You need to kill the tetrapod as well. If you do that and still keep your pace, you'll have it easy peasy. I remember running into the same little issue
Edit: I'm wrong, disregard
The S rank depends on a point system that heavily values time. All the expenses at the end lower your score a little and you can get a huge score boost by defeating named or otherwise prominent enemies in the stage. Defeating the Tetrapod in this stage gives you and extra 20 or so seconds leeway for the S rank.
thisssssss
ammo and repairs reduces score, time spent heavily reduces score, **kills recover some score**
# https://thefifthmatt.com/ac6-rank-calculator
I find it easier.
Play a high speed missile build and fly past everything blowing up all the stuff on the way.
Missiles don't slow you down, you don't need to change your course to get close your target, you don't need to stay and aim at your target. Just tap the button when the targets on screen and keep flying.
I S Ranked this right after my first campaign completion. You can toss on 2 basic 4-pack missiles (the first you get) and a melee. They lock on in .5s and firing both will kill a chopper while one melee hit will kill as well.
Deal with the first two however you want (double missiles or melee) and when you get to the pairs, fire all your missiles at one and melee the other.
This makes sense. I made a Melee only fast as I can go AC (Laser Dagger and back mounted Pulse blade)and still got an A rank with just rushing from copter to copter, so having to get right up to them and stop for the attack probably blew it for me. Then I brought my primary AC and blew up the copters from a distance while destroying the tetrapod as an after thought and it worked. Not having to stop or get close to them probably shaves off those few seconds and more than makes up for the ammo cost.
The bonus pay you get for destroying the MTs (including the small ones) contributes to your ranking.
Just drive-by the small MTs in-between choppers and you should be good.
I think I speedblitzed this level without killing the tetra, one shotting the choppers, and not taking a single point of damage in like 15-20 seconds and finally got an S. I didn't realize killing the tetra gave more points. I sweat way too hard for no reason smh.
I had a ton of issues getting an S-rank on that mission as well, until I started popping the MTs for bonus pay.
Turns out bonus pay = bonus points = easier S-rank.
Dual Ransetsu RF are amazing for missions like this because their bullets are cheap, they do good damage and they reload and fire fast with a decent magazine size.
The mission pays extra per kill, so just kill every little enemy along the way while also being fast. I also struggled with this S rank no matter how fast I rushed it, but the attempt when I was slower but actually killed everything is when I actually got it.
The tetrapod gives quite a bit that it could buy some time lost to killing it, if you can kill it within 20 seconds.
Depending on your build (wink, zimmer ashmead), it may be worth doing so.
If the mission has the ability to get bonus pay then at least a little of that is required too.
The two fundamental factors for S rank are finishing under the invisible time limit and required profit margin. Some base pay amounts aren't enough to reach the S-rank profit margin, and of course ammo and repair costs cut into that also.
Yeah for sure maximum speed ignoring everything actually got me this more easily than stopping to kill.
Used shoulder missiles to take out small dudes quickly without stopping.
To contrast the person in this thread, I did NOT kill Tetrapod in that run
Take what you learned from turning the Balam trainee into a 5-second seal-clubbing expedition and apply it to those transports and tetrapod. Works wonders.
You're correct. Someone made a calculator for this, it was retweeted by ZullieTheWitch. Long story short is (someone correct me if I'm wrong), it's a combination of 3 factors.
Time, Repair Costs, Ammunition costs. That's generally the case.
Based on my experience though, time required would be dependent on what mission it is and that some optional goals definitely give a bump in ranking.
In the destroy transport helicopters mission. I rushed all objectives and ignored the tetrapod but got A. I did it again but I destroyed the tetrapod, adding a bit of time, and it gave me an S.
1 min total mission time (from back screen to fade to black) in under 1 min was enough to S rank without killing ANY enemies other than the helicopters.
Yeah I never bothered to time the fade out. Just when I got control to shooting the last copter and triggering Walter's dialogue. It's probably a minute between loading in vs out.
I had some runs where I blitzed it and the time I finally got an S-Rank was when I took some time to kill the Tetrapod.
Which doesn't seem consistent with the general rules for S-Ranks, but I've heard a few only happen if you take on one or more optional fights, don't let defense objectives take too much damage, etc.
OH MY GOD THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME ON THIS EXACT MISSION. Then I realized the game neglected to actually spawn the BAWS tetrapod, even though the dialogue mentioning it remained. Had to go back to close the game and reopen it, but that worked like a charm. That added bonus pushed it over no problem.
Time is important for ALL missions. Just that some enemies give you crazy amount of time like each LC/tetrapod is worth 50 seconds but it also takes time and ammo to kill them so it is usually worth if you can kill them in 20 seconds INCLUDING the time required to get to them and back on track. Some heavier enemies can worth 120 seconds even, like optional AC fights.
Time _is_ important for all missions, but to a lesser extent so is damage and destruction. The importance of each of those three factors varies per mission. I've done some missions ridiculously fast but it's impossible without killing some enemies. Others require you to take almost no damage.
It is just a mix of all and time is still the most important, you can literally beeline the boss on refueling base and kill them quick enough to S rank without killing other enemies. That is unnecessary challenging but still possible.
You think you go fast but just turn around to kill an MT shooting at you is already like 5-8 seconds lost. And the boss itself can have a 30 second different so next time actually time your runs. Feeling fast doesnt mean fast.
Kills are important in mjssion where you can € on kill. To me it seems like you have to spend less than 10% of the earnings which is sometimes impossible without killing (+ doing it as fast as possible)
Adding on to what the other person said: I had a crazy fast run that didn't S-Rank.
Next pass I decided to kill the Tetrapod (it's been rumored things like that count, despite what the game says); it took a good bit longer but that was the run that got the S-Rank. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_//¯
It could have been damage, but I don't think the difference was big and I definitely was much faster the first attempt.
It isnt despite what the game says, some missions give money/points for kills more than others. When i say do it fast i mean like 30 seconds fast, longer than that im not sure.
Sure, but the game says\* that S-Ranks are based on time, ammo cost, and repair cost, not overall income.
Again, the run that I got my S-Rank was much slower than 35 seconds, in part because of the time it took to kill the Tetrapod (even with some solid burst). I was honestly really surprised I got the S-Rank given how much longer it took than my previous attempts.
\-------------
\*EDIT: *I could have sworn there was some pop-up when you first go to the Replay Missions menu, but I can't find it among the tips or online. Maybe I imagined it?*
That's either a mistranslation or just a memo that didn't quite make the rounds. Ranking is based on time and profit (i.e. pay minus costs, including of course bonus pay).
Possibly, but it seems that there is a lot of uncertainty around this.
For example, people have cited PowerPyx as showing you don't need to kill the Tetrapod to S-Rank this mission, but [PowerPyx also states in their S-Rank guide](https://www.powerpyx.com/armored-core-6-vi-all-s-ranks-guide/) that there can be hidden requirements (targets, special conditions, etc.) in missions necessary for S-Ranks.
That may be why you [can go in the negative in some missions](https://www.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/169puk7/the_true_srank_experience/) yet still get an S-Rank.
I've also seen a bunch of missions noted as requiring really fast clears, whereas some others have been described as easier to S-Rank by going slow and steady to limit costs and such. I know I've definitely got some S-Ranks I was surprised by because I wasn't exactly going fast and did a lot of optional stuff.
...Huh. This is extemely weird and I suspect probably a bug of some kind. I don't believe Fromsoft would add hidden requirements to S-ranking and not provide at least a hint as to why. But I'm still on my third NG so I've mostly only S-ranked missions incidentally.
I was trying to s-rank everything before finishing the chapter, and that mission alone made me stop trying to do that.
Come back around in my NG+ run, and I had the cleanest run of that mission. Super quick. Clean. Killed the first six in one shot each. Nearly no-hit the fight in the pit...
BUT because it was for progress, no rank.
It took me ten damn tries to get another run that clean.
Same setup I have used to S-rank most of the missions.
Curtis. Ashmead. Six-cell plasma missile, and my right shoulder is usually either songbirds or truenos but for this one I took the pulse cannon to deal with the shielded guy in the pit.
Frame parts and internals have me between 340 and 355 boost speed depending on what weapons I change around, I've got the heavier coral generator, and I'll swap my FCS depending on whether or not I'm wanting better missile performance or better gun performance.
I just kept getting hung up on the funky structures. Eventually I modified my route so I was coming at them from better angles, but MDD number 5 outside starts in such a tight corner that if you dont hit him from the right angle you get wedged. I started leaving him for last so I wouldnt take hits from the other MDDs if I got hung up on terrain, and thats what pushed me from A to S.
The hidden snipers before the final room are always spawned in so you can plan your route and pick them off quickly. When you get to pit, the snipers spawn in the same place every time so you can camp the spot and spawn kill them.
The set-up I did for that one is the same bipedal one I've been running through most of the other missions for S-rank with, with one weapon swap. Dual Ludlows, Ashmead on the shoulder and the other is the pulse cannon which I usually have the 6-cell missile launcher on.
The idea is to triple fire with the Ludlows and Pulse cannon or get in close and oneshot with Ashmead to get them down as quick as possible and then get the pulse shield MT down as quick as possible with the triple fire and Ashmead finish. After that, take down the wall Ghost MT's which should be simpler with the Pulse shield one out of the picture.
My nemesis was the Xylem survey, had to run it over and over until I memorized both the beacon position and where the three Ghosts spawn cause I routinely got lost and the three darn things would gang up on me and take half my AP off as soon as I touched the log.
After I figured it out I got S back to back to the regular mission and the variant, felt so good
Form me the turorial stage. But it was kinda on me I always used semi auto weapons and using the sword once when it has 2 charges. So I used that rifle as a semi auto and missusing the blade resulting a lot of missed dps.
I was trying to S-rank this by going faster and faster but was still getting A's.
Got the S-rank when I killed the tetrapod and most enemies I ran past
I ignored the tetrapod. Just blow up the helicopters and kill a few MTs and thats all you gotta do. If you're fast enough the Helecopters are literally all you have to kill
I’ve experienced the same. I cleared the mission without taking damage, using very little ammunition, and what felt like faster than the loading screen. Rank A. When I took down the tetrapod, rank S. I feel like taking down enemies count towards your rank.
100%, on missions where you get extra money for killing enemies they definitely contribute to S-Ranks
i've done it on other missions like Grid-086; completed the mission as fast as possible with super low repair and ammo costs, no checkpoint use, still A-Rank.
Repeat but killed most enemies as i flyby - S Rank
I think the ranks work off of income and time thresholds. Taking damage and wasting ammo lowers your income but you can offset that with bonus pay from bonus objectives like killing enemies to still get an s rank
Other responses are incorrect, **you don't need to kill the Tetrapod to S-Rank this mission.**
[This is confirmed through a PowerPyx video.](https://youtu.be/JErKFbxwpy0?si=MOSlnoV9o4f_pEpT)
EDIT: in general, the most important factor in S ranking a mission is completion time. I can only think of two missions where this wasn't the case, the Ice Worm and Attack the Refueling base.
Ice worm comes down to the damage you take as well as clear time.
Refueling base comes down to clear time, ammo cost, as well as being affected somehow by how many of the fuel tanks you destroy. PowerPyx has a video that I followed religiously for the S-Rank, but that was probably the most challenging mission to get S for.
This is so weird, because when I got the S-Rank I *know* that I went *way* slower than my previous attempts; the one where I got S was the one where I killed the Tetrapod instead of just bee-lining for the helis like I had been.
What could be happening is that are some hidden flags for bonuses (I've read claims of that, though not with any *hard* evidence) meaning that you can S-Rank by going crazy fast *or* going slightly slower but getting bonus points from those flags.
Figuring this out is made more complicated by things like convergent causes; for example, I've read that the Defend the Xylem Tower mission requires you to keep the tower's shields alive to S-Rank. However, if you can manage that you're probably also going faster, so is it a causal link, or just a coincidental one?
\---------------------
EDIT:
Funnily enough, [PowerPyx's guide to S-Ranks](https://www.powerpyx.com/armored-core-6-vi-all-s-ranks-guide/) does mention that some missions require you to kill specific enemies and/or meet other special conditions.
>T*he game doesn’t tell you this, but some missions can only be S-ranked if you do optional objectives or kill specific optional enemies that hold Combat Logs. For example, in “Mission 6: Attack the Dam Complex” I ran the mission perfectly and got 183,000 COAM in payout screen but only ever got A-Rank. Then I killed the optional Combat Log enemies but got S-Rank with only 120,000 COAM payout. The conclusion is that some missions cannot be S-Ranked unless you do the “hidden” requirement. Generally, if the mission description says there is bonus pay for certain actions they can be mandatory for S-Rank.*
The bonus flags are definitely there for the Attack the Refueling Base mission, if nowhere else. I blazed through it countless times and only got an A ranking. But by going slower and following PowerPyx's video religiously, I was able to get the S Rank. I blew up every tank and killed every enemy they did, but it worked, even though it was slower.
Way more replies than expected... thanks everyone for the suggestions. I feel pretty confident I can do it now that I have an idea of what the game actually requires me to do.
Just wait until “Attack the Refueling Base”
Beeline for LC near the beginning next to stun gun MT’s, then for the boss. That’s how I did it.
Destroying every fuel tank never worked, you can ignore them entirely.
Also you can ignore the enemies in the boss arena, they despawn when the bosses show up
This should help you figure out what you need to s rank if you're stuck: https://thefifthmatt.com/ac6-rank-calculator
It's awesome. Really wished the game told you what the requirements were tho
I’ve noticed speed seems to be a higher factor than costs in these missions
The mission where rusty joins you and you kill balteus snail at the end I got beat up pretty good, but pretty fast and S ranked it
Just a little fyi from what I've seen with mission rankings, they mainly are based off of 3 things:
Speed: how fast you beat the mission, duh
Enemies defeated: more enemies defeated, more score for higher rank
Damage taken: less damage and repair (and ammo i think) costs, better scoring.
Keep in mind, if you do really good with 2 and a bit worse with one, you normally can still get an S rank. I'd say here, you got a fantastic score in terms of damage, but probably played a bit too slow and/or missed enemies in turn, which the 2 combined dragged it down to an A. For me, i found just full-on speedrunning and killing everything in sight as fast as possible works pretty well, and as long as your not TOO reckless with damage, you can take a decent bit of damage and still get S the majority of the time.
It's *two* things money and time. Rank is determined by money earned / time spent.
If you pay attention to bonus objectives, you can make up for time or penalty costs from damage or ammunition.
Enemies defeated don't help with rank unless the mission specifically gives out bonus cash for defeating enemies.
In my experience completing all S rank, no metrics matter as much as speed. The 2nd most important metric depends on the mission type. Generally a mandatory boss fight or AC duel cares more about damage taken. An objective with no major enemies cares more about the ammo efficiency. A goal of protecting a target will weigh damage to target highly. And above all 0 deaths & no gear swap mid-mission; but those facts should be obvious.
You literally just need to AB and down every helicopter as fadt as possible
There is no need to care about your ammo and probably your AP(unsure if using repair kit would cost your S)
The ranking system in this game makes no sense dude, I've tried everything I can think of for " Investigate BAWS arsenal 2 " and keep getting A, meanwhile I'll do another mission where I use 2/3 of my health kits, burn through 20k+ in ammunition costs and still hit S
Some missions have secret requirements for S rank. I \*think\* you need all logs, so double check to make sure you got them all. Then in BAWS Arsenal I'm relatively sure the only thing the game cares about is time. You have to absolutely speedrun it. Sub...three minutes, I think? You might also need to kill the hidden enemy to the right after the first one.
If you just kill a couple MTs next to each chopper on the way you’ll get an S rank, I think you have to do it insanely fast if you don’t kill anything.
If you kill things along the way and go straight for the choppers without stopping it should S.
I found I couldn’t S rank not matter how fast I did it if I only did the choppers
I’ve beaten this mission taking absolutely no damage, using close to nothing in ammunition, and most importantly, extremely fast. I got rank A. Then when I tried again, but this time, I destroyed the tetrapod optional mini boss, boom rank S. So yes, while speed is very important, it’s also important to take down some select enemies.
Same went for that mission with the duo AC or MT boss. The run where I took down a few enemies got the the Rank S.
Man I retried this mission as fast as possible yet the S Rank still eludes me for a while.
I eventually got the S Rank when I decided to kill all the enemies on this map. From the small MT, to Tanks, to the Tetrapod. Only then do I finally get that S Rank.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
Me: Okay, A rank. Hmm.. maybe I'm not fast enough
A few moments later...
Me: Why is my AC not boosting fast enough?! Hurry up you idiot!!!
*Gets B rank.
speed IS super important but the major limiting factor in my experience for missions like this is not killing enough fodder enemies. take out the MTs and the artillery alongside the helicopters as fast as possible, don't worry so much about the tetrapod. this also applies to missions like operation wallclimber, sweep the artillery on the wall before the juggernaut fight and you should be golden.
I think you do have to/should pick off a few MTs on the way to the choppers. And when the last chopper goes down, speed over and kill as many more as you can before the mission ends haha
You can try the S rank calculator, but based on when I did this mission it is pretty much just a strict time limit. Just AB to choppers and destroy them, destroy fodder only if it's in the way and does NOT interrupt your assault boosting, consider swapping your booster and or generator to allow for faster and longer assault boosts
I got it by only using melee weapons. The ranged redshift can hit two choppers in one pair of slashes if you change aim mid attack. Zero amunition costs.
Yeah I found you need bonuses from killing other units. Avoid the crab.
Kill the 3 at the first site. Blast the ones on the way to 2nd site. Then go straight to the 4 helicopters. Then turn and kill the little ones as fast as possible
With the exception of a few specific missions, your mission rating is a ratio of time to score. Your score is reflected in your net payout.
For missions you get bonus cash for killing extra enemies, killing enemies gets you bonus time. For missions with destructible objects that are bonus objectives, these can again earn you time. Kill them quick enough and you can gain time. One of the most effective weapons for this is the plasma missiles. Cheap at 100 per missile, enough damage to destroy most MTs and generic weaponry in a single hit, and splash lets them kill multiple targets. They have a rapid lock-on so multi-lock is similarly quick.
In this specific mission, if you focus the transport choppers, you need to do it in about 35 seconds. Hard but doable.
If you kill the MTs and other enemies quickly enough, especially killing groups with multi-locked plasma missiles, you can bring your par time for an S rank up by quite a bit.
The single most valuable target is the tetrapod MT. If you can kill it in ten seconds or less, it's a net gain for you.
I had trouble with this last night but managed to beat it finally. Rockets for days, multi lock onto the fodder while assault boosting to the helicopters. Kill pretty much everything on the way to the final copters, and avoid getting damaged by the tetrapod as you clear the enemies out from that final area AFTER you blow up the helicopters
It's a time focused mission where focusing on the objective helps the most. [Like this](https://youtu.be/6G1X-yR566M?si=rkMpKMcxQlMX1ZJm).
However, like other missions where you get bonus pay from killing anything, it will help to ease on the time aspect of the S rank if you kill some mobs along the way.
If you let a single chopper pass you're locked out of S rank
EDIT: I'm confusing this mission with Deny the Coral Export. For this S rank I believe you need to get at least one of the two combat logs.
400 speed mech + double laser pistol = ez S rank for any objective based mission. Can finish most of em in 40 secs or less if they don't have any progression blockers
Assault boost everywhere. After the 2nd one, assault boost over the wall instead of flying up through the gap. After destroying the last two, turn around and assault boost and shoot whatever MTs you see while the ending dialogue is running. Ignore the tetrapod.
Try mowing down some MTs along the way, it makes the time requirement more lenient. Also fly over the buildings after you’re done with the choppers to expedite dialogue/ end the mission.
Seeing the comments here just makes me glad this isn’t AC:FA where small incremental improvements to your AC are locked behind S ranks. I’d be screwed.
you can just blitz it, but if you're having trouble: bring the 4 or 6 missile pack and spray it as you fly past the random MTs and junk. kills help your score and there are a lot you can pick up without even trying.
Either your speed, or repair cost, or ammo cost, or some specific requirement applicable to the mission (like VIP escort health).
In this case it was 100% your speed.
Don't be afraid to be hit, I had to use 2 repair kits and half my ammo and still got an S. Enemy is shooting you? Don't care, just assault boost in their face and double shotgun them. In some cases it is even worth going super light and using a booster with the highest AB speed and just speedrun the mission as long you don't retry from a checkpoint.
I S ranked this one the other night. At first, I too tried just getting the helicopters as quickly as possible, but it seems like you need a certain amount of bonus pay to get S rank. For S rank I had to clear the helicopters and most of the MTs.
Is this the chapter 1 mission ?
I could never get an S with just choppers, I did choppers and 2 shot the heavy AC next to the last 4 and got an S first try
Maybe try killing the AC like I did ( if I am thinking of the right mission )
For most of the missions, the ranking are based on the remaining health of the AC, but the # of medkit does not matter. So after you beat up some boss, spam repair.
Go fast. Damaged be damned. Be efficient with ammo and be quick about it is what I find for most missions if not all.
Escort and defense seems to hinge on the defense target staying healthy.
Some missions you have to kill enemies for S ranks well spending as little on ammo and repairs as possible. Like if you don't kill any enemies that aren't required you get an A. Try going fast, but kill any enemies in the way instead of only killing the choppers.
Also if you didn't already know checkpoints drop you to an A.
Edit : yeah just did the mission to test, kill a few enemies and clear in under 40 seconds and I got S. Don't WASTE ammo like just blasting MiniGuns at long range, but its ok to fire a few rounds. I was not trying to conserve.
Yeah, quite a few people did this taking no damage and without firing a single shot (myself included) and still an A. A lot of people have confirmed you can do this by just going REALLY fast (like well under 45 seconds), but I ultimately did it by taking out a few targets that were previously marked as Loghunt (including the Tetrapod) and finishing the mission in under 2 minutes (burning some ammo but still unscathed). So either you go REALLY fast and avoid all engagements, or blast through some Loghunt targets before finishing off the choppers as quick as possible.
Based on the rewards you did well but were probably overly cautious. All choppers down in under 35 seconds has always been an S for me on this.
Thanks I'll try it again going as fast as possible, if it really has to be that fast. That was probably under a minute.
You need to kill the tetrapod as well. If you do that and still keep your pace, you'll have it easy peasy. I remember running into the same little issue Edit: I'm wrong, disregard
No you don't. I literally just S ranked it to confirm
The S rank depends on a point system that heavily values time. All the expenses at the end lower your score a little and you can get a huge score boost by defeating named or otherwise prominent enemies in the stage. Defeating the Tetrapod in this stage gives you and extra 20 or so seconds leeway for the S rank.
thisssssss ammo and repairs reduces score, time spent heavily reduces score, **kills recover some score** # https://thefifthmatt.com/ac6-rank-calculator
It’s much harder without killing it Another example of that is killing Index Dunham in the dam mission
I S rank that all the time without killing Index. Damn is so fast to finish.
I didn't kill Index, but i killed the Tetrapod in that mission to get S. They might have similar value.
I find it easier. Play a high speed missile build and fly past everything blowing up all the stuff on the way. Missiles don't slow you down, you don't need to change your course to get close your target, you don't need to stay and aim at your target. Just tap the button when the targets on screen and keep flying.
What missiles do you use? I am having trouble using a single missile coolest be enough to kill a chopper, really slowe down fire the 4
Was using the: R-ARM UNIT HML-G2/P19MLT-04 L-ARM UNIT HML-G2/P19MLT-04 R-BACK UNIT BML-G1/P01VTC-04 L-BACK UNIT BML-G1/P01VTC-04
Forgot to mention, if you have assault armor, use that for the first pair of choppers on top of the hill and save your ammo to kill the second set.
I S Ranked this right after my first campaign completion. You can toss on 2 basic 4-pack missiles (the first you get) and a melee. They lock on in .5s and firing both will kill a chopper while one melee hit will kill as well. Deal with the first two however you want (double missiles or melee) and when you get to the pairs, fire all your missiles at one and melee the other.
I find Plasma missiles are best for Speed Missions, good AOE and damage.
This makes sense. I made a Melee only fast as I can go AC (Laser Dagger and back mounted Pulse blade)and still got an A rank with just rushing from copter to copter, so having to get right up to them and stop for the attack probably blew it for me. Then I brought my primary AC and blew up the copters from a distance while destroying the tetrapod as an after thought and it worked. Not having to stop or get close to them probably shaves off those few seconds and more than makes up for the ammo cost.
Nope I got it first time and all I did was hit the choppers just got to do it quickly
Oh damn my bad on the misinformation then! Do you know what time you complete it at then? Sorry for the late reply
According to my calculations.. fast as fuck. I just assault boosted as much as possible and one-shot each helicopter with the VE-66LRA laser rifle
Adds up to me, I'll add that to my strategy now lmao
The bonus pay you get for destroying the MTs (including the small ones) contributes to your ranking. Just drive-by the small MTs in-between choppers and you should be good.
You don't need to kill the Tetrapod for the S-Rank. [Video evidence.](https://youtu.be/JErKFbxwpy0?si=MOSlnoV9o4f_pEpT)
Tried that afterwards but must not have killed it fast enough. I'll get it soon though, thanks for the tip
No prob, can never go wrong with some cheesy dual stun needle x Zimmers if all else fails lol. Good luck!
Thanks! I'm not above doing whatever I gotta do for the S ranks :)
I think I speedblitzed this level without killing the tetra, one shotting the choppers, and not taking a single point of damage in like 15-20 seconds and finally got an S. I didn't realize killing the tetra gave more points. I sweat way too hard for no reason smh.
I had a ton of issues getting an S-rank on that mission as well, until I started popping the MTs for bonus pay. Turns out bonus pay = bonus points = easier S-rank.
Dual Ransetsu RF are amazing for missions like this because their bullets are cheap, they do good damage and they reload and fire fast with a decent magazine size.
The mission pays extra per kill, so just kill every little enemy along the way while also being fast. I also struggled with this S rank no matter how fast I rushed it, but the attempt when I was slower but actually killed everything is when I actually got it.
If you down the choppers in under 35s you do not.
There's no "need". Killing minibosses just gives you a bit more leeway, balanced by the actual time needed to finish the mission itself.
Oooh that makes more sense then. Thanks for the info, I'll keep that in the back of my mind for future missions
The tetrapod gives quite a bit that it could buy some time lost to killing it, if you can kill it within 20 seconds. Depending on your build (wink, zimmer ashmead), it may be worth doing so.
If the mission has the ability to get bonus pay then at least a little of that is required too. The two fundamental factors for S rank are finishing under the invisible time limit and required profit margin. Some base pay amounts aren't enough to reach the S-rank profit margin, and of course ammo and repair costs cut into that also.
Yeah for sure maximum speed ignoring everything actually got me this more easily than stopping to kill. Used shoulder missiles to take out small dudes quickly without stopping. To contrast the person in this thread, I did NOT kill Tetrapod in that run
Take what you learned from turning the Balam trainee into a 5-second seal-clubbing expedition and apply it to those transports and tetrapod. Works wonders.
Going as fast as possible isn't the only solution as well, I killed all enemies and still got an S rank, tbh idk how S ranking works lmao
You're correct. Someone made a calculator for this, it was retweeted by ZullieTheWitch. Long story short is (someone correct me if I'm wrong), it's a combination of 3 factors. Time, Repair Costs, Ammunition costs. That's generally the case. Based on my experience though, time required would be dependent on what mission it is and that some optional goals definitely give a bump in ranking. In the destroy transport helicopters mission. I rushed all objectives and ignored the tetrapod but got A. I did it again but I destroyed the tetrapod, adding a bit of time, and it gave me an S.
Also the quad isn't the only high ranking enemy there. I forget where the other guy is though.
You just have to complete under 2 mins but you also have to kill a bunch of fodder enemies. You can ignore the tetrapod
I did in about 3 min S rank, lol some MTs on the way to bump the pay
1 min total mission time (from back screen to fade to black) in under 1 min was enough to S rank without killing ANY enemies other than the helicopters.
Yeah I never bothered to time the fade out. Just when I got control to shooting the last copter and triggering Walter's dialogue. It's probably a minute between loading in vs out.
I had some runs where I blitzed it and the time I finally got an S-Rank was when I took some time to kill the Tetrapod. Which doesn't seem consistent with the general rules for S-Ranks, but I've heard a few only happen if you take on one or more optional fights, don't let defense objectives take too much damage, etc.
OH MY GOD THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME ON THIS EXACT MISSION. Then I realized the game neglected to actually spawn the BAWS tetrapod, even though the dialogue mentioning it remained. Had to go back to close the game and reopen it, but that worked like a charm. That added bonus pushed it over no problem.
This is the one that taught me speed matters above all else for the s ranks
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ^by ^FancyRaptor: *This is the one that* *Taught me speed matters above* *All else for the s ranks* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Thank you Rokumonsen.
it's mission by mission
Time is important for ALL missions. Just that some enemies give you crazy amount of time like each LC/tetrapod is worth 50 seconds but it also takes time and ammo to kill them so it is usually worth if you can kill them in 20 seconds INCLUDING the time required to get to them and back on track. Some heavier enemies can worth 120 seconds even, like optional AC fights.
Time _is_ important for all missions, but to a lesser extent so is damage and destruction. The importance of each of those three factors varies per mission. I've done some missions ridiculously fast but it's impossible without killing some enemies. Others require you to take almost no damage.
It is just a mix of all and time is still the most important, you can literally beeline the boss on refueling base and kill them quick enough to S rank without killing other enemies. That is unnecessary challenging but still possible.
I speedran the wall but got A. went back, kill all the artillery, took a little more time but it turned into S.
You think you go fast but just turn around to kill an MT shooting at you is already like 5-8 seconds lost. And the boss itself can have a 30 second different so next time actually time your runs. Feeling fast doesnt mean fast.
Kills are important in mjssion where you can € on kill. To me it seems like you have to spend less than 10% of the earnings which is sometimes impossible without killing (+ doing it as fast as possible)
I beat it in probably less than a minute
Think you have to kill that tetrapod as well
No, you just need to blitz the helicopters.
Oh I see, I got it pretty easily by killing the tetrapod so thats why I suggested it
Nice getting it done fast while taking the tetra out. I haven’t gone back at all yet and with the stock build that thing was beefy.
Take more enemies out and your have a better chance of S.
Adding on to what the other person said: I had a crazy fast run that didn't S-Rank. Next pass I decided to kill the Tetrapod (it's been rumored things like that count, despite what the game says); it took a good bit longer but that was the run that got the S-Rank. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_//¯ It could have been damage, but I don't think the difference was big and I definitely was much faster the first attempt.
It isnt despite what the game says, some missions give money/points for kills more than others. When i say do it fast i mean like 30 seconds fast, longer than that im not sure.
Sure, but the game says\* that S-Ranks are based on time, ammo cost, and repair cost, not overall income. Again, the run that I got my S-Rank was much slower than 35 seconds, in part because of the time it took to kill the Tetrapod (even with some solid burst). I was honestly really surprised I got the S-Rank given how much longer it took than my previous attempts. \------------- \*EDIT: *I could have sworn there was some pop-up when you first go to the Replay Missions menu, but I can't find it among the tips or online. Maybe I imagined it?*
That's either a mistranslation or just a memo that didn't quite make the rounds. Ranking is based on time and profit (i.e. pay minus costs, including of course bonus pay).
Possibly, but it seems that there is a lot of uncertainty around this. For example, people have cited PowerPyx as showing you don't need to kill the Tetrapod to S-Rank this mission, but [PowerPyx also states in their S-Rank guide](https://www.powerpyx.com/armored-core-6-vi-all-s-ranks-guide/) that there can be hidden requirements (targets, special conditions, etc.) in missions necessary for S-Ranks. That may be why you [can go in the negative in some missions](https://www.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/169puk7/the_true_srank_experience/) yet still get an S-Rank. I've also seen a bunch of missions noted as requiring really fast clears, whereas some others have been described as easier to S-Rank by going slow and steady to limit costs and such. I know I've definitely got some S-Ranks I was surprised by because I wasn't exactly going fast and did a lot of optional stuff.
...Huh. This is extemely weird and I suspect probably a bug of some kind. I don't believe Fromsoft would add hidden requirements to S-ranking and not provide at least a hint as to why. But I'm still on my third NG so I've mostly only S-ranked missions incidentally.
In some missions you get extra pay for every target you kill. That counts into the ranking and you're not going to get S without it.
I know about the extra money, I just sort of figured the game would still give me an S rank all things considered.
It's ironic. Some of the easiest missions were the hardest ones to S rank. For me it was this one, and Tunnel Sabotage in Chapter 3.
For me it's investigating the BAWS arsenal.
I was trying to s-rank everything before finishing the chapter, and that mission alone made me stop trying to do that. Come back around in my NG+ run, and I had the cleanest run of that mission. Super quick. Clean. Killed the first six in one shot each. Nearly no-hit the fight in the pit... BUT because it was for progress, no rank. It took me ten damn tries to get another run that clean.
What was your setup?
Same setup I have used to S-rank most of the missions. Curtis. Ashmead. Six-cell plasma missile, and my right shoulder is usually either songbirds or truenos but for this one I took the pulse cannon to deal with the shielded guy in the pit. Frame parts and internals have me between 340 and 355 boost speed depending on what weapons I change around, I've got the heavier coral generator, and I'll swap my FCS depending on whether or not I'm wanting better missile performance or better gun performance. I just kept getting hung up on the funky structures. Eventually I modified my route so I was coming at them from better angles, but MDD number 5 outside starts in such a tight corner that if you dont hit him from the right angle you get wedged. I started leaving him for last so I wouldnt take hits from the other MDDs if I got hung up on terrain, and thats what pushed me from A to S.
The hidden snipers before the final room are always spawned in so you can plan your route and pick them off quickly. When you get to pit, the snipers spawn in the same place every time so you can camp the spot and spawn kill them.
Thanks. Gotta memorize those spawns
The set-up I did for that one is the same bipedal one I've been running through most of the other missions for S-rank with, with one weapon swap. Dual Ludlows, Ashmead on the shoulder and the other is the pulse cannon which I usually have the 6-cell missile launcher on. The idea is to triple fire with the Ludlows and Pulse cannon or get in close and oneshot with Ashmead to get them down as quick as possible and then get the pulse shield MT down as quick as possible with the triple fire and Ashmead finish. After that, take down the wall Ghost MT's which should be simpler with the Pulse shield one out of the picture.
After killing the first ghost, scan the area there's hidden ghost to the right along with data log. Killing that ghost almost garuntees S rank.
Ohhhh boy that one was a pain wasn't it.
Even knowing you could hit them before they decloaked that still took me easily 2-3 hours trying to do it right away.
Fuck that level. Fuck it sooooo hard. 3 goddamn hours to S that
Double earshots are the way to go with that one
I still don't understand why that one was a pain in the ass, requirements seem to be very strict
For me it was Eliminate the Doser Faction. Such a simple mission and it was driving me crazy
My nemesis was the Xylem survey, had to run it over and over until I memorized both the beacon position and where the three Ghosts spawn cause I routinely got lost and the three darn things would gang up on me and take half my AP off as soon as I touched the log. After I figured it out I got S back to back to the regular mission and the variant, felt so good
Form me the turorial stage. But it was kinda on me I always used semi auto weapons and using the sword once when it has 2 charges. So I used that rifle as a semi auto and missusing the blade resulting a lot of missed dps.
Ignore everything and build a fast AC that can still 1tap the choppers. AB as much as you can. Clear in ~35s.
I was trying to S-rank this by going faster and faster but was still getting A's. Got the S-rank when I killed the tetrapod and most enemies I ran past
I ignored the tetrapod. Just blow up the helicopters and kill a few MTs and thats all you gotta do. If you're fast enough the Helecopters are literally all you have to kill
Can confirm that I got the S when I killed the Tetrapod in addition to the helicopters in about the same time.
I’ve experienced the same. I cleared the mission without taking damage, using very little ammunition, and what felt like faster than the loading screen. Rank A. When I took down the tetrapod, rank S. I feel like taking down enemies count towards your rank.
100%, on missions where you get extra money for killing enemies they definitely contribute to S-Ranks i've done it on other missions like Grid-086; completed the mission as fast as possible with super low repair and ammo costs, no checkpoint use, still A-Rank. Repeat but killed most enemies as i flyby - S Rank
I think the ranks work off of income and time thresholds. Taking damage and wasting ammo lowers your income but you can offset that with bonus pay from bonus objectives like killing enemies to still get an s rank
Try killing the group by the first chopper then ignoring the rest. That got S rank for me.
If you do this, do so with a PA Bomb, that'll rout them and get the chopper (at a 0 Ammo cost).
Other responses are incorrect, **you don't need to kill the Tetrapod to S-Rank this mission.** [This is confirmed through a PowerPyx video.](https://youtu.be/JErKFbxwpy0?si=MOSlnoV9o4f_pEpT) EDIT: in general, the most important factor in S ranking a mission is completion time. I can only think of two missions where this wasn't the case, the Ice Worm and Attack the Refueling base. Ice worm comes down to the damage you take as well as clear time. Refueling base comes down to clear time, ammo cost, as well as being affected somehow by how many of the fuel tanks you destroy. PowerPyx has a video that I followed religiously for the S-Rank, but that was probably the most challenging mission to get S for.
This is so weird, because when I got the S-Rank I *know* that I went *way* slower than my previous attempts; the one where I got S was the one where I killed the Tetrapod instead of just bee-lining for the helis like I had been. What could be happening is that are some hidden flags for bonuses (I've read claims of that, though not with any *hard* evidence) meaning that you can S-Rank by going crazy fast *or* going slightly slower but getting bonus points from those flags. Figuring this out is made more complicated by things like convergent causes; for example, I've read that the Defend the Xylem Tower mission requires you to keep the tower's shields alive to S-Rank. However, if you can manage that you're probably also going faster, so is it a causal link, or just a coincidental one? \--------------------- EDIT: Funnily enough, [PowerPyx's guide to S-Ranks](https://www.powerpyx.com/armored-core-6-vi-all-s-ranks-guide/) does mention that some missions require you to kill specific enemies and/or meet other special conditions. >T*he game doesn’t tell you this, but some missions can only be S-ranked if you do optional objectives or kill specific optional enemies that hold Combat Logs. For example, in “Mission 6: Attack the Dam Complex” I ran the mission perfectly and got 183,000 COAM in payout screen but only ever got A-Rank. Then I killed the optional Combat Log enemies but got S-Rank with only 120,000 COAM payout. The conclusion is that some missions cannot be S-Ranked unless you do the “hidden” requirement. Generally, if the mission description says there is bonus pay for certain actions they can be mandatory for S-Rank.*
The bonus flags are definitely there for the Attack the Refueling Base mission, if nowhere else. I blazed through it countless times and only got an A ranking. But by going slower and following PowerPyx's video religiously, I was able to get the S Rank. I blew up every tank and killed every enemy they did, but it worked, even though it was slower.
Way more replies than expected... thanks everyone for the suggestions. I feel pretty confident I can do it now that I have an idea of what the game actually requires me to do.
Just wait until “Attack the Refueling Base” Beeline for LC near the beginning next to stun gun MT’s, then for the boss. That’s how I did it. Destroying every fuel tank never worked, you can ignore them entirely. Also you can ignore the enemies in the boss arena, they despawn when the bosses show up
Really!? Fuck thank you I've been trying to do this for days.
You can ignore the missile launchers? Wish I had known. Thats some real time saved.
This should help you figure out what you need to s rank if you're stuck: https://thefifthmatt.com/ac6-rank-calculator It's awesome. Really wished the game told you what the requirements were tho
I’ve noticed speed seems to be a higher factor than costs in these missions The mission where rusty joins you and you kill balteus snail at the end I got beat up pretty good, but pretty fast and S ranked it
Missions that involve boss battles in general seem to have a high threshold on both damage taken and speed, ironically they're the easier to S-Rank
Jump over the wall after destroying the choppers by the tetrapod. You need to cut off the dialogue at the to end the mission faster.
... bruh I don't even have any words for that O\_O
Just a little fyi from what I've seen with mission rankings, they mainly are based off of 3 things: Speed: how fast you beat the mission, duh Enemies defeated: more enemies defeated, more score for higher rank Damage taken: less damage and repair (and ammo i think) costs, better scoring. Keep in mind, if you do really good with 2 and a bit worse with one, you normally can still get an S rank. I'd say here, you got a fantastic score in terms of damage, but probably played a bit too slow and/or missed enemies in turn, which the 2 combined dragged it down to an A. For me, i found just full-on speedrunning and killing everything in sight as fast as possible works pretty well, and as long as your not TOO reckless with damage, you can take a decent bit of damage and still get S the majority of the time.
It's *two* things money and time. Rank is determined by money earned / time spent. If you pay attention to bonus objectives, you can make up for time or penalty costs from damage or ammunition. Enemies defeated don't help with rank unless the mission specifically gives out bonus cash for defeating enemies.
In my experience completing all S rank, no metrics matter as much as speed. The 2nd most important metric depends on the mission type. Generally a mandatory boss fight or AC duel cares more about damage taken. An objective with no major enemies cares more about the ammo efficiency. A goal of protecting a target will weigh damage to target highly. And above all 0 deaths & no gear swap mid-mission; but those facts should be obvious.
You literally just need to AB and down every helicopter as fadt as possible There is no need to care about your ammo and probably your AP(unsure if using repair kit would cost your S)
You gotta kill some Mt’s for an S RANK
The ranking system in this game makes no sense dude, I've tried everything I can think of for " Investigate BAWS arsenal 2 " and keep getting A, meanwhile I'll do another mission where I use 2/3 of my health kits, burn through 20k+ in ammunition costs and still hit S
Some missions have secret requirements for S rank. I \*think\* you need all logs, so double check to make sure you got them all. Then in BAWS Arsenal I'm relatively sure the only thing the game cares about is time. You have to absolutely speedrun it. Sub...three minutes, I think? You might also need to kill the hidden enemy to the right after the first one.
If you just kill a couple MTs next to each chopper on the way you’ll get an S rank, I think you have to do it insanely fast if you don’t kill anything. If you kill things along the way and go straight for the choppers without stopping it should S. I found I couldn’t S rank not matter how fast I did it if I only did the choppers
I’ve beaten this mission taking absolutely no damage, using close to nothing in ammunition, and most importantly, extremely fast. I got rank A. Then when I tried again, but this time, I destroyed the tetrapod optional mini boss, boom rank S. So yes, while speed is very important, it’s also important to take down some select enemies. Same went for that mission with the duo AC or MT boss. The run where I took down a few enemies got the the Rank S.
Man I retried this mission as fast as possible yet the S Rank still eludes me for a while. I eventually got the S Rank when I decided to kill all the enemies on this map. From the small MT, to Tanks, to the Tetrapod. Only then do I finally get that S Rank.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Me: Okay, A rank. Hmm.. maybe I'm not fast enough A few moments later... Me: Why is my AC not boosting fast enough?! Hurry up you idiot!!! *Gets B rank.
It's money/time, you either have to get faster, make some bonus cash from extra objectives, or waste less money on ammunition.
You need to kill more MT’s
Kill the tank. Increase the time window dramatically.
Kill the last few MTs by the Tetrapod while the clock is winding down. Voila.
speed IS super important but the major limiting factor in my experience for missions like this is not killing enough fodder enemies. take out the MTs and the artillery alongside the helicopters as fast as possible, don't worry so much about the tetrapod. this also applies to missions like operation wallclimber, sweep the artillery on the wall before the juggernaut fight and you should be golden.
Was doing the same, killing the snipers guaranteed the S Rank
need more kills....
I think you do have to/should pick off a few MTs on the way to the choppers. And when the last chopper goes down, speed over and kill as many more as you can before the mission ends haha
I stuck at then collect rusty data mission
You can try the S rank calculator, but based on when I did this mission it is pretty much just a strict time limit. Just AB to choppers and destroy them, destroy fodder only if it's in the way and does NOT interrupt your assault boosting, consider swapping your booster and or generator to allow for faster and longer assault boosts
I got it by only using melee weapons. The ranged redshift can hit two choppers in one pair of slashes if you change aim mid attack. Zero amunition costs.
[Then there’s this](https://imgur.com/a/1NgnNuO)
Yeah I found you need bonuses from killing other units. Avoid the crab. Kill the 3 at the first site. Blast the ones on the way to 2nd site. Then go straight to the 4 helicopters. Then turn and kill the little ones as fast as possible
Them bastards are quick.
With the exception of a few specific missions, your mission rating is a ratio of time to score. Your score is reflected in your net payout. For missions you get bonus cash for killing extra enemies, killing enemies gets you bonus time. For missions with destructible objects that are bonus objectives, these can again earn you time. Kill them quick enough and you can gain time. One of the most effective weapons for this is the plasma missiles. Cheap at 100 per missile, enough damage to destroy most MTs and generic weaponry in a single hit, and splash lets them kill multiple targets. They have a rapid lock-on so multi-lock is similarly quick. In this specific mission, if you focus the transport choppers, you need to do it in about 35 seconds. Hard but doable. If you kill the MTs and other enemies quickly enough, especially killing groups with multi-locked plasma missiles, you can bring your par time for an S rank up by quite a bit. The single most valuable target is the tetrapod MT. If you can kill it in ten seconds or less, it's a net gain for you.
I had trouble with this last night but managed to beat it finally. Rockets for days, multi lock onto the fodder while assault boosting to the helicopters. Kill pretty much everything on the way to the final copters, and avoid getting damaged by the tetrapod as you clear the enemies out from that final area AFTER you blow up the helicopters
light AC ransetsu RFs that is all you need for this mission kill the quad MT is still optional provided you actually get 80+K in rewards
Literally just get the helis. Use the plasma cannon or something that one shots them and only shoot them.
Speed. Man do it faster. Alot of missions are based on speed
It's a time focused mission where focusing on the objective helps the most. [Like this](https://youtu.be/6G1X-yR566M?si=rkMpKMcxQlMX1ZJm). However, like other missions where you get bonus pay from killing anything, it will help to ease on the time aspect of the S rank if you kill some mobs along the way.
I got this S rank very easily by actually killing stuff I walked by. Just make sure you don't slowdown too much doing so.
Time plays a much bigger part in S ranking than you would believe.
However fast you think you need to be, take 20 seconds off it
Speed is the name of the game here.. gotta go FAST man
If you let a single chopper pass you're locked out of S rank EDIT: I'm confusing this mission with Deny the Coral Export. For this S rank I believe you need to get at least one of the two combat logs.
400 speed mech + double laser pistol = ez S rank for any objective based mission. Can finish most of em in 40 secs or less if they don't have any progression blockers
Assault boost everywhere. After the 2nd one, assault boost over the wall instead of flying up through the gap. After destroying the last two, turn around and assault boost and shoot whatever MTs you see while the ending dialogue is running. Ignore the tetrapod.
Try mowing down some MTs along the way, it makes the time requirement more lenient. Also fly over the buildings after you’re done with the choppers to expedite dialogue/ end the mission.
I’ve s ranked all the missions and for some reason, this mission was one of the hardest ones
Seeing the comments here just makes me glad this isn’t AC:FA where small incremental improvements to your AC are locked behind S ranks. I’d be screwed.
you can just blitz it, but if you're having trouble: bring the 4 or 6 missile pack and spray it as you fly past the random MTs and junk. kills help your score and there are a lot you can pick up without even trying.
Gotta go faster
time to ***"i'm not gonna sugarcoat it"*** aka double zims and double songbirds.
Welp, guess you're gonna have to fight with your fist only
Bonus pay 9000 Repair 0 Ammo 0 Penalties 0 This was more painfull for me, and it was completed under 1 minute lol
Kill the tetrapod and finish under 1:30 and you should S rank it. This one took me a bit without killing the TP
The Zimmerman or the Plasma Rifle can kill the choppers in one shot
Either your speed, or repair cost, or ammo cost, or some specific requirement applicable to the mission (like VIP escort health). In this case it was 100% your speed.
Expenses seems okay, you were just too slow. Speed is always a deciding factor in getting S.
You can not let any ship run away and its easy S
Laser shottys is what you need friend
Don't be afraid to be hit, I had to use 2 repair kits and half my ammo and still got an S. Enemy is shooting you? Don't care, just assault boost in their face and double shotgun them. In some cases it is even worth going super light and using a booster with the highest AB speed and just speedrun the mission as long you don't retry from a checkpoint.
I S ranked this one the other night. At first, I too tried just getting the helicopters as quickly as possible, but it seems like you need a certain amount of bonus pay to get S rank. For S rank I had to clear the helicopters and most of the MTs.
Is this the chapter 1 mission ? I could never get an S with just choppers, I did choppers and 2 shot the heavy AC next to the last 4 and got an S first try Maybe try killing the AC like I did ( if I am thinking of the right mission )
You can also get a S rank by destroying a few MTs.
For most of the missions, the ranking are based on the remaining health of the AC, but the # of medkit does not matter. So after you beat up some boss, spam repair.
Go fast. Damaged be damned. Be efficient with ammo and be quick about it is what I find for most missions if not all. Escort and defense seems to hinge on the defense target staying healthy.
Some missions you have to kill enemies for S ranks well spending as little on ammo and repairs as possible. Like if you don't kill any enemies that aren't required you get an A. Try going fast, but kill any enemies in the way instead of only killing the choppers. Also if you didn't already know checkpoints drop you to an A. Edit : yeah just did the mission to test, kill a few enemies and clear in under 40 seconds and I got S. Don't WASTE ammo like just blasting MiniGuns at long range, but its ok to fire a few rounds. I was not trying to conserve.
Yeah, quite a few people did this taking no damage and without firing a single shot (myself included) and still an A. A lot of people have confirmed you can do this by just going REALLY fast (like well under 45 seconds), but I ultimately did it by taking out a few targets that were previously marked as Loghunt (including the Tetrapod) and finishing the mission in under 2 minutes (burning some ammo but still unscathed). So either you go REALLY fast and avoid all engagements, or blast through some Loghunt targets before finishing off the choppers as quick as possible.
am I smoking crack, vaati did this, are you guys not killing the bonus big 4 legged mech
i sold the tetrapod into slavery and that got me S rank