The platinum trophy in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, fittingly named Wings of Theve, is earned entirely offline through Campaign Mode. There are 56 trophies in total on PS5 (1 platinum, 2 gold, 5 silver, and 48 bronze), none of them missable, none glitched, and none tied to online play. The Steam version shares the same 55 achievements minus the platinum.
Quick answer: Beat the campaign on Elite to unlock Ace difficulty, then S-Rank all 30 missions on Ace, collect all Assault Records, earn 10 medals, and bank a lifetime total of 25,000,000 MRP to buy out the entire Aircraft Tree.
Platinum requirements and time investment
The path runs about 150 hours or more, and almost all of that time comes from the MRP grind rather than the difficulty. You need a minimum of two full campaign playthroughs: one on Elite to unlock Ace, and one on Ace where every mission ends with an S-Rank. Difficulty does affect trophies, so there is no way to shortcut the Ace requirement.
- Estimated difficulty: 5/10
- Approximate time to platinum: 150+ hours (driven by the 25 million MRP grind)
- Minimum playthroughs: two (Elite, then Ace with all S-Ranks)
- Missable trophies: none — everything can be cleaned up in Free Mission
- Online trophies: none — the platinum survives a server shutdown
- Saves: autosave only, no manual saves
Free Mission mode opens after your first campaign completion and lets you replay any mission at any unlocked difficulty, carrying over every plane, weapon, and part you own. That is how you fix any mission where you fell short of an S-Rank.
First run: clear the campaign on Elite without skipping
Complete the prologue and all 30 missions with Elite difficulty selected. Elite is the toughest standard setting, and beating the game on it makes Ace available for your second playthrough. Each mission automatically awards its own bronze trophy; completing the campaign at any difficulty also grants the silver Promised Land.
Let every takeoff, landing, and aerial refueling sequence run during this campaign; never hold Options to skip one. Completing every sequence earns By the Book, which unlocks as you take off for the last mission. Miss even one segment and you will need to replay the campaign to earn it, so make every launch and refueling a requirement.
If Elite is too punishing at first, a lower-difficulty run to unlock the endgame planes and special weapons is not wasted effort, because every mission you fly counts toward the 25 million MRP total regardless of difficulty.
Ace of Aces: S-Rank every mission on Ace difficulty
The gold Ace of Aces is the toughest trophy to earn: get an S-Rank in all 30 campaign missions on Ace difficulty, with free missions included. Beating the campaign on Ace also awards the silver The Ace, regardless of rank, so the two trophies are earned together.
Free Mission mode makes the S-Rank grind far more forgiving than a straight campaign replay. In Campaign Mode some missions restrict you to carrier-capable aircraft or force the same plane across a set of missions before you return to base. In Free Mission you can pick any owned aircraft and tailor the loadout for each mission individually. The one exception is Mission 14, which always puts you in the unarmed A-6 Intruder.
Ace also carries the highest score multiplier (x1.5 versus x0.8 on Casual), so grinding here doubles as MRP farming. Most story cinematics between missions and during briefings are skipped in Free Mission, though mid-mission scenes still need manual skipping.
MRP Aplenty: banking 25 million MRP
MRP (Military Result Points) is earned for every target you destroy, boosted by a difficulty multiplier and a time bonus. The silver MRP Aplenty needs a lifetime total of 25,000,000, and the bronze Need A Bigger Bank pops at 16,000,000 along the way. Both count all MRP earned across every playthrough, so nothing you bank is ever lost.
A campaign run earns around 3 to 4 million MRP, depending on your performance, so the two required runs leave plenty of grinding to do. The top mission for farming is Mission 28, “A Thousand Points of Light.” It offers many aircraft to destroy, and you can rearm without limit at the Cima Island airstrip. The slow bombers in this mission also make it a strong choice for machine-gun kills.
Spend the entire 25 million on the complete Aircraft Tree selection of planes, special weapons, and parts. This earns the silver Patron of the Parts, and the purchases also award a series of bronze trophies for buying items.
| Trophy | Requirement | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Bolstered Forces | Obtain 5 aircraft types | Bronze |
| Fully Kitted Out | Obtain 20 aircraft types | Bronze |
| Budding Buyer | Obtain 15 weapons and parts combined | Bronze |
| Regular Customer | Obtain 100 weapons and parts combined | Bronze |
| Birds of a Feather | Buy the same plane for your wingmen | Bronze |
| Patron of the Parts | Obtain every aircraft, weapon, and part | Silver |
A Record of Rivalry: all Assault Records
The gold A Record of Rivalry requires filling out all 83 entries on the Campaign Assault Records screen (Data Viewer > Campaign Data). Over half are Lux Lunae units that show up automatically during the normal campaign with their own cinematic and title card. The remaining 31 are named enemy Aces with specific spawn conditions.
Enemy Aces only appear on Veteran difficulty or higher, so playing below that will never spawn them. After you shoot an Ace down, you must finish the mission for the kill to register in your records.
Meritorious Service: earning 10 medals
There are 29 campaign medals in total, and the silver Meritorious Service needs any 10 of them. Track progress under Data Viewer > Campaign Data > Campaign Medals. Many come naturally: destroying 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 hostiles (Bronze, Silver, and Gold Ace), sinking 100 ships, and various mission-specific feats all tick over during normal play.
Because Ace of Aces requires an S-Rank on every mission on Ace, you effectively bank four difficulty medals at once. The Pilot, Veteran, and Elite S-Rank medals each specify “or higher,” so clearing everything on Ace satisfies all of them plus the Ace-specific medal. That alone puts a large dent in the 10 you need.
Combat and system trophies to tick off during play
Most of the remaining bronze trophies unlock on their own over two playthroughs, but a handful benefit from deliberate action. Aircraft Annihilator (3,000 aircraft destroyed) takes roughly one and a half campaigns.
Wingman command trophies
Wingman orders live on the D-pad. Target an easy enemy with Triangle, then issue Cover (down), Dispersed Atk (left), and Forward Atk (up) so all your wingmen converge on one target. When a wingman finishes it off, you earn Yes, Sir!. Also press right to authorize special weapons, and a wingman kill with one of those pops All Weapons Free at the same time.
Special weapon kill counts
Air-to-Air Ace needs 100 kills with air-to-air special weapons (anything with a blue missile icon, such as 4AAM, QAAM, or SAAM). Anti-Ground Ace needs 100 ground kills with anti-ground weapons (red bomb icon, such as 8AGM, LAGM, or UGB). Slot these into your loadout and both fill during the MRP grind.
Like the Wind (post-stall maneuver)
This must be done in Campaign Mode, not Free Flight, in a capable aircraft (F-22A, F-35C, MiG-29A, Su-33, Su-47, FA-36, or X-40). The easiest is a Kulbit: drop below 500kph, release the throttle, then hold L2 and R2 while pulling back hard on the left stick. Once the nose lifts, release L2 and R2, hold R2 to throttle up, and keep the stick back through the loop until you return to level flight.
Menu and one-off trophies
- Aircraft Inspection — view any plane in Data Viewer > Aircraft Viewer.
- Birdwatching — watch a saved replay in Data Viewer > Replay Viewer.
- Plane Coordinator — set a skin or emblem via Aircraft Sets (unlocks after your first campaign clear).
- Welcome to Boot Camp — clear any Training mission (also worth an easy 1,000 MRP).
Cleanup and confirming the platinum
After two full playthroughs, you will likely already hold most of the miscellaneous trophies. Whatever remains can be mopped up in Free Mission while you continue farming toward the 25 million MRP total. Once every other trophy is green, the platinum Wings of Theve unlocks automatically. No DLC is required to complete the set, and because nothing depends on Ace Combat Online, the platinum stays fully obtainable even if the multiplayer servers ever close.
