Whether you’re an AC rookie or have been behind the cockpit more times than you can count, everyone can use a quick refresher and guidance on how to attain Human PLUS status. Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon is the latest in the long-running mech combat series and while there’s plenty that’s brand new to the series, it doesn’t hurt to get a feel for the fundamentals.

　　Don’t hoard your COAM

　　Every mission you complete for Walter and the other handlers rewards you with the Rubiconian equivalent of cold, hard cash: COAM. COAM can be spent at the garage to purchase new AC parts and weapons and while it may be tempting to save it all for a rainy day, you’re actually better off using it as quickly as possible to get a broad assortment of AC gear to swap out during mission checkpoints. After all, you can’t buy new gear until you get back to the Garage, so you wouldn’t want to be stuck midway through a challenge sortie and not have the right weapon to bust through an enemy AC’s shields.

　　Can’t decide on what to upgrade?

　　If the choice of sixty different right-hand weapons is overwhelming on top of filling out all eleven assembly slots on your AC, it’s best to focus on just half of them to start: Arm weapons, Back Weapons, Legs, and Generator. These four slots will dictate your overall AC playstyle and other pieces like your Arms will dictate how heavy the Arm weapons you can wield and their tracking potential. Similarly, your Legs will affect overall AC weight but also the mobility on the battlefield. If you want to jump around and confuse your enemies, Reverse Joint legs are the way to go.

　　Destroy the Tester AC for easy cash

　　While Arena encounters are one of the fastest mission types to clear, the amount of COAM you get from a victory is pitiful compared to your average sortie. Even replaying an A-rank Arena fight only nets you 45,000 minus costs for AC repairs and ammunition. Instead, replay the Destroy the Tester AC mission that’s part of the first chapter of Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon. Not only will this one-on-one AC duel last one or two minutes tops, but you’ll earn up to 95,000 every time. Even after half an hour of clearing this mission, you’ll easily have enough for a full AC upgrade from head to toe and can become the victor of Operation Wallclimber you were always meant to be.

　　Generate your potential

　　Generators are the backbone of your AC and will determine everything from the EN it provides for boosting, the energy needed to run your AC in general, and energy weapon specializations. Most Armored Core VI players will focus on the first two but there’s a significant nuance to how your generator can handle your boosting playstyle. Two hidden AC parts that you’ll need to track down in missions are the unique donut-shaped Coral generators; IA-C01G: AORTA and OB-C03G: NGI 000. Both of these have a relatively long EN Recharge Delay and slow EN Recharge/Supply Recovery but come with something no other generator offers: a massive Post-Recovery EN Supply. After depleting your EN all the way down to zero, these can provide almost a full recovery of EN after a four-second charge delay. 

　　Prepare to break pulse barriers

　　Starting with the Chapter 1 boss affectionately called the ‘Death Roomba’ by Japanese AC players, some enemy AC and bosses will start the fight with a blue shield over their AP gauge. This is the indication of a pulse barrier and needs to be taken out before direct damage can be dealt. While the Garage pushes players towards picking up one of the handheld Pulse Guns that shoot out a stream of pulse bubbles that can disable enemy barriers, there are other weapons better suited for general purpose instead. Most left-hand melee weapons have a PA Interference level that shows how effective they are at busting those barriers, while plasma missile launchers can also do the trick.

　　Make the most of a staggered foe

　　Once you deal enough Impact damage to your foe, they’ll enter a brief stunned state while their stagger gauge glows bright red. In this instance, any weapon attack that hits the enemy will deal not only their own base damage but also an additional multiplier known as the Direct Hit Adjustment. When viewing a weapon in the Assembly menu, press the Triangle button (or equivalent button to Toggle Display) to view the DHA value just above the Recoil and Ammunition Cost specs. This is a percentage increase over the base damage when hitting an enemy that’s been staggered. While the MAJESTIC Bazooka might have a higher base Attack Power, the 44-141 JVLN ALPHA that’s unlocked later on in AC6 has a much higher Impact state as well as a massive 220% Direct Hit Adjustment. With a solid hit, you’re looking at dealing nearly 2,400 damage per shot, some of the highest single-hit damage from an Arm weapon in Armored Core VI.

　　Become a Master of Arena ASAP

　　Before you even complete the first chapter of Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, you’ll be granted the opportunity to get your feet wet in the Arena. These one-on-one battles against rival ACs are a great way to test the potential of your AC while also earning a bit of extra COAM while you’re at it. It’s the OST chips you earn from each first victory that should be the real motivator to train. In the OS Tuning menu, players can cash in their OST chips towards permanent passive bonuses to their AC performance and also unlock Expansions, consumable Pulse barriers that can yield additional defense maneuvers that can only be used 1-3 times per mission depending on the number of OST chips invested in the upgrade.

　　Some of the best ones to start with are the Control Tuning modules that grant an extra 3% damage increase to specific weapon types, the Direct Hit Modifier tuning program that grants 5% additional Direct Hit damage per rank, Boost Kick for an extra quick kick when you press L3 at the end of an assault boost to deal a significant amount of Impact, and just one of the four Core Expansions. Depending on your playstyle, the Assault Armor that cancels out incoming fire and deals a significant amount of Impact or Pulse Armor that directly increases AC defense should be the ones to go with. Just avoid the trap of investing in the Terminal Armor that kicks in when your AC hits 0; you’ll often get shot down mid-recovery. 

　　Now that you have a few new tips under your belt, you're ready to explore Rubicon and take on the Dosers and other rival factions that call Rubicon their home. Have any other tips you want to share? Leave them in the comments below so your fellow Gen 4's can get a headstart when Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon starts unlocking later today.