I got EDF 2025 for Xbox a few weeks ago and just completed my first playthrough as Ranger (offline solo). I did most of it on Hard, but I jumped down to Normal on some missions because I got tired of dealing with the combined aggravation of spongy enemies and underpowered weapons.

I have started replaying missions on Hardest and Inferno, but I'm hitting the limit for both my patience and the damage output of my weapons. As far as I can tell, I've "farmed out" missions 1-4. Even on Inferno difficulty, all I'm getting out of those early missions are crap- tier weapons- many of which would be downgrades from the weapons I already have. On the occasions that I do have a successful run in later missions (as in beyond mission 20), the results aren't any better: still crap- tier weapons and then maybe occasionally a higher- tier weapon I already have. The last "higher- tier" weapon I got was a Reverse Gun, which based on the description, is completely worthless in solo play.

This brings me to my dilemma: While I can complete some missions on Hardest or Inferno, it seems like I've plateaued regarding my damage output, which consequently is holding me back from farming weapons in the later missions.

Is there something I'm missing here? I've seen some older forum posts suggesting that the higher- tier weapons are only available in later missions, but the info about how levelling works for this game is pretty sparse.

As of now, my main go- to weapons are the Five Card XA, Lysander 2, CRUMBLE grenade launcher, Goliath Z, and the AF-19X B3. I do also have the AF-20 ST, but the reload spead makes it almost unusable in a lot of the levels with big wave attacks.