Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies
I have to do it. It’s not professional, but I have to. I have to move the conclusion to the beginning. Ace Patrol was a great game. Maybe Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies is a great game, too. But it is not if you play both games in a row. Why you ask? Because it gets god damn boring!
After doing all Steam achievements for Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol, when you look at the achievement list for Pacific Skies you’ll experience a first class déjà vu: The achievements are nearly the same. Which over the past months lowered my motivation to complete this Ace Patrol Pacific Skies Steam Achievement Guide. And yes, it is more than just equally painful doing them. This is mainly due to some changes in game mechanics which I’ll get to next.
Different game mechanics in Pacific Skies
8 battles x 4 missions (compared to 4 campaigns x 6 missions in Ace Patrol)
This is not per se a bad thing. But given the other annoying things, the fact of having to play 8 more missions is a bit annoying. Also because the game quickly becomes super repetitive. Maybe it was due to playing both the first game and Pacific Skies in a row, but the lack of variety is stunning – in a boring way.
Damage won’t be repaired after 1 mission, but stays for the whole battle
With damage not being repaired you have to “budget” your HP much more than in the original Ace Patrol. Now with your four pilots you’ll have to fight the entire battle consisting of four missions. This would be okay, if it weren’t for different game mechanic #3:
With any faction – your planes are incredibly imbalanced compared to your opponents
No matter which faction you play – the enemy is much stronger. In the beginning in particular. Which is frustrating since right then you’ll have rookie pilots who can not make up for inferior planes with superior maneuvers. What happens is:
- all your planes have very few HP
- the enemy planes are super strong
- you almost do no damage to the enemy planes
The greatest thing about Pacific Skies is actually the great variety of maneuvers. Also since we’re not flying biplanes anymore, got new WWII engines and better aerodynamics, there is much more fast-flying! 🙂
Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies Steam Achievement Guide
Win a Mission – Pilot
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Win a Mission – Ace
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Win a Mission – Leader
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Win a Mission – Legend
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Hat Trick – Rookie
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Hat Trick – Pilot
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Hat Trick – Ace
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Hat Trick – Leader
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Hat Trick – Legend
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Four Aces
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All of the above achievements are the exact same as in Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol. So here’s just a brief summary: Win a mission on each level of difficulty. Ideally you can do that in one go with the Hat Trick achievements. To win those on high levels of difficulty, save in the menu, pick a mission and if it’s not an easy one (or one with 3 enemy planes) – reload.
What also helps is a “favorable cloud formation”. Ideally you’ll get a ring of clouds which you rarely to never have to leave. Of course this should be easy to reach (before you get shot down) and in an area the enemy is interested in. E.g. if you have to attack an enemy base and the clouds are in your starting area – they’re of no use, because the enemy won’t come for you. So reload if the weather is not on your side.
The US Army Campaign
Every faction in Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies has the exact same achievements. Nothing specific. Also, same as in the first part, the missions are pretty much the same across all factions. So simply focus on 2 things:
- You have 32 missions to get 1 pilot with 50 victories. So have your squad leader shoot down 2 enemy planes per mission. Pay mind to HP – if you have to pass the rest of the battle, making the “Legendary Pilot” becomes much harder already.
- Go for the highest difficulties early on. Once you see it looks good on the score board, finish the campaign with low difficulty games.
US Army Ace Pilot (5 Victories)
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Legendary US Army Pilot (50 Victories)
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Win a Battle – US Army
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Win the Campaign – US Army
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5,000 point mission – US Army
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50,000 Squadron points – US Army
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10,000 point mission – US Army
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100,000 Squadron points – US Army
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15,000 point mission – US Army
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150,000 Squadron points – US Army
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The US Navy Campaign
US Navy Ace Pilot (5 Victories)
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Legendary US Navy Pilot (50 Victories)
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Win a Battle – US Navy
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Win the Campaign – US Navy
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5,000 point mission – US Navy
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50,000 Squadron points – US Navy
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10,000 point mission – US Navy
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100,000 Squadron points – US Navy
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15,000 point mission – US Navy
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150,000 Squadron points – US Navy
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The Japanese Army Campaign
Japanese Army Ace Pilot (5 Victories)
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Legendary Japanese Army Pilot (50 Victories)
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Win a Battle – Japanese Army
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Win the Campaign – Japanese Army
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5,000 point mission – Japanese Army
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50,000 Squadron points – Japanese Army
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10,000 point mission – Japanese Army
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100,000 Squadron points – Japanese Army
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15,000 point mission – Japanese Army
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150,000 Squadron points – Japanese Army
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The Japanese Navy Campaign
Japanese Navy Ace Pilot (5 Victories)
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Legendary Japanese Navy Pilot (50 Victories)
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Win a Battle – Japanese Navy
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Win the Campaign – Japanese Navy
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5,000 point mission – Japanese Navy
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50,000 Squadron points – Japanese Navy
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10,000 point mission – Japanese Navy
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100,000 Squadron points – Japanese Navy
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15,000 point mission – Japanese Navy
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150,000 Squadron points – Japanese Navy
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In the end I hope you will be just as happy as me to finally have made all Steam achievements for this game. And again: If you’re reading this whilst you have the chance NOT to play both games straight in a row – DON’T DO IT.
I was almost frustrated, but only wanted to finish it. The moment I got all achievements I uninstalled the game immediately. It’s been nice. But only for a while. This while was the first game and maybe one campaign of Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies!
Do you have any tips for how to achieve the 15,000 point single missions? Those are the only achievements that I have left and I can’t get over 11k…
Hey there! Well… Yes and no: Try to get the “easy” missions and do them on highest difficulty. See the screenshot of The Japanese Army Campaign. That mission was done with zero damage against 3 enemies and 1 control tower. Save the game before the mission, start it and hope for a good cloud layout – so you can hide in it every turn and shoot your enemies diving in and out of the clouds. If you do it with zero damage, even the 2nd highest level of difficulty might be enough. Good luck!