Ace of Aces checklist

Ace Combat 8 S-Rank Guide — All Missions on Ace

Quick answer

Earn S-rank on Ace difficulty for every campaign mission (via Campaign or Free Mission) for Ace of Aces. Score comes from destruction value, speed, and surviving — prioritize high-value clusters, ignore worthless stragglers late, and replay outliers in Free Mission with optimized loadouts.

Campaign Play-sourced

S-rank rules of thumb

  • Difficulty: S on Ace is required for Ace of Aces; lower-difficulty S still helps medals that say “or higher.”
  • Free Mission advantage: pick any unlocked jet per mission (except Mission 14’s fixed A-6); skip most story cinematics.
  • Carrier / chained restrictions: some Campaign sorties limit takeoff types or lock the same jet across a set — Free Mission removes most of that.
  • Point economy: perimeter AA/SAM/radar first on ground maps; bombers/AWACS first on air maps; finish with gun strafes if you’re a few thousand short.
  • Wingmen: buy duplicate airframes so Baxter/Tasha/Coster fly capable jets; use Forward Atk on high-value TGTs.

Hard highlights

  • Mission 14: unarmed A-6 stealth — S comes from perfect route + objective pace, not kill spam.
  • Escort medals (21, 30): zero/near-zero escort damage while still scoring enough elsewhere.
  • Mission 28: best for practice runs and MRP — endless Cima rearm loops.

Checklist workflow

  1. Finish Elite campaign → unlock Ace.
  2. Ace clear or Free Mission each stage until S.
  3. Log fails next to campaign index and retry with better SP weapons.

How to unlock Ace difficulty

Players searching ace combat 8 how to unlock ace difficulty need one clear rule: finish the full campaign on Elite. Clearing on Rookie / Pilot / Veteran does not unlock Ace. You do not need every S-rank on Elite — campaign clear is enough. After that, Ace appears in Campaign and Free Mission. Ace difficulty is separate from the “Ace of Aces” trophy (all missions S-rank on Ace).

FAQ

Do I need S-rank on Ace for platinum?

Yes — Ace of Aces requires S on Ace for all 30 missions.

Can I S-rank in Free Mission?

Yes, and it’s usually easier thanks to free jet choice.

Does restarting from checkpoint hurt S-rank?

It can scramble timers/ace spawns — prefer full mission restarts when chasing score or aces.

How do you unlock Ace difficulty in Ace Combat 8?

Clear every campaign mission on Elite. Then Ace becomes selectable in Campaign and Free Mission.

Further reading

Related guides

Campaign Hub · Hidden Aces · Free Mission · Difficulty

Primary: Ace Combat 8 S-rank. Also: Ace of Aces, S rank Ace difficulty, Free Mission S-rank. Independent fan guide — verify in-game if patches change conditions.