Ace Combat 8 Mission 25 Walkthrough: How to Win Paint It Blue (Battle of Rocky Island Day 2)

Nathan ArcherOctober 6, 2026Last Updated: October 6, 2026

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Ace Combat 8 Mission 25 is a long ground-support fight, and your allies can lose it for you. If you let too many ground troops die, the mission is over. On top of that, you face 12 Shadow fighters and a four-point HQ breach. The hidden rewards are easy to miss too. Below, I’ll cover every phase, plus how to spawn Cinis and Silacrum and what actually earns the Paint It Blue medal.

Spoiler Alert: This guide contains story spoilers for Ace Combat 8. Proceed with caution!

What You’ll Read:

Ace Combat 8 Mission 25 Objective Explained

Your goal is to seize Sotoa’s main HQ on the southern part of Rocky Island. Win, and Sotoa loses its last foothold on the Usean continent.

Allied ground forces split into two routes. The western group pushes south toward the HQ with naval artillery backing it from the coast. The eastern group advances from the turntable, where the defenses are lighter. You cover both.

Here’s the catch: if too many ground troops die, the mission fails. Whenever a route gets pinned down, fly over and clear what’s blocking it. Hit ground threats first, even with enemy fighters buzzing around. Support calls come from both sides at once.

Best Aircraft Loadout for Mission 25

I would skip the A-10 because it turns slowly and makes an easy SAM target. Honestly, that sounds fair. Also, a missile-focused Support E18 with the ally-buff Special Weapon and using missiles aggressively works too. You can treat these as your starting points.

Save your strongest weapons for the heavy land ships. They do the most damage to your infantry.

You can also rearm mid-mission. The return line is to the west, and the game tells you to use it if you need ammo. I landed, repaired, rearmed, and took off again during the Shadow fight. Do the same before you run dry. Entering this battle with an empty jet is asking for trouble.

Mission 25 Opening Phase Walkthrough

The mission opens with a timed BDA phase. Inflict as much damage as you can before the clock runs out.

Start at the airfield. Enemy aircraft still on the tarmac are free kills, so strafe them before they take off. In my run, the game confirmed all grounded planes were destroyed with five minutes left, and BDA showed 50% of the enemy force down. (That’s one run, though, not a guaranteed checkpoint.)

Then watch the southwest. A large, low-flying Podarge drops a Land Destroyer, and its rail gun powers up to threaten your infantry. Kill it fast. Podarges bring in more heavy land ships later, so don’t assume the first drop is the last. When the timer ends, command says you’ve hit them hard enough, and the ground assault moves on the HQ.

How to Beat the Lux Lunae Shadows

Once the timer ends, Lux Lunae takes over the airspace. Units 33, 44, and 120 show up with 12 fighters in total. Two Shadows lock onto each Joker Flight pilot, while the other four head for your ground troops.

Switch to an air-to-air loadout right away. I asked for more missiles here, and you can do the same. The Shadows aren’t hard to kill once you’re on them, but they eat ammo and attention fast. Land and rearm if you run low.

Your troops stay pinned until you thin the formation out, so focus on the Shadows and ignore the ground targets for now. Once they’re all down, Luna 11 orders Sotoan units to retreat or surrender, and your ground forces resume their attack.

Final HQ Assault and Mission Ending

After the Shadows, keep clearing the defensive lines. Shoot out the main guns on the heavy land ships so they stop hurting your troops. Then FA-36 fighters arrive, and Kate gets hit. Search and rescue is promised once the battle ends. Tasha is shaken, and Rex gets a yes/no prompt about whether he saw a chute. It changes nothing right away, so don’t stress over it. That scene hit people hard, but does Kate survive Ace Combat 8? I wouldn’t spoil that for you. But you will find that out at the end.

Once the tanks are cleared, suppress the four barricaded breach points. When your troops get inside, the Immortals ask you to blast a marked wall beside the command room. They’re dangerously close to the strike point, but fire anyway.

Rocky Island surrenders. Command orders a cease-fire and grants the Savian carrier safe passage. You unlock the “Freeing Usea” achievement.

How to Unlock Enemy Aces and the Medal

Mission 25 hides two ace fights and a medal. All three tie back to the Podarges and their land ships.

Reward	Condition
Cinis	Destroy every Land Destroyer and Land Aegis, including the ones dropped later by Podarges
Silacrum	Fly under or between the moored Podarges and the sea
Paint It Blue medal	Destroy all four Podarges: the two that fly in and the two landed in the water

The landed Podarges need their main body destroyed, not just the visible weapons. Players say the rear-middle cargo bay is the weak spot.