Wild Blue Skies Medal Hunting Checklist

Medal hunting in Wild Blue Skies is a campaign-wide habit stack, not a single perfect run. Use this interactive checklist between missions to track behaviors that feed Medal Guide goals—gold debriefs, clean damage sheets, wingman escort integrity, rival defeats, and hidden branch discovery. Checkboxes are session helpers; screenshot progress if you need a permanent log.

Pre-mission planning

Before each sortie, pick one primary medal goal. Mixing score chains and no-damage on first attempt often fails both.

• Debrief goal chosen (gold / no-damage / secret / rival)
• Biome notes reviewed (Environments)
• Branch triggers recalled (Campaign Overview)
• Controls warmed up (Controls Cheatsheet)

During mission — wingmen and escort

• Held centerline through formation squeeze segments
• Responded to wingman breakaway cues within window
• No mayday calls ignored
• Thorne, Chuck, Roe alive at stage end

During mission — rivals and score

• Optional rival arena entered when medals require it
• Escort pairs stripped before ace focus
• Player secured rival finish when credited
• Chain maintained after dogfight re-center (Score System)

During mission — damage and collateral

• Zero hull hits (no-damage attempt) OR damage budget tracked
• Civilian structures avoided on ocean/port waves
• No cave wall collisions during compression segments

After mission — debrief review

• Debrief screen photographed or notes taken
• Medal tier recorded per stage name
• Failed requirement identified (time, damage, escort, score)
• Next replay plan written (same goal vs swap goal)

Campaign-wide ribbon habits

Track these across multiple missions:

• Every optional rival engaged at least once
• Every known branch attempted (Hidden Missions)
• Gold or S-grade achieved on each biome starter stage
• Demo mastered before full release (Demo and Wishlist)

Replay order template

Pass	Focus	Checklist section
1	Story + route memory	Pre-mission only
2	Secrets + rivals	Wingmen + rivals
3	Gold score	Rivals + debrief
4	No-damage polish	Damage + wingmen

Expert reminders

Ace Tips highlights that cave no-damage runs conflict with greedy branch detours—schedule them on different passes. PC players should confirm stable FPS via Specs Checker before blaming timing.

Post-launch updates

Fill stage-specific rows in your notebook when mission names are confirmed after August 13, 2026. This wiki page tracks habits, not unverified medal names.

Stage log template (copy to notes)

Use this markdown template in a notebook app when mission names are confirmed post-launch:

Mission: ___________  Biome: ___________  Attempt: ___
Goal: [ ] Gold  [ ] No-damage  [ ] Secret  [ ] Rival clean
Wingmen end state: Thorne ___ Chuck ___ Roe ___
Branch taken: [ ] Yes [ ] No  Path: ___________
Debrief grade: ___  Failed because: ___________
Next action: ___________

Logging prevents repeating solved problems and highlights whether failures are escort, damage, or time based.

When medals conflict

Combo	Strategy
Gold score + no-damage	Run separately; branches help score but hurt damage
Secret + time medal	Learn branch first on casual run, speedrun second
Rival clean + escort	Strip escorts fast; ignore ground chain filler

Ace Tips expands each row with biome nuance.

Weekly completionist schedule

Spread grinding to avoid burnout before Switch or DLC updates:

• Week 1: Story backbone + demo mastery
• Week 2: All branches once (Hidden Missions)
• Week 3: Gold debrief focus per biome
• Week 4: No-damage and rival-clean polish

Adjust if launch week reveals shorter campaign length than expected—check Preview Overview for hour estimates after release.

Medals reward discipline more than luck. Check boxes, one goal at a time, and ribbons accumulate naturally.