History YMMV / AceCombatInfinity

* CriticalDissonance: The game is hated by critics for being repetitive, with a short single player campaign, the fact that it was released on a [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 legacy console]] instead of [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 a new console]] at the time, and the restrictive sortie fuel system. But gamers and fans of the series willing to look past the prohibitive costs like it for being a return to ''Ace Combat''[='s=] roots while compromising with the real world setting. Having two million users download the game also helps matters.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Low-tier: Most of the starter aircraft, particularly the non-Multiroles, due to their wimpy upgrade slot count even after taking into account they can be leveled up to 15 or 20 for much cheaper overall than later craft can. The exceptions to this are the special aircraft, but they're either tournament exclusives or random drop planes, and even then some ones like the [[JokeCharacter Block 1 Morgan]] aren't all too useful.
** Mid-tier: The middle- to high-tier planes such as the F-14A and the F/A-18F, being potent enough to be mainstay planes while not being relatively overpowered. The special variants are also better due to having higher than normal upgrade slots out of the box.
** High-tier: The higher end aircraft like the F-15E, F-22 and FB-22, being utterly overpowered and decimating targets despite obvious weaknesses. This goes double for Multiroles because of their monstrous upgrade slot count and even more for special variants.
** God-tier: Super aircraft like the ADFX-01 and X-02, being masters of everything and having virtually no weaknesses.

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound: The loud echo-ey noise that sounds vaguely similar to an activated ECM/ESM whenever a host closes a lobby, unless you've already played a lot of matches can be this, especially if done on a Special Raid. Or even worse, the strange clicking noise when a host kicks you from the lobby, especially if it's a [[{{Jerkass}} seal-clubber host]] in a [[SchmuckBait Beginners Welcome]] lobby.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The loud echo-ey noise that sounds vaguely similar to an activated ECM/ESM whenever a host closes a lobby, unless you've already played a lot of matches can be this, especially if done on a Special Raid. Or even worse, the strange clicking noise when a host kicks you from the lobby, especially if it's a [[{{Jerkass}} seal-clubber host]] in a [[SchmuckBait Beginners Welcome]] lobby.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/AceCombat As expected.]] Though most of the music is taken from other ''Ace Combat'' titles, the remixes of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhRnKDR6KrE "Comona"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ta4VQOxFZ4 "Stonehenge"]] are quite good as well.
** There's also an absolutely epic remix of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UANlAn2AbqM "Blue Skies"]] that plays during the second part of Operation Bunker Shot.
** With the Naval Fleet Assault Mode came [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8uJLKoElY0 "Fire Youngman"]] from ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'' for the Comona Air Base map.

* CriticalDissonance: The game is hated by critics for being repetitive, short single player campaign, released on a legacy console instead of a new console at the time, and the restrictive cashgrab sortie fuel system, but fans and some gamers like it for being a return to ''Ace Combat''[='s=] roots while compromising with the real world setting. Having two million users download the game also helps matters.

* CriticalDissonance: The game is hated by critics for being repetitive and the sortie fuel system, but fans and some gamers like it for being a return to ''Ace Combat''[='s=] roots while compromising with the real world setting. Having two million users download the game also helps matters.

* FanficFuel: What the UN is doing to take down USEA, especially since the game is being discontinued after March 2018.

* HilariousInHindsight: Omega's comment in Mission 4 toward Goodfellow. "It's all money money money with you all day, isn't it?"

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: With the game not getting a sequel, the backstory of Camilla and how she got involved.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Some people complain the missions are too repetitive and too limited, especially professional reviewers.
** CriticalDissonance: The game is hated by critics for being repetitive and the sortie fuel system, but fans and some gamers like it for being a return to ''Ace Combat''[='s=] roots while compromising with the real world setting. Having two million users download the game also helps matters.

** The initial release consisted of F-35B Lightning II with the [=4AGM=] being the go to aircraft due to the aircraft having massive upgrade slots and a high tier in terms of performance and damage. To a lesser extent were the F-15E and Su-34, both having access to the same weapon (the latter in particular, being the only one of the three to start with it; for the longest time it was the only Attacker anybody ever used) and slightly fewer upgrade slots in return for slightly better base performance in one or two stats.
** The patch introducing the S/MTD and Berkut obsoleted the [=F-35B=] thanks to the two having weapons dealing massive damage, with massive blast radii, and from far further range than the [=4AGM=] could reach. This made any other form of ground attack a waste of time. It wasn't until the next patch that the weapons were nerfed.

** The X-02 Wyvern, introduced via patching, is becoming the ultimate air-to-air plane. Massive upgrade slots and excellent weapon load outs for a fraction of the cost of any of the other fictional superfighters helped big time in cementing the Wyvern as the ultimate ASF. The ADF-01 FALKEN is a more minor one for those playing pure Fighters, also coming with a good amount of upgrade slots, getting the Tactical Laser System as its first weapon, and being one of the only three other superfighters that doesn't cost millions just to purchase -- the regular Morgan, in comparison, is only ever bought just to get to the FALKEN and/or the ADLER, with actual usage of the Morgan being almost entirely restricted to Pixy's special version.
** [[AbridgedArenaArray As for maps]], expect Area [=B7R=] Dogfight to be hosted on 80% of the lobbies at any given time. About the only thing that can displace [=B7R=] is a map having OEL challenges associated with it for a month, but even then it'll only last for four days maximum before everybody moves back to [=B7R=] -- which also has the added annoyance of effectively locking out those challenges for everyone who wasn't able to grind out the necessary points all at once. The only other match for [=B7R=] is Moscow Battle and its Hard mode variant, mostly for being ground target central for planes carrying potent ground weapons alongside having some air targets here and there. Avalon Dam Invasion is a semi-frequent alternative to Moscow, serving the same overall role, but with even less aerial targets, making it the perfect map for Attacker-centric challenges. Paris Liberation War is shaping up to be a go-to mission as well, featuring a layout similar to Moscow Battle, only with extra scores of ground and air targets, giving all classes of aircraft plenty to do. Ironically, when regular Team Deathmatch events are running, [=B7R=] actually seems to take a backseat to most everything else, despite these events having introduced the map.

** On that note, Battlecruisers and Aegis-destroyers in Naval Team Deathmatch. All ships are [[DamageSpongeBoss damage-sponge bosses]] in this game mode, the aircraft carrier even moreso than the co-op Scinfaxi, but the Battlecruiser is armed to the teeth with [=SAMs=] and [=VLSs=], making it the most dangerous ship to fight by far, and the Aegis-destroyers, whilst not as missile packed, have CIWS, which will block your projectiles unless you attack en masse or destroy them with your guns!

** Initially, the F-35B, and to lesser extents the F-15E and Su-34, were this because of the [=4AGMs=] they carried, but an early patch introduced the F-15 [=S/MTD=] and the Su-47 Berkut. The latter two aircraft carried [=LAGMs=] and [=UGBs=], which had devastating damage and blast radius capabilities alongside greater range than the [=4AGM=]; this effectively made ground attacks with aircraft not using those weapons a waste of time and ammo, as even if you got in lock-on range with your own weapon someone else's bomb or missile would hit it before yours did. A later patch gave [=LAGMs=] and [=UGBs=] nerfs, however, but the S/MTD still sees a lot of use because it gets the FAEB, the bomb with the biggest explosion in the game, immediately after the LAGM (the Berkut has almost been entirely abandoned for being more air-focused).

** Zig-zagged with the FAEB. Though capable of mass destruction in a wider area with upgrades and can be thrown across maps, armored targets [[NoSell shrug them off]] and it usually takes two bombs to destroy orange level targets. Also, it is exclusive to two aircraft in the whole game without taking into account special aircraft; the A-10A Thunderbolt II which is a slow Attacker and has little room for upgrades but wrecks ground targets better, and the F-15 S/MTD which is a fast Multirole plane with more upgrade space but lacks in the ground attack specialization and ultimately did better with the more-focused LAGM. Only time will tell if the FAEB will also receive the bomb nerfs.

*** Bandai Namco Games apparently caught on that, too, at least for a while, since a few main tournament prizes starting with Su-37 -Yellow 13- were awarded to Top 1000 players, while bonus skins can also be won by Top 3000; now primary special-plane prizes are still top 200, but extra ones are for the top thousand, and skins go to anywhere between 3000 to 10,000 -- basically the lowest tier at which you can ''get'' any prizes -- depending on how many there are. They are also random Lucky Numbers that net certain players the aircraft that would normally only be available to top placers, and the fact that as of the game's first anniversary the devs have begun to re-run classic events so new or unlucky players can get another chance at their rewards. Update #14 just prior to the game's second anniversary also added a catalogue of previous prizes that can be purchased with Skilled Pilot Medals players attain in lieu of non-emblem rewards by placing well enough in subsequent tournaments, allowing those who can score consistently in events to eventually save up for a reward they want (although this also includes the scrappy mechanic that the catalog may not include a reward they ''really'' want, and may take a long time to add it).

** The ''actual'' death sentence weapon belongs to the Varcolac's Long-Range Shock Wave Missile. It's smaller, but more powerful than the burst missile. The bad parts? The visuals are ''even more blinding'', if that was somehow possible, and it's the one weapon that defies FriendlyFireproof. You're very likely to accidentally kill ''yourself'' along with anything in range of your target.

** After the LAGM and UGB nerfs, another patch introduced buffs to other weapons. One of them was the SFFS, which was more or less a cluster bomb. Nobody used it prior to the buff because of how powerful[[note]]even before the S/MTD and Berkut brought them to the forefront, most people paying attention would notice that planes with the LAGM and UGB like the Su-34 were almost unstoppable in the right hands[[/note]], widespread[[note]]before the buff, only the Mirage 2000-5 and F-15E could use the SFFS -- and nobody used it with them because they both also got the aforementioned [=4AGM=][[/note]] and comparatively-simple to use the LAGM and UGB were, but it wasn't until the buff and the introduction of the FB-22 Strike Raptor that SFFS usage [[GoneHorriblyRight became rampant.]] In addition to demolishing ground targets over an even wider area, they also terrorized Naval Team Deathmatch battles by vaporizing enemy fleets in seconds. It got to the point that another patch was introduced to undo the buff that the SFFS received, though the weapon is still effective in co-op missions and it is expected to have an impact in Naval Team Deathmatch battles.

** Of all things, the regular missiles end up with this status in Team Deathmatch modes with the right setup. With a sufficiently-leveled plane and the right combo of the High Homing datalink, the best Advanced Mobile Missile Fin, and/or the Homing Enhancement Plan, your regular missiles suddenly think they're ''[=AC04=]''-era [=QAAMs=], and as such will absolutely refuse to give up on chasing a target until they run out of fuel.
** In the Naval Fleet Assault mode, just about any Attacker equipped with the New Defense Jamming Device part will have the luxury of avoiding enemy missiles like there's tomorrow (yes, even the parts combination mentioned above). Put that on a high level aircraft whose special weapon is the SFFS (like the commonly used FB-22, or possibly even worse the F-14B Persian Cat), considered to be the bane of Naval Team Deathmatch, and you've got yourself a near-invincible fleet destroyer that makes scoring high in this game mode a triviality and enrages defending players to no end. [[labelnote:*]]Another method of reliably destroying the fleet just as quickly is bringing a high-levelled bomber, although that's much more expensive and you're effectively guaranteed to get shot down after every two or three ships you destroy.[[/labelnote]]
** The LACM. You'd be hard pressed to find another air-to-ground weapon that locks on a far as this one, on top of a really wide blast radius [[labelnote:*]]The only other weapon that can overpower it is the MAGM that's only reserved for Bombers[[/labelnote]]. This means that any map with a decent amount of target clusters can be trivialized by a couple of fire-and-forget [=LACMs=]. Thankfully, it's limited to a select few planes, has a deprived ammo capacity and, as [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded by the description,]] takes longer than some [=A2G=] weapons to reload.

** The EA-18G Beast from the Skilled Pilot Medal exchange had a similar issue, where it was supposed to reload its ECM faster than other craft could, but for whatever reason they couldn't get it to work. Two months after its introduction, Project Aces compensated those who had already bought and upgraded the craft by refunding every medal and credit spent on it, and massively reduced its cost in the exchange from 500 medals to 20.
** Since Day 1, a pack of Gripens in the second part of the Alps Air Corridor has the ability to pass through the mountains. A few other aircraft are similarly capable of clipping through level geometry without issue, particularly some of the Eurofighters in the first half of Tokyo Martial Law that will happily fly through a building near the bridge.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: "Hostile Forces Evacuating! Operation Successful!" Congratulations, you just got you and everyone in your lobby an S Rank.

*** Bandai Namco Games apparently caught on that, too, at least for a while, since a few main tournament prizes starting with Su-37 -Yellow 13- were awarded to Top 1000 players, while bonus skins can also be won by Top 3000; now primary special-plane prizes are still top 200, but extra ones are for the top thousand, and skins go to anywhere between 3000 to 10,000 -- basically the lowest tier at which you can ''get'' any prizes -- depending on how many there are. They are also random Lucky Numbers that net certain players the aircraft that would normally only be available to top placers, and the fact that as of the game's first anniversary the devs have begun to re-run classic events so new or unlucky players can get another chance at their rewards. Update #14 just prior to the game's second anniversary also added a catalogue of previous prizes that can be purchased with Skilled Pilot Medals players attain in lieu of non-emblem rewards by placing well enough in subsequent tournaments, allowing those who can score consistently in events to eventually save up for a reward they want.

** On that note, Battlecruisers and Aegis-destroyers in Naval Team Deathmatch. All ships are [[DamageSpongeBoss damage-sponge bosses]] in this game mode, the aircraft carrier even moreso than the co-op Scinfaxi, but the Battlecruiser is armed to the teeth with SAMs and VLSs, making it the most dangerous ship to fight by far, and the Aegis-destroyers, whilst not as missile packed, have CIWS, which will block your projectiles unless you attack en masse or destroy them with your guns!

** The LACM. You'd be hard pressed to find another air-to-ground weapon that locks on a far as this one, on top of a really wide blast radius [[labelnote:*]]The only other weapon that can overpower it is the MAGM that's only reserved for Bombers[[/labelnote]]. This means that any map with a decent amount of target clusters can be trivialized by a couple of fire-and-forget [=LACMs=]. Thankfully, it's limited to a select few planes.

** Since Day 1, a pack of Gripens in the second part of the Alps Air Corridor has the ability to pass through the mountains.

*** Bandai Namco Games apparently caught on that, too, at least for a while, since a few main tournament prizes starting with Su-37 -Yellow 13- were awarded to Top 1000 players, while bonus skins can also be won by Top 3000; now primary special-plane prizes are still top 200, but extra ones are for the top thousand, and skins go to anywhere between 3000 to 10,000 -- basically the lowest tier at which you can ''get'' any prizes -- depending on how many there are. They are also random Lucky Numbers that net certain players the aircraft that would normally only be available to top placers, and the fact that as of the game's first anniversary the devs have begun to re-run classic events so new or unlucky players can get another chance at their rewards. Update #14 also added a catalogue of previous prizes that can be purchased with Skilled Pilot Medals players attain in lieu of non-emblem rewards by placing well enough in subsequent tournaments.

*** While not entirely "{{rescued|FromTheScrappyHeap}}" yet, more seasoned players have proven that the HCAA, though far from amazing, is at least [[BoringButPractical serviceable]] when properly leveled (i.e. a minimum of Level 3, though preferably Level 4 or 5) and with a few choice parts added on to enhance propulsion (and homing, if deemed necessary). With its quick reload speed (the HCAA's main strength), a slightly longer lock-on range than normal missiles, and a large maximum capacity compared to most other [=A2A=] weapons, the HCAA [[MoreDakka becomes a great supplement to standard weaponry that is easily spammed because of its almost instantaneously replenishing ammo]], to the point that it is actually possible to outdo 4AAM and 6AAM users on maps like Moscow Battle and Area [=B7R=] Dogfight and even during special raids like Moby Dick Pursuit and Satellite Interception.

* The LACM. You'd be hard pressed to find another air-to-ground weapon that locks on a far as this one, on top of a really wide blast radius [[labelnote:*]]The only other weapon that can overpower it is the MAGM that's only reserved for Bombers[[/labelnote]]. This means that any map with a decent amount of target clusters can be trivialized by a couple of fire-and-forget [=LACMs=]. Thankfully, it's limited to a select few planes.

** Area B7R Dogfight Battle (HARD), which is unexpectedly difficult for all the wrong reasons. Why is this so different from its pathetically easy normal counterpart? Most orange and red targets have an increased ability to dodge your missiles on top of circling you for days. And then we get to the third wave, where enemies spawn in increments and are even more agile, as if they came straight out of the second phase of an Emergency Air Strike [[labelnote:*]]For reference, all red targets except the bombers in an Emergency Air Strike require nothing less than a homing combination part to take them down[[/labelnote]]. This in turn requires tricked out, high-end Fighters with extreme homing ability.

* ThatOneLevel: Weapons Base Assault (HARD). Trying to complete the mission with an S Rank, even with 8 players, is nothing short of an accomplishment due to how far away from enemies players start off, as well as some late enemies spawns on all phases of the mission (barring the emergency mission update).

** Of all things, the regular missiles end up with this status in Team Deathmatch with the right setup. Combine the best version of the Mobile Missile Fin and/or Homing Enhancement Plan with the High Homing+ Datalink on both linked planes, and your regular missiles suddenly think they're ''[=AC04=]''-era [=QAAMs=], and as such will absolutely refuse to give up on chasing a target until they run out of fuel.
** In the Naval Fleet Assault mode, just about any Attacker equipped with the New Defense Jamming Device part will have the luxury of avoiding enemy missiles like there's tomorrow (yes, even the parts combination mentioned above). Put that on a high level aircraft whose special weapon is the SFFS (like the commonly used FB-22), considered to be the bane of Naval Team Deathmatch, and you got yourself a near-invincible fleet destroyer that makes scoring high in this game mode a triviality and enrages defending players to no end. [[labelnote:*]]Another method of reliably destroying the fleet just as quickly is bringing a higly levelled bomber, although it's much more expensive.[[/labelnote]]

** The High Capacity Air-to-Air missile. It's a missile that targets aircraft and has a high loadout -- basically a second set of the standard missiles, but with very poor damage, doing less than a regular missile, and no use against the much more plentiful ground targets [[https://jubaeralam.wordpress.com/2015/08/29/lesser-known-missile-trick-using-hcaa-in-the-online-game-ace-combat-infinity/ unless a certain trick is used to dumbfire the missile at point-blank ranges.]] It is considered a Scrappy Weapon because an almost disturbing amount of medium- to high-tier aircraft start out with it and/or have it in their arsenal instead of something with better range and/or damage than the standard missiles, especially since the standard missiles can be easily upgraded to extremely powerful levels, but missile-based special weapons require a lot of cash to progress quite a bit through multiple branches of the tech tree before the player has access to parts that upgrade anything more than their reserve capacity and reload speed. While the November 2014 patch improved on this weapon greatly, it's still no substitute for other air-to-air weapons in the game.

** Low-tier: Most of the starter aircraft, particularly the non-Multiroles, due to their wimpy upgrade slot count even after taking into account they can be leveled up to 15 or 20 much cheaper than later craft can. The exceptions to this are the special aircraft, but they're either tournament exclusives or random drop planes, and even then some ones like the [[JokeCharacter Block 1 Morgan]] aren't all too useful.

*** The following update at the tail end of March 2016 adds a new co-op mission in Paris Liberation War, a Hard variant of Area [=B7R=] Dogfight, an option for players to convert leftover Slot Expansion Points into credits, and Skilled Pilot Medals, another form of currency awarded as ranking event prizes that allows players to buy several of the rewards from previous tournaments.

** The X-02 Wyvern, introduced via patching, is becoming the ultimate air-to-air plane. Massive upgrade slots and excellent weapon load outs for a fraction of the cost of any of the other fictional superfighters helped big time in cementing the Wyvern as the ultimate ASF. The ADF-01 FALKEN is a more minor one for those playing pure Fighters, also coming with a good amount of upgrade slots, getting the Tactical Laser System as its first weapon, and being one of the only three other superfighters that doesn't cost millions just to purchase -- the regular Morgan, in comparison, is only ever bought just to get to the FALKEN and/or the ADLER.

** The initial release consisted of F-35B Lightning II with the [=4AGM=] being the go to aircraft due to the aircraft having massive upgrade slots and a high tier in terms of performance and damage. To a lesser extent were the F-15E and Su-34, both having access to the same weapon (the latter in particular, being the only one of the three to start with it) and slightly fewer upgrade slots in return for slightly better base performance in one or two stats.

** [[AbridgedArenaArray As for maps]], expect Area [=B7R=] Dogfight to be hosted on 80% of the lobbies at any given time. About the only thing that can displace [=B7R=] is a map having OEL challenges associated with it for a month, but even then it'll only last for four days maximum before everybody moves back to [=B7R=] -- which also has the added annoyance of effectively locking out those challenges for everyone who wasn't able to grind out the necessary points all at once. The only other match for [=B7R=] is Moscow Battle and Moscow Battle (HARD), mostly for being ground target central for planes carrying potent ground weapons alongside having some air targets here and there. Avalon Dam Invasion is a semi-frequent alternative to Moscow, serving the same overall role, but with even less aerial targets, making it the perfect map for Attacker-centric challenges. Paris Liberation War is shaping up to be a go-to mission as well, featuring a layout similar to Moscow Battle, only with extra scores of ground and air targets, giving all classes of aircraft plenty to do. Ironically, when Team Deathmatch events are running, [=B7R=] actually seems to take a backseat to most everything else, despite these events having introduced the map.

** God help you if you are ever brave ([[RandomNumberGod and]] [[GuideDangIt fortunate]]) enough to challenge Stonehenge Black Ring, the Stonehenge Returns IV Special Raid. There, the Butterfly Master and her pack of [=MQ-90Ls=] will menace you once the all the ECM jammers, the elite enemy air forces, ''[[MarathonLevel and]]'' the three Kottos-class heavy command cruisers are destroyed, providing another lengthy roadblock before the last set of jammers and the Stonehenge railguns themselves. And then, when you finally ''do'' get around to attacking Stonehenge directly, a ''second'' QFA-44 Camilla and a ''second'' wave of drones [[FromBadToWorse will appear to impede your progress]]. The same goes for the no less arduous Moby Dick Pursuit IV and Satellite Interception IV. Naturally, the sheer number of enemies thrown at you, in addition to everything else in these missions, makes the challenge of obtaining an S Rank--or even an A or B Rank--nothing short of a nightmare, even for an 8-player party with tricked out, high-end planes.

** Initially, the F-35B, and to lesser extents the F-15E and Su-34, were this because of the [=4AGMs=] they carried, but an early patch introduced the F-15 [=S/MTD=] and the Su-47 Berkut. The latter two aircraft carried [=LAGMs=] and [=UGBs=], which had devastating damage and blast radius capabilities alongside greater range than the [=4AGM=]; this effectively made ground attacks with aircraft not using those weapons a waste of time. A later patch gave [=LAGMs=] and [=UGBs=] nerfs, however, but the S/MTD still sees a lot of use because it gets the FAEB, the bomb with the biggest explosion in the game, immediately after the LAGM (the Berkut has almost been entirely abandoned for being more air-focused).
** After the LAGM and UGB nerfs, another patch introduced buffs to weapons. One of them was the SFFS, which was more or less a cluster bomb. Nobody used it prior to the buff because of how powerful[[note]]even before the S/MTD and Berkut brought them to the forefront, most people paying attention would notice that planes with the LAGM and UGB like the Su-34 were almost unstoppable in the right hands[[/note]], widespread[[note]]before the buff, only the Mirage 2000-5 and F-15E could use the SFFS -- and nobody used it with them because they both also got the aforementioned [=4AGM=][[/note]] and comparatively-simple to use the LAGM and UGB were, but it wasn't until the buff and the introduction of the FB-22 Strike Raptor that SFFS usage [[GoneHorriblyRight became rampant.]] In addition to demolishing ground targets over an even wider area, they also terrorized Naval Team Deathmatch battles by vaporizing enemy fleets in seconds. It got to the point that another patch was introduced to undo the buff that the SFFS received, though the weapon is still effective in co-op missions and it is expected to have an impact in Naval Team Deathmatch battles.

** The premier air superiority fighter in the game is the [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies X-02 Wyvern]], capable of massive upgrade load outs and carries both the [=6AAM=] and QAAM in addition to unbelievable performance. For extra gravy, it's actually the cheapest of the super fighters the series is known for -- the four and a half million you'd need to buy nearly any other superfighter can bring this one to Level ''10'' and give it near-perfect stats even ''without'' attaching parts.
** Of all things, the regular missiles end up with this status in Team Deathmatch with the right setup. Combine the best version of the Mobile Missile Fin (increasing homing ability) with the High Homing+ Datalink on both linked planes, and your regular missiles suddenly think they're ''[=AC04=]''-era [=QAAMs=], and as such will absolutely refuse to give up on chasing a target until they run out of fuel.

** The High Capacity Air-to-Air missile. It's a missile that targets aircraft and has a high loadout -- basically a second set of the standard missiles, but with very poor damage, doing less than a regular missile, and no use against the much more plentiful ground targets [[https://jubaeralam.wordpress.com/2015/08/29/lesser-known-missile-trick-using-hcaa-in-the-online-game-ace-combat-infinity/ unless a certain trick is used to dumbfire the missile at point-blank ranges.]] It is considered a Scrappy Weapon because an almost disturbing amount of medium- to high-tier aircraft start out with it and/or have it in their arsenal instead of something with better range and/or damage than the standard missiles, especially since the standard missiles can be easily upgraded to extremely powerful levels, but missile-based special weapons really can't upgrade much more than their reserve capacity, speed, and homing without spending a lot of cash to progress quite a bit through multiple branches of the tech tree. While the November 2014 patch improved on this weapon greatly, it's still no substitute for other air-to-air weapons in the game.

*** Bandai Namco Games apparently caught on that, too, at least for a while, since a few main tournament prizes starting with Su-37 -Yellow 13- were awarded to Top 1000 players, while bonus skins can also be won by Top 3000; now primary special-plane prizes are still top 200, but extra ones are for the top thousand, and skins go to anywhere between 3000 to 10,000 -- basically the lowest tier at which you can ''get'' any prizes -- depending on how many there are. They are also random Lucky Numbers that net certain players the aircraft that would normally only be available to top placers, and the fact that as of the game's first anniversary the devs have begun to re-run classic events so new or unlucky players can get another chance at their rewards. Update #14 also added a catalogue of previous prizes that can be purchased with Pilot Skill Medals players attain by placing well enough in subsequent tournaments.

* ThatOneLevel: Weapons Base Assault (HARD). Trying to complete the mission with a S Rank, even with 8 players, is nothing short of an accomplishment due to how far away from enemies players start off, as well as some late enemies spawns on all phases of the mission (barring the emergency mission update).

** Mid-tier: The middle-to-high tier planes such as the F-14A and the F/A-18F, being potent enough to be mainstay planes while not being relatively overpowered. The special variants are also better due to having higher than normal upgrade slots out of the box.

*** December's update brings in four new missions -- black Level 4 versions of Aigaion and Stonehenge (as well as bringing previous three versions of Moby Dick Pursuit back altogether), a giant furball above the Round Table, and a Hard Mode version of the Tokyo map to help pacify those who can S rank all of the other maps with over a minute to spare. Also, the addition of Special Payment Tickets, that, when accumulated, will allow the players to buy unique radio calls, Stocked Fuel and even additional skins, planes, and emblems that they could have missed during previous events or tournaments.

*** The following update at the tail end of March 2016 adds a new co-op mission in Paris Liberation War, a Hard variant of Area [=B7R=] Dogfight, an option for players to convert leftover Slot Expansion Points into credits, and Pilot Skill Medals, another form of currency awarded as ranking event prizes that allows players to buy several of the rewards from previous tournaments.

** God help you if you are ever brave ([[RandomNumberGod and]] [[GuideDangIt fortunate]]) enough to challenge Stonehenge Black Ring, the STONEHENGE RETURNS IV Special Raid. There, the Butterfly Master and her pack of [=MQ-90Ls=] will menace you once the all the ECM jammers, the elite enemy air forces, ''[[MarathonLevel and]]'' the three Kottos-class heavy command cruisers are destroyed, providing another lengthy roadblock before the last set of jammers and the Stonehenge railguns themselves. And then, when you finally ''do'' get around to attacking Stonehenge directly, a ''second'' QFA-44 Carmilla and a ''second'' wave of drones [[FromBadToWorse will appear to impede your progress]]. The same goes for the no less arduous Moby Dick Pursuit IV and Satellite Interception IV. Naturally, the sheer number of enemies thrown at you, in addition to everything else in these missions, makes the challenge of obtaining an S Rank--or even an A or B Rank--nothing short of a nightmare, even for an 8-player party with tricked out, high-end planes.

*** With another new year comes Moscow Battle (HARD), Excalibur Onslaught IV, additional Free Flight maps, a Ring Battle rule for TDM based upon the Pilot Aptitude Test Special Raid, the ability to exchange different types of Research Reports, and a host of new aircraft: the F-14B Bombcat, EA-6B Prowler, [=MiG=]-35D Super Fulcrum, and--by popular demand--the ADA-01B Adler, a variant of the ADA-01A which was cut from both ''5'' and ''Zero'' that serves as the game's first Attacker superplane.

** [[AbridgedArenaArray As for maps]], expect Area [=B7R=] Dogfight to be hosted on 80% of the lobbies at any given time. About the only thing that can displace [=B7R=] is a map having OEL challenges associated with it for a month, but even then it'll only last for four days maximum before everybody moves back to [=B7R=] -- which also has the added annoyance of effectively locking out those challenges for everyone who wasn't able to grind out the necessary points all at once. The only other match for [=B7R=] is Moscow Battle and Moscow Battle (HARD), mostly for being ground target central for planes carrying potent ground weapons alongside having some air targets here and there. Avalon Dam Invasion is a semi-frequent alternative to Moscow, serving the same overall role, but with even less aerial targets, making it the perfect map for Attacker-centric challenges. Ironically, when Team Deathmatch events are running, [=B7R=] actually seems to take a backseat to most everything else, despite these events having introduced the map.

** The Butterfly Master returns with a vengeance as a rare spawn Mission Update mini-boss in Moscow Battle, Area [=B7R=] Dogfight and Adriatic Sea Landing Operation. Not only she is much, much stronger than her Campaign incarnation (albeit without the PlotArmor), her drones are much more numerous and this time, it's more than happy to gang up on any one pilot foolish enough to charge in headlong (which, provided you have a plane with enough speed, attack power, and durability, [[ViolationOfCommonSense can be a surprisingly reliable but obviously risky, if not outright suicidal, tactic]] as opposed to hanging back and trying to pick her off from afar). While their lasers do not deal that much damage, they will absolutely hit, damage you over time, and having more than two aggroed is a recipe for very quick deaths. This is on top of the fact that Butterfly Master's Nosferatu fires her [[MacrossMissileMassacre ADMMs]] at regular intervals.

*** Bandai Namco Games apparently caught on that, too, at least for a while, since a few main tournament prizes starting with Su-37 -Yellow 13- were awarded to Top 1000 players, while bonus skins can also be won by Top 3000; now primary special-plane prizes are still top 200, but extra ones are for the top thousand, and skins go to anywhere between 3000 to 10,000 -- basically the lowest tier at which you can ''get'' any prizes -- depending on how many there are. They are also random Lucky Numbers that net certain players the aircraft that would normally only be available to top placers, and the fact that as of the game's first anniversary the devs have begun to re-run classic events so new or unlucky players can get another chance at their rewards.

* ThatOneLevel: Weapons Base Assault (HARD). Trying to complete the mission with a S rank, even with 8 players, is nothing short of an accomplishment due to how far away from enemies players start off, as well as some late enemies spawns on all phases of the mission (barring the emergency mission update).

*** With another new year comes Moscow Battle (HARD), Excalibur Onslaught IV, additional Free Flight maps, a Ring Battle rule for TDM based upon the Pilot Aptitude Test Special Raid, the ability to exchange different types of Research Reports, and a host of new aircraft: the F-14B Bombcat, EA-6B Prowler, [=MiG=]-35D Super Fulcrum, and--by popular demand--the ADA-01B Adler, a variant of the ADA-01A which was cut from both ''5'' and ''Zero'' that serves as the game's first Attacker superplane.