Armored Core General!

[paper ferry]

Like, what’s the opposite of plot armor?

[late jay]

Doomed by the narrative

[paper ferry]

True

In the first two endings, you are forced to kill someone who cares about you, but in the third, an unfeeling AI just kills Walter and Carla offscreen and acts like it’s a courtesy.

It’s definitely wild playing this game multiple times and knowing all the plot twists about ALLMIND. Definitely one of the games I wish I could experience again for the first time.

[late jay]

Crazier when you end up finding all the AM controlled MTs and mechs hidden throughout most stages

[paper ferry]

Absolutely, even from the very beginning

[radiant birch]

Tbh I don't know if there's a fan depiction of Ayre that can top the in-game "bunch of squiggly red lines" one for me. It's very good visual shorthand for "this entity has no body as we would understand it"

[paper ferry]

Reminds me that the Armored Core episode of Secret Level was supposed to be explicitly about Fires of Rubicon but they scrapped that script.

Ayre’s VA is in it as the voice in the pilot’s head

But Keanu Reeves was supposed to be 621 and Walter would have been there too

[late jay]

I think From liked the idea of having a literally faceless and silenced protagonist more

[radiant birch]

Yeah, I'm okay with not having a 'canon' 621

[late jay]

I think we do

[radiant birch]

Let players form their own image of the player character

[radiant birch]

We have some information you can infer from, but I think a lot of gaps have been left intentionally

[late jay]

Although most of what we can gather about 621 comes from other characters speaking to and about them since they don't have a voice of their own

[feral niche]

I thought that was just a coincidence because ACs are just good conduits of Coral.

[late jay]

What I think is really fucked up is how all of the faces that 621 sees in the archived drawings are censored out

Which makes me think that 621 has some kind of anti-facial recognition in their augmentation

Either that or their augments could be kinda screwed up from age

Since they're still a 4th Gen Coral augmented human

I think O'Keeffe's log states how detrimental Coral augmentation can be too

[feral niche]

Makes sense.

[paper ferry]

We do have canon appearances for a lot of the characters in the game thanks to the sketches you can find

In the game trailer, we know that Walter uses a cane, but that’s about it for him

And if you want to be really pedantic, the Raven whose license we steal is played by Karl Urban in one of the promos for the game

[radiant birch]

I'll allow it because it's Karl Urban

[paper ferry]

It’s fun to try and translate Lancer mechs into Armored Core (not so much the other way), since the design language translates pretty well.

Balam = HA
Arquebus = SSC
RaD = IPS-N
Institute = Horus

[late jay]

I feel like HA is if Balam managed to take PCA tech instead of Arquebus

Also, any ideas for alternative weapons for this?

I like having missiles with a slight delay so I can throw them out while I charge up my Moonlight

I also wanna keep my EN Efficiency above the 4300 threshold so I can have some decent recharge speed

[late jay]

Finding that the Ransetsu AR and RF pair really well together actually

Especially on the Basho arms

Although the AR seems very limited in terms of ammo

[late jay]

Trying out other stuff and I think I'm just gonna stick with what I had here since it synergizes really well with the Moonlight's charged attack

And the hand split missile has no recoil either

What should I name this thing anyways?

[paper ferry]

Interesting mix of AC parts. And I usually keep my missiles on my shoulders, but you do you

Doesn't seem to be a very hard hitting build in terms of weaponry aside from the Moonlight. Are you focusing on just building up stagger?

[late jay]

More or less

I tried minmaxxing as much as possible for the Moonlight

Got some fun combos with the split missile and Aurora too

[modern hornet]

Well, managed to beat Branch without OS Tuning. Had to bust out the braindead unga-bunga tank build to do it, but I managed to bulldoze 'em.

[paper ferry]

I used Moonlight in this build that I made for an oc of mine. It’s so fun to play. Moonlight followed up with a Javelin shot for instant stagger with minimal cooldown between attacks

[late jay]

Noice

[modern hornet]

Branch will legit give you trouble if you’re fighting with an untuned AC. King and Chartreuse alone hit like a pair of trucks. Never mind if you’ve got such a skill issue you end up getting smacked by the triple threat

[serene kettle]

Yeeeeah

My preference is to alpha strike Chartreuse and just come fast and hard enough to take her down before she can properly react, much less be rescued by King

[late jay]

Hm

[serene kettle]

I imagine that’s a bit trickier untuned though

No boost kick is a game changer in the worst possible way

[late jay]

There's a joke I wanna make in regards to this

[serene kettle]

[late jay]

https://art.ngfiles.com/images/5610000/5610399_676402_mega-kot_untitled-5610399.f938c72f28a600fb3578661d87e7a10b.gif?f1712910182

https://art.ngfiles.com/images/3098000/3098826_mega-kot_materialize.gif?f1678876717

Jokes aside, I actually never thought to try playing without OS tuning

I'm not sure I can survive without boost kicks tbh

Or without weapon bays

[radiant birch]

No OS tuning is a popular challenge run

I can't recall if people still use the utility ones, though? It might depend

[modern hornet]

I decided to go for King first, and blitzed him down before going for Chartreuse. Was probably about halfway through her when Nightfall showed up.

[proud tiger]

King is usually easier ime, especially if your build has low vert mobility

[serene kettle]

wow, I do not have the same experience. king always feels way tankier to me than Chartreuse just because of his play-it-safe shield build

[proud tiger]

i usually have no trouble pushing his shit in with aggresive builds which is what i mostly play, Chartreuse on the other hand is a bitch because of how many heavy weapons i have to dodge whilst trying to chase her down

[paper ferry]

Dual stun needles and a laser lance are all I need to take out Branch

But I usually take out Chartreuse first

[serene kettle]

ah see that's exactly the reason I go after Chartreuse first - alpha strike her while she's distracted with MTs at the beginning and you can often take her out or at least take off a massive chunk of her hp before she gets a chance to be chased or deploy any of those weapons properly

[modern hornet]

I mean, you don't get much lower vert movement than being a braindead moron blaring tactical eurobeats in a tank AC while holding down the trigger of twin gatlings and charging twin Laser Cannons on a VE-20C.

[wooden nimbus]

Chartreuse is closer to me when I assault boost in, the rest is vibes. I do not know what's wrong with my overthinking ass as soon as I try and plan I start fucking up so this is how I do it.

[modern hornet]

I mean, that's the beauty of vibin' in an AC game. Just turn your brain off, and the Raven/Lynx in your soul already knows how best to leverage your build against whatever poor saps your tasked with eliminating.

[paper ferry]

Honestly, that's the mark of a great build, one that you can just pilot naturally

[late jay]

I still try to push myself out of my comfort zone so I can do more

[paper ferry]

The Moonlight/Javelin build that I posted earlier is the one that feels really natural for me

[late jay]

This one so far is the most natural to me

[paper ferry]

Noice

Here’s me in my fave build against the CEL 240
https://youtu.be/5_yqwSnEseI?si=SiRncL-iSAeAf1t5

[late jay]

Noice

[paper ferry]

I honestly really proud of this build with how all the weapons flow into each other nicely with good power management as well

In my latest playthrough I’ve stepped away from Terminal Armor. It definitely helps with being more confident going into a fight

[radiant birch]

i tend to lean on standard pulse armor for the emergency ACS reset

but assault armor is fun sometimes if i'm feeling spicy

[wooden nimbus]

Dumping assault armor into pulse armor is a gut reflex for me at this point

I see ACS pop and immediately go for the Biden Blast

[serene kettle]

God I love Assault Armor

It’s so much fun

[paper ferry]

I love also seeing the cooling animations for each core unit too

[radiant birch]

ngl i had a lot of fun doing this in PVP when i was running a shotty + laser dagger close-range build

"popping pulse armor? mistake."

i think i scored more than a few victories off of doing that into a laser dagger punish

[wooden nimbus]

It's funny when you both wind up popping your Personal Space Enforcement System at once and just both get cooked

Just that half second of "well this is awkward"

[serene kettle]

Honestly popping your own AA is one of the best things you can do when you get caught out and your opponent goes for the punish

Leads to a lot of that

[paper ferry]

I tried using the Pile Bunker for my current build and I gotta admit I do not like it very much

You have to get so uncomfortably close for it to work and you can’t even close distance with it that much

Laser Lance ftw

[serene kettle]

My favorite melee weapon remains the buttr knife

(The Pulse Sword you start with)

[paper ferry]

Honestly same

[serene kettle]

It feels good to use, has fantastic punish, and has a high skill ceiling with mobility cancel tech

[paper ferry]

The starter AC is not that bad. Just a few tweaks after getting some better internals and it’s pretty solid

I once did a whole playthrough with Loader 4. I only used the weapons that Walter’s other hounds used and I had a great time

https://youtu.be/ZRUazBFKov4?si=VRqCRcLhWrnvW8Ux

Nothing like finishing a boss with a melee attack too

[radiant birch]

pile bunker imo is the poster child for "high effort, high reward"

landing a charged pile bunker shot takes a lot of setup and skill, but if you manage it? delete button

[paper ferry]

I definitely see the appeal, but it’s really hard to land a charged attack on enemy ACs. It’s easier on other bosses when the stagger window is larger

My solution with my build is just using the Dizzy in my left hand

Just really leaning into me being a heavy AC this time

[serene kettle]

Honestly having beaten most of the game’s bosses with a chainsaw, bunk isn’t that bad

It’s definitely more consistent than the fuckin chainsaw

[paper ferry]

At least you can move with the Pile Bunker

[cursive agate]

It's tricky, I've mostly used it in specific fights of AC6 because the uncharged is very narrow, and (I think) has the same cooldown as the charged swing.

[serene kettle]

yeah the most damning thing about the chainsaw is if you whiff you're just locked out of doing anything for way too long

if you connect, at least the enemy is also disabled for that entire time 😛

[paper ferry]

The Laser Lance is very flashy, but if you whiff your backside is just left wide open for an attack

[serene kettle]

Yeah i did a lot of pvp against a player who loved to laser lance->bunk

You learn how to dodge that or you die lol

[radiant birch]

i actually had a build centered entirely around laser lance punishes

never tried it in PVP but it was pretty fun in PVE

[paper ferry]

I use the lance and dual stun needles in my Anti-AC build

Call it the WYVERN

[radiant birch]

"man, why don't i ever play AC6 PVP anymore?"
queue up for a match
first opponent of the night:

i ended up having a good time overall, but augh, the cheese builds abound

[paper ferry]

And they don’t even bother to name them, every single one is called LOADER 4

[radiant birch]

for a build whose only real premise was "how can i Never Ever have to stop moving?" this one quitted itself decently tonight

i call it BLACK ARACHNIA

[paper ferry]

Oooh very stylish

Its tricky to build around those legs

[radiant birch]

yeah, everybody else likes to air kite with quad legs; i just use them for the ability to fire stuff on the move

[paper ferry]

I used them to make a build based one of my ocs

I’ll find the pics in a sec

PALE SHADOW, made for my beloved DnD character

Sadly, this build is too heavy and I had to swap the Soups for plasma missiles

Actually, no, this build isn't overburdened, it just uses a head that I didn't want to use.

I could use the Nachtreiher core, but then it wouldn't have enough power output adjust ment to support two Coral weapons

The Soups are just really fun and look like wings and have that slightly creepy animation

This was an earlier iteration of it

That's the head I wanted to use but I also made that before the new parts came out

[radiant birch]

nifty 👀

i do like the Lamm head's aesthetics

sadly it's not the best statwise, but what can you do

[radiant birch]

went in and tweaked BLACK ARACHNIA a bit; despite liking the aesthetic i think the Firmeza arms are too heavy for what i'm going for, so i swapped them for the Lamm arms. that gives me some more recoil control, and the saved weight allowed me to upgrade to Hokushi for the gen, which i'm hoping will give me some more breathing room with energy management

Also tweaked the paint job bc i realized i wasn't actually a huge fan of the glossy white core on a black widow-themed AC

also threw this tester build together last night, mostly just to see how the Harris/Ludlow combo feels to me. still need to run it in some live matches, though i'm hoping i can lock in a rank promotion first so it doesn't cost me if it goes badly

[waxen bramble]

Hi! I've been thinking about giving the series a try since I liked some of From's other games, and I bought Fires of Rubicon not too long ago. I'm especially excited about customizing mecha.

[radiant birch]

welcome! hope you have a good time with the game

[waxen bramble]

I don't know too much on what to expect, I just saw "robots!" and dropped my money lol

[feral niche]

AC 6 is a good starter.

(Imo.)

It's not too overpaced but it also gets difficult enough that you feel good when beating the game.

[radiant birch]

let's see, vague pointers to people who have played other From games... compared to e.g. the Soulsborne games, customization in Armored Core is quite complex. your mech is made up of parts that not only contribute stats, but interlock; e.g. the core you pick is going to affect how your generator performs, your legs will have an effect on how your boosts behave, your arms will affect your weapon performance, etc etc.

on the other hand, building is very low-commitment. as long as you have the parts, you can just take your mech apart entirely and build a completely different one on the fly. AC6 especially encourages this as you're allowed to fiddle with your build when reloading from a checkpoint, so if you're having trouble it's possible and encouraged to try again with a new build.

there's more of a linear, defined narrative, but if you pay attention there's still some very interesting implied things around the edges. not gonna say too much about that here 😁

[cursive agate]

Outside of missions, you can buy/sell parts at full price, so it's more of a budget limit on a build than huge worry (aside from rapid-fire ammo costs adding up).

[glad flame]

Oops

[paper ferry]

Come commit war crimes with us.

[paper ferry]

Final version of RED LIGHTNING

[radiant birch]

hell yeah

good lookin' mech right there

[paper ferry]

Fully embracing a heavyweight mech while still being fairly mobile

I'm assuming the weight units are measured in kilograms (as they were in previous games), so this baby is just over 98 metric tons

Rusty is tiny

I'm not standing on a hill, what are you talking about

[wooden nimbus]

🤔 mentioning that I now wonder

What the gravity of Rubicon 3 is

Assuming we haven't altered it on a planetary scale which uhh considering the megastructures we can make in game I'm not shocked if we can do that

[paper ferry]

You could probably measure it in game using the AC’s altimeter

[wooden nimbus]

🤔 you right

Apparently redditors have already calculated it to be about 8g while being significantly smaller than the Earth, suggesting the scale is in "we don't care lol" levels

Which is fine not everything needs to care about science

It's mecha I ain't gotta explain shit

[paper ferry]

In AC4A, speed was explicitly measured in km/h, but it was also set on Earth

8g is insane though

Like, humans can barely tolerate 4g. People lose consciousness at 8g

[keen hedge]

this is probably why pilots were often fucked up sciencemummies

[paper ferry]

Yeah, but there's plenty of non-augmented AC pilots

[keen hedge]

tru

[paper ferry]

An AC pilot is regularly pulling 12g during quickboosts

[serene kettle]

In AC4 you explicitly needed an allegorical system hookup to pilot a NEXT

Without augmentations you could only pilot normals

They’re called Lynx because they’re linked

[paper ferry]

Not that it matters, but AC6 is in a somewhat separate continuity than the other games, right?

[serene kettle]

AC4 also first introduced quickboosting under this proviso. Oldgen only has walk, boost, and sometimes overboost

Yeah each numbered entry is at least a soft continuity reset

[paper ferry]

I only say that because Walter's AC had the same designer as White Glint

[serene kettle]

(2 is the exception)

[paper ferry]

I wonder if AC6 will get a direct sequel

[serene kettle]

Also sorta V but only retroactively (Verdict Day confirms at least some of the events of for answer happened in the distant past)

[paper ferry]

I do like how AC6 shows a direct progression of mech development in its continuity from MTs to old-gen BAWS ACs and so on

Though it is interesting that the PCA LCs and HCs are not outrightly ACs

[serene kettle]

Yeah they’re more in the AC1 Chrome School of making specialized “super” combat MTs for mass production rather than Murakumo’s standardized ACs

[paper ferry]

Since 621 pretty much lives out of the transport helicopter, I would imagine Walter has a considerable number of people in his employ. Crew for the chopper, engineers to repair and maintain the AC, and medics specializing in augmented humans.

[loud peak]

That does make me wonder how they managed to launch in the Liberation ending

[paper ferry]

Maybe borrowed a chopper from the RLF

[loud peak]

Presumably in the Fire and Release endings they got support from Carla, and RAD by extension, and ALLMIND

[loud peak]

They never left the Xylem, so didn't need the RLF for that

Besides, no one from the RLF aside from Rusty reached it anyway

[paper ferry]

I think 621 would have some amount of authority over the crew when they pick up jobs when Walter is away

[loud peak]

True, though that brings the question of how they serviced their AC in the Liberation ending after killing Carla lol

Since presumably any help they had at that point would be RAD personnels

[paper ferry]

Does make me think that 621 actually got to see Carla in person after she rescued them and brings them back to base.

[loud peak]

Yeah

Though I could also see that the last few missions just happened all at once

Canonically 621 did all of them one after another with no break in-between

[paper ferry]

Maybe they got a supply sherpa offscreen

[loud peak]

Mmm

[paper ferry]

Even when the launch cutscene plays before every mission?

[loud peak]

Yeah, since some of the dialogues felt like they're supposed to be happening pretty rapidly I guess

Like between Walter and Carla getting offed by Iguazu and 621's arrival, the events feel like they're meant to take place immediately after one another with no time for a maintenance break in between

Or between Rusty being killed and 621 confronting Ayre. Taking a bathroom break feels wrong when she's actively shooting at the Xylem

[paper ferry]

621 has an empty water bottle in the cockpit at all times

[loud peak]

Walter emphasizes the importance of hydration

Don't be like Iguazu, hydrate frequently lest you become salty

[paper ferry]

“One more thing, 621… I packed an extra lunch bag for you just in case. Don’t want you getting hungry on the job.”

Granted, 621 probably doesn’t remember the last time they had solid food.

[loud peak]

Assuming they can even have solid food

[paper ferry]

Wild that Iguazu is also Gen Four and he definitely isn’t a body under a plastic sheet.

Something must have really fucked up 621 prior to or during their surgery

[cursive agate]

Iguazu might have been a more recent gen 4, since it's the last version that still (uses/requires) coral.

[paper ferry]

Iirc, Iguazu is the only augmented human in the Redguns

Do you think Rusty is actually an augmented human? He says that he is Gen 8 when asked, but that is likely another cover.

[loud peak]

I think he must be

Like would they just take him at his words lol

[paper ferry]

I guess that would be a pretty easy thing to verify with a simple physical evaluation, yeah

[serene kettle]

I really liked Verdict Day for that, honestly. You clearly do have a support crew, and the closest thing you have to a handler/operator is the guy flying your support chopper

There's also a version of Dirty Worker but the lyrics have been replaced with Fatman's japanese VA singing over them drunkenly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQR7pxjOT1Q

[paper ferry]

I like big mechs and I cannot lie

Final (final) version of this build

[radiant birch]

dizzy.....

is that one of the split missile launchers on the left shoulder?

[paper ferry]

I actually had to downsize the Dizzy back to the Gou-Chen to fit the ten-cell missile launcher. The Orbiter core does not have the output modifier to fit all the biggest guns and the stun needle, but I love it, so it's staying.

[radiant birch]

fashion core is important 😤

[polar osprey]

The most important

[serene kettle]

Dizzy is so fun though 😌

[radiant birch]

i've never really tried out the handheld grenade launchers, i should give them a go

Earshot is a lot of fun, ofc

[paper ferry]

Quad Gatling guns vs dual Earshots and Dizzys

[radiant birch]

maximum bullet vs. maximum boom

[radiant birch]

https://www.tumblr.com/flea-eats-bugs/797170953635364864/doodled-rustys-mechs-because-hes-cool-af

SirenTWasHere (they/them)

Doodled Rusty's mechs because he's cool af

-# #my art #armored core 6 #armored core #ac6 rusty #steel haze #steel haze ortus #v.iv rusty #mecha #mechs #armored core vi #ac6

Tumblr · Oct 12, 2025, 3:57 AM

i wish i was this good at pen doodling

[paper ferry]

I beat AC6 again

Starting a new save again :)

[paper ferry]

I took a quick screenshot of this briefing from ALLMIND showing the list of potential release candidates. C1-249 Sulla is listed under Gen One. Another candidate is listed under Gen Four, which might be Iguazu's designation, since he is also a Gen Four augmented human. I can't quite make out the numbers from the picture quality. But the number that might be Iguazu's is C4-765.

[late jay]

I know a big question is who is the Gen 3 candidate

[paper ferry]

There’s a theory that it’s Rokumonsen, since he uses a Mind Alpha core, but I’m not sure since I don’t think any Rubiconians are augmented humans

O’Keeffe was a Gen 2, but he turned against ALLMIND

Looks like the Gen 3 candidate is just unknown

[paper ferry]

Couple of endgame screenshots :)

[late jay]

The finest in Crackhead Engineering™

[polar osprey]

Very cool

[paper ferry]

And because I clearly can’t stop myself, I made a new save to start making my favorite build in a natural progression.

The first iteration

Compared to its eventual final form

Most of the fundamentals are already in place

[polar osprey]

Neat

[serene kettle]

yeah we don't really get any conclusive evidence. It could be almost anyone who doesn't have an explicit gen listed (or isn't known for sure to be unaugmented) and that's like, might as well be true.

It could even be Rusty since he's unaccounted for in AIE and his bio is noticeably using weasel words on the subject of his gen

Rusty received augmentation surgery prior to joining the Vespers, and though the precise details are unclear, he has declared himself to be of the eighth generation.

It's also possible he really is 8th gen, but the fact that they don't just state it directly like they do the other vespers makes it seem like something's up

[radiant birch]

3rd gen would still be Coral augments, right?

Iirc those got replaced after 4th gen and the Fires of Ibis

[inland sluice]

Maybe rhe guy

Father dolmayan

He has some interaction with coral in a weird way

Idk what gen he is tho

[cursive agate]

Dolmyan supposedly took enough coral to get connection that way

[serene kettle]

yeah it's ambiguous whether Dolmayan is conventionally augmented or not

It's known he was a doser though

That said Dolmayan is almost uniquely hyped the fuck up when you fight him

Most NPC enemies just do not move and input-read react the way he does

It's a genuinely really hard fight, not so much because of his actual build as the level of horseshit his piloting is pulling

[radiant birch]

Dolmayan is a newtype confirmed

[patent oyster]

Holy SHIT hell yeah

[feral niche]

Dosing makes you do crazy stuff.

I think I just like RaD too much.

[wooden nimbus]

Honestly if dosing coral makes you make up APERITIF, SPRING CHICKEN, BAD COOK, and SOUP I'm gonna recommend it to every engineer.

[paper ferry]

I don’t see a reason for him not to be as I feel like it would be pretty easy for Arquebus to determine if he was augmented or not or what generation.

I think the more interesting thing is what he was doing before he joined the Vespers since we know he is an RLF spy. He apparently very quickly attained the rank of V.IV, so I wonder if he was an RLF spy from the very beginning or he became sympathetic to their cause and turned coat.

I wonder if he had undergone augmentation surgery for the sole purpose of infiltrating the Vespers.

[late jay]

Thinking of experimenting with the turret drones if anyone has any ideas for fun combos with them

[patent oyster]

I liked doing dual turret dual ransetsu rf back when I still played

[feral niche]

Pretty sure only like half of RaD’s actual creators are Dosers

If even that.

[feral niche]

If we’re going by the belief of the part naming scheme then:
Aperitif: Chatty Stick
Spring Chicken: Cinder Carla
Bad Cook: Honest Brute
Soup: Chatty Stick

Are any of these characters even confirmed Dosers?

Rummy is and he supposedly made the Sweet Sixteen, Attache, and Delivery Boy.

The 12345 Booster also mentions it was likely made if not just named under the influence.

[paper ferry]

The way ACs’ feet scrape on the ground when they boost can’t be good for them in the long run

[loud peak]

But it's really cool, have you considered that

[feral niche]

Honestly, I genuinely assumed all AC's had some sort of skates/wheels that deploy when boosting.

[paper ferry]

The most important thing to consider

[serene kettle]

This is the VOTOMS Dna

Absolutely oldgen and ac6 ground boosters work the way they do because VOTOMS demonstrated it was cool lol

[eager vector]

I assumed there was some kind of mag lev thing happening

[paper ferry]

Snail has the right idea there

[feral niche]

The what?

[quasi copper]

Armored Core has some VOTOMS in it

https://youtu.be/MZyd0gjGoaI

Scopedogs move Like That too

[feral niche]

So this is what VOTOMS is?

I mean I do really like Mecha skating, but yes I assume they have some sort of system to prevent the feet from wearing away entirely.

[feral niche]

Cool.

[paper ferry]

Very cool

Though I couldn’t imagine as a pilot wanting my actual head to be where the mech’s head is

[alpine wharf]

Oh the Scopedogs are built in a lab to be as garbage as humanly possible, with basically 0% survival chance for the pilot if hit

[serene kettle]

Yeah they’re famously made of explodium lol

They’re basically AC6 light MTs. One good hit from nearly anything is a mission kill and then they explode to ensure a pilot kill too

[feral niche]

You wake up as the on world (Rubicon) leader of your choice of one of the Manufacturers, which one do you think you could get away with/have the most fun with?

And yes, you can choose the Institute, it's just... y'know?

[paper ferry]

Orbiter core my beloved, but most of the weaponry I use would be from Balam. Good ol’ reliable depleted uranium shells.

[feral niche]

So you'd be the on world highest authority of Balam.

Have fun with that.

I wanna say RaD myself.

[paper ferry]

RaD would build my AC itself, sure.

[feral niche]

Lmao.

Still crazy to read that RaD parts were on that Test Frame you kill early on.

[winter sigil]

put me in a c-weapon and point me at the pca i'm ready

[feral niche]

... How exactly?

[paper ferry]

Something like the HAL 826, I would imagine

[feral niche]

Just making sure if you wanted that or not.

[paper ferry]

I’m not going to speculate the conversion rate of COAM, but it’s kinda interesting how a single independent mercenary AC can turn the tide of a battle in exchange for a hundred thousand credits (prior to expenses) and being paid by a corporation whose wealth is likely measured in the quintillions or more.

[feral niche]

Gonna be honest, at my best I'd just be Invincible Rummy, nowhere near anyone better.

And even that implies I have amazing luck to not die.

[paper ferry]

That’s why I’d prefer just the Orbiter frame. Just doing work out in space.

[feral niche]

I do really like the idea of the Wrecker frame... just straight up a modified construction frame.

[paper ferry]

Weaponized forklift

[feral niche]

Milktooth is pretty much my ideal concept.

The Wrecker frame, a Metal Salvage Chainsaw, and a modified Cutting/Welding Torch.

It's just a bunch of normal stuff you're using to fight people.

Too bad RaD is kind of just a shell company by the time you get there.

And yes, I know it's likely the only reason RaD has anything actually unique to themselves is because of Overseer's team.

[paper ferry]

I need to know if Carla ever made the connection between C4-621 stealing NIGHTFALL Raven’s license since they used a custom Orbiter frame made by RaD

She probably thought it was a funny coincidence

[feral niche]

Indeed.

Imagine if we actually got that cut physical shield.

[paper ferry]

Imagine if we could use PCA parts

[feral niche]

I wanna so bad.

[paper ferry]

Another cut part were extra shoulder boosters

[feral niche]

I can't remember them all from that Zullie video, only the untextured shield.

Extra shoulder boosters would've been cool.

Interesting how there's a mod that lets you move like a NEXT.

[paper ferry]

I would have loved to use defensive tools like flares or even MDD

You could map them to the left and right D-pad buttons

[feral niche]

What is MDD again?

[paper ferry]

The stealth tech used by the Ghost mechs

Monitor Display Deception

[serene kettle]

It’s the doomsday weapon from Enders Game

[feral niche]

Ah, yes!

[paper ferry]

https://youtu.be/LpI-TLJEdgY?si=lbPS233K90J1Xk__

[feral niche]

That would be interesting.

[quasi copper]

yo, back boosters

[radiant birch]

Iirc at one point a PCA pilot gives you some flak for piloting a "patchwork" unit or something to that effect

[feral niche]

The Stun Baton could be a PCA weapon.

Actually let me check...

[radiant birch]

Just a line in passing but it implies that the PCA prefers to design and manufacture entire units rather than the mix-and-match system for ACs

Which is a neat little bit of worldbuilding

[feral niche]

Ok it very much is not.

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[paper ferry]

I’ll jailbreak their mech firmware, you’ll see

[feral niche]

They do got some cool tech, they just are typically not ACs.

[paper ferry]

They got a whole ass Transformer

[feral niche]

So if they complained about Patchwork before, you're about to make a true Frankenstein.

If you're really insane you can tinker with old RRI Tech.

Coral Spider Cataphract.

[paper ferry]

Giving me ideas for boss mechs in Lancer

[feral niche]

Lol.

I don't think I'd actually wanna tinker with full C-Weapons.

[paper ferry]

Not really feeling like making horrors beyond our comprehension?

[feral niche]

I'd love to, I just don't want to fuck up and die horribly/become one with them.

Now giving you silly ideas, is up my alley.

[paper ferry]

We love a good cautionary tale

[feral niche]

I am somehow too paranoid yet not nearly that cautious to not get hurt.

[late jay]

I wish we could make our own custom MT squad to accompany us

[feral niche]

Does such a thing exist in any of the games?

[radiant birch]

I know there's games where you can hire on help for missions

I feel like AC... 5? Had a system for customizing mission followers? I might be making that up though

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[serene kettle]

Yeah 5 let you customize and program a UNAC (Unmanned AC) as backup on missions

Sorry, not V

Verdict Day specifically

So the game immediately preceding AC6 technically

In AC3 (and maybe SL? don’t remember) and AC4/4A you could also subcontract on some missions for some backup and split the payout - these are all preset characters though.

They do have dialogue though, which is nice

[paper ferry]

I wonder if a multiplayer co-op AC game could work

I had just done the Attack the Old Spaceport mission (the one that introduces the Ice Worm) and it has Rusty completing his own part of the mission before rendezvousing with you. It made me think of a co-op AC game that had some missions that required you to split up and complete certain tasks simultaneously, or it would just leave it up to your squad how to complete the mission.

I feel with how FromSoft seems to be leaning into multiplayer recently with Nightreign and Duskbloods upcoming, perhaps they might do something like that with Armored Core.

[serene kettle]

Well, there was Chromehounds, kind of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromehounds

[paper ferry]

Inch resting

[eager vector]

back in the day me and a friend use to do 2v2 team matches vs CPU opponents in AC3SL

[quiet rivet]

There is

It's called Verdict Day

[shrewd arrow]

I'm going to end up being PCA, working nonessential data entry on a spaceship, and die wondering how our spaceships fold so much faster than our ACs.

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[paper ferry]

I changed my answer. I want a Schneider AC. I just want to go fast.

[paper ferry]

Might want to do something about the exposed bridge

[feral niche]

Lol, fair enough.

Inb4 someone ends up as that poor Debt Collector.

[radiant birch]

i feel like i could get away with Balam because they're just in the business of producing simple but reliable workhorses. but it would be a lot more fun to run the Institute or RaD

break reality a little on my way out. half as long but twice as bright

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[serene kettle]

You just can't beat the Institute

[polar osprey]

I want some institute cooked horror machine

[radiant birch]

the Institute hits the same appeal as HORUS, why would you go with any other manufacturer when you can tell reality itself to sit down and shut up

btw i've got this petard lying around, anybody have ideas on who it could hoist

[polar osprey]

The consequences of my hubris aren't consequences i care about, bring on the horror

[paper ferry]

Someone should try to make Contact with a C-Weapon. I’m sure it will go well.

[polar osprey]

You should put me in a C-Weapon

[paper ferry]

You got it boss

[polar osprey]

Do the Reuse p-device strat from Gundam Thunderbolt

[paper ferry]

I don’t know what that is

[polar osprey]

A next generation operating system that has the potential to operate a mobile suit like a pilot's arms and legs by communicating to the mobile suit's drive system directly via an electric signal transmitted from the pilot's brain. Even individuals with little piloting experience can master the controls of the Reuse P Device in a short period because on a base level, the pilot only need to thinks about movement. In order to use the system at full potential, all of the pilot's limbs must be amputated and replaced with special-made prosthetics.

This is the Reuse P-Device

Brutalist man-machine interface

[paper ferry]

Nice

[feral niche]

Me on working with C-Weapons.

I'd love to tell you cool ideas, but I'm not gonna work on them.

[late jay]

So like the Psycho Xaku from Thunderbolt?

[polar osprey]

Not like

Literally the Psycho Zaku from Gundam Thubderbolt

The Reuse P-Device is the mechanism the Psycho Zaku is piloted with

[late jay]

Ah

[feral niche]

I probably shouldn't go RaD but I like all their stuff being born of drug fueled nonsense that actually works.

[late jay]

Same

[feral niche]

Also once again, because most of their stuff is straight up just 'Here's like some iindustrial equipment we made kill people'.

That is my theme.

Ironic I go from 'I don't wanna make Coral Weapons' to 'Coral Dosers, OH YEAH!'

I just don't want to be there when everything goes belly up with Coral.

[shrewd arrow]

I admit I chose the PCA because the Ekdromoi are beautiful.

[feral niche]

That's like the tall Mechs they got right?

[shrewd arrow]

I also find the difference between "mercs with strange, often outdated augments" and "military personnel with seemingly better, less unique equipment that is mass produced" an interesting dynamic.

[shrewd arrow]

The hunched ones.

[feral niche]

I... don't remember hunches... let me see.

[feral niche]

Ah, yes I see.

[shrewd arrow]

I love no-head or torso-head mechs.

[feral niche]

Like my least favorite form of mech, but I got used to them.

[shrewd arrow]

Haha! Fair.

[feral niche]

They can seem just really ugly to me, ironically not all of them I feel that way, like those I think is pretty much fine.

I think because they are kind of... long?

I'm sorry but I find this hideous.

[shrewd arrow]

Ah, see, I'd like that with a less human face!

[feral niche]

Make it a giant gun and I'd like it lol.

Gun with arms and legs.

An example of Synduality: NOIR's Iron Coffins:

By the way these are weird because the Computers are ran by like something really close to an NHP imo.

Or well... I don't actually know enough to make a proper comparison.

But they are sort of weird cyborg/robot girls who are effectively computers to get plugged into the back of your mech to run all the complicated stuff like the targeting computers.

What you gonna do if you wake up as the Dafeng Student Pilot During the Destroy the Tester AC Mission?

[paper ferry]

I love that the EKRODOMOI are a pair of mobsters. One of them straight up has a Tommy gun.

[feral niche]

Return of 'Wish we had that weapon'.

I before said I wish we got the plasma whips of the Ghosts but someone said 'We pretty much have our own flavor of everything, for example that's just the HMMR.'

Don't remember who said it though.

[paper ferry]

https://youtu.be/Kxop7Ci-y_o?si=pry63PjDZQFXqhqm

[feral niche]

Looks cool.

[paper ferry]

Mech controls are fun things to think about

[feral niche]

Correct.

Am reminded of the weird controls in Knights & Magic (SCI-Fantasy Mech Anime).

[paper ferry]

I would argue Pacific Rim jaegers have the best mech controls.

[feral niche]

The MC at one point just rips them out and plugs his magic directly into it like a sort of Neuro interface.

[feral niche]

It's a fun one.

[paper ferry]

Drifting as a central narrative device resulting in mechs that are controlled by love and trust.

Is good shit

[feral niche]

Fair.

[paper ferry]

I woke up thinking about a BAWS AC painted to look like Steve from Minecraft and I can’t remember if I’ve seen that before.

[radiant birch]

Mechcraft

Wait that sounds sick actually

[paper ferry]

Defeating the Ender Dragon has never been easier

[regal wing]

https://www.tumblr.com/lovewritteninthestrands/798079561793404928/you-flew-just-out-of-reach-buddy

Mecha Piloting is Inherently Queer

you flew just out of reach… buddy.

-# #armored core 6 #ac6 #rusty ac6 #ac6 raven #animation #my art<3 #i’m going for a sketchy almost childlike drawing style for this section to represent my 621’s mindset in the fires of raven ending: #it was a childish dream to think that she ever could’ve fought alongside rusty… so she will fight against him instead.

Tumblr · Oct 22, 2025, 4:39 AM

[modern hornet]

“Buddy, huh…? Do him a favor, Tourist. Remember him.”

[regal wing]

yuuup

[polar osprey]

Rustyyyyyyyy 😭

[eager vector]

lmfao

[paper ferry]

When enough magic space cocaine comes together, it creates a black hole. The same can be said about any substance, but the magic space cocaine is doing it on purpose.

[feral niche]

True.

[paper ferry]

What do you think of the theory that Ayre was originally a human who did not survive Gen One augmentation? And that her consciousness became part of the Coral, which she warns 621 might happen after they had made Contact?

[regal wing]

oh i've seen something similar in a fanfic.

Although instead of being a single human, Ayre was the acumulation of several different people that died during the first Fires

[feral niche]

That's certainly a theory.

[shrewd arrow]

I always assumed she was this one, aye. That the Coral was mediating itself through human brains, so it took on a human lens... and after the Fires, it made contact with a lot of human brains all at once before they were destroyed.

Less "was an actual human" and more "Is a particular filament//configuration of coral" like some of the other coral entities we hear about.

[feral niche]

Coral Wave Mutations or whatever, calling it a 'mutation' is certainly an interesting choice.

[shrewd arrow]

Agreed.

[winter sigil]

finally went back for the 100%

[polar osprey]

damn

nice

i want to get it but i think i won't

just cause trying to get the S-rank missions is just horrendous

[winter sigil]

most of them are not so bad

there are a couple that I have been referring to as the Bullshit Brothers

but those can either be cheesed or i could lock in with my regular build

I cheesed the alt strider mission with a flamethrower ac and nepenthes is really easy to s-rank if you just bring a shield

[serene kettle]

yeah the S-rank missions one is really just intimidating IMO

once you get the hang of it, most missions are likely to be first-try S-ranks

there are like 5-6 that are likely to require a few tries, additional routing, or possibly a particular build

[serene kettle]

funnily enough alt strider was another one of my first try attempts, I got it by accident with Queen of Nails

I was pretty much just bunny hopping and spamming APERTIF

[winter sigil]

nice

i just HATE heliacanthus machines

top 1 behated enemy in ac6

[feral niche]

That the spinning wheels of death?

[winter sigil]

yeah

the stupid wheels

[serene kettle]

Yeah just stay off the ground and they're easy 😛

they're basically incapable of harming you in the air and they're super weak to explosive damage

[winter sigil]

i hate themmmmm they're hard to shoot

[serene kettle]

missiles are your friend!

[radiant birch]

I tried alt Strider with an energy-heavy build first, suffered, got annoyed and switched to a missile rat which completely steamrolled the mission

[winter sigil]

i also hate changing my build, which only has a very little bit of missiles

[serene kettle]

(unironically though, missiles wreck their shit, it helps pin them down and they're super weak to them)

[radiant birch]

Worth noting that I didn't know the enemies were weak to explosive so this came out of nowhere for me

[serene kettle]

Yeah Queen of Nails was a missile build (I thought of the name because of the way it felt like like I was just hammering nails into a target repeatedly with the missiles)

[radiant birch]

"agh, this mission is so rough, maybe I'll try--aaand they're all dead."

[winter sigil]

i only keep the original 4-cell on me

[serene kettle]

QoN was using two APERTIFs, a 10-cell on one shoulder, and Trunos on the other

Otherwise it was...I'm blanking on which arms I used but it used the loader 4 head and basho torso/legs

[winter sigil]

basically a suped up loader 4
one extra AR and different frame pieces

[feral niche]

Ya' think the TAI-YANG-SHOU was inspired by just hand throwing bombs in ACs?

[paper ferry]

Nice! I did that a little while ago

[winter sigil]

saved Snailteus for last so it was a very satisfying end

[paper ferry]

I really enjoy testing builds against Branch, which I feel is a better test than Balteus is (shorter mission, too)

If you can handle three tough ACs in one mission, you’ll be fine

[winter sigil]

i like jumping allmind for practice/catharsis/fun

[serene kettle]

Yeah this is one of my preferred tests too

[feral niche]

‘Excuse me, fine fellows, but I require your assistance in testing out my machine.’

[radiant birch]

"so it's pretty simple, you try really hard to kill me and i try really hard to kill you, and that way we see who's better at killing and not being killed"

[paper ferry]

How is Institute City underground and fully daylit?

[radiant birch]

Coral 😛

The answer is always Coral

Even if it doesn't make sense

especially if it doesn't make sense

[paper ferry]

Cybersecurity on Rubicon must be practically nonexistent

If Coral technology can brute force through any system given enough time, why even bother?

Though I guess their version of cybersecurity is “shoot the guy trying to hack you”

[radiant birch]

when in doubt, blow up the entire planet to be sure

[paper ferry]

And then blow it up a second time to be extra sure

[winter sigil]

I think the concept art of Institute City was significantly gloomier so it might be a gameplay thing

[feral niche]

My assumption was very large artificial lighting.

[paper ferry]

Today I learned about the Schneider Cup, which was a race for seaplanes and also where some early cases of loss of consciousness from high g-forces (G-LOC) were documented. I wonder if that was where the corporation in Armored Core specializing in high-speed aerial combat got its name.

[feral niche]

Likely.

[paper ferry]

Intercontinental Cargo Launcher, my beloved

[feral niche]

Too bad it's not been touched in a bit so damn spiders took over.

[paper ferry]

That’s okay, we’ll just bring an AC-sized can of Raid

I just distinctly remember my very first playthrough and that moment being when the sheer scale of AC6 truly struck me.

[feral niche]

||It's the level where you get the chainsaw, that is how I remember it so vividly.||

[late jay]

I feel like I keep making the same builds over and over again

It's always handgun/machine gun with a bursty rifle, a missile rack and then melee in the bay

I think I'm starting to lose my mind

[wooden nimbus]

One thing I'll do in PvE is make classic style builds

One gun, one missile, one other, and one melee. No bays allowed, back slots must be back weapons

[late jay]

Kinda wanna try shields more tbh

[winter sigil]

the only time i've really used a shield was to cheese Nepenthes S rank

[radiant birch]

I put a pulse buckler on one of my builds on a whim, it turned out to be fun to use

If your timing is good you can just nope big hits

I also sometimes like to put a shield on builds that have a long reload time on the left hand weapon, so I can hide behind it during the reload

e.g. right hand Harris, left hand Javelin Alpha, shield on the back

[paper ferry]

I do want to try an energy sniper build, I just feel like it’s much harder to get raw damage out of those

[paper ferry]

So did neither the RRI or Overseer know that Coral was sentient? Or at least in the case of C-pulse wave mutations?

[feral niche]

I am not well informed enough to answer that, but from my knowledge, no.

[modern hornet]

I suspect the RRI at least suspected that Coral could be sentient. It's known to be an organic substance, and all of the Coral weapons you can obtain make reference to a swarm intelligence. Nagai, however, had already seen one assistant go full mad scientist because of the Coral, and also believed that it would be a mutation in the Coral tide that would bring about a collapse humanity had no hope of controlling.

[paper ferry]

I wonder then if Assistant No. 1 was perhaps the first person to make Contact

[winter sigil]

I feel kinda mean, I won a ranked match without taking any damage earlier

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[winter sigil]

terminal armor i love you so much

[paper ferry]

Kate “most normal name ALLMIND could come up with” Markson

[paper ferry]

I beat AC6 again. Probably will be a while before I decide to go through a new save file again

[radiant birch]

Congratulations on saving and/or annihilating Rubicon

[paper ferry]

https://youtu.be/XhAQkn_d_-U

Idk you tell me

[eager vector]

that’s a wild loadout, looks fun!

[radiant birch]

good run!

[serene kettle]

Very clean phase 3, we love to see it

[paper ferry]

Honestly, it’s so fun. The cooldowns on the weapons are so that the attacks flow right into each other. That, and it’s a really fast mid-weight build.

[shrewd arrow]

Hmmm. I'm realizing there is an interesting issue with one of the endings I assumed was "better" than the others.

I had forgotten that ||burned Coral and living Coral both cause damage to living tissue as well as machinery not explicitly designed to interface with it. This would mean that the spread of Coral in space, even if it links with all humans and devices peacefully and with good intent, is going to be lethal and harmful to a lot of people in setting.||

[serene kettle]

||Oh, yeah, that ending is basically full on Evangelion||

[radiant birch]

I mean ||even without deleterious effects, you're still radically altering the nature of human existence without the consent of, well, the vast majority of humanity||

[feral niche]

I prefer that kind of ending to be the beginning of a story because I love reading about Aliens discovering a vastly altered human race.

Like in Humanity Lost (granted this one is a little different).

[paper ferry]

I had started to write an AC6 fic (that I probably won't ever finish) that is sort of adjacent to the Liberate ending, but it also involves 621 trying to convince Carla not to burn the Coral by somehow finding a way to get her in Contact with Ayre and in doing so have her realize that Coral is sentient

Basically an (Almost) Everyone Lives AU

RIP Walter

It'd be a long shot because it would involve having to convince Carla to disregard Walter's final wishes and showing her that she, Overseer, and the RRI had overlooked one very crucial detail about Coral

[feral niche]

Cool.

And yeah.

[late jay]

https://youtu.be/OPyS1DyCTa0?si=nkFdRgzcV_muu7uG

https://youtu.be/0FKRerNXs7s?si=PdCoxzmO0JiE6Gtw

FINALLY, AN ACTUAL REMIX OF THIS SONG

[paper ferry]

GOOD SHIT

I do think it’s funny that everyone thought the lyrics to Rusted Pride were something completely different for a while

[serene kettle]

Big "first time?" energy lol

armored core lyrics have been kind of incomprehensible with lots of variation in fans trying to decipher them for a looong time

I'm still kind of angry that the one line in thinker is "Sound of Jet they play for out", which is basically nonsense. I thought it was "Laughing children play in fallout" (ie mistaking it for snow) which would be relevant to the themes of the game and also just incredibly bleak (but again, in a way that fits the themes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBi6u1dmSm8

(that said, there's a lot of wordplay with 'close' sounds in that song in general - it's called "Thinker" but when the vocalist says "I'm a thinker" it sounds a lot like "I'm a sinker" and then they start talking about deep-sea fish)

I could break it down
I'm a shooter
A drastic baby

Agitate and jump out
Feel it in the will
Can you talk about deep-sea with me?

(Oo-o-ooh)

The deep-sea fish loves you forever
All are as your thinking over
Out of space, when someone waits there
Sound of jet, they played for out``` these are the official lyrics though

[feral niche]

I wish so badly Hyper/Ultimate Weapons were in AC6.

[serene kettle]

grind blade was always so funny

[feral niche]

Those looked so awesome.

I love chainsaws, and even then it was funny yes.

'Balteus is approaching.'
'YEAH WELL HE CAN APPROACH MY SHINY METAL SAW!'

FFFFFVVVVVVVVVVBBBBBB!

The closest we have is coral weapons.

Tbf, a lot of the coral weapons we have access to are pretty cool. They just aren't as... heavy feeling as Ultimate Weapons felt.

I mean the Ultimate Weapons have you sacrifice limbs and blare alarms inside your mech warning you to stop this at once.

[paper ferry]

Rubicon cries
I will come
I take flight
Beautifully

vs. what the actual lyrics are

Standing in a cold place
Let me know
My steel core peeling away

[feral niche]

Now I must listen to sunrise again.

[late jay]

I thought people always knew that AC lyrics are nonsense

[feral niche]

Considering I can't even hear them that well, makes sense to me.

[late jay]

Soulsbornen Ring fans: "What does this environmental storytelling mean?"
Armored Core fans: "Wtf are these lyrics???"

I'm both btw

[feral niche]

Same.

Looks at you with a laundry hamper on my head and like 2 dozen rings on my fingers.

Grant us Coral on the inside.

[eager vector]

https://youtu.be/d13oAUj4mtY

this but about coral

it maps perfectly actually

spoilers for andor s2

[paper ferry]

Kinda how I picture Father Dolmayan tbh

[eager vector]

yeah exactly

[feral niche]

Iirc Father Dolmayan is a Doser, right?

[paper ferry]

Yep

And then he made Contact with another C-pulse wave mutation

Selia

[feral niche]

Great.

What does 'Casting the Die' symbolize again in AC6?

[shrewd arrow]

That once something is done, it often cannot be undone, especially when a technology or large scale change occurs.

Sometimes, maybe, you can go back, but you can never exist in the world that was before it occured.

It is attributed to Ceasar when he made a decision he knew he could never go back on.

[winter sigil]

i feel like a lede is being buried here
he said that about crossing the Rubicon to march on Rome and upend the center of his society

[feral niche]

Got it, was checking because I saw the RLF quotes.

"Coral, abide with Rubicon. Coral, endure within us all. For none of us shall cast the die."

And I remembered 'The Die was Cast' is found elsewhere as well, can't remember if it's in game or just an achievement.

[shrewd arrow]

I laugh Not intentionally. I was asked what it symbolized.

Not the historical source material.

[eager vector]

when ceasar said it, he said it in Latin, “Alea Iacta Est,” which is the title of the third ending

[feral niche]

Thank you.

[paper ferry]

https://www.tumblr.com/lovewritteninthestrands/798589607045464064/truths-meet

Mecha Piloting is Inherently Queer

TRUTHS MEET

a (rough) armored core 6 fan animation

credits:

2d animation: katarina purr

3d layout: katarina purr

storyboards: katarina purr

3d ripper: kamal afiq

(3d model for the xylem ripped from armored core 6’s “breach the kármán line” level. big thanks to kamal for getting it for me!)

music: steel haze (where truths meet) by kota hoshino

-# #armored core 6 #ac6 #rusty ac6 #ac6 raven #c4 621 #animation #mecha animation #my art<3 #roughs are finally done holy shit #i’m so happy with this project omg #i’m hoping to clean this up over the next couple of months #and will open a patreon for updates and behind the scenes on that #stay tuned

▶ Play video

Tumblr · Oct 27, 2025, 7:46 PM

[feral niche]

Hell yeah.

[feral niche]

I like this depiction of 621. clearly modified extensively and only showing the barest of emotion.

I mean... how long has it even been since 621 has been thawed out?

[paper ferry]

The barcode on their forehead is a nice detail as well

[feral niche]

Indeed.

[winter sigil]

yippee

[feral niche]

Awesome.

[paper ferry]

I think it’s interesting that even though Rubicon is far off in space, Arquebus and Balam still seem to be mainly based on Earth, or a least in the Solar System. This is just going off the fact that the Redguns are named after rivers on Earth, while the Vespers are mostly named after poets and philosophers. I think it makes sense for the Redguns to be named after rivers from their country of origin.

[late jay]

Isn't Furlong based on Jupiter btw?

Considering the whole Jupiter War between Balam and Furlong?

[paper ferry]

Or at least the war took place among Jupiter’s moons

[late jay]

Yea

[paper ferry]

Also, I just learned that the Michigan River is in Colorado

[late jay]

Pffft

[paper ferry]

Our man G1 is from Denver

[winter sigil]

rip G1 you should've lived a long and occasionally unhappy life as a Nuggets fan

[late jay]

Nuggets?

[winter sigil]

denver NBA team

[paper ferry]

Iguazu is Brazilian

[feral niche]

And he hates you, unreasonably, at first.

[paper ferry]

Life just dealt him a shit hand

[feral niche]

Indeed.

And it only gets worse from here, Iguazu.

Armored Core 6 definitely did get me into the armored core games, granted I still have not really looked into the previous games as much, but I look forward to what we get from here.

Do I have to wait another 10 years for another one though?

[radiant birch]

i'm hoping not

[paper ferry]

There’s rumors of another Armored Core project in development

[radiant birch]

AC6 was pretty popular so i'd be surprised if there weren't a follow-up sooner rather than later

[feral niche]

I must pray we get a chainsaw weapon in that one too.

[paper ferry]

There’s no word on whether it’ll be AC7 or a sequel to AC6

[feral niche]

That is a good point.

[paper ferry]

Too early to say anything

I hope we get a direct sequel

[feral niche]

Oh boy, I can't wait to see what new tech we'll end up seeing.

[paper ferry]

I want extra shoulder attachments like in previous games

[feral niche]

Isn't there like a problem with AC where almost every game is a soft reset or at least distant from any of the others?

[paper ferry]

Every numbered game is a soft reboot

So For Answer was a direct sequel to AC4 and Verdict Day for AC5

[feral niche]

Got it, yeah I like how the previous games had such variety in the attachments and limbs.

[paper ferry]

Maybe we’ll get Overed Weapons again

[feral niche]

I believe I watched a 'full weapons/parts' of I think both For Answer and Verdict Day, but maybe I am simply misremembering.

[paper ferry]

Those are the super overpowered weapons that take up multiple weapon slots

[feral niche]

I am aware, love them.

So I saw one of For Answer, but I don't think there is one of Verdict Day, I saw all weapon arms and all overed weapons though.

[paper ferry]

I’d love to see how they could go over the top with AC6 mechs

[feral niche]

Indeed, we have coral weapons, and PCA tech so far, but the player only gets so much.

[paper ferry]

The player can’t use any PCA tech, which is a shame

[feral niche]

Indeed.

I just meant that they have 'better mechs'.

The players can get their hands on some c-weapons, but there is alot more that exist in the world.

[paper ferry]

Only a few that are AC scale

[feral niche]

Indeed, does the Coral Generator count towards a C-weapon?

[winter sigil]

you look at this and tell me it's not a c-weapon :p

[feral niche]

This is like all the AC C-Weapon stuff, isn't it?

I only visibly recognize the scream rifle and the presumably coral engine.

[paper ferry]

Love the HAL 826 core

[winter sigil]

nah there's a bunch of coral weapons not on there
and the frame is only partially RRI

two melee weapons, two other rifles, the missile launchers,

[feral niche]

You talking about total, or what's not on there?

[eager vector]

not on there

[winter sigil]

yea, not on there

[feral niche]

Trying to remember the coral melee... I know there's the coral moonlight and the one scream rifle...

Well, I call it a rifle, I mean the beam generator you swing around.

Hal has it iirc.

[winter sigil]

there's the coral moonlight and the coral pulse bladeish thing

[feral niche]

Ah, I see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Farmoredcore.fandom.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjQsMTY0NTAz&v=wyVom4Rnibs&feature=youtu.be

I did not remember it.

[eager vector]

whoa that link nasty lol

https://youtu.be/wyVom4Rnibs is all u need

[feral niche]

Right off the fandom wiki, because I can't find any other complete AC6 wiki.

[eager vector]

oof

ac deserves a better wiki

[feral niche]

I literally just copied the link there, it's pretty short but turns into that for some reason.

And I agree.

[eager vector]

not that I’m gonna do that work

[feral niche]

Same.

Wonder what kind of MC we'll get next.

[radiant birch]

going out on a limb here but i imagine they won't be very talkative

[feral niche]

How many AC MC's are?

I mean their backstory, silly.

[radiant birch]

i can't imagine how it would work with AC's general vibe, but i find myself wondering how they would do a "falling into the cockpit" type protagonist

like an MC who ends up in an AC almost entirely by accident/circumstance and just has to figure it out from there

...a devil crawled up on my shoulder and started whispering in my ear about writing a thesis on how AC MCs are nameless, faceless, and voiceless, and their only method of expressing themselves in the game's world is enacting violence

[late jay]

What are MCs?

[loud peak]

Main character

[late jay]

Ah

[quiet rivet]

falls apart by existence of AC1 artbook

But it's still cool thought

[radiant birch]

the artbook's a potentially interesting source of insight into the games' conceptualization and the creative process of putting them together, but if we're talking about how the games themselves are presented to the player it's not really relevant to the point

...actually if there are character portraits in the artbook, that makes their exclusion from the final game that much more interesting. why choose not to include them? what was the purpose of that? is there a point being made?

i say, outlining an essay that i'm never going to write

[feral niche]

I feel that.

[shrewd arrow]

Personal take: This is because all MCs, even MCs designed to be an audience lens, do have personalities and behavioral traits - ones that fundamentally underline the game.

The trick is to lead the Player into identifying with and self ascribing those traits.

I think you'd find a lot of games like AC 1 where concept artwork, trailers, and the game development reveal who the MC is, and studying how you make that hidden from the Player is a good topic.

[radiant birch]

say more

[shrewd arrow]

I'll use AC in general as an example. What are traits we know about the pilots from each AC game, despite them being a silent or lens MC?

For AC 6, we know
-The Protagonist had an augment of a specific generation
-The protagonist can never fully ignore Ayre
-The Protagonist is required to pilot an AC if we wish to advance the game
-The Protagonist was bought and sold as a commodity
-The Protagonist lives on or near Rubicon for a portion of their existence
-The Protagonist must have certain kinds of ties with certain NPCs, as the narrative requires these

This is actually a huge amount of framework that, while being for the purpose of a game, is actually pretty strict knowledge about the character. They are not a true blank slate, and while we can put in a lot of our own selves, details, or other facts into that framework,

its a ton of structure around who the MC is, and a lot if it can't be rejected or denied unless we step fully outside of the game.

My 621 might love piloting, yours hates it... but that sense of unique identity in a silent protagonist is always contending with the fact that 621 is a pilot and engages in piloting.

Characters in video games can never truly be blank slates or stand ins for the Player - that is a clever and effective illusion within the framework of video games generally.

[late jay]

I think 621 is more silenced than silent

They literally don't even have a mouth

Or a face for that matter

[radiant birch]

this is reminding me of that one Extra Credits video where they were talking about Samus

[feral niche]

I have convinced someone to play AC6.

[radiant birch]

same point of like, okay, can we really say that she doesn't have characterization just because she doesn't talk (prior to Metroid Fusion, anyway)? what can we intuit about her as a character just from the circumstances of the games that she's the main character of

[shrewd arrow]

Great pooooooint

[shrewd arrow]

Exactly!

[radiant birch]

there's also at least one point in AC6 where 621 is implied to speak, or at least make a noise, but we don't hear it on the player's end (the mission briefing where Michigan goes like "now let me hear your war cry!! ...good enough.")

[late jay]

I think it's because they can't speak

In the literal sense

Something else that sticks out to me is how when Rusty is introduced in Operation Wallclimber, Walter suspects that he knew who 621 was before all this

Which I think also gives some more weight to when Rusty talks about teaming up "like old times" in Chapter 3

And his whole purpose talk in Ch4 and 5

[shrewd arrow]

I nod You can change details about an MC, but you are always contending with the characteristics and identity of that MC within the framework of a game.

[feral niche]

‘This Relic got hands!’

[radiant birch]

something something 621 is silenced and subhumanized into an attack dog but nonetheless ends up becoming the one making the choices that decide the fate of Rubicon and the universe at large

[feral niche]

It is nice how Walter does offer us options at all.

[feral niche]

They were gonna redownload Lies of P but after I talked with them about AC6 they decided to play it first instead of second.

[radiant birch]

Walter's an interesting character. it would've been easy to make him a cruel, uncaring handler, but he's written more like someone who wants to be a kind and compassionate person but has this thing he feels compelled to accomplish that requires a lot of dirty work

[feral niche]

Indeed.

[radiant birch]

i've always read the amount of freedom of choice he gives 621 as at least partially stemming from guilt over how he's using them as a tool

[feral niche]

Could be.

[shrewd arrow]

It also reflects, I think, the fact he acknowledges they are not actually tools, given his history with the coral augmentation process.

Walter cannot help but personalize his pilots the longer he works with them, and increasingly moves from abusive master to abusive father//friend.

He generally talks about all the pilots we interact with as people, when he comments at all, and shares this trait most with Michigan.

[feral niche]

Makes sense.

[serene kettle]

So about that. The AC1 artbook contains at least one outright lie about a really big thing, so maybe be careful

Namely, it contains a drawing of Hustler One, Nineball's pilot

[eager vector]

lol

knowing fromsoft I’m betting that’s not a deliberate lie

[serene kettle]

lol fair

anyway I actually do think not showing human characters is actually extremely important to the vibe of armored core

Mechanized Warfare for chump change from corporations is dehumanizing. that's the point!

It's cyberpunk vibes by burial more than replacement. It's not (primarily) that people are giving up their meat for metal, it's that the meat has become a tiny part of the greater metal whole.

(there is separately a bit more conventional cyberpunk transhumanism going on here and there but it's less fundamental to the series' vibe - it's been present since the beginning but isn't universal in most of the series)

[radiant birch]

i do admire the elegance of Human Plus in AC1

a mercy mechanic narratively disguised as a punishment

[serene kettle]

Yeah it's actually a really creative bit of game design

even if that cutscene lives in my nightmares because I was like ten

[feral niche]

Freud is still really interesting to me.

[feral niche]

This the system where if you fail/go into debt enough you get voluntold into an experimental cybernetics program and it makes the game easier for you?

[serene kettle]

Yeah, specifically if you end a mission with a balance of -50000 credits

You also restart the game from the beginning, but keep all owned parts

(it also resets your balance)

[eager vector]

it’s a great way to start with a ton of money in addition to the cybernetics

[serene kettle]

This is notable since you can't replay missions in AC1 the way you can in AC6

[shrewd arrow]

I forgot how good that mechanic is. Wow. What a great way to do an alternative NG+

[serene kettle]

so the economy is actually kind of rough because every cost is permanent

[late jay]

https://tenor.com/view/this-is-my-kingdom-cum-cum-fridge-gif-22354569

[serene kettle]

(also if you fail a mission you just fail the mission and move on. you're on the hook for costs with no payout but the game continues)

[late jay]

Freud in his AC whenever he's not out in the field:

[serene kettle]

Unlike AC6 where you're asked to reload

Only a few specific missions in AC1 actually cause a game over if you fail

[feral niche]

A completely unaugmented man who is still so effective. Also true.

[serene kettle]

so yeah in AC1 if you get deep in debt you restart the game with:

• your balance normalized
• whatever mech parts you owned, whether you bought them when you weren't in debt or picked them up as hidden parts
• a new superpower (which one exactly depends on how many times you've done this - the first time, it's the ability to throw a ranged attack using your mech's sword like how AC6's version of Moonlight works)

Oh, it also gives you a radar system that doesn't have to be installed on your mech, it's just inherent to your pilot

which frees up a shoulder slot/doesn't need to be included on your head part

[feral niche]

Freud vs Nineball…

[feral niche]

Awesome, so the cutscene is horrifying?

[serene kettle]

It's honestly pretty tame in hindsight, I just found it really disturbing when I was a little kid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZT52oR8Ts0

And it's notable that even here where it's implicitly a first person view from your pilot with other people in the room, you don't see another human being directly. There are two doctors implied to be standing over you, but they're outside of your immediate field of vision.

[feral niche]

Alright.

[feral niche]

So I don’t know Nineball nearly as well as Freud, but I at least know what they are.

[shrewd arrow]

AC 6 unintentionally undermines a common theme of AI in the AC series, and I love it.

[feral niche]

Which is?

[shrewd arrow]

||Kate//ALLMIND is the normal AC AI.||

AC 6 spoilers.

||Chatty is probably a better AI than Kate in every sense, and is a better pilot too, with the potential to succeed where Nineball//Kate fail||

[feral niche]

Ah, ok.

[shrewd arrow]

||Chatty can have human emotion and transcend the limitations of AI versus the indomitable human spirit, by having an indomitable human spirit||

[feral niche]

I couldn’t put Freud against White Glint because I don’t think he could contend with such speed.

[feral niche]

Indeed, indeed.

[late jay]

RiP sweet prince

[serene kettle]

I'm not actually convinced ||Chatty can transcend those things because Chatty gets wrecked (by a human) in every ending|| but you're definitely right that Chatty breaks the mold for standard depictions of AI in AC

[late jay]

Yea

[feral niche]

My AC pilot pulling a Lancer Iconoclast/Technophile and connecting with a custom AI.

[late jay]

Also I feel like his AC is meant to function like RRI's Weevil frames

Which are also AI driven as well if I remember correctly

Until Coral overrided their program

[shrewd arrow]

||We also wreck other humans. Just because he is not the protagonist doesn't mean he couldn't be, in a way we are told Nineball and Kate cannot be without a human merger.||

[serene kettle]

||Sure, but that's an absence of evidence situation. It's not conclusively thematically demonstrated that Chatty doesn't have that capability but it's not really demonstrated he does either||

||Closest we get is his seemingly genuine distress in the routes where Carla falls before he does||

[shrewd arrow]

||I don't think this is an intended read, to be clear. I think its a silly unintended consequence of a throwaway emotional tug on the player.||

||They wanted us to feel for Chatty in a way that was unexpected, and it leads to weird lore implications I doubt they thought of.||

||I think we also hear Chatty respond to humor in a way that also throws Carla, at least once?||

||A friend posited, without evidence, Chatty is different because of coral integration.||

[late jay]

https://tenor.com/view/redacted-gif-16060359549892210302

[serene kettle]

lol oh no

Anyway I guess the other exception I might point out is Chief from ACV, who plays a clear rival role with a lot of personality, despite being a sadistic monster.

[shrewd arrow]

Ooo, you are right!

I need to write a paper about how AI represents bureaucracy in Armored Core as a personified entity, and how Chatty -- Chief -- Nineballmind represent different important narrative approaches to discussing what makes better or worse bureaus.

[serene kettle]

Speaking of which it never really appears onscreen but the PCA Central System is also an AI

[shrewd arrow]

Och, that is right! Thats another great example!

[radiant birch]

and it has a very mechanical, almost flowchart-based pattern of threat response based on what we hear

[serene kettle]

yeah

It's among the most overtly bureaucratic things we see yeah

though on consideration, we never "see" it but it might well be what's managing most of the enemies at Watchpoint Alpha, including the Enforcer

they don't seem to be manned

[shrewd arrow]

Aye. And its very much the epitome of what a "failed bureau" looks like in some theories on bureaucracy.

[serene kettle]

Also phase 1 of the CEL-240 (phase 2 seems to be the coral taking over command though)

[radiant birch]

the PCA generally seems to be very, like, cold blunt-force bureaucracy

even the human pilots are operating on what seems to be a rigidly defined codebook

and of course the whole thing collapses in the face of an outside context problem (namely, us 😁 )

[paper ferry]

Very thematic how they are always “punching down” as seen with their warships and their unprotected bridges

[radiant birch]

and with that i'm gonna indulge myself in dropping my favorite AC6 meme i've made: AC6 from the PCA's perspective

[paper ferry]

I love that pilot’s dialogue actually

Both the PCA and ALLMIND are similar in that they really don’t know what to do when a plan goes even slightly awry

[radiant birch]

man. who was original Raven, anyway? why did they leak the info about remnant coral to the corporations?
the Raven is supposed to be a "symbol of resolve" representing following one's convictions, so what convictions were they following? what was Branch up to?

...it's not a Fromsoft game if you don't have a million questions afterward

[paper ferry]

Especially since Branch was on Arquebus’ payroll during Defend the Dam Complex

Though one thing is for certain

Nightfall Raven is Karl Urban

[serene kettle]

https://www.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/comments/1ghr5xy/chief_still_remains_the_most_charismatic_ac/ I had a devil of a time finding any video evidence for Chief to share with the class lol

so reddit link it is

He loves humans! Finds them super fascinating. He especially loves hurting them.

[shrewd arrow]

Branch seems to be opposed to the goals of the PCA, which always lead me to assume they wanted to explore the possibilities of coral.

[radiant birch]

let the corporations do the dirty work of digging it up and take the brunt of the PCA's wrath, while they advance their interests under the guise of mercenary work

i can see it for sure

[paper ferry]

https://youtu.be/hEQTFXMQU7I?si=z4kgO8n_dChJRrhb

[radiant birch]

i will allow it bc it's Karl Urban

i know it's the game's tagline but the idea of NIGHTFALL Raven being the one to say "feed the fire, let the last cinders burn" is really interesting in the context of the "Branch is pro-Coral" theory

[paper ferry]

That was the tagline for the game in general though

It’s on the back of the box

[shrewd arrow]

Its important to that each Raven represents resolve towards doing something or fighting something,

so Raven also represents the idea of dedication to seeing something through.

Whether that is pro or anti coral, its about that decision to act.

[serene kettle]

Wake up, samurai

[radiant birch]

i know it's the game's tagline but

😛

yeah i know it's probably just a marketing thing

but playing with the idea is fun

[paper ferry]

I forget sometimes that there are Rubicon-based corps that are supporting the RLF, BAWS and Elcano.

[radiant birch]

ye

a lot more corps in play than just the Big Two

[paper ferry]

BAWS made the first ACs in this continuity

So they predate the RRI and have survived past the Fires

[serene kettle]

is there any strong evidence Elcano's Rubicon-based beyond them supplying parts to the RLF? I won't dismiss it out of hand but they could just as easily just be another competitor like Furlong that sees supplying them as an easy way to inconvenience their rivals in Arquebus and Balam

and we don't see their facilities like we do BAWS

[shrewd arrow]

The corporate shell game in AC 6 is really well done. Companies that are fronts for parent companies, smaller companies trying to work against parent companies, etc.

[serene kettle]

yeah it's not so complex you get lost but there's a little more Nuance than AC1's very very simple setup

[shrewd arrow]

Isn't there a story path where Elcano either gets coopted by the liberation front of is just revealed to basically be them?

[paper ferry]

Besides them using stolen Arquebus data to make Steel Haze Ortus? Not really. But they are specifically invested in supporting the RLF

[serene kettle]

Where you really just have Chrome (plus Chemical-Dyne) and Murakumo, with each having a city government they back (Isaac City for Chrome, Gal City for Murakumo) and a terrorist organization they bankroll as deniable ops (Imminent Storm for Chrome, STRUGGLE for Murakumo)

the main reason that message took so long was blanking on Imminent Storm's name and having to track down that info lol

[shrewd arrow]

"Nineballmind" is genius of me, by the way, and we should all bask in my cleverness.

[winter sigil]

allmind will never be balli-

[radiant birch]

there's a lot to be said for realistic complexity in corporate structure and politics, but there is also something kind of interesting in "here, choose between two factions that are so equally shitty that they're literally symmetrical"

[serene kettle]

Okay I know I wasn't crazy thinking Elcano was offworld. It doesn't say that beyond a shadow of a doubt but does kind of imply it

[serene kettle]

They are symmetrical in this way but of the two Murakumo is absolutely the darker shade of black, as it were

Chrome is awful but their bioweapon experiments are basically of the making giant monsters strain, while Murakumo is actively abducting people to vivisect for Human PLUS experimentation. Plus when their backs are against a wall, Chrome's desperation move is in the realm of conventional warfare (activating a bunch of super-MTs to try to turn the tide) while Murakumo...starts priming up the same Kill Sat that caused the Great Destruction, to try to kill everyone in a "taking you with me" sort of way.

[radiant birch]

damn

[serene kettle]

It is kind of funny that just because of the scale of how armored core works, "Bioweapons Research" doesn't mean "we're gonna make a deadly virus", it means "we're going to be making kaiju that can pick a fight with mechs on even terms"

[paper ferry]

Armored Core: Pacific Rim

[serene kettle]

Anytime “bioweapons” shows up in a mission briefing it’s giant bugs lol

(The Disorder Units from AC2 are also biological but are never called bioweapons afaik)

Btw if you play Oldgen, triple check that the head you’re using has a biosensor for any mission with bioweapons, you need one to lock onto them

If it’s AC2 specifically just don’t leave home without a biosensor, disorder units are really common enemies

the final mission is tricky enough without being unable to lock onto the final boss, let me tell you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qtxDBoVz8Y I really like this mission though

it's very funny that they give you the entire payment as an advance

"We are desperate and know this is a suicide mission. But like if nobody does it we all die, so."

[radiant birch]

"look, we want you to have any chance of success, at all, please just trick out your AC to your heart's content"

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[radiant birch]

i'm really enjoying all of the incredibly Gundam sound effects here

[serene kettle]

AC2 is honestly one of the more out-there AC plots in general if you take a step back and look at it

it's set on mars, there are remnants of a long-extinct martian civilization, Phobos turns out to be an alien space station...

The corporate conflict gets totally derailed by Earth's Government stepping in and right as they're primed to be the new villains that gets derailed by their black ops team going rogue

It's like if the PCA just won in AC6 but then Sulla suddenly reappeared out of nowhere as the main villain

[winter sigil]

that would kinda fuck

[shrewd arrow]

I wish we could get PCA chassis. Even just as "You cannot customize it"

I love the Ekdromoi design so much.

[feral niche]

I feel that way about the PCA and Ghost machines.

[shrewd arrow]

Are the PCA villains? The only evil thing I can remember them doing is not helping the survivors of the fires.

That is a choice I deem villainous, to be clear, but otherwise they are more like a security detail, no?

[feral niche]

They isolate Rubicon, they are enemies of the RLF iirc.

Could be wrong though.

[ember carbon]

Depends on your point of view? But I would say objectively they are at least better then the corps

[shrewd arrow]

I think they target the RLF after the corps activate the PCA, but I could be wrong.

[feral niche]

Objectively, yes but I think they are still an opponent to RLF.

[serene kettle]

Yeah I think I misspoke in characterizing the LCC in AC2 as villains in and of themselves

they're antagonistic but their main motivation is just bringing an end to the wild west ass corporate violence and reckless mercenary usage on mars

[ember carbon]

I can't remember if we ever see PCA and RLF come into conflict directly, I think there is the one mission where they are investigating the one armory supplying the RLF?

[winter sigil]

a particularly negative take on the PCA is that it would serve their purposes very well if everyone left on Rubicon shut up and died off

[shrewd arrow]

Yes!

[shrewd arrow]

Ooo, yes. Antagonist is a good word.

Antagonist over villain.

[feral niche]

They don’t want coral spread, but coral is also important to Rubiconian society (at least some parts).

[shrewd arrow]

I nod Though that relationship is also potentially colonial and fraught itself.

[serene kettle]

It's actually funny, there's a mission the LCC gives you which is just a milk run security detail to guard the spaceport while they shuttle in a VIP to be their primary administrator of a pacified Mars, and the briefing gloats a little that you should be grateful for one last paycheck since mercenary work is about to dry up big time.

That's when things go sideways, obviously.

[feral niche]

They are less a helper and more a quarantine through violence.

It blocks not only outside harm but outside help as well. We don’t know if they even offer any sort of help to the Rubiconians.

[serene kettle]

As part of the LCC reorganization, the new director is coming from
Earth. We'll arrive at Vihul Spaceport within a couple of days. Your
job is to guard the Spaceport.

Of course there's no one left to resist us, but still we must display
our power to the new director. In other words, this is a
demonstration.

All you are required to do is wait along the perimeter of the airport.
We're paying you just to sit there. Soon all Ravens will be under LCC's
command. This is your last job.

The director will be escorted by the Special Forces, do not get in the
way. That is all. ```

[feral niche]

Besides ‘preventing corporate control’.

[shrewd arrow]

Mhm. My biggest criticism is that I'm unsure if they offered aid to Rubiconians willing to leave, or if they just decided they all needed to be quarantined as a safety measure.

[feral niche]

Of course we don’t have much concrete evidence for it, but estimated guesses based on human nature and we don’t hear to the alternative.

[shrewd arrow]

I nod There are no clear cut moral organizations or operators in AC 6, to its benefit.

[serene kettle]

yeah, RLF is probably closest to "feeling like" the good guys but a lot of that is just underdog bias

and they're not arquebus, so

[shrewd arrow]

Mhm. Their treatment of the Coral is their big flaw.

[feral niche]

I mean… they do have a cool Ninja…

Who is, apparently, a really good pilot.

[shrewd arrow]

I view Ayre as ethically and morally murky as well.

Very much the Cassie of AC 6 (Animorphs reference)

[feral niche]

It’s been a while, is that the alien voice the one kid gets in their head?

[serene kettle]

I see you

[serene kettle]

No, Cassie is one of the kids

[feral niche]

Got it, not read in a long time and I remember little.

[serene kettle]

She tends to be the moral center of the group, generally speaking, but ultimately she makes dubious decisions with the rest of them

[feral niche]

Fair enough.

[feral niche]

Doesn’t she at least warn you of whenever the coral starts to surge in that ||mine mission||?

[shrewd arrow]

Ayre is put in this position as well. As a moral compass in the story, that role means that we treat her as "responsible" for the immoral or dubious choices she condones or suggests.

[feral niche]

True.

[radiant birch]

I just like how on board she is with the mercenary life

"let's make lots of money on this mission, Raven 😌 "

[polar osprey]

Ayre my beloved

[shrewd arrow]

Listen, your pastoral life is interrupted by an alien who lets you ride along on a whirlwind adventure beyond all you knew.

I blame no valley girl who says yes.

Ayre is one (embodied) from having coveralls or blue jeans.

[feral niche]

What if coral powered taser?

[shrewd arrow]

Isn't that the yo-yo?

[feral niche]

Lol, no we do actually have a taser/stun gun.

[radiant birch]

Stun baton Coral variant

[feral niche]

Just the coral oscillator blade but it shocks.

[shrewd arrow]

Did they ever tune down the stun on the yoyo?

[feral niche]

No clue.

[shrewd arrow]

I should boot up and test my melee tetrapod again.

[feral niche]

Wish I could play.

[shrewd arrow]

Plasma Thrower had micro-stagger in a weird way.

[feral niche]

About the extent I told my friend was some small things about how the game plays and ‘look everywhere, the game has plenty of secrets’.

I hope to watch their play through.

[paper ferry]

I need to go back and find some of the data files I missed

The STV sketches and such

[feral niche]

You have to choose an AC game to be a generic AC merc in, which one?

[polar osprey]

i'd pick ACFA but if i'm a generic i'd be put in an AC which is not good

probably AC6 knowing that keeping myself out of the main conflict has a good chance to net me some chill

[paper ferry]

Well, I've only played AC6, so...

[feral niche]

‘I would just not be there.’

[paper ferry]

I'd probably be like Freud and just having fun with it

[feral niche]

I’ve only watched AC6 in detail, I know only a small bit of the others.

[feral niche]

Ironically this would probably be most of us if we were ‘generic ac pilot’ in AC6.

[polar osprey]

honestly even if i got to be in a NEXT ACFA is still a dogshit pick

[feral niche]

From what I’ve seen of the landscape, yes.

[paper ferry]

I love barren wastelands

[feral niche]

Granted, AC6 consists of a world of still smoldering ash and snow so not that much better.

[paper ferry]

It's nicer to look at

[polar osprey]

straight up olding it, and by it, i mean my king

[feral niche]

What?

[polar osprey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RYTLF_yR0&t=85s

[feral niche]

Fair, but then there is the endings…

[polar osprey]

ONE HUNDRED MILLION

D O N E

[feral niche]

Later, if I remember to watch.

[paper ferry]

That music is far too happy for that scene

[polar osprey]

*There are still so many more lives to take. our journey is * j u s t b e g i n n i n g

we're just learning our numbers with Old King :D

[polar osprey]

TL;DR you and Old King team up to kill 100 million people