Ace Combat 7 beginner guide: start by learning how to turn comfortably, wait for a proper missile lock and follow the mission’s marked targets. You can finish the early campaign without mastering advanced manoeuvres or buying an expensive aircraft.
The screen gets busy quickly. Aircraft flash past, your radio fills with chatter and a warning alarm can sound while you’re still figuring out the camera. Fortunately, the first three missions introduce one skill at a time. Here’s the practical advice that makes those lessons stick.
Ace Combat 7 beginner guide: choose your controls first
Open the Controls menu before your first sortie. Standard control mode is easier for newcomers because steering left or right gives you a more direct turn. Expert controls use the horizontal stick axis to roll your aircraft, so you bank and pull into your turn. Expert gives you greater freedom for precise flying, but it’s not a requirement to enjoy the campaign.
Both schemes let you control speed, switch targets, change weapons and use flares. Controller button labels vary across PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and customised PC setups, so check the on-screen layout rather than memorising somebody else’s buttons. If you’re wrestling with the aircraft more than the enemy, stay on Standard for now.
Ace Combat 7 beginner guide to missile locks and guns
Your radar and the floating labels over enemies matter more than the cinematic dogfight going on around you. Look for TGT markers. Those identify the aircraft or ground objects that count toward your current mission objective. An unmarked enemy can be dangerous, but it isn’t always worth abandoning your objective to chase.
- Select the marked target you want to attack rather than accepting whichever aircraft the game highlights first.
- Point the nose towards the selected enemy and let the missile targeting indicator establish a lock before firing.
- If your target keeps turning away, create distance and approach again instead of repeatedly circling at low speed.
- Use the machine gun against steady close-range targets when you can maintain a good angle. Don’t expect it to work like a guided missile.
- After a missed attack, reposition. Sending another missile after a rapidly turning target is often just wasting ammunition.
One habit worth learning early in this Ace Combat 7 beginner guide is to separate lining up from firing. Get a clean approach, confirm the lock and then shoot. You’ll land more hits while spending less of the mission time wrestling your plane back onto target.
How to dodge missiles and use flares
A missile warning does not mean you should fly straight ahead and hope. Change direction, watch your speed and leave enough room to turn without hitting the ground. Flares can help defeat incoming missiles, but your supply is limited. Save them for genuinely threatening shots.
The weather is more than decoration. Bandai Namco notes that clouds can hide aircraft and that icing or lightning can interfere with your view and systems. Don’t dive blind into terrain just because a target marker is still visible. Getting your bearings again is better than losing the entire sortie.
Ace Combat 7 beginner guide to Missions 1, 2 and 3
| Mission | Main lesson | Beginner priority |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Charge Assault | Air-to-air attacks on bombers | Track TGT bombers and practise missile locks. |
| 2. Charge the Enemy | Ground attacks, then UAVs | Leave room to pull up after attacking ground targets. |
| 3. Two-pronged Strategy | Changing objectives and defending allies | Follow the updated TGT markers around the Arsenal Bird and its drones. |
Mission 1, Charge Assault: you’re intercepting enemy bombers near Fort Grays Island. This is where you should practise selecting the right aircraft, lining up and firing once you’re locked. You don’t need fancy flying to shoot down a bomber travelling on a predictable path.
Mission 2, Charge the Enemy: the focus switches to ground objectives, including an enemy air base and radar vehicles, before UAVs appear. Dive gently enough to aim, release your attack, then climb and turn away. Trying to fire one extra missile when you’re already close to the ground is an easy way to crash.
Mission 3, Two-pronged Strategy: rounds out this Ace Combat 7 beginner guide and introduces a much bigger battle and the Arsenal Bird. The mission changes its objectives as events unfold. Watch the TGT indicators and radio instructions, then prioritise the drones threatening your allies when the mission calls for it.
Ace Combat 7 beginner guide to MRP and aircraft upgrades
You earn MRP from playing missions and can use it to purchase aircraft, special weapons and parts in the Aircraft Tree. The Ace Combat 7 beginner guide approach is to buy for the next job rather than blindly chasing the most expensive plane. Air-to-air weapons help against fighters, while ground attack equipment is better for packed ground objectives.
Aircraft have their own available special weapons, so read the aircraft’s equipment options before committing to a branch of the tree. There is no need to farm a late-game fighter just to complete the opening three sorties. Improve your targeting first; a stronger jet will not fix a missed lock.
Mistakes to avoid in your first campaign run
- Firing before the missile lock completes, even though the enemy is still some distance away.
- Chasing ordinary enemy fighters while your marked objectives remain untouched.
- Staying too low after an attack on ground targets and having no altitude left to recover.
- Braking constantly until the aircraft becomes awkward to manoeuvre.
- Ignoring an updated mission objective because you are still fighting the previous wave.
- Using every flare on early warning sounds, leaving nothing for a dangerous missile later.
If you keep failing a sortie, use this Ace Combat 7 beginner guide as a checklist. Can you find the marked target? Are you approaching it with room to turn? Did the missile lock settle? Can you get back to safe altitude after firing? Change one mistake at a time rather than buying another aircraft and hoping it fixes everything.
Ace Combat 7 beginner guide: what to practise next
Replay an opening mission and aim to waste fewer missiles, complete the marked objectives more quickly and avoid using flares unnecessarily. Later, Hard and Ace difficulty and S-rank attempts will reward a confident approach, but you don’t need to worry about those goals on your first run.
What this Ace Combat 7 beginner guide comes down to is simple: don’t panic at the first warning alarm. Plan your next attack pass and fly it properly. Read the objective, build a clean approach, fire when ready and move away. That basic loop will carry you a long way through the campaign.
Related Guides
Official source: Bandai Namco Ace Combat 7 official web manuals.
