Unexpected Visitor

"Unexpected Visitor" is the first DLC mission in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. The Alicorn appears at Artiglio Port, prompting the Long Range Strategic Strike Group to investigate and capture the submarine.

"Unexpected Visitor" released worldwide on September 25, 2019 and can be accessed within the "SP Mission" main menu option. Players can purchase this mission standalone for USD$4.99, JPY¥540, or regional equivalents, or purchase the Season Pass to access this mission and other DLC packs.

Initial
The initial stage of the mission is a large furball. The player must shoot down enough aircraft to reach the point threshold within the time limit. At the same time, the player must defend the allied ships from enemy attack aircraft, which appear in waves and are marked as. The player must prioritize the aircraft when they appear, otherwise the mission ends in failure. As the mission progresses, a group of six ground targets with long-range weaponry will appear marked as. As with the attack aircraft, the player must destroy these as well or risk mission failure.

Five minutes after the mission begins, two friendly aircraft will arrive to provide ESM. If the player stays within the blue circles on radar, all aspects of their weapons will receive benefits such as faster reload, higher damage output, and exceptional speed and homing. After some time, the enemy will deploy three EA-18G Growlers that cause ECM interference within green circles on radar. If the player enters one of these green circles without ESM to compensate, the ECM will cause the player to have weaker lock-on and homing capabilities. Defending the ESM aircraft or destroying the ECM aircraft has no bearing on the outcome of the mission.

About halfway through this stage, Mimic Squadron will appear. They also have no bearing on the mission outcome but will cause the player grief until they are forced to retreat. To do so, the player must damage one of their planes enough, but Mimic Squadron also come with fake targeting boxes. The player must ensure they are firing on the correct target.

Mission Update
After the mid-mission cutscene, the player must chase and shoot down the Rafale M carrying a cruise missile. The Rafale M is marked as and is protected by three other Rafale Ms. The player must keep up and shoot down the  Rafale before it leaves the airspace. A friendly ESM aircraft will be waiting in the corner of the map to boost the player's missiles if they do not shoot down the Rafale quickly enough. If the Rafale escapes, the mission ends in failure. The player successfully completes the mission upon shooting down the Rafale.

S Rank
Earning an S Rank on this mission requires earning a combined score and time bonus of 58,000 points or more.

The maximum time bonus available is 15,000 for completing the mission in a total of 17 minutes or less. This includes time spent retrying from the checkpoint. If the player can complete the mission in that amount of time, they only need 43,000 points from destroying targets in the mission itself to earn the S Rank.

If the player goes past the 17 minutes threshold, the time bonus decreases by 300 points every second, so the player must compensate by destroying more targets to hit the 58,000 point threshold.

Trivia

 * The mission's original name was "Liberated". It was initially renamed to "Unexpected Visitor" in Hong Kong and Taiwan, before it was renamed as such worldwide.
 * Should the player ignore Mimic Squadron in favour of solely fighting the Erusean forces, a set of unique dialogue will take place, in which Scream comments on the situation, before Rage gives the order to leave, as there are not enough Erusean 'shields' still active in the airspace.

Unexpected Visitor