Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

General

• The game is intended for multiple play-throughs. Enemies do not scale in NG+. So you'll breeze through most missions the second time. But you are offered new choices, and can unlock new boss battles on each run. You'll also gain new parts and see different endings.

• Legs are the biggest determining factor in how your build will play. Think of legs as your "class".
  • Bipedal legs tend to be fast general purpose builds.
  • Reverse joint legs have the best jumping and dodge distance. Good for aerial builds.
  • Tetrapod legs are tough and can hover to remain airborne much longer than other builds.
  • Tank legs offer high load limits, great defense, and can be used to drift. But struggle to stay airborne.

• Very few parts are "bad". A good pilot can succeed with nearly anything. Experiment.

• Hard lock will keep your targeting 100% on a single target. Very useful for keeping track of an important enemy in a crowd. The tradeoff is that your FCS will track them slightly slower than you could if you kept a manual soft lock on them.

• Different builds shine in different situations. Experiment.

Controls

• Mouse and keyboard is not just viable - it's actually preferable as it allows you to move the camera more quickly and precisely. This is very useful in fast-paced close quarters fights.

• If you want to stay locked on, don't even touch the camera stick.

• On a controller, go ahead and swap boost to a stick click and assault boost to a button. Accidentally activating assault boost could kill you, while an accidental boost is safe.

Bosses

• Pulse weaponry does bonus damage against pulse armor. The stat that you are looking for is PA Interference. The first time this is relevant your strongest options for that are the starting sword and one kind of pulse gun.

• Unless the boss is dodging/blocking your attacks, cannons and grenade launchers are probably better options than missiles.

• If you die to a boss you can enter assembly and redesign your AC without redoing the level. This is also the reason to not sell things, since you can't buy from this menu.

• Bosses that seem too fast to catch can often be predicted. Learn their patterns and get ahead of them. Or just equip a fast booster and a light build and catch them.

Exploration

• About half of the levels that have part chests have more than one part.

• You get nothing if you quit a level, so you can't just find a part or data log and bail.