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Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
Finding and shooting down pilots by name is anything but easy. These hard-to-find Aces will only appear after you complete special, secret tasks – and they only spawn when you replay levels you’ve already beaten. These named pilots are particularly good and you will only find them in certain missions. If you manage to locate all 24, you will be rewarded for your efforts with the ‘Bird of Prey’ achievement/trophy of the same name.
Ace Combat 7
is an action-packed flight simulation in which you fight in a war between fictional nations. The series is also known for its storyline, although you only interact with the game world with the help of various fighter planes. You will bomb ground troops, engage in dogfights, and help defeat an imperialist enemy trying to conquer neighboring nations in a massive war.
And you’ll earn lots of airplane skins along the way, allowing you to personalize your favorite jets. To get the “Special” skin for the X-02S Strike Wyvern, you must shoot all of the Aces on this list. Read on to learn how to take them all down.
How To Spawn All 24 Aces | ‘Bird of Prey’ Guide
Aces are special “collectible” pilots with names that appear when you complete special, hidden tasks (objectives) in certain missions.
Mission: Charge Assault
- Ace #1: Huang Xuan Tai “PYRO”
- Shoot the third wave with Multi-Anit Air Missiles (4AAM, 6AAM, 8AAM). PYRO appears in the northwest corner.
Mission: Charge The Enemy
- Ace #2: Joe Barker “JESTER”
- Destroy all Radar Vehicles and then very quickly destroy the TGT-CTRL TOWER before the UAVs show up. Jester appears on the tarmac at the air base.
Mission: Two-Pronged Strategy
- Ace #3: Rosie Lucas “BAYONET”
- Destroy all enemies within 90 seconds before the Missile Alert event. BAYONET appears in the northwest corner.
Mission: Rescue
- Ace #4: Florent Noilet “RONIN”
- In the first part of the mission, stay below 200 meters until you reach the space elevator. Ronin appears in the northeast of the map.
Mission: 444
- Ace #5: Sebastian Koch “FANG”
- Take at least 75% damage while your weapons are disabled. After you shoot down the bombers, FANG will appear in the center of the map.
Mission: Long Day
- Ace #6: Sophie Andre “KITTEN”
- Fly through the narrow tunnel through the mountain in the western base. KITTEN will appear in the southwest corner.
Mission: First Contact
- Ace #7: Thibault Besson “FAUCON”
- In the first part of the mission, destroy all non-TGT enemies on the map. FAUCON will appear in the northern area of the map.
Mission: Pipeline Destruction
- Ace #8: Samuel Everest “GAZELLE”
- Destroy all oil facilities before the timer reaches 00:00. GAZELLE appears in the northern area of the map.
Mission: Faceless Soldier
- Ace #9: Hans Weber “SPIDER”
- Destroy more than 50% of the non-TGT enemies on the map before destroying the radar turrets. SPIDERS appears in the East.
Mission: Transfer Orders
- Ace #10: Ken Warren “LOUVETEAU”
- Destroy all SAMs very quickly. LOUVETEAU appears on the eastern side of the map.
Mission: Fleet Destruction
- Ace #11: Chris Azure “CHASSEUR”
- Destroy all aircraft on the northernmost platform before they take off. Anti-air weapons can also be used against aircraft on the ground. CHASSEUR will be released in the West.
- Ace #12: Matthieu Bertin “IBIS”
- Fly through the narrow passage in the northeast platform complex. IBIS spawns in the west.
Mission: Stonehenge Defense
- Ace #13: Arnaud Durand “WALRUS”
- Prevent the bombers and ground forces from damaging Stonehenge. Unless Stonehenge is damaged, WALRUS will spawn in the northeast when the “chopper win” appears.
- Ace #14: Kees Bakker “BUFFLE”
- Destroy all three non-TGT A-10s that spawn to the east. BUFFLE will appear further west.
- Ace #15: Nathan Roche “FOUDRE”
- Fly under the narrow spawn below the Stonehenge cannons. FOUDRE appears in the south.
Mission: Bunker Buster
- Ace #16: Owen Corwin “COMET”
- Destroy all missile silos very quickly so that COMET appears after the checkpoint to the west.
Mission: Werewolf
- Ace #17: Jules Martin “GADFLY”
- Reach the end of the canyon very quickly. GADFLY will appear with the Fighter Wing reinforcements when the air base is attacked.
Mission: Battle For Farbanti
- Ace #18: Russel Faulkner “SERPENT”
- Earn +5000 points beyond the required number. SERPENT will appear with a reinforcement squadron in the southeast.
- Ace #19: Vincent Masson “BOW”
- Destroy the Aegis Ashore, an anti-aircraft ship near GHQ. It appears at the end of the first part of the mission. BOW appears south of the ship.
Mission: Last Hope
- Ace #20: Emeric Pons “AXEMAN”
- Earn over 15,000 points to have AXEMAN appear as an “Unknown” in the southern area of the port city limits.
Mission: Homeward
- Ace #21: Olivier Perrin’s “MANTIS”
- Fly over (and very close to) Mass Driver as if you were launching from it. MANTIS appears with the bomber reinforcements to the east and will be marked “Unknown” like all the others.
Mission: Lost Kingdom
- Ace #22: Benjamin Neumann “LYNX”
- Destroy all enemies before reaching Shilage Castle in under two minutes. LYNX appears over the castle.
Mission: Lighthouse
- Ace #23: Cyril Noiret “TEMPEST”
- Earn more than 20,000 points in the first part of the mission. TEMPEST appears in the southeast.
- Ace #24: Paul Lebrun “CALAMITY”
- Earn more than 20,000 points in the first part of the mission. CALAMITY flies a stealth aircraft, so you have to fly south to spot him on your radar.
