Setting Sun is the fourth mission in Earth Defense Force 2025 and Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair. It is the first to introduce the new Retiarius enemy.
Objective[]
2025: We've lost communication with the Wing Diver team. Head to their last location and support the Wing Divers.
4.1: We've lost communication with the Wing Diver team. Head to their last known location and support them as needed.
Storyline[]
The giant insects are clearly on the ball and have discovered the key weakness of the Wing Divers is their complete inability to look where they are going, resulting in Wing Diver Unit 4 becoming trapped in enormous, obvious webs created by spiders the size of a football field.
Ignoring this radical new development in the field of stupidity, HQ orders Storm Team and the Rangers to assist the Wing Divers and destroy the new giant insects. Ohara is baffled by this new development, wondering if it means that the giant insects knew what the EDF were planning, while HQ, clearly trying to out-confusing him, grumbles that the "Ravager technology" has evolved beyond the Wing Divers.
As the last Retiarius dies, Ohara, well, um...look, we'll just leave it here and let you figure it out.
"Does this mean that the progress of the giant insects exceeds human wisdom? Progress faster than science is impossible! But..."
4.1 Changes[]
Aside from being able to cause a Retiarius to let go without needing to do enough damage to kill it, no changes.
Enemies[]
Both versions:
Retiarius x 8 with webs (all spawned at level start)
Online Limits[]
Armor Limit
There's no limit for Inferno difficulty.
| Difficulty | Ranger & Air Raider | Wing Diver | Fencer | |||
| 2025 | 4.1 | 2025 | 4.1 | 2025 | 4.1 | |
| Easy & Normal | 435 | 434 | 267 | 267 | 544 | 542 |
| Hard | 1547 | 1562 | 823 | 831 | 1934 | 1952 |
| Hardest | 3031 | 3546 | 1565 | 1823 | 3789 | 4433 |
Weapon Level Limit
| Game | Easy & Normal | Hard | Hardest | Inferno |
| 2025 | 3 | 25 | 50 | 78 |
| 4.1 | 3 | 25 | 53 | 80 |
Approximate Weapon Drop Rate
| Game | Easy | Normal | Hard | Hardest | Inferno |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 8-20 | 0-45 | 0-51 |
| 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 10-25 | 0-46 | 0-51 |
Strategy[]
Both Versions[]
This mission starts in the park area of City 2 and goes into the square with the two largest skyscrapers. Many of the buildings in this mission have Retiarius webs attached to them; any such building is rendered indestructible.
Setting Sun is a very easy mission even on Inferno as long as the player knows what Retiarii actually do. The Retiarius' only attack is to spit a series of thick silk threads that are thrown in an arc; they can do this through buildings. If a player character touches a thread at any time before it disappears they will become trapped, taking damage-over-time every second or so (increasing to multiple times per second on higher difficulties) and being pulled in towards the spider. A trapping strand will flash red, and it is possible to be trapped by a thread that has already caught something else. There are only two ways to escape being trapped in 2025: kill the spider, or get fully pulled in, in which case the Retiarius will drop the player character into their web.
This is not an improvement, since the only way to escape a web is to destroy that, the web is much tougher, and it also deals damage over time. Jumping or walking into a web will also lead to becoming trapped, though the securing strands are not part of the web's collision or hitbox and will not trap characters (or take damage). The Retiarius will also sometimes decide to shoot a character in its web at point-blank range, dealing far more damage than usual.
Since the mission only includes a few tough enemies that attack at long range, it is advisable to bring a sniper rifle, rocket launcher or similar. Because most of the enemies are high up, the Air Raider's default Gigantus tank is practically useless except against the first two Retiarii; if the player has started on hard and has unlocked an Epsilon Armored Railgun they should use that instead, though hitting the fourth Retiarius, high up between two buildings on the right, is very hard even with this.
NPC Wing Divers are trapped in most of the Retiarius webs and can be freed and recruited if the webs are destroyed; if not, they will eventually be killed by either the Retiarii or damage-over-time from the webs themselves. The webs are much tougher than the Retiarii and take a long time to bring down with starting weapons.
The Retiarii will mostly concern themselves with saving the city from rampaging civilians until they are aggro'd, whereupon their attention will be almost exclusively on the character that wronged them. It is therefore a good idea to take them on one at a time. Destroying their webs will drop them to the ground and make them easier to target, though it takes some time.
There is a rather annoying zoom-in on a trapped Wing Diver at the start of the mission that does not pause gameplay; this can result in the player being hit by a Retiarius while they cannot see their character. Luckily, it is possible to disable this and other effects like it by switching "camera effects" to "off" in the option menu.
As in the previous mission, while the player is told to save the Wing Divers, there is no requirement to do so and no penalty if they all die before the mission ends.
| 1-10 | Reconvene • Spreading Disaster • Winged War Goddess • Setting Sun • Wind Break • Underground Cave • Eruption • Retaliation • Beach Fear • The Return |
| 11-20 | Air Force • Day of the Demons • Takedown • Preventing Landfall • Land Collapse • Fortress Siege • Valley Shadows • Artillery • Breaking Through • Shining Stronghold |
| 21-30 | Into the Depths • A Trap • Giant Robots • Summit Ship • Anchored • Silver City • Crimson • High-Speed • Bloody Mountain • Brute Force |
| 31-40 | Charge Phase 1 • Charge Phase 2 • Dark Prisoner • Charge Phase 3 • Thunder • Infiltration • Convergence • Inferno • Starship • Dense |
| 41-50 | Crossing • Search • Waterside Bugs • Annihilation • Natural Calamity • Steel Beast • Void Ship • Blue Fighters • Earth Defenders • Fleet Attack |
| 51-60 | Mountain Pass Trap • Fortress Frenzy • Pincer • Ravages of War • Air Mobilization • Bug Invasion • Transport Ship Surprise Attack • Bug King • Crazy Skies • The Fleet Below |
| 61-70 | Bad Premonition • City of Horror • Mountains Ablaze • Breaking Through (2) • Bug Tower • Fortress Attack • Mountain Liberation • Sniper Attack • Mountain Giants • Towering Beast |
| 71-80 | Teeth of the Universe • Giant Ship • Spearhead • Tower Siege • Den of Thieves • Death Queen • Machine Squad • Monster Party • Labyrinth of Light • City Flaws |
| 81-90 | Monster Camp • Fallen Flagship • Heaven's Army • Encircling • Divine • The Threat • Troubled Valley • Battle to the Death • Massive Mobilization • Legion of Monsters |
| 91-94 | Scorching • Demon Army • Surrounded! • Star Eaters |
| DLC 1: Special Forces | Exploration • Giant's Advance • Silver Camp • Citadel • Floating Fleet |
| DLC 2: Mutant Rampage | Advance • Mountain Assault • Enemy Camp Infiltration • Underground Advance • Giant Robots • Battle Species • Beast Mountain • Dark Arena • Gathering Around • Armored Species • Iron Wall • Mountain of Change • Whirlwind of Death • Bugged City • The Tough • Golden Darkness • True King • Final Impact • Into Destruction • Ship of Dragons |
| DLC 3: Beyond Despair | Tracking • Underground Complex • Blocked Pass • Close Formation • Dragon Ship Fleet • Heavy Artillery • Bloody River • Dangerous Goldmines • Beast Mobilization • Total Protection • Aerial Bombing • King of Armor • Cannon Defenders • Traps Behind • Four Kings of Nightmares • Resistance Against the Twilight • Shivering Nexus • Three Giants • Crimson Lotus • Starry Prison |
| 1-10 | Reconvene • Spreading Disaster • Winged War Goddess • Setting Sun • Wind Shear • Underground Cave • Eruption • Retaliation • Beach Fear • The Return |
| 11-20 | Air Force • Day of the Demons • Takedown • Preventing Landfall • Land Collapse • Fortress Siege • Valley Shadows • Artillery • Breaking Through • Shining Stronghold |
| 21-30 | Into the Depths • A Trap • Giant Robots • Summit Ship • Anchored • Silver City • Crimson • Assault • High-Speed • Bloody Mountain |
| 31-40 | Brute Force • Charge Phase 1 • Charge Phase 2 • Dark Prisoner • Charge Phase 3 • Thunder • Infiltration • Convergence • Inferno • Starship |
| 41-50 | High Density • Dozing Beast • Crossing • Search • Waterside Bugs • Annihilation • Natural Calamity • Steel Beast • Void Ship • Blue Fighters |
| 51-60 | Earth Defenders • Fleet Attack • Mountain Pass Trap • Fortress Frenzy • Pincer • Ravages of War • Crash • Air Mobilization • Bug Invasion • Transport Ship Surprise Attack |
| 61-70 | Bug King • Crazy Skies • The Fleet Below • Ill Omen • City of Horror • Mountains Ablaze • Breaking Through (2) • Bug Tower • Fortress Attack • Mountain Liberation |
| 71-80 | Battle of Giants • Sniper Attack • Mountain Giants • Towering Beast • Teeth of the Universe • Giant Ship • Spearhead • Tower Siege • Den of Thieves • Death Queen |
| 81-90 | Machine Squad • Monster Party • Labyrinth of Light • City Flaws • Monster Camp • Fallen Flagship • Heaven's Army • Encircling • Divine • The Threat |
| 91-98 | Troubled Valley • Battle to the Death • Massive Mobilization • Legion of Monsters • Scorching • Demon Army • Surrounded! • Star Eaters |
| DLC 1: Time of the Mutants | Air Offensive • Giants Advance • Recon • Dust Town • Defense Line • Underground Advance • War Breed • Mountain Assault • Enemy Camp Infiltration • Dark Arena • Beast Mountain • God's Army • The Gathering • Armored Species • Iron Wall • Silver Base • Shifting Mountain • Whirlwind of Death • Bugged City • Toughness • Golden Darkness • True Sovereign • Final Impact • Floating Fleet • Into Destruction • Ship of Dragons |
| DLC 2: Extreme Battle | Tracking Bogeys • Underground Complex • Blocked Pass • Close Formation • Dragon Ship Fleet • Heavy Artillery • Overflight • Dangerous Goldmines • Beast Mobilization • Total Protection • Bombs Away • King of Armor • Cannon Defenders • Bloody River • Three Giants • Traps from Behind • The Four Horsemen • Cross the Line • Facing Off • Crimson Lotus • Shivering Nexus • Last Bastion • Starry Prison |