Earning an S-Rank on all 30 campaign missions in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve at the top “Ace” difficulty grants the Ace of Aces trophy and achievement, the game’s toughest reward. For each sortie, build your score with fast, valuable kills and complete the final objective before time slips away. Approach every mission as a deliberate race to score and beat the clock, and the trophy is within reach.
Quick answer: Clear the campaign on Elite to unlock Ace difficulty and Free Mission, then earn an S-Rank on all 30 missions on Ace. Completing every one unlocks the Ace of Aces trophy.
How S-Rank scoring works in Ace Combat 8
Your result is assessed when the mission ends, with completion speed, destroyed enemies, bonus targets, and mission-specific tasks all contributing. The rank total combines destruction points with a bonus for finishing quickly. Restarting from a checkpoint counts against your performance, so dying and continuing will almost always put an S-Rank out of reach.
Here is what a clean S-Rank run on Mission 01 “Jokers Wild” produces, finishing in 4 minutes 39 seconds with all 10 enemy aircraft downed and no checkpoint restarts.
| Score component | Value |
|---|---|
| Destruction score | 4,740 |
| Time bonus | 1,000 |
| Checkpoint restarts | 0 |
| Rank score | 5,740 |
| Final rank | S |
Flying a mission without taking any damage also awards a 5,000-point Damage Taken Bonus. The exact score requirement changes from mission to mission, so a plan built for an open dogfight can fail a tight strike run. On timed missions, prioritize named targets, tightly packed groups, and anything directly along your required route, and skip long detours for isolated low-value enemies. On destruction missions, build a comfortable score buffer from aircraft kills before you touch the final mission targets (TGT).
Unlock Ace difficulty and Free Mission first
Before chasing S-Ranks, finish the campaign on Elite. That single clear opens up everything you need for the trophy run.
- Ace difficulty becomes selectable for every mission.
- The endgame aircraft, the FA-36 and X-40, unlock for use on replays.
- Free Mission mode opens, letting you replay any sortie with any owned aircraft, part, and special weapon.
- Free Mission skips most between-mission cinematics automatically, saving time on repeat attempts.
Running the S-Ranks in Free Mission matters because the campaign normally forces carrier-capable aircraft on certain sorties. Free Mission removes that limit, so you can bring the best plane for the job on nearly every mission.
Named enemy Aces appear only on Veteran difficulty or above. After shooting one down, complete the mission for the kill to count.
Loadout and tactics that work on most missions
The X-40 handles the majority of missions, and its UAVT special weapon hits both air and ground targets, often burning through a single target with one launch. Its ammunition is limited, though, and its precision beam works against you against clustered ground targets. On missions packed with grouped ground units, switch to an aircraft that carries area-of-effect air-to-ground ordnance instead.
- Hunt the enemy Ace. A confirmed kill on a named Ace is worth around 2,000 points, so it is almost always worth triggering unless doing so wastes too much time or endangers the run.
- Save your flares. You carry very few. Rather than spending them, wait for a steady lock tone, then pull both triggers with a stick input for a High-G Turn to bleed speed and break the lock.
- Restart the mission, not the checkpoint. After a major mistake early on, a full restart is usually faster than finishing a run already off S pace, since checkpoint restarts cost rank points.
- Order special weapons free. On missions with generous clocks, there is no reason to hoard specials; let your wingmen distribute their fire.
Mission-by-mission S-Rank routes
Mission 01 “Jokers Wild” (Operation Seabird)
Bypass the tutorial and cinematic, then take out the MQ-19 drones until MiG-21bis fighters arrive to guard an AWACS. Do not attack the AWACS; destroy all the MiGs to bring out Gigas, the enemy Ace. Shoot down Gigas, then destroy the A-50 AWACS to complete the mission. Taking out all 10 targets without damage makes an S-Rank comfortable.
Mission 02 “Nomad” (Operation Falling Sparks)
You are defending the Endurance against waves of bombers. At the start, four A-6Es make a run on the carrier, so hit all four with a single UAVT. Downing four enemies within the first three minutes spawns Crematio in the northwest. Clear the northern bomber wave, take Crematio on the way across, then deal with the eastern wave. Waves four and five bring TU-95s escorted by F-14Ds in the east; destroy the bombers to finish.
Mission 03 “Purple Magic Takes Flight” (Operation Frostwave)
Slow down and hit the six MI-24 helicopters north of the base so you do not overshoot. Head east, clearing some of Queen flight’s targets on the way to a pair of Mirage 2000-5s coming from the northeast. Work through the following waves, all arriving from the northeast corner: A-6Es, more Mirage 2000-5s, then another A-6E wave. Push to the extreme northeast corner for two TU-160s. Shoot them down far enough from White Valley Base and Raia appears a few minutes later, around three-quarters up the east side, as SU-25SMs arrive in the northwest. Finish Raia fast, intercept the bombers before they reach the base, then clean up the Shadows 160th unit’s four MiG-29As.
Mission 04 “The Fall of the Numbered Fleets” (Operation Elder Hand)
Triggering the Ace Auster here means flying the narrow tunnel between the west and east sides of the island, which curves and shifts height near the end. It is easy to clip a wall or a ventilation unit, so skip it when the goal is a clean S-Rank. The safe route is to stay low and sweep ground targets. Start with the west airbase to kill fighter cover on the ground, taking out the many SAM and AA sites plus the docked ships. The bulk of the fleet sits on the east side and puts to sea once the attack begins, so clear every ground target before finishing the fleet for maximum points.
Mission 05 “Retaking of Theve” (Operation Long Shot)
The Ace only appears if all eight LCACs survive, which is extremely demanding. Intercept the helicopter flight first, ideally with a UAVT since there are conveniently four of them, then clean up the rest of the air. The clock reads 25 minutes but you will usually be done in under 15, so there is no reason to hoard specials. Never stray far from the LCACs, since aircraft shred them quickly on Ace. Once the air is under control, hit the two lines of Howitzers behind the tanks, then the tanks on your way back. After the cutscene, a wave of dive bombers and fighters harries the retreating LCACs; finish them to end the mission.
Mission 06 “Attack on the Drinwich Airfield” (Operation Redouble)
Your job is to cover two groups of four Chinooks, Spread 1 and Spread 2. Zoom out at the start to locate the closest mission targets. Destroying five or more TGT within the first three minutes brings in the Ace, Flamma. Use Dealer’s radio calls to track where to go, removing aircraft and hazardous ground units in front of each group as they make their way toward the airfield. Once they have landed, a transport attempts to flee the base as bombers approach from the south. Take out the transport first, followed by the bombers. Bomber and ground-troop waves then take turns arriving, until a scripted explosion brings the mission to a close.
Missions where shifting objectives can cost your S-Rank
Several later sorties change priority mid-mission, and firing at the wrong target wastes the time you need for the bonus. Change what you shoot the moment the objective changes.
- Mission 7 “A Lifeline in the Desert” — only needs enough destruction to reach its required score; stop hunting isolated structures once you clear the threshold.
- Mission 11 “Maximum Payload” — stay on one Podarge transport until it drops rather than leaving several damaged. Ammunition endurance matters more than a shiny new airframe.
- Mission 12 “An Island in Darkness” — once a C-130 cruise missile is airborne, the missile becomes the priority over whatever fighter you were chasing.
- Mission 16 “Singer” — identify the terrorist ships (three deck cranes and a sun emblem on the hull) before firing; a long search launches self-destruct UAVs and shifts the fight to an altitude interception.
- Mission 18 “Moonlight and Shadows” — the rockets only become targets after they lift off, and debris remains a hazard afterward.
- Mission 27 “Fatsia, The Ocean Fortress” — exterior targets stay visible after the operation orders you to stop firing; hold fire when told.
- Mission 30 “Song of Wings” — early on the submarine is not a useful target; incoming missiles and terminal guidance against the Endurance come first.
In Mission 14 “Two on the Run,” you always fly an unarmed A-6 Intruder, including in Free Mission. Map out a path beyond radar coverage rather than attempting to fight.
How to confirm the S-Rank counts
At the end of a sortie, the Mission Results screen shows your total time, the destruction score, the time bonus, your checkpoint restart count, and the final rank. When the rank reads S, that mission is done. Nothing in the campaign is missable, so you can keep replaying any mission in Free Mission on Ace until all 30 read S, at which point the Ace of Aces trophy unlocks.
