__ __ __ _ _ _____ ___ __ _ _ /\ / | / / \ /\/\ |_) /\ | / | | ] / \ /--\ | |-- | | | / \ | \ /--\ | / |-- |\ | | / \ \__ |__ \__ \_/ / \ |_/ / \ | /__ |__ | \ \_/ ================================================================================ T H E B E L K A N W A R D E V E L O P E D B Y : P R O J E C T A C E S P R O D U C E D B Y : N A M C O / B A N D A I ________________________________________________________________________________ F.A.Q. & Walkthrough by Jeffrey "Himmelkrieg" Kirby -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION I : TABLE OF CONTENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I : Table of contents (You are here) II : Introduction and Disclaimer III : The Planes of Ace Combat Zero IV : Campaign Mode Walkthrough V : Secret Stuff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION II : INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ace Combat Zero is the sixth and latest installment in Namco's series of action flight simulation games. Riding on the heels of AC5, 'Zero' Takes you back in time to 1995, and to the Belkan War, providing us with a more detailed look at the history of the Ace Combat world. There are many changes here from AC5, and some things coming back from AC04. All around, this is a pretty great game. Not as agonizingly long or frustrating as much of AC5 was, but with plenty of story. Okay, thats enough from me, on to the nitty-gritty... Legal Bits : No part of this FAQ may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without my prior consent or authorization. However, feel free to e-mail me anytime and ask me. As long as you give me proper credit and don't try to put your name on it and claim it as your own, we shouldn't have any problems at all. THANKS GO OUT TO - Everyone who reads this FAQ. You're why I wrote it in the first place. Everyone who has e-mailed me with advice, support and praise on my AC5 FAQ, you guys all rock. I hope this one meets with your approval as well. =) NAMCO/Project Aces, for making this game so damn good. My fiancee Rebecca, for putting up with my incessant hogging of the PS2 and the computer. I love you, m'dear. God, for everything, as always. This FAQ is copyright 2006 Jeffrey "Himmelkrieg" Kirby E-mail - Himmelkrieg2@yahoo.com Version 1.00 Approved for use by - GameFAQs ----------------------- Update History ----------------------- 05/03/2005 Version 1.0 Campaign walkthrough completed Assault Records + Plot Analysis coming soon! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION III: THE PLANES OF ACE COMBAT ZERO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, the first thing you'll notice if you're a veteran is that the "family tree" system from AC5 is gone (Yay!). Another thing you'll notice is that aircraft no longer come with just one special weapon. Like in AC04, each aircraft now has a selection of special weapons, allowing for greater versatility in your engagements. I only feel it necessary to outline the basic stats of each of the aircraft. I'm not going to comment on them, because it's better if you try out each one on your own and get a feel for it yourself, rather than read my prattling about each one. I'm also not going to include the information on them because you can find that out in-game as you acquire each aircraft. So, that being said, here are the names of all available aircraft, and their available weapons. Note: I haven't yet figured out what the little dots under the aircraft's name in the hanger/selection screen are. My suspicion is that they are kill markers, witht he smaller dots being one kill, the middle ones being 10, and the largets ones meaning 20. If any one can confirm this or knows if they are something different, please e-mail me. ---------------------------------- LEXICON ------------------------------------- RCL - Rocket Launcher UGB - Unguided Bomb UGBL - Large Unguided Bomb NPB - Napalm Bomb GPB - Guided Penetrating Bomb FAEB - Fuel-Air Explosive Bomb XMAA - Advanced Medium-range Air-to-Air Missile XLAA - Advanced Long-range Air-to-Air Missile SAAM - Semi-Active Air-to-Air Missile QAAM - Quick-Maneuver Air-to-Air Missile LASM - Long-Range Air-to-Surface Missile LAGM - Laser-Guided Air-to-Ground Missile XAGM - Advanced Air-to-Ground Missile SFFS - Self-Forging Fragmentation Submunitions BDSP - Bomblet Dispenser ECMP - Electronic Counter-Measures Pod TLS - Targeting Laser System ---------------------------------- AIRCRAFT ------------------------------------ ================================================================================ A-10A Thunderbolt II (AKA the 'Warthog') Missile : 64 XAGM : 10 FAEB : 10 RCL : 16 ================================================================================ ADF-01 Falken Missile : 84 TLS : 14 XLAA : 18 FAEB : 08 ================================================================================ ADFX-01 Morgan Missile : 84 TLS : 07 MPBM : 08 ECMP : 08 ================================================================================ EA-6B Prowler Missile : 66 ECMP : 05 LAGM : 08 QAAM : 04 ================================================================================ EA-18G 'Growler' Missile : 74 ECMP : 06 XMAA : 08 LAGM : 10 ================================================================================ F-1 Missile : 56 RCL : 10 UGB : 12 LASM : 10 ================================================================================ F-2A Missile : 72 LASM : 12 XMAA : 20 SFFS : 14 ================================================================================ F4-E Phantom II Missile : 62 SAAM : 06 UGBL : 08 NPB : 10 ================================================================================ F-5E Tiger II Missile : 52 QAAM : 04 UGB : 08 NPB : 08 ================================================================================ F-14D Super Tomcat Missile : 72 XLAA : 14 GPB : 10 NPB : 14 ================================================================================ F-15C Eagle Missile : 70 XMAA : 16 UGBL : 10 QAAM : 14 ================================================================================ F-15E Strike Eagle Missile : 76 SFFS : 14 SAAM : 10 GPB : 14 ================================================================================ F-15S/MTD Missile : 80 FAEB : 08 XLAA : 14 SOD : 16 ================================================================================ F-16C Fighting Falcon Missile : 60 XMAA : 12 LAGM : 08 UGBL : 14 ================================================================================ F-16XL Missile : 68 XAGM : 14 SAAM : 10 BDSP : 08 ================================================================================ F/A-18c Hornet Missile : 64 LASM : 10 SAAM : 08 SOD : 12 ================================================================================ F-20A Tigershark Missile : 60 SAAM : 10 GPB : 08 XAGM : 12 ================================================================================ F-22A Raptor Missile : 82 XMAA : 12 GPB : 12 SOD : 12 ================================================================================ F-35C Joint Strike Fighter Missile : 76 LASM : 14 SOD : 16 QAAM : 10 ================================================================================ F-117A Nighthawk Missile : 54 GPB : 16 LAGM : 12 QAAM : 08 ================================================================================ J-35J Draken Missile : 50 SAAM : 08 UGB: : 08 RCL : 08 ================================================================================ JAS-39C Gripen Missile : 60 RCL : 12 XLAA : 08 SOD : 14 ================================================================================ MiG-21 bis Fishbed Missile : 56 RCL : 08 UGB : 10 QAAM : 06 ================================================================================ MiG-29A Fulcrum Missile : 60 SAAM : 12 RCL : 10 XAGM : 12 ================================================================================ Mig-31 Foxhound Missile : 70 XLAA : 12 QAAM : 10 UGBL : 12 ================================================================================ Mirage 2000D Missile : 64 UGB : 14 GPB : 10 XAGM : 14 ================================================================================ Rafale M Missile : 74 LASM : 14 XMAA : 16 SOD : 14 ================================================================================ Su-27 Flanker B Missile : 72 XMAA : 16 UGBL : 08 SFFS : 12 ================================================================================ Su-32 Strike Flanker Missile : 80 XAGM : 16 LAGM : 14 XMAA : 12 ================================================================================ Su-37 Terminator Missile : 82 XLAA : 16 FAEB : 08 NPB : 10 ================================================================================ Su-47 Berkut Missile : 82 SAAM : 14 SFFS : 16 BDSP : 12 ================================================================================ Tornado GR.4 Missile : 72 BDSP : 12 ECMP : 04 LASM : 12 ================================================================================ EF-2000 Eurofighter Typhoon Missile : 78 XLAA : 14 SOD : 16 SFFS : 12 ================================================================================ X-02 Wyvern Missile : 84 XLAA : 14 QAAM : 14 XAGM : 16 ================================================================================ X-29A Missile : 60 QAAM : 10 FAEB : 04 LAGM : 10 ================================================================================ Yf-32A Black Widow II Missile : 80 QAAM : 12 NPB : 12 BDSP : 10 ================================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION IV : CAMPAIGN WALKTHROUGH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, here it is, the meat of this FAQ. I will try and be as detailed as possible for every mission, and I'll try and go step-by-step and still remain reatively spoiler-free. Some missions, especially later on, get to be really incredibly frustrating. Try not to let it get to you, just keep trying, and have faith in your flying abilities. Learn to use your wingman commands! It's much more refined now than it was in AC5, and it could save your life. Your wingman is much more intelligent this time around, and whatever he kills gets added to your overall points total. This can make a real diffence in your score. This FAQ was written based on a playthrough in NORMAL mode. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 01: GLACIAL SKIES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: CROSSBOW 13:00 hrs, 02 February 1995 Area: Valais Air Base Enemy bombers are on approach to Valais Airbase, and you've been scrambled to intercept immediately! I'm having the strangest sense of Deja vu... Anyway, the bomber fleet consists of 6 B-52s, 4 BM 335 along with a handful of F-5e Tiger II and F-4e Phantom II escorts. You shouldn't have any trouble taking them down, this mission is designed to get you comfortable with the controls. The will also be a named Ace pilot mixed in somewhere in this group. Try and single them out for bonus points and an SP color scheme. The Ace that shows up appears to be randomly generated. So far I have seen an F-5e 'Tiger' and an F-4e 'Dryad'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 02: ANNEX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: ROSELEIN 10:20 hrs, 15 April 1995 Area: Arlon This is the first mission in which you will begin to define your Ace Style. Fly along the roadway and destroy all targets designated by 'TGT' in red. Units which appear in yellow on your radar are 'neutral' targets. You will gain points for destroying them but it will also affect your Ace Style. Basically, if you want to be a Knight, spare the civilian structures. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want to be a true Merc, just blow stuff up indiscriminately. 'TGT's for this mission include Tanks, APCs, AA guns and SAMs. Have fun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 03: THE ROUND TABLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: CHOKER ONE 11:20 hrs, 20 April 1995 Area: B7R Airspace Time for your first real entanglement with the Belkan forces. The Round Table is an area of airspace that very much resembles its name, and is a place where Aces supposedly go to test their mettle. You're tossed in amongst a firefight, so just pick some targets and start shooting. After you've downed about 8-10 enemy aircraft, a small cutscene will take over. Time to be an Ace... The Enemy units which arrive next will depend on your Ace Style (ie: how you played the last mission). Also, it seems that the more battle-hardened your Ace Style is, the tougher the enemy aces will be. In other words, Mercenaries will have to face more difficult 'bosses' than Knights will. The enemy Aces are as follows- Mercenary Ace - Rot Squadron (4x Typhoon) Soldier Ace - Grun Squadron (4x F/A-18c) Knight Ace - Indigo Squadron (4x JAS-39c Gripen) At this point in the game, all three Ace squadrons are around the same degree of difficulty. Defeat them all to end the mission. Shooting down Grun squadron will unlock the F/A-18c for purchase. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 04: JUGGERNAUT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN #4101 12:00 hrs, 24 April 1995 Area: Futuro Canal Offensive Campaign #4101 will be composed of three seperate missions. You will choose which one you will be participating in. Your choice will also determine which aircraft you will unlock as your reward. 04a- Gelnikos 04b- Round Hammer 04c- Costner ------------------- 04a - Gelnikos ------------------- This mission has you clearing the way through Futuro canal in preparation for OSEA's 3rd fleet. Nothing to special here, you'll be taking out air, sea and land based TGTs. The mission will end once all TGTs have been destroyed or neutralized. This mission unlocks the MiG-29a Fulcrum. ------------------- 04b - Round Hammer ------------------- This mission is a naval battle. Lucky you. Frigates need only one missile, cruisers two, destroyers three, and Aegis take 4 missile hits. As with previous Ace Combat games, a lock on to the enemy ship itself ,and not its guns or SAMs will destroy everything outright. Of course, if you want to neutralize vessels and up your Knight Ace Style, go for the weapons. A good technique here is to fly in low, making sure you have the enemy vessel targeted, once you get a lock-on, fire off both missiles and lay on with your machine gun. This is an easy way to destroy ships in one pass. Watch out for AA fire, and you should be low enough to avoid SAM fire this way. This mission unlocks the F-20a Tigershark. ------------------ 04c - Costner ------------------ This mission has you providing cover for OSEA's 3rd Fleet. AC5 veterans will remember these fine folks, as well as the aircraft carrier Kestrel. All you have to do is take out all of the incoming enemy aircraft that attempt to attack the fleet. You don't have to worry about the damage they cause, it will never be signifigant enough to end the mission. The mission will end after all enemy aircraft have been shot down or neutralized. This mission unlocks the F-16c Fighting Falcon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 05: FLICKER OF HOPE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: VARSITY 05:50 hrs, 12 May 1995 Area: Solis Ortus This mission is pretty routine. Assist the airborne units by destroying the AA batteries and SAM sites. Pretty linear, really. Again, take out everything to be a Mercenary, and spare the yellow targets to be a Knight. After the ground targets have been eliminated some enemy fighters will show up. Shoot'em all down to end the mission. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 06: DIAPASON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: CONSTANTINE 16:30 hrs, 13 May 1995 Area: Directus Liberation! This mission reminded me a lot of Mission 15: Emancipation from Ace Combat 04. Your mission here is to liberare Directus, the capitol city of Ustio from Belkan control. All of the TGTs here are ground units, but you can take out the air units for extra points. There are lots of neutral targets here as well, and some TGTs are hidden behind them, so look carefully before you fire. Once the city has been liberated, Gelb squardron will show up. If this is your first playthrough, you're in for one heck of a battle, as the Gelb are piloting Su-37 Terminators (although, is you're a veteran, these guys are pussycats when compared to Yellow Squadron). Remember to use your wingman commands for a little extra help in the battle. The mission will end once you've shot them down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 07: BASTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: HELLBOUND 16:20 hrs, 17 May 1995 Area: Mt. Ivrea At first glance, I was afraid this was going to be another long, long mission, but as it turns out, it's really pretty easy. You have thirty minutes to cause 16,000 points worth of damage to the enemy. Bombs will come in handy here, and the bigger, the better! Try to maximize your area of effect, and cause the most damage possible. If you run out of weapons, you can fly to the south, over the return line, to re-arm and to repair any damage you may have sutained. On subsequent playthroughs, you shouldn't need to. Unlike previous Ace Combat games, the mission -will- end once you hit 16,000 points. To get an S ranking on this mission, you will need to cause as much damage as quickly as possible. I'm not certain on this, but I beleive it has to be 12 minutes or under. If anyone can confirm this for me, please e-mail me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 08: MERLON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: DYNAMO 15:30 hrs, 19 May 1995 Area: Schayne Plains Once again, you have 3 areas of operation to choose from, and again, the mission you choose will decide which aircraft you receive as a reward. 08a- Alpha 08b- Beta 08c- Theta -------------- 08a - ALPHA -------------- This mission has you assaulting the enemy defense line. This mission has the smallest area of operation, and consists of ground targets. Cake. This mission will unlock the F-2a. -------------- 08b - BETA -------------- This mission sends you out to destroy enemy facilites. Sheesh, could these missions be any easier? Destroy the enemy base of operations. This mission will reward you with the Tornado GR.4. -------------- 08c - THETA -------------- Air-to-Air combat frenzy! This is a little more like it, in my humble opinion. There are tons of enemies here, so watch your tail. This mission will reward you with the X-29a. Regardless of which mission you choose, they all end the same way. A giant laser beam of doom will come down from the heavens and smite the transport planes. Uh-oh. Firstly, keep your eyes open for the enemy ace who appears at this point, flying north to intercept you. Head south and keep your eyes on the your radar. As soon as you see the beam start to come down, immediately head to the east or west and crank on the after-burners. There is a trick to making the escape a little easier here - After you've avoided the first beam, angle your plane to fly to the southeast or southwest. Once you see the laser beam, immediately turn to the south and hit your afterburners. When the beam has dissipated, again angle yourself to the SE or SW. Cross the return line to end the mission. Gee, it sure would be nice if we could somehow destroy that laser... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 09: SWORD OF ANNIHILATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: JUDGEMENT 14:00 hrs, 20 May 1995 Area: Tauberg Oh, my prayers have been answered! It's time to eliminate the Excalibur weapon system aka the Sword in the Stone (It was around this point I started to sense a theme). Before you can destroy Excalibur, you will have to destroy the 4 radar jamming stations at the perimiter. Missiles won't work here, and strangely enough, neither will bombs, which struck me as odd, but what are you gonna do? Oh, use guns. Right, I was getting to that. Excalibur will be active, so watch your radar, and fly away from the big red beam. Once the jamming stations are down, you are free to engage Excalibur itself. If you are after an S ranking though, you will want to destroy the RTLS railroad laser cannons, as well as the 4 power stations. Excalibur takes a total of 10 missiles to destroy, and then another 10 missiles will be required to destroy it completely. All in all, a fairly easy and very satisfying mission. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 10: MAYHEM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: BATTLE-AXE 12:00 hrs, 23 May 1995 Area: B7R Airspace This mission will send you out into a massive air-to-air battle, which is good, beacause that's what we live for! If you've played AC%, then keep your eyes peeled for "HRTBREAK ONE" to show up during this fight. This mission will also have you going up against an enemy Ace squadron, so you will want to bring along a good air-to-air fighter, preferably with XL-or XM-AA's, or QAAMs. When the mission starts, jump on in and start blasting until you hit 8000 points. When that happens, the Enemy Aces will show up. Again, your Ace Style will determine which Aces you face ,and their level of difficulty. Mercenary Ace - Schwarze Squadron (6x Mig-31) Soldier Ace - Schnee Squadron (4x F-14d, 1x EA-6A) Knight Ace - Silber Squadron (4x F-16c, 1x F-4e) Schwarze Squadron can be rather difficult to defeat, but there is a trick to their tactics. In the Real world, the MiG-31 Foxhound is a long-range intercepter aircraft, and not suited well to dogfights. The same holds true with Shwazre. Their missile attacks will come from rather far away, so if you can tie them up in a dogfight, you should be able to out-maneuver incoming missiles, and overpower your target fairly easily. Defeating this squadron will unlock the Mig-31 Foxhound for purchase. Schnee Squadron isn't hard, but they're no pushover, either. I like going for the EA-6B Prowler first, simply to clear up your radar. Once you've done that, the rest of the F-14s should be easy enough to deal with. Defeating this squadron will unlock the F-14d for purchase. Silber squadron is the easiest of the three. Basic dogfighting tactics should get you through this batlle relatively unscathed. Shooting down Silber 1 will unlock the F-4E for purchase. Again, defeat all of the enemy Aces to end the mission. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 11: INFERNO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: CANNIBAL 23:10 hrs, 01 June 1995 Area: Hoffnung If you're escorting Allied bombers, then why are you charged with destroying so many ground targets? And why won't PJ stop whining, he's worse than Chopper! Sorry, rambling again... This mission is pretty straightforward, all you have to do is take out the designated TGT's. Bombs come in handy here if you don't care about destroying neutral targets, otherwise, the TGT's are not that hard to pick out and destroy. Once all the red TGT's are destroyed, an enemy force will showing up consisting of 6x F-35c, 2x B-2, and 1x EA-18G. Take out the Growler first to clear up your radar, and then take out the rest at your leisure. The mission ends once all enemy aircraft have been shot down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 12: THE STAGE OF APOCALYPSE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: RAVAGE 14:50 hrs, 06 June 1995 Area: Waldreich Ohgood, a mission that starts off with you having no idea what you'll be going up against, I love these... Take a good air-to-air fighter, and I recommend either XM- or XL- AA's. If you have enough faith in your abilites, you can take out the escort fighters along with hthe bombers, but you should be able to score more than enough points shooting down the bombers to acheive an A or S ranking. The choice is yours. What was that flash? Your aircraft will go completely nuts around this point, but keep your cool. Watch out for Pixy, too, as he will sttempt to shoot you down. Bank hard right or left, and hit your afterburners, and you shouldn't be hit. Use your XM- or XL- AA's to take out the support fighters that show up, and end the mission. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 13: LYING IN DECEIT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: STONE AGE 16:00 hrs, 13 June 1995 Area: Mt Schirm Ace Combat 5 veterans will recognize this area as Belka's nuclear missile hideout. This time around though, your goal is to case as much destruction as possible. I like FAEBs or UGBLs for this mission, although SFFS, SODs and BDSPs also work very well. As with all timed missions in this game, your rank is dependent on how fast you get the job done. You have a return line to use to resupply or to re-arm, but you really shouldn't need it. Not much strategy here, just go and blow stuff up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 14: THE FINAL OVERTURE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: BROOM 16:20 hrs, 20 June 1995 Area: Anfang Another split mission, with three choices for you, and again, the mission you choose determines which aircraft you receive as a reward. 14a - Mars Strike Team 14b - Mercury Strike Team 14c - Jupiter Strike Team ---------------------------- 14a - Mars Strike Team ---------------------------- This mission is an air strike against ground and naval forces. Same tactics apply here as the ydid before. Big bombs cause lots of damage but will also destroy neutral targets. Wipe out the forces to end the mission. This mission rewards you with the F-117a. ---------------------------- 14b - Mercury Strike Team ---------------------------- This mission is a combined air and ground force battle. Bombs, bombs, bombs! Destroying the planes before they take off makes your life easier. Again, wipe out enemy forces to end the mission. You will unlock the F-35c for purchase by completing this mission. ---------------------------- 14c - Jupiter Strike Team ---------------------------- This mission is an air-to-air mission. Take out the 6 EA-6B jamming aircraft to clear your radar, and then have fun shooting down the bad guys. This mission rewards you with the EA-18G Growler. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 15: THE TALON OF RUIN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: VALKYRIE 15:10 hrs, 25 December, 2005 Area: Waldreich Holy Dammit Christmas, its the XB-0! Launch immediately and knock this sucker out of the sky! First though, you'll have to deal with Espada squadron. I won't lie to you, these guys are pretty good, and excel at close-combat maneuvering. Your best bet for knocking them out of the sky is to get as close as possible, and fire missiles at point-blank range. QAAMs also seem to work well against them. There are some Su-37s flying around that you can take out if you like, it'll make dealing with the XB-0 easier, just don't spend too much time on them. There are 2 ways to deal with the XB-0. The first way is with missiles. Make passes and destroy the AA guns on the top and rear of the aircraft. These will take 1 missile easch. You will then have to destroy more AA guns, ABMs and the engines. The guns are underneath this time, ABMs on the top and the engines are, as you might guess, at the rear. Everything takes 1 missile hit except the engines, which require two. Now you have to take out the cockpit, which can really only be hit from the front. So, fly up in front of it a ways, turn around and waste that mostrosity! Alternately, FAEBs make -very- short work of the XB-0. I suggest attacking head on, and dropping the bombs at close range on top of the XB-0, to minimize drift, and make sure they hit. 3 FAEBs should have you up to destroying the cockpit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 16: THE DEMON OF THE ROUND TABLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: THUNDERBOLT 11:00 hrs, 31 December 1995 Area: B7R Airspace It's time to show these extremists once and for all that you and you alone are the 'Demon Lord'. Take your best Air-to-Air fighter, and follow the arrows on your radar until you run into your enemies, dependant again on your Ace style. - Mercenary Ace - Sorcerer Squadron - 8x F-15S/MTD - This is one hell of a fight. Sorcerer squadron comes at you in pairs, making it very hard to stay locked onto them without a constant missile warning tone going off. Try not to persue any one target for too long, as this will give other squadron members time to lock onto you. Setting your wingman to cover you will also help save your butt. QAAMs work well against Sorcerer Squadron. Destroying this enemy Ace squadron will unlock the F-15S/MTD for purchase. - Soldier Ace - Gault Squadron - 8x Su-47 - A difficult fight, but not as bad as Sorcerer. They come first in a group, so XM- or XL- AAs can take out many at once, straight away. The Su-47 is a very agile fighter, so once again, your best bet is to get in close and fire your missiles point-blank. Destroying this enemy Ace squadron will unlock the Su-47 Berkut for purchase. - Knight Ace - Wizard Squadron - 4x F-16XL, 4x YF-23A - Undoubtedly the easiest of the three enemy Ace squadrons, Wizard comes at you with their F-16s first, and the YF-23As will join the fight a little later on. No special tactica here, really, just keep your eyes open for the YF-23As, as they are a stealth aircraft and will often disappear from your radar. Destroying the enemy Ace squadron will unlock the F-16XL for purchase. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 17: THE VALLEY OF KINGS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operation: POINT BLANK 15:00 hrs, 31 December 1995 Area: Avalon Dam Avalon Dam... the theme continues. In order to get to the dam, you will have to fly low through a canyon, avoiding AA fire, SAMs and enemy fighters. Okay, here's the deal. I don't like going slow through here. Even though it gives you more time to destroy targets, it leaves you vulnerable to SAMs. Canyon walls are very unforgiving when it comes to tight maneuvers. I like to lean hard on the afterburners and plow through the canyon at breakneck speed, taking out a few targets along the way. Once you arrive at the dam, fly across the top of it, and make sure you take out all of the guntowers (you will receive a medal for destroying them all). Now then, there are 2 main openings that lead down into the dam. Yes, you heard me, INTO the dam. There is one to the north end and one at the south end. Fly down into one of these entrances, and take out each of the 4 locks in each of the 3 'rooms' within the tunnel. DO NOT try to maneuver inside the tunnel. Take out 2 locks per pass. Re-enter the tunnel for a third time and destroy each of the three V2 control units to complete the mission. Alternatively, if you have XAGMs, you can take out all of the locks in just one pass. Just make sure you line yourself up properly to get a lock on all 4 of them. Also alternatively, UGBLs or FAEBs make short work of all 4 locks. Also, during the course of your tunnel excursions, up to 4 enemy aces will begin to appear in the skies above. If you have the time, make sure you fly out and take them down for extra points (and Assault record data!). It's not over yet... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSION 18: ZERO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15:10 hrs, 31 December 1995 Area: Avalon Dam It's time for the final showdown, Buddy. Just you and Pixy, and he doesn't plan on going down easily. This battle is divided into three sections. The first and second secttion s take place within the space of 10 minutes, so be on your game! In section one, you must dogfight with Pixy while avoiding his laser. The laser does not do much damage when it glances, but it it's hits you solid on, it can bring some serious pain. While point-blank shots will work well against Pixy, head-on attacks seem to work best. Watch your radar to line yourself up for an attack. Done right, Pixy should slam head-on into 2 missiles, just make sure you get out of the way of his. In the second section of this bossfight, Pixy will switch to using airburst missiles. These are easy to avoid, just eyeball the blast and stay away from it. Another 6 missiles fired at Pixy will end this section as well. Now it's crunch time. You only have 6 minutes to score 6 more missile hits against Pixy before the V2 re-enters, and whats worse, you can only hit Pixy with head-on attacks. Aren't you glad I had you do this already? Watch your radar closely. Fly away from Pixy, and try an maintain consistent altitude. When Pixy comes towards you to close the distance, fly head-on at him, and launch your missiles only when you are within 1000 feet, then immediately break to avoid the missiles Pixy fires at you. Continue until the battle is over. Congratulations Ace, you've just ended the Belkan War, and shut down A World With No Borders once and for all! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SP MISSION: THE GAUNTLET -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This mission only becomes available when you have shot down all of the enemy Ace squadrons: Rot, Grun, Indigo, Gelb, Schwarze, Schnee, Silber, Espada, Sorcerer, Gault and Wizard. This mission will pit you against 3 randomly determined Ace squadrons, as well as Gelb and Espade, which will always be present. You have 30 minutes to complete your mission, as well as a return line to use to re-arm and repair. Good luck, Ace! Prove to all comers that you are the Demon Lord! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION V : SECRET STUFF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - MEDALS - Here is the comprehensive list of all of the medals for Ace Combat Zero, and how you acquire them during the course of play. Deliverance Bell : Complete Mission 6 Guardian : Complete Mission 8 Broken Sword : Complete Mission 9 Ragnarok : Get "S" rank in Mission 15 The Gold of Annwn : Destroy all enemy units at the Avalon Dam in Mission 17 Bronze Ace : Shoot down 200 enemy planes Silver Ace : Shoot down 500 enemy planes Gold Ace : Shoot down 1000 enemy planes Marksman : Shoot down 5 enemy planes using only machine guns Sharpshooter : Destroy 15 enemy planes using only machine guns Expert Marksman : Destroy 50 enemy planes using only machine guns Knight Ace : Complete Campaign Mode with Ace Stlye "Knight" Soldier Ace : Complete Campaign Mode with Ace Style "Soldier" Mercenary Ace : Complete Campaign Mode with Ace Style "Mercenary" Supreme Knight : Complete Campaign Mode with the style meter at the far right end of the gauge Supreme Soldier : Complete Campaign Mode with the style meter at the exact center of the style gauge. (You should be directly over the letter "d" of "soldier") Supreme Mercenary : Complete Campaign Mode with the style meter at the far left end of the gauge Bronze Wing : Achieve an "S" rank on all missions on Normal difficulty Silver Wing : Achieve an "S" rank in all missions on Hard difficulty Silver Wing : Achieve an "S" rank in all missions on Expert difficulty - SPECIAL PAINT SCHEMES - Okay, I admit I'm still working on this part and it may take me quite a while to get it done. Right now I can tell you that there are 5 paint schemes for every aircraft: Default, Mercenary, Soldier, Knight, and Special. Default Comes with the plain, as can be assumed by the name. Mercenary, Soldier and Knight can all be unlocked by completing the campaign and ending on the respective style. Special paint schemes are unlocked by shooting down enemy aces. The are other FAQs out there that have much of the information on aces already published. I'll fill out this section eventually, but in the meantime, I suggest checking out the other FAQS. ^_^