In Earth Defense Force 2025, Mission 70: Den of Thieves on Hardest Difficulty is a good place to farm for Weapons.
Pro: It is possible to farm high-level Weapons with moderate Armor.
Con: It requires a lot of patience. Playing it safe likely leads to missed green Weapon crates.
Update 31 May 2014:
Added more tactics for the Air Raider.
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Update 9 July 2014:
Added additional preparation for Fencer for Inferno.
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Preparation:
The following Weapons are recommended:
Fencer:
FH21 Light Mortar Lv38 (good on Hardest, bad on Inferno)
Jackhammer M4 Lv59
Blast Twin Spears M2 Lv 41 (actually, any Blast Twin Spears will do since this is for mobility rather than doing damage)
Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles GA Lv66
If the Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles GA is not available, G3 Arm Hound Lv55 may be substituted though it is half as effective. Heavy Mortars are not suitable for this mission as its recoil leaves the Fencer vulnerable for too long.
Update 9 July 2014:
Finally completed Inferno with Fencer. The following are the Weapons I used:
Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles G2 Lv47
Blast Twin Spears M2 Lv41
Gallion 3R Burst Cannon Lv57
Jackhammer M4 Lv59
Having a lot of Armor is recommended. I had over 1800.
Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles G2 is recommended rather than Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles GA even though the former is of a lower level. This is because the former's damage of 1200 can OHKO a Spider. The drawback is that it has a much longer reload time.
Gallion 3R Burst Cannon has good damage and is accurate at medium range. Along with the Jackhammer M4, it can eventually whittle down the King Spider's health. Both these weapons have good rate of fire so they are also good for close combat with Spiders.
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Air Raider:
Limpet Sniper F3 Lv 55 or any good direct fire weapon that can dish out 700+ damage.
ZERA-GUN Lv 46 or any good stationary turret.
Added 31 May 2014:
Limpet Chain Gun M2 Lv58
Elerctormagnetic Prison Lv56 (that was how it was spelled)
Rapidfire Wire DA Lv55 (give them a taste of their own medicine)
Wing Diver:
Ixion 9-Way Lv57 (recommended if attempting on Inferno)
Ixion 6-Way S Lv46 or Ixion 6-Way Lv36 may also be used.
RSR Plasma Launcher Lv62 (good on Hardest, bad on Inferno)
XSX Plasma Launcher Lv67 (required on Inferno)
Psiblade α Lv 60 (makes Inferno much easier)
Ranger:
Any good Assault Rifle such as:
AF99-ST Lv51
AF20-ST Lv69 (may also be used in Inferno)
Any timed grenade:
MG21J Lv38
MG14J Lv14 (despite its low level, it does 2000 damage, more than enough for even Inferno)
Note that Mission 70 is very easy for the Ranger. For a better challenge and possibly better loot, check out Mission 77.
Execution:
Mission 70 has two phases. For the first phase, what is necessary is a method of attacking the Spider-Type Bugs in the cavern below without jumping down. Weapons that can OHKO (one-hit knock out) a Spider and attack from the starting position are recommended. On Hardest, any weapon with 700+ damage can kill a Spider in one shot. Double that is required on Inferno.
Note: This guide focuses on Hardest Difficulty since I have not completed Inferno for the Air Raider or Fencer.
The Fencer's Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles GA flies out a short distance before homing on their targets. In addition, it can OHKO a Spider. The G3 Arm Hound is not as good as it requires two hits to defeat a Spider but it may be substituted if the Arcane is not available.
For the Air Raider, it is easy with stationary turrets. Just drop them over the edge, activate and wait. If the Spiders are not mostly defeated by the turrets, more powerful turrets are necessary - go farm better ones first. Caution should be taken if Limpet Guns are to be used - a limpet shot may stick on an edge close to the player. To reduce the chance of that happening, jump up before firing.
If stationary turrets are not brought along, the Air Raider would have to attack from high - not an easy task.
The Wing Diver may simply jump over the cavern and fire from high. Or she may simply jump on the spot at the edge. The RSR Plasma Launcher is good on Hardest but it cannot OHKO a Spider on Inferno. The XSX Plasma Launcher can easily clear out the whole cavern but it is dangerous to use in the second phase of the mission.
There is not enough space for the Psiblade α's shot to fly out before homing on its target. Instead, the Psiblade α should be used as a direct-fire weapon. Simply target any Spider, then (while jumping) fire directly at the true intended target while aiming with imaginary cross hairs. Unfortunately, the Psiblade α has a high energy cost, which would draw out the combat time in phase one. Do leave enough energy to handle any Spiders that manage to climb up to the player.
For the Ranger, it is simple: spam timed grenades into the cavern. Timed rather than impact grenades are recommended so that there is time for the grenade to reach the cavern floor (and time to run if the grenade lands close to the Ranger). Do watch out for any Spiders that manage to climb up to the Ranger, though. When there are few Spiders left, jump down and finish them.
After the Spiders are defeated, collect whatever desired loot. Hope for green crates. Recruiting the Rangers are not recommended as they may jump in the line of fire, which will be bad if one should do that while the player is firing an area-effect weapon.
Phase two is defeating the Spiders in the larger cavern. There are two King Spiders in there too. King Spiders are more aggressive than the regular Spider-Type Bugs. King Spiders may attack from long range, they do lots of damage and they have the unfair ability to shoot through walls. Be extra cautious while any King Spiders live.
The ability to shoot through walls is not really a standard for the King Spider, but they use this 'wall hack' cheat where they press the muzzle of their weapon past the collision zone of the wall and fire. Threads will go forward until it hits another collision zone, which is another wall, usually one where the player is hiding behind. Inertia will cause some of the thread to fly past the second wall and hit anyone behind it.
The trick here is to fire from cover and retreat if counter-attacked. Hang at the corner of the tunnel leading to the cavern and snipe at targets of opportunity. Pull back behind cover if the Spiders launch an attack. Definitely run back, as far as the previous cavern, if either King Spiders decide to attack, especially if one is close enough to the mouth of the tunnel to 'wall hack'.
For the Ranger, it is straight-forward. Shoot and use cover. Retreat if many Spiders enter the tunnel and deal with them.
For the Wing Diver, the same strategy as the Ranger may be used with a good direct-fire weapon such as the Ixion 9-Way. Always leave enough energy to make a hasty retreat and deal with one or two Spiders that may chase after the player. The RSR Plasma Launcher may be used for area-effect goodness on Hardest but it is not as effective on Inferno. The XSX Plasma Launcher is very risky to use at this point. It is likely to detonate in the player's face and it uses too much energy for its risk.
If the Psiblade α is brought along, things get fun - simply attack from a safe distance down the tunnel. Just be sure to aim at empty space and not have the shot detonate prematurely in the tunnel (where the Wing Diver is). If necessary, use the crosshairs from the other Weapon. And again, keep enough energy in reserve for emergencies. Besides its high energy cost, the other drawback of using the Psiblade α is if the Wing Diver attacks from further down the tunnel. In this case, it is harder to tell what the King Spiders are doing and if any are close enough to 'wall hack'.
I'm pretty sore about the King Spiders' 'wall hack' cheat.
Do not fly into battle - walk instead. First, to save on energy. Second, so that it is easier to turn and run if there is danger. Third, because certain Weapons such as the Ixion 9-Way are notoriously inaccurate while flying - one should be ready to fire at any threat around the corner.
For the Air Raider, the same shoot and use cover tactic may be used with a Limpet Sniper. The Air Raider has to be extra cautious since the Limper Sniper has to be reloaded frequently. At the start, before attracting the attention of the Spiders, place turrets near the end of the cave. These turrets are to be used if the tunnel gets filled with Spiders or a King Spider gets too close to the tunnel (good opportunity to get rid of one big threat).
Unfortunately, placing additional turrets later is difficult. It may be necessary to place one and activate it to provide covering fire for the player to place the other turrets.
Update 31 May 2014:
If the Elerctormagnetic Prison is available, they can be used to create walls. Because of the weird shape of the walls they project, the devices may be placed in the first cavern to project walls in the tunnel leading to the larger cavern. Do be aware that the angle of the ground affects the height of the projected wall.
The projected walls stop the Spiders' threads, making it safer to stand and attack. In fact, it is safe enough to recruit the Ranger allies to handle any Spiders that decide to jump through. Do manually reload the walls once in a while. The walls would fail after taking a certain amount of damage and could suddenly allow many threads to pass through.
The Rapidfire Wire DA is a fun weapon to use. It fires in a trajectory so it can hit Spiders on the cavern floor. By moving, the Air Raider can sweep the threads over Spiders to do damage (like a skipping rope). In fact, it has its own version of 'wall hack' where the Air Raider shoots at a distant wall or target, then ducks into cover. The threads will follow through the cover. Also, the threads last a little longer than the reload time, allowing the Air Raider to damage the Spiders during that time.
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For the Fencer, shoot and use cover (like everyone else). Always keep a melee Weapon handy so the Fencer may Dash to cover instantly. The Jackhammer M4 is good as it can OHKO a Spider on Hardest (2 hits on Inferno). And, if a King Spider gets too close to the tunnel, unloading the whole clip of the Jackhammer M4 will do tremendous damage. Finally, walk into battle, not Dash - one must always be ready to Dash back to safety if a King Spider gets aggressive.
The Arcane 6-Barrel Missiles GA and the G3 Arm Hound are bad here as they may detonate in front of the Fencer. FH21 Light Mortar is good in Hardest as it can OHKO a Spider and it does area-effect damage - good for hitting Spiders around the corner if they should swarm the tunnel. Also, since the shots travel in a trajectory, it can hit the floor of the larger cavern.
As stated earlier, Heavy Mortars are unsuitable for this Mission. After firing, the Heavy Mortar will leave the Fencer vulnerable for too long. The Fencer must always be ready to Dash into safety. I have not found a suitable mortar for Inferno Difficulty.
The Blast Twin Spears M2 is recommended for mobility rather than for attacking. Its regular attack has the Fencer dash forward in the direction of the cross hair. By alternating between attack and Dash, the Fencer can move very fast in one direction - useful when collecting crates at the end of the level. For this reason, any Blast Twin Spears will do.
After most of the Spiders are defeated - when there are six left (maybe), Spider reinforcements will appear, lots of them. During this time, it is very likely that the Spiders will swarm the tunnel. Therefore, extra caution is necessary. It may even be necessary to retreat to the previous cavern.
After most of the Spiders of the reinforcements are defeated, when there are a few left, consider collecting loot. The Rangers at the back of the level may be recruited as decoys. However, even a single Spider can easily defeat the player (especially on Inferno and/or if the player has low Armor) so some judgement is necessary to decide if it is better to play it safe and defeat the remaining Spiders or risk gathering loot first. There is a short speech via radio after the last Spider is defeated so that gives a few extra seconds to gather loot.
All the above goes out the window if either King Spider is still alive. The King Spider may be easier to track on radar with few red dots but they are still highly aggressive and capable of dealing lots of damage. It is recommended that the player take the safe route and defeat the King Spider with whatever low-risk method available.
EDF 2025: Contents
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