Rank A On All Free Missions

[zerolimitz12]

If anyone has gotten any Rank A missions completed for Free Mission Please enlighten me. I only seem to get rank C. Any comments or information about what to do would really help. im sure other would like to know as well.

[SneakyofSneaks]

Yeah I'm only getting C&D so far

[Odd Dave]

It seems like you pretty well have to play on ace difficulty. Thought I would stomp this cheevo as A or S ranks were so easy to get in previous Ace Combat games. So much for that...

[BrySkye]

Ace definitely helps, but its not quite essential (thankfully, because Spooky on Ace is a nightmare).

As you unlock more skills and become more familiar with the game, it'll become easier to get destruction points and bonuses. I've actually managed to get a few A's on Elite difficulty now and B's on just Pilot.
Double Assault and Quick Charge seem to help.

Also remember that your choice of aircraft brings with it a multiplier.
For example, try using the Typhoon instead of the F-22A or PAK-FA. Its performance is almost on par, but it carries a 1.10x multiplier to your score, rather than just 1x.
Using the more basic aircraft, which will have a 1.50x multiplier might not be worth it though.

[Understocked]

How do you do that on the first mission?

You cannot change aircraft, the best you can do is tor do it faster and getting hit less?

That gonna be a **** to get.

P.S: I got a feeling of the ranking standard, below 1000 is more likely to be D, between 1200-1400 is like C or B? To get A should be a 2000+ points? I played co-op and usually it's an A with more than 2000 points usually.

[BrySkye]

Originally Posted by Understocked

How do you do that on the first mission?

You cannot change aircraft, the best you can do is tor do it faster and getting hit less?

That gonna be a **** to get.

P.S: I got a feeling of the ranking standard, below 1000 is more likely to be D, between 1200-1400 is like C or B? To get A should be a 2000+ points? I played co-op and usually it's an A with more than 2000 points usually.

It varies from mission to mission.
To get an A on Nightmare, you need 1800+
I managed to squeak that one out with 1800 exactly. Chains probably help.

Spooky I got an A with 1702, so it doesn't seem to be an entirely fixed format.

[BlindTubbeh]

Originally Posted by Understocked

How do you do that on the first mission?

You cannot change aircraft, the best you can do is tor do it faster and getting hit less?

That gonna be a **** to get.

P.S: I got a feeling of the ranking standard, below 1000 is more likely to be D, between 1200-1400 is like C or B? To get A should be a 2000+ points? I played co-op and usually it's an A with more than 2000 points usually.

It does vary on missions. Ace difficulty helps, lots of successful DFM (dog fight mode) and chains get you additional points and from time to time use the MG (machine gun) for extra points here and there and remember to try to kill EVERYTHING, target all the regular green enemies first before going after the TRG's and the TRG-LDR (save them for last, mostly scripted flight paths). For me, when it is a mission with Fighters or Multirole planes, I look for planes lower on the list WITH QAAM missles. If you put on some DFM skills try to squeeze in Homing Missiles also, helps sooo much, you'll shoot missiles and they will act like QAAM's from AC6, destroying enemies from no where as you pursue them in DFM.

[Understocked]

I did the blue on blue mission on Elite...

I chose to fly F4 for this one, and that crack **** just stall like it's gonna find his mama.

One thing I am wondering is, how does restarting a checkpoint or being shot down, mission failure affect the final scores?

Does anyone know what's the aircraft multiplier for some aircrafts, I know Typhoon is about 1.1, or it varies across different missions?

[Odd Dave]

Originally Posted by Understocked

I did the blue on blue mission on Elite...

I chose to fly F4 for this one, and that crack **** just stall like it's gonna find his mama.

One thing I am wondering is, how does restarting a checkpoint or being shot down, mission failure affect the final scores?

Does anyone know what's the aircraft multiplier for some aircrafts, I know Typhoon is about 1.1, or it varies across different missions?

Good question! Anybody? Anybody?

[ImaginaryRuins]

I think Su Fulcrum gives 1.3x, and F-16 gives 1.4x

I just want to say it's extremely hard to get A, much harder than AC6 'S' grade. Need to kill all targets but at the same time be as quick as possible. I've been trying on Elite (because I haven't unlocked Ace yet) but can only get As in helicopter missions. How easier to get A become when compared with Elite? Anyone please?

P.S. could anyone also tell me how to get A in co-op ICBM? I can only get Bs so far, using Su Fulcrum and tried to shoot down as many green targets as possible before the ICBM launches.

[B A R 4 D]

So do we know the exact things we need to do for A rank on each mission? and do we really have to play on Elite? :/ I hate these ranking type achievements might just skip this and 50 hours online.

[BrySkye]

I'm afraid some of these are just going to require some hard graft, but there are some general tips I can offer.

• Difficulty matters. A's will come much more easily on Elite or Ace. If you are confident in being able to complete a mission on Ace, then go for it.
• Destroy all green targets before engaging Red primary targets. The most important thing in getting an A is in getting as many kills as possible.
• Make full use of DFM and ASM as much as possible.
• In DFM encounters, shoot an enemy down as quickly as possible for a DFM quick kill bonus.
• In ASM, make sure to destroy all targets on the first pass for a bonus.
• In ASM use your guns and, if possible, only your guns. Its incredibly powerful in ASM and will give you a massive machine gun bonus at the end of the mission, possibly in the range of an extra 600+ points. It will make all the difference in the world on Pipeline and Siege.
• There is a skill for getting an A rank on a multi-role mission (Pipeline/Siege) that will grant you bonus points whenever you use a multi-role aircraft. Use this skill in combination with an aircraft like the F-15E (1.15x multiplier). Every little bit helps.

[ImaginaryRuins]

Should I just use my machine gun then? Because in several missions I could only get B no matter what. I used F-16 for x1.4, killed all green targets but still... Damn!

[Understocked]

I did an all-machinegun run for the first mission on Ace, that's about 1709. Nearly an A!

[Understocked]

Originally Posted by ImaginaryRuins

I think Su Fulcrum gives 1.3x, and F-16 gives 1.4x

I just want to say it's extremely hard to get A, much harder than AC6 'S' grade. Need to kill all targets but at the same time be as quick as possible. I've been trying on Elite (because I haven't unlocked Ace yet) but can only get As in helicopter missions. How easier to get A become when compared with Elite? Anyone please?

P.S. could anyone also tell me how to get A in co-op ICBM? I can only get Bs so far, using Su Fulcrum and tried to shoot down as many green targets as possible before the ICBM launches.

I don't think A in coop will be hard, I boost the complete coop achievement with another firend and it's quite smoothly.

The thing with coop that I am unclear is its scoring mechanism. The score is usually 2000+ for me (probably for everyone in the lobby, cuz we rarely die), and it's an A everytime. I was thinking if it's a total score for all players.

[BrySkye]

Originally Posted by ImaginaryRuins

Should I just use my machine gun then? Because in several missions I could only get B no matter what. I used F-16 for x1.4, killed all green targets but still... Damn!

The aircraft multiplier only applies to the time and armour bonus scores.
It does not increase how many points you get per kill, so weigh this up carefully.

The machine gun helps most with attacking ground targets, but it doesn't hurt to use in DFM either, provided you are quick.
If a DFM encounter ends up being longer because you are trying to only use your guns, then you run the risk of losing the more valuable quick DFM bonus.

[Desert Commando]

actually difficulty doesn't matter much. I have A's on everything except homefront, aftermath, and blue on blue. Most of your point go into how many enemies you kill. Mission using the chopper are simple, just kill all targets and don't die. Same with the AC-130 mission. for the fleet mission i used an F-2 and i got an A with that. For the hurricane mission, there's a tricky part because, there isn't much enemies. You should have enhanced missiles and machine gun on your skill for quick kills as you chase Markov. However, when Illich starts to turn around, you turn around and jump the enemies that try to leave the map. Use 4 or 6AAM for this. Then kill any other non-important plane then deal with illich while avoiding damage.
For the last mission, kill every aircraft you see before dealing with the targets. Then when fighting Markov avoid taking damage and save your flares for when his QAAMs come in.Launch was easy since you're in a bomber and that counts toward your score. Just avoid taking too much damage when trying to destroy the ICBM.In Nightmare, just kill everything as fast as you can while avoiding too much damage. For inferno, i used an Su-35 and it seemed to work well, so i got an A on that. Power Play is one of the easiest to get an A in. Just kill everybody once they show up, but be sure to kill all the non-important planes before dealing with the targets. You'll have to fight them anyway since they'll try to kill you. For Siege and Pipeline, use a PAK-FA and use trinity when necessary, like on the fortress in pipeline. Now for lock and load, getting an A depends on hwo many you kill and how much damage you avoid. It will also help for all mission to equip extra armour so you can take more damage. Now, for lock and load best to kill everyone and avoid taking damage especially from the rpgs. the AA guns on the third ship will damage you so try not to take any more damage before then, and after since you have to fight another Hind. Avoid damamge and kill everyone and you should get an A. Hope this helps. Also equip enhanced weapons for quicker kills.

Oh, and as for fleet, when using the F-2, DO NOT engage ASM because you'll take damage while doing so. Make strafing runs on the carrier while moving fast, and be sure your aim your special weapons at different areas to maximize damage. However, use some of your specials for the carrier, and the others on the 2 ships you have to overwelhm. Everything else you can use your missiles.