Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - How To Earn S Rank On Every Mission

Earning the highest rank on Hard can be tricky in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Unlike most games these days, you’ll actually rack up a score while blasting enemy pilots out of the sky. The higher your score, and the faster you complete your objectives, the better your rank will be at the end. And it doesn’t limit you to a simple A Rank — you can claw all the way up to S Rank. To make your life a little easier, here’s a few tips that’ll make S Ranking a breeze.

It’s best to wait until you’ve completed the campaign at least once before attempting to earn those S Ranks. First of all, you’ll need to unlock some of the best aircraft like the F22 Raptor before attempting to get S Ranks. This also makes replaying missions in Free Mode much easier on Hard — attempting to do it without all those high-powered part upgrades is going to be a challenge. As a nice bonus, you’ll be able to replay any level you want, on any level of difficulty, once you complete the campaign.

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How To Earn S Rank On Every Mission | Easy Rank Guide

S Rank is the top rank you can earn in any mission. You can earn an S Ranking on Normal or Hard missions to complete your Skin collection — every mission is different, but generally you can easily earn S Ranks by following the tips below.

Unlock the F22 “Raptor” available down the central Aircraft Tree unlock path. It’s easily one of the best fighters in the game, and can make most missions a cinch to complete on replay.
- SDBs make many missions trivial. The F22 also can unlock multi-air and multi-ground missiles that can destroy everything in the sky very, very quickly.
Earning S Ranks is all about completing objectives quickly, and doing as much damage as you can before the timer goes down. You’re free to use as many missiles and special weapons as you want.
- Don’t take damage to improve your ranking.
To easily earn more points faster, you reload checkpoints to refill your special munitions. There is no penalty for reloading. Knowing this makes earning S Ranks much, much easier.
- Equip parts to enhance the capabilities of your munitions. Better lock-on, faster missiles, and more damage are very important. Stick with improved weapons parts once you unlock the F22.

The top vehicle in the game, the experimental Wyvern, is powerful but not nearly as useful for completing missions quickly and efficiently. Stick with the F22 and you’ll be able to breeze through your replay.