One of the new features in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the dedicated Joker flight unit you will play the campaign with. While the player directly controls the unit’s lead pilot, Rex, four additional pilots will join most aerial fights alongside you. Because of this, the player will have the option of purchasing an aircraft for each member of your unit, rather than for just yourself. In addition, purchasing an aircraft for your Wingman unlocks the Birds of a Feather trophy/achievement.
The ability to buy aircraft unlocks immediately after Chapter 2 of the main campaign, when the player unlocks the aircraft tree, which serves as a skill tree for unlockables. While there are a lot of abilities to unlock and attach to your aircraft regardless, you will notice that scattered throughout this tree are several aircraft, over 30 in total, that can be bought for a much steeper price than the usual gear. They start at around 90,000 MRP and go all the way up to 500,000 MRP.
MRP, or military result points, are what are used to buy planes and gear throughout the game. You will earn these points from several things, but the simplest way is to complete campaign missions. You can also earn currency from taking free missions, as well as tackling training sorties, among other options. Once you start earning this currency, you will be able to start purchasing planes that you can use in your campaign (The multiplayer component uses a different system for acquiring aircraft).
Once you purchase an aircraft for your collection, you will then be presented with the option to buy that same model for your wingmen. In total, you can buy 5 units of any model. The good news is that the hefty price tag for your first aircraft will not be required for the additional models, as they will receive a hefty discount. All you need to do is buy one additional version of any of the planes featured to earn the Birds of a Feather trophy/achievement. Purchasing 5 different aircraft types will also earn you the Bolstered Forces trophy/achievement, while buying 20 aircraft gets you the Full Kitted Out trophy/achievement.
Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Bluesky to keep up to date on everything we have going on!
