The CODE Exams are used to progress through the game's story.
There are four main types of missions: Citizen Reclamations, Liquidations, Elimination, and Reaching Goals.
CODE Exams[]
CODE 2 Exam[]
Mission Type: Citizen Reclamation
Objective: Reclaim citizen from Magallanican All-Purpose Biped fitted with shield generator. Visibility limited.
Game difficulty: 2/8
Enemies: All-purpose Biped Mk1, Melee type Mk1, Marksman type Mk1
This mission is relatively easy to beat as your Accessory will clean up the minor enemies as you get close to the Biped Abductor. The only difficult part about this mission is if you want to sever parts of the abductor for components. Beware of its jump attack as it will most probably one-shot the player at this point of the game. It is recommended that the player destroys the Abductor before reclaiming the citizen as enemy reinforcements will appear once the pod has been severed, though you can always command your Accessory to "Carry Citizens" once you've gotten the citizen out of its cage.
For the first try, the player is able to get Mattias as help for the mission. For subsequent tries, the player has to go through the mission alone unless the player has unlocked the ability to call comrades for missions.
CODE 3 Exam[]
Mission Type: Liquidation
Objective: Retribution event in progress. Engage forces from On High and eliminate Ramosa-class Abductor. Expect heavy Resistance
Game difficulty: 3/8
This mission is also straightforward. The player just has to defeat the abductor and the good thing is, there are no enemy reinforcements. In this fight, the player has Mattias, Carlos and Uwe to help with killing the abductor. On the first try, players will have a hard time fighting this enemy as its defenses are relatively high compared to previous abductors. Watch out for its attacks when intending to sever parts. The Ramosa has a variety of attacks that will make severing hard(howling after being dragged down, jumping, using claw attacks etc.). If the player is intending to sever parts, it is recommended to have at least a Level 4 light melee weapon as the components have very high durability especially the claw area.
CODE 4 Exam[]
Mission type: Citizen Reclamation
Objective: Reclaim 3 citizens. Hostile Agarthan sinners and enhanced All-purpose Biped detected. Night mission
Game difficulty: 4/8
CODE 5 Exam[]
Mission type: Liquidation
Objective: Destroy Lemurian Heat and Electro Resistant Bipeds. Reinforcements expected. Visibility limited.
Game difficulty: 5/8
CODE 6 Exam[]
Mission type: Liquidation
Objective: Destroy Houraian Special T-type abductors. Special S-type also deployed. Visibility limited due to heavy rain.
Game difficulty: 6/8
This mission is hard during the first try. There are 2 waves. First wave consists of All-purpose Biped Mk2 and Carrier Quadruped Mk2 with infinte reinforcements of Marksman and Armored type Mk3. Once the first wave is down, the next wave is the T and S type abductors. The S type abductor is a spider-like abductor that can shoot out webs that will root the player in place for a few seconds. It is recommended not to spend time severing for components as it will be very hectic and the parts have a higher durability to their previous counterparts.
CODE 7 Exam[]
Mission type: Eliminate enemy (solo mission)
Objective: Neutralize enemy forces in order to earn improved Code Clearance. Accessory accompaniment not possible.
Game difficulty: 7/8
This mission pits you in a duel against Natalia. You will have 15 Sustainability for this battle while Natalia will have 20. There is no Time Limit.
The first part of the duel is relatively easy as her weapons are not very fast; she will often use her sniper rifle so use this as your advantage by grabbing Leap Attacks on her or shooting her to death. Accessories will be there to try and shoot you, but they aren't much of a threat if you are careful enough with what you are doing. They also do not move their locations (only their line of shooting).
By the time her Sustainability has reduced to 10, she will be receiving reinforcements by OPS Agents and even more Accessories. Use Anti-Personnel Mines to keep them at bay; again, the Accessories do not move their locations, but rather only their line of shooting, so simply shoot them from afar or kill them from behind. Be warned that Natalia can revive fallen comrades. Place Anti-Personnel Mines on the OPS Agents you've finished off so Natalia won't be able to revive them.
The only drawback for this mission is that fallen Accessories and OPS Agents do not count towards Sustainability loss for Natalia. The only way to win is for the player to kill Natalia herself, and reduce her Sustainability to 0.
As for weapon choices, guns are highly recommended in this battle since you will be given the advantage of eliminating foes from afar—however, sniper rifles and machine guns (i.e. SR-42/LA and/or Adelrings respectively) are not advised, since they will slow you down while getting away from enemies. Melee weapons are recommended as well if one wishes so; the only thing you should keep in mind is to be careful when you try to hit enemies, since the stances you adopt takes a while to recover. Do not attempt to use combos. They will definitely leave you vulnerable. Just use Leap Attacks to be safe. Heavy melee weapons/polearms are not recommended, but if you are skilled enough, nobody is stopping you.
CODE 8 Exam[]
Mission Type: Reach Goal, Liquidation, Liquidation
Objective(s):
- Reach designated objective. Large-scale deployment of Houraian forces confirmed. Expect to come under sustained fire.
- Destroy Abel and Red Rage. Expect unparalleled resistance. Prepare accordingly.
- Destroy unidentified target. Expect formidable resistance. Prepare accordingly.
Game difficulty: 8/8, 8/8, 8/8
This is arguably the hardest Exam in the entire game. There will be three missions in this Exam in total—be enlightened that if you fail one of them, you will fail them all. You will have 30 minutes to complete the first mission, while you will have 45 minutes for the second and the third.
The first mission won't be quite of a challenge since you're simply required to reach the goal. The following missions, however, will be extremely challenging.
Abel and Red Rage[]
The second mission entails you to kill Abel and Red Rage. It is advised that you kill Abel first, since his sword attacks will be pestering you throughout the battle while you deal with Red Rage should you go after the Abductor first. He isn't as easy to kill as Hostile Accessories, but if you deal enough damage, he will finally fall. Be mindful of his stances! If he is walking, that would be a good time to be performing Leap Attacks on/shooting/attacking him from midrange.
Red Rage isn't much of a threat aside from the occasional gunfire and Howls it'll be doing. Aim for the pod until you've incapacitated it, then call for your entire party to go all-out on it. If you are playing offline, having Natalia helps because she tends to sever parts, which makes your job a lot easier. If you want to go for its parts, it is recommended that you bring the Flare Knife with you.
Peltatum
The third mission requires you to defeat Peltatum, known to many fans as "the chain boss." Brace yourself for a long, hard battle.
A note beforehand: bring a gun. Do not bring Heavy Polearms, and most definitely do not bring sniper rifles.
Peltatum is distinctive for its design. Instead of the regular Abductors that you fight on-ground, it is typically airborne. To start, get rid of the three shields on the front. Once you've gotten rid of those, move on to either dragging it down or start severing one of the boxes. The boxes are critical in this battle since that is where those horrendous Chains will be coming from, so try to sever as many as you can.
Get ready with your gun once one or two of those Chains come out—get rid of them first. If you are having a hard time shooting them in the field, go to the Lobby and wait for them to come at you. Don't worry; the Chains cannot reach you if you are in the Lobby. Use this to your advantage by shooting them all to death. Note that the red supply boxes on the right side of the Lobby contains Flash Grenades; using them on the Chains will disable them. Note however that although they cannot reach you once you are in the Lobby, their fire/ice attacks can still get to you.
Once you've eliminated the Chains, go for Peltatum. Aim for the eyeball-shaped head; you will be able to deal considerable damage by doing so.
If your team starts getting vacuumed by Peltatum, use your Thorn and escape back to the Lobby. Attach yourself to a wall until it is safe to move. Simply dodge if Peltatum is teeming down electricity; they won't get you if you simply keep moving out of the way.
Again, more chains will be coming at you at this point. Always get rid of them first before you go for Peltatum. If you are having a very difficult time on beating this boss, your best bet is to do it online.