Jun 14, 2014 Catch in Stage 5: The Walkthrough for Stage 5. Stage 5 is a very tactful stage of Sky force 2014. Where your ability of be swiftly navigating your plane will be on test. There is an EMF missile launched by a submarine which constantly follows your plane, it never dies until the end.
Story Walkthrough Levels 1 - 5The story mode for this game operates with two progression mechanics. Levels are locked behind completing the previous level and having enough medals. I will list the Medal Requirement for levels as you go. In general however, your progress is going to feel slow at times. You will generally be doing the following:.
Play the newest level possible. Play to earn more medals on previous levels. Up the difficulty on previous levels to earn more medals (after having completely cleared the previous difficulty).
Grind out more stars to upgrade your ship or buy more power-ups. Repeat ad nauseamUnfortunately, there is a lot of grinding at times. Depending on your skill level, it is possible to get done quicker, but speaking as an average player of these types of games, I still spent a lot of time replaying the same levels over and over to unlock just one medal.MAJOR NOTE: In some of my videos (especially the earlier levels), you will notice how frequently I wipe out waves and bosses before they have a chance to do anything. A lot of this is because you will begin to memorize levels as you go. The number of times you'll replay levels for stars or medals will really push you to learn everything about them. Additionally, as you upgrade your equipment, you will quickly notice how much it can cause early levels to become trivial in nature. For later levels I tried to let enemies and bosses run through patterns a bit more for visuals, but on Insane difficulty a fully upgraded ship can still make quick work of enemies.MINOR NOTE: I will not detail all the enemy placement and routing through levels.
I will try to highlight larger moments in the levels and the bosses, but in general this game is about finding your route through enemies, learning the patterns and where to place yourself.TutorialThere is a short tutorial level to begin the game. There really isn't anything to put here as the level will always end with your defeat. The boss fight at the end is scripted for you to lose. This is really just a way for the game to show a more 'powered up' version of your fighter that you will then immediately lose, forcing you to begin with a really weak ship.NOTE: Almost all of the level based achievements have incorrect descriptions.
I have placed them all in the correct spots here in addition to doing short write-ups in the solutions for the achievements.Level 1 - Unlocked at StartStarting out, Level 1 is going to feel slow. While my videos won't give that impression (since they're all many hours in with countless upgrades), the beginning is difficult. A lot of enemies will get past you and you'll need to play it safe more often than trying to fight and kill everything.You'll find this level has mostly basic fighters coming in from the sides of the screen and the occasional tank or turret on the field. The firing patterns on the tanks and turrets are really just aimed directly at you and shouldn't present a massive danger.About 1 minute into the level, a buggy will begin speeding around a set of tracks on the ground.
You'll need to destroy the buggy for the 100% Kills Medal on this level. Starting off, this can be really annoying, but as you upgrade your ship it will get a lot easier to pull off.Soon after the buggy (or before you kill it), some helicopters will come from the top of the screen. They fire off sets of missiles with a slight homing to them. You can hear their firing based on a beeping indicating the tracking. They don't home in exactly, moving off to the side a bit should get you out of range. If you're quick about it, you can destroy the helicopters before they fire off additional rounds (thus making it a lot safer).A few more waves of basic fighters will follow this with a set of helicopters from the right and then the left. This will lead us in to the boss fight for this level.The boss comes in from the bottom right corner.
You'll likely be collecting the civilian on the tower at this moment. After collecting it, the battle begins. While the video makes the fight trivial due to the laser power-up, a normal go around with this boss isn't too bad however. You'll want to stick to the sides and pick your shots and movements from side to side. Here's a general strategy:. As the boss enters the screen, focus your fire on the middle turret just over the cockpit.
This turret is the only weapon that directly fires in your direction. You can take out quite a bit of its health before any of the weapons begin to fire. Use your vertical position to draw the turret fire high before moving lower. The turret patterns in this game aren't too smart so you can draw fire to certain locations to give an opportunity to move elsewhere. Use the helicopter's swaying to get shots in on the wing guns.
The patterns for it aren't too rough to dodge but you'll want to be careful, especially if you're going for a No Hit Medal.After destroying the three guns, all you need to do is continue firing on the defenseless enemy. It will drop a lot of stars and continue to do so as you drain the last of its health. It will then crash and you will complete the level.For reference, there are 10 civilians on this level for you to rescue.A video for this level on Insane has been included below. 1 guideLevel 2 - 1 Medal RequiredThis level begins with some planes coming in from the left and right with a single turret in the middle. Nothing too extreme. The next two waves after this will be a common problem to deal with.
Planes will come from behind you at the bottom of the screen. These waves will be best handled by missiles, but you can usually find some position to take care of them as long as you have a quick enough attack rate/strong enough attack.The next three waves of planes will fly in and try to move like a zipper formation. They'll be in a tight line and then begin to separate. It will be easier to get them before they divide, but there should be enough time to take them if you don't get them right as they enter the screen.Our next obstacle is a couple of laser turrets. These will fire a constant laser across the screen for a bit before taking a short break. The combat is calm enough that you can take them down without much worry. You will find as you upgrade your ship and have access to lasers that these turrets will drop laser pickups more frequently than other objects.
There is also a civilian to keep an eye out for in between their line of fire.After this will be a tank, some basic planes and a turret. Nothing really to detail here though.
The real part is that two groups of planes will come in from the left and right. They will move in towards the center though and you can try to get them together. This might be the best placement since at lower attack strengths it can be difficult to get them all while attacking the lines from their entrance points.There will be more sets of planes and turrets following this, but nothing too serious. A shield silo will eventually be on the screen. You don't need to do these, but if you've got time you can stick over it like a civilian and get an additional shield.
Before the next enemy set, you will notice two civilians. It is possible to be in the range of both of them at the same time, but it may require excellent positioning or the card that extends your rescue range.At the same time that you're rescuing the civilians, a laser helicopter will come on screen in the middle. It will fire a laser straight down. It's not too difficult to take down quickly, but as you go, try to be very careful as it can easily knock you for a little damage and end your 'No Damage' run.After some more basic planes, you will have some bullet shooting helicopters. Their spread and range of attack isn't too complicated, but if they take a bit too long you can have some issues with the basic enemies that come on screen right after them. In my video, you will see that I got greedy with star collecting and took a hit from a basic plane to make sure that I could still get all kills.A few turrets and tanks will follow these. Nothing too difficult.
Two waves of slightly more advanced planes will come in from the right and left. You might want to get closer to them to get a good spread shot to kill them, but sufficient upgrades should make it trivial.As we reach the end of the level, the helicopters with homing missiles and a few turrets will be one of your final obstacles.
On their own, this won't be too difficult, but allowing any set of the enemies to fire off a lot of shots could make navigation a little rough.Right after this is the boss and a large group of civilians. There are 7 in total. I go for the 4 on the left side first and then try to get the other 3 second. One of the things I have done during this is enable a shield to tank through the boss' entry.The boss here once again has three main weapons. The turrets on the wings fire off volleys of bullets that are aimed at you. The laser turret up front will only fire directly down.
The boss will strafe right and left some as well. Aim to take out the wings first. If you can, try to have a laser or two to take them out almost instantly.
Lasers will rip through most bosses when fully upgraded. Just like many other bosses in this game, after destroying the three weapons you will need to destroy the boss. This will drop a bunch of extra stars to collect.There are a total of 18 civilians to rescue in Level 2.A video for this level on Insane has been included below. 1 guideLevel 3 - 4 Medals RequiredLevel 3 doesn't have much 'new' to begin the level with. We will see some new color variants of the basic planes that will take more damage to take down, but extra upgrades should make that easy.About 1 minute into the level, you will have another of the buggy enemy from Level 1. It won't attack, but you need to take it out for the 'All Enemies' medal.Soon after the buggy, we will start to see some new patterns.
The green planes will come from the top and right side of the screen. I focused on the top first as the left side moved in towards the other group. As always, upgrades and slowly working up will make a bigger difference.While most civilians are always quite easy to spot, around the 3 minute mark of the video is one that can be slightly obscured by a rock formation. Not terribly difficult to spot, but I didn't with the turrets so it might not be completely obvious.The Level 3 boss is a tank. You can deal considerable damage to the three main turrets while it comes on screen and before it begins its attack patterns. The two mini-turrets up front will fire bullets in your general direction. You can sweep back and forth some to draw their fire towards particular spots before sweeping around front to damage them.
The large turret fires missile barrages that aren't really aimed. It will sweep back and forth and then missiles will fire out. Take out the small turrets and then focus on the large missile turret.If you have a laser, it can hit all three at the same time and quickly get you through this phase.After taking out the three heads, two helicopters will arrive with a new main turret. The boss is invulnerable during this scene. You'll want to take out the two helicopters after they begin to leave the level.
While shooting them, two side panels at the top of the tank will reveal two additional turrets.For this phase, you'll need to take out the three turrets. The center will rotate arcs of lasers that emanate from the center turret. The two side turrets will fire larger shot barrages at your direction. Their first barrage will be straight down, but after that it will be aimed in your direction.My recommendation is to take out the middle turret first as it will create more problems because of the slightly random nature than we can't control.
Once it is destroyed, the other two turrets can easily be guided to make their shots trivial and take them down during their breaks while sweeping from right to left (or left to right) during their firing. Even on Insane, these side turrets have quite a bit of health so saving them for second is better.A laser for this phase will not take out as much since the turrets are not stacked vertically or close enough to really work through them quickly.After destroying all three, you just have to shoot the tank to finish destroying it while it showers you in stars.
Another boss down.There are a total of 17 civilians present in this level.A video for this level on Insane has been included below (with all 4 medals acquired in the run). 1 guideAfter starting and getting the achievement, you don't technically need to play the tournament any further. There are some rewards for doing so related to 'Prestige Points' and the 'Technicians', but those are discussed briefly elsewhere in the walkthrough and are not required for achievements.The Tournament itself is a forever looping stage.
There will be civilians you can rescue and enemies to destroy. The level will start off in its easiest form and will gradually get harder and harder. This comes down to their health going up and their damage increasing. A fully upgraded ship can easily do numerous laps and destroy most enemies while rescuing the civilians. As I said though, no true importance or necessity here.Level 4 - 8 Medals RequiredIn terms of the level itself, here are some general pointers or spots to keep an eye out for:. A new turret type about 1 minute into the level fires off a circle of bullets that is quick at the beginning but loses speed quickly. Aim to be on the right side of it (a line of planes will come from that side around the same time).
Also keep your distance a bit so you don't take a bunch of hits from the wave immediately. Around the 2 minute mark of the level is a large turret with a spider-like bot next to it. This spider has a slow rail gun-like turret on it. It fires shots in sets of two. After the two, you can lay into it for a while. After destroying the turret, you will need to continue firing to destroy the defenseless body. Be careful with this as there will also be planes coming in from behind it (likely during its shot pattern).
A destructible tower will be on screen a little bit after the spider-bot. While this is not a major landmark or difficult section, soon after are numerous civilians and helicopters. Their placement can make things a little difficult if you're not prepared. Two more towers and a bunch of canisters will close out the level. There is no boss on this level.I destroy all of the towers and canisters across the level, but I can't say whether or not it is required.
I would just in case.There are 11 civilians to collect here.A video for this level on Insane has been included below. 1 guideLevel 5 - 13 Medals RequiredLevel 5 is the most different of the bunch. While Level 4 was one of the few levels without a boss, Level 5 doesn't even require firing your weapons. At the start of level, there is a disarming field in front of you. You will need to pass through it the first few times you play the level until you unlock the disarm field card (this could take a while so get used to just playing the level normally for a while).A lot of the level has static turrets that only aim in one direction. It becomes about learning the patterns and where the breaks are between the turret fire. As you increase the difficulty, these gaps become smaller and you'll need to be more precise in your navigation.As you progress, there will be turrets that fire directly at you.
These will be your main concern. The first couple aren't too difficult as they fire a few shots and then take a quick break. These breaks are frequent enough to start that you should be able to strafe right and left to avoid it all.NOTE: Turrets can be masked by the sandstorm around you at times. Keep your eyes out for them so they don't catch you by surprise.
Additionally, turrets will continue to fire until they are off screen. While this isn't an issue for the static turrets, it does mean you'll have to deal with additional shots from behind at some points. These angles can be real different from the approach.About 90 seconds into the level is a spiral turret. The turret itself isn't too bad. You'll want to go past it while it stops firing, rather than trying to stick to the far reaches of the level.
After this however is one of the first major annoyances. Two pink bullet large turrets. They will shoot many bullets and the breaks between volleys aren't that long.
What you want to do is move slowly to try and create lanes in the volleys. You can really control them by how you move around.
Keep in mind that even after they are no longer on screen, their bullets will linger for a bit. This can make the next section a little tedious.The next bit continues this but with more of the turrets firing a couple shots rather than large barrages. It's pretty constant from there to the end.
Just keep learning the patterns and you should be fine.There are 18 civilians in total for this level. While many of them can occur in the path of the shots, remember that you can just move off to the side of it and still rescue them.A video for this level on Insane has been included below.
This video was taken after having acquired the field disarming card, but I was still hit by the EMP and cleared the level mostly without guns. 1 guideA second achievement is available on this level. It is for destroying every tower. You need to collect Card 11 to disarm the field on the level to even attempt this. After doing so, it is possible to continue attacking at all times (which can make collecting stars a lot easier without needing to dodge all the time). There is a slight obstacle added to this level however.A bunker will fire off a homing EMP soon after the disarming field. It will chase you throughout the whole level until it hits you.
If it touches you, you will lose access to all weaponry. This EMP cannot be disrupted by any other power-ups (you don't have mega-bombs or shields which both could probably have protected you).Instead, you have two options when it comes to the EMP:.
Dodge. Keep dodging. You can circle around and just keep playing chicken with it. If you use this method, I'd recommend not worrying about stars or civilians. Destroying all the towers should be your main objective.
On Normal, this shouldn't present much of a problem as the towers should be cut in no time with your upgraded firepower. Hope for a support ship drop. On occasion, it is possible for a support ship to drop from the crates at the beginning. This ship can take the EMP blast for you. If it gets hit, you still keep your weapons the rest of the level and don't need to dodge the EMP. I found this can be difficult to pull off for two reasons.
The AI-controlled ship is not going to sit still and the spawn rate is not always the most cooperative.If you're willing to be patient, Method 2 is obviously easier. I wasn't as patient about it and used Method 1. As I said, on Normal it is definitely not too difficult to dodge for a few minutes while destroying turrets.
A couple tips to help with the card collection:Obviously, fully upgrading your ship is very helpful to help with your survivability in general (needed to actually collect those cards). The Star Doubler IAP is pretty important to do this in a sensible amount of time (I wish I'd bought this sooner). And once you've finished with the upgrades, you can spend the left over stars buying a couple shields before mission start, to further increase your ability to survive.
It's not a quick fix, but it does mean the same level gets easier over time.Learn some levels that you can beat consistently on Insane difficulty and grind that for cards, ship parts and stars. For me this was Level 3 to begin with (as soon as I learned the 'loop around the back' trick to dodge bullets, I could beat the boss fight every time).
Later I switched to Level 7, because it doesn't have a boss fight at all, thought this level still requires some power up usage to be 100% consistent for me, so wait until you have the three starting shield+laser+nuke permanent cards. Remember that when you activate a shield, you can ram enemies (use this to clear those pesky choppers).Note that you can only ever have one temporal card active at a time. So you can increase your odds of getting a permanent card, by playing while a temporal card is active. So even if the temporal card doesn't have a very useful effect, it's still 15 minutes of increased chance to get a permanent card.Once you're very comfortable with a level and can beat it consistently on Insane with no damage, you can start using the Ace of Spades plane that increases card drop rates. Until then I'd suggest using the Iron Clad (for survivability) or Limp Berserker (the max fire rate helps keep the sky clear of enemies, so you are less likely to get swarmed - the low health requires knowing the level well though).Finally, it seems that there's a special trick to getting the very last permanent card.
I've seen people claim that you can only get it on level 8 Insane, while others claim it's actually whichever level is currently the last one (so 12 right now) on Insane. It's the only card I'm missing, so I'll update my answer once I've figured it out or gotten confirmation one way or another:)Update: I managed to pick up (though not complete the level with) the last permanent on stage 11 insane, and managed to finally get it on stage 10 insane.