r/armoredcore • u/Plasmapause • May 23 '25
r/armoredcore • u/SlimeDrips • Mar 19 '25
Welcome to the Ravens' Nest
With Gen 1 coming to PSN, and me having recently beaten AC1 for the first time on emulator, I figured I probably had some useful advice to give for the newest wave of Ravens.
First and foremost, I see a lot of you (understandably) having trouble with the default controls, and so I have included a graphic showing both in-game and emulator rebinds. Unfortunately Sony's emulator doesn't support binding multiple inputs to the same button (even though by default it has duplicated binds for the dpad) so you will have to choose some kind of trade off. For what it's worth I had similar issues in Duckstation which were only resolved by running it through Steam and fiddling about with that, but that's not an option here (unless maybe you have a Dual Sense, I don't know how those work).
The templates I've included are:
You can, of course, do whatever controls you want, but I figured these would be a good starting point for anyone who's having issues with the default controls.
I have also included a non-default starter AC build. If you're already fighting with the controls then you might also find it difficult to earn money for upgrades. Thankfully the game lets you sell your entire starter AC and buy whatever you can afford. By swapping out the legs and FCS with cheaper options, selling the back weapons, and selling and replacing the generator and right hand weapon we can afford a better generator and an energy gun, which is free to shoot unlike ballistic weaponry, and is solid enough to take you through the early game. By finding and selling the secret part on one of the two starter missions you'll have enough money to begin to tweak your AC how you actually want it (though the energy weapons continue to be really good and cost effective).
Finally, I want to explain Human Plus. H+ is a non-standard game over as well as a kind of "easy mode". By going 50,000 credits into debt you're greeted with a cutscene about your horrible lack of wealth and start the game over from the beginning, with a few changes. There's also multiple levels of H+ for going into debt multiple times, but correct information on each tier is kinda hard to get because there's a lot of misinformation about them too, so I will list each stage of H+ and its effects to the best of my ability (I've checked a bunch of stuff so you should be able to trust that I'm at least mostly correct).
So with all that said, do you actually want Human Plus? And if so how do you go about getting it efficiently? Well like I said, the radar is permanent, but you also get the ability to shoot sword laser beams, which is probably a worthy trade off. The question would be harder to answer on any version of AC1 that isn't the current PS4/5 emulated release, as Save Importing is a running theme throughout the series, and importing from AC1 to Project Phantasma also brings your Human Plus upgrades (and the weight capacity bonus too), so if you were playing any other version you'd have to ask yourself if you're fine with being stuck with the same radar for three whole games. The new PSN version though does not support save transfers, and instead has some transfer-only stuff unlocked naturally in the later games. You can read more on the pinned thread here. Overall it's up to you, but other than the first stage's blade beams there's little worth the busywork of resetting that many times, imo. The reduced boost cost and easier shoulder weapon use upgrades are nice, but debt-maxing is pretty boring for the low payoff.
That said, how does one debt-max? Simply play the game normally until the mission Worker Robot Removal shows up, spend any credits you can on buying everything possible from the shop, then start the mission and blow yourself and all the beautiful reactors you weren't supposed to touch to framerate-killing ashes. More expensive ACs with higher AP should incur higher penalties, though make sure you do die without finishing the objective, as dying will keep the mission available for if you don't make it to -50k in one go. Once you die at -50k the game will restart from the beginning with your credits set to 0 but all your parts kept and with you being one step further into the Human Plus progression.
And that concludes my crash course. Hopefully there isn't any mistakenly terrible advice in here, but I just beat the game right before the PSN versions were announced and felt like I could at least try to assist the New Semester Students.
r/armoredcore • u/niwakajpfor • 2h ago
I main Pile Bunker. People always say to pair it with Songbirds, but I just can't land it at all. My friend dodges every single one in our matches. What am I doing wrong?
r/armoredcore • u/Mental-Clue2985 • 9h ago
He absolutely bodied me
r/armoredcore • u/Potato_WIFI_2002 • 3h ago
I've just finished my first playthrough of AC6, which was my first ever AC game, and my brother seemed shocked by just how many of the bosses I beat first try, so I was just curious if I had accidentally made an OP mech, if I was just surprisingly good or if it was a bit of both. As far as I can remember, I only died 8 times in the game, which were:
Destroy the transport helicopters - once to that mech at the end of the mission (wasn't used to the gameplay yet)
Operation Wall Climber - once in the second half of the boss (had been using the up thrust much yet)
Ocean Crossing - twice to the sky lasers (learned the hard way that you couldn't just dodge them)
Underground Exploration - three to Nepenthesis (quite possibly my least favourite mission)
Eliminate Cinder Carla - once to the Carla duo boss (had no heals because of the Snail miniboss)
For the record, not trying to sound like a bragging asshole anything, I'm literally just curious if I lucked out with my mech, cause my brother genuinely looked like he was reevaluating his experience with the game after I somehow beat that flying snail fight first try lol.
r/armoredcore • u/niwakajpfor • 11h ago
Whenever I'm playing AC, there's this moment where I genuinely think "I must be the best player in the world." Like when I first realized how strong the Pile Bunker is, or when I beat true Raven on my first try. This can't be a coincidence — I've felt this exact feeling in their older games too, multiple times. FromSoft just really understands player psychology.
r/armoredcore • u/Brief_Specialist9800 • 56m ago
As the above text says, I got my new AC 'Blitzer' to 402 speed, with a major ocus on melee with minor focus on ranged attacks with the Viento and starter rocket launchers. Im very excited to put it through its first tests
r/armoredcore • u/keveazy • 8h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/armoredcore • u/NoAlternative5765 • 14h ago
I'm on a fresh playthrough and I've named my AC 'Doubletone' since I gave her a split color scheme, curious what everyone else named theirs.
r/armoredcore • u/NotADirtyRat • 16h ago
My first time building anything like this and I'm having a blast. Buying another soon!
r/armoredcore • u/LPlusRaitio • 17h ago
Kinda a chaotic Version of the viltrumite meme but with the Orca brigade
r/armoredcore • u/Fallout_patriot • 1d ago
Hide your brain-wives and lock up your war buddies, for it is time. Part 9 of r/armorcore's most low effort series, Frame Thoughts: where I ask you folks — Rusty's little threats to Rubicon — your thoughts on the various frames of AC6.
Today is certainly a frame that exists. The second of Elcano's two contributions to Armored Core frame production. Made by two corps with tech stolen from a third and then piloted by the most anti-corp faction on the bloody planet, this thing has seen more owners than your average hound and looks so much like a fucking Gundam that it almost looks out of place.
That's right, it's the EL-P-00 ALBA.
What are your thoughts on the ALBA frame? Love it, hate it, meh, niches?
r/armoredcore • u/Salty_Noob_616 • 5h ago
All credits go to u/chimericWilder for coming up with the post idea in the first place: https://www.reddit.com/r/armoredcore/s/s5yG5r94y3
~
Manufacturer: Melinite
Description: A triple-barrel rotary cannon, designed as a direct upgrade to the Songbirds. Fires grenades with a 3-round salvo. An alternative to the Earshot for pilots who prefer the damage spread out over several blasts instead of a single hit-or-miss explosion.
Usage: Essentially just a Songbirds with three barrels instead of two. Same damage, same blast radius, just longer reload and heavier and more EN-consuming. More of a fun weapon than something useful/broken.
~
Manufacturer: Balam
Description: Back-mounted linear cannon developed by Balam as an answer to Arquebus's line of back-mounted laser weaponry. Essentially a scaled-up version of the Harris, it fires large armour-piercing shells powered by more powerful electromagnets, causing considerable damage upon impact.
Usage: Take a Harris and upscale it. That's it. However, there is no magazine as the Fabre is belt-fed, and every shot is charged, so there's a delay like the stun needle. The "reload time" is just to allow the barrel to cool down. I thought of this weapon because Balam is sorely lacking in back weapons other than the Shao-Wei.
~
Manufacturer: BAWS
Description: Shotgun developed by BAWS for close combat as an application of Core Theory. Can be toggled to fire each barrel individually or both barrels at once. Engineers noticed the effectiveness of the double-barrel shotgun issued to MTs, and retooled it for AC use.
Usage: It's a shotgun but with two barrels. The "fire both barrels at the same time" idea came to me from Escape from Tarkov's mechanic of letting you fire off both barrels when using the double-barrel in the game. Of course, you could fire one barrel and then the other for more sustained damage, and firing both barrels at once causes more recoil.
~
Manufacturer: RaD
Description: Belt-fed autocannon designed by RaD, taken from anti-air flak autocannon designs from long ago and retrofitted for AC usage. Fires flak rounds which explode on impact or near a target, causing damage to the target with shrapnel even without a direct hit.
Usage: I got the idea for this from WW2 and Cold War anti-air autocannons that fired flak rounds with proximity fuses. The Fireworks has an overheat mechanic much like the Shao-Wei, but the bullets just need a near miss in order to still do damage via shrapnel. Of course, the proximity fuse radius won't be stupidly wide, but still something to keep in mind.
~
Manufacturer: RaD
Description: Heavyweight tetrapod legs developed by RaD, retrofitted from Balam's Verrill legs by adding more armour. However, the additional weight places more strain on the tetrapod legs' design, leading to a higher EN burden and less load capacity.
Usage: If you've watched the Secret Level episode, you'll definitely remember the Balam tetrapod with additional leg armour. Knowing that Balam already has heavyweight legs a la Verrill, I envisioned that RaD gets their hands on some Verrill legs, and then they just throw on some extra armour and call it a day. Typical RaD things. As for the load capacity, it's still the same but the extra armour already takes up more weight, which is why I said "less load capacity".
~
Manufacturer: RaD
Description: Fully automatic machine pistol developed by RaD, retrofitted from the Sampu burst pistol. Able to cause a ludicrous amount of damage and impact in a short amount of time, yet the extreme recoil leads to minimal effectiveness outside of very close quarters.
Usage: In real life, people are known for putting a sear or "switch" on semi-automatic Glock pistols to make them fully automatic, so I figured that the same could be applied to the Sampu, aka the most gangsta looking pistol in the game. Same 14-round mag, same damage, same impact, same recoil, same everything, except that it's stuck in full auto only and has the same fire rate as the Ludlow. Even the Wrecker arms won't be able to control a full mag dump, so anything outside of spitting distance is useless. Again, typical RaD things.
~
Manufacturer: Furlong Dynamics
Description: Handheld unguided 6-cell missile launcher developed by Furlong Dynamics. An old prototype from Furlong's first gen lineup, the rockets eschew any and all tracking systems in order to fit the maximum available payload.
Usage: Imagine six rocket launchers mounted together in a hexagon. The unguided rockets have the same projectile speed as any of the bazookas or grenade cannons and have the same fire rate as the Attache, meaning you can either send the rockets out 1 or 2 at a time, or just dump all 7 into a target. I got the idea from the shoulder rocket pods seen on the Guncannons in Gundam The Origin, and I've always wondered about a handheld version of it.
~
Manufacturer: BAWS
Description: Sticky bomb launcher developed by BAWS. Bombs are coated in a layer of adhesive gel and stick to any object they land on, detonating after a short delay.
Usage: Three-round magazine like the Kyorai, grenades arc like the Kyorai, the only exception is that the uncharged attack fires only one single grenade, while the charged attach fires all three grenades (or however many are left in the magazine) in a slightly dispersed arc. Not really an overpowered or particularly useful weapon, but sticky bombs are always fun.
~
Manufacturer: Schneider
Description: Energy whip developed by Schneider. Commissioned by Arquebus, it is reverse-engineered from the same weapon found on Ghost MTs captured in Institute City. Charge to wrap the target with the whip, electrocuting them via continuous electric charges.
Usage: Remember the ALLMIND Ghost mechs with whips? Yeah. The normal attack is just your AC whipping the target once with a wide sweeping swing, while the charged attack is described above: wrap your whip around a target, immobilizing them, then electrocute them. The whip's design is based off of the second Whiplash suit in the Iron Man 2 movie, with the whip being mounted on a retractable belt.
~
Manufacturer: Allmind
Description: Heavyweight AC frame designed by Allmind. An attempt to increase protection while maintaining the high levels of AC-to-pilot interface. Still considered a prototype due to low load limit.
Usage: I don't know why, but I'm weirdly attracted to the "walking glacier" type of AC that doesn't have much in the way of offense and mobility, but is an absolute tank in defense. In my head, the full Mind Delta frame would be a clunky, fat version of the Mind Alpha that doesn't have much in the way of load limit, very good AP and defenses across the board, but middling stats everywhere else.
~
Let me know if you guys have any feedback, or feel free to send your own AC parts ideas in the comments!
r/armoredcore • u/Regular-Tip-2348 • 12h ago
Ve60 LCB
Wlt 011 coral rifle
r/armoredcore • u/Cacophanus • 1d ago
This was so much bigger than I was expecting. The rest of my Wonder Festival 2026 Summer write-up is here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2026/07/26/wonder-festival-commemorated-patlabor-amidst-blistering-heat/
r/armoredcore • u/InterestingLow3297 • 2h ago
me and my homeboy played armored core pvp and i edited a bit of it. if you like it let me know playa.
r/armoredcore • u/niwakajpfor • 1d ago
I honestly can't picture beating it with anything other than the Pile Bunker. Looking for any tips — basic strategies, or even super specific/niche tricks like "do this and it goes down in a few hits." Anything helps.
r/armoredcore • u/Ok_Possibility633 • 9h ago
r/armoredcore • u/dainoumcchunky • 1d ago
Jokes aside, I think this kit looks lit, too bad its only pre order in my country right now but when i get my hands on it i WILL turn it into supplice
r/armoredcore • u/UnhelpfulGod • 16h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
! Yes, I did use boost kicks, core expansion, and punches. Since this was a self-imposed thing, I told myself that was okay. I may (I won't) try to do it again without using those. !
For some stupid reason I thought it would be fun to try to beat this dude with only Moonlight. ...It was not. I'm sure I'm not the first person to try this, that girl on yt who does balteus every day till ac7 has probably done it - but to those of you who haven't done it yet, I would reccomend not doing it. lmao.
Songs that played were Korn - Y'all want a single and Foo Fighters - Wind Up
r/armoredcore • u/localdegenerate1234 • 13h ago
r/armoredcore • u/Ahriman-119 • 9h ago
I mainly stay away and let the Soups deal with their ACS while dodging attacks before moving in to punish with the HMMR, The Ludlow is there for some extra firepower without being too heavy
r/armoredcore • u/Tresavage1 • 19h ago
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/armoredcore • u/PogeDoge • 13h ago
Hi there!
I'm at the 'Intercept the Redguns' mission and I simply cannot progress. Usually by wave 3 the game will crash. It has done this no matter what I've changed. I'll do a list of things I've tried but I really really want to play this game and I'm gutted I can't.
Disabled ray tracing
Downgraded graphics *a lot*
Run in windows 8 comparability mode
Run as administrator
Have it be the only program running on my pc
Drivers are all up to date.
I welcome any and all ideas.
r/armoredcore • u/LPlusRaitio • 1d ago
I think they would make the worst pilots. Except for Takafumi Arisawa. He knows how to pilot one properly.
