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To unlock every Assault Record in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, collect the campaign’s 52 automatic unit records and shoot down 31 conditional enemy aces. Automatic records can be earned on any difficulty; the reported ace triggers require Veteran, Elite, or Ace. There are 83 entries in total, according to two game guides. The ace conditions below are guide-reported, not official developer instructions, so check the in-game log if a later update changes a trigger.
What you need to know before starting
- Choose Veteran or higher for aces. AllThings.How and PowerPyx report that conditional aces appear on Veteran, Elite, or Ace difficulty. Automatic records can be collected at any difficulty. If you played an earlier mission on an easier setting, replay it at Veteran or above to pursue its ace.
- Most automatic records require no special action. The guides report that these unit records fill as the relevant units appear in campaign missions.
- Spawn the ace, then shoot it down. Each conditional ace has a mission-specific trigger. Common triggers include finishing a group of targets within a time limit, protecting an objective, or flying through a landmark.
- Plan for one cross-mission dependency. Destroy Shadow 24 in Mission 18 to enable the Lux Lunae 22nd Unit in Mission 28.
This is a guide to the campaign Assault Records. Bandai Namco distinguishes Campaign Mode from ACE COMBAT ONLINE, which has separate save data and progression; online rewards such as ACE PASS rewards are not campaign Assault Records. See Bandai Namco’s game overview for that mode distinction.
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How to unlock the 31 conditional aces
Use Veteran difficulty or higher, satisfy the trigger listed for the mission, and shoot the named ace down once it appears. The conditions in this table are reported by PowerPyx’s mission guide, with supplemental names or details from its reader comments and AllThings.How. Some entries remain unidentified in those guides, so their names are left unspecified rather than guessed.
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|---|---|---|
| 1, “Jokers Wild” | Gigas | Destroy all non-target enemy aircraft. |
| 2, “Nomad” | Crematio | Destroy at least four enemy aircraft within three minutes of mission start. |
| 3, “Purple Magic Takes Flight” | Raia | Destroy all bombers before they reach a certain range of White Valley Base. |
| 4, “The Fall of the Numbered Fleets” | Auster | Fly into the tunnel. |
| 5, “Retaking of Theve” | Custos | Keep all LCACs alive. This name and trigger are reported in a PowerPyx comment; no further detail is given. |
| 6, “Attack on the Drinwich Airfield” | Flamma | Destroy at least five targets within three minutes of mission start. |
| 7, “A Lifeline in the Desert” | Orcus | Destroy the Land Aegis by chain reaction. |
| 8, “Retaking of Theve II” | Tessera | Destroy all non-target surface weapons. |
| 9, “The Land Battleship Blockade” | Judex | Destroy the land battleship’s secondary tread armor before it reaches the second slowdown line. |
| 10, “Over the Rainband” | Vorago | Destroy an airship within 70 seconds after laser targeting begins. |
| 11, “Maximum Payload” | Larus | Eliminate all Shadows before eliminating the Podarge. |
| 12, “An Island in Darkness” | Imber | Destroy all LCACs within three minutes of takeoff. |
| 13, “The People of the Lost Country” | Sicarius | Destroy at least five radar towers before the transport lands. |
| 15, “Wings of Wax” | Lupus | Destroy one Ladon, then shoot down the ace before destroying the second Ladon. |
| 16, “Singer” | Currus | Appears when UAVs launch. Its reported location varies with the third ship’s location. |
| 17, “Land Battleship No. 3” | Avus | Destroy all targets before the B-1B reaches the halfway point. A PowerPyx commenter reports that it appeared after bombers bombed the turret on Veteran; the main guide does not identify its aircraft. |
| 18, “Moonlight and Shadows” | Curis | Destroy Shadow 24. At checkpoint 18-4, Curis is reported south of the launch pad. |
| 19, “Clearing the Lighthouse” | Aleator | Destroy all Su-47s. |
| 20, “Escort Orbiter” | Periodus | Destroy at least one B-2. |
| 21, “The Star-Bound Bird” | Alienus | Sink all enemy ships. |
| 22, “Pursuing the HSCA” | Caligo | Approach the Celaeno without being spotted. |
| 23, “The Destruction of Expo City” | Milvus and Cantrix | Destroy all Lux Lunae ace units within three minutes of their appearance. The guide reports that both can spawn in the same run. |
| 24, “The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 1” | Name and aircraft not identified | Allow all LCACs to reach land. |
| 25, “The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 2” | Cinis | Destroy all land destroyers and the Land Aegis. |
| 25, “The Battle of Rocky Island, Day 2” | Silacrum | Fly between the floating Podarges and the ocean surface. |
| 26, “Crossing Fleets” | Lucidius | Destroy all enemy surface units on Cima Island. |
| 27, “Fatsia, The Ocean Fortress” | Stiria | Fly through gaps in the Megafloat spokes. |
| 28, “A Thousand Points of Light” | Harmonius | Destroy five bombers within five minutes of mission start. |
| 29, “Selene” | Prudens | Fly under an urban highway bridge. |
| 30, “Song of Wings” | Tegimen | Destroy at least three submarine-launched swarm missile dispensers before the missiles are released. |
How to unlock the Mission 28 Lux Lunae unit
Mission 28’s Lux Lunae 22nd Unit has a prerequisite in Mission 18. In “Moonlight and Shadows,” destroy Shadow 24. PowerPyx reports that this also enables Curis, who appears at checkpoint 18-4 south of the launch pad. Then reach “A Thousand Points of Light” in Mission 28 to collect the otherwise unavailable automatic unit record. The guides do not report that this prerequisite changes the separate Harmonius ace trigger.
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Which records fill automatically?
The guides report 52 automatic records, mostly special-unit pilots, that are added as their units appear during the campaign. They identify Lux Lunae units in Missions 3, 8, 11, 18, 20, 25, and 28, as well as the 8th Pastoral Air Wing in Mission 23 and Selene’s unit in Mission 29. The Mission 28 Lux Lunae 22nd Unit is the exception that depends on destroying Shadow 24 in Mission 18. For the specific pilot names and aircraft in each group, consult PowerPyx’s mission-by-mission Assault Records list.
How to check completion and claim the rewards
AllThings.How reports that shooting down a named ace adds its entry to Assault Records and unlocks a paint scheme for that ace’s aircraft type for campaign use. It also reports that completing all 83 entries awards the gold trophy “A Record of Rivalry.” Open the game’s Assault Records and confirm the full set is present; then check aircraft customization for the newly unlocked skins. The guides report 83 as the complete-log total: 52 automatic unit records and 31 conditional aces. See AllThings.How’s unlock guide.
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Why a record may be missing
- The ace did not spawn: Confirm the mission was played on Veteran, Elite, or Ace, then check each part of its trigger—including any time limit, target order, or objective condition.
- You completed the trigger but lack the entry: The ace must be shot down, not merely spawned. Replay the mission and confirm the kill before completing it.
- Mission 28’s unit record is absent: Replay Mission 18 and destroy Shadow 24, then return to Mission 28.
- Your log is short of the reported total: Compare entries against both the automatic unit groups and the conditional ace list. Several names or aircraft are not identified in the published guides, so use mission and trigger details rather than relying only on a name search.
These conditions are guide-reported rather than publisher-documented mechanics. If a trigger behaves differently after a game update, verify the mission objective and Assault Records log in your current version.
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