Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve — Best Early Aircraft Tree Picks and Loadouts
Wings of Theve locks its best jets behind the Aircraft Tree and Military Result Points. Here is which branch, upgrade parts and loadout to prioritize before launch day.
The F/A-18E Super Hornet's loadout mixes air-to-air missiles with ground ordnance across its wing pylons. Image: Bandai Namco.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve opens worldwide on October 2, and every pilot starts from the same spot: one carrier-based F/A-18E Super Hornet and an Aircraft Tree you have not touched yet. Over 30 jets sit behind that tree, split across fighters, attack aircraft, multi-role airframes and electronic warfare planes, and the Military Result Points that unlock them only come from flying missions. Spend your first few sorties' worth of MRP in the wrong direction and you will spend hours flying underpowered hardware against enemies that outclass you. Here is how the Aircraft Tree actually works and which branch, parts and loadout to prioritize before you ever load into Joker Squadron's ready room.
How the Aircraft Tree and MRP actually work
MRP is earned by completing Campaign missions, and it is the only currency the Aircraft Tree accepts. Each branch of the tree leads to different airframes, so the points you bank after an early mission can go toward a faster multirole jet, a heavier bomber, or further upgrades for the Super Hornet you already own. Bandai Namco Aces built the tree with multiple routes on purpose: you can eventually unlock every aircraft, part and special weapon in the game, but only by planning a route instead of spending MRP the moment it appears. Treat your first handful of missions as a scouting phase. Fly the default Super Hornet, note which fights give you the most trouble, and let that decide where your MRP goes rather than chasing whichever jet looks fastest in the tree's preview art.
Which branch to prioritize first
Early Campaign missions mix air-to-air intercepts with ground strikes, so a multirole branch pays off faster than committing everything to a dedicated interceptor or a slow attacker. The F/A-18E Super Hornet you start with already covers that middle ground, and nearby branches add aircraft like the dual-seat F/A-18F and the returning F/A-18C without forcing a full MRP reset. Once you have a feel for which missions are giving you trouble, a short detour toward a dedicated fighter branch (airframes such as the Mirage 2000-5 sit early on the tree) sharpens your dogfighting without abandoning the ground-attack capability you will still need for anti-ship and siege missions later in the campaign.
Upgrade parts: Body, Arms and Misc
Every jet in the tree can carry upgrade parts in three categories, and they are not interchangeable in value. Body parts change acceleration, deceleration and top speed, which matters most in the furball-heavy early missions where closing distance fast decides who shoots first. Arms parts raise machine gun damage and missile lock-on range, and are worth prioritizing the moment you unlock a branch's special weapon pylons for ordnance like 6AAM or QAAM loads. Misc parts are the long game: stealth detection, damage reduction and enemy-capability jamming all live here, and they only become essential once mission briefings start flagging stealth targets or electronic warfare threats. Spend MRP on one Body and one Arms part before you touch Misc; a faster, harder-hitting jet survives long enough to use a Misc part's utility anyway.
Building a loadout for your first missions
Because every aircraft carries a different number of part slots, the loadout screen is where the Aircraft Tree choices actually pay off. Dogfight-heavy missions want a lighter Body setup and short-range missiles for quick lock-on; anti-ship and Land Battleship encounters reward bomb-range upgrades and the heavier special weapons unlocked further down an attack branch. Keep a dedicated multirole loadout saved for missions where objectives shift mid-flight, since Wings of Theve's enemy behavior and radio chatter change dynamically based on what you have already destroyed. If you are also setting up the PC version before launch, pair this loadout plan with getting your rig's drivers and storage sorted for Wings of Theve's install so the Aircraft Tree's higher-resolution cockpit art actually runs smoothly on release day.
Squadron commands and online modes to keep in mind
Wings of Theve lets you issue wingman orders mid-mission, including dispersed attack, covering fire and concentrated fire calls, and Joker Squadron members like Ellington "Professor" Baxter, Tasha Seversky and William "Noise" Coster respond differently depending on your loadout choices. A squadron built around a heavier attacker benefits from ordering wingmen to cover while you line up ordnance on ground targets; a faster multirole loadout works better calling concentrated fire to burn down priority air threats. The same Aircraft Tree and MRP system carries into the game's online Co-Op Assault and Co-Op Warfare modes, where your unlocked jets and parts transfer directly, so campaign progress is not wasted once you move to the series' largest online mode yet.
Quick checklist
- Fly the starting F/A-18E through your first few missions before spending any MRP
- Stay in or near the multirole branch until you know which mission types give you trouble
- Buy one Body part and one Arms part before any Misc part
- Save a dedicated anti-ship loadout for Land Battleship and naval missions
- Carry your Campaign unlocks into Co-Op Assault and Co-Op Warfare rather than rebuilding from scratch
None of this requires grinding missions you have already cleared. Wings of Theve's MRP income is generous enough during the main campaign that a planned route through the Aircraft Tree will have you flying a fully upgraded multirole squadron well before the story missions demand one. For the full list of editions, pre-order bonuses and early access timing, see our Ace Combat 8 launch-day breakdown, and check Bandai Namco Aces' official gameplay guide for the developer's own rundown of every upgrade category. PlayStation Blog's launch announcement covers the Deluxe Edition's early access window, the PlayStation Store listing has current pricing, and Wikipedia's entry tracks the game's full development history.