Earth Defense Force 2017 Walkthrough 1.0 Copyright 2007, David Strapp ([email protected]) <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><-><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Table of Contents <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><-><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 1. Introduction 2. Controls 3. Walkthrough ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The intent of this guide is to both offer a step-by-step walkthrough through each level, and offer a strategy based on what I did to beat each level on hard mode, without using weapons farmed from higher difficulties. As of starting Hard my Stamina was 2035 The structure of this guide is as follows. Mission - Mission number and name Basics - An overview of the level and what you will need to do in it, written for new players seeking guidance or that just want to know what's up ahead. Will generally list what enemies you're going to encounter, as well as the presence of EDF soldier groups and vehicles. On easy and normal this is really all you'll need. Hard - The strategy I used to beat that particular level on hard before writing it in this guide. If it is in here, it worked. It may not be the best strategy, but it should serve you well. I may also note problems I saw with the strategy I used, particularly in the cases I tried weapons I don't normally use. All the weapons I used I either obtained from play through in easy and normal, or obtained during the course of this play through on hard. Weapons Obtained - These are new weapons I obtained when I beat that level. Weapons are random in this game and the better they are the higher level and difficulty you need to play on to get them but I feel some people may want to know when a certain weapon can definitely be found. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Controls ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Controls: Advanced Left Control Stick/D-pad - Move/Strafe Left Control Stick Click - Nothing Right Control Stick - Aim/Turn Right Control Stick Click - Nothing Left Trigger - Jump/Roll Right Trigger - Fire Left Bumper - Zoom/Activate Right Bumper - Switch Weapons A - Not Used B - Not Used X - Not Used Y - Not Used Select - Enter/Leave Vehicle Start - Access Pause Menu Controls: Basic Left Control Stick/D-pad - Move/Turn Left Control Stick Click - Zoom/Set up emplacement Right Control Stick - Camera up/down Right Control Stick Click - Nothing Left Trigger - Strafe Left Right Trigger - Strafe Right Left Bumper - Roll Left Right Bumper - Roll Right A - Jump/Roll B - Switch Weapons X - Fire Y - Aim Upwards Select - Enter/Leave Vehicle Start - Access Pause Menu Vehicle Controls : Combat Vehicle E551 Gigantus Left Control Stick - Move Right Control Stick - Aim Turret Right Trigger/A/B/X/Y - Fire Cannon Vehicle Controls : SDL2 Airbike Left Control Stick - Move X - Fire Machine Gun Vehicle Controls : Combat Helicopter EF24 Bazelato Left Control Stick - Move Right Control Stick - Elevation Right Control Stick Click/B/X - Fire Machine Gun Left Trigger - Strafe Left Right Trigger - Strafe Right Y - Fire Missile Vehicle Controls : Battle Machine Vegalta Left Control Stick - Move Left Control Stick Click/A - Jump(Hold to Hover) Right Control Stick - Aim Arm weapons Right Control Stick Click/Y/Right Bumper - Fire Flamethrower Left Trigger/X - Fire Machine gun Right Trigger/B - Fire Missile ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Walkthrough ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________ Mission 1. Arrival Basics: Look at the pretty flying saucers and Mother ship. Don't bother shooting; you can't damage any of them. Also ignore the terrified civilians and check out the first wave of Black Terror Ants straight ahead. On easy and normal you can just run at them and kill them with anything (I like AFs); you don't really need to do any target softening. Note that this wave is the only wave of black ants that does not use acid, so enjoy it. After you've killed all the ants a second wave will appear on your radar, collect any armor and weapon packs on the ground, leave the health icons alone on hard and up just incase anything goes wrong, on easy and normal feel free to pick them up to clear up the radar, you won't need them. Head towards the 2nd wave (I like to go straight down the road to where the 1st wave was then turn left when the 2nd wave is directly to my left) and get ready to see the ants' new trick, squirting acid! If you've destroyed a lot of buildings they'll be able to rush you a lot faster but on easy and normal this just lets you kill them faster. You'll also notice some more EDF soldiers fighting the 2nd wave. If you don't kill them accidentally or deliberately they will kill quite a few ants by themselves. Once the second wave is gone the 3rd and final wave will appear, and this wave appears to have more ants the last two. For E/N again, no real challenge, you can rush them blindly and come out unscathed. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF-17 2. Cascade 1 For the first wave you'll probably want to thin out the herd coming towards you so use a good rocket launcher, grenade/launcher, missile launcher, or sniper rifle of your choosing and let them come to you. You probably want to try to avoid destroying the buildings to the northwest to help limit the flow of ants in the 2nd wave. Try to avoid getting surrounded, the buildings should help, and you'll probably want to be moving backwards when the ants are moving towards you since they can take quite a few hits now. Don't underestimate your EDF allies, even here they can still hold their own and take out quite a few ants. Treat the 3rd wave the same as the first. Weapons Found: Volcano 3w-Burst AF17 Stingray M2 ___________________ Mission 2. Invasion Basics: Once again ignore the skies, this time there are 3 groups of Black Terror Ants, one each to the northwest, north, and northeast. Some of the NE and NW ones will join the N group while others will try to sneak around the sides or even behind you before attacking. For E/N you can again just blindly rush them with an AF, but you may want to practice your Rocket Launcher aim for later and take a few shots. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Volcano 3w-Burst I fired the Volcano straight ahead until I could see large groups of ants to the sides then concentrated on them. Finished off the stragglers with the AF17. Weapons Obtained: Acid Gun ________________ Mission 3. Melee Basics: Large amount of Black Terror Ants to the NW, but first go to the few over to the NE and kill them to get some EDF soldiers. There are quite a few EDF soldiers like these guys strewn about the level, if they're on the way might as well grab them. On E/N this is the same as the past levels, just run and gun, nothing to worry about. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Volcano 3w-Burst I got the EDF soldiers, then fired off the Volcano towards the buildings between me and the ants(I didn't move left or right once I fired, just wanted to make a "small" hole to start them coming at me). Killed off the ants that starting heading towards me then headed for the group that was approaching me from the right. Took them out with the AF17, the buildings kept their numbers down. Then headed towards the remaining groups. At this point the ants should be pretty stretched out, so take out each group one at a time and pick up any nearby EDF soldiers to make your life easier. At this point you can also destroy any buildings in your way to make moving and killing the ants easier since they're not likely to get in big enough numbers to make open terrain dangerous. Weapons Obtained: Nothing __________________ Mission 4. Landing Basics: You start off with a large group of troops and large blob of enemies on the radar, head towards them. There is a smaller group in the buildings ahead of you, once again on E/N just shoot them and move on to the large group in front of the Space Needle looking tower. Shoot these guys as well, go make friends with the group of EDF soldiers near them, then destroy the big tower and finish off those ants. Once they're dead... FLYING SAUCERS! You can't destroy these ones either, even when they open up to drop more ants. You know what to do. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Volcano 3w-Burst The enemy is in staggered groups though you can't initially tell from the radar. Feel free to destroy a few buildings to allow you to more quickly deal with the first group. Head towards the next group, I walked up onto one of the blue walkways and fired on the group on the ground with the Volcano. I'd assume hitting the tower would cause that group of ants to come after to you so don't hit it until you've dealt with this group. Once you're ready destroy the tower and fire on the ants as they make their long journey towards you. Hopefully only a few to none will actually complete it. Get some distance from the Flying Saucers when they appear so you can pummel their army of ants from afar. AF17 anyone who gets too close. Weapons Obtained: AF16-RA Splash Grenade ZER-Gun Sparrow Shot AF-16 Wideshot A1 Plasma Launcher P79 Bound Gun MMF42-RA _________________ Mission 5. Search Basics: You've got two groups of EDF soldiers, the ones you start with and another group to your left. Ants will be attacking both sides, on E/N It once again doesn't really matter. Charge on side then charge the other, or alternate back and forth, whatever makes you happy. A short while after you've defeated all the ants you get called to retreat, and 10-20 seconds later a mass of red blips will appear. You won't be retreating, on E/N there's no real danger here, you can run to the Ravager Gunships or stay back with your group to have some support. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Stingray M2 Deal with the first few ants that head towards your group, I used the Stingray, then head to the left group and finish off what they're fighting. Run forward from there and deal with the ants in your way, shortly down the road some ants should attack you from the right, attack them then wait for the groups to catch up if you want, and go attack the remaining ants.(I fired the Stingray from a white walkway in the path of the first group) When the Gunships's appear retreat back to one of the groups for some fire support, and fire on the Gunships if you have a weapon with sufficient range(I beat it with the Stingray here but a Cascade or Volcano would have been better for the Gunships). Weapons Obtained: UMRA Grenade Launcher Buffalo G3 Burst __________________ Mission 6. Airforce Basic: You start off looking at the Mother ship, ignore it. A wave of Ravager Gunships will be deployed from the Mother ship You and your men should make short work of them on E/N. You may want a rifle instead of a Rocket Launcher on this stage to take out some of the Gunships before they're in range without the problems of leading with rockets. 2nd wave, same as the first. You may have to wait a bit after you've cleared the 2nd wave before the 3rd is launched. May want to try a Missile Launcher type if you have it, though not a Tortoise type. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. MF42-RA Nothing much to say here, just keep moving and shooting. The EDF soldiers should kill a good amount. Though I used the MF42-RA I probably wouldn't suggest it, a more powerful, less rapid firing sniper rifle would have worked better. Weapons Obtained: ME3 Emerald UM2-J Grenade Launcher ___________________ Mission 7. Takedown Basics: The mission starts with scattered EDF squads and two Flying Saucers unloading some black ants. Fire off some rockets/sniper rifle rounds into their glowing red underbellies to damage them before their doors close and you cannot damage them. If you don't destroy them before the doors close, don't worry. Just kill off a lot of the ants it dropped and it will open up again to drop more. Once you've destroyed both Flying Saucers and all the ants your mission is complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. MMF 42 Obviously, as soon as the mission starts shoot everything you have that can reach it, at the closer Flying Saucer. I was not able to destroy it in its initial drop, but after the EDF soldiers made quick work of the ants it was vulnerable again and was shot down during the second drop. I cleared out the ants from the second drop but by this time the 2nd Flying Saucer was on top of me. Be careful if you are in a similar situation as I was taking significant damage from the swarm of ants as I got caught off guard in the area where a lot of buildings are already destroyed. Alternate between killing the ants and firing at the open Flying Saucer, then mop up any remaining ants. Weapons Obtained: MG14J _______________________ Mission 8. Mobilization Basics: You start off facing a whole lot of red blips. Run towards them and you'll see some EDF soldiers fighting the black ants. Go help them out... or just blow everything up. After them you'll have some smaller groups attack you as you make your way to the big group surrounding the big skyscraper. Kill them off and more red and blue blips will appear on the radar. Head towards the closest group, kill the ants and get some more EDF soldiers. Head towards the next group, you may want to be a little cautious here even on E/N, there are a lot of ants in this next group. Once you've killed them two high up red blips appear on the radar... Flying Saucers. Don't bother running towards them, they won't open up until they've flown past where you most likely are right now. In fact you may to run in the opposite direction as where they are coming from so you're not in between them when they release their ants. Destroy both Saucers and all the ants to finish the level. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Stingray M2 I ran towards the red blips and used the AF17 to clear out the black ants around the EDF soldiers; they seem more interested in the soldiers than you. Take out the remaining ants that start charging at you as you make your way to the skyscraper, then start shooting at them from afar. You should be able to kill them all without them getting to you. Once they're dead a new group will appear on the radar. Head towards the closer group(I fired some Stingray shots along the way but didn't bother sniping them out) and get some more soldiers under your command. Head towards the next group, I followed the roads and kept the buildings intact to avoid getting surrounded, and this time did fire from afar with the Stingray. When the flying saucers appear focus on one(And if you haven't already go to game settings -> player settings -> and turn off camera effect so you can aim) but try to avoid getting sandwiched between both throngs. Weapons Obtained: Y10 Wide Impulse AF-V Lysander __________________ Mission 9. Tsugawa Basics: Time to meet a new enemy, the Hector. Big Walking robots, they currently only have two attacks, green machine gun fire(It can bounce as well) that's not that bad on E/N but is brutal on harder difficulties, and red explosive shots that will knock you down. Big machine gun hand = Machine gun attack, smaller purple conical hand = red explosive attack. They also react really oddly to being hit which may make them dodge successive shots. You have a load of EDF soldiers on your side this time, and they can and unfortunately will destroy quite a few Hectors(Unfortunate since they're probably still in the deep water). There also a few Gunships flying around. On E/N Hectors aren't that bad so you can still get crazy and run up to them(Aim for a foot, the only part that doesn't react when hit), or practice hitting them from afar with a sniper or rocket launcher your choice. You'll also see Gigantus(The Tank) and Bazelato(The Helicopter), I don't either of these for anything other than faster transport, but feel free to use them as you wish. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Stingray M2 I wasn't paying attention and still had the Stingray M2 when I started this mission, but it uses the same strategy as what I would've have preferred. Stay up on the mountain you started on and simply snipe the Hectors with whatever you desire (Lysander would be good). Weapons Obtained: AF18 ZE Sniper Sticky Grenade Prototype Wideshot VR MG14J ________________ Mission 10. Arms Basics: Squad of EDF right next to you, group behind you, and in front of you. One Hector staring at you to start, another will walk in from the left a few seconds after the level begins. Treat them the same as the last time, rocket/sniper, or be crazy and shoot 'em in the foot. Several more will be attacking you at this location, you should make quick work of them with the EDF soldiers. Avoid fighting too many Hectors at once and this level shouldn't be much more difficult than the last. Destroy them all and its Mission Complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF17 2. Lysander I sniped the first hector with all 7 Lysander shots than charged it and the second with the AF17 destroying both. 3 or 4 more Hectors should be on you by now, but your army should be weakening them quite quickly and need little from you to finish them off. Go after the remaining hectors and try to stick with your soldiers for support, try to keep the hectors as separated as possible. If too many of them are together get away, a combined machine gun attack can take you down fast. Weapons Obtained: MG14 AF18-RA ________________________ Mission 11. Infiltration Basics: Caves... some good things... some bad things. The good: lots of choke points, no structures you can accidentally destroy, fairly straightforward paths. The bad: lots of ceiling and wall space for insects to climb on, depending on where you kill the bugs it may be impossible to get their dropped item Start off with a bunch of EDF boys, and a lot of red dots ahead. Go forward and shoot them, if you're fast you may be able to trap them in that small opening. Once they're dead a new group appear, make your way to them and get ready for a much larger battle. They're still just ants so not much to worry about, you may need to do some walking around to get the last few if they've gotten themselves stuck. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Goliath D1 I start off with saying... I wouldn't recommend the Goliath D1 here, reload time is too long. Head towards the first group, fire off some rockets and AF the rest down. Head to where the next group is, I recommend staying in the tunnel to large open area the ants are in to limit how many are attacking you. Only reason you should enter the large area is if there are some stragglers left that aren't coming out to attack you. Weapons Obtained: Nothing _________________________ Mission 12. Reinforcement Basics: New Enemy: Assault Spiders, these are not nice. They're not too much to worry about on E/N but on harder difficulties they hit hard. They attack by shooting web, if it hits it not only hurts you, but it also slows you down. Get hit by a few at once and you won't be going anywhere until it dissolves. Movement wise they're pretty much the same as ants except that they can and will jump(a lot). The level begins with a swarm of Assault Spiders in front of you, as well as a Tank, and there are EDF soldiers in front of and behind you. Don't be too afraid of your new adversary and treat them like ants and you'll be fine. Just 1 wave of them. Hard: My Weapons 1. AF18-RA 2. Stingray M2 Watch out for a few attacking from behind and the sides, and try to fight them at a distance with the Stingray. Only 1 wave so you should be done pretty quickly, I didn't even have to switch to the AF18-RA. Weapons Obtained: Firecracker 3 _______________________ Mission 13. Retaliation Basics: You start off with one Flying Saucer ahead of you as well as an army of EDF soldiers fighting some Assault Spiders. Help them kill of the spiders then move on to one of the other groups. At one group (The one by a bridge) is the SDL2 Airbike, it has little combat worth but it'll get you where you need to be fast, assuming you don't run into anything and blow it up. Once the one group is dead head to the final group (Should be in a big clearing/courtyard type area.). This group is bigger than either previous group so exercise caution. Kill the spiders, grab the EDF guys and take a look at Battle Machine Vegalta. Its slow, and has a brutal turn rate, but it is fairly powerful, I do use this from time to time in an offensive role. Once the last spider is dead the Saucer opens, but don't bother firing at it, you can't destroy this one. I'd suggest giving Vegalta a try and wipe out this wave and the next wave the Saucer will drop, then the mission will be complete. Hard: My Weapons 1.AF18-RA 2. Stingray M2 Go help out the EDF soldiers ahead of you, I'd suggest using the AF18-RA or similar weapon to avoid killing allies. Unfortunately, killing these spiders won't be enough to get the Saucer to reveal its weak point. I went to the group to the Saucer was moving away from at the time(They're by a bridge), killed the spiders there(Fired the sparrow while en route, then used the AF to finish them off). Grab the EDF guys there and then head to the last group(In a big courtyard area) which should be under the Saucer at this time. I grabbed the Airbike but you may wish to be more cautious and move on foot to keep your EDF allies closer. This group is large so be careful, I used the sparrow from the road I drove in on. Once you've killed off all the spiders the Saucer will finally open up and drop off some more, but don't bother shooting at it. Again, I'd suggesting using Vegalta, it should make quick work of both waves of spiders bringing the end of the mission. Weapons obtained: C24 Bomb MLRA-3 ____________________ Mission 14. Fortress Basics: Your first look at Quadruped Fortress, and like most first looks you won't be destroying it here. Note its energy shield on the front, it also has side shields. It has two massive plasma cannons on top but I've never seen them used against your character. What it can attack you with are the several laser turrets on its body (Which you can destroy now), and its feet. Its also capable of launching various enemy units which reveals its obvious weak spot on the front of its underside. But you can't do anything about that now. Just like the last time you were here there's a massive amount of EDF soldiers on the beach so you'll have a lot of support and more than a few unreachable power ups. The first wave of enemies will be Gunships, snipe them, or let them come to you and take them out with whatever you like. Next it will move in onto the shore, start firing its laser cannons and eventually start dropping Hectors. Try to take out some of the laser cannons but focus on the Hectors once they drop. They all seem to have one machine gun and one red explosive cannon. After it drops the hectors a swarm of Gunships appear. Clear out the Gunships and you're home free. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Stingray M2 I stayed at the starting point and fired off the Stingray until the Gunships were in AF range then used that to clear out the rest of them. You don't have to since they're pretty inaccurate, but you can destroy the Fortress' laser cannons, doing so will help keep your EDF soldier count up. Focus on the Hectors as soon as they drop. After it's finished with the Hectors the radar will turn red with Gunships, so clean up any remaining hectors and then aim skyward. Once you've removed the Gunships the level is complete. Weapons Obtained: MMF43 Y10 Wide Impulse ____________________ Mission 15. Blockade Basics: Nope, not destroying the Quadruped Fortress here either. You start off with some EDF soldiers and an eyeful of the Fortress. There's a red circle with some spinning thing on it, I guess it's a cannon but I've never actually seen anything come out of it, I'm not sure if you have to destroy it but if nothing's happening in the level then you know what to do. Its first drop will be some hectors, do whatever you've been doing to the previous ones and take them out (And if you've been charging them, then watch out for the Fortress's feet, it probably doesn't do that much damage on E/N but its annoying getting thrown around) These all seem to be Machinegun/Red Explosion as well, but it may be randomly decided. After the Hectors come Gunships, standard procedure here as well. After you've defeated the Hectors and Gunships the Fortress' laser cannons activate though they shouldn't hit you much if at all. It will also begin deploying more Gunships. After the Gunships it will deploy more Hectors with double red explosive firing arms, they should be at a fair distance so sniping would be the best choice. A large group of EDF's soldiers should have appeared at this time, so they should be able to take out quite a few if not all of them on their own. While fighting the Hectors or after you've defeated them the Fortress will launch yet another wave of Gunships, take out the remaining Hectors first then start attacking the Gunships. Finish them off and the mission is finally complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. MMF43 WATCH THE FEET! Being anywhere near them when they come down is going to hurt to the tune of nearly 200 points. Nothing much you can do until it drops the Hectors, once they appear start sniping them. Shortly after the Hectors it will deploy Gunships, so finish off any remaining Hectors and then focus on the Gunships. Once you've cleared the Gunships more... Gunships... will be deployed as well as you will start getting showered by the Fortress' laser cannons. They're still fairly weak but the damage can start to add up especially with the Gunships, so keep moving and try to stay near a cache of health icons if they're hitting a lot. After the Gunships the Fortress will start to deploy several Hectors with both arms being the type that fire red explosive shots. They should be at a great distance from you though so take advantage and snipe them. The newly spawned EDF soldiers should help. While you're fighting the Hectors yet another wave of Gunships will be launched, deal with the Hectors before focusing on them. Give the Gunships your all, as once they're dead the mission is done. Weapons Obtained: AF18-X MMF42-RA AF19-ST __________________________ Mission 16. Multiplication Basics: A new target here, but these you can destroy on the first sighting. They look like a cross between an anthill and a volcano, and if left alone they spawn more bugs. Thankfully there's no trick here, they're always vulnerable from all angles, just give them all you got. You start off with some EDF soldiers infront of you and a whole mess of Black Terror Ants to the north east head up and start killing. Once you've got an clear shot start taking out the ant-hill. Once it's destroyed a new group of red dots will appear in the direction of the yellow dot that's been on the radar, gather up any EDF soldiers and head over there. There's a Vegalta over there, so if you want to use it be sure not to destroy it, I like to hop into it to destroy the ant-hill since its pointed right at it. Once the ants are dead a new group will appear (Though it may be hard to see at first since civilians spawn as well and tend to completely cover up the red). Head towards them, with Vegalta if you like, and do what you've been doing. Kill them all and destroy the hive and another group appears, but this time, it's Assault Spiders! I'd suggest sticking with Vegalta if you still have it, though that turn is gonna be painfully slow, and because of that, demolish every building in its way, you don't want to be making any needless turns. If Vegalta has been destroyed do the usual, though you may want to avoid a rush tactic. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Firecracker 3 I wouldn't recommend the Firecracker 3... its good for destroying the ant hills, but I just couldn't get any decent anti-bug results. Head towards the first group and do what you want to them. They didn't seem organized enough to really need sniping, just fire off a few rockets (Or toss a few bags of marbles...) as you run towards them. As soon as you get a nice clearing take out the ant-hill. Head towards the new enemy group firing at them as you approach, watch your fire if you want to use the Vegalta they're swarmed around, and take out the ant-hill once they've been cut down. Kill the remaining ants and head towards the new group. I used Vegalta since its good as long as it doesn't have to turn. Using Vegalta just slowly walk towards them unleashing a hail of gunfire and missiles, 90% of them and the anthill should be gone by the time you're in the parking lot. Once all the ants are dead and the hill is gone another group will appear. Assault Spiders this time, but the strategy remains the same, I'd suggest sticking with Vegalta and busting through the buildings to the hive, shooting anything that moves on the way. If Vegalta gets destroyed you'll have to adopt a more conservative approach and thin out the spiders and take out the ant... spider-hill from afar, as getting surrounded by spiders can be a quick death. Weapons Obtained: Stingray M3 Prominence M1 MG20 ___________________ Mission 17. Nesting Basics: You start off in a cave with a wave of Black Terror Ants heading at you from both sides. Start attacking the wave you're facing since there are EDF soldiers behind you to hold of the other wave. Once you've dealt with those, a wave of spiders will come from where the EDF soldiers were. Try to deal with them quickly as another wave will spawn behind you as well. Another wave of ants will follow the spiders, continue fighting each side and try to avoid getting surrounded. Finish off all the ants, you may need to go after the last few, and the level will be complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Stingray M3 Shoot off a few Stingray shots at the ants heading towards you then switch to an AF as they're going to get pretty close and explosives will do more harm than good. When the spiders appear use rockets again until they get too close, try to kill them quickly as more spiders will be arriving from the other direction. Another wave of ants will follow from both directions, you may want to fight the one side back into the small cave they came out from to limit the flow from the other direction. There should be no more waves spawning so finish off the remaining ants the level will be complete. Weapons Obtained: Nothing _____________________ Mission 18. Dino Mech Basics: Meat Vallak Dino-Mech. He may seem mean but he's a push over, just hit him with anything long ranged and powerful. Rockets/Sniper Rifles/Missiles (Even the Air Tortoise) will all make short work of him. He's got a flame breath attack that will certainly hurt but you shouldn't be close enough to have to worry about it. There's a walkway to the right, use it to easily avoid his flame breath. If he starts charging in your direction roll away, again you should be far enough away to have time to react and get out his path. Hard: My Equipment 1. Prominence M1 2. Prominence M1 Pretty simple, just run towards him fire off both Prominence's then just fire off the one as it reloads. I'd suggesting getting on the white walkway to your right as it puts you high enough to avoid his flames and gives you a good vantage point. Sniper Rifles/Rocket Launchers/Missile Launchers/Grenade Launchers/Grenades, at this point you've got some really powerful tools in each category so use whatever you're comfortable with. DON'T FORGET VALLAK DEALS DAMAGE IF HE FALLS ON YOU! I'm not sure how much it is, I doubt its fatal, and you really should be damaged at all, but just a fair warning. Weapons Obtained: Flame Thrower (alpha symbol) _________________ Mission 19. Umbra Basics: 2 Flying Saucers which both drop Assault Spiders will be directly in front of you, try to take them down. Focus on the spiders when they're getting close enough to attack, and then attack the Saucer's again once you've eliminated any close spiders. Afterwards you'll probably have a few spiders at far points on the map so grab a vehicle and finish them off to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Stingray M3 Use the Stingray to take down the closest Saucer, take a few shots at the other Saucer but with the Stingray M3 you won't be able to take it down before the Spiders are way too close, so start firing on them. Once you've removed the immediate spider threat continue firing on the Saucer, you should be able to take it down before any more spiders reach you now. Finish off the remaining spiders and the mission is complete. Weapons Obtained: Governor 50 _____________________ Mission 20. Artillery Basics: Hectors are back and they've got a new weapon. Those giant tubes are their arms are Plasma cannons, as the name of the mission says, they act as Artillery, firing off arcing plasma shots at you from very far away. Pretty easy to avoid except at close range, just keep moving, but do note that it does have splash so it doesn't need to hit you directly to hurt you. I believe the smaller Hectors debut on this level as well, I believe they're weaker, have less health, and only drop 2 items. Other than that deal with them the same as the old Hectors. You start off with several EDF soldiers as well as a Tank on the radar though no where to be seen, use an explosive of some kind to destroy the overpass near you and it will fall to the ground. I'd suggest using it to get in range of the Hectors. Take out the Hectors however you want, but I'd suggest taking them out from afar so you can dodge the plasma shots. Once you've destroyed the Hectors more will appear along with a wave of Gunships. EDF soldiers should appear as well. Finish off the Hectors and Gunships to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19-ST 2. Stingray M3 I drove the tank straight at the middle Hector firing at it with the tank cannon, jumped out of the tank behind the Hector and finished it off with the AF. Use the AF to take out the remaining Hectors in the area, then drive the tank to the two groups of hectors that are at a fair distance. When the new Hectors and Gunships arrive you'll want to destroy the Gunships first this time, then start taking out the Hectors. Some EDF soldiers should have appeared at this time as well so they should help hasten things. Weapons Obtained: FORK-A20 ___________________ Mission 21. Crimson Basics: Meet the Red Terror Ants, they have a more powerful physical attack, and a lot more health, but no acid attack. There is a huge swarm of Red Ants dead ahead. On easy treat them like black ants, they take a few more bullets but nothing to worry about. On Normal you may want to consider using one of the stronger AF's with burst fire as they have quite a bit more health. While they're still far away though treat them like black ants on either difficulty and snipe away with rockets/missiles/etc. Once you've killed the first wave another will appear from off to the side of ocean. When you've defeated them another wave will appear from the center of cliff opposite the ocean. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Stingray M3 As soon as you have the shot start firing off Stingray shots at the ants and start backing up. Don't stop shooting until you're too close to safely fire. You can try to use an AF to clear up some room if they get close but you're probably better off rolling away until you have the distance to use the stingray. Watch the radar as they love to try to sneak behind you and let you run into their attack. Repeat the same for the next two waves. I used the AF18-RA to stun large groups of ants that were too close to hit the Stingray long enough to get out of the splash range then hit them with the Stingray. Weapons Obtained: A2 Plasma Launcher ___________________ Mission 22. Trapped Basics: You start off in a canyon with two Hectors to the right and black ants soon approaching. I usually hop in the Vegalta to take out the Hectors but its not much use for the ants given the situation. After taking out the hectors run towards where they were then make right up the river, it looks steep but you can run up it. This is a good spot to fight the ants and Hectors that will soon be appearing from the west, just keep moving as there's a hector that will be firing plasma shots at you while here. Destroy all the remaining Hectors and ants to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA 2. Governor 50 Hop in the Vegalta and take out the Hectors to your right. Head towards where the Hectors were and make a right up the river. Use this area to limit the flow of ants and get ready to engage a few more Hectors from the west. I brought governor here since it's a close combat situation, and it only took like 2 or 3 foot shots at point blank to drop a hector. Defeat the rest of the ants and the mission is yours. Weapons Obtained: None _____________________ Mission 23. Expansion Basics: Another Anthill destruction mission, this time with Red Terror Ants thrown into the mix. Get on the Airbike you start next to and head off to the first group. Kill off the ants and take out the hill when you get a chance. From here move towards the next contact, a Spider hill behind some buildings. You should notice a yellow dot on your radar nearby, there's a helicopter on top of the skyscraper, destroy it if you want it. If you get in the helicopter you can see the hills ahead of you, two red ant nests to the left and right, and a spider and a black ant nest in the center. On E/N you can get away with sniping the nests with rockets and AFing the hordes when they get too close. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF18-RA. 2. Governor 50 Grab the Airbike and get to the first hill, sweep out the ants and destroy the hill. Take out any spiders nearby before heading to the spider hill just a bit away. You may be able to destroy the hill before the Spiders spawn, but if not take them out then hit the hill hard. Now this is where the level gets tricky. This is what I did to beat this level after various failures with rocket launchers and sniper rifles, if nothing's working for you give it a try. I rushed the left red ant hill and destroyed it with the governor. I then dealt with the waves of red ants, black ants, and spiders until there was a decent break and made a right into the block of buildings and used the governor to destroy the Spider hill. This is the make or break point of the strategy, if you can destroy the spider hill and survive the enemies you'll be surrounded by you're home free. Then just mop up the Black ant hill and remaining red ant hill and the mission is clear. Alternate Strategy: Even though this is a much safer strategy I'm not sure if its possible to get the Cascade 2 from stages before this, and that goes against the purpose of this guide. But if indeed you can obtain the Cascade 2(And AF-19 though its not as necessary) before this stage then when you've defeated the 1st spider hill, destroy the buildings in front of the 2nd Spider hill(Use the helicopter to see where it is if necessary) then destroy it. The Cascade 2 is capable of putting enough firepower quickly and accurately on the hills from quite a distance, once the spiders are gone deal with the swarm around you and start taking out the Red anthills and then the black anthill. These will be easy without being under attack from spider webs. Weapons Obtained: Cascade 2 C25 Special Bomb MMF43-B2 AF-19 ________________________ Mission 24. Interception Basics: Start off on a beach yet again with many EDF soldiers behind you as well as Hectors you can't see yet, a wall of Gunships in front of you, and a Vegalta nearby. Take out the Gunships first, then the Hectors. Next Gunships will spawn in the cliffs and Hectors in the ocean, again go after the Gunships first and the Hectors second. Destroy them all to finish the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Hop in the Vegalta if you like it and shoot down the Gunships, then go after the Hectors. I went after the Hectors on foot as I don't feel its really worth the time to turn Vegalta around. After you've destroyed the Hectors a group of Gunships appears from behind the cliff and a group of Hectors appear from the sea, concentrate on the Gunships first. Once you've destroyed them all you'll have beaten the mission. Weapons Obtained: BRUTE-J Triple Grenade Launcher P80 Bound Gun _____________________ Mission 25. Descent 1 Basics: Back in the caves, you start high up with a lot of black ants and EDF soldiers under you. On E/N it really doesn't matter, but you'll probably want to resist the urge to just jump down and get in the thick of things and instead attack from afar with explosives. Clear out all these ants and the mission is over. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 This one should be a piece of cake, just stay up high and pummel the ants from afar. When all your EDF guys are dead the ants will focus on you but if you retreat to the lava tube type cave near where you started they'll only trickle in. Clean up the remaining ants and the mission is done. _____________________ Mission 26. Descent 2 Basics: This time you start out on the ground facing some EDF troops and some black ants pouring out of fairly wide cave opening. On E/N you can just run over and use an AF to take them out and reduce the risk of killing your own guys if you'd like. Once you've killed the ants and grabbed the EDF soldiers head into the cavern and stay on the ground level, head straight back and a little to the right into a small opening, then head left at the branch to see the next group of ants and spiders. Once you've defeat them, head to where they were and head left at the fork to deal with a group of spiders. Head down this tunnel, then make a left to encounter more spiders and ants, kill them and go up this tunnel. You'll run into yet more spiders and ants as you make the turn to the right. Kill them and continue following the one way path. As you make a hard left you'll run into the final group of spiders and ants, kill them and the mission is complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Fire off Cascade volleys from a distance until the ants stop approaching. Link up with any remaining EDF soldiers and head into the cavern where the ants came from. When you get to the next set of enemies and trigger them, retreat back to the opening before the branching paths. If you stay at the branch you'll end up getting attacked from both sides. Also note that this group contains spiders as well as ants. Once you've taken care of this group head left once again and go left at the fork and engage another set of spiders. The Cascade will do fine here. Head down this tunnel and make a hard left to run into another group of spiders and ants. I couldn't get them to follow me back up the tunnel so instead I just fired off a cascade salvo into their tunnel and ran back into the tunnel I came down, if they're not going to follow you, you may as well use it to your advantage. Once you've cleared this tunnel head up it, and get ready to deal with more ants and spiders at the right turn. This group seems a bit more aggressive so you if you're patient you can wait in the tunnel after you've triggered their aggression and let them come to you. Once they're dead head up the one way path. One more small group of spiders and ants ahead after the hard left, finish them off to end the mission. Weapons Obtained: Goliath D2 _____________________ Mission 27. Descent 3 Basics: You start off with a few Flamethrower EDF soldiers surrounded by both colors of ants and spiders coming from caves all around you. On E/N you can either just stay in the central area or fight your way into one of the tubes to reduce the enemy flow, doesn't really matter. Defeat all of the bugs and level is over, you may have to do a bit of running to get the last few, their AI tends to get stuck in this area. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Immediately equip the Cascade, pick a tunnel, and blast away any bugs in it. Keep moving and do not return to the central area. Watch out for bugs sneaking up from behind and keep firing on the bugs chasing you, their numbers should decrease rapidly. Finish them all off and the level is complete. _____________________ Mission 28. Descent 4 Basics: You start off with some EDF soldiers and one way to go, head towards the red and blue dots in front of you. Try to take out the ants before they can leave the small tube in front of you. Then head forward again, following the one way path to meet up with some more EDF soldiers. Head forward and deal with two groups of ants to your left and right. When they're dead a new group will appear to the North West, follow the caves, until they lead you to a pair of lava tubes. I believe either side will end up taking you the same point, but I always end up hugging the left wall and taking the right tube. Here you'll see more EDF soldiers under spider attack, kill off the spiders and grab any survivors. Once they're dead you'll hear some scary audio and a new group will appear on the radar, head into the cavern and towards the red dots to find some more lava tubes that will take you to the new contact. They both take you to the same spot, at which point a large group of black ants will charge you. Rockets are good for keeping them back and EDF soldiers will help as well. Once they're dead another group will appear on the radar, head up the incline, meet the new group of EDF soldiers and prepare for the final part of this mission. Head down the tunnel and get ready for a huge group of red and black ants to charge you. Stay fairly far back and cut their numbers down, watch out for the Lord Ant's acid spray it has a huge area effect, slows you down immensely, and can really hurt you on E/N with your lower stamina. Luckily there should be tons of health items around from all the dead ants. Once you can get to the tunnel opening treat the Lord Ant the same as regular ants and blast away. Finish off any ants that may be remaining and the mission is over. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Fire the Cascade on the tunnel the ants are in as soon as you have the shot and don't stop. Combined with the squad of EDF soldiers you have not a single ant should even make it near the entrance of the tunnel. Head through the tunnels and follow the one way path until you meet another group of EDF soldiers. Head forward and fire on one of the groups of ants then run back a bit so they only have a small area to come at you from, you'll probably end up killing the new EDF squad with your fire but they deserve it. Once they're dead head down the path and into lava tube looking tunnels(I believe there are at least two paths that each lead to two tubes, I just hugged the left wall and then went in the right tube). Here you'll find a large EDF Squad under spider attack. I fired on the spiders from the lava tube with the Cascade. When they stopped the charging the EDF soldiers I grabbed the remaining soldiers and fired down the cave at the remaining spiders. After coming out of the lava tubes I went forward just enough to trigger the group of ants then backed up and fired off the Cascade to keep them trapped in the tube, this combined with my remaining EDF soldiers prevented them from getting close enough to attack. After meeting up with the new EDF soldiers and entering the tunnel head down just enough to start the ants charging at you. Take your time and cut them down with the Cascade before moving in to take out the Lord Ant. Oddly enough its acid spray doesn't seem to be any stronger on hard, so there's no worry there, and even if it was, with all the ants you'll have to kill to get to it, there will be plenty of healing items between you and it. I fired off a Cascade salvo and then used the AF19 to finish it off. Mission Complete. Weapons Obtained: Wideshot A1 ___________________ Mission 29. Assault Basics: 3 Flying Saucers start dropping mini Hectors as soon as the level starts, start shooting. I believe they leave around 5 hectors per drop. A large group of EDF soldiers are here as well so they should help both on the Hectors and the Saucers. Destroy all three Saucers and all the Hectors to complete the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 I shot the Flying Saucer all the way to the right at the beginning of the level, wasn't able to destroy it on the first attack though. Went after the Hectors it dropped with AF19 which cut through then surprisingly quickly, then finished off the Flying Saucer I already shot, as well as another one the EDF soldiers had weakened with the cascade. I then went after the last Saucer as the EDF soldiers were holding their own. I missed a lot of items on the ground so you may wish to work a bit slower or even kill off some/all the EDF soldiers so you can grab everything. Weapons Obtained: Nothing ____________________ Mission 30. Anchored Basics: Ignore the Mother ship yet again, you can't do a thing to it. You spawn next to several vehicles, I'd grab the tank for durable transport, the bike tends to explode, and then pick a Flying Saucer to go after. I'd suggest the two on the beach. The closer one is dropping black ants, the further one, red ants. Once you've destroyed both Saucers get back in your vehicle if its still there and drive it back up the cliff and to the nearest Saucer. This one should be dropping ants, take it out then head towards the obvious saucer floating in the distance, this one is either dropping Gunships or more ants I'm not sure, destroy it, then move on to the last saucer just above the river canyon which is dropping spiders. Take out the spiders, destroy the Saucer, and mop up any remaining enemies and the mission is complete. Hard: My Equipment 1.AF19 2. Cascade 2 Grab the tank and drive down to the beach, take aim at the closer Saucer and start shooting. There are some EDF soldiers nearby you can grab as well. Start killing any ants and Gunships pestering you as you make your way to the 2nd beach Saucer. If its closed take out the horde of red ants surely heading your way with the Cascade and the AF if they get close, then focus on it, 2 Cascade volleys seem to do the trick here. Get back in the tanks and drive it up the ramp you came down near and head towards the closest saucer, its dropping black ants. Take out the Saucer (You can probably hit it with a few tank shots on the way) clear out the ants and then head towards the only saucer you can see from this point, it's the one dropping Gunships. After destroying it only one Saucer will remain, it should have a few Gunships around it and Spiders under it. I went back and grabbed the Airbike and drove over to the cliffs to Cascade the Spiders away to get the Saucer to open up. You can shoot the Saucer's weak spot from the road along the canyon, rather than jumping in which will make the spiders easier to deal with. Clean up any remaining enemies to end the mission. Weapons Obtained: MLRA-TW ___________________ Mission 31. Advance Basics: You start off next to a Tank and a Vegalta, and Hectors in front of you and to your left and right. Standard tactics still apply, keep moving to avoid the plasma, use the Vegalta if you like. Destroy all the Hectors and the mission is over. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 I hopped into the Vegalta and charged the Hectors in front of the starting point, then continued on to take on the hectors slightly off to the left since stopping to turn it around would just get it destroyed. After taking out those hectors I did the slow 180 to start on the Hectors I previously bypassed. Take out the remaining Hectors and the mission is complete, you shouldn't even lose the Vegalta. Weapons Obtained: Nothing _________________ Mission 32. March Basics: I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you don't have to actually guard the sniper team. I've never actually had them all die on E/N, but I don't think the game is going to suddenly have a new type of mission objective. The snipers should kill quite a few enemies on their own. As the mission starts there's a large group of snipers in front of you, a tank to your left, and a whole mess of spiders jumping towards you. Shoot them if you have anything with enough range, and the snipers will clean up the rest. After you've destroyed most of the first wave a new wave will appear from the direction of the Tank, repeat the same. After most of this group is gone a third wave will appear from behind. Treat them just as the last two. Defeat these spiders and the mission is over. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 I started off firing off Cascade barrages at the spiders at a distance, and used the AF on any that got too close. Repeated the same on the second wave and third waves, but made sure to separate my self from the group of EDF soldiers. Clear this wave and another mission is done. ____________________ Mission 33. Surprise Basics: The Quadruped Fortress is back... but you're not destroying it this time either. There are two Flying Saucers, dropping black ants, as well as Gunships and red ants already in the area. Make your way through the ants and destroy the saucers. If you still have it on you may to turn off Camera Effect as when you destroy one Saucer it'll have you look at the Fortress starting to move, this is a problem since both Saucers open up at the same time, if you destroyed one the other one is still probably vulnerable. Once the Saucers are destroyed the Fortress will walk around and release a wave or two of Gunships and ants, you still can't hurt it, so just take out the Gunships and ants and the level will end. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Fend off the initial rush of ants with the Cascade and AF if they get close and when the Saucers open up take your shots, both seem to open up at the same time. Once both Saucers are down stay away from the fortress and fend off the Gunships and ants it releases. After a wave or two the mission will be over. Weapons Aquired: AF19-RA Splash Grenade (alpha symbol) __________________ Mission 34. Breach Basics: This it, finally time to destroy the Quadruped Fortress. You start off with a lot of EDF soldiers around you, facing the Fortress as well as a Vegalta and an Airbike behind you. Grab the Airbike since the Vegalta wouldn't survive the trip and get behind the Fortress. Stay behind it and kill the ants to make it open up the hatch underneath its chest, and fire at the glowing weak spot. Keep killing ants and firing at the weak spot until it activates its laser cannons and starts dropping Hectors. It should be about halfway dead now, but for some reason it doesn't seem to close the Hatch now so it'll die very quickly, I ignored the Hectors, my EDF soldiers seemed to keep them busy, and just continued firing on the weak spot until it blew up. You don't even have to kill any remaining enemies to end the mission this time! Hard: MY Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Grab the Airbike and get behind the fortress, take out the ants and start shooting the hatch with the Cascade when it stops to drop more. Take out the Gatling cannon thing if you want, it seems to be shooting at EDF troops and they'll help kill off the ants quickly. You want to stay behind it and not under to avoid being stomped, also gives you distance from ants that don't get killed from Cascade explosions. It should be about half way dead when it activates its laser cannons and starts dropping Hectors, this is your chance to end this now. Keep hammering the weak spot ignoring everything else. The lasers shouldn't be hitting you that much if you're moving and the Hectors should be busy with your troops. It should drop in under a minute. Mission complete! Weapons Obtained: Nothing _________________ Mission 35. Sweep Basics: You start off with a few EDF soldiers, head forward for a few more and your choice of an Airbike, tank, or helicopter. There are three groups we'll call NW, N, and NE, grab a vehicle and head for the NE group. These are red ants, I like to park on the hill next to them to get some distance to bombard them from. Spiders will probably be attacking you once you've defeated the red ants, deal with them then head for the north group. Here are black ants, deal with them in the same manner. Head to the left group on your radar to fight some more black ants, then get on top of the hill and look at the final group, spiders and red ants. Take advantage of the position you're in and start hitting them from far away. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Grab the Airbike and for the NE group, park on a hill a good distance away and fire off Cascade 2 volleys, AF19 any that get close. After you deal with the Red ants Spiders should be starting to approach you, deal with them the same way, then grab the air bike and head for the North group. I drove past most of the group of black ants to get some distance before starting to fight them in the same manner as the red ants. Once they were gone I headed towards the left group on the radar, which were more black ants, they were small enough in number to just charge with the AF19. From here I could see the last group, a combination of spiders and red ants, and fired the cascade at them from the top of this hill. Try to hit the spiders since they die quicker and are the more dangerous of the two, and finish off any that make it up the hill with the AF19. Mission complete. Weapons Obtained: Nothing ___________________ Mission 36. Thunder Basics: Another shot at the Mother ship... you won't be destroying it this time either sadly, BUT you will be shooting at part of it a certain point. The mission starts out with a few EDF soldiers, a helicopter, and a whole lot of red dots up ahead. Hop in the Helicopter to survey the scene, they've got Hectors, Gunships, and Red and Black Ants out there. Engage the various enemies but stay alert, as soon as a large structure starts coming out of the Mother ship fire everything you have at it. Once it starts falling you can start focusing on the bugs and whatnot. The Mother ship will deploy more Gunships(And I swear it inexplicably deployed one black ant...) after you've destroyed most of the ground forces. Clear them out to finish the mission Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 I charged the closest Hector on foot firing the Cascade then finishing it off with the AF19 then started taking out the nearby ants and Gunships. Once the buildings around you are destroyed by Plasma fire start attacking the nearby hectors. When you see the Mother ships' weapon deployed start firing at it, about 5 Cascade Volleys should do it. Then start mopping up the remaining enemies. The Mother ship will deploy some more Gunships, destroy them and the mission is finished. Weapons Obtained: Nothing ____________________ Mission 37. Eruption Basics: You start off with a large group of EDF soldiers running towards a large group of red and black ants and spiders. Start firing on the first anthill, then start shooting at the bugs while running the entire time. When you get to the river start firing on the 3 spider hills in it. There may or may not be a 5th hill behind the river, I saw 4 item icons very close to each other but it may have just been 4 bugs in an odd location. If it is there, destroy it on the way to the river if you can or after the spider hills. Finish off all the remaining bugs to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Fire the Cascade nonstop as you run towards the mass of bugs, you should kill off most of them and the hill(And I believe there's a hill behind it, behind the river which should also be gone) by the time you're there. Then start taking out the spider hills in the river. Stay on the road though, the spiders will destroy you if you go down there. Kill off any remaining bugs and the mission is done. Weapons Obtained: Stringer J2 MMF50 ______________________ Mission 38. Surrounded Basics: You start off with three groups of EDF troop surrounded by 8 Flying Saucers which all open and start dropping Spiders and red and black ants. There's a Vegalta and a Tank around but I wouldn't recommend them here. Immediately pick a saucer and start firing. Either stay inside the EDF squads or try to run into them to keep the bugs off your back so you can focus on the Saucers. Destroy all the saucers and eliminate all remaining bugs to eliminate the saucers. Hard: My Weapons 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Grab an EDF squad, pick a Saucer and start firing off the Cascade, if your EDF soldiers die before you've destroyed them all alternate between clearing the immediate area and firing at a saucer. Make sure to make spiders a priority, and if you can identify a Saucer dropping spiders go after that once first. Clean up any remaining bugs once the saucers are gone and the mission is clear. Don't forget in the fury of the battle to leave an ant alive so you can go pick up all the items dropped here, it'd be a lot of missed power ups. Weaponds Obtained: Stingray M4 __________________ Mission 39. Legion Basics: Two Vallak Dino-mechs, the same as the first one. You start with one visible in front of you, and the other to the NW obscured by buildings. You've got a Vegalta in front of you, and a tank, Airbike, and helicopter behind you. You also have a legion of EDF troopers ahead of you equipped some nifty blue laser gun. This is the same as the battle against one, just pound them one at a time with every thing you've got. The Vegalta is good for this. Just keep blasting them with the machine gun and missiles and they should be gone in no time. Hard: My Equipment 1. Stringer J2 2. Cascade 2 Hop into the Vegalta and start bearing down on the visible Vallak. It may charge at you but it'll only do about 152 damage to the Vegalta, and you'll still be able to fire on it. When the first Vallak drops the 2nd should be in good firing position, so start opening up on him with the Vegalta. With any luck he won't even manage to move from where he is. Mission Complete. __________________ Mission 40. Return Basics: You start off in a familiar river canyon with a large group of EDF soldiers. Wait a bit and soon a large amount of red ants will attack from both sides of the canyon. You can try to retreat backwards to a junction in the river that will let you get on top of the hill. After defeating most of these ants another wave of red ants will appear. Finish off this wave to end the mission Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 I retreated back as the level began and went up the river junction to get up on the hills overlooking the canyon. From there I fired the cascade at the ants that went after me, and used the AF on any that got too close. Repeated the same for the next wave. Alternate Strategy: It may be preferable to stick with the EDF soldiers. Using my strategy most of them survived which either means most of the ants went after me, or they were able to deal with the ants that came after them. Anyway, if the solo strategy doesn't work for you, try sticking with the group and see if the EDF troops don't help you win. Weapons Obtained: BRUTE Triple Grenade Launcher MG21J ______________________ Mission 41. Occupation Basics: You start off on top of a building with four Saucers deploying bugs, as well as Gunships flying around. The rightmost one is deploying Spiders so it should be the priority. There should be some EDF soldiers underneath where it was so pick them up along the way to the next saucer. This should be dropping black ants, so if it isn't open start killing any near you. The next saucer should also be dropping black ants, treat it the same. Next a bit farther away is the final Saucer which is dropping red ants, nothing different here, drop it, then clear out the remaining enemies to beat the mission. There'll probably be a few Gunships flying around randomly high up so you'll have to hit them with a rocket to destroy them or at least make them angry enough to come down. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Destroy the right most saucer and mop up any spiders it managed to drop, pick up the EDF troops and move on to the next saucer destroying Gunships along the way. I believe this one is dropping black ants so destroy any black ants you encounter and fire on the Saucer when it opens up. The next saucer I also believe is dropping black ants, but it seemed to be open for a long time so it may never close, either way shoot at if it's open and if not kill what's around until it does. The last saucer drops red ants, and will probably drop a fresh group as you approach so fire at it if you're far enough away, then deal with the ants and finish it off. Mop up the remaining enemies and the mission is done. Weapons Obtained: Firecracker 4 Five Card XA Acid Shot ________________ Mission 42. King Basics: Time for more Lord bugs, this time say hi to the Spider Lord. There are several in the area, you start with 4 groups of red dots, one in each diagonal, and a group of EDF troops in front and behind you. Go after the Spider Lord in front of you but be careful, you only want to fight one group at a time. You should be more interested in killing the Small spiders before worrying about the Lord for each group. Shotguns are good here on E/N, a few of them can kill a lord with a little less than a full clip. Clear out all the spiders to beat the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Try to take out the smaller spiders first, once a Spider Lord is attacking you fire at with the Cascade. If there are still smaller spiders alive fire half the clip at the Lord and the other half at the advancing spiders, you don't want them to get into attack range, if they do eliminate them with AF immediately. Try to only fight one Lord at a time. Their webbing looks impressive but it seems to be easier to dodge and than the normal stuff. Just keep moving. Defeat all the remaining spiders to end the mission. Weapons Obtained: Nothing _____________________ Mission 43. Spearhead Basics: You start off with three groups of EDF soldiers ahead of you as well as two Vegaltas to your left, and a Tank to your right. Red ants will move in from the west and black ants will move in from the north. You'll want to remove the black ant hill and the red ant hill first, so head north then west. Hovering a Vegalta works as well. Then head north to the next Hector and the black ant hill. From here you can either charge into the spider nest in the river canyon or shoot at it from afar. Clear out any remaining bugs and the mission is over. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Hop in one of the Vegaltas and activate the hover, you should be able to destroy the black ant hill in front of you in two jumps, then turn left and go up the hill the red ants went down. You probably won't be able to have it make it to the hill but it should be able to destroy the hector. Destroy the red anthill on foot and clear out the bugs in your vicinity. Head back to the starting point, grab as many EDF soldiers as you can, and the other Vegalta if its still there. Start walking north and shooting at the Hector. Head up the hill to where Hector is/was and destroy the black ant hill. Then look at the river canyon, you should be able to see the spider hill in the river from here. If not move forward until you do, pummel it from safety with the Cascade and then finish off the spiders to end the mission. Weapons Obtained: MEX Emerald ___________________________ Mission 44. Extermination 1 Basics: You start off in a familiar lava tube with a horde of spiders underneath you. Jumping off would be suicide probably even on easy, so instead stay high and fire down. You could also try grenades or bombs if you have any. Kill all the spiders to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. C25 Special Bomb Real simple, just equip a bomb of some sort and drop them, the spiders mainly stay on the ground floor so you'll get most of them. It may take a few reloads but you'll eventually kill most/all of them. If there's a few left feel free to just jump down and finish them off with the AF. ___________________________ Mission 45. Extermination 2 Basics: You start off on a small ledge with a EDF soldier they've actually made into a somewhat decent NPC. He'll run you to the hills assuming he doesn't get killed/get knocked off by a dead body. Doesn't matter though, it's a straightforward path; he's not doing much guiding. Follow the path, and destroy each hill as you come upon it... and try not to fall off, it's a long walk back up. Clear out any remaining bugs to complete the mission Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Run up the path shooting any nearby bugs with the AF, use the Cascade as soon as you see the first hill. Continue up the hill and you'll see a spider hill, do the same to it. When you get to the ledge the spider hill was on turn around and you'll see the anthill in a prime spot to be finished off by the Cascade. Kill any bugs that are still alive and the mission is done. Weapons obtained: Wideshot A1-VR Volcano B10 ___________________________ Mission 46. Extermination 3 Basics: You begin with some EDF soldiers behind you and a lot of spiders in front you, focus on killing them first. If the EDF soldiers die, fire a rocket or other explosive to temporarily block the advance of the spiders from that side and rush into the room you were clearing. Once no more spiders are following you head back past where the EDF soldiers where and a make a hard left to where the last of the spiders are, clear them out to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1.AF19 2. Cascade 2 Move back a bit and start firing off the Cascade into the spiders in front of you. When the EDF soldiers behind you fall fire off a Cascade burst behind you at the spiders then rush into the room you've been clearing and finish off any spiders remaining in there. Once you're clear head back into the tunnel you started in, past where the EDF soldiers were, and then make a hard left to where the last of the spiders will be, and clear them out with the cascade to end the mission. Weapons Obtained: Nothing ____________________ Mission 47. Uprising Basics: This time both Ant Lords and Spider Lords will be attacking. You start off with a group of EDF soldiers in front of you and a wall of red dots on the radar. There's also a helicopter, Airbike, and tank awhile down the street. Again you're going to want to take them on one at a time, I suggest shooting at the Lord ant high up first, easiest one to single out. From there just work your way through them, preferably one by one, and always taking out Spiders before Ants if both are attacking you. Defeat all the lords and all the smaller bugs to end the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2. Start by firing of the Cascade at the obvious Ant Lord on the space needle thing. Continue firing at it and any advancing bugs until its dead. With any luck some of your missed shots will have hit the Spider Lord behind it, so treat it the same as the Lord Ant and pummel it with the Cascade, you may wish to retreat back a bit into the buildings to limit how many of their minions can be attacking you. Clear out the rest of his spiders before turning your attention to the remaining lords to the east. I suggest going at the rightmost Ant Lord, treating it the same as first, then Spider Lord near it. You'll probably end up hitting the Ant Lord to the left of the Spider Lord but don't worry, they're slow to come after you, just focus on clearing out the Spider Lord and the regular spiders, anyone of them can easily out damage the Ant Lord. Then the only thing left is one more Spider Lord to the north. Fire on him with the Cascade from as far as you can, and you can easily kill him without him or his minions attacking you. Finish off anything still alive to end the mission. _________________ Mission 48. Wrath Basics: You start with a whole bunch of EDF soldiers and a Tank nearby, wait a bit and a wall of spiders and red and black ants will appear in front of you. It's probably a good idea to start shooting them from where you are with something. Once you've defeated this wave you'll be attacked from two sides in the next wave, pick a side and destroy it before focusing on the next one, on E/N your EDF soldiers should be able to hold off one of the waves. Once you've killed this wave one more will appear with 3 groups approaching from different sides as well as more EDF soldiers spawning in the middle. This time the groups are split, one is black ants, one is red ants and one is spiders, you'll probably want to take out the spiders first, then the black ants, the red ants. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Okay this is another incredibly difficult mission with the weapons I had available but I believe I have a working strategy. Get in the tank and drive forward a bit and to the right so you're in the middle of the road, and start pounding the first wave, start backing up and keep them out of attack range but close enough to be doing some reliable damage. You can also get some good shots off when they stop to attack the EDF soldiers. You main objective here is get as far back in the level as possible while hitting this wave hard, if you lose the tank don't worry just keep moving back and finish off this wave. When the second wave spawns immediately start hammering the closer group with the Cascade while moving away from it(And not towards the other group), hit whatever you can but if you get a shot at a group of spiders take it. With any luck you should be able to defeat this group just as the 2nd group joins up, continue pounding them with the cascade and using the AF if necessary and hopefully you'll be able to outlast this group. The main problem here is being trapped by Red ants and webbed by spiders, so try to keep the red ants away or kill off the spiders. This is the make or break part, if you survive the 2nd wave the next part is easy. For the third wave all three groups should go after the EDF soldiers instead of you, if you can take out the spiders first, but I ended up shooting the black ants first so if you don't its still doable. Hopefully the other two groups will still be busy with the EDF soldiers when you're done with your group, so get as far away as possible, and up on one of the chunks of rubble that's a few feet higher than the rest of the ground and start pummeling them Cascade shots, if you're far enough way at least 90% should be dead before they're in attack range, finish the rest off and this one is done. Weapons Obtained: Y11 Anti-Aircraft Impulse Sticky Grenade _________________ Mission 49. Elite Basics: Believe or not a new enemy this late in the game, the Red Gunship. Much like the Red Ants, these are stronger and have a lot more health than their drabber cousins. You'll probably want to bring a powerful and accurate rifle with you to this one, a Lysander if you got it. Try to take them on from a distance and one on one, destroy them all and the mission will be complete. Hard: My equipment 1. AF19 2. Stringer J2 The Stringer J2 will be the weapon of choice here, its shot is almost if not an instant hit, and quite powerful. 3 hits will take down a Gunship. You'll probably want to increase your rotation speed if you haven't already, these guys move really fast. Just slowly progress through the level sniping them and trying to say in one on one battles and you'll be done in no time. Weapons Obtained: Nothing ___________________ Mission 50. Unknown Basic: One last new enemy to meet! Cyber Vallak Dino-mech. He's got some mean looking cannons on his back but they're not very dangerous, they fire two small beams that normally travel the length of the level in front of him. He has another laser move where he points them to the ground at his sides and sweeps inward. You start off with a large quantity of EDF soldiers in front of you as well as Cyber Vallak very far away, a Vegalta behind you, and a tank and Airbike to your right. Treat him the same as the other Vallaks, hit him hard and repeatedly. Oh and... he doesn't drop any items. Hard: My Equipment 1. Volcano B10 2. Volcano B10 I just chased around him and fired the Volcanoes. You could probably use Vegalta to finish him off faster and easier. He may actually be easier than the other Vallaks as his laser attacks didn't do that much damage. ______________________ Mission 51. Convergence Basics: The mission starts out with 5 Flying Saucers opening up to drop their cargo as well as a number of already deployed Hectors and Gunships, go after the right most one first as its dropping spiders. Then the left and back ones, then the last two can be however you want. Mop up everything to clear the mission. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF19 2. Cascade 2 Start off by destroying the right most lower Saucer, and kill of any spiders it dropped. Then start clearing out any enemies on your way to the left most saucer, which should be dropping black ants, and keep a fair distance while destroying it. Take care of any bugs and hectors nearby, and then focus your attention on the saucer in the back of the pack that stays up higher than the others, this one is also dropping spiders so take it out next. Clear the area again, and this time you'll have to move in closer to take out the closer of the two remaining saucers, which is dropping black ants. Then do the same for the final saucer which is also dropping black ants. Clear out any remaining enemies and the mission is over. Weapons Obtained: Lysander2 AF20 ___________________ Mission 52. Inferno Basics: The mission starts with you behind four groups of EDF soldiers and a gigantic army in front of you. Black and red ants, Hectors, and Gunships are all ready to fight. There's a Vegalta to your left(As well as one all the way down the level by the hectors) and a tank behind you. (I think this only happens on hard) Once you've destroyed all the enemies two Flying Saucers will appear as well as some Red Gunships and an Ant Lord or two. For your side you get a group or two of laser equipped EDF soldiers. Destroy the saucers and the bugs and the mission is complete. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF20 2. Stringer J2 Hop in the Vegalta and shoot as many ants as you can, its not going to last very long but that's ok. Once you're on foot use the AF to deal with the ants and Gunships and the Stringer if you get enough of a break as well as for the Hectors. When the saucers appear you should be able to shoot one down with the stringer before it shuts its doors, get a shot or two off on the advancing ant lord with it as well before switching to the AF for the horde of smaller ants. Once you've cleared your surroundings get ready to shoot down the other saucer. Finish off the rest of the ants and the mission is over. Weapons Obtained: MMF100 Air Tortoise ME ____________________ Mission 53. Starship Basics: The last mission and you finally get to destroy that damn Mother ship. The mission starts you off with two groups of laser soldiers and a helicopter you won't be using. Start by taking out the two Flying Saucers around the mother ship, then take out any Hectors or Gunships while you wait. As soon as the Mother ship's bottom door opens start firing at the weapon it begins to lower. When it falls start firing on the glowing red sphere where the gun once was. Hit it enough times and this battle is over... except On Normal and up, once you've done enough damage it steps the game up, and now starts firing even more at you, keep moving and firing at the core when its exposed. Hard: My Equipment 1. AF20 2. Lysander 2 Start by taking out both Saucers, they should stay open so its an easy 4 Lysander shots. When the buildings get destroyed by the Hector's fire start taking them out as well, it should be 1-2 shots depending on whether or not your laser units have fired on them. Start firing on the Mother ship's gun as soon as its lowered down. Never stop moving and firing on the exposed core with the Lysander, switch to the AF when the core's covered up to clear the skies a bit. Don't let the lights scare you when it activates even more lasers, its not much more dangerous than it was before just keep firing and soon the battle will be over. Oh and it'll still have some lasers flying towards you once you've killed it, and the enemies will still be attacking you, so don't stop moving until you're seeing the ending. Weapons Obtained: Nothing