Overview:
-Estimated achievement difficulty 7/10
-Offline: 32 (540)
-Online: 17 (460)
-Approximate amount of time to 1000/1000: 85-170 hours
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 6
-Number of missable achievements: 0
-Glitched achievements: 0
-Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No Cheats
-Does difficulty affect achievements?: Yes (Easy does not unlock most items)

Introduction:
Ace Combat 6 is a decent addition to the Ace Combat series, and the achievements are remarkably well done for a title that came out early in the achievement lifecycle. There is a story that is expressed through cut scenes (that can be skipped when desired) and dialogue in the missions, but it is not particularly well done or necessary to understand to beat the game. Ultimately, every mission can be described as a series of targets that you have to destroy within a time limit without being shot down.

Single Player:
Time required: 40-80 hours for single player.

Each play through is detailed below with achievements you should earn, as well as medals to focus on that are required for the All Colors, All Secrets and All Medals achievements.

Start on Easy with the default plane (F16-C) and use this as an opportunity to become familiar with the maps, how the operations work, and how to command your supporting units and wingman. Go through all of the training missions to ensure you learn the controls (you can skip them on later play throughs). If you want to try for an S rating on the missions to save replays later, destroy as many green (non-critical) targets as possible while still destroying all the red (critical) targets within the timeframe. This is also a good time to get in the habit of using your operation support commands (hold up or down on the D-Pad). Along the way you will earn all of the mission complete achievements, Pasternak Defeated, Clear Campaign and 10 Operations. It is quite likely you will also earn Electronic Support System and Aerial Defense, but if not they will both come as you complete the other difficulties. You will earn the Raging Falcon and Bronze Ace medals, and probably Guardian as well. If you don’t get Guardian, that just means your wingman was shot down in one of the missions. You can easily earn that one later, so don’t sweat it.

Your second play through should be on Normal. Purchase the F-117A and go through the campaign using only the machine gun. If you accidentally fire a missile, crash and reload from your last check point. By the end of this play through you should have earned these achievements: 1000 Enemies and maybe All Operations (focus on completing operations you didn’t complete on your first play through, but don’t sweat it since you have lots of opportunity to get this achievement.) You will earn these medals: Sharpshooter, Bronze Marksman, Silver Marksman, Gold Marksman, Night Owl and possibly Silver Ace. You can also earn the Needle’s Eye medal (and the associated 10 Frontline Landings achievement) on this play through if you wish.

For your third play through, purchase the Rafale M and the XMA6 special weapon, and play on Hard. You will earn these achievements by the end: Original Aircraft, All Aircraft (and All Operations if you didn’t get it the second time through). You should also earn the Blazing Griffin medal, definitely the Silver Ace if you didn’t get it the last time.

For your fourth play through, purchase the CFA-44 and the ADMM special weapon and play on Expert. There will be enemy aces on expert and you should earn the 10 Named Aircraft achievement.  From now on, always use this plane and special weapon for both you and your wingman, it will dramatically speed up your missions. Focus on getting an S-rank on every mission you can by destroying as many green targets as possible. Note that on Mission 9, you have to destroy the six tankers or you cannot earn an S-rank on Expert and Ace. With the CFA-44, aim to get any aces you missed last time to earn the Allied Assault Record and Enemy Assault Record achievements. You should also earn the Gold Ace medal this play through or next, especially if you have focused on earning S-ranks.

For your fifth play through, play on Ace with the CFA-44, and again focus on S-ranks.


For your sixth play through, play on Normal with the CFA-44 and any time you take damage, crash and restart. Use the ADMM and Operation Support a LOT, don’t worry about your mission rating, and generally stay low. You need to complete the entire campaign with zero damage. Several of the missions can be quite difficult, especially the last one. Aim to destroy all anti-aircraft and SAM emplacements first, then focus on critical targets. Since you are on normal, you have a lot of time, so don’t rush it. This will earn you the Legendary Ace medal.

For your last play through, play on Normal with the CFA-44 and do it FAST! You have to complete the entire campaign in less than 2 hours 15 minutes. This may take several attempts. Some general tips are to focus ONLY on critical targets, go for the fastest operations with the least number of targets, and spam your Operations Support whenever you can. On Mission 12 when fighting Pasternak, if you haven’t killed him in 15-20 seconds, crash and reload your checkpoint. On Mission 9, focus on completely taking out one aerial battleship at a time because that is what earns you the Operations Support powers. You might be better off using those to target the Strigon team while you continue to work on the battleships. This will earn you the Quicksilver medal.

Finally, go to Free Mission mode and with the CFA-44, replay all missions where you do not have an S-rating. This will earn you any of the following medals you didn’t earn in your original play through of each difficulty: Bronze Star, Silver Star, Gold Star, and Platinum Star.

Once you have an S-rating on everything, including Easy, play one mission to unlock the third color of the CFA-44 and earn the All Colors achievement. Purchase all aircraft and all colors you haven’t already to unlock the All Secrets and All Medals achievements.

Multi-Player:
IMPORTANT NOTE! You must have completed at least the first mission and created a save file before starting on your multi-player achievements or you will be unable to save your progress.

Time Required: 45-90 hours for multiplayer.

There are three types of online competitive matches requiring 100 wins in each, three kill total achievements, and two online co-op missions. The co-op missions require a minimum of two players but are easier with more. Simply beat the missions as a team to unlock the Co-Op Stage 1 and Co-Op Stage 2 achievements.

For Team Battle, you need a minimum of one other player, but can set the match to private or ranked. The shortest game is 5 minutes, and you earn kills by shooting down the opponent. Note that you lose points by crashing or going out of bounds. 100 wins with roughly 60 seconds for loading screens equates to 10 hours for one person, 20 hours if you and your partner both need wins. You will easily earn the kill achievements by the time you earn all of the Team Battle achievements.

For Battle Royale, you need a minimum of one other player, but can set the match to private or ranked. The shortest game is 5 minutes, and you earn kills by shooting down the opponent. Note that you lose points by crashing or going out of bounds. 100 wins with roughly 60 seconds for loading screens equates to 10 hours for one person, 20 hours if you and your partner both need wins. Map 3 is the easiest map for this.

For Siege Battle, you need a minimum of one other player, but can set the match to private or ranked. The time is set at 20 minutes per side, and you have to play as both attacker and defender, which at first glance sounds like 40 minutes times 100 games (or 200 if both people need wins), which with loading times is almost 70 hours (140 for two). You can speed it up by having the attacker get points for shooting down something (an F14 is right ahead of you when you start, and is a simple kill with a couple XMA6 missiles) and then crashing. You do not suffer a point penalty for crashing in Siege Battle, but you do suffer a 30 second time penalty. If you have it as one person per side, that drops the total game time to 15 minutes instead of 40 if the attacker crashes as soon as he spawns (except for the first spawn for the winning side). If you have more people it can significantly speed this game type up.

 [x360a would like to thank Creech for this Road Map]

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Achievement Guide

Show completed achievements
Show secret achievements

There are 49 achievements with a total of 1000 points

  • All medals attained.

    The medals can be obtained by completeing various acts throughout the game. The medals are devided between Service Medals and Operation Medals. You have to get all medals on both sheets in order to unlock this achievement. Please refer to this thread for medal descriptions and how to get them.
  • Attain purchasing ability for all aircraft.

    You will unlock this as you progress through the game. The only aircraft you will not be able to unlock after beating the game on normal is the CFA-44, this requires you to beat the game on hard difficulty.
  • Clear Campaign Mode.

    Finish the game.
  • Complete 10 operations.

    Finish 10 operations, not missions. You should get this achievement by the 7th mission, though it can take longer. The mission has to be "successful" in order for it to be considered cleared.
  • Clear all operations.

    Finish all the operations. There are 35 different operations that you can get medals for in this game. You will get this on your second run through if you check to see which ones you need first.
  • Complete 10 total frontline landings.

    A frontline landing is landing on an airport that is on the battlefield. On the lower left of your screen, next to your radar map, if you are near a liberated airport, you will see a "landing gear" animation show up. You need to drop your landing gear and be guided into the runway. If you are going to fast the control tower will tell you, you are on your own.
    You can land, takeoff, turn around, and then land again. You do have to have a mission successful to get this achievement though
  • Destroy 50 enemies using airborne allied support.

    See "Ground Defense"
  • Destroy 50 enemies using ground force allied support.

    When you are in battle and your allied support guage has at least 1 block filled, you can push and hold up(attack) or down(cover) on your d-pad. Every enemy that the allies kill counts toward this goal.
  • Destroy 100 enemies while receiving electronic support.

    You will get credit for this when, on the bottom right of the screen, your "E.S.S" shows a level. As long as that is showing a level and you get a kill it works toward your goal. You should get this fairly early on.
  • Destroy 10 Named Aircraft.

    A "named aircraft" is one in which after the name of the aircraft it has his callsign. These only show up in Expert mode. They are found here.
  • Destroy a total of 1000 enemies.

    You will get this by playing the game. All units count as long as you are the one that killed them.
  • Attain purchasing ability for all aircraft special colors.

    When you beat the game on normal you unlock the Estovakian color set. The 3rd set is aquired by shooting down the named aircraft in Expert. You unlock 1 paint scheme for every plane you shoot down.

    To get the second color for the cfa-44 you have to buy every plane and every color of each plane, then play and finish a mission.
    To unlock the third color scheme for the CFA-44, have all "S" ranks in all missions from the Easy through Ace difficulty settings, earn all Operation Medals, have at least 15 Service Medals, have all Enemy Records, and have all Friend Records.
  • Attain purchasing ability for original aircraft.

    You will unlock this as you progress through the game. The only aircraft you will not be able to unlock after beating the game on normal is the CFA-44, this requires you to beat the game on hard difficulty.
  • Attain complete Emmerian assault record.

     
    Just complete all the operations. As you finish all the operations a certain "ally" is in you will unlock his record. The only way to get the final Emmerian assault record position is to finish the Estovakian assault record. So you will get these two simultaneously.
  • Attain complete Estovakian assault record.

     
    Strigon 1-12 are in the campaign mode under any difficulty.
    The named enemies will appear 1 per level on expert mode or higher.
    They are found here.
  • Successfully retreat from the fallen capital Gracemeria.

    Play the game and beat the first level
  • Prevent the aerial bombardment of Vitoze.

    Play the game and beat the second level
  • Attain victory at Sipli Field.

    Play the game and beat the thurd level
  • Destroy Bartolomeo Fortress, and recapture Khesed Island.

    Play the game and beat the fourth level
  • Ensure the success of allied ground forces Anea mainland landing.

    Play the game and beat the fifth level
  • Rescue allied ground forces cornered in Silvat.

    Play the game and beat the sixth level
  • Rescue allied forces amidst Aigaion attack.

    Play the game and beat the seventh level
  • Capture the Cavallia Air Force Base, and establish an Aigaion attack point.

    Play the game and beat the eight level
  • Destroy the heavy command cruiser Aigaion.

    Play the game and beat the ninth level
  • Capture the Ragno Fortress.

    Play the game and beat the tenth level
  • Attain victory in the Moloch Desert invasion.

    Play the game and beat the eleventh level
  • Unlock all hidden contents.

    (6)  
    You unlock all the hidden content by beating the game on different difficulties. Most are unlocked by beating the game on normal, however there are a few that require you to beat the game on expert.

    CFA 44 Nosferatu Fighter - Beat the game on Hard difficulty. It will appear in your hangar, purchase it for $229,500.

    Music Player - Beat the game once.

    Scene Viewer - Beat the game once.

    Unlock Expert Difficulty- Beat the game once.

    Unlock Ace Difficulty - Beat the game on expert.

    SP New Game - Complete campaign once on any difficulty setting.

    you also need to unlock all planes and colors.
  • Win 10 Battle Royale matches.

    See "Battle Royale (100)
  • Win 30 Battle Royale matches.

    See "Battle Royale (100)
  • Win 50 Battle Royale matches.

    See "Battle Royale (100)
  • Win 100 Battle Royale matches.

    When you play online, just make sure it is in Battle Royale Mode. Can be done on Player match.
  • Win 10 Team Battle matches.

    See "Team Battle(100)"
  • Win 30 Team Battle matches.

    See "Team Battle(100)"
  • Win 50 Team Battle matches.

    See "Team Battle(100)"
  • Win 100 Team Battle matches.

    When you play online, just make sure it is in Team Battle Mode. Can be done on player match.
  • Clear Stage 1 of CO-OP Battle.

    Just finish Stage 1 of CO-OP.
  • Clear Stage 2 of CO-OP Battle.

    Just finish Stage 2 of CO-OP.
  • Win 10 Siege Battle matches.

    see "Siege Battle (100)"
  • Win 30 Siege Battle matches.

    see "Siege Battle (100)"
  • Win 50 Siege Battle matches.

    see "Siege Battle (100)"
  • Win 100 Siege Battle matches.

    When you play online, just make sure it is in Siege Battle Mode. Can be done on player match.
  • Shoot down 50 total other player aircraft online.

    You will get this eventually, just keep shooting down other players online, ranked and player matches count toward your online kill total.
  • Shoot down 100 total other player aircraft online.

    You will get this eventually, just keep shooting down other players online, ranked and player matches count toward your online kill total.
  • Shoot down 200 total other player aircraft online.

    You will get this eventually, just keep shooting down other players online, ranked and player matches count toward your online kill total.
 

Secret achievements

  • Enemy Strigon squadron leader Ilya Pasternak defeated.

    Pasternak is a pain. The second you lose sight of him, he goes stealth and you have to find him all over again because you automatically lock onto a UAV that is aiding him. Once he gets killed though, the mission ends.
    NOTE: everytime pasternak uses his ESM he has to slow down, and cannot go stealth. Try to just follow him, until he uses his ESM then machine gun him and missle him.
    If you are playing Expert difficulty try to stay as close to the ground as possible since the radar advantage is lost for the enemy. When you get a chance get close to him and send allied assault, shoot a couple missles and bail. Rinse and Repeat.
  • Weapons of mass destruction destroyed in transport.

    Play the game and beat the twelfth level
  • Capital recaptured and liberated.

    Play the game and beat the thirteenth level
  • Capital successfully defended from enemy cruise missile attack.

    Play the game and beat the fourteenth level
  • The Chandelier destroyed, and the war brought to a close.

    Play the game and beat the fifteenth level