Bandai Namco and FromSoftware finally released Armored Core 6 on August 25, and it certainly delivers on the experience that was anticipated by many players. This comes as both a good thing and a bad thing because it turns out, the game can actually be pretty challenging at times. For players who aren’t used to Soulslike games or the Armored Core franchise, it can certainly be a hefty learning curve..
While that learning curve will naturally ease over time, there are still a few things to pay attention to early on in the game that will make your life much easier as you get further down the line. Here are six tips for beginners to help you survive Armored Core 6.
Personalize Your AC Build to Your Style
The core of Armored Core is nothing if not your AC itself, more than just in name. How you play the game will be entirely dependent on the way that you build your AC, and there are countless different ways to make it your own through the different parts in the shop.
You can focus your build on dealing heavy damage, but you’d have to balance that out with how much your AC weighs and how much power is being drawn from its generator. Just the same, you can make your AC incredibly light and nimble, but just know that you likely won’t be doing much damage overall and you’re gonna struggle in some combat situations.
You have to spend time understanding the way that each part will alter the way the AC plays, and buying the parts that will change your mech to fit your build is going to be a huge help to you overall. The interface provides you with an almost-overwhelming amount of information about how much each part will affect each system, so you can really fine tune your build to your play style.
Save COAM Where You Can
This definitely goes hand in hand with making sure your build fits the style that you play, because without COAM, you won’t be able to purchase the upgrades you need to make your AC your own. It’s probably not a good idea to buy every part for the sake of having it, because if you start wanting a particular kind of build, you might not be able to afford to get what you need.
Make sure to check each mission before you start it and see what kind of bonus pay is offered as well. Some missions will tell you that if you take out enough of the enemy defenses that aren’t mandatory for the mission, then you’ll receive bonus pay for your work. Also try to mind how much damage you take and ammo you use over the course of each mission if you can; it costs COAM at the end of every level.
Pay Attention to Audio Cues
If there is one thing for certain about Armored Core 6, it’s that there is a lot going on at all times. Even the sounds can get overwhelming in some situations, but if you know what to listen for, those sounds can serve as a huge advantage to you during your gameplay.
Pay attention to what sounds play when different things occur on screen. In time, you’ll be able to pick out which sounds mean that you’re getting targeted from which sounds mean that your rockets are back up and ready to fire again. The more you play the game, the more you’ll come to recognize these things without even knowing it, but you can give yourself an edge if you try to learn them early on.
Learn Your Enemies Before You Move In
In a fast-paced game like this one, you’ve got to be able to slow things down based on what patterns you can recognize so that you don’t find yourself getting surprised by an enemy’s attacks. This is especially helpful on boss fights because you won’t be guessing as to how many times they’re going to strike before you can move in or wondering why you’re not doing as much damage as you expected.
This is also gonna come in handy if you’re just making your way through smaller enemies. If you know how many shots it takes from each of your weapons to take down even the smaller of the hostiles, you’re going to be able to cut through swarms of MTs like you’ve got it down to a science. You can play around with what weapons do what sort of damage, and figure out some of the best weapon combos for certain enemies.
Be Mindful of Your Ammunition
It can be really easy to get lost in just how much is going on at any given time while you’re playing Armored Core 6, but one thing to always make sure you know is how much ammo you’ve got left. Your ammo is shown on the bottom right corner of the screen, and you also get an indicator showing you your cooldowns for each weapon, helping you time your moves to step in to attack and retreat when necessary.
As you get lower and lower in ammo, the AI of your AC will inform you of how much you’ve got left, so just take note of it once you hear it. Don’t just lay on the trigger because you want to send as much lead downrange as possible, but conserve what you’ve got and use it sparingly. That way, you can also save that little bit of extra COAM at the end of the mission.
Take Death as a Learning Experience
As a beginner player of both Armored Core games and FromSoftware games, the one thing I made sure to expect going into the game was that I was going to die, and often. Anticipate seeing that Game Over screen a hundred times, because the game is dead-set on making you learn how it wants you to play.
Armored Core 6 introduces you to the game with an absolutely brutal experience in the form of a certain infamous helicopter, and right off the bat you’re made aware of one fact: This is gonna hurt. Fortunately, the price you have to pay is not nearly as high as it could be, because the loading screen for the game (at least on Xbox Series S) is shockingly fast, allowing me to jump right back into the blender to my heart’s content.
Instead of taking all those deaths as a reason to stop playing the game in the first place, try to stay open-minded and learn from each one. Try to understand just why an attack went the direction it did, or if there was any indication of what was going to happen before it happened. After a while of doing that, you’ll take each restart as a challenge to get back into, rather than some self-inflicted punishment.
Armored Core 6 is a delightfully challenging and rewarding experience when you really get into it. If you can get past the initial lumps and bumps of FromSoftware’s newest title, there’s something to enjoy for everyone. You’ll find yourself faced with enemies so massive it doesn’t feel like there’s a chance you could do anything to stop them, only to soon be standing atop their wreckage with your handler confidently praising you from in your ear. It’s just you and your AC against the world.
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