay alive otherwise.
Then just kill the rest of the ships. In 4 to 5 minutes you should be done.
The model 100 is crap as well. Funnily enough the guns have a larger range than the missiles so in the mission it is easier to kill the F-7s using the guns than the missiles.
As you are flying towards the base it is best to take two of them out (the one in front and another slightly to the left). It is also imperative to kill the 3 SAM balloons. I don’t think it’s possible to finish the mission with them alive (or at least very hard).
After that, take out the jammers and the trucks while using counter measures on the last F-7. After 3-4 mins you should be done.
The previous missions were fairly tough, but this one is even more difficult. The plane manouvers a ton better than the previous two though. So the first few enemies (F-16s + balloons) are no trouble at all.
However, after the first set of balloons an F-117 appears. As you have no guns your only choice is to fight it with missiles. Combine the fact that the F-117 constantly drops the radar lock and also is much more agile than you, and you are in for a world of hurt (also the F-117 will generally fly so close to you that your counter measures against its missiles are useless). Beating this thing in the VX-11 is very hard. Unless you are lucky and the AI makes a horrible mistake that is.
After that it is smooth sailing for the rest of the ballons and the command ship. There arises another problem as the ship takes about 15-20 of them to be destroyed. (This isn’t hard, just annoying.)
In my opinion the F-117 should probably be removed or replaced with a non-stealth plane. The ship should also be replaced or its HP should be reduced. As another option the missiles could be exchanged or even be replaced by guns (yes even guns would make this mission easier).
S-24 Family
Both planes are buy only.
Su-25 Family
A basic ground assault mission. Just mop up the tanks and you should be done in 2-3mins. Rank times aren’t set yet.
Another basic mission, this time with guns. Even though the mission discriptions tells you to only shoot down the ground targets, the balloons are required for completion as well. As your guns have decent range there shouldn’t me much trouble here. Use the lock on feature if you have problems hitting your targets. Rank times aren’t set yet.
A bombing run with UGBs. The bombs for this mission are fairly good and have a large blast radius. So only the map and the limited payload could pose a problem. Though this is an easy mission so most likely it won’t be problematic. After 2-3 minutes you should be done with the 20 targets. Rank times are not set yet.
I’m not sure what this mission wants me to do. If you attack any of the trucks marked as targets, then the mission will fail. If you kill all the vehicles not marked as targets then nothing happens. Marking the mission down as bugged.
A large scale base assault using only guns. Most of the targets are small, so the lock on aim assist comes in handy. Due to the large amount of targets its hard to get on the right ones. The guns have a large range (around 4000m) and work well even without locking on. There is one MiG on the map that you have to deal with as well. My advice is to destroy it on your first approach as otherwise the dogfight will most likely lose you a fair amount of time. Other than that you have to watch out for the Turrets and the Avengers, those should probably be your priority targets. The mission will probably take you 4 to 5 minutes and rank times are not set.
Another base assault. This time with unguided rockets. The rockets aren’t bad but the plane has very limited mobility. As such you can never shake the fighter constantly targeting you with missiles, which makes the mission a little annoying (or hard depending on how you look at it)
It is best to approach the targets from far above and then slow down and shoot a few missiles on a couple of targets. Generally you should be done after something like 2 to 3 minutes. Rank times are not set.
This is a cool albeit easy mission where you get to go up against a ZiZ and a Kreisler using only unguided rockets. It sounds awful but your paiload is huge and they regenerate immidiately.
As such you can just spam them. Their hit detection is generous and so you should be able to destroy both enemies in less than a minute. Rank times are not set.
Buy only.
A ship battle only using guns. This mission is actually fairly difficult because the ships AA guns have similar reach as your own and decent aim. Combined with the escort fighters shooting missiles at you and the low mobility of the plane it can be tough to stay alive. However, it isn’t long and after approximately 2mins you should be done. Rank times are not set yet.
Buy only.
Su-27 Family
Climb to 17,000m and kill 3 balloons. No problem at all (but what out for their explosion). Should be doable in 90seconds to 2mins. No rank times set.
The mission features 39 balloons that need to be shot down with either missiles or guns. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as a couple of fighters will harass you constantly (they are unkillable). Still after 2-3 minutes you should be done. The aircraft has good mobility so once you run out of counters you still should be fine. Rank times are not set.
Buy only.
This mission is hard but for all the wrong reasons. You need to fight 3 F-22Cs which will enter the map just behind you. They can easily drop radar locks and also have a much lower stall speed than you, so getting behind them is tough. Your only armaments are slowly recharging SP missiles (an F-22 takes 3-4 hits to go down). It is very annoying to get hits on the F-22s and even if you can line up a good shot they can use counter measures. So just try your best and hope you get lucky.
Further don’t let them lure you to the ground too much. They can fly under it without crashing (bug). This is one of the missions where you will desperately wish you had your guns. Going up against stealth planes with just missiles is always awful.
Well this is one of the only missions that could potentially be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ but I am marking it down as completely broken because of difficulty. At the start you fight two F-35s. This is a somewhat difficult fight (as they use stealth so you won’t see them coming) but doable in a minute or two especially since you have guns available. After that Crowbar squadron will appear. Those are 6 stealth planes of various makes.
In any case, each of them has a good AI and is super agressive. As you cannot tell where they are on the radar it is pretty much impossible to try and single one out while constantly avoiding the barrage of missiles. Honestly I have no idea how this mission could be completed. In about 10 tries half the time I am unable to get a single missile shot off and in all of them I have never been able to shoot even one of them down (I came close once haha).
I really suggest an overhaul of the difficulty of this mission. Either the number of planes, their AI or their stealth needs to be removed. Though as I said, the mission (aside from the insane difficulty) seems functional, so I guess you could technically beat it. Anyway, if there is anoyne who thinks this mission is doable or even easily doable I’d be glad for some pointers.
Buy only.
The mission is a simple naval assault. It starts with two larger clumps of ships on each side of the map and 3 F-14s. The F-14s are either going for your or your carrier (you cannot let them reach it as they will destroy it and the mission will fail).
They are very annoying if you leave them alive, so shoot them down first while either going left or right. After destroying one half of the ships two more F-14 will spawn from the north. Destroy those before finishing off the other half of the ships. In any case after roughly 5mins you should be done. No rank times set yet.
Su-47 Family
This is currently the only playable mission in the family. It is pretty easy once you figure out that all enemy fighters are using radar guided missiles (countered by chaffs) and not heat seekers (countered by flares).
Your equiped missiles are R-60s, which means that they suck. And as you only have 12 of them, you will run out eventually and have to use your guns. In general the amazing mobility of the S-32 means that this shouldn’t be a problem though.
The mission took me about 2mins to complete (but I’m sure you could do it a little faster). Rank times are not set yet.
Surprise Fighter Family
This mission is difficult mainly due to the weaponization of the aircraft. Destroying the targets takes many, many missiles. Also watch out for the rear guns of the B-52s and attack those slightly from below. Rank times are not set yet.
This mission seems impossible to me. Granted I have trouble shooting down planes with the AIM P9s (which are good at medium range but bad at short), I cannot seem to cull enough enemies to
to have any chance of survival for my airliners. There are just way too many enemies. I can usually kill 12-15 before getting overwhelmed but the whole map is still packed after that. No idea how this mission is supposed to be done otherwise.
P.125 Family
Buy only.
Tacit Blue Family
Both planes are buy only.
X-36 Family
Well this is another one of those missions which I find impossible to complete (even though it might be possible). There are 7 F-16 assaulting a bunch of allied ships (the ships will die within the first 30 seconds of the mission but they do not matter) and 3 UAVs with laser cannons that are giving them backup. The laser cannons can destroy your missiles and that is all the weapons you have (guns are disabled) and they can also shoot at you, which is uncounterable and hard to avoid.
In any case if I try to go for the UAVs the other UAVs and the F-16s (after killing the ships) go after me. I’ve only been able to destory one UAV ever. If I go for the F-16s I can usually destroy 3-4 of them after which either the others or the laser cannons kill me. Not that it would matter much because by that time I am really low on ammo as 60-70% of my missiles get destroyed by the lasers without ever having a chance to hit anything.
If you think this mission is completeable right now feel free to give me some pointers.
XF10F Family
Easy mission and easy ACE. Just watch the cooldown of your missiles.
Another easy mission. The only tip I can give is that you should wait until the enemy squadron turns towards your allied aircrafts. Then you can easily take them out directly heading into your missiles.
YF-23 Family
This mission is set up in waves:
Wave 1: Destroy 3 F-5. No problem, they fly straight at you.
Wave 2: Destroy 2 F-4. No problem, they fly straight at you.
Wave 3: Destroy 4 F-16. This is slightly more troublesome as they can avoid your first assault and then will fly around constantly trying to avoid you.
Wave 4: Destroy 6 F-15. This is definately the hardest wave. Try to take as many of them out while they are heading for you (although the AI is usually too smart to fall for it).
In any case after 4-5mins you should be done. Rank times are not set yet.
Buy only.
This is an easy mission that pits you against a single F-22. As you have guns available it shouldn’t be too hard to take the other aircraft down and can be done in about one or two minutes. Rank times are not set yet.
Buy only.
Changes from 1.404 to 1.502
AFTI244_180 – No change.
F104 – No change.
Lampyridae – Some missions got changed but not in an important way.
MiG-21 – 2 challenges changed
MiG-21F-13 => ACE rank is now achievable.
MiG-21I/2 => ACE rank is much harder in 1.502 than it was in 1.404. However, it is still doable.