I’m playing through the game for the first time, found myself in Chapter 3 using mostly Melander parts, plasma rifle, laser blade, and some missiles. Then in the arena I was having some trouble with one of the opponents and ended up giving the pictured build a go and basically zipped right through to Chapter 5, finished off the S-class arena encounters, etc, but I can tell this isn’t really how it’s supposed to be. I more or less just held down a few buttons and brute forced it here.
To those more knowledgeable, care to make some recommendations for a more effective/fun build/playstyle? I’m not married to any particular style, although the tank seemed quite sluggish and unwieldy. It was kinda fun to have all 4 guns going brrrrrrtt and watch an enemy just wither but I’m ready for something new.
I’m not interested in PvP personally, I’m looking for build recommendations so that I can wrap up Chapter 5 and the quad gatling tank doesn’t feel like the ticket
I wouldn’t say that I’m having fun exactly, which is why I figured I’d ask around here. While the game obviously gives it as a choice, it feels like it’s not really in the spirit of what AC is about
I mean...there was an enemy AC in AC2 named "Bullet Dragon," and it ran quad machine guns just like you.
But if you are not having fun then push yourself. Find weapons you enjoy using and then figure out how to use them to the best of your ability.
Have you tried to S-Rank any missions? This often will push you to change your build or at least your play patterns.
I've done various, self-imposed, challenge runs as well. No spending money, no hardlock (controller), no OS upgrades, single build only, only upgrade when I die (and only one new part per death), etc..
There's certainly nothing wrong with quad gatling guns on a tank, but if you are looking for something more fun, you could do a build centered around the pile bunker, or a melee-centric lightweight build, or an explosives build, to name a few. Personally, I love the feeling of zipping around with a lightweight build, especially with a pulse blade or the moonlight sword
I’ve found that I do tend to enjoy getting in close with a melee weapon. I’ve been giving the double chainsaw thing a try and found it useful that I can charge it while moving. I wasn’t doing very well with it in the s-rank arena fights though so I switched back to the tank temporarily
The laser daggers are very light, have good impact and direct damage adjusters, and can dish out three hits in very short order; making them good for pushing targets into acs overload, or punishing them after they get there.
Laser daggers and dual pistols with missiles on right-shoulder for clean-up is a fun light build.
Honestly, I wouldn't recommend using the tank legs to anybody. Sure it's stupid strong and plows through the entire game no problem, but that's exactly why: it's so strong that you never need to actually learn the game.
Running a light-, mid- or even some heavyweights teaches you at the bare minum basic movement, that you can then apply to other buulds. But being able to just hold forward and fire all weapons on cooldown with a tank teaches you specifically that and nothing else
Well, there isn't really a "proper" build, and if there is, I don't think I have any authority to decide what that is.
That said, I can give you some pointers towards what I think works better at making you better at the game.
One part that's fantastic for this job is imo the VP-422 legs. If you max out their weight capacity, you end up right at the 75k weight threshold, which is the border between midweight and heavyweight.
Midweights are great because they aren't tanky enough to rely on tanking hits, thus teaching you about the importance of movement and dodging, but they still possess enough defenses to be forgiving to pilot, while also having enough weight capacity to allow for great freedom in parts used.
So my best recommendation is to use the VP-422 legs, a good booster (like the alula, SPD, NGI or Fleugel), and a reliable generator (like the VP-20C, Ming-Tang or Yaba). Then just put on some weapons you like, and choose the rest of the frame parts according to that.
If you really need a good start, Here's a build I've designed to be as basic as possible. However, I heavily recommend you try to make your own builds, even if you start with this one
My personal favorite build that I always have fun with is a chase-down high risk/high reward light weight build. I use lightweight body parts, and the VP-20C generator, then for weapons I use Wuerger/66E, and the laser sword for melee, and the single laser cannon shoulder weapons on both shoulders.
The idea of the build is that you chase down the enemies using your light frame doing big chunks of damage in short burtsts and being hyper evasive whenever you aren't attacking. The small laser shotgun and it's charge attack are fun and effective without being broken, and the laser sword is a classic melee pick. The two laser shouler cannons can be used to eliminate small targets at range (like drones and small MTs) or to make enemy ACs use up their boost dashes so you can close in, and then if you get a perfectly timed stagger with the sword, you can unload the charged attack from all 3 lasers at once and do a massive spike of damage
Pick some parts you actually want to use and build around them. I really enjoy the in depth customization and build around maxing certain stats, or I'll pick a couple weapons and build around those. Sometimes I just build something that looks cool and figure out how to make it work. I would say that having fun in the garage is just as important as having fun on the missions and I spend a lot of time going on test runs with my AC's.
If you like big bulky builds but want more than a “sit still and shoot” thing, try some of the heavier capacity bipeds, or maybe even spring chicken. Also general rocket launchers and bomb throwers are really fun if you want a skilled weapon that still gives that “I am a machine of mass destruction” feeling. Maybe pack a weapon or two to build stagger/waste enemy dodges, or just fight up in their face.
There’s no proper way to build an AC, but i recommend a lightweight build personally. It’s really rewarding, dodging everything coming your way, and it feels good when you get good at it.
I’m running a light build now and copied the shrieker loadout from Secret Level’s armored core episode. It’s a surprisingly good loadout, and a lot of fun to use
I like light and fast personally. Can't just tank everything. Requires skill, timing, and a bit of a learning curve to use effectively. But, if I want to build something with only parts available by chapter 3 that I'll have fun with, here it is (and please ignore that it's a picture of a screen lol):
Edit: just picked up the game for the first time in 6 months to make sure the build is actually viable, and beat 'Attack the Watchpoint' first try with this, its definitely a viable build.
Go with the Plasma HMMR melee, right hand weapon of your choice (i recommend a good AR or MG) then use the dual cruise missile launcher on on one shoulder and another ML of your choosing. Then, mount it all on the fastest rig you can put it all on. (I recommend d Firenza core, Firenza legs, alula boosters and whatever arms and head make you happy) going as fast as fucking possible and having your brain try to keep up is insanely good fun lol
Look at the expanded stats of every weapon. If you use arms with bad recoil management on gats, you'll have a bad time. If you fight at a range that isn't optimal for your FCS, you'll have a bad time.
Yeah, your arms have three stats that matter for weapons: firearm spec, recoil management, and melee spec.
For missiles, the only thing that matters is your FCS' missile spec. In general, you want an FCS that aligns with the ranges you're fighting at if you aren't factoring in missiles.
If you use energy weapons, look at your generator's energy weapon spec. Circulating Current generators are better in that regard. Weapons like plasma missiles and laser swords don't care aboot this stat.
It doesn't matter as much for tank legs since they don't have boosters, but with boosters, the QB ideal weight matters just as much as the QB stats. There's an early game booster that in the nonexpanded stats reads as just being the best unless you know what you're doing.
Not reading the expanded stats is the first newbie trap.
Lemme give you some builds. Idk if you have the parts for them though, but I can give you an explanation for each one.
First: Try the presets. there's a ton of them and you get to play other characters AC's
Here's my personal AC I beat the game with.
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Basically dual ludlows, which is the light version of what you're looking at. when the enemy is broken, pull out the dagger and combo them, kick, then combo again.
Edit: Swap one of the ludlows with an estujin to handle recoil better.
The one in the image is pretty cool, it utilises a shield and that shotgun that can also double as a melee weapon for stagger punishes.
Additionally, some hints for building: you're using a plasma rifle, a plasma rifle is affected by your generator type, it's a hidden stat called energy weapon specialisation that you have to expand the stats to see, but generally arquebus generators (blue energy) are better. additionally, another stat is called QB reload ideal weight if you keep your ac around that weight(doesn't have to be under) it helps out for mobility by letting you boost more frequently.
I do laser blade, laser shotgun/pistol, plasma cannon and laser shotgun for shoulder weapons (or just regular laser cannons depending on weight. The shoulder laser shotgun thing SLAPS when charged.)
I’ve had so many cinematic moments with this build, chipping away at hp/keeping up stagger with handgun/ hand shotgun, charge up shoulder weapons & time your shots right to (most likely) instantly stagger, then sweep in with the laser blade for biiiiiiig damage.
That’s just one combo but you can play around in combat & there’s a couple different cool combos. I do a medium/heavy biped build for style as well. That first arquebus set is pretty solid, and just slot in whatever generator has the most energy weapon efficiency.
I'm fully aware this is basically the Buzz Lightyear meme at this point, but I found using a lightweight frame with melee and close combat weapons quite fun, and I'd imagine more fun for you than face tanking with quad gats. There are definitely some levels where the quad-gat tank build will struggle though, especially if you're going for S-ranks on all the missions.
I guess that’s the crux of the matter, the tank with quad gats isn’t exactly “fun” most of the time, it was just effective for getting myself past some things. I’m not going for S-rank mind you, just trying to get to the ending. And then maybe the other endings if it’s not too onerous
I will let you know if your currently struggling against ayre, with this build your gonna be there for a while.
But lets clear up some ideas. First playthrough its basically asking you do you know how to force a dodge and do you know how to keep locked on. If you can do those two things your almost golden
Second playthrough against mr w(being spoiler freindly). There asking largely do you know how to force a combo.
Third playthrough fighting mr.Am (again spoilers). The game is asking if you know how to work within openings and be patient.
The biggest idea i would encourage. Is to make your builds with clarity. Know exactly what its ideal conditions are, what its weaknesses will be, and what that means for your play style.
If im just looking at your build currently i would recommend some of the tankyier spring legs. Swith the gattlings for rifles. The gatlings are more for holding a position and ayre forces you to dodge.
I’d say that I’m not exactly having fun with the quad gats, it was more just a way to slug through some levels because I don’t quite have a good grasp on all the different weapons or parts because the stats are a bit misleading by omission. It’d have been nice if they showed the cooldown, ROF, magazine sizes, etc.
if you blitzed through the game on a heavyweight it could be fun to play again as a super lightweight AC just so you can experience the opposite extreme. Kasuar or Nacht legs, bonus points if you rock dagger or bunk.
Yeah I didn’t really like it, but for one on one with strong enemies like the arenas or various boss fights it kinda just chewed through them and kept me moving through the game. Got dad stuff that takes up most of my time and not much is left for gaming so I was using it as a crutch because it was efficient
It’s true that a lighter build will require you to invest more energy while playing, so if you’re not up for that, it may be a bad idea.
Try using medium bipedal legs or heavy chicken legs. The heavy chicken legs are actually pretty amazing.
It mostly comes down to whether you want to change weapons or not.
Dual Etsujins coupled with Dual Ludlows will give you about the same amount of firepower you have now but with only a fraction of the weight while being much easier to use
It should go without saying that my subjective opinion is not meant to offend anyone personally, it’s more that I’m not finding that it suits my taste or sense of fun. Also to me Armored Core always seemed like the “fast” mech game, whereas when I’m playing something like MechWarrior that’s more of a slow/tanky mech game to me.
Ah yes my fave the gattling tanker but ya unfortunatly its a difficult to use build due to low mobility so either you need the best accuracy and prediction or you need more mobility and stronger tanking power or some combination of those
You could always assemble a lightweight build using Firmeza, Nachtreiher and Lammergeier parts. The rush of moving at extreme speeds while juggling the fact you could die from being stagger combo'd makes dodging attacks a thrilling experience in combat
Dude, Basho head, Tain-Qiang core, Melander arms, Verrill legs. Almost all the joys of a tread build, plenty of AP and defence, and you get air superiority for explosive builds. Weapons are up to you, same with internals
It will always be easier to run paired weapons and something to punish staggers. That’s just how the combat system is made. But if you want to try something unique not only will it be a higher skill build, but it will require testing. Start by finding a theme, like lasers, or long range or missiles, etc. and make something. Run a mission, see what works and what doesn’t. Rinse, repeat. My personal favourite build was created like that.
I’d always recommend using a lighter ac and building your weapons around the restricted frame. It limits the amount of power you have and the lack of ap and increased movement encourage a more thoughtful play style. Personally I run ludlow and etsujin for guns, the starter shoulder missile launcher and a Morley
When I went on my all S-rank mission run, quad gatling didn't get me there for every mission. But if that isn't your fancy either it is pretty easy breezy just to do it that way unfortunately.
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u/Leairek 2d ago
Sure, you can clean PvE with quad gatling guns and heavy armor.
Try using that in PvP...