Armored Core General!

[shell nymph]

jeeeesus

[polar osprey]

an extremely tolerance bound experimental AC

heavy weaponry, heavy build

[shell nymph]

white glint’s been hitting the white castles too much it seems

[polar osprey]

doesn't come close to what an actual NEXT can do

but it's still pretty good for an AC

as for actual NEXT development, we have Dash Pinion

my Ultra-heavyweight siege focused NEXT

[shell nymph]

oh it’s beautiful

[polar osprey]

packing two ultra heavy gatling guns for army killing and two arm mounted rocket launchers for extremely powerful environmental destruction

[shell nymph]

big ass legs too

[polar osprey]

actually remembered that's a slightly older variation

i switched out the side boosters for PA rectifiers and changed up some of the stabilizers for better performance

i would love to get a modern AC game with the kind of customization that ACFA has

[shell nymph]

i really should play the older games once i get the chance

[patent oyster]

The parts tuning and other micro adjustments seems really neat

Thats something id like to see in an AC6 expansion

[polar osprey]

in ACFA you get two arm weapons, two spare arm weapons, back weapons, shoulder equipment, 4 parts for the body, FCS, Generator, 4 boosters, 16 spots for stabilizers and of course Parts Tuning

Stabilizers lets you customize actual movement calibrations and Parts Tuning lets you do a bunch of micromanagement for different parts of the AC

i'd compare this to AC6's OST upgrades, but i like this system more honestly cause you are way more granular and you don't get access to everything

[small stone]

Ok will work

[polar osprey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYLz1XnVcPY

just had this pop up in my yt feed

mans is cooking something but i have no idea what

[small stone]

Should I do vientos

[polar osprey]

yes

[small stone]

Against Ayre

[polar osprey]

i like how this person is not using the camera properly and also not hardlocking

i'm sure this will be totally fine in the future for them

[polar osprey]

yes

[tawny lava]

Are the Honest Brute combat logs bugged or have I just managed to miss some every single time I've done that mission? There seem to be a lot.

[eager vector]

there’s a lot to miss in that level

[cursive agate]

• Essentially replaces Kikaku (14k Melee Attack Thrust, but gives up too much in other stats).
• Comparable to a melee-focused BST-G2/P04 with higher EN costs on lighter midweight builds (73,800 QB Reload Ideal Weight).

I've heard it isn't used much in higher end PVP because of the increased EN costs just for Melee Attack Thrust, but seems fine for PVE builds that melee often.

[eager vector]

I’m a pretty dedicated melee pve player but I’ve never used either bc Lance and PB basically ignore melee attack thrust lol

[surreal vine]

Ran a bunch of stuff with the co-op mod last night with like 3-4 other people; 's so fun just getting a group together to just thrash missions

The ||Obstruct the Mandatory Inspection|| mission from NG++ especially is a joy in co-op

[polar osprey]

Co-op ac6 sounds sick

[iron quarry]

Never thought I’d hit this but by golly gosh I did

Throw hands Ayre

To bad the clips choppy

[small stone]

Yall

Gimme more power

I need ultra instinct to kill wife

It’s the only way I can do it and not cry

Left the main AC discord

Mentioned trans 621 headcannon and got hit with “stop putting politics in our game”

[polar osprey]

oof

[small stone]

It was weird too

Not outright mad but like

I got a catholic guy who was like “no offense but I don’t believe those people exist, you do you however”

Also general Souls community toxicity

[polar osprey]

strange

[wooden nimbus]

Gross

[small stone]

Ah well I have a new spot to ramble about fictional red women now

Ayre is a trans metaphor

(Ask me about this I’ll go off)

[wooden nimbus]

It checks out

[small stone]

Ayre and Raven is in my mind nb4w or nb4nb

I’m coping over having to kill my wife

The hardness of the boss fight is not helping matters

[wooden nimbus]

We can do that with pretty much everything with a transhuman context and I'm down for it

[polar osprey]

i see this as an absolute win

[small stone]

People say the anime depictions of Ayre as androgynous or feminine ghost esq and 621 as androgynous are generic but it’s wonderful representation

[polar osprey]

big fair

[small stone]

Whenever I see people get mad over anime women I clock out and vibe because opinions of others matter little

[wooden nimbus]

Like my brain self inserts so my inner 621 is very similar to an idealized me after he gets put through the mill one too many times but the ambiguity of AC MCs really do let it be whoever you think it is

[polar osprey]

i really like this more inhuman depiction of Ayre

[wooden nimbus]

The fact that you're able to be anywhere from coral dusted chili to whatever Blorbo you desire is important

[quasi copper]

I ended up redecorating the AC I used for that fight, making an emblem for it, and then locking it away forever

[polar osprey]

this

i like this a lot

vaguely feminine but also very much inhuman

[small stone]

I like that

Idk I like most things

For depictions of things i can be very generic at times

[wooden nimbus]

I will always envision Ayre as just being a cloud in the back of my head that might occasionally manifest as those funny glowing veins you see in augmented characters in fiction

But yeah it's also a big "do what you think is cool" 😌

[small stone]

Tall glowy ghost woman… nice to me

[polar osprey]

i believe in personifying the AC6 characters however you feel

[wooden nimbus]

There's a lady in my head-

[small stone]

That is upset that I need to kill her

[polar osprey]

which is why i will be imagining V.II Snail as an insecure little shitheel

[wooden nimbus]

I could def see Ayre giving herself a human avatar if given access to the tools to do so tho

[polar osprey]

mhm

[wooden nimbus]

Cortana style

[small stone]

She literally says in her boss fight

“We could have walked together!”

[wooden nimbus]

Yeah

[small stone]

;-;

[polar osprey]

Find wife

life good

kill wife

think about wife

life bad

[small stone]

I want an Ayre/Carla/Me polycule

[quasi copper]

REGRET

[wooden nimbus]

I'm going to not spoil it but also kinda almost spoil it ||do the ng++ and walk with your wife||

[small stone]

REGRET

[polar osprey]

Carla is like, mom the way i see it

Handler Walter is basically my adopted dad in the context of the game

[quasi copper]

listen, we can't always get what we want

Carla wants Ayre dead

[polar osprey]

we could if everyone wasn't so fucking insistent on murdering eachother

[wooden nimbus]

When I do lancer stuff I always see SEKHMET as taking over my body when she's active so I have high key translated this to being something Ayre can do

Which is probably why I picture her physical body as being integrated with my 621's nervous system

[small stone]

I have to kill the person I love like damn

And if I do the good ending, it’s the other person

[wooden nimbus]

That's how we armor the core yeah

[small stone]

Absolutely no winning here

Well

Unless you do the NG ending with the RLF

[polar osprey]

someone i like is dying no matter what

[small stone]

but I have to kill her to get there in first play through

[polar osprey]

so i'm always losing

[quasi copper]

Did you forget you're a Raven? A harbinger of destruction, an omen of death?

[polar osprey]

yes

i'm not even a real raven

sorta just gaslighting everyone

[wooden nimbus]

Turns out you faked it till you maked it

Gaslit the rules into making it official

Also "ominous legendary mercenary who doesn't follow the rules is recruited by taking the job without permission" kind of tracks

[polar osprey]

true

i like to imagine everyone is kinda terrified when some random merc bearing the name raven appeared and started working with the corpo's and systematically slaughtering their way across the planet

[wooden nimbus]

Like what kind of anti authoritarian rebel becomes a legend by doing the paperwork for the position

Everyone at once: "The Raven is on our side"
Everyone again moments later: "Oh"

Pretty sure every ending is an Arquebus L too

[polar osprey]

i mean

V.II Snail

need i say more

[wooden nimbus]

It's just "either they lose, everyone loses, or a secret third thing"

[wooden nimbus]

Your crime is that you ignored me

[wooden nimbus]

One day I'll get my 621 sketched so I can use it as ttrpg character art

[polar osprey]

scrolling through my redit liked posts for AC stuff and this got a chuckle out of me

What did the new guys thought armored core be like? Gundam?

My brother in coral, Gundam is full of war crimes

https://x.com/altoraiser/status/1751246286756647295

Alto-kun (@altoraiser) on X

Armored Core but BRAVE

"ASHMEAD PILEBUNKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERR!!"

"VP-60LCS BEEEEEEEAAAAAAMM!!"

#ARMOREDCORE6
#アーマードコア6
#アーマードコア
#AC6

Twitter · Jan 27, 2024, 2:10 PM

sick art

[wooden nimbus]

Oh damn

[quasi copper]

LMFAO

[small stone]

Meme is kinda wrong gundam gets dark too

[wooden nimbus]

That's what the comments are saying

[serene kettle]

Yeah the setup kinda trolls you with the Balam/Arquebus conflict

“Oh there’s a Balam Route and an Arquebus route”

No. They are wheat to the scythe

[wooden nimbus]

I still need to reapply decals to my baby

[small stone]

Then it turns into RLF, Mistress Allmind, FIRE, And something else

[small stone]

I wish decals didn’t get reminded

Removed

[wooden nimbus]

I cleaned it up and wanna redo them

So I'm starting fresh

[serene kettle]

Allmind’s Evolution is just beginning.

A chain made of human links is easily broken.

[polar osprey]

Allmind exists for all mercenaries

[wooden nimbus]

I still think the AM was a hint

[serene kettle]

That and series themes going back to the original

[wooden nimbus]

Well yeah

Controller and whatever other names it took

Nine Ball, the Disorder Units, etc

The DUs weren't even us

[serene kettle]

The Disorder Units were actually unrelated yeah lol

they were also, notably, biomechanical

[wooden nimbus]

Just turns out Mars has their own shit

[serene kettle]

You really want a head with a biosensor in AC2

[wooden nimbus]

Leos did a fucky wucky

Master of Arena looking ass

I like the AC Mars/DXM nod

[serene kettle]

but yeah, Hustler One, The Controller, the original IBIS (Silent Line also revealed The Controller's name to be DOVE), the Pulverizers, Chief and Carol, the Foundation Man...

it kinda just keeps going

[wooden nimbus]

I struggle to think of a friend AI in AC other than Chatty

I'm sure I'm missing someone

[serene kettle]

Yeah Chatty is genuinely the friendliest one I can think of

||And even he is firmly an antagonist in 2/3 routes||

[wooden nimbus]

Maybe Morally Ambiguous Maybe AI

M.A.M.AI's can be argued in many places

I feel like 4 feels the least like a machine intelligence is pulling my strings

[serene kettle]

4 takes a noticeable step away from the AI plots, yeah.

It's bleak but it's a human bleakness

and yet an inhuman one since it brings capitalism to the forefront

[wooden nimbus]

It very much goes "yes, capitalism killed the planet"

"Every other part of the conflict is a symptom of this"

[serene kettle]

I do think for the themes, taking the AI out was a good call there. There's nothing to blame it on but unchecked greed.

[wooden nimbus]

Yeah

Once you're in the After it's easy to obfuscate things with "well maybe they meant well but the Al went rogue" or "maybe just these corporations are bad"

[serene kettle]

though also even when AIs are the antagonists, they're not necessarily malicious. Especially with, like, The Controller.

[wooden nimbus]

I might not be a fan of 4/fA but centering the evil on people who allow and enable it is definitely great

[serene kettle]

It's left ultimately ambiguous whether it had some kind of glitch and went rogue, whether it was all some kind of test to see if people were ready to leave, or if it just wanted to end already and acted to provoke its charges into destroying it.

[wooden nimbus]

I mean it does just want to prevent a power imbalance among human powers

It's just doing its job

Then the 3 version

Yeah

Yeah

I get it

And then there's V/VD

What a ducking setting that became

That one is canonically after G4 too ain't it

[serene kettle]

it is, yeah, set in the distant aftermath of For Answer

[wooden nimbus]

Like "We one hundred percent caused the Great Destruction"

[serene kettle]

Which in a weird way makes the endings of For Answer a little bit more hopeful?

Like despite it all, humans kept going.

[wooden nimbus]

I'd like to think some of us got out

ORCA escape plan and all

[serene kettle]

In a weird way the AI from VD is also kind of a throwback to the early series - it was established in Project Phantasma that it was possible through research to digitize human consciousness, and some of the AIs in VD are referred to as "Phantasma Beings"

and are implied to have once been human

[wooden nimbus]

Ye

I use some of this stuff for reference in my ideas for making an AC timeline for if I can ever get a ttrpg setup started

Borrowing from both AC and Lancer

[serene kettle]

haha

I ran an ac-inspired game years ago, before Lancer was properly a thing

I just made my own setting and borrowed liberally though

Things like referring to a network of underground cities in the style of AC1 as "The Layers"

[wooden nimbus]

Right now my timeline involves a generation ship leaving a thoroughly cooked earth, the digitized minds of the head honchos who funded the project sleeping in the ship ai, and EVA suits evolving into the first MTs

With everything going wrong shortly after they land on the new home

You see the direction

[serene kettle]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LiTVkrhFbmz-PVTM0v4sN4L45SfqDQlXKwXCZ1sIOdE/edit?usp=sharing I actually still have my setting notes as it turns out

I used this document for maintaining a current Arena Leaderboard (though it was more in the style of Nexus where you had hidden point totals acquired through missions than a direct ladder), giving the players briefings, and maintaining a glossary of places, tech, and other stuff.

[wooden nimbus]

I remember chromestrike

[serene kettle]

yeah it wasn't a good system. If lancer had existed at the time, I probably would have just run it in that instead

as is though it was the only mech system I could find that had a suitably granular process of mech construction and didn't feel too super robot-y.

though also Lancer doesn't really assume money and the manna system is a bit hacky so that might be awkward too

idk

(and you can't just not have mission pay or you completely gut the armored core theming)

[wooden nimbus]

AC6 making it almost impossible to not profit if you succeed

I should intentionally throw myself into massive debt for a laff

[polar osprey]

iirc you can't go into debt in ac6

[wooden nimbus]

Well damn

[serene kettle]

AC6 definitely has the most forgiving economy in the series, yeah.

it's basically impossible not to make money hand over fist

it's a nice change after verdict day

VD was punishing

like, holy shit

[polar osprey]

was AC4A bad

cause it didn't feel like it when i played

i don't think i ever went minus on a mission

[wooden nimbus]

Not really

It just wasnt my cuppa

I like my mechs lumbering

[polar osprey]

i really enjoyed AC4A

i made an ultra-heavyweight

[wooden nimbus]

My ideal AC would probably feel closest to 5

[serene kettle]

ACV got a worse rap than it deserved to be sure

[wooden nimbus]

But with the strategic silliness of a Chromehounds match

[serene kettle]

it remains tragic that some of ACVD's bonus bosses are just gone now with the servers shut down

[wooden nimbus]

To think if Chromehounds came out in a post World of Tanks world it would have done so much better

[serene kettle]

no more Gray Lotus or Rebuilt Spirit of Motherwill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PACZ63gccs4 there's no legit way to hear this ingame anymore 😔

[wooden nimbus]

Wasn't there a Black Glint or am I hallucinating

[serene kettle]

Yeah the Special Sortie Variant of N-WGIX is also gone

though the normal variant is still the final boss of the story missions

and perfectly fightable

(if tough - like, among the hardest fights in the series)

I actually damaged a controller fighting that boss

not like, in a gamer rage way, just the furious thumbstick handling

That was...with AC Yellowjacket, a lightweight RJ mech using dual pistols and dual HEAT Piles in the bay slots

fun build, basically as agile as it gets in ACVD

zip in, plapping with the pistols, get out, swap to piles in a vulnerable moment, sting for huge damage.

[small stone]

AYRE TIME

Oh holy shit

That was close as fuck

[patent oyster]

Oh boy, you're gonna have a whale of a time after the ||NG++ ending||

[small stone]

Jesus Christ that was CLOSE

I did it… I feel awful.

[patent oyster]

Spoilers for NG++ ||i personally see girlfail ALLMIND as OSIRIS lmao||

[patent oyster]

https://youtu.be/iXdDtHYOfgM?si=eOepfLll3OGG_G06

[patent oyster]

||did you notice ayre reaching out to you before she explodes||

[small stone]

YES ;-;

Went back and I am wiping the arena to shreds

[serene kettle]

😭

Congrats though

Fires of Raven really is an ending it’s hard to feel good about

you don’t even get to punish Snail

[small stone]

Oh fuck

Volta and Ignazu are HARD

any advice?

[modern hornet]

It's usually easier to go after Iguana first, since Head Bringer is a lot more fragile than Cannon Head and doesn't have anywhere near as much oppressive firepower. Plus, it's a lot harder for Volta to reinforce Iguana since Cannon Head is a very heavy tank boi with not much to talk about in terms of aerial capability.

Head Bringer's a pretty stock standard midweight biped AC in terms of build, but as a Melander C3 it's both faster and more fragile than the Trainer AC, which is based on the normal Melander AC Frame, on the whole, and actually uses a largely identical weapons loadout (only real loadout difference is that Iggy has a Pulse Shield).

[small stone]

I realized that lance and pile bunker kinda suck

[modern hornet]

They're more specialized weaponry, for certain. You generally can't rely on the Charged Attack of the bunker against ACs in particular.

The Lance can be consistent, but requires you to manage your verticality in relation to the target to use well.

Anyway, if you can get good, consistent results against the Trainer AC, just remember to compensate for the speed difference and Pulse Shield and Iguazu shouldn't give you too much trouble.

[eager vector]

counterpoint, https://youtu.be/NGJGX1E8iF0?si=ebGM5jaFiME_YCuC

[modern hornet]

Volta's going to be the real skill check. You'll be up against an unrelenting bulldozer with him compared to Iguazu's more vanilla biped AC, but he'll be a good way to work out your tactics for fighting against Tank Leg ACs on the heavier end of the weight scale.

[small stone]

Might go back to dual etsujins and missiles

[eager vector]

that’s better for ac fights almost certainly

[cursive agate]

Redguns ACs are built with Kinetic/Explosive Defense focus, and Volta's tank AP is the main problem. I often jump Iguazu first because he goes down much faster, and wear Volta down afterwards.

[vernal wadi]

Curb stomp Iguazu like the cockroach he is first, then just play the long game with Volta

[eager vector]

Volta folds hard to kiting with laser handguns+auroras

[small stone]

just strafe and kite ya?

[eager vector]

yeah p much

[small stone]

I was expecting them to fold easy

But i checked Reddit and melee.. fuckin sucks against these twerps

[urban knoll]

Melee sucks in general if you can't ACS them in 1 combo

You become a sitting duck

[cursive agate]

Melee is workable on Igauzu as an opener (and dealing impact with shield up), but Volta is a bastard with really fast stun recovery.

[urban knoll]

Volta is a tank AC user

Enough needs to be said

Those are a pain in the ass to deal with

[vernal wadi]

this video took forever to upload because of my shit wifi but this is how I beat it with the Steel Haze last time I played

[small stone]

I don’t think I have the melee yet

[patent oyster]

If youre trying to pile volta, its pretty much futile

He has artifically inflated stagger recovery numbers

[small stone]

I realized that

Fucker got back up

[patent oyster]

He is literally coded to cheat the system

[wooden nimbus]

I love when netcode makes a melee attack hit me that shouldn't have

[vernal wadi]

the classic pulse still works

[small stone]

Alrighty thanks!

[surreal tundra]

Mhm,
vs the ALULA and NGI?

[wooden nimbus]

and I'm in the spiral of being combo'd out of 80% of my AP instantly by everyone I fight again

[surreal tundra]

ah, them fuckers,

[wooden nimbus]

I hate the PVP balancing of this game so very much but I'm out of PVE content

[surreal tundra]

pretty~
kinda like aa warframe vzxcvxczx
sausee?

[eager vector]

PvE challenge runs?

[wooden nimbus]

Just not the same as having something else to fight, but I appreciate the suggestion

[surreal tundra]

ohhhh my goddess zcxvcxvsf

[wooden nimbus]

I don't know who thought "you should be able to make someone not move and then also shave off most of their health in an instant" was a great idea

But I will never ever invite them to my house for tea

[surreal tundra]

oooh

[serene kettle]

For Volta and Iguazu, don’t forget that the RLF forces become friendly to you

And remain hostile to them

There’s a tetrapod on the map you can lure them toward as backup

[small stone]

That’s what I’ve been doing but they’ve been wiping the tetrwpods ass

[serene kettle]

Oh yeah it’s supplementary firepower at best

[cursive agate]

• ALULA has a stronger grounded focus (higher boost speed, but worse vertical thrust + cost), with stronger AB.
• NGI 001 is stronger in everything that isn't Melee Attack Thrust, but with higher EN costs in return.

[serene kettle]

It’s nice for an edge against volta once you’ve beaten iguazu

[surreal tundra]

Mm

[cursive agate]

I'd probably take the NGI 001 for Pilebunker sliding in particular (strong QB thrust/duration). PB's uncharged jab tends to whiff a lot anyways because of the narrow + short hitbox.

[serene kettle]

Volta is such a fucker though. Unironically one of the hardest enemy acs

[patent oyster]

Armordecor is never ending

Player versus environment (the decal creator and application menu)

[modern hornet]

Honestly the reason why I've been loving running a Curtis&Ransetsu Double Trigger lately. Gives you some rather oppressive sustained firepower out to distances where it's fairly easy to dodge Volta's absurd burst damage.

[small stone]

Is it pretty efficient?

[modern hornet]

I'd say so. Learned about the setup from a video on an anti-"Missile Rat" build on YouTube (this one, for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUAHW9TMGSE). The differing rates of fire and near-identical ideal range bands make the Curtis and Ransetsu-RF a potent combo that offers (in my opinion) a rather nice balance of accuracy, Damage per Second, and Accumulated Impact per second all the way out to the mid-range bracket.

[small stone]

So do I charge the shots against Volta and just strafe and shoot?

[modern hornet]

Just strafe and shoot unless you've just inflicted a stagger. Unless you're running tetrapod or a tank yourself, Charge Shots will root you in place for precious milliseconds, which is all Volta really needs to blast apart a nice chunk of your AP.

Unless you're fighting cannon fodder enemies, you should generally be saving Charged Attacks for stagger punish.

[patent oyster]

The only time i use RF charged shot is when i accidentally hold the trigger for too long

[small stone]

Wait

Is the Strider mission changed in NG+ to support the RLF?

[serene kettle]

No, that only happens in NG++

though there are several points where you can take missions for the RLF in NG+ where you couldn't before

[small stone]

So if I wanna get the good ending this round

I gotta fuck up Volta and Ignazu

[serene kettle]

that's not actually a requirement, but beating Volta and Iguazu unlocks a new set of missions that aren't available in NG so it's worth doing

my best advice is try to take on iguazu first, and reposition frequently - Iguazu is way better at chasing you than Volta, so by just going somewhere else you can turn the 2v1 into a 1v1 until volta catches up

and once Iguazu's down, Volta's still tough but it's way easier than fighting them both at once

[modern hornet]

As I mentioned earlier, Volta's pretty bad at verticality due to being the thickest boi, so even just engaging Iguazu first while they're both still pre-occupied with the RLF is usually enough to guarantee a pair of 1v1 AC Duels since Iguazu goes for the high ground while Volta goes along the dams

[serene kettle]

it does depend how fast you can take down Iguazu. If he survives long enough Volta will eventually get there.

[polar osprey]

Iguazu doing his best skaven impression and being an utter nuisance

[modern hornet]

I've honestly never had that problem, myself, but that's probably because I tend to be more aggressive, myself.

[serene kettle]

yeah it's mostly an issue for more setup-y or kite-y builds

[wooden nimbus]

I cooked iguana before volta could back him up

[serene kettle]

or if you just struggle to pin down iggy

[wooden nimbus]

Woe, assault armor pulse machine gun missile alpha strike be upon you

[serene kettle]

it can happen, he's very defensively built

not tanky per se, but likes to hide behind a shield and harass at range

[wooden nimbus]

Volta is hard tho

For me

[serene kettle]

oh yeah Volta is a nightmare

Unironically one of the toughest AC fights in the game

[wooden nimbus]

Volta sees me wanting to get up close and starting laughing

[serene kettle]

He's in C-rank in the arena and genuinely harder than most of the A and B ranks

[wooden nimbus]

Defend the Dam Complex would be much harder if anyone in it was replaced with Volta

[serene kettle]

LMAO

You're unironically right tho

I've oneshot Chartreuse with an Alpha Strike a couple of times

bear witness

[wooden nimbus]

"These are like three of the most badass pilots out there"
Lol
"Volta"

[patent oyster]

Honestly against volta, just bring zooks and grenade launchers

[wooden nimbus]

That would require I learn to use zooks

[serene kettle]

eh, it's not that complex

point and shoot

[modern hornet]

I haven't really had much issues with shooting down Volta, but that's probably because I tend to favor decently thicc boi ACs with a mid-close range assault loadout.

[serene kettle]

aerial advantage is good with zooks because with poor verticality mechs like volta you'll usually catch them in the blast even if you miss

[wooden nimbus]

As long as I stop hearing that alert sound in my sleep

[patent oyster]

@small stone use your dual etsujin+ 6 cell + pile loadout but replace pile with majestic

[wooden nimbus]

I fight at yesterday where literally all his attacks did the Oh No Beeps

[patent oyster]

Swap the CQB punish with a ranged one

[serene kettle]

Speaking of Redfin's hilarious damage numbers, here's Redfin casually doing 18k damage to the true final boss

[wooden nimbus]

That isn't MAD STOMP

[patent oyster]

Or earshot

[small stone]

Alrighty so do a mid weight build?

[small stone]

Will do

[patent oyster]

LW is still possible, but midweight gives you more AP for more leeway

Thats pretty much it

[serene kettle]

I heard they buffed JVLN Alpha, which is hilarious considering how good JVLN Alpha was already

[patent oyster]

Jav alpha is crazy good now

[serene kettle]

yeah lmao

[wooden nimbus]

I don't like having to stop moving to shoot

[patent oyster]

Jav alpha's initial explosion used to push you away fron the smaller sub explosions (unintentional)

Now that it works properly

Its genuinely a menace

I tried using a friend's build to beat balt since he was having issues clearing the mission with a lightweight rj

And i actually couldnt get past sulla

With his build

Stopping midair to fire shoulder LCS was a death sentence against jav alpha and jav beta

[wooden nimbus]

I should see if BLACK DOG can be made PVP viable, offensively it's fine but it retains the problem I have with all my builds (I forget you can fly and wind up with zero aerial ability)

[patent oyster]

My advice would be to try and jump more to dodge attacks, that should get you thinking more vertically

[serene kettle]

yeah this is a common struggle with S-ranking Balty

Sulla can be hard with some builds

and they're frequently the builds that dumpster balty

[patent oyster]

Normally i blitz sulla with high stagger weapons no issue, but having to stop to fire my main DPS weapon really screwed with my dodging

[serene kettle]

oof

[serene kettle]

we have truly returned to classic armored core 😌

[polar osprey]

still trying to decide if it'll actually be worth doing S-class

[serene kettle]

"Bunny Hopping" was a standard mobility trick in pre-AC4 games

[wooden nimbus]

Don't tease me with things I wish were real

[polar osprey]

i really want to cause it's going to bug me until the end of my days otherwise but man some of those fucking missions suuuuuuuuck

[patent oyster]

Play AC6 with only 06SPD, soft lock, and no core expansion

[serene kettle]

since it moved you almost as fast as just boosting while throwing off enemy fcs tracking more aggressively and conserving fuel

[wooden nimbus]

I like SPD

[patent oyster]

Same

[serene kettle]

SPD is neat but I hate what it does to your quickboosts lmao

[patent oyster]

But it screws with my aerial maneverability too much

So i tend to go for alula instead

[serene kettle]

"What do you mean my aerial quickboosts slow me down?"

[patent oyster]

Lammergier users who use anything other than 12345

[serene kettle]

lmao

[patent oyster]

The fact that you DECELERATE after doing a QB while hovering with lamm legs if your QB duration isnt long

Feels horrible to play

[wooden nimbus]

If only all boosting cost en

My stress level could be directed back at my machine

[patent oyster]

"Its just like im playing pvp again"

[wooden nimbus]

It was PVP

[patent oyster]

Volta is basically the intro to the pre-1.06 meta

[wooden nimbus]

I wanted to convince myself I might do well

I didn't do well

[patent oyster]

Dont you worry, pvp doesnt have that many tanks now

Theyve been replaced by heavyweight bipeds with dual zimmers and shields

[wooden nimbus]

I have very bad luck with matchmaking

But I'm also a masculine gun main with RJ so I tend to uh

What is word

"Die instantly"

[serene kettle]

yeah I only do PvP with friends

they aren't sweats so it's much more entertaining

[wooden nimbus]

It probably doesn't help that the sekiro stagger thing was the reason I stopped playing that game so I'm just like, playing despite the existence of ACS and wishing enough people hate it to ensure it goes away

It won't

[serene kettle]

I think of it as being in a way kind of just an evolution of the way the heat mechanic worked in the old games

[small stone]

I just can’t get it

I kite them to the tetrapod

But it’s not working

I try to focus down Ignazu but voltas too fast

[wooden nimbus]

It would bug me less if it worked more like heat should where me pushing my machine is what causes it, I hate that someone can just proc "you cannot move and also take a gorillion damage"

[patent oyster]

You can wait until they're seperated

Also kill iguana first

Then bait volta's slow grounded ass to the tetrapod

Volta really likes getting stuck on terrain lmao

[small stone]

They run right back!!!

Ranetsu, Etsujin, Orbt, Six pod nissiles

[patent oyster]

Why orbit

Orbit doesnt do that much damage, and your build currently has no stagger punish for direct damage

[small stone]

How about Curtis, Etsujin, JVLN beta, Majestic?

[patent oyster]

I think that build could work, but im not sure if its the most efficient

Your main goal is to blitz iguana as fast as possible

And leave the most AP and ammo for volta

[patent oyster]

Sounds workable

[serene kettle]

Just as practice I did this mission with Lumberjack

S-ranked it too

Volta's still tough, but I remember him being way worse

[small stone]

GOT HIM

GOOD SHIT YALL

Fucking mercs

[serene kettle]

Woo!

grats, alt Dam is one of the tougher missions in NG+

[small stone]

Does anything change with the Strider mission?

[serene kettle]

Strider mission is the same in NG+

there's an alternative in NG++ though

it's one of the hardest missions in the game (depending on your build)

[patent oyster]

I just used dual flamethrowers because ||all the enemies in that mission are weak to explosive damage||

[serene kettle]

Yeah I S-ranked it pretty much by accident with Queen of Nails

Queen of Nails being this mech

[radiant birch]

i wiped a couple of times then suddenly completely trounced it with my missile rat build

that ||huge explosive weakness|| cannot be overstated

[serene kettle]

(this actually isn't queen of nails' final build, but it's the one I had at the time)

[radiant birch]

i do wish that damage types and weaknessess were a little bit more... i don't know, dynamic, in AC6?

like they're there but there's not a lot to do with them that doesn't involve a bunch of trial and error

you can't really adjust to them on the fly

[patent oyster]

Thats probably intended

Same with being able to adjust your build right after you die

[small stone]

Ah shit snail is even more of a fucker with the new dialogue

[small stone]

YEAHHH

I LOVE HELPING THE RLF

[serene kettle]

I broke out Killing Fields on Breach the Karman Line as a break from all the chainsaw memery

and god everything is so much simpler when you can just shoot it

[wooden nimbus]

Friendship ended with corporate money, now RLF is my best friend

[iron quarry]

Hehe

It’s time for the endgame

[serene kettle]

MAD STOOOOOMP

[radiant birch]

||ALLSTOMP||

[serene kettle]

||Now you are one with ALLSTOMP||

[small stone]

ITS WATCHPOINT TIME

SULLA GOT MOPPED

BALTEUS IN TWO TRIES

YOOO

[serene kettle]

yeah coming back to the watchpoint in NG+ is always good for a laugh

[small stone]

Hmm

How do I beat Mind Alpha?

For the arena

[cursive agate]

I think kinda like Rokumonsen, vertical difference will keep JVLN Beta and Plasma Thrower (melee) from snagging you too much.

Kinetic/Explosive focused builds might do a bit more to Mind Alpha, since it has a slight bias towards Energy Defense.

[frank pivot]

what mod is this

please

give me the source

[patent oyster]

😳

[eager vector]

omg yes

[modern hornet]

I missile boat that one and usually don't have much of an issue

Got the funny line from ALLMIND just now. ||The one where you don't complete the last tutorial until the final mission of Alea Iacta Est is available||

[surreal haven]

i took a dual flamethrowers and dual napalm launchers build into that mission for a meme and it shredded everything

[surreal haven]

also iirc shotguns are great for staggering the ||helianthus machines||

[surreal haven]

3v1 invade in the coop mod

they were all loader 4s i feel terrible

[eager vector]

holy shit

[frank pivot]

https://youtu.be/XCsEwEK_Ssk?si=hyRDIDiqtCgmcXGN

We did it

We found 621

[small stone]

I FUCKIN MOPPED SWINEBURNE

I love the RLF

IM GONNA GO FUCK UP THE EKEDROMOI

[eager vector]

did you see my ekdromoi double pb

[serene kettle]

holy fuck

Holy fuck indeed

I actually watched the video wondering how the hell they had enough ammo

I should have known the answer

||They don't, they just slug it out with phase 3 near-perfectly||, holy crap

[serene kettle]

btw if you haven't, it's worth doing this mission and taking his deal sometime. It's required for a combat log.

[tawny lava]

I killed him before the pause once and it was the funniest thing I've done in the game to date

[surreal tundra]

oh hey you won XD

[eager vector]

this is like when I cleared ibis first phase too fast and Ayre yells “It’s taking damage!” while ibis is lying very still in a heap

[small stone]

I MOPPED THE HC

[serene kettle]

WOOO

[small stone]

I’m SHATTERING the arena

[eager vector]

Yeah arena is p easy

[small stone]

Bout to do defend the dam complex

Will Lance and Pile work?

And will it be easier than Volta?

I already started so answers on the fly will have to do

[eager vector]

Lance and pile will work, but you’ll have to be very careful about your relative vertical positioning. It will be easier than Volta but as in most AC fights, lance and pile isn’t the easiest way to do it

[small stone]

OH SHIT

RAVEN

I may as well simply do pile

Oh fuck

Not working

[eager vector]

lol

[small stone]

Dual Etsujin and pile isn’t working they’re too vertical

Grrrr

[eager vector]

yeah I wouldn’t use pile with dual etsujin

Replace it with a good ranged punish and you’ll be good to go

[small stone]

Songbirds

Almost worked

But… ox swooped in and overloaded me

Ok this is making me mad

I’m doing something obviously wrong it should be a cake walk

[eager vector]

It’s only a cakewalk if you can kill extremely quickly

generally it’s a pretty tough mission

[small stone]

Phew

Got them

[eager vector]

wow by the skin of your teeth lol

[serene kettle]

Defend the Dam is the mission I use to quickly test builds for PvP

because it gives you three reasonably tough ACs to bully

If I can toast Defend the Dam with it, it's probably fine for casual PvP 😛

[small stone]

Luckily I don’t plan on playing pvp

The main discord is full of meta sweats and honestly the culture makes it seem very unfun

Art by Refus on pixiv

[eager vector]

It’s pretty fun if you stay in D or C rank and don’t interact with the meta culture

[small stone]

Idk I still struggle with PvE stuff kinda

PvP would suck

[eager vector]

Yeah, I’d save it til you’ve mastered the PvE

[surreal tundra]

ohhh my goddess right,
Sulla's gotta be Walter's age or older m znxvx

[small stone]

I believe in the Carla Ayre 621 polycule

[surreal tundra]

XD

[small stone]

I’m correct ngl

I just beat the hardest ng+ boss trio

[patent oyster]

Honestly, pvp is what you make it

I regularly challenge people to fistfights by purging my weapons

Even in ranked

[modern hornet]

Nowadays, I take Swinburne's deal first runthrough of a fresh save for the combat log, and that's it.

[surreal tundra]

the Xylem is fuckoff hueg XD

I forgot but I think it's like 27km abouts long right? at least?
Or was it 44km?
I kinda forgot

[small stone]

Large rectangle

[polar osprey]

It's ridiculously massive

[surreal tundra]

XD

gotta love that about AC6 humanity lmao,

they build big, rugged and tough as fuck lmao

and fast

*for how much/how big they built

[patent oyster]

Its as long as the entire elden ring map iirc

[small stone]

Yep

[serene kettle]

Xylem's scale is hard to tell because it's one of the obvious points where the game designers failed to keep a consistent scale

How big it is varies based on mission

the Xylem is basically vibes-sized

it's way bigger when you're exploring it than it is during the finale

[eager vector]

I thought that like only some of the city was the ship

[patent oyster]

I think it works, you're in a different section each time

[small stone]

The most important bit is

The architecture stays the same

And the general locations are recognizable

[serene kettle]

mostly yes, but there are some endgame setpieces where you can clearly see both sides of the ship and it's clearly much smaller than it was in previous scenes

mainly the penultimate mission of fires of raven and the final mission of liberator of rubicon

Lots of things get silly on the scale in the endgame though

the vascular plant in act 5 is absolutely preposterously big

like, just compare this thing's height to the curvature of rubicon

[quasi copper]

So the Grids, right

They're absurd megastructures

like, casually implies that huge swathes of Rubicon are covered in these giant construction scaffolds

[surreal tundra]

pretty much!

[small stone]

Iirc

The opening cutscene shows earth as a Star Trek esq city

So rubicon might be an anomaly in how fucked it is

[surreal tundra]

and they are so friggin tough,
like- they handled the Fires of Ibis,

[small stone]

Walter remarks that grids are kinda unique to Rubicon

“The planets unique infrastructure”

[quasi copper]

So by that, like, indicator

we can just assume there are insane construction resources on Rubicon

[small stone]

All due to the Coral being there

[surreal tundra]

and it seems that being under the cover of the Grids negates orbital satellite fire

[surreal tundra]

They probably had to bring stuff over, if not for raw material, then at least the actual equipment to build,

the Xylem was a colony ship

[small stone]

Also Xylem and Institute City look super earth like

The difference in architecture is not a mistake

[quasi copper]

yeah the Xylem is a whole other beast

which is wild

[surreal tundra]

you might say it's the only one like it but there's no reason to think that as much as there may be no evidence they made boatloads more-
But clearly their production is extremely heavy-duty,

[patent oyster]

Those are the same sections right

[surreal tundra]

even if they were just repairing and re-activating the vascular plant,
that it was built at all is just- wow, it's seriously fuckoff huge, even if you assume the planet was a bit smaller than earth- which is also hard to really say cuz humans and gravity seem to be kinda- Iunno, earth-like at least

[patent oyster]

And those are where you can fight the hidden LC in Intercept the Corporate Forces

[surreal tundra]

I- think??

[modern hornet]

Haven't done this yet, but I'm going for the S-Ranks ||now that I've beaten all three paths again||

[serene kettle]

oooh gl!

[patent oyster]

I could never bring myself to do a hard reset of my progress ngl

Unless i use the save loader mod tool

[serene kettle]

the thing that would hurt most to lose is decals tbh

a lot of my early work especially is special to me

even WRETCHED's doofy Grim Fandango face

[patent oyster]

Thats why i said the thing about a save loader

If i can boot up my old save with my decals and decaled ACs

Then its fine

[surreal tundra]

Yeah, I'd never reset if I lost the decals-
past a certain point, you get used to it enough that getting to where your parts are is like- yeah you can get there,
I guess losing out on the S-rank times can be annoying tho too,

wait-

hard reset

like, not just the "new game" thing?

[patent oyster]

New game is creating an entirely new save

iirc

Unless im mistaken, taking that option deletes all your existing data

Huh, AC data and emblems are kept apparently?

Im mistaken then, my bad

Your mission progress, COAM, OST chips, and unlocked parts are completely reset

But your AC data and decals are still there

[surreal tundra]

yeah

[patent oyster]

If you select "new game"

[surreal tundra]

pretty much

I do it every now and again after completing all 3 endings

I basically do it for modded runs and older regulations as I catch up to it-

[patent oyster]

does anyone know how to get a completely fresh save with empty AC data though, im down to 25 slots out of 160

[surreal tundra]

Stuck on/slow on Nightmarish Fodder lmao

[surreal tundra]

oh- yeah,
no idea
I mean- I guess you could manually delete the save file

*save a copy tho

[patent oyster]

I guess that'll still work

Will steam freak out if i do that though?

[patent oyster]

I mixed up "pressing new game" and "making a completely new save file" in my head

[surreal tundra]

Mm lmao

[patent oyster]

@eager vector

[eager vector]

whoaaaaa baller

[polar osprey]

nice detail work

[small stone]

Yall

How can I make a blue and red scheme work without copying America, Optimus Prime, or something else

[patent oyster]

make the white more grey

make the red darker, or more towards pink or maroon

make the blue more teal

those could be good options

[patent oyster]

SSC Monarch, complete with toe feet

1v1 with the enemy Ace, while the DM and the pilot's Tlaloc-class NHP provide commentary

[small stone]

What loghunt rank do you need to get the full mind set

And is the full mind alpha ac set actually good in pve

[polar osprey]

loghunt 10

for full Mind Alpha ac

you should go for max rank Loghunt tho you get a bunhc of good shit

like the KRSV multi energy rifle and the NGI 001 booster

[surreal tundra]

||Coral Oscillator||! kinda more a sidegrade to the pulse blade at best (situationally iunno) but quite fun IMO zmxnc

[polar osprey]

it's fucking cool though

real fucking cool

honestly i wanted it just cause it's cool

i ain't ever gonna use it

i'm too much of a "hold the button to shoot and never let go" kind of dipshit to make actual use of melee but man that shit slaps

[surreal tundra]

it issssssssssss
Excalibur XD

[patent oyster]

Alternate title: "Average Viceroy gameplay loop"

[patent oyster]

Technically everything is good in pve (yes including jailbreak)

Or more specifically everything is viable in pve

The allmind parts are pretty good though

All the frame parts are generally pretty nice

Mind alpha core is a staple of a lot of my builds, and mind beta is probably the best all round RJ leg (kasuar is great for LW builds but has a pretty low weight limit, and spring chicken has slightly lower attitude stability than mind beta)

Mind alpha arms are alright, not noteable but not bad either

Both heads are pretty good, with mind beta being the one people like using in pvp

[frank pivot]

That's one of the best looking lancer cosplays i've seen

Very nice

[patent oyster]

Im not the first one to do a Monarch cosplay, been beat to it by 5 months

https://www.reddit.com/r/armordecor/s/DJaUtAMJDD

Has laser blade, VP46S arms, and alba legs though

[modern hornet]

Speaking of my having cleared ||all three endings|| for the second time, here’s the final version of the AC I did it with. Its name is Buster Airgetlam.

[polar osprey]

cool

[modern hornet]

Build was inspired by an AC6 build I saw a YouTube video discussing called Rat Trap, which was designed for countering the 1.03 missile rat meta.

[polar osprey]

cool

this ended up being my final AC

it's a direct upgrade of my AC i spent ||all three endings with||

the Pale Painter

i call it the Pale Painter Ruber

or Ruber for short

[modern hornet]

Its color scheme looks like a rainbow exploded

[polar osprey]

this is the original Pale Painter for reference

[modern hornet]

Let's see... MELANDER head, MIND ALPHA core, NACHT arms, and SPRING CHICKEN legs, double CHANG-CHEN MGs, at least one 4-cell missile launcher that I can see for the original setup... and MELANDER C3 head, HAL826 core, MIND ALPHA arms, MIND BETA legs, double ETSUJIN mgs, and one 4-cell missile launcher that I can see for the revised setup...

[polar osprey]

lemme grab the specs for both

Pale Painter

Pale Painter Ruber

@modern hornet

[modern hornet]

Interesting...

[polar osprey]

Pale Painter Ruber is a direct upgrade to the design philosophy and combat style that i developed with the original Pale Painter

it's not exactly a fully optimized build

but it is an upgrade without being a total overhaul

there are absolutely some parts i could have picked better for

but i didn't want to compromise both my build style and the philosophy of the AC

so i didn't

[modern hornet]

Going off of what I can see, the only thing I would change with your setups is the FCS. The mid-range focus of the P05 and WLT 001 aren't the best picks for machine guns. I'd probably run something with a bit more close-range focus, like the TALBOT.

[polar osprey]

Talbot is a incredibly marginal difference in close range which trades basically all of your long range and severely nerfs medium range

it's not hyperfocus but there is an absolute marginal gain for incredible loss

and thus absolutely no reason at all for me to use it

same reason i would never use the PO5 over the WLT, it's a really unbalanced stat trade

[modern hornet]

Perhaps, but from what I'm seeing, the only weapons you have that would work out to the long range band are your missile launchers, which don't use the Range Assist stats to begin with. The longest range MG available is the ATTACHE (which is also super heavy for its weapon category, mind), and even its effective range is just shy of the 150 meter mark, so I don't think the loss in Long-Range Assist is something you'll be feeling all that much.

[polar osprey]

i still like having a overall more balanced stat spread even if it isn't the most optimal

i've tried ATTACHE but they feel really crap damage wise for how big they are

all the times i've tried them they were very inconsistent compared to using Etsujin or Chang Chen for AC vs. AC fights

[modern hornet]

Agreed, was just using the ATTACHE as an example of the kind of range bands you really want to prioritize with MGs, especially in a double trigger build.

[frank pivot]

Ludlow da goat, best smg

[polar osprey]

Pale Painter, and Ruber by extension, are an excercise in consistency

nothing about either build is the best

no immense damage, no perfect range base

just, all around solidness

Ludlow is really good

i think i did some tests and found that Etsujin just works better for this build

it just hit a bit more consistently and worked a bit more effectively with my playstyle

and i absolutely did use Ludlows for a while to great effect so they work perfectly fine for the build

i just ended up preferring Etsujin

[polar osprey]

i'll grab some videos to show them in action

Pale Painter

Pale Painter Ruber

Ruber is a marked improvement over Pale Painter

and just, very fun for me to play

[frank pivot]

Hm. After thinking on it, ac6 really played it safe in every aspect

The difficulty was quite easy. Construction and control was simplified. Even the soundtrack was filed down to be more conventional.

I hope the next armored core has more SOUL and less Souls i think

[polar osprey]

i think the track fits the game extremely well

i think if they went more into it with the OST like they did with some of the remixes in Disc 3 such as with Rusty's theme remix and Carla's it wouldn't have worked as well at all

[frank pivot]

I like the jank

It has more soul, feels more like a guilty gear OST than an Ace Combat ost

Like, "Takes Me Anywhere" mogs Stargazer which mogs the safer ending tunes from liberator and fires

[serene kettle]

It's definitely not my favorite Armored Core soundtrack (not even close) but it's grown on me.

It's a bit like the Elden Ring Soundtrack for me. It has some standouts but mostly it all kind of blends together.

With ER it's like, the final boss/opening theme, Black Knives, Godrick and Rykard's boss themes, and that's basically all that I'm certain I could pick out of a crowd.

And I've played through the entirety of ER multiple times! I played through Dark Souls 1 once and that entire soundtrack lives in my head

[frank pivot]

Even moonlight butterfly is memorable

[serene kettle]

meanwhile with verdict day even some of the miscellaneous mission background music pieces with absolutely nothing particularly unique going on around them to help them stick in the memory live in my brain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRgKNjZwNW8

[frank pivot]

Doesn't it share its theme with something else tho

[serene kettle]

Moonlight Butterfly shares its theme with Gwyndolin

[frank pivot]

VD'e soundtrack slaps

[frank pivot]

Ahhhh got it

[serene kettle]

I actually think the somber wailing works really well for both fights

[frank pivot]

Yeah, i'd love for ac6 to go a little more wild on its ost for suuuuure

[serene kettle]

The entire armored core 1 OST absolutely lives in my head too tbh, but I played that game more than once so that's less surprising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEp-5Jlr4k so much goofy (in the best way) techno

[frank pivot]

Maybe i just played too much guilty gear a couple weeks ago

And now i want that level of earnestly goofy soul again

[polar osprey]

i still think the remixes of Rusty's and Carla's themes are, while pretty interesting, kinda diminish the vibes of the originals

[serene kettle]

The true standout from the AC6 soundtrack for me is definitely rough and decent

[polar osprey]

Rough and Decent is pretty peak

[serene kettle]

it comes out of nowhere and it's a bop every time it comes up

[polar osprey]

i prefer Rough and Decent (Bad Joke)

[quasi copper]

I like Contact With You and the C-Spider theme tbh

[serene kettle]

Contact with You and C-Weapon are also very good

hah!

same brain cell

Contact with You and C-Weapon are the two points in the game where I first really noticed the soundtrack bopping

[frank pivot]

The rusted pride remix goes all-in on the capital-A Anime and i like it

Sounds like how rusty probably feels

[serene kettle]

all the prior parts of chapter 1 are basically muted in comparison to contact with you

[frank pivot]

Oh yeah C-Weapon is fire

[serene kettle]

Oh, the fight with Rusty, especially the rematch in Fires, is one of the most anime-ass things in the game. Guy refreshes his healthbar with sheer willpower.

[frank pivot]

I just wish rusty's mech was better or he could put up more of a fight or something

Or like

That the borders would be removed

[serene kettle]

haha, yeaaaah.

the arena's a little small for what it feels like it's supposed to be

[polar osprey]

Rusty is a king

[serene kettle]

also the whole fight is on a backdrop of "I wish I didn't have to do this, we could have been friends! We could have fought together!"

and it's true, you could have!

It's very funny that Rusty just flies off and does the second fires mission while you're fighting Snail

anyway back on soundtrack, my observation of Contact with You is that it actually sounds like it came straight off the AC3 soundtrack, rather than the AC6 track

most of the AC6 soundtrack is vaguely ambient industrial noise with a lot of harsh sounds but faded in the background not to overwhelm anything.

[quasi copper]

The untz-y techno parts of AC6’s OST go nuts

[serene kettle]

Contact with you is comparatively very soft and ethereal, it starts dark and builds up

it's definitely got an untz-y beat underlying it though

It works really well for kicking off the fight with Balteus as the first climax of the game

one of the first real emotional events at all, really.

Most fucked-up Meet Cute ever

[polar osprey]

nah i'd date (commit various homicides)

[quasi copper]

The fact that AC6 committed and has an Ayre Date mission, no matter how low key it is, is still hilarious and worthy of recognition

[serene kettle]

honestly it has two. Survey the City kind of flows into it as she sees an opportunity to just hang without walter on the line, and Historic Data Collection is basically just her being like "hey we should check out this cave together, there's stuff here I think you should see!"

Night at the Mechseum

[polar osprey]

yeah the mission in the cave is def a date mission

[quasi copper]

Oh yeah there’s two of em

[serene kettle]

C-weapon also benefits from getting to (very literally) explode onto the scene from a chapter full of the pretty much just there Dosers on the Grid track

Dosers isn't bad if I just listen to it directly, but it completely fades into the background in actual gameplay

It also explodes very suddenly and dramatically onto the scene in its second appearance, come to think of it...

Guess you just can't beat the Institute

anyway if you like Contact with You, maybe check out the AC3 soundtrack sometime. It's kind of got a similar ethereal techno vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-huNmW3uY-E for an interesting comparison, here's Artificial Sky 1, which functions as AC3's overture

(there are four Artificial Skies in the AC3 soundtrack, which are variations on this track)

Artificial Sky iv in particular plays over the ending

[serene kettle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFHrKCGvG0U Just for fun here's a deep cut track I really like. This was from a memorably really hard mission, one of the few you can get from Union (the rebel group fighting the Corporations and Controller in AC3), with a cramped map full of Heavy MTs and a surprise attack from a fairly tough Raven hired to kill you...with a shotgun and MOONLIGHT in a dense map.

"...Don't think about it."```

[surreal tundra]

Maybe now with a bit of a baseline they can really ramp things up for next time, fingers crossed

[eager vector]

Insisting on doing that fight with Lance+pb made it feel more cinematic hahaha. It’s really not the right situation for that setup so he felt a little more formidable.

[eager vector]

Where I really wanted to see more risks was in frame parts. I want a lot more redundancy in every niche, for more fashion+optimizing overlap

[polar osprey]

gods i forgot how insanely speedy Nuclear Whiplash is

[patent oyster]

The benefit of attaches is decent fire rate+impact per hit

But honestly at the ranges you want to use them at, just go for a rifle

[patent oyster]

Mostly because etsujins do insane impact dmg when you use two of them

[polar osprey]

Etsujin goated

[patent oyster]

AC game with a wingman that calls you buddy and who has issues with borders, now where have i heard that before

[patent oyster]

I mean they did have a huge departure in the design language for alba, they just got Takayuki Yanase to design a gundam

You cant get any more stereotypically japanese mecha than that

[polar osprey]

yeah lmao

Alba is very explicitly just a gundam

[patent oyster]

I tend to notice that you seem to stay a bit too far away from your target a lot while using SMGs though, a lot of your shots dont connect at mid range

Just moving maybe 20-40m forward would increase your hit % by a lot

[polar osprey]

yeah i know

just a quick of my playstyle, which is also one of the reasons i use the fcs i do on Ruber

i try to keep range in mind

but i tend to forget

[patent oyster]

If you want to play at those ranges, using attache might be pretty alright

Or use turner/scudder

[polar osprey]

do they have charge shots on them

[patent oyster]

No

You just hold down the trigger and they rapid fire

[cursive agate]

I think they'd have to make an explosive rifle to go above Scudder to fill the Attache's spot when I do have the weight capacity for it. (ex Tone's 40mm Cannon)

[patent oyster]

I just use curtis/harris/ransetsu RF if i need to do more damage

Or a laser rifle

[polar osprey]

excellent

idk i've found Etsujins to work quite well so we'll see if i swap them out

[patent oyster]

Etsujins are great damage wise but they dont have very high bullet velocity (like most SMGs)

[polar osprey]

mhm

[patent oyster]

So they cant really reach out like longer barrel weapons can

[patent oyster]

An explosive shell firing heavy MG could be cool, but im not sure how they'd balance it to let regular rifles and zooks/grenade launchers stay relevant

There's a lot of risk of either making it too good and becoming meta or too bad and becoming instantly obsolete, since it straddles two seperate weapon categories

[cursive agate]

I mostly suggest the explosive part because I find myself prefering raw bazooka shots over using an Assault Rifle

[patent oyster]

Plus that also steps into the laser and plasma rifle niche of doing more raw damage per hit compared to shell and bullet firing weapons that do more impact (relatively speaking)

[cursive agate]

Mmm, yea. I think the core factor is that I don't like most of AC6's rifles, and the ones I use often handle closer to a non-rifle/have alternate fire to cover more situations. (Curtis Linear, Ransetsu-RF)

[polar osprey]

i'm a machine gun enjoyer

so my main AC uses machine guns

[patent oyster]

Ransetsu RF alt fire is really underwhelming and leaves you open to a lot of things

Normally stance weapons that make you stand still do pretty decent damage

[cursive agate]

Oooh yea, I've really only used the burst fire on tetrapod builds because they don't stop for the burst, and barely get aerial pushback from the low recoil.

[patent oyster]

But in the time that it takes to fire the RF charged shot, you can fire off 2 regular shots and stay on the move

Id trade the rapid fire 3 round burst for continued mobility and consistency

[patent oyster]

You could just use a zook/nade launcher for better damage though, or charged harris/curtis

there are better weapons to take advantage of the fact that you wont need to stand still

[cursive agate]

Very true, and lines up with my weapon choices over time

[patent oyster]

I typically use RF as a nice mid ranged semi auto option

Basically a mid range coquillette

[patent oyster]

Ngl i was kinda disappointed that after ayre says "we'll have walter back after this, take your time with it", there isnt any extra dialogue

If you're gonna tell me you want to hang out with me for longer, at least talk more lol

[patent oyster]

psst @polar osprey you should also post nuclear whiplash on r/armordecor

[patent oyster]

https://twitter.com/armoredcore/status/1778317058096206185

ARMORED CORE (@armoredcore) on X

#ARMOREDCORE servers will undergo maintenance in one hour. Single player content will be available during maintenance.

Maintenance begins at 1:00 PDT | 10:00 CEST | 18:00 JST and will last 1 hour.

Twitter · Apr 11, 2024, 7:00 AM

[polar osprey]

👍

[polar osprey]

got some tips on my post about Nuclea Whiplash on Reddit

i have put them into practice

Lynx doctrine Proof of Concept AC Iteration 2, Nuclear Collision

second iteration of the project originally started with the lightweight speed focused AC, Nuclear Whiplash

this model is tuned more directly for combat and foregoes the complete focus on speed in favor of combat capabilty

[patent oyster]

This is a good loadout

Sampus are more consistent than viento now

[polar osprey]

it's a direct combat focused iteration

differs from Nuclear Whiplash

form over function vs. function over form

[patent oyster]

@eager vector

just need to do the left leg

[patent oyster]

You can go even lighter by using dual sweet sixteens on the back

[small stone]

We’re talking about snail in #general

[surreal tundra]

Wh-
Dangit

Poor Vientos,
Ah well

[patent oyster]

Dont get me wrong

Vientos are still viable

But they're way less oppressive than before

So in turn they've kinda allowed other weapons to shine

Vientos have a way higher bullet velocity than any SMG or handgun of that size

[surreal tundra]

Mm?

[patent oyster]

Ducketts have similar bullet velocity but they're long and have a longer delay between shots

So if you want something spammable and has a fast projectile, vientos are still good

But if you want raw impact damage, they are no longer the go-to

[surreal tundra]

Mhm,

What about as a single Viento?

Vs Sampu?

[patent oyster]

Single viento is....not great

Single sampu is ok

Just look at the raw DPS difference between steel haze and steel haze ortus

Ortus has the style points down

But regular steel haze, with its sampu and ransetsu rf, can output a LOT more kinetic damage

[surreal tundra]

Ah,
Mhm,

[patent oyster]

Compared to viento and Huxley

The main advantage of steel haze ortus' right side weaponry is that both weapons can be fired simultaneously

Whereas on steel haze, rusty needs to swap between sampu and rf

But if you look at the raw impact, steel haze still builds up ACS strain faster

Even when considering weapon swap times

[surreal tundra]

Mhm,

[patent oyster]

Wait no

Im mistaken

RF is on steel haze's left shoulder, not the right

So actually steel haze is straight up better in all senses

[surreal tundra]

Was wondering why they wouldn't dual-trigger

[patent oyster]

Steel haze can fire sampu and RF at the same time

[surreal tundra]

Turns out they did

[patent oyster]

I misremembered

[surreal tundra]

Mm

[wooden nimbus]

Very goofy boy

[surreal tundra]

Dang,
Honestly all the parts really vibe together lmao, iunno, just off the pic

[wooden nimbus]

On Rubicon it is drip or drown, and tourist I am floating

(It is a 1.5k stability dumpster fire do not pilot this thing)

[cursive agate]

Managed to clear Ibis with Steel Haze, though it really counted on Laser Spinner for big damage.

[surreal tundra]

Lmao

[serene kettle]

I've beaten most of the hard story missions with this stupid thing, 1.5k stability might not be good but it's enough 😛

[wooden nimbus]

Considering an IPSN lookin paint job

[patent oyster]

Steel haze's loadout is geared towards building stagger and then punishing with slicer

[wooden nimbus]

(It is the only generator that survives this)

[patent oyster]

So it makes sense that most of your damage comes from it

[wooden nimbus]

Laser beyblade is an entire wincon

[serene kettle]

yeah Steel Haze is actually a really good mech

it just has a gameplan

Rusty is 1000% this game's white glint

allegedly rank 9, actually possibly the best npc pilot on rubicon

[patent oyster]

He's only rank 9 because he doesnt want to draw too much attention to himself

[polar osprey]

it's ironic that (AC6 ending spoilers)||He probably dies in all three endings||

[patent oyster]

Hey, in NG++ ||he might've become a coral lifeform and merged with steel haze ortus||

[polar osprey]

true

||he still gets jumped before that happens though||

[patent oyster]

Eh we dont know for sure

Fires of Raven is the only clear cut one

[serene kettle]

||Alea Iacta Est is a weird one because it's not clear what happened to him at all. Walter mentions "six ACs - copies of the Vespers" but there are eight Vespers and Rusty doesn't die onscreen on that route.||

[patent oyster]

||even in liberator, he couldve just gotten incapacitated rather than being killed outright||

[patent oyster]

Exactly

My guess is that ||Freud and Rusty escaped||

[polar osprey]

||i personally don't think he survives that one but he could technically||

||the way all three endings happen make it seem like he definitely dies in all of them imo||

[cursive agate]

||Terminal Armor makes that more possible, seems to auto-activate in-universe too.||

[polar osprey]

especially in ||Alea Acta Est with Allmind murking everyone left right and center||

[wooden nimbus]

My main argument for ||Rusty surviving|| is that ||it would be an incredibly on-brand tragedy for the next game to make him a major antagonist you kill||.

[polar osprey]

that would be the only way i would accept it

tbh

i could see that happen but nothing else

[wooden nimbus]

It would be very cool

[polar osprey]

it would

i would be ok with that i think

[patent oyster]

May i present a concept that i made

||Mind Haze Ortus||

[wooden nimbus]

Gorgeous

[patent oyster]

In this alternate alea iacta est, ||mind haze shows up to reinforce ALLguazu instead of the sea spiders||

And ||throughout phase 2, you (or Ayre) talk no justsu rusty out of ALLMIND's conditioning, with his allmind weapons getting knocked off until he only has a viento left, symbolising him breaking free||

||iguana initiating the phase 3 transition takes ayre out of the fight, but now you and buddy have one final confrontation with your biggest hater||

||"WHY ARE YOU SPECIAL??"
"Because we have each other, and no one needs you"||

||rusty dies sacrificing himself to block iguana's final slash towards you, like a true gundam character||

[wooden nimbus]

Performance upgrade and new paint, I think this one will move on to psych evaluation

[patent oyster]

Better view of the stockings

[small stone]

WOO

[eager vector]

lmaooo incredible

[small stone]

ENFORCER TWO TRIES

[eager vector]

NICE

[patent oyster]

Honestly i never got the hype around enforcer

Well, besides it being really cool looking

[polar osprey]

Found a clip of me absolutely violating Nightfall with Aperture Momentum

When it works, it works

Very satisfying stuff

[patent oyster]

This is why lightweights are an endangered species in A and S rank

[polar osprey]

Here is Aperture Momentum for reference

It's essentially the counterpart to Nuclear Whiplash that goes "what if we tried to make an AC hit like a NEXT"

Nuclear Whiplash is speed and Aperture Momentum is pure firepower

[patent oyster]

Yeah, ive seen the build

Ephemera core kinda messes with the attitude stability a bit, but i guess the rest of the parts should make up for it