Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate 100% tips

The game is cross-buy for the Vita and PS4. The Vita version is a lot harder to play and finish 100%. The screen is half the size so you can't plan things in advance as simply they're not visible, so on many levels, you must memorize where the enemies are to solve them. I died a ton of times by small invisible droplets of lava (or water if I was using the lave suit) that are in the walls. Reaction to controls is good but not stellar. Dealing with the bosses is a lot worse, especially from the 3rd one onwards as you can't see all the of the boss, the smaller enemies or their shots, so if you can play it on the PS4. It's still viable and I did it because I'm stubborn, but frankly, your life will be a lot easier if you play it on the PS4. It's still one of the best Vita shooters, just has to deal with the Vita limitations.

Also on the Vita version if the enemy to which you just shot goes outside the screen area by yours or his movement while the bullets or missiles are traveling towards him, do realize it's almost certain they will all hit the target but do no damage...

While you have the shield, you won't overheat by shooting missiles...

Let me stress the HUGE importance of getting all the 7 scientists plus the optional special green scientist with the flag, all the required diamonds, and all the secret areas for each of the 5 levels in each stage in one go. If you, don't you have to replay ALL the stages you did not achieve that and again from beginning to end while fulfilling these requirements, with the diamonds the only one that is cumulative in all runs. If it's the last stage of each area, yes you have to do the boss fight successfully another time.

So before exiting each level pause the game and verify that you have all diamonds picked and no dead scientists. Scientists are added at each level, so it's 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 at the final, the green scientist is not added to this count and there's no place to know if you picked it except when in the main map. If you die in a level and have to repeat it you have to visit AGAIN the secret areas.

Do realize that there's only one green scientist per stage and that most boss areas have diamonds in the area leading up to the boss, and some even have the stage green scientist too.

In the 6th and last area, Stage Carry the Torch, on the third level (when you should have 21 scientists rescued) DON'T exit the level before killing the lava spitter near the exit. After you do that there should be a new secret area with water just below where you pulled the door to open it. If it's not there, be sure to shoot every bit of wall that was possible in the part where you started the level, just below where the lava enemy was, as a dim area to the left will appear causing the other one to open.

The 4 secret areas in this stage are one on each of the 4 last levels. On the 2nd level (from start) the area is to the right where you need to climb the lava tunnel to pick the diamond, so do that again up to the diamond area to be sure it counts (I had to repeat this stage 4 times... 😐😑)

You'll almost certainly die with even small collisions with enemies, whether they're shooting or not, which is especially problematic in the 6th area in the dark areas.

In the penultimate stage of the last area, Reactive Relics of Lights Out, there's a path going up and right just before the exit to the last level, it has no survivors or diamonds but will make you miss the completion of the secret areas.

The secret area is much easier in the Vita than on the PS4 thought...

Complete list of Vita, PS4 and PS3 cross-buy games with multiple trophy lists

This is likely a complete list of games that through cross-buy provide multiple trophy lists. Yes, the only games missing are trash trophy games, but those only interest some people, and probably they're not interested in any of these.

Some games only fulfill the requirements on a specific region, it's mentioned if it's the case. If the game only provides a 100% trophy list it's not mentioned, the ones that provide platinums for each stack of the game are mentioned. I did not consider multi-region stacks, and information is mostly for US and Europe stores.

Complete list of twin stick shooters games for PS5, PS4, PS3 and PS Vita

Last update - Jan 2024

I'm updating this list which is frankly a huge PITA as in the last 2 years more than 80% of shooters that have been published on PSN is just terrible trophy hunters trash! Such is the sad state of game publishing on PlayStation platforms, something that sadly was predictable. Even more sadly, it will only get worse.

Being a fan of twin-stick, top-down and scrolling shooters, which is a niche, I found it awfully difficult to find information on what's really available for the PS4, Vita, and PS3 (and now PS5). In my quest, I even found quite a few I didn't even knew existed, and that the PS4 has quite a reasonable list. Probably not many fans of the genre, but considering how much time I spent digging this perhaps it's useful for other people.

Complete list of puzzle games for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita

I do enjoy puzzle games a lot so I've been compiling for years this list. It will probably never be really complete but it's quite thorough. Still, a work in progress of developer, publisher, year released, cross-buy information, etc.

Classification into groups isn't easy either, hope I've done a decent job.

Since I don't condone trash games for trophy junkies, there's none or almost on the list.

Some of the games on this list will be stellar, some will be crap. Consider that before buying. I have opinions on the games I can give one at the end of the list.

PS4

Back To Bed - LOOT Interactive - 2015 (Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Batu Ta Batu - 2Awesome Studio - 2020

Chess Knights: Shinobi - QUByte Interactive - 2021

Chess Knights: Viking Lands - QUByte Interactive - 2021

Cluster Tumble - Prerolla Ltd - 2018

Darknet - Archiact Interactive Ltd. - 2017 (VR support)

Escape Plan - Fun Bits / SCE - 2012 (Vita cross-buy)

Felix the Reaper - Kong Orange / Daedalic Entertainment - 2019

Glass Masquerade - Onyx Lute / Digerati Distribution - 2019

Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions - Onyx Lute / Digerati Distribution - 2020

GNOG - KO-OP - 2017

Gorogoa - Jason Roberts / Annapurna Interactive - 2018

Hitman Go: Definitive Edition - Square Enix Montreal - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Kill the Bad Guy - Exkee / Plug In Digital Ltd - 2017

Knot - Warlock Arts - 2016

Lara Croft Go - Square Enix Montreal - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Letter Quest Remastered - Bacon Bandit Games / Digerati Distribution - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Manifold Garden - William Chyr Studio - 2020

Metrico+ - Digital Dreams - 2016

Metropolis: Lux Obscura - Ktulhu Solutions / Sometimes You - 2018 (Vita cross-buy)

Mind Maze - Satur Entertainment / Sometimes You - 2021 (PS5 cross-buy)

Neverout - Gamedust Sp. z o.o. - 2018 (VR support)

Pachi Pachi On A Roll - Hidden Trap - 2021 (Vita cross-buy)

RETSNOM - SOMI  - 2016

Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle - HandMade Game - 2018 (VR support)

Salary Man Escape - Red Accent Studios - 2018 (VR support)

Semispheres - Vivid Helix - 2017

Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut - Blue Wizard Digital Ltd. / Digerati Distribution - 2017

Spiral Splatter - Neonchimp Games / Sometimes You - 2017 (Vita cross-buy)

Splice - Cipher Prime Studios - 2015 (PS3 cross-buy)

The Bridge - The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild - 2016 (Vita / PS3 cross-buy)

The Spectrum Retreat - Dan Smith Studios / Ripstone - 2018

The Turing Test - Bulkhead Interactive - 2017

Waking Violet - MixedBag - 2018 (Vita cross-buy)

Vita

Back To Bed - LOOT Interactive - 2015 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Bloxiq - Blot Interactive - 2015 (US only)

Burn The Rope - Big Blue Bubble / RINGZERO - 2012

Escape Plan - Fun Bits / SCE - 2012 (PS4 cross-buy)

escapeVektor - Nnooo - 2013

Green Game: Timeswapper - iFun4all - 2016

Hitman Go: Definitive Edition - Square Enix Montreal - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Lara Croft Go - Square Enix Montreal - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Letter Quest Remastered - Bacon Bandit Games / Digerati Distribution - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Metrico - Digital Dreams - 2014

Metropolis: Lux Obscura - Ktulhu Solutions / Sometimes You - 2018 (PS4 cross-buy)

Mind Maze - Satur Entertainment / Sometimes You - 2021

Pachi Pachi On A Roll - Hidden Trap - 2021 (PS4 cross-buy)

PulzAR - Eiconic / XDEV / SCE - 2012

Puzzle by Nikoli V Sudoku - Nikoli / Hamster - 2012 (US only)

Quell Memento - Fallen Tree Games - 2013

Semispheres - Vivid Helix - 2017

Sketchcross - Spiky Fish Games - 2015 (US only)

Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut - Blue Wizard Digital Ltd. / Digerati Distribution - 2017

Smart as... - Climax Studios / SCE - 2012

Sokoban Next - PalmStorm Kft. - 2017

Spiral Splatter - Neonchimp Games / Sometimes You - 2017 (PS4 cross-buy)

Squares - LEAP Game Studios - 2015

Super Blackout - Fordesoft - 2014 (US only)

The Bridge - The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild - 2016 (PS4 / PS3 cross-buy)

Waking Violet - MixedBag - 2018 (PS4 cross-buy)

PS3

American Mensa Academy - Silverball Studios / Square Enix - 2013

Auditorium HD - Cipher Prime Studios - 2010

Back To Bed - LOOT Interactive - 2015 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Cuboid - Creat Studios / Tik Games - 2009

Dead Space Ignition - Visceral Games / Sumo Digital / Electronic Arts - 2010

Echochrome - SCE Japan Studio - 2008

Echochrome II - SCE Japan Studio - 2010

Mensa Academy - Silverball Studios / Square Enix - 2013 (delisted)

Psych Yourself - Creat Studios - 2013

Robot Rescue Revolution - Teyon - 2014 (Europe only)

Splice - Cipher Prime Studios - 2015 (PS4 cross-buy)

TestYourself - Creat Studios - 2011

The Bridge - The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild - 2016 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Tumble - Supermassive Games / SCEA - 2010 (delisted)

Voodoo Dice - Exkee / Ubisoft - 2010

PS5

Mind Maze - Satur Entertainment / Sometimes You - 2021 (PS4 cross-buy)

Action puzzles

PS4

Anarcute - Anarteam / H2 Interactive Co., Ltd. - 2018 (Asia only)

Angry Birds Star Wars - Exient Entertainment / Activision - 2013 (delisted)

Baseball Riot - 10tons - 2016 (Vita cross-buy in US only)

Chariot - Frima Studio - 2016

Contraptions - Moragami Co., Ltd / Funbox Media - 2019

Donut County - Ben Esposito / Annapurna Interactive - 2018

Dreii - Etter Studio GmbH / Bitforge AG- 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Fat City - Heavy Iron Studios - 2015 (CUSA02719)

Four Sided Fantasy - Ludo Land / Serenity Forge - 2016

Gods of Almagest - Arrayansoft - 2021 (US only)

Neonwall - Norain Games / JanduSoft - 2018 (VR support)

I Am Bread - Bossa Studios - 2015

iO - Gamious - 2017 (Vita cross-buy)

MouseCraft - Crunching Koalas / Curve Digital - 2014 (Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Mugsters - Reinkout Games / Team 17 Digital - 2018

Nihilumbra - BeautiFun Games - 2015 (Asia only)

One Upon Light - Singapore University of Technology and Design - 2015 (delisted)

PHOGS! - Bit Loom Games / Coatsink - 2020

Pushy and Pully in Blockland  - Resistance Studio - 2020

Shiftlings - Rock Pocket Games / Activision - 2015

Spy Chameleon - Unfinished Pixel -  2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Super Exploding Zoo - Honeyslug Ltd - 2016 (Vita cross-buy) (delisted)

Tennis in the Face - 10tons - 2014 (Vita cross-buy in US only)

Tetrobot and Co. - Swing Swing Submarine / Neko Entertainment - 2016

The Savior's Gang - Catness Game Studios SL - 2019

Tiny Brains - Spearhead Games / 505 Games (PS3 cross-buy) (delisted)

Transcripted - Alkemi Games / Plug In Digital - 2017

Tumblestone - The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild - 2016

Unmechanical: Extended - Talawa Games / Teotl Studios / Grip Games - 2015 (PS3 cross-buy)

Vita

A Virus Named TOM - Misfits Attic - 2016

Angry Birds Star Wars - Exient Entertainment / Activision - 2013 (delisted)

Angry Birds Trilogy - Exient Entertainment / Activision - 2013 (delisted)

Baseball Riot - 10tons - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy in US only)

BreakQuest: Extra Evolution - Beatshapers - 2013

Coconut Dodge Revitalised - FuturLab - 2013

Chronovolt - Playerthree - 2012 (US only)

Contraptions - Moragami Co., Ltd / Funbox Media - 2020

Crazy Market - The Game Atelier - 2013

Dreii - Etter Studio GmbH / Bitforge AG- 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Fat City - Heavy Iron Studios - 2015

Furmins - Housemarque / Beatshapers - 2013

Gods of Almagest - Arrayansoft - 2021 (US only)

iO - Gamious - 2017 (PS4 cross-buy)

Lemmings Touch - D3T Ltd / Sony XDev Studio Europe - 2014

MonsterBag - IguanaBee / SCE - 2015

MouseCraft - Crunching Koalas / Curve Digital - 2014 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Nihilumbra - BeautiFun Games - 2015

Pushy and Pully in Blockland  - Resistance Studio / eastAsiaSoft- 2020 (Physical only)

Spy Chameleon - Unfinished Pixel -  2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

SunFlowers - The Game Atelier - 2012

Super Exploding Zoo - Honeyslug Ltd - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy) (delisted)

Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - DrinkBox Studios - 2012

Tennis in the Face - 10tons - 2015 (PS4 cross-buy in US only)

The Hungry Horde - Nosebleed Interactive / SCE - 2014

PS3

Angry Birds Star Wars - Exient Entertainment / Activision - 2013 (delisted)

Angry Birds Trilogy - Rovio Entertainment / Activision - 2012 (delisted)

Aqua Panic! - EKO Software - 2010

Braid - Number None / Hothead Games - 2009

Chariot - Frima Studio - 2015

Closure - Eyebrow Interactive, LLC - 2012

Cubixx HD - Laughing Jackal - 2011

Diner Dash - GameLab / PlayFirst - 2009 (delisted)

Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown - Gastronaut Studios / PopCap - 2010

Flight Control HD - Firemint Pty Ltd - 2010 (Europe only)

Flock! - Proper Games / Capcom - 2009

Geon - Strawdog Studios Ltd / Eidos- 2008

ibb & obb - Sparpweed Games - 2013

Lemmings - Team17 / SCEE - 2006

Mercury HG - Eiconic / UTV Ignition Games - 2011 (delisted)

MouseCraft - Crunching Koalas / Curve Digital - 2014 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Puzzle Dimension - Doctor Entertainment - 2011

Slam Bolt Scrappers - Fire Hose Games - 2011 (Delisted)

Snakeball - Gamoola Soft - SCE - 2007 (no trophy support)

Super Rub-A-Dub - Sumo Digital / SCE - 2007 (no trophy support)

Super Stacker - SparkWorkz / InXile Entertainment - 2010

Switchball - Atomic Elbow AB / Sierra Online - 2009

Tales from Space: About a Blob - Drinkbox Studios - 2011

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - Drinkbox Studios - 2014

The Last Guy - SCE Japan Studio - 2008

Tiny Brains - Spearhead Games / 505 Games (PS3 cross-buy) (delisted)

Trash Panic - SCE Japan Studio - 2009

Unmechanical: Extended - Talawa Games / Teotl Studios / Grip Games - 2015 (PS4 cross-buy)

Warp - Trapdoor / Electronic Arts - 2012 (online gone, trophy impossible)

Blocks / match color

PS4

Azkend 2: The World Beneath - 10tons - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Chime Sharp - Twistplay / Chilled Mouse - 2017

Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight - SuperVillain Studios / Disney Interactive Studios - 2015 (US only)

Hamster Ball - Creat Studios / TikGames - 2009

Lumines Remastered - Resonair / Enhance Games - 2018

Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign - Demiurge Studios / D3Publisher - 2015 (PS3 cross-buy)

Peggle 2 - PopCap / Electronic Arts - 2014

Puyo Puyo Tetris - Sonic Team / Sega - 2017

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Vicious Cycle / D3Publisher - 2018 (US only)

Sparkle 2 - 10tons - 2014 (PS5 / Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Sparkle 4 Tales - 2020

Sparkle Unleashed - 10tons - 2015 (PS5 / Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Tetris Effect - 2018 (VR)

Tetris Ultimate - Ubisoft - 2014 (delisted)

The Treasures Of Montezuma 4 - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2015 (Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Vita

Azkend 2: The World Beneath - 10tons - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Gem Legends - 8Floor - 2015

Germinator - Creat Studios - 2013

Gunhouse - Necrosoft Games - 2014

Lumines Electronic Symphony - Q Entertainment / Ubisoft - 2012

Ms. Germinator - Creat Studios - 2013

NekoBuro: Cats Block - Arc System Works - 2015

Puyo Puyo Tetris - Sonic Team / Sega - 2014 (Japan only)

Sparkle - MythPeople / 10tons - 2013 (delisted)

Sparkle 2 - 10tons - 2014 (PS4 / PS3 cross-buy)

Sparkle 4 Tales - 2020

Sparkle Unleashed - 10tons - 2015 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Supermagical - Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team / Tama Games - 2017

Surge Deluxe - FuturLab - 2014

Tetris Ultimate - Ubisoft - 2015 (delisted)

The Treasures Of Montezuma 4 - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2015 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Treasures of Montezuma: Arena - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2014 (delisted)

Treasures of Montezuma Blitz - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2012 (delisted)

PS3

4 Elements HD - Boolat Games - 2011 (delisted)

Arkedo Series - 002 SWAP! - Arkedo Studio - 2011

Bejeweled 2 - PopCap - 2009 (delisted)

Bejeweled 3 - PopCap - 2011

Chime Super Deluxe - Zoë Mode - 2011

Critter Crunch - Capybara Games - 2009

Droplitz - Blitz Arcade / Atlus - 2009 (delisted)

Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight - SuperVillain Studios / Disney Interactive Studios - 2015 (US only)

Germinator - Creat Studios - 2013

Lumines: Supernova - Q Entertainment - 2008

Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign - Demiurge Studios / D3Publisher - 2015 (PS4 cross-buy)

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Capy Games / Ubisoft - 2011

Ms. Germinator - Creat Studios - 2013

Numblast - Japan Studio / SCE - 2009

Peggle - PopCap - 2009 (delisted)

Piyotama - Japan Studio / SCE - 2007 (no trophy support)

Polar Panic - Eiconic -2009

Puyo Puyo Tetris - Sonic Team / Sega - 2014 (Japan only)

Puzzle Chronicles - Infinite Interactive / Konami - 2010

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Vicious Cycle / D3Publisher - 2008 (no trophy support)

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix - Infinite Interactive / D3 Publisher - 2009 (US / Asia only)

Puzzlegeddon - Tecmo - 2009

Rotastic - Dancing Dots / Focus Home Interactive - 2012 (US and Asia only)

Sparkle 2 - 10tons - 2015 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Sparkle Unleashed - 10tons - 2015 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix - Backbone Entertainment / Capcom 2007 (no trophy support)

Tetris - EA Mobile / EA - 2011

The Treasures Of Montezuma 4 - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2015 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Time Machine: Rogue Pilot - Lesta Studio - 2012

Treasures of Montezuma: Arena - Alawar Entertainment / Smartphone Labs (SPL) - 2014 (delisted)

Zuma - PopCap- 2009

Zuma's Revenge! - PopCap - 2012

PS5

Sparkle 2 - 10tons - 2020 (PS4 cross-buy)

Sparkle Unleashed - 10tons - 2020 (PS4 cross-buy)

Puzzle platformer

PS4

A Boy and His Blob - Abstraction Games / Majesco - 2016 (Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Alteric - goonswarm / Sometimes You - 2017 (Vita cross-buy)

Attractio - GameCoder Studios / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment - 2016 (supposedly impossible)

Contrast - Compulsion Games / Focus Home Interactive - 2013

Degrees of Separation - Moondrop Studios / Modus Games -2019

Deleveled - ToasterFuel / The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild - 2020

Factotum 90 - TACS Games / Poppy Works - 2017 (Vita cross-buy)

Fez - Polytron Corporation / Trapdoor - 2012 (Vita  / PS3 cross-buy)

Gabbuchi - h.a.n.d. Inc. / Aksys Games - 2019

Hue - Fiddlesticks / Curve Digital - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Inside - Playdead ApS - 2016

Inside My Radio - Seaven Studio - 2016

Light Tracer - Void Dimensions / Oasis Games - 2017 (VR support)

Limbo - Playdead ApS - 2015

Lumo - Triple Eh? Ltd / Rising Star Games - 2016 (Vita cross-buy)

Octahedron - Demimonde / Square Enix - 2018

Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut - Toxic Games / Grip Digital - 2015 (PS3  cross-buy)

Q.U.B.E. 2 - Toxic Games Limited / Trapped Nerve Games -2018

Relicta - Mighty Polygon / Ravenscourt - 2020

Seasons After Fall - Swing Swing Submarine / Focus Home Interactive - 2017

Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon - Tiger Style - 2016  (Vita cross-buy)

Suicide Guy - Chubby Pixel - 2018

Suicide Guy: Sleepin' Deeply - Chubby Pixel - 2019

Tamashii - Vikintor / Digerati Distribution - 2019

The Swapper - Facepalm Games / Curve Studios - 2014 (PS3  / Vita cross-buy)

Thomas Was Alone - Mike Bithell - 2014 (PS3  / Vita cross-buy)

Toki Tori 2+ - Two Tribes B.V. - 2016

Unravel - Coldwood Interactive / Electronic Arts - 2016

Unravel Two - Coldwood Interactive / Electronic Arts - 2018

Vita

A Boy and His Blob - Abstraction Games / Majesco - 2016 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Alteric - goonswarm / Sometimes You - 2017 (PS4 cross-buy)

Attractio - GameCoder Studios / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment - 2016 (supposedly impossible)

Factotum 90 - TACS Games / Poppy Works - 2017 (PS4 cross-buy)

Fez - Polytron Corporation / Trapdoor - 2012 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Hue - Fiddlesticks / Curve Digital - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Limbo - Playdead ApS - 2013

Lumo - Triple Eh? Ltd / Rising Star Games - 2016 (PS4 cross-buy)

Rabi Laby: Puzzle Out Stories - SilverStar - 2017 (Japan only)

Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon - Tiger Style - 2016  (PS4 cross-buy)

The Swapper - Facepalm Games / Curve Studios - 2014 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

Thomas Was Alone - Mike Bithell - 2013 (PS4  / PS3 cross-buy)

PS3

A Boy and His Blob - Abstraction Games / Majesco - 2016 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Catherine - Atlus - 2011

Constant C -  International Games System Co., Ltd. / Mages - 2014

Contrast - Compulsion Games / Focus Home Interactive - 2013 (delisted)

Fez - Polytron Corporation / Trapdoor - 2012 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Limbo - Playdead ApS - 2011

Papo & Yo - Minority Media Inc. - 2012

Pid - Might and Delight / D3 Publisher - 2012

Portal 2 - Valve - 2011

Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut - Toxic Games / Grip Digital - 2015 (PS4  cross-buy)

Quantum Conundrum - Airtight Games / Square Enix - 2012

The Swapper - Facepalm Games / Curve Studios - 2014 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Thomas Was Alone - Mike Bithell - 2013 (PS4  / Vita cross-buy)

Toki Tori - Two Tribes / Playlogic - 2011

Exploration / Adventure

PS4

AER: Memories of Old - Forgotten Key / Daedalic Entertainment - 2017

Carto - Sunhead Games / Humble Bundle - 2020

FAR: Lone Sails - Okomotive Mixtvision / Mediengesellschaft GmbH - 2018

Figment - Bedtime Digital Games - 2019

Flower - Thatgamecompany / Bluepoint Games / SCE - 2013 (Vita / PS3 cross-buy)

Hohokum - Honeyslug Ltd / SIE - 2014 (Vita / PS3 cross buy)

Journey - Thatgamecompany / Tricky Pixels / SCE- 2015 (PS3 cross-buy)

Koi - Dotoyou / Oasis Games - 2017

Last Day of June - Ovosonico / 505 Games - 2017

LocoRoco Remastered - Japan Studio / SIE - 2017

LocoRoco 2 Remastered - Japan Studio / SIE - 2017

Machinarium - Amanita Design - 2016

Maize - Finish Line Games - 2017

Observation - No Code / Devolver Digital - 2019

Old Man's Journey - Broken Rules Interactive Media GmbH - 2018

The Gardens Between - The Voxel Agents - 2018

The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow / Santa Monica Studio / SCE - 2014 (Vita / PS3 cross-buy)

Vita

Flower - Thatgamecompany / Bluepoint Games / SCE - 2013 (PS4 / PS3 cross-buy)

Hohokum - Honeyslug Ltd / SIE - 2014 (PS4 / PS3 cross buy)

Koi - Dotoyou / Oasis Games - 2017 (US only)

Machinarium - Amanita Design - 2013

The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow / Santa Monica Studio / SCE - 2014 (PS4 / PS3 cross-buy)

PS3

Create - EA Bright Light / EA Games - 2010

Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time - Stickmen Studios - 2012

Dream Chronicles - KatGames / PlayFirst - 2010

Flower - Thatgamecompany / SCE - 2009 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Hohokum - Honeyslug Ltd / SIE - 2014 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos - Creat Studios - 2009 (US only)

Journey - Thatgamecompany / SCE- 2012 (PS4 cross-buy)

Judge Dee: The City God Case - BiP Media / Bigben Interactive - 2012

LocoRoco Cocoreccho! - SCE Japan Studio - 2009 (no trophy support)

Machinarium - Amanita Design - 2012

Magrunner: Dark Pulse - Frogwares / Focus Home Interactive - 2013 (delisted)

Master Reboot - Wales Interactive - 2014

PixelJunk Eden - Q-Games / SCE - 2008

Red Johnson's Chronicles - Lexis Numerique - 2011

Red Johnson's Chronicles - One Against All - Lexis Numerique - 2012

Stacking - Double Fine Productions/THQ - 2011

The Undergarden - Vitamin-G / Artech Studios / Atari - 2011

The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow / Santa Monica Studio / SCE - 2012 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

Physics Puzzles

PS4

Human: Fall Flat - No Brakes Games / Curve Digital - 2017

King Oddball - 10tons - 2014 (PS5 / Vita cross-buy)

Puddle - Neko Entertainment - 2014 (Vita cross-buy)

Vita

King Oddball - 10tons - 2012 (PS5 / PS4 cross-buy)

Puddle - Neko Entertainment - 2012 (PS4 cross-buy)

PS3

Crazy Machines Elements - FAKT Software / DTP Entertainment - 2012

Elefunk - 8bit Games / SCE - 2008 (no trophy support)

King Oddball - 10tons - 2015

PAIN - Idol Minds / SCE - 2007

Puddle - Neko Entertainment / Konami - 2012 (delisted)

Storm - Eko / indiePub - 2013

Vessel - Strange Loop Games / indiePub - 2014

PS5

King Oddball - 10tons - 2020 (PS4 / Vita cross-buy)

VR Only

PS4

Along Together - Turbo Button - 2018

Crazy Machines VR - FAKT Software / EuroVideo Medien - 2019 (Europe only)

Esper - Coatsink Software - 2018

Fat City - Heavy Iron Studios - 2015 (CUSA06654)

Ghost Giant - Zoink! AB - 2019

Squishies - Brainseed Factory -2018

SUPERHYPERCUBE - KOKOROMI / Polytron Corp. - 2016

Transpose - Secret Location - 2018

The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets - Fast Travel Games AB - 2019

Tumble VR - Supermassive Games / SIE - 2016

If you have any additions of games I've missed drop me a note.

Opinions:

Stellar and shouldn't be missed

Journey, Flower and Hohokum, for how unique and original they're. AER: Memories of Old, clearly a labor of love, which has absolutely stellar flying controls and 3 beautifully designed and well thought main areas of puzzles which can all be easily solved with some brains. Chariot, hard as nails but so, so original and has fantastic gameplay, especially in coop. Lara Croft Go and Hitman Go, really polished and clever products, although the isometric movement of Lara sometimes doesn't work and it needed another approach. Degrees of Separation, another really clever and original labor of love, with the crappy and pointless map the only downside. Fez, an incredible achievement in game design, music and programming (awesome game engine created just for the title).

Good

PAIN for the whacko theme and gameplay, it's hard as nails but so much fun and original. Glass Masquerade and Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions, are really well done. although the music is insanely repetitive (can't even figure out how people claim these need guides to solve...). Metrico+, a really clever game, but probably too weird for most people which never created or used infographics. The Spectrum Retreat, is really clever and well crafted, but very difficult towards the end. Donut County, original and fun, but too short and easy. Anarcute, the more action puzzles I play, the more I think this game is very good and original even if it's not devoid of issues. The Last Guy, not totally a puzzle game, but very original and fun to play, but very hard. The Unfinished Swan is quite original too, with a predominantly black and white theme. Waking Violet a nice puzle game with some clever ideas and mechanics, plays really well on the Vita (and it's cross-buy). The Bridge, another really clever and original puzzle game, it does get nasty hard even before halfway, but at least has a very useful undo to help.

Regular

Hue, an interesting game and puzzles, but the color switching controls are badly thought and executed on the controller. One Upon Light is interesting but has a few issues, also there are 2 levels that require a lot of dexterity and some luck (hint: on the last level don't even try to figure or understand, just rush your way through the lamp shadows as you have a timed gate). Back To Bed, The Turing Test, Furmins, MouseCraft, Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut, Unmechanical: Extended, Machinarium, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, Thomas Was Alone, Minesweeper Genius.

Weak

Observation, some clever ideas, and execution but too boring and repetitive, and the story is too much a pseudo horror 2001. Mugsters, a one-man job, but unfortunately too amateurish. Neonwall, certainly better with VR but the controls without VR were not really thought in the best way, a pity. Nihilumbra, starts good, but the void mode is mostly cheap stupid puzzles with unresponsive controls, and the PS4 version is a nightmare of dreadfulness due to how the painting controls work (the probable reason it's only for sale in Asia), it was clearly thought as phone game but still feels cheap. King Oddball, has more luck and RNG than "physics" (but it's a 10tons game, so that was expected).

Dreadful

Felix the Reaper, not discussing graphics and music which will be a personal taste, the game was clearly developed to be played with a mouse with a direct translation for a controller; the only "slight" issue is that the game has timed puzzles, with absolutely dreadful controls... Kill the Bad Guy, unbelievably is even worse, it mimics mouse controls on buttons in such a stupid way that it has to be played to be believed someone would even create such a thing, and even worse has missions that are only possible once in a while when RNG allows... Chess Knights: Viking Lands, isn't a bad puzzle game, but so amateurishly done that it should not be sold, as the game will start confusing which levels are which if you don't play it straight from beginning to end.

List of PS Vita games with DLC trophies

All these games have DLCs that have trophies:

Blazblue Chronophantasma (only available in Extend now)

Borderlands 2 (can and should be done on PS3 which shares trophy list, not only the Vita version is dreadful but even worse not all DLCs are available on that version)

CastleStorm (2 DLCs)

Dead Nation (Road of Devastation - game and DLC cross-buy with PS3)

Escape Plan (3 DLCs, possibly still available since PS4 cross buy)

fl0w (game and DLC cross-buy with PS3 and PS4)

Frobisher Says! (2 DLCs)

Furmins (Bonus World, included in the game)

Gravity Rush (3 DLCs)

Guacamelee! (2 DLCs)

Hustle Kings (Snooker Pack)

LittleBigPlanet Vita (4 DLCs)

Minecraft (7 DLCs all free with game update)

MotorStorm RC (Carnival, Pro-Am - both cross-buy with PS3)

Muramasa Rebirth (4 DLCs)

OPEN ME!

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds (2 DLCs - DLCs cross-buy with PS4)

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Heavenly Sword - cross-buy with PS3)

SENRAN KAGURA Bon Appetit! (Gessen x Hebijo)

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (3 DLCs)

Shu - (World 6, included in the game)

Silent Hill Book Of Memories (Extra Memories)

Sound Shapes (11 DLCs)

Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark (can also be done on PS3, no cross-buy with any)

SteamWorld Heist (The Outsider)

Super Stardust Delta (Advanced Star Fighter)

Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype (The Last Chapter)

The Hungry Horde (Holiday Hijinx)

Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (delisted game)

WHEN VIKINGS ATTACK (Relax)

WipEout 2048 (HD Fury, cross-buy PS3)

Some of these games come at a hefty price, Shantae and its DLCs for instance are 52€. The game is interesting but at this price, it's not.

Excluded from the list are Telltale Games which are mostly gone and Zen Pinball games as they don't give a damn about them and you can't have everything these days.

Well, we can always wait for the next Vita games sale 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

There are several games that the trophies can be obtained either in the Vita or PS4, these are not included in the list.

EDF 5 - Mission 86 - Secret in the Dark

This is THE one. The hardest mission for the AR n the whole main campaign by far. This mission is hell.

I don't think it makes much difference using limpets or not. There are so many things that can go wrong that this is a giant PITA to do.

Details:

The mission is divided into 2 parts.

It starts with 4 tunnel exits spitting ants (between 8 and 12) and 1 spitting bees (12). Near the start position, you can destroy one of the ant's tunnels by dropping down to the right and using a limpet (which will enable you to summon a Depth Crawler). A Ranger (Grant MTX) or a WD (Plasma Great Canon) will be able to destroy the top bees tunnel by hitting the main pillar near it.

Once all 5 tunnels are destroyed the 2nd part starts. The biggest issue is the first part anyway, which is way worse than the 2nd.

You have 2 NPC groups of rangers that are not controllable and are scripted to go up to the bees tunnel (doesn't matter if it was destroyed or not by the time they reach it). There are 2 main dreadful spots: once you reach the arch that you can see in front of you when you start, and when the NPCs (and probably you) reach the place where the first ant's tunnel is in your path as they seem to stop there for a few secs and it can be a massacre.

To me, the ants are even worse than the bees. They're more difficult to hit and come in groups. Also, they will spit acid from far or just show up from under you and kill you or the NPCs in a snap. You'll see that easily when you pass under the arch.

What makes matters worse is that the only viable turrets if not using DLC ones are the ZEXR and the ZEX Launcher. I managed to do it once with tremendous luck with the ZEX Launcher... in around 200 or 300 tries. Granted when I died it was 99% of the time in the first minute or so. The biggest issue with the ZEX Launcher is how easy it is to wipe you and/or the NPCs, so you don't even need the enemies 😂 (really crying would be more correct). The second biggest issue is that the turrets and even the NPCs are very inefficient here. You just need an ant walking below you or the turrets and they will try to kill it which is impossible, while you and the NPCs are massacred by the other enemies. The ant will probably stop and try to kill the NPCs or you too, but can't either as she's under the ledge, but it's a deadlock, while it's a free-range for the other enemies. The hardest thing is surviving until the 4 ant tunnels are destroyed.

You can also be wiped out just by exiting the Depth Crawler to install a turret or a support turret. Also trying to climb the DC to install a turret is most of the time a nightmare due to the steep slant of the ledges as it doesn't work.

I eventually quit and switched the ZEX Launcher for the ZE Blaster, at least that one is feasible.

 

The Ranger has a much easier life here, as the Reverse Shooter fits like a glove in this mission. Even there the AR is at disadvantage, using the Life Vendor is very troublesome in this mission. I do recommend you just do this mission with him, and split-screen the other classes with the Ranger.

EDF 4.1 M87 Massive Mobilization Inferno

This is the hardest mission in EDF 4.1 for all classes. There's no way to cheese it or solve it with relative ease like Monster Party or Mountain Liberation which arguably are worse, but the AR can do both with specific load-outs. This mission is long, very long. You must deal with enemies in sections because if you piss a few parts of the map at once, you're likely dead.

The mission has 5 transports. The one on the right spawns purple ants, the one in the middle spiders, the one to the left that will be moving gold ants, the one in the back right gold ants, and the last in the far back left silver spiders.

The mission has a giant Quadruped Fortress which you really don't want to piss at the start (although I've seen an interesting strategy in multiplayer in which they started by doing that after wiping out the FVs and using it as a shield, as the mech body will not disappear). There are also 3 deroys, one of which is too much near to the mech to be possible to handle without waking it up. Four hectors are around, 3 of them shielded ones, the most troublesome ones are the Particle Stream Gun ones that will shoot the very fast and powerful projectiles that can wipe you in a single shot (at least with low armor).

And the icing on the cake, a bazillion flying vehicles...

The class that can handle this solo with fewer troubles is by far the AR (who else, if it's a messy mission he'll be there to solve it).

Weapons:

Dual ZEXR-GUN

Epsilon Armored Blast Railgun E

Armor: 1000

This can also be done with the ZEXR-GUN and Life Vendor ZD, but it's harder.

First the things you must take care of:

- the epsilon shots are piercing, so be REALLY careful what you shoot and what can be in the back as you can ruin the run with a simple mistake

- the worst enemies are flying vehicles, followed by the gold ants

- you should always try to use one set of ZEXRs at a time, saving the next one to when the first ends, especially if there's FVs around, and it's good practice to put the first set in the forward positions so that you know which one is each when you need to start them. The timing for rebuilding a set of ZEXRs is just slightly less than the time they last shooting. You can't be in the tank too much time, they don't rebuild while you're there.

- always keep moving with FVs around, this lessens the chances of them hitting you and the NPCs (same with Deroy and hector shots anyway)

- FVs have wildly varied flying paths most will go by you sometime even if they're not aggroed

- any enemies that are relatively close to any FV you hit will be aggroed too

- the mech can follow different paths, although usually it will go near your start position, and then near your current position

- the most likely way for you to die is by an FV homing on you, stunning you and zapping you to death

- NPCs can be easily wiped out by FVs, golds, and silvers.

The first thing you should do is get rid of as many flying vehicles as possible. They're the worst enemies as if one focuses on you or any of the NPCs it can wipe you or them out or do considerable damage. Your loadout isn't good to handle them. So all you can do is for a while lay consecutive sets of turrets to try to diminish the number of FVs. This is crucial or the number of FVs that will come in the first transport you'll bring down is so overwhelming that either you or most of your NPCs will be wiped out. During this phase a few spiders or even less common a few purple ants can come, the ZEXRs will handle them. The rightmost deroy can also wake, there's no issue just be alert to that and wipe him out with the tank ASAP. Yes, this is boring but crucial believe me. Your goal is to get a third to half the FVs down.

This can be considerably easier if you're playing (even alone) split screen with another class. The ranger excels at sniping (Hercules rocks here), WD is sadly a boredom (Monster) and even Fencer (whatever you can use for sniping) will help a lot. Hide the AR or the other class in the tank while you're not using it. Be careful NOT to snipe any FVs near the mech. NO GUIDED WEAPONS, so no Emerald, Mirage, FGX High Altitude Impact Missiles, zilch!!!

After this rebuild both ZEXR sets. The first goal is to take down the purple's transport. From the start position put one set towards the right (two rolls between each is good spacing), then the next 3 around the tank area. Bring down transport when it starts to open. This is always important so that you can bring him down in one opening, or he'll probably drop more enemies next time it opens again. If the deroy is still there' he'll probably wake at the first epsilon shot, kill him, then return to transport and bring it down. Activate the first set of ZEXRs, saving the next one for now. Shoot purple ants sideways, NEVER towards the back.

Activate the next set of ZEXRs when the first is gone, rebuild and keep doing this until all ants and FVs are gone.

This first transport will liberate a crucial area. The second lot at the right of the map is flat for a few squares to the left. You'll handle most things in that area since this will make the ZEXRs a lot more efficient. In most areas of the map, the rubble will help the enemies and will make a lot of the ZEXRs ammo be wasted on rubble hits. By moving and camping in this open area you'll maximize ZEXRs efficiency and will be so much easier to handle golds and silvers.

The next transport is the spider's one. Although it should be handled from your new conquered position, when downing him you'll wake 2 hectors. So getting rid of one will help. Only the left one (the blue unshielded) can be hit with confidence without making a mess further back. Install ZEXRs in front of him, as the spiders and a few FVs will come, and wipe him out facing him frontally slightly to its right, he'll be gone in 2 shots.

Now go to the aforementioned place, the second block on the right of the map. Install the first batch of ZEXRs more towards the left, second near map edge where you'll stay with the tank. Two possibilities. You can try to hit at least once the shielded hector just below the transport (or twice) or down the transport first then deal with the hector. Exit tank and activate the first set of ZEXRs. If you did not destroy the hector be really careful where you hit him, chances are you'll have the mech, a deroy, and the silver spiders behind him. It's better to take a few hits from him, than risk a mess. As long as you're moving even slowly the hector will miss most shots, if necessary move backward to the map end. Activate the second set of ZEXRs when needed. The number of FVs may be still daunting at this point.

When spiders transport, spiders, yellow shielded hector, and FVs are gone, rebuild ZEXRs and time for next transport.

The next one will be the gold ants one to your right. Install the first batch of ZEXRs in the open area but towards that transport. The second, further back near the end of the open area. Destroy gold ants transport and activate ZEXRs. In this case activate the second set of ZEXRs shortly after the first, gold ants are nasty you want to get rid of them even more than FVs. Shoot tank at yellow ants to help. The yellow shielded deroy coming is a machine gun one, you'll have plenty of time to deal with it before it's a threat. When this part has ended rebuild ZEXRs and proceed to last gold ants transport.

The last gold ants transport is the one moving to your left. You should wait for it to be on the way to way and more to the left, to avoid waking the big deroy near it or the mech. Install the 2 groups of ZEXRs in the open towards the transport, as usual, the first more near the transport, the second more near your position. Takedown the transport and the ZEXRs will likely handle all yellow ants. The number of FVs should be pretty low.

At this point or when you handle the biggest deroy a group of rangers, the Omega team will spawn near the back map border. Capture them ASAP, they'll be great to handle FVs and silver spiders at the end.

Now attack and destroy the furthest deroy, it's the only medium one (2 diamond spikes on each leg). You can try to farm it for weapon crates by destroying the 6 laser diamonds and the 3 spikes before killing it but it's risky.

All that remains is the silvers transport, the mech, and its nearby deroy, and a sole hector near the last transport. You have 2 options:

- destroy transport then deal with mech

- deal with mech, then destroy transport, optionally farming the silvers

If you want to destroy transport place the ZEXRs the same way you did for the first yellow ant's transport. Then move along the right map border (from start), shoot the transport down, and move back quickly to near ZEXRs, activating them. If everything goes fine ZEXRs and NPCs will kill silvers, help with the tank. If the hector comes, deal with it too, although it's unusual.

Dealing with the mech isn't troublesome but you need to be careful to avoid that the NPCs are wiped out. Shoot and destroy the deroy so that the mech starts. If the deroy moves and the mech doesn't start you should destroy the last transport before dealing with the mech, you'll have to shoot some FVs moving around it to make it move. Sometimes after the mech starts moving it will be attacked by gunships and will be severely damaged.

The mech has 6 dangerous weapons: a really nasty cannon inside it on the back of the opening and 5 lasers, two on each side of the head and one below centrally between its back legs. The first one to be active will be the cannon, but as long as you keep a long-distance it won't hit you or the NPCs. It's the easiest one to shoot down, you'll see an explosion animation when you do. The other 5 are more troublesome. The mech has shields that make it hard to hit the lasers. It's also problematic to hit the ones on each side of the head from the same position. Try to deal with the back one first, then the two near the front in the side you can, hopefully, they will be in the open and not behind the shields. When this has been done wait for the mech to move and have its other side towards you so you can destroy the last 2 lasers.

When this has been done, approach the mech and try to hit it inside when its doors are open and you can see the red inside. The angle to hit that with the tank isn't totally easy to get. You can try this while the mech still has lasers active, but you risk that the NPCs are wiped out, and they will come in handy.

The mech part is easier with a second class of course since sniping the mech weapons with the ranger or WD will be a lot easier than with the tank, as both their weapons have zoom. 

When the mech is out, deal with the last transport if you didn't, then last hector, and finally the last few FVs. The last FVs can be a pain to kill, they're very high, and hitting them with the tank isn't easy. ZEXRs usually can't reach them either.

It's not totally easy but the best way I found. This is the hardest mission, after all, it wasn't ever going to be easy. You can do similar runs with the Ranger and WD solo, but it's a lot harder than with the AR (best weapons for Ranger will be Hercules + AF100 or Reverse Shooter X, and WD the Monster-S + Idunn-FF or Laser Lance Sigma).

https://youtu.be/7g_EGrk_TeI

EDF 5 - 60 Mountain Investigation Inferno AR, WD and Ranger

This is a scripted mission that apparently seems easy but it's very hard to accomplish. Without knowledge of what happens and thinking of a way to solve it, you'll never do it in Inferno.

There will be 3 NPC squads. A double one with rangers that will be near your start position, of which their captains (2) and only them are invincible until they can be joined after they reach the mountain top and the voice line "Attack the nest" is heard. One with WDs that will spawn later in the mountains off the map and so really hard to capture, roughly opposite the hive from your start position. And another with rangers that will spawn to the left of your start.

There will be a lot of bee waves, but your biggest concern will be the last 3, that will spawn from the nest, and the last also includes 3 queens. However, the game will end sometime during this last wave. Once your 3 squads are wiped out you're dead. The biggest issue is that the 3 squads will be in different positions which makes attacks on the bees during these waves difficult as they will be spread on 3 different areas and it's not possible to hit them all at the same time. Capturing any squads isn't easy. The simplest one to do that is the last rangers squad that will spawn towards the left of the hive. All of them will be wiped out in a snap if you don't kill the bees REALLY fast, as the dumb idiots stay in their position and that's the worse you can do with bees (well basically that's the worse you can do with most enemies).

The best strategy is simple and the same for all classes.

At first, go back so you can kill the nearest bees without them aggro them on you. Then proceed slowly as the first group of rangers advance. You do need to kill all possible bees, or you'll risk that only the 2 invincible captains reach the mountain top. So while staying back wipe out all bees on the ground and the small waves that arrive flying.

When the rangers start climbing the mountain towards the nest you should proceed fast to the left of the nest to capture the last ranger squad. You'll have to wipe more bees there too. Then climb the mountain towards the WD squad that you won't be able to capture, at least easily (can be done with a rocket by hitting the leader but it's hard and not necessary). Lastly staying in the back of the mountain wipe out the first 2 waves as fast as possible, as in this place it's seldom any bees will come up to bother. When the 3rd wave starts and the queens come, go away as the mission will end shortly and it's hard for any NPCs to be alive then. The ranger squad you captured will be useful as final bait.

Air Raider - The best vehicle is the Naegling. However, it's crap to drive it in EDF 5 in rough terrain as it can easily topple. Beware that most strafe attacks will be too low to hit bees. Also, they're not very wide so only a few bees are hit.

The KM6 attacks I used in the following video were the ones that worked better. Still, they're not perfect and you have to be careful when to use them, as you'll need credits to be able to use them again.

I did not go to the place I wanted (top of the mountain like with Ranger and WD videos) but amazingly, the game still awarded the mission complete, that's the reason I uploaded this run.

https://youtu.be/66wi2C7o3mo

Ranger - MEX5 Emerald and Reverse Shooter are the best options here. MEX5 Emerald needs to be fairly upgraded, especially in the number of ammo. Use wisely the reverse shooter between waves to freshen the NPC bait (see video). You need the Hybrid Protector E9 suit or it's a pain to get where you need on time, the travel distance is very long.

https://youtu.be/66wi2C7o3mo

Wing Diver - Gleipnir α and Mirage 15WR are the best options, but both need to be fairly upgraded to work. The best core is the VM Rush Core, however charging the Gleipnir and flying are not compatible, so you must save the Gleipnir for the best opportunities and not touch it while flying. Also, the Mirage isn't the best option for bees as they will aggro to you in circles and the hitbox of the mirage is small and focus only on the front (you can't track enemies around you like the Naegling and Emerald), this can cause serious problems.

You can try with the Big Bang core but it drives me insane dragging around, so I seldom use it, but the 200% weapons charge is amazing.

https://youtu.be/_WoOs62Wmow

EDF 5 - 109 No.11 Inferno AR

This is going to be nirvana for the TL;DR people.😋😂 This mission is long as hell. There are a ton of things to describe.

The mission isn't terribly hard but I'm still not happy with any of the solutions I've found. The mission is overall easy, except for the third phase of the shield, the bullet hell phase.

Major hint

If you're struggling to do this mission with any class on solo use split screen and as a second class choose an AR with the best Barga you have, a guard post, and optionally the Electromagnetic Wall and Life Vendor (or ZEXRs). Capture all fast NPCs with main class (WDs, Grim Reapers, optionally Sarge squad), install shield around NPCs where they start with 2nd AR, kill frogs and cosmos, then go front left beyond spiders ship, bring it down, destroy main ship mega cannon, destroy pillbugs ship, return near AR which should have already been able to request a Barga. Install Barga ahead of tanks and players, protect them with shield, then bring down the ants ship. Most enemies will focus on the Barga, leaving you in peace, the NPCs will handle small fish. Before destroying the mothership shield for the next phase get a new Barga and put it forward more under the next barrier, rebuild shield and install around tanks, return AR to Barga, pick health crates for you and NPCs and just turkey shoot the mothership shield parts from near the tanks inside your shield. Rinse and repeat.

I've settled that the best way is with ZEXR, Bulge Laser Beam Mode Z, Life Vendor ZD and Nix ZC. Takes close to 1 hour to do this way, it's likely a lot easier with Limpet Sniper, Bargas or a heli, but since I'm allergic to all of them...

I don't know if I'll publish a video or not, it's very long and there's too much boring parts. A screen taken at the end:

I know this could be from any difficulty, but yes it's from inferno. Still had a few NPCs left on this run, mostly the WDs, one or Fencers and Rangers, and amazingly 2 of the slower fencers.

Essential weapons:

- Life Vendor ZD, I tried shields, Guard Posts, Zone Protectors, basically everything from support. Life Vendor works best because although you only have 5 they're really only necessary at the start of the 3 shield phases. Shields are blown in a snap in all shield start phases, so completely unuseful. Protection / guard is not enough during these parts, so the reason for the Life Vendor, and the same reason the Reverse Shooter X is almost essential for the Ranger too.

- ZEXR-GUN. What else would be awesome? Although your NPC soldiers and the3tankswill help a lot with the small stuff, the ZEXR makes this even more productive and more efficient. It also helps a gazillion since only enemies will wield ponts for the exoskeleton and you're going to need a lot of them.

- Bulge Laser Beam Mode Z. Not perfect but the best other weapon that works here. shields have wild trajectories and are very fast in phases 2 and 3, but they help. Also excellent to deal with cosmos and frogs when needed, along with the giant cannon. As they say in my country, constant water dropping wears away a stone, so keep using them they will help.

- Nix ZC. Only option for exoskeletons. Sturdy and plenty of options. And the best to destroy shield cannon and locks, and the mothership itself. And frogs and cosmos. And everything else for that matter. Yes, Nix ZC rocks.

Armor: 1000

You can be one shot with 1k armor, but it's not that common. As long as there's NPCs around you or closer to the worse things (cannon from shields, cosmos, frogs and blue tadpoles) it can be done.

Plan:

At start

EDF 5 - 108 Scorched Earth Inferno AR

Mission 108 does deserve a separate post. In the end, it's the best mission overall in the main game campaign and by a long distance. Like Scorching which was already the best mission overall in 4.1, they maintained the tradition with this evolution.

The mission is relatively quick to do with the AR and there's a variety of weapons that can be used to accomplish it successfully. It has a varied enemy roster that makes it pleasing to do, and the waves are different enough to keep the pressure and interest from start to end.

Although I can understand the difficulty and time it takes to create a mission like this it's a pity there's so little compared to it in the whole game. 110, 109 and 100 would be a lot more interesting with less RNG and extreme enemies that just make the missions more dependent on luck than strategy or skill, which makes them annoying and unpleasing to do again. 94, 98, 104, 105 and 107 are good, but even 94 falls short of the thrill that is 108.

Let's hope EDF 6 brings more of this kind of mission.

First strategy - Naegling and bomber attacks

Weapons:

Heavy Bomber Phobos Z Plan 4

Combat Bomber KM6 Plan Z4

Bulge Laser Beam Mode Z

Naegling Self-Propelled Missile Launcher XEM

Armor: 1000

The most exciting and interesting missions in the game. It's an improvement from Scorching in 4.1, with the worse benefit that there's no chance for a pause or relaxation between the 4 waves, it's a rarely ending onslaught of enemies.

I really wanted to solve this one in inferno as nicely as in hard but it's not possible. I don't know if Spritefall's are an option for Bulge. My 3 ones (Power Mode, Maximum and Destroy) are very basic and don't even handle a large anchor, so an oversized one would take forever, and even maxed out I don't think they will work. In practical terms, it takes the same time to use the bulge or Spritefall on an anchor, the bulge can require more work for the giant bee if she moves. UPDATE As I have 2 of the Spritefalls more upgraded, I don't think Spritefalls can be an option. You need 2 or 3 uses of one to takedown a large anchor, can't even dream to use it for the oversized one, there's no concentration of enemies where it would be useful too.

At start use immediately Phobos and KM6 incoming mob. While capturing all 6 NPC squads continue to use Phobos and KM6. If you're too successful it will be a pain as the next wave will spawn before you have the vehicle. When you can summon the vehicle as far back as possible. Always use Phobos and KM6 until all Deroys are gone, as unfortunately, it's difficult to kill their leg weapons in inferno, considering there's bigger fish to deal with, as they would be mostly harmless then. When in the vehicle drive in reverse to the left back corner of the map. Focus first on drones, then deroy legs if there's one alive, then ground stuff (spiders, cosmos). When you reach the map end continue until you have some buildings to your left, summon new naegling when you can.

Bees, pill bugs and the queen bee will come from the right considering start. Use Naegling extensively to eliminate remaining bombers, bees, pill bugs and everything else alive. When you see the queen bee in range kill her with the bulge, it works surprisingly well for that. When it arrives, enter it and proceed driving in reverse to the opposite right corner of the map, shooting sideways to kill tadpoles. Proceeding up by the left of the map is a bad idea, as you'll be very near the anchors when they drop. Before you reach the end exit and drop KM6 along the road, it will kill many tadpoles. When you reach the map end, go up, yes always driving in reverse. At this point the only NPCs alive should be the WDs and some fencers, the others should be dead or almost. Use KM6 again if possible or necessary

If you performed too well, you'll still be going in the back road when the pylons arrive or you should be driving up after reaching the map ends when the pylons drop, the larger one in the middle will be the last and it comes later than the 4 small ones. Use the bulge ASAP on that one.

Send Phobos to the mob coming from the pylons and KM6 too, or along the road if there are many enemies still coming along that way. Continue using Naegling when the attacks are coming and summon 2 more when possible. It's likely the queen ant spawned (king spider is spawned later), use KM6 or Phobos on her.

Use bulge on the 2 LEFT pylons. Massacre the coming small fish with Naegling, and when possible kill the nearest right pylon. Don't destroy the furthest one, it will "only" drop red and black ants. It's likely you'll only have 2 or 3 NPC WDs alive, perhaps 1 or 2 fencers too. Start picking crates, to heal NPCs (and you)and pick weapons. Use Naegling to kill spawning small fish, if you kill them all the laser ranger squad and GR fencers will spawn again, but with low health. Pick crates to heal them to full and then you can travel around picking what you want, the NPCs will kill the small fish. If you keep on using the Naegling against the small fish, the pylon will probably be destroyed too.

You can farm the pylon but it's not very interesting. Most crates will be to the right of the place you probably ended (up right corner from start) as it was the point where many enemies died with your initial attacks and around the start area and its back.

Some will be inside the pools area, these will be easier to pick on foot, which is safe once you have enough healthy NPCs alive again.

The Naegling is junk at 6600 armor, but the ability to kill small fish like bombers, bees and tadpoles that NPCs struggle to handle is a must.

This isn't easy. It's not possible to succeed always, there are too many waves and hard enemies in this mission. Important:

- try to get rid of the 3 deroys, they will fry your 2 NPC exoskeletons in a snap, if they last longer the mission will be easier.

- try to use the first Naegling as much as possible, as you'll use the 2nd a lot because there are 102 tadpoles in the third wave and it's the most difficult time to recall one

- the only likely survivors until almost the end of the mission from the first wave are the 2 heavy cosmonauts because if they don't get hit by Naegling missiles NPCs won't kill them as they're too spread and stuck with other issues

- the queen bee is important but not crucial to handle quickly, but the bulge works surprisingly well with her

- the 2 blue tadpoles from wave 3 are also thorny as you have no easy way to handle them, they will eventually die to Naegling missiles or KM6 but can take time.

- not being hit is almost impossible if you join all NPCs, so some damage is 99% likely

- abuse the Phobos and KM6, the idea is not only to kill enemies but to create havoc and make it easier for you and the NPCs to move and battle what is essential

- driving the Naegling in reverse isn't easy and you'll get a lot of weird camera views, so get used and try anyway, it's worth it

- you can expect a few slowdowns, especially when the Phobos, KM6 and Naegling rockets are all active simultaneously

If you succeed 25-33% of the time, it's a good success rate. This mission is hard (EDIT - OK not that hard after all). For comparison, I have a 99% success rate in Scorching on 4.1, and I do it there with inferior armor and weapons. Well the Epsilon isn't exactly an inferior weapon, is it 😋

https://youtu.be/a_1drs8W01Y

UPDATE

I've come up with other possibly easier ways to solve this one:

https://youtu.be/65a4vp61Qi8

https://youtu.be/rEY_of73BAA

2ND UPDATE

I thought it couldn't be more insane but it can:

https://youtu.be/a6UeixwhI3I

Second strategy - Nix ZC and support or turret

Weapons:

Life Vendor ZD

Guard Post M3 or Zone Protector ZM

Power Post ZM or ZEXR-GUN

Powered Exoskeleton Nix ZC

Armor: 1000

The second way does not involve much movement. You'll stay near the start during all the missions. The advantages are:

- you'll have almost all crates in a small area

- more NPCs will survive

- the armor of the Nix is way beyond the "paper tissue made" Naegling

If you just want to use support equipment the 3 ones above are stellar. Choosing between Guard Post M3 or Zone Protector ZM is a matter of protection efficiency versus distance covered, either will work. The ZEXRs which are one of the best AR weapons will work in a stellar fashion here.

At the start just proceed to the front corner of the area where you spawn while collecting all 6 NPC squads. The 2 NPC Nixs will arrive roughly at the same time at their positions as you'll get there too.

It's difficult to support both NIXs. Although they won't be in exactly the same position in all runs, I seldom managed to support both. Only Zone Protector ZM will be able to do that. Supporting the left one is a better strategy as it's the one that will usually be more battered by enemies.

Install one of each support post near the corner (see video), if you have ZEXRs send them forward in an arc. Wait until you can summon Nix, staying within range of the Life Vendor is a good idea. When Nix arrives concentrate on the 3 deroys. Be extremely careful shooting the Nix's Shoulder Howitzer, if you hit a nearby enemy or NPC you'll likely kill most of the NPCs as this thing does 10k damage. After the deroys concentrate on the drones and cosmos. Do remember to summon more NIXs when you can this is crucial.

When the second wave comes, install a new Life Vendor. You don't have time to rebuild the Guard Post and you only have 3, so don't use one. Same with ZEXRs, they will be crucial on the third wave and wave 2 usually goes pretty fast so you wouldn't have time to use and rebuild them. The Life Vendor is enough on this phase. Kill as many bees as you can with the Nix Revolver and Missiles, handle Giant Bee when she's in range, leave pill bugs mostly to NPCs.

When the third wave comes install both support posts and the ZEXRs if you have them. Remember the tadpoles will do a circling flight but you should install them before they end it. The ZEXRs help a lot in this phase, they mince the tadpoles very efficiently. If possible handle the blue ones.

The fourth wave will not be very hard. Install the support posts and the likely ready ZEXRs. If the latter is not ready do exit Nix and install them when possible. they will help a lot in the initial onslaught. You now have 2 options. If you want the level done, kill queen ant, destroy huge anchor (do realize that the Shoulder Howitzer shots from one Nix won't be enough for the bugger pylon). Then starting from the right destroy each remaining pylon, the 2 rightmost ones will be the ones spawning bees which are the most troublesome for the NPCs. Each large pylon will go down with 5 Shoulder Howitzer hits. Leave the leftmost pylon alive which only spawns red and black ants and collect crates.

The alternative is to while killing any giant enemies that appear, destroy immediately the rightmost pylons that spawn bees, and then the second from left that spawns spiders (or all the smallest ones) and then keep killing the giant enemies that the huge pylon spawns. You'll be able to call a ton of NIXs, no problem there. A shoulder howitzer hit in a king spider will stun it for a while and send it flying across the map. The howitzer isn't good for the queen ant, advance towards her and use flamer and revolver she'll go down in a snap.

Usually, the NPC WDs and almost all rangers will be alive at the end. NPC fencers like to make inroads towards enemies and are crushed quickly.

Although the Nix ZC is slow as molasses, the crates will be in a small area compared to other strategies, making their pickup not a dreadful job.

Third strategy - Naegling and turrets

Weapons:

ZEXR-GUN

Bulge Laser Beam Mode Z

ZEX Launcher or ZE Blaster (if you want to use DLC weapons)

Naegling Self-Propelled Missile Launcher XEM

Armor: 1000

I was really surprised that this loadout is very successful. The ZEX Launcher is dangerous but it does work if you're careful with its placement. The Bulge Laser is essential for pylons but surprisingly works very well with the 3 deroys.

Easiest strategy overall

With so many possibilities which is the easiest way to do this mission? Although it's possible to do it in different ways 2 are easiest and more prone to success:

- Nix ZC, Life Vendor ZD, Guard Post M3 or Zone Protector ZM (one favors protection strength, the other area covered) and ZEXR, by staying in the start area. The Nix will do the majority of the job, but the ZEXRs can help a lot in waves 1, 3 and 4 and will maximize the number of NPCs that survive. My personal record stands at 11 NPCs alive at the end (none respawned).

You can farm infinitely the mission if you want with this loadout. Just don't destroy the big anchor and keep killing the spawned queen ants and king spiders. However take care that when there are only 3 pylons left the huge one will also spawn waves of 5 tadpoles, spiders and black ants, which your turrets, Nix machine guns and NPCs will handle with some ease anyway.

 - Naegling Self-Propelled Missile Launcher XEM, Bulge Laser Beam Mode Z, ZEX Launcher (or ZE Blaster if you want to go with DLC weapons) and ZEXR-GUN, by falling back, right and up. Amazingly the 2 turrets do provide the best solution if not staying near the start is the option. Although the ZEX Launcher is dangerous, using it with some thought does deliver the best way and a few times I even managed to have a few rangers alive at the end (not considering the ones that respawn), besides the fencers and the WDs.

EDF 5 - DLC 1 Mission 4 Reclaim Base 236 AR / WD Semi Automated Inferno Weapons Farming

Weapons

Air Raider:

ZEXR-GUN

ZE Blaster (or ZEX Launcher or ZEX Rapid Launcher)

Combat Bomber KM6 Plan Z4

Nix Red Guard

Wing Diver:

Rapier Super Nova, Rapier Nova or Star Rapier (it's likely that even M5 Rapier will work if almost or fully upgraded)

second weapon is irrelevant

A extremely productive mission for farming in split screen. The AR and WD shine here (you can change Fencer for WD (dual Jackhammer without being synchronized will work too).

Transports are too low to hit enemies below them. I suggested in the DLC 1 missions to use Phobos, but KM6 Z4 works better as not only will help to get rid of the 2 groups of frogs although not very efficiently, but also will be possible to use it to kill bees, since you can't or shouldn't use the Phobos for that. ZEXR is really great here. Best second turret is ZE Blaster, yes a DLC 2 weapon. Unfortunately all other turrets suck here, ZEX Launcher and ZEX Rapid Launcher are really dangerous but I've succeeded with either, some luck needed. Best vehicle is Red Guard, for its speed and its weapons work great here.

At start capture both ranger squads while rolling towards the base. Send KM6 Z4 to group of frogs in front, hopefully you'll get some hits. Drop ZEXRs near the base or they won't kill anything. You can probably get a Red Guard now, call it. Fly WD to as near left transport as possible, leave it there she will probably get killed in a snap. Use KM6 on right frogs. Capture WD squad to right, return to Red Guard, hopefully some of the WDS from the left squad will still be alive almost under the leftmost transport, which is the best one to farm. You can also go for the left WDs first, it's difficult to get both WD squads.

At thus point all the enemies will be 15 red bees from each transport. Go to the one in the back, but if there's many bees don't proceed alone, as most bees will surround you and they will fry the mech in a short time. Go slowly if necessary picking health, so that WDs and Rangers will help.

When under a transport, the Red's burner will fry red bees that are dropping from it, even one is enough. Then hit the transport center with the cannister. Install turrets again when you can to have a easier life. Proceed to the next transport, the one that was at right from start.

Finally only one will be standing. Go near it, revive WD when most or all bees are dead, put WD almost under transport, aim rapier forward, pause the game and rubber band fire button.

You now need to kill all NPCs with the AR or they'll bring down the transport. Pick all other crates on the map, as you can only have 128 crates in the map and this will fill fast under the transport. Each bee will drop 1 or 2 crates, 15 bees for each wave, at the 6 or 7th the limit has been reached, and that if every other crate on the map has been collected. WD will pick one crate or another, but don't be too much near the dropping bees, as one can move the WD and there goes the farming session.

Once in a while collect the pile of crates, use the Nix, it will survive a few passes by the Rapier shots.

When bored or think it's enough, bring down transport.

Red bees do provide a reasonable quantity of weapon crates. I've had 7 in a single wave of 15 red bees. This is a really good farming mission, unfortunately restricted to weapons from levels 77 to 103.

https://youtu.be/B15-gP0sjiA

You can also do this with the Ranger or Fencer in another way. At the end keep calling Red Guards, even one can sustain a large number of bee waves. The flames of one burner are enough to massacre all falling bees from the transport. But you can't have it with a rubber band...

It takes 50 secs for each cycle of the transport (including opening, dropping bees and closing).  In mission 40 the cycle is just under 25 secs but loot quality in weapons is much inferior, not only in level but quantity. Mission 40 is better for armor farming, but I don't farm armor however if it's what you want it's a better option.

The only other main game missions that have transports are either too long, too difficult or the transports can't be farmed (moving transports, scripted droppings, dropping tadpoles that don't fall to the ground, Archelus pays a visit missions) so only mission 40 is a good option.

Theoretically you could install the WD with the rapier in a way to get most crates, killing bees as they would fall over you. It's not feasible because the reload is fast but not 0 seconds and you just need a small problem and the WD can be slightly moved or her aim will change and mission failed. I tried...

EDF 5 - Wing Diver weapons analysis, what's good, what's bad

It's very likely you'll divide the weapons between the ones that work in 4.1 style with a reload and a clip or the ones with a charge and full empty clip at once. The mechanics of charging won't appeal to everyone so this is the main choice reason between all weapons.

Besides the charging mechanics there are other buffs and nerfs for some weapon types. Many WD weapons now have recoil in varying amounts, many have damage attenuation (damage will vary according to enemy distance) and a few have drawbacks as the clip empties.

The main objetive of weapons is that they help solve missions specially in inferno. If they don't you're just wasting your time. You can't rely on nice weapons that will work once in a while, you need to have reliable tools that will be efficient and fast in dealing with your problems.

Short-Range

Once you know how to play the WD these will be your main workhorse. They can only be used in close quarters but that's precisely the main virtue of the WD.

The rapiers are now to me the most reliable and useful of all short range weapons. They start slow, but as you progress in weapon levels the higher ones will improve a lot in efficiency and usability. Still was one of the weapons I used in 90% of the missions in hardest, and not much different in inferno. These are normal reload type weapons.

 

The Phalanx series are the rapier thrusts of 4.1, a single focus rapier. Problem is that they're charge and single use weapons, with the benefits and drawbacks these have. They're good to handle big enemies or anchors, dreadful for smaller stuff.

Lances. Oh boy... Once I learned how to really play and have fun with the WD the lances were my weapon of choice in 4.1. Laser Lance Sigma is a stellar weapon. In 5 they're charge weapons, and they also each shot can also be more or less charged for a lighter or higher power attack. They have usually a longer range and do more damage than in 4.1. There's also double and triple simultaneous shots versions. They do consume a small amount of energy.

A variation is the Dragoon series which have ridiculous range for a short weapon (almost 300m for the higher one ?!?!?!?!?). They also deliver ridiculous amount of damage, have penetration power and although greedy in energy comparing to other lances have a better damage / consumption ratio.

The Spark Vines are a sort of poor brother of the original lances. They are reload weapons with a clip, but damage per bullet is very small, so it's a nuisance to kill anything with them. They're the closest thing you'll get to a old lance in theory, but now very useful in practice. Low energy consumption and very short range.

The Spark Whip is a short range Thunder Bow that only damages horizontally. It's reasonable to handle large numbers of smaller enemies, usually one of the weapons I used with a rapier in hard, but become less useful in inferno. Low energy consumption and short range.

Medium Range - Kinetic Weapons

The lasers from 4.1. The ridiculous mechanic they introduced in these weapons is that although they're reloading weapons with a clip their efficiency drops as the clip empties. This mechanic is so stupid that it can't even be understandable why they bothered, because obviously, no one uses them what else were they expecting? Sandlot does make some smart choices sometimes...

Just ignore these.

EDIT It does have its uses on fringe missions where you can't rely on charge to use weapons as they will always consume energy at likely problematic timings, and a rapier and one of these become the best options. A fantastic example in this video from lemonleafier:

https://youtu.be/ktXStpfQd5U

Medium Range - Energy Weapons

This was the other main weapon series for almost everyone in 4.1, the Idunns and Thunder Bows.

The Lightning Bows are the Idunns. The problem is that not only they're now charge and one clip use weapons which is completely idiotic for these kind of weapons, but they decided it wasn't enough and they also are more diffuse and imprecise as the clip empties. Yes, toys department, not even in tunnels they're useful.

The Bolt Guns are similar to the Eclat in 4.1. They're again energy hogs and with little benefits. Reload type, but not very useful.

The Thunderbow Gun are the saving graces of the energy weapons in EDF 5. They're still similar to the 4.1 ones, a large somewhat spread electric charge with a long range. Although it's the best energy weapon by far, the shot speed is slow and you must charge it fully to use, or the shot power and accuracy will be a lot lower. It's a charge weapon 😑, and it consumes a lot of energy for each shot.

Medium Range - Energy Weapons

The Stardust series are the only original weapon for the WD. They shoot a cloud of energy pellets at a long range. They're surprisingly interesting, good against hordes, flying enemies and even big guys. The drawbacks are high energy consumption and how easy it is to blow yourself, by either hitting the ground, the environment, an enemy or an NPC. It's still a really fun to use weapon, and one of my main weapons in hard (after struggling to finish mission 109, I did it first time with the Stardust Cannon Type A and used it in 99% of the mission as the sniper I chose was a fraud 🙂).

EDF 5 - Ranger's road to Inferno's end

Although I'm not a fan of the Ranger there's always missions that are enjoyable with him. If the AR was the Epsilon Railgun class on 4.1, he now seems to be the Free Bike class.

Mission 107 - Invader Assembly

A moderate, but long mission. The AR has a easier life here as expected but the Ranger isn«tin real trouble too.

Bring a sniper, preferably a powerful one, as  the cosmos run like rabbits when have no armor, so it's better to have real damage shot than a few ones that can be hard to land, specially if you're interested in finishing them with headshots for extra crates. Lysander Z, MR100 Fang and if you want to "cheat" Lysander ZF will be good choices. For second, either a rifle or a shotgun will work, just bring one with decent range to help with the 2 waves of Type 2 Drones. Hybrid Protector E9 is a nice choice as enhancement, or the DLC version.

The strategy is the same as the AR. Deal with cosmos / colonists, then 1 ship at a time. As long as you handle each group of 3 colonists / cosmonauts, the only annoyances will be the shield bearers bugging you, the missile shooting heavy cosmos (there's one at the front group and another 3 in the same squad in the back, these last ones were not present in hard), the laser cosmonaut and the 2 waves of Type 2 Drones. Once most or all big guys are gone, dealing with the transports is easy. Remember NPCs won't deal headshots.

Of the 3 NPC groups, the rangers will respawn once no enemies are aggroed to you (cosmos that you annoyed but lost you and are humming while stopped are still aggroed to you). The jp wiki says all squads will respawn it's wrong, I did this mission 4 times already in none of them the WDs or Fencers did.

Handle nearer big guys, then keep pissing each group of 3 always from the start zone, use second weapon to handle small stuff that comes or leave them to NPCs. Machine gun and flamethrower heavies are easier to handle since you'll be able to kill them before they can shoot you. A powerful sniper shot will kill frogs with1 headshot, cosmos with 2, heavies with 4 (first helmet armor is beyond even MR100 power).

Finally front ants and spiders transports, then right bees and pillbugs ones, and then it's almost over. At the 4th and 6th transport taken down a Type 2 drones wave will come. When type 2 drones come, fall back to remaining buildings in the back ASAP, and using rangers as decoys shoot drones.

A new ranger squad and2 NPC Nixs will show up really late for the party when the 2nd wave of Type 2 drones spanws. They will come from the back of the start position and proceed to the tracks area. They will be irrelevant.

It's just time consuming as you must take things in small batches.

This is Massive Mobilization from 4.1, just as long but thankfully easier as no gold ants and silver spiders. And no PITA giant walker...

This will take between 30 mins and 1 hour, depending if you're optimizing head shot kills. Don't rush this...

I didn't try this with the HU04 Brute SA9, but it's probably a good choice to handle cosmos, transports and drones, will just be very hard to get headshots.

Mission 98 - Coastal Defense Line

There are 2 ways to solve this mission: focusing on big enemies (cosmos and colonists) or focusing on small enemies (drones).

The problem with the first approach is that the 3rd wave of drones is really bad as it brings 3 imperial type 2 drones which are a absolute pain to deal with and can wipe you out in one attack. The Ranger has a better life in this strategy than the WD as his sniper weapons are more effective, and the Emerald is more useable for stray drones than WD's homing weapons. However this is always difficult as the margin for error is minimal and you can always be in trouble with one or more stubborn Cosmos that go after you.

So the second strategy is easier but you need quite upgraded MEX5 Emerald, the handy and wonderful Reverse Shooter X to extend the life of NPCs and the EX Radar Support System to make the Emerald work better. You just need to be careful and really retreat during the 3rd wave of drones to avoid a imperial one reach you. Without the help of the final cavalry's WDs and Fencers bringing down the transports will be a pain.

At any point the NPCs on the beach are wiped out, without the cavalry arriving there's 99.99% chance you're dead too.

https://youtu.be/DURQtciw84g

EDF - NPCs and their paranoias

NPCs are essential to your success chances in most missions. In EDF 5 they evolved a lot but they're still way too far from perfect.

In EDF 5 they're still eons away from 4.1, which were also eons away from 2025. At least there's good progress at NPC training camp.

Most WD NPCs will be good bodyguards. They're almost always the best at maintaining contact with you. There are a few equipped with Monster or similar weapons that will be mostly cannon fodder, since they will be continuously in overcharge.

Their major issue is that they easily get stuck in buildings in city maps, especially if you change directions quickly. It's advisable if you're using a merry-go-round technique around the map edges to wait for them at corners, if that's possible. They also get stuck and confused with bridges, blowing them up before they reach them will help (this will happen for instance in Star Eaters in 4.1).

Like the rangers, they also have a desire to fight hopeless battles instead of just falling back. Unfortunately, there isn't for now away way to force them to do something.

A more apt squad of WDs will eventually be in most missions, it will be known as Storm 4.

Ranger NPCs are pretty good, just slow. Sometimes a few squads will have rockets, be careful and consider if capturing them is a good idea as this can cause issues, by blowing buildings when you don't want. Depending on a mission they can still be helpful.

There's a special squad in which the leader (Sarge) is equipped with a Blazer gun, which will be called Storm 2 after the mission "Reclaiming Base 228: Stage 2". These are usually very good and helpful. This squad will usually recover in all missions once there are no aggroed enemies to you, until then you see them kneeled down with a black health bar.

The Fencer NPCs were the most incompetent group on 4.1. They were usually the first to die, while snail crawling around. As a plus they were usually equipped with pointless weapons for the mission in question. However in EDF 5 some use their jets to move around and become very useful. Some use, and effectively cannons. Not always, some have a suicide wish (mission " Forced Entry" is a good example). There will be special squads of them called the Grim Reapers which are quite good, and if I'm not wrong they show up for the first time in mission 40, Brutal Battlefield. They'll be known as Storm 3 eventually.

Don't think even the slow NPC Fencers are incompetent in EDF 5. A striking example is the ones in 94, Bloody Battle, which do a pretty good job as long as you keep them fed. The Grim Reapers are very good to keep as bait as they usually can manage to keep up with you even better than WDs, however they can get stuck on some areas like the long lakes in some city levels (an example is mission 110, The Nameless).

There are some enemies that NPCs have more trouble dealing with, in order these are from worse to better:

- yellow ants (1 or 2 will wipeout a entire squad of NPCs in a few secs)

- red ants (or purple)

- tadpoles (any)

- bees (any)

- silver spiders (they do try but silver spider webs are nasty)

- spiders

- grey ants

Drones are another issue, as most fly so high that most NPCs can't hit them.

Colonists and Cosmonauts they will handle them, but takes time. They usually only hit them on the body, hitting other body parts is usually by chance if they were trying to hit the body but another body part was in front of their line of fire.

Big enemies, they can't handle them, you should do that.

One of the major issues in all EDF Sandlot games is that if you capture a squad by reaching its leader, when the leader dies all NPCs under its control will become unpaired and you must reach them to capture again if you want or can. The only way to avoid this is to kill the squad leader and capture all its remaining members individually.

NPCs won't try to escape from a red ant or tadpole grab. They will not die immediately but the only option for them to escape is at the end of the set time for that to happen or that the red ant or tadpole is killed by a player or another NPC.

NPCs can damage your vehicles, even if they're empty.

NPC Barga's are terribly inefficient against everything except Archelus, Erginus, colonists and cosmos. And they still have their days against these...

If NPCs are still they are much more prone to damage from enemies, especially in higher difficulties as it's unlikely enemies will miss their shots against them. So always remember that if you don't capture NPCs they will likely die a lot faster.