Planning to play this next weekend with a friend (passing controller back and forth when one of us dies, NES style).
Neither of us have ever really played an AC before. Would it be a better experience to learn some basics from guides like the above in advance, or learn everything the hard way?
I’m inclined to learn at least the things that are too easy to misunderstand (remembering how often that happened with Sekiro), but also I don’t want to accidentally spoil myself.
the oblique tutorialization is as strong as it’s been since bloodborne. i say go in fresh and look things up as you have problems
this might just be controls but it is also much easier for me than any other from game i’ve played
everything seems direct and easy to understand so far, imo you should be able to just go for it
Yeah, I started playing this the other day and I found it reasonably easy to onboard with as well. I was pretty amazed! I have a copy of Armored Core 4 that I booted up once… That one immediately starts you off with high complexity and very barebones tutorializing. It really scared me away. I couldn’t believe how much easier this one was. Fromsoft isn’t exactly known for their approachability, but they did a good job with this one.
I did get a little intimidated when the parts shop opened up, but they start you off with a nice, small set of options. And it seems to me like the fine-grained stats are something you can very slowly come to understand over time. There’s really no penalty for experimentation; everything is reversible, you can always farm more money from replaying missions, and all parts can be sold back for the same price you bought them for.
i will say it’s a fast and visually noisy game and it does take a bit to learn to parse the UI. i was like 4 missions in before i realized that your weapon cooldowns are displayed in the targeting reticule
Definitely do the training missions as soon as they become available. I agree that this is a good armored core to start with, although yes, the UI is very dense.
oh yeah even if you have played these before do the training missions, they give you parts!
The Gran Turismo strategy
yeah my never played an ac game friends have been managing… theyre all dark souls girlies tho and i do think the design of a lot of the bosses is actually very in-line with the elden ring / sekiro / etc.
anyways i love this game do wish the soundtrack was a little More tho
wait what
i’ve been searching for a decent machine gun for like 14 hours wondering when one would show up in the market and it’s apparently the reward for the very first training mission
you can buy multiples after you unlock too, dual machine guns feels nice
things i wish i had known at first:
ive only played the 1st game that chucks you right into a fight no tutorial so if this is still the hardcore AC experience From claims it is, upgrade your boosters and [armored] core first
There were like a million games between that one and AC6 though lol. Can i still look/strafe with the shoulder buttons if i feel like it?
I beat the big walking thing. Kept making stupid mistakes like falling off of it and not being able to get back on.
you can also press back on the control stick, which stops it faster without using more boost.
So far, my biggest struggle with AC6 has been not calling it quits when I’m super tired and trying to press on.
Coolest “Well that just happened” moment so far (spoilers):
In the attack the spaceport mission to destroy the PCA fleet at anchor I did not realize I had swapped to the pilebunker I carry over my left shoulder as an alternative to the shotgun I normally have active in hand. This caused me, when ambushed by an LC, unexpectedly shotgun pop it in the lips, staggering and heavily damaging it, only for my right-hand shotgun to fire, then the right-shoulder burst grenade launcher to fire, killing it so fast I had barely processed the fight with it had even started.
In the same mission as above, the capstone of it has you fighting a pair tuned up LC’s (called HC’s, similar to LC’s they’re comparable to AC’s in combat ability, in this case, superior) and V.IV Rusty, another AC and merc, shows up to help you. When I killed the second second machine and the game went into its slomo focus on the tough opponent you just killed, I had blasted it up into the air on death and it looked like Rusty jumped onto its chest with his reverse-joint machine and drove it into the ground pumping shots into its chest at point blank before jumping away a moment before it exploded.
Anyway, I’m having a ball with it.
Boosters are kinda weird to upgrade, keep an eye on their optimal weight vs your total weight. Underweighting won’t do wonders for your speed, but going over will murder your QB interval.
Energy refresh is, as always, a big-big deal, don’t underestimate how much it makes a lot of fights much easier when you can get your go-juice back as you touch the ground.
Assault Boost is super strong and has a very high learning curve, imo. It’s essential for getting the most out of kinetic weapons (and melee as well, AB → Pilebunker can chunk or outright kill a lot of things, was how I beat (with ease) the Chapter 3 boss.
Don’t potato around the Quad MT’s. They may not be AC’s, but they have all the firepower they need to turn you dead if you only mildly disrespect them.
Do the tutorial and Arena missions. Tutorial gets you your first MG, and the tuning points from the Arena are vital to your machine. Probably a little too vital, imo, is the ability to improve your ACS strain resistance, probably the best option for points investment, and I’d wager mandatory for PvP if that’s something you’re interested in.
Reverse Joint legs are probably the best overall type at the moment, but remember that for all their performance for jumping into the air, their ground-QB is their biggest advantage so try not to float excessively with 'em.
[EDIT]
One more.
Armored Core is very much a series where you can wing it and make it work, but taking the time to understand what the stats do will greatly reduce your headaches in the long term.
Okay, I just want to thank everyone for coming to my TED talk, and hope you all have a great day.
Excellent tips! The various energy/boost related stats are a little hard to get a handle on. Load affects QB as you mentioned, and I think Core’s have a stat that dramatically affects generator performance. So by changing my core I saw a big difference in energy reserves for boosting.
There are just a lot of interrelated stats like these and the generator’s influence on energy weapon damage and not just supply like in the old games. BTW, is it possible to see the actual delta in energy weapon damage when(or even after) changing generators?
Cores have two, in fact, that affect your generator, one for the Output which is what your load checks against (the difference heavily affecting how fast you regenerate energy once that kicks in), and Supply which affects the delay between when you do something that consumes energy and when recharging of that energy starts.
I don’t think there’s a visual graph or anything like that which shows the affect. That said, the easiest way to find out would be to pop into test, shoot some MT’s with a laser and a generator at 100% then switch to a different value, shoot some more, and see if that lines up with the math. In AC:FA it was a direct percentage: 100 = 100% and then numbers above or below changed damage as percentage: IE: 120% = 20% more damage over baseline with similar results for going under.
…which is clearly not happening here, 'cause going from 100 to 70 energy supply would see my damage drop from 375 to 262, and it reduces it to only 318.
I forgot that AC:FA had a similar laser weapon mechanic. I’m looking forward to the doc/wiki that has a complete breakdown of AC6’s mechanics/stats.
It always takes a bit to adjust to a new AC game’s statistics.
i’m glad this one lets you near instantly pop into a test from the build menu, really appreciating modern SSD tech rn