Crimson

Crimson is the twenty-sixth offline mission and the twenty-seventh online mission in Earth Defense Force 2025 and Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair. It is the first mission to include Mutants on higher difficulties in 4.1.

Objective
2025: We have confirmed a large number of giant aliens and we're leading them to an uninhabited part of the coast to contain the damage. Fencers will deploy to block the enemy and our snipers, already in place, will use that chance to exterminate them all. We want Storm Team to support.

4.1: We have confirmed a large number of giant aliens, and we're leading them to an uninhabited part of the coast to contain the damage. Fencers will deploy to block the enemy and our snipers -- who are already in place -- will use that chance to exterminate them all. We want Storm Team to support.

Storyline
The mission start with Storm Team, sniper and Fencer teams at the right side of the beach. There is also a group of Rangers in the middle off the beach and an army of crimson ants at the other side. HQ orders the Rangers to fall back, which they do, to draw the insects into snipers' range since EDF personnel weren't taught how to hit a bug as big as a house from a few hundred meters. When the ants are close enough the Fencers are ordered to engage in battle. Once the first wave of ants is dead, Scout will inform the soldiers that they spotted another group heading to the beach from the mountains. After they are dealt with The Tactics Officer will warn about more giant insects. This time two group will move in, one from the mountains at the right side of the beach and the other from the sea. The mission ends when the last of the ants is dead.

4.1 Changes
The position of the soldiers and the first wave is switched. Storm Team and the Snipers start on top of the hill behind the others on the beach. The mission now also features tanks that fight together with the Fencers. The second and third wave is switched. Hardest and Inferno difficulty now also features dark crimson ants. There are also more enemis over all.

Farming
Crimson is an ideal farming level for Wing Diver, Air Raider, and Fencer units on Inferno difficulty.

Prerequisites: This mission is chosen because there is not a single enemy in it with a ranged attack, though it is quite tricky the first few times, especially in 4.1 where there are more Ants and Dark Crimson Ants are added to the final wave. Since there are no enemies that can fire, it is perfectly safe for a Fencer to use a Javelin Catapult instead of a Shield to maximize his mobility.
 * Wing Diver: Idunn-E Custom or better, or Thunder Bow 20R or better. Rapier for hiding in trees.
 * Fencer: High-level CC Striker (eg Vulcan Hammer ZD), Javelin Catapult, Dynamo Blade
 * Air Raider: EF31 Fire Nereid, or NX Large Coastal Missile / Tempest and Walking Fortress Balam B-Type or better (4.1 only)

There are a wide variety of techniques for beating it easily, many involving waiting for the EDF NPCs to be killed off by the Ants to centralize the resulting loot pile. One method is to use a Wing Diver and stand on top of a tree, making it hard for the Ants to actually attack, and use a powerful Rapier or similar to beat them up. This is tricky since many weapons suitable for fighting the Ants are also suitable for destroying the tree, and actually landing on top of a tree takes some skill: the best way is to walk right up to the trunk until the Wing Diver stops moving because of it, fly up vertically, and then tap forward just slightly. This can also be done with a Fencer in 2025 using a weapon with a back thruster, but in 4.1his special destructo-body will smash the tree when he touches it.

The Fencer method for this level involves using the mobility of the Fencer with Javelin-cancelling to dance around the mass of Ants and a weapon pair consisting of two high-level defense-boosting CC Strikers to do damage, preferring ones with long "swing" animations like the Vulcan Hammer and Vibro Roller. By firing one while charging the other, the Fencer will receive a near-constant, massive defense boost which makes him incredibly hard to kill. Often the fourth weapon bought along will be a Dynamo Blade to hurl some shots into groups as they approach.

Another method is to use an Air Raider with a Fire Nereid, again waiting for the Ants to kill everyone off before using the helicopter's flamethrower to rain death on the churning mass below, landing briefly after each wave to grab loot before quickly taking off again.

Perhaps the silliest Air Raider technique is made possible in 4.1, and uses two NX Large Coastal missiles or Tempest missiles on the first wave of Ants to pull in enough reload credits to drop a Walking Fortress Balam, whereupon the flailing commences.