Arsenal Bird Quick HOOKs and APS Unit kills

**This method uses the SU-57 with PLSL**

You just roll to the left or the right and descend a bit so you have a clean shot on them. And make sure to stabilise the aircraft with the rudder controls and don't get too far behind.

You need the PLSL extended hit box part for that to be possible, and if your aim is top of the line, i guess it's possible to destroy them at the same time. Also I suggest spamming your machine gun too in the entire run and take the MG damage part as well.

Note that once the HOOKs are destroyed the supply unit will fall **WITHOUT** collision so you can fly right through it and target the APS Unit with a missile pretty easily, you don't have to avoid it.

I suggest keeping a lock on the Laser canon when waiting for the APS Unit to spawn so you keep the missile bay opened to fire the missile at the APS Unit immediately. This might not always work though, and I guess the quick standard missile lock-on part will help with it but I personally didn't use it in that run nor any of my runs actually if I remember correctly. And maybe try getting as close as you can get to the APS Unit so the missile hits ASAP.

You can also completely invert your plane and pitch down to pull up the nose and then pre-gun the APS Unit as it spawns for a much faster kill. Just be careful not to stall as this will just completely ruin the run.

You can see my best shot at the HOOKs in my latest run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO5vweyCISg

Hopefully this helped as I couldn't find a better way to explain this in text.

Mission 10 - SAM locations

https://new.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/ai1pc4/mission_10_transfer_orders_map/
https://i.redd.it/alva3xwwvmb21.png

Most likely the only mission you should spawn the ACE for anyway.

Mission 17 Homeward - Consistent and Easy 25 Second Dialogue Skip

(Made this for a Casual NG+ any% run, haven’t tested what’s different for Ace or S Rank)

The Strat detailed in the attached video saved me about 35 seconds but the time saved varies from player to player. Basically, i was failing to replicate Michin11’s time in mission 17 of his NG+ WR, no matter how fast i took out/ID’d all the islands targets, i would still be left waiting sometimes up to a minute and a half for the mission’s dialogue to finish and finally give me the “All Targets Destroyed” line and spawn the bombers. This pissed me off so i spent 4 days trying to understand how the mission’s dialogue works, figuring out which actions triggered what dialogue and if any could be skipped.

The longest block of triggered dialogue in this phase of the mission is 25 seconds long. I learned that the “all targets destroyed” line triggered by killing or ID’ing all the unknown targets will replace another line of triggered dialogue if the last target dealt with was supposed to trigger its own line of dialogue. That 25 second block of dialogue is triggered by ID’ing a particular pair of allies. So by skipping those allies and circling back to ID them after every other target is dealt with, the “all targets destroyed” line will override the 25 second block of triggered dialogue. It’s consistent, and pretty easy in the right plane/part set up. I used MiG 31 LAAM, all four speed parts, faster reloads and greater distance on both standard and special missiles. I know of at least one other instance of “dialogue management” I've used to get a faster time in another level, i think this is a fairly untapped category of time saves. Im going to keep looking for more skips like this in other levels. Hope this helps ✌️ -Denim_ak-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxYIeWA-vgw

Mission 17 Homeward TGT location map

here is a map of TGTs location after identification complete and later marked from white to red.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/539120940437602324/544938781086580779/M17_TGTs.png

Mission 19 Laser skip with SU-57 and PLSL

**This method has a very high risk if used in a full game speedrun.**

I'd suggest this parts setup:

- Onboard Self-Defense Jammer
- Next Gen High-Pressure Components Lv. 1

- Variable Cycle Engine Lv. 1

- Queen’s Custom

- High-Power Enhanced Shells Lv. 1

- High-Output Laser Generator Lv. 1

- Laser Beam Expander Lv. 1

- Light Condenser Correction Device Lv. 1

Restarting from checkpoint 19-1 once you reach it is absolutely crucial for this method because you need all of your flares, a lot of ammo and all of your health.

Once you load in, go full throttle and directly behind the Arsenal Bird then take out both of its Main Propellers immediately. Stay behind it at all times and be close to it.

**Note that the Laser cannon is undamageable until the mission is updated.**

You can take out a Pulse Laser if you still have time before the mission update, this will lessen the pressure when targeting the Laser cannon later. (DON'T destroy both of them yet as this will make you lose time due to reaction dialogue.)

Now to the most dangerous part of the method.

Once you notice that the mission is about to be updated invert your plane then go under the Arsenal Bird and get closer to the Laser cannon (Not too close though) and be careful of crashing into the Arsenal Bird. The timing of the flare usage is absolutely crucial in this section. As you don't want to use your flares too early or flare on missiles that aren't "dangerous" (such as lone normal (Not AAMs from the Arsenal Bird) missiles when you're low on damage or is still undamaged). Keep in mind you can take up to 3 normal missiles  (if you are less than 15% damaged. Higher than 15% you can take up to 2 missiles) before everything becomes dangerous. (Missiles are basically one-shot at this point).

It's up to you to determine what missiles aren't dangerous (such as lone (one missile) missiles from UAVs as you don't want to flare them because they won't kill you or do high damage like AAMs).

Once the mission is updated, spam your machine gun and PLSL at the Laser cannon (DON'T forget to flare as needed and don't crash). Once it's destroyed, go full throttle and break off of the Arsenal Bird. If done successfully, the shield will get activated twice and it will stay up after the 2nd activation until it's completely gone. It should start "disappearing" at **approximately** 16:45;000 on the timer (This can still happen earlier or get delayed a little. It all seems to depend on dialogue progression.)

**Additional Notes:**

1. **Flares will only effect the missiles that are beeping and are flashing on the HUD rapidly.**
2. **This method should always be successful (Unless you get shut down obviously). The stuff that rely on RNG are the missiles that are fired at you and the dialogue progression.**
3. **Once the shield is gone, destroy the Pulse Laser/s while Avril is still talking to avoid time loss due to reaction dialogue.**
4. **The Laser cannon has to be destroyed before the 1st shield activation. The skip will still partially work if done during the 2nd activation but this will obviously lose you time.**

Good luck! I'm hoping this helps. Tell me if I missed anything.

Pipeline Destruction truck estimated locations map

NOTE: I forgot to mark the first 4 trucks but since they are obviously at plain sight they shouldn't be a problem 
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/539120940437602324/546856380531998740/Pipeline_Destruction_truck_mapping.png

SolidSpiderZnake

Velocikitty

TheRealTrigger

Denim_ak

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Dark Blue

Fleet Destruction

Lighthouse: Arsenal Bird Kill

Xbox One

_Spizzo_

Dylano

USA / NTSC

Easy

Normal

Hard

Any%

S-Ranks

S-Ranks + Aces

Guns Only

Damageless

No Restr.

S-Rank

DLC Craft

Casual

NG Difficulty

NG+ Difficulty

Restriction

Hey everyone. 

Months ago someone in the AC7 Speedrunning Community Discord Server expressed interest in a rule change that would allow for a mid-run bathroom break. We discussed the issue as a community for a while but never arrived at a verdict. Recently a NG+ run was submitted that forced us to 

Name	Autor
Arsenal Bird Quick HOOKs and APS Unit kills	TheRealTrigger 2 months ago
Mission 10 - SAM locations	Velocikitty 6 years ago
Mission 17 Homeward - Consistent and Easy 25 Second Dialogue Skip	Denim_ak 1 year ago
Mission 17 Homeward TGT location map	SolidSpiderZnake 6 years ago
Mission 19 Laser skip with SU-57 and PLSL	TheRealTrigger 2 months ago
Pipeline Destruction truck estimated locations map	SolidSpiderZnake 6 years ago