NX/NB Jousters' Guide

[Mechadon]

ACNX Jousters' Guide


~~~~~~~~~
Contents
~~~~~~~~~

I. Introduction
__A. Quick Explaination of Jousting
__B. Differences in Nexus

II. The 4 Mainstream Jouster Types
__A. Pure Jousters
__B. Multi-Jousters
__C. Lite Jousters
__D. OB Bladers

III. Jousting Techniques and Styles
__A. General OB Jousting
____1. Setting up the Joust Line
____2. OB Flanking
____3. OB Blading
____4. Air Jousting
____5. Flutter Jousting
____6. The OHW
__B. Jousting Support Tech's
____1. The CoD
____2. CQC

IV. Building the Frame
__A. Recognizing your Jousting Style
__B. All about the Stats
____1. Cooling/Heat Resistance
____2. Energy Output/Condensors
______B/G/R Setups
____3 Stability
____4. AP/Defense
____5. Mobility

V. Choosing your Armaments
__A. Energy or Solid?
__B. Hand Weapons
____1. Making your own Hand Combo
____2. Shields and Blades
__C. Arm Weapons
__D. Back-Mounted Weapons
____1. Missles
____2. Rockets
____3. Cannons
__E. Extensions
__F. Insides

VI. Closing Comments
__FAQ's
__Sample Jouster Designs
__Shoutouts
__Links and Contact Info.
__Updates


~~~~~~~~~
I. Introduction
~~~~~~~~~


__A. Quick Explaination of Jousting

If you know the literal definition of the word JOUST, then something along the lines of a knight, clad in armor, riding on a horse with a large spear should come into mind. In AC, the piloting and designing style known as Jousting is very similar to the medieval definition; pack on high-powered weaponary and an Over Boost equipped core and go to nuts.

As restrictive as that piloting style sounds, Jousting has actually evolved from many styles and into many styles. The straightforward OB/High Powered Weapons/Go Nuts strategy, of course, still exists in NX, but over the years designer's have developed more fluid ways of jousting by combining older styles and inventing new ones that have spawned from jousting. For example, there are many types of jouster AC out there that utilize the EO function in place of the OB, breaking the literal definition of a jouster. This is the wonderful thing about ACNX, the intense customization allows designer's to bend the rules to their liking without breaking them.

So, I invite you to read this Guide/FAQ and uncover all of the information I and many other people have taken the time to find and have allowed me to compile. If you have any questions or comments, see the "Closing Comments" section at the bottom of this page for a list of links and forums that I frequent, as well as my e-mail address, AIM, and my common screen name.

Happy Jousting !!


__B. Differences in Nexus

What does a new AC game bring you? Why, changes and new parts of course !

- Heat is now a huge factor when designing cores....biggest changes are booster heat and generator calrific values (that means OB units generate huge amounts of heat as well)

- Choosing a good Generator/Booster/Radiator setup now is vital to the survival of your core design. Heat from the boosters (or during combat) now places stress on your radiator which in turn places stress on the generator. So, in short, OD = NO ENERGY!!

- Frame parts are now tunable in 5 areas (B/G/R in 3 areas): WEIGHT, COOLING, E DEF, S DEF are common to all the parts. The Head parts have a tunable VS ECM, Cores have a tunable ARM WEIGHT, Arms have a tunable RECOIL CONTROL, and Legs have a MAX WEIGHT LIMIT. Generator tunes include WEIGHT, CAPACITY, and CHARGE, Booster tunes include WEIGHT, POWER, HEAT, and Radiator tunes include WEIGHT, ENERGY DRAIN, and COOLING.

- ECM has become a huge part of the game as well. Depeding on your VS ECM level, you may lose your locks, lose your radar ability.....it can just create normal havoc. This also gives other designers the option of installing ECM pack, which can wreck havoc on your AC if your VS ECM level isn't high enough.

- A number of the solid-round weapon now have clips, which cuts down of firing speed and damage racing.

- As a trade-off for the solid-round weapons having clips, energy weapons now have a heat factor. For example, in SL, the PR didn't place any heat stress on the opposing AC, but in NX the heat is off the charts (which is a good ploy to use them even more now!!)

- There are new core units that utilize a "Hanger" function. This means that you can carry an extra HG, energy sheild, or blade as a back-up once your normal gun runs dry....a very valuable asset indeed, that is, if you can spare the weight.


~~~~~~~~~
II. The 4 Mainstream Jouster Types
~~~~~~~~~


__A. Pure Jousters

Probably the most recognizable type of jouster out there, the Pure (aka Heavy) Jouster is defined by the literal definition of jousting. Basically, its the backbone of the jousting style, and it has survived all the way to ACNX. Good defenses, an OB, and heavy, hard hitting, and heat inducing weaponary make up the overall beast we all know and love. Although this is probably the best type of jouster to start out on, it requires a bit more thinking through when designing one in ACNX.


__B. Multi-Jousters

Multi-Jousters can be characterized as a step down from a Pure Jouster. Multi-Jousters use OBs, but they don't necessarily need to have high powered, hard hitting, heat inducing weaponary or excellent defenses. In other words, they are a very flexible type of jousting ACs that borrow aspects of other piloting styles and combine them. Once you learn how to use a Pure Jouster effectively, this is the next aspect of jousting you should learn.


__C. Lite Jousters

Not to be confused with the LW class of ACs, Lite Jousters are yet another step down from Pure Jousters. A Lite Jouster is classified as a type of Multi-Jouster, but a Multi-Jouster cannot necessarily be classified as a Lite Jouster. The difference between the two? Lite Jousters earn there own spot because there are jousters out there that use EO or Normal core types instead of OB's. They can also be called "Chasers", which is a slight variant to Close-Quarter-Combat (CQC) ACs.



As you can see, there are two types of Lite Jousters; OB and OB-less, these two things are the only things that separates Multi-Jousters and Lite Jousters. In a sense, they are there own little piloting style sense they diverge from the beaten path, but nonetheless they are considered a type of jouster.


__D. OB Bladers

In SL, this became my overall favorite type of jousting. Refering to the chart above, you will see that OB Blader MUST have an OB to function. OB Bladers are the closest thing to leaving the jousting field altogther, but the only saving grace is the OB and the blade (thus the name OB Blader.....duh). Anywho, OB Bladers may have any other type of weapon, even if it is the exact opposite of what you consider to be a jousting type of weapon, an OB core, and a blade. The basic idea is to utilize your OB unit and get in ultra fast to do tremendous amounts of damage with the blade. Combine this with other pieces of blade enhanching equipment and you've got yourself a very badass jouster.


~~~~~~~~~
III. Jousting Techniques and Styles
~~~~~~~~~


__A. General OB Jousting

Due to the extreme heat that OB's induce on themselves, OBing is more of an articulate artform than a crazy rush in NX. Only with the right setup can you perform an OB without losing a huge chunk of energy and then going into OD. So, once you get to the stage where you can OB your design sucessfully (that is, without massive amounts of heat and energy loss), you can start practicing these OB techniques.


____1. Setting up the Joust Line

Before you can start OB jousting, you need to learn how to setup your Joust Line. The Joust Line is a stragiht bee-line to where your opponent is, or is going to be. This may sound easy at first, but once you start playing human opponents, its almost impossible to predict their movments without knowing some vital bits of information first.

1. Know your Opponent - You need to keep in mind things like the overall piloting style of your opponent, any patterns that he or she is making, ground mobility, ariel mobility, and their CQC potential. Once you find out these things, you can make an educated guess as to where they are going to be, and you can setup your jousting line accordingly. Once you've accomplished that, you want to know what kind of CQC firepower they are weilding. For example, if they have the MOONLIGHT blade in they're armament, you don't want to stay in that range for long or your going to get smacked. In this case, you may decided to unload you weapons and OB past them to get out of CQC range (aka "The OB Sweep").

2. Know your AC - So you can setup a jousting line, but will you be able to pull through with it? There are many restrictive factors that can mess with your joust: Avaliable Energy, Current Heat Level, OB Energy Drain, the use of Energy Jousting Weapons, etc etc. A good thing to do after finishing an OB Jouster is to take it for a test run and find out how long you can OB before your energy runs dry or when you go into OD. Once you get the feel for that, it'll make things alot easier on you during combat.

3. Know your Enviroment - The ideal jousting Arena is one where you have lots of space....I mean LOTS AND LOTS of space. The "Arena" has always been a staple battleground for me when it comes to jousting since its very open. Places that you want to avoid until you gain more experience include places like the "Ruins", where you vitually have no room to perform long OB Jousts unless your running a Flutter OB (read below).


____2. OB Flanking

OB Flanking started in AC2: AA with the addition of the Turn Booster Extensions. In essence, the Turn Boosters allows you to do a near 90 degree turn almost instantaneously; it quickly became a must for HW and tanks. As jousting progressed, many people quickly learned that the TB's could be used for many other purposes besides just improving the turning speeds of HW ACs, and one of those applications spawned OB Flanking.

OB Flanking, as I've learned in NX, doesn't necessarily have to involve the TB's as long as your turning speed is very high to begin with. But for the rest of the leg sets, you'll want to use the TBs. Another note about the TBs; since boosters create heat, the TBs will create heat, adding yet another articulating twist to design around. OB Flaker's may have to tune the radiator and frame parts to have more cooling as a failsafe.

Now, to preform a textbook OB Flank, you need to setup a Joust Line, just as if your doing a regular OB Joust. Once you find your line, you need to activate your OB and hit the TB's. Don't do a direct joust to your opponent's face, instead you need to aim slightly to the left or right side of them. Once you get within about blading range, deactivate the OB and turn on the TB's in your opponents direction. Once there, you get to blindside your opponent with all kinds of firepower, and you'll have a open escape to setup your next OB Flank. (See Diagram)



____3. OB Blading

OB Blading is yet another spinoff of colliding piloting styles. OB Blading is essentially straightforward in that the main offensive force consists of the OB unit and the blade. The upside to this compared to normal blading is that the rushing effect doesn't allow much time for your opponent to react (and, hopefully, they will make a mistake, allowing you to do big damage). But, once combined with the devastating effects of the OB Flank and backup weapons, you can blindside your opponent at will with the right setup. The downsides? Blades, OB's, and TB's all take energy and place heat stress on the radiator. If your running multiple weapons alongside the blade and high-drain frame parts, you can easily land yourself in lots of trouble. This is a great tactic to learn and perfect, just be sure you design your AC accordingly.

____4. Air Jousting

Air Jousting is something that you may want to try after you become fluent with the other, less difficult styles. While not terribly difficult using the Jump-and-Joust method, normal Air Jousting can be a hazardous affair. In a nutshell, Air Jousting is exactly what it sounds like, jousting in the air. The Jump-and-Joust method is a good place to start when learning the basics. To use the JJ method, you'll need an RJ legs setup with an OB unit. Jump, and once you hit your pinnicle of height, activate the OB and go in for the kill (See Diagram).



Normal Air Jousting plays out in a very similar way, except that the majority of your time will be spent in the air. This is a good way to kill annoying ariel opponents as long as you're able to reach the same height as they are and still have enough energy to do a quick joust. Of course, HWs and tanks won't have the articulation to use this style of jousting; its designed more towards LWs and RJs.

____5. Flutter Jousting

Flutter Jousting is something new to AC, and it came about right after NX came out. Flutter Jousting is just like regular OB joust, but in short intervals (For Example, the GULL/LOTUS/RAGORA B/G/R setup allows for super cooling, powerful yet effecient boosting, and the super-fast refresh of the LOTUS allows for quick OBing intervals....or, Fluttering). Fluttering makes for an excellent tool for sniper based jousters. This allows them to get into jousting range, do damage, and then pull back very quickly to chip away AP with the sniper rifle. But Flutter Jousting isn't all about the weapons, it based more on the frame and B/G/R setup. LWs and MWs tend to benefit more from this style of jousting since it allows them to be on the move constantly without tons of drain.


__B. Jousting Support Tech's

To break the restrictive barrier that jousting produces, there are many other piloting styles you can combine as a backup measure or a secondary style. Blading, sniping, run-and-gunning, etc all make for great support techniques, but I'm going to go over some more Jousting-specific support techs that can come in handy.


____1. The Circle of Doom (CoD)

The CoD is a little something that I came up with while playing AC3 (although I'm sure someone else had already invented it). It came to me with I was playing with a LW biped using a HG/Howie combo. I noticed that, as I danced around my opponent and pelted him with HG/Howie fire, he was stunned to the ground. In SL, with the addition of dual guns, I built a very similar AC with dual HG's and I noticed that it was a very good support technique for jousters, especially LWs.

The CoD is used to stun your opponents into submission while you dance around them and do damage (staying in a circular formation). With the new heat formula, once you put them into OD, they will be a sitting duck, allowing you to bring out the heavy hitting guns. This tactic works very well against low-stability ACs and its a very nice tactic for bladers' as well.

____2. CQC

Close-Quarters-Combat is a very similar tactic to the CoD, but just without the circle and all the necessary stun and heat (but I highy recommend the stun and heat thing ). CQC is actually it's own piloting style derived from blading after dual guns were introduced to the game. Jousting weapons such as the Linear Rifle and Shotguns make for excellent CQC weapons, which means that you can easily blend the two styles together to create a hybrid AC.


~~~~~~~~~
IV. Building the Frame
~~~~~~~~~


__A. Recognizing your Jousting Style

Before you can begin to design and build a jouster, you need to find out your base piloting style, and your overall jousting style. Certain jousting style demand that certain parts be used (ex. OB Flankers need the TB's). Once you've recognized your style, you can begin the AC building process.


__B. All About the Stats

Building an AC frame requires a general knowledge of how each part performes based on its stats. After a while, you will be able to pick out certain parts for certain purposes without having to read the stats every time...which is good because it cuts down on building time. When building a jouster, there are 5 main stat catergories that you should keep in mind: Cooling, Energy Output/Total Capacity, Stability, AP/Defense, and Mobility. For example, OB Jousters will have to focus on cooling and energy to keep them alive during a firefight. Certain OB Jousters (flutterers), will need to focus on energy refresh, and there are certain Generators that can accomplish this very well. Just keep reading....

____1. Cooling/Heat Resistance

OB's use lots of energy and they create lots of heat during the quick charging process. What does this mean? If you don't have the cooling to null the OB's heat, an additional chunck of energy will be sapped from you generator because of the stress placed on the radiator...not a good thing at all. But this situation can be avoided, or atleast softened with the right B/G/R setup (see next section) and the right tunes.

When focusing your attention of cooling, try to find frame parts that can either be easily tuned in the cooling catergory or already have excellent cooling. Parts with low cooling stats can usually be tuned very easily (it takes a lower number of tunes to get a higher cooling boost....and it works vise-vera with parts that have high cooling untuned....they don't benefit from cooling tunes quite as well). If you chose to use a frame part that can be tuned in the cooling area easily but still have other decent stats (AP/D, Stability, Energy Drain), then try to work with it.

Another very effective way to cool your AC is using a good Radiator....in fact its the best way to cool your AC . The stats that you want to look at when chosing a radiator are the COOLING, FORCED COOLING, E-DRAIN, and EMERGENCY DRAIN. COOLING is the same as Heat Resistance...its how long it takes your AC to reach OD. FORCED COOLING is how quickly your AC will dissapate heat...and if you reach OD, EMERGENCY DRAIN is the added amout of energy drain that will be placed on the generator. If your frame has a low COOLING stat, try to use a radiator that will have a lower EMERGENY DRAIN stat and a higher COOLING stat...this will boost your Heat Resistance and the low emergency drain will place less stress on your generator if you go into OD many times during a match.

To furthur nullify any unwanted heat, you can use the MARISHI optional part (2 slots) and utilize Solid/Energy shields. As well as providing you with more defense, both shield types can insulate you from heat....energy sheilds tend to have a higher HEAT INSULATION stat then solid shields, but they also drain energy...so keep that in mind when chosing a sheild.

____2. Energy Output/Condensers

The most important decision that you will make when designing a Jousting AC will be the Booster/Generator/Radiator setup (B/G/R). There are many great setups that other AC designers have found and have been using with great sucsess, but there are also NO-NO's in B/G/R setups. But the base stat that you want to look at when making a B/G/R setup is the energy....boosters create heat and drain energy and radiators can drain energy and be placed under stress from the booster....in turn draining more energy (it a vicious cycle >_<). So let's start with generators.

Unlike the past AC games where there were only a couple of viable generator choices (meaning that the rest of the generators where a waste of time to even think about using), ACNX let's almost all of the generators have a very usable purpose. When looking for a good OB generator, you will want to look at the ENERGY OUTPUT, ENERGY CAPACITY, and CALORIFIC VALUE.

The ENERY OUTPUT of a generator is the maxiumum energy drain that a generator can handle. For example, let's say your generator has a maximum output of 10000 and, with your frame built and optionals in, weapons in place, and everything tuned, you Energy Drain is 7000. That leaves you with a Energy Surplus of 3000....what does this mean? Well, the Surplus (along with the ENERGY CAPACITY stat) determines how fast your energy refresh will be. So, for you OB Flutter's out there, this is something that you will want to perfect. Some of the generators that have very low capacitys but high energy outputs will give you astonishing refresh results...but will only have a certain energy lifetime until you go into recharge.

As I mentioned before, the ENERGY CAPACITY of a generator is the total amount of energy avaliable to you during combat (in essence, its your energy bar). Longer range jousters benefit more from a big capacitor then do OB Flutterers since they provide the OB unit with lots of constantly flowing energy. When your using the bulk of your energy to OB for very long ranges, we like to call this "Whoring out the OB" (pardon the expression). Though the refresh on bigger capacitors aren't very good, you do get lots of longevity out your OB, and sometimes that can make all the difference in the world. If you want to have a giant capacitor but still have a decent energy refresh rate, try experimenting with the Energy Pack extensions. They can recharge your generator almost instantaneously after a long OB Jousting.

One thing that can limit your number of generator choices is the CALORIFIC VALUE stat (<<spelling?). The calorific value of a generator is basically the amount of heat it produces when in use. Your probably saying to yourself "Great, another heat stat". And, yes, it can be a roadblock when designing a jouster, because in ACNX, this stat actually means something. If your making a OB Jouster, you DO NOT want a generator with a high calorific value. For example, the KUJAKU probably has the best energy stats of any generator in its class, but it has the absoulte worst calorific value, making it a very difficult generator to work with. But, there are exceptions to the rule: One being that if your running a low drain, low heat OB (the U) on a decently cooled AC, then you will probably be able to use a higher calorific valued generator without many porblems (see Cannonade AGE II at the bottom of the FAQ). But go against this rule and you will be hurting...so make sure you chose your generator wisely.

Common Jouster B/G/R Setups: These B/G/R setups include some commonly used ones as well as some that I have found to be very useful. But keep in mind that B/G/R setups depend heavily on your AC, and you may have to create your own specialized setup suited for your needs. Also, many of the B/G/R setups can used similar parts in place of the given (ex. LOTUS setups can also use the G78 since they have similar properties).

(Bipeds and RJ's)

GULL/LOTUS/RAGORA: This has turned out to be one of my favorites in flutter OBing....the GULL's excellent effeciency and power give your great mobility without placing too much stress on the generator or radiator and the LOTUS has one of the best stats in the game for quick energy refresh.

VULTURE/LOTUS/LINDEN: Although not quite as effective as the GULL/LOTUS/RAGORA, the VULTRE/LOTUS/LINDEN is a slightly ligher version that works very well on ACs with high Heat Resistance and a higher overall energy drain.

VULTURE2/KONGOH/R92: This is another quick refresh B/G/R setup. The KONGOH has better refresh then the LOTUS, but it has a smaller capacitor, making it a very good choice for quick OB jousts. The VULTURE2 provides excellent power but without the heat of its predeseccor...although its not quite as effecient. The R92 handles the basic cooling needs.

GULL (VULTURE)/FUDOH/RAGORA (or R92): This B/G/R setup is a long range OB Jouster powerhouse. The GULL booster provides the needed mobility and effeciency to position the AC into a joust line while the super cool FUDOH gives plenty of energy to the OB. The RAGORA keeps the AC cool during OB and normal boosting, as well as normal combat heat. This setup can also utilize the VULTURE boosters or the R92 radiator and still get very similar results.

B83TP/ORCHID/RAGORA: This is another long range OB powerhouse. Although slighly more specialized than the GULL/FUDOH/RAGORA setup, this beast can give you insanely long OB jousts without much heat to deal with. The B83TP's ultra-high power counter's the ORCHID high weight factor, and the RAGORA nullifies the B83TP's heat. But the downside to this setup is that its extremely heavy and only certain AC's will be able to use it.

(any booster)/G91/R92 or RAGORA: This setup is a great example of a B/G/R setup that can be used on a wide variety of ACs. The G91 offers solid performance (similar that to the old ROZ) and the RAGORA deals with any heat. Although you can use almost any booster that you want with this setup, it is recommended that you still choose a booster that works well with your AC.

(Tanks)

KUJAKU/RAGORA (cooling tunes recommended): This is an excellent powerhouse setup for OB tanks as long as you can get your cooling/forced cooling to a safe level. The KUJAKU offers unbelievable energy performance and the RAGORA can keep the heat down to a safe level.

KUJAKU/FURUNA: This setup is the same as above, but it offers unparalled cooling (it also gives you some space to work on other tunes). The FURUNA drains quite a bit of energy, so use this setup of tanks that don't have tons of drain.

KONGOH/RAGORA: This is an interesting setup that I've seen on some tanks and heavies. It works under the pricinple that if the tank starts to recharge, the KONGOH's super fast refresh will bring it back up to running speed in a matter of seconds...so it seems like your hardly never out of a full energy bar but only for a few seconds.

(Quads)

GULL/G91/R92: Being that quads usually have the best cooling of any leg part in the game, they benefit from being able to use high heat boosters and generators. This is a staple B/G/R setup that can be used for a variety of purposes, including jousting.

GULL/LOTUS/ANANDA: This is yet another quick refresh B/G/R setup that works very well on quads. The LOTUS/GULL work the same as with any other quick refresh setup, but the ANANDA radiator can be used with this setup on quads because they have very good cooling.

(Hovers)

LOTUS/RAGORA: Hovers, unlike quads, don't benefit from great cooling. The built-in booster of hovers and tanks produce way more heat than the conventional booster, therefore choosing a B/R setup requires slightly more thought. This setup works well on quick OB Jousting hovers because the quick refresh and low calorific value of the LOTUS and the great cooling of the RAGORA makes for a low heat hover.

FUDOH/R92: This is a good all-around B/R setup for hovers. The FUDOH has a very low calorific value and a big capacitor and the R92 offers a low emeregency drain as well as very good cooling stats.

G91/R92 or RAGORA: This is a slightly faster paced version of the B/R setup above. The G91 has slightly more balanced energy stats allowing this to be a very general use B/R setup.

____3. Stability

Stability is vital to the survival of a jouster. In essence, stability is the factor that determines how well your AC can recover from the stun produced from enemy fire or a hard landing. The DEFENSIVE STABILITY stat deals with stun recovery from enemy fire while the LANDINIG STABILITY deals with stun recovery from hard landings. Almost any type of jouster needs to have decent DEFENSIVE STABILITY to keep weapons such as Grenade Launchers and Dual Handguns from hampering an OB joust, but Air Jousters will also want decent LANDING STABILITY so they aren't reduced to a sitting duck after landing.

Since AC Frame parts don't have a tunable stability area, you'll want to equip parts that have built in high stability stats. As with any other stat area, you'll want to combine some good stability parts with other parts that have other important stats....in other words, try to get the best combination of parts to create a well-rounded frame. This way a certain stat won't have a bias on the rest of the stats and therefore you will have a very flexible design. Another good way to increase your stability rating is to equip the AMINO optional part, which automatically enhances stability.

____4. AP/Defense

Obviously, in CQC ranges, your going to take enemy fire. As with the tradition jouster, high AP/D counts are vital to the survival of your core when jousting in constant CQC range. There are many excellent ways of creating a tough-as-nails defense, one of the simplest is using high defense parts, but there are also other alternatives.

When it comes to the frame, the best way to increase your AP/D is to use high defense parts (tuned accordingly, of course). While its not always a good idea to focus all of your tunes in defense, one or two frame parts with full defensive tuning isn't always a bad idea as long as you can cover for the other untuned stats. As I said before, keeping things balanced helps create a flexible jouster (and that goes for all of the main stats). Also, as always, you can use the 069ES and 069SS optional parts to increase defense.

Another nifty little trick that I like to implement when designing a jouster is the use of shields. These wonderous devices can give you a big boost in your defense as well as giving you extra sheilding from heat. Solid Sheilds tend to leans towards the solid defense stat....although they don't give the same heat resistance and energy defense as energy shields. So which is better? Well, Energy Shields do offer unparalled energy defense and heat resistance, but when activated, they constantly drain your energy bar. So which type of shield that you may decide to use depends on your specific needs (see "Shields and Blades" in the next section).

____5. Mobility

Mobility, as we all know, is the total agility and speed of an AC unit. CQC fighters will want good ground speed to get them in and out of CQC range, but OB Jousters in general aren't always in great need of constant speed (although its never a bad idea).

Mobility really depends on your piloting style and what type of jouster your planning to build. As I said, OB Jousters rely on the OB to keep them mobile during offensive periods, so an effecient booster is all that is really needed during normal boosting and the setting up of the jousting line. If you like to build hybrid OB Jousters (ex. OB Jouster/CQC fighter), then a high powered booster would probably be a better choice....but in the end it all depends on what your looking for.


~~~~~~~~~
V. Choosing your Armaments
~~~~~~~~~


__A. Energy or Solid?

The big question when it comes to choosing your weapons is "energy or solid?". In essence, this is a very broad question because each weapon has a certain feel to it. For example, the KSAW, while extremely powerful, doesn't drain like a Pulse Rifle (because if it did it would be very unbalanced). This is just a simple comparision, but it means you can use energy weapons like the Pulse Rifle on certain AC's because it doesn't drain as much as a KSAW. An excellent way to decide which weapon your looking for is to take each weapon on a test run and get the feel of how it performs in combat.

Energy weapons can be a jousters' best friend and worst enemy at the same time. For example, an excellent energy based jouster weapon is the traditional OGRE2 (RA Plasma Rifle). The heat produced from one shot of the OGRE2 placed on the opponents head can melt radiators in a matter of a couple well-jousted shots. Sound good, eh? Now take this into consideration: OB drain + drain from stress on radiator + charge drain of OGRE2....= no more energy for you, that is if you don't learn how to properly manage your energy bar. Seasoned jousters know how much energy they have and how much is needed to perform a certain lengthed joust with and without energy weaponary by practicing many times over. Once you've mastered your energy bar and weapons like the OGRE2, you'll find that they can be nicer to you more and more.

But let's say your not into emptying your energy bar every time your perform an OB Joust, what do you do? Why, you use Solid based jousting weaponary ! Solid weapons take out the stress of constantly managing your energy bar, allowing you to focus on your jousting. In previous games, most solid based weaponary ruled over energy based weaponary since high drain and low accuracy keep most energy weapons from ever seeing the light of day (except on some jousting ACs ). However, in ACNX most of the solid based weaponary have the addition of "clips" which slow down the firing rate of certain solid weapons after a certain number of shots have been fired. The size and reload speed of the clip differs from each weapon with the new system. So if your the type of designer who doesn't mind the clip, solid weapons are probably the way to go.


__B. Hand Weapons

The main weapon that any normal AC will use is the Hand Weapon, separtated into Left Arm and Right Arm catergories. On most biped and hover designs, your hand weapons will be the determining factor on how potent your jousting armament will be (this being that bipeds and hovers cannnot use cannons while on the move).


____1. Making your own Hand Combo

The great thing about ACNX is that there are almost endless possiblities for weapon combinations, whether it be with missles, cannons, rockets, rifles, EOs, etc etc etc, you can almost combine just about anything and create an offensive workhorse.

The only way to find a hand combo that your comfortable with is to EXPERIMENT with the weapons....all of them. Find out how each weapon performs under the stress of combat, at what ranges it works best, its accuracy, power, speed...anything that you'll need to know when using that weapon. Then, once you've done that, try to find out a good LA are RA partner for the specific weapon you've chosen. This all depends on what your looking for....CQC, sniper, jouster, it doesn't matter, it works the way with just about any type of AC.

Traditional jousters tend to use high-powered hand weaponary (tank and quads tend to use cannons a little more, but they are, by no means, restricted to only cannons). Zooks, Spread Zooks, Shotties, High-end Laser Rifles, Greande Rifles, Parrying blade, just to name a few, are the main ones. This also goes for the LA hand weapons, but the LA slot has something that the RA does not: Shields and Blades (see below). Blades can go with just about any RA weapon, as can shields, as long as your energy output allows for it.

____2. Shields and Blades

So let's say that your opt to go with a blade or shield in place of a LA gun. While not quite as flexible as dual gunned ACs, shields and blades do have they're upsides.

OB Jouster's can benefit heavily from shields, especially Solid Shields. They provide your jouster with much needed defense and heat resistance, which helps out a ton with OBing and the CQC ranges. When my output/capacity allows for it, though, I like to use Energy Shields in place of Solid Shields because they give an extra bit of heat resistance and a very good energy defense boost.

But if you want the best of both worlds in terms of offense and defense, you can choose to use the extension mounted set of shields. While they can hamper your extension slot, it does allow you to focus on your hand weapons while adding even more defense at the same time....thus giving you balance.

Now take everything I just told you about shields and turn it around....this gives you blades. Blades offer unparalled offensive power and heat at extreme CQC ranges, as long as you have the know-how to use them properly (Blading goes way back into AC History as a piloting style....I would recommend checking out Aroura's Blading Guide if you get the chance). OB Jousters can benefit from blades just as well as shields in that you can create OB Bladers....which, in the right hands, can be a very deadly piece of AC weaponary. If you just can't find that right LA gun, maybe you need to invest in a reliable shield or blade.


__C. Arm Weapons

Arm weapons (not to be confused with hand weapons), can make for excellently destructive pieces of weaponary for any type of jouster. Certain arm weapons (such as the spread zook arms or the g-rifle arms) make excellent pure jousting weapons while others aren't made for jousting. In previous games, they didn't have an AP stat, but in NX they do, though they don't have the same AP levels as regular arms. If your considering a weapon arm jousting armament setup, be sure to fill in any defense gaps.

Also, the use of weapon arms kill your chances of using any hanger'd weapons, which means that using hanger cores may not always be the best choice. OB-only cores such as the RAKAN or the EOS are usually the best choices for such cores, or if your plan on making Lite Jouster, EO cores come in handy.


__D. Back-Mounted Weapons

Your back-mounted weapons can serve many purposes...support, main offense, secondary offense, etc. When choosing your back-mounted assortment, you should keep a couple of things in mind: First, how will the weapon interact with your hand mounted weapon and overall playing style? Missle jousters, for example, will want a solid missle back-mounted missle combo and a good secondary arm mounted weapon array. Other such jousting cores will use similar back-mounted weapon arrays as the main offensive force (eg. tanks and quads using cannons). Second, how often will you be using a back-mounted weapon? Many jousting designs don't take advatage of back-mounted weapons but rather they rely on a strong arm mounted weapon array with hanger back-ups. If you don't want a complicated weapon system and/or if you don't want any back-mounted support weapons, then don't worry about them. Otherwise, they can be an invaluable asset to your destructive potential.

____1. Missles

The staple of the back-mounted weapon are, of course, missles. Missles come in a variety of flavors; Small, Middle, Multi, Vertical, Large, Hi Act, Burst, Pursuit, and Stealth. Some of the best missle for jousting include the Burst Missles, the Multi Missles, and the Large WB85MPX (neo-TITAN) missles (of course, joust about any of the missle packs can work as a jousting weapon). Try experimenting with the HYDRA, HYDRA2, 75MT (teh uber missle) multi missles; they usually serve up the best flexiblity with the best jousting potential. Another missle pack that you will want to check out is the ECHIDNA pursuit missles. These things can serve 1 or 3 purposes; regular missle spammin, make-shift vertical missles, and as super rockets. The first of the three is simple....just spam and go, although against human opponents, it may be hard to get hits in. To increase the kill power of the ECHIDNA in an open area, fire the pod straight up into the air and watch the missle firestorm wreck havoc on your enemy. Lastly, the super rocket strategy has nothing to do with the missles that come from the pod, but rather it involves the pod itself. A direct hit from the pod will send your opponent's AP spiraling downward, and with the right jousting equipment its very easy to use.

The Burst Missle works well as tank/heavy and flier killers, but there is a little strategy that you will definitly want to check out with these evil missles. Burst Missle work sort of like vertical missles, except that they explode directly over the opponents head. So, at a certain range, the burst missle will reach its maximum height, but anywhere inbetween its maximum range to the target, you can shorten the height of the burst missle. This will allow you to get more burst pellets to hit your target because the spread will be tighter (think shotties, longer ranges = more spread; shorter ranges = tighter spread). Now, take this concept and apply it to point-blank jousting. If you launch a missle right around CQC range, the burst missle will only fly up a couple of meters before it explodes and showers your opponent with concentrated death...this makes the burst missles an excellent missle pack for any missle jousting AC.

____2. Rockets

Ah, rockets, an underappreciated wonder weapon that can be an invaluable asset to a jouster. The manual aim of the rockets are what keep them from widespread use, but as the saying goes "it will hit at point blank range no matter how bad you suck at aiming". Like missles, rockets come in multiple variaties; Small, Medium, Large, Assault, Triple, and Napalm (the napalm rockets are limited to the inside and arm weapon slots only). Small and Medium rockets work very well as jousting support weapons; the Assault and Triple rockets work very well as support and the main offensive force for jousting weapons, and the Large rockets are usually limited to main offense due to the low ammo count. Some of the best rockets that you will you are the dual back-mounted multi-rockets. They offer insane damage rates at close ranges....similar to the spread bazooka, but with way more power and versitility.

____3. Cannons

You can't build a quad or tank jouster without first experimenting with all of the cannons. They are the epitome of power and devestation, easily turning the tide of a losing spree and wrecking utter and complete havoc upon the poor heads of your enemies. Cannons, just like any other weapon class, has many different flavors; Chain Guns, Slug Guns, Linear Cannons, Rail Guns, Greande Launchers, Plasma Cannons, Laser Cannons, Pulse Cannons.....the list goes on. Some of the best are the Slug Guns and Grenade Launchers which allow you to take advantage of joustings' close range combat style and lay the smack down with little or no aiming problems.

Tanks favor cannon type weapons a little more than quads since they can use them while in the air an while in an OB joust. Quads, while not able to OB and use cannon at the same time (the legs lift off of the ground just enough to disable the cannon), they can use them to their advatage with other joustable weapons. For example, a good Grenade Launcher blast will set the stage for a quick OB joust with some nice arm-mounted jousting weapons. And thats about it for cannons....you need to use them for yourself to see how awsome they can be.


__E. Extensions

Arm Extensions offer lots of offensive and defense goodies to assit your core. Missle Relations are some of the best ways to enhance the kill-power of an AC, especially if your designing a solid missle jouster. While not quite as effective as they were in SL due to heat and energy problems, the auxilary boosters can be a lot of fun if you can designing around them properly (don't forget about the ANOKU for OB Flanking!!). If you don't like deeks and your not running a CAMS enabled core, you may want to consider the various extension mounted AMS systems. These include the solid round AMSs, energy AMSs, and missle disruptors which have an unlimited number of uses. Moving on....there are the extention mounted shields, a must for any jouster to experiment with. Of the two, I prefer the energy shields because they offer unparalled cooling and energy defense, but you have to be prepared to handle the charge drain. Thats where solid shields come in; they don't require that you drain your energy bar to use them, so this means that you can easily OB joust over and over and still get the cooling and defense without having to drain massive quantities of energy from your generator. Lastly, there are the enregy packs. These wonderous devices offer you to change to rechare your generator by a set amount of energy , allowing you to quickly recover from OD or a long range OB joust.


__F. Insides

If your using the new control schemes, the inside parts are much easier to use since they can easily to popped out while your on the offensive. Old school controller users will have to scroll through their weapon list to get to the insides, so it makes it slightly harder for them to use, but nonetheless its always a good idea to give them a good test run. Insides include mainly defensive tools to use, but there are also some offensive tools which you can take advantage of. Missle decoys usually take up the inside slots on ACs because they are one of the most effective ways to dispense enemy missles. The Napalm rockets are insane fun to use, espically if your using the new contorls. They allow you to run-and-gun with your normal weapons while popping out 2 or 3 nappy rockets to melt your opponents radiator and pin them to the ground....a very evil strategy. There are also other goodies which you can use to your advantage like the ECM pods which can wreck havoc on your opponents radar and FCS...all of which can be used in a solid jouster.


~~~~~~~~~
VI. Closing Comments
~~~~~~~~~


__FAQ's

[Q1] Is Nexus better than Silent Line or the other previous AC games?
[A1] IMO, Nexus is the best of the AC games to date, but its kinda hard to compare it to the other games because it plays so differently. With the new game mechanics, designing and building ACs takes way more patience and practice, and at times it can be very frustrating. But the added realism and all of the other goodies that FROM has added creates one of the best AC experiences to date.

[Q2] You didn't really touch on the OB and B/G/R mechanics as much as you did in the last guide. Where can I get detailed information about OBing and B/G/R setups?
[A2] Blues_Mage, a respected member of the Ravens' Nest forum, will be compiling an OB and B/G/R guide that you should definitly check out. See the link at the bottom of the guide to get to the RN forums.

[Q3] How long did it take you to complete this guide and where did you get all of your information?
[A3] I've been working on this guide before NX even came out....I think around 4 or 5 months. I've obtained my information from countless hours of designing and experimenting with different ACs and posting up my designs on the boards. You can learn a lot from other people .

[Q4] Could you show me some sample jousting designs?
[A4] Certainly, checks below the FAQ section for sample designs from members of the RN forum.

[Q5] Will this guide be updated once NB comes out?
[A5] Yes, I will probably be updating the guide, but I doubt I will be writing a completely new guide. I'll probably update some of the weapon section and B/G/R section, but maybe more if new things present themselves.


__Sample Jouster Designs

AC Name: Cannonade AGE II
Pilot Name: Mechadon

Frame: H03-BEETLE | CR-C770/U | YA10-LORIS | LT02-BOAR2
Internals: N/A | CR-F82D2 | KUJAKU | RAGORA | -x- | CR-E82SS2
Armaments: CR-WBW95G | CR-WBW95G | CR-WR88G2 | CR-WL95G
Hangers: CR-WH98GL | CR-WH98GL
Optionals: AMINO, 069ES, 069SS, 071 EC, 079L+
Frame Tunes: 0,4,3,3,0 | 0,2,3,5,0 | 0,5,5,0,0 | 0,5,0,0,5
Internal Tunes: -x- | -x- | 0,10,0 | 0,8,2 | -x- | -x-

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Tekka (D.Boy)]

ZETSUEI J/M (Joust Mode)

FRAME
CICADA2- 0. 5. 4. 1
ATLAS - 9, 0, 0, 1, 0
AB2SL- 0. 0. 0. 10. 0
DINGO2 - 0, 2, 0, 3, 5

INTERNALS
B83TP- 0. 5. 5
COWRY
FUDOH- 0.10.0
ANANDA- 0. 8. 2
MEDUSA

WEAPONS
EXT: JIREN
-
WB69RO
MH79M2
WL9SG

OPT'S: SCR'S, STAB, TURN, MARISHI, HISTON

------------------------------------------------------------------

[KaZZar]

Head: CR-H97XS-EYE
Core: C06-EOS
Arms: A03-GIBBON
Legs: LH12-LYCAON
Booster: Built In
FCS: MF01-MUREX
Generator: FUDOH
Radiator: RAGORA
Inside: -
Extension: ANOKU
Back Unit R: CR-WBW78R
Back Unit L: CR-WBW78R
Arm Unit R: NIOH
Arm Unit L: JITEN

------------------------------------------------------------------

[KaZZar]

Head: H10-CICADA2 (7 Weight, 3 Cooling)
Core: C06-EOS (10 Weight)
Arms: A09-LEMUR2 (3 Weight, 7 cooling)
Legs: LN04-WALRUS2 (10 Load Cap)
Booster: Built In
FCS: CR-F82D2
Generator: FUDOH (10 Output)
Radiator: RAGORA (10 cooling)
Inside: --
Extension: ANOKU
Back Unit R: --
Back Unit L: --
Arm Unit R: WR25DL-SKULL2
Arm Unit L: WL05RS-GOLEM
Optional: O01-ANIMO, CR-O69ES, CR-O71EC, O04-GOLGI, O05-HISTON, CR-O86R+, MARISHI

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Thanatos]

AC Name: Alastor

Head: CR-YH85SR (3 def S, 2 Def E,5 ECM)
Core: C06-EOS (6 weight, 4 Def E)
Arms: CR-A92XS ( 6 cool, 4 def S)
Legs: CR-LH80S2 (3 weight, 4 def E, 3 max weight)
Booster: B05-GULL (10 heat)
FCS: F73H
Generator: G01-LOTUS (8 EN, 2 Con cap)
Radiator: RAGORA (5 weight, 5 cool)
Inside: I05D-MEDUSA
Extension: GAR
Back Unit R: WB06M-SPARTOI
Back Unit L: - undefined
Arm Unit R: CR-WR88G2
Arm Unit L: CR-WL88S2
Arm Unit R Hanger: -
Arm Unit L Hanger: -

O01-ANIMO, CR-O69ES, CR-O71EC, CR-O75LA, CR-O79L+, CR-O86R+, MARISHI

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Thanatos]

AC Name: Gressil

Head: CR-YH85SR (3 Def S, 4Def E, 3 ECM)
Core: C04-ATLAS (2 weight, 5 cool, 3 Def E)
Arms: A11-MACAQUE (2 weight, 5 cool, 3 Def S)
Legs: LR04-GAZELLE (8 Cool, 2 Max leg)
Booster: CR-B83TP (10 heat)
FCS: MF03-VOLUTE2
Generator: G02-MAGNOLIA (8 EN, 2 Con cap)
Radiator: CR-R92 (5 EN, 5 Cool)
Inside: HOHSHI
Extension: -
Back Unit R: - undefined
Back Unit L: - undefined
Arm Unit R: CR-WR81B2
Arm Unit L: CR-WL88S2
Arm Unit R Hanger: WH05M-SYLPH
Arm Unit L Hanger: -

O01-ANIMO, CR-O69ES, CR-O69SS, CR-O71EC, CR-O79L+, CR-O86R+, MARISHI,

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Thanatos]

AC Name: Belais


Head: CR-YH85SR (2 def S, 4 def E, 4 ECM)
Core: RAKAN (8 cool, 2 def S)
Arms: A11-MACAQUE (2 weight, 5 cool, 3 def S)
Legs: CR-LH80S2 (6 cool, 4 max leg)
Booster: CR-B83TP (10 heat)
FCS: MONJU
Generator: G02-MAGNOLIA (8 EN, 2 con cap)
Radiator: CR-R92 (8 EN, 2 cool)
Inside: -
Extension: CR-E82SS2
Back Unit R: - undefined
Back Unit L: CR-WB78GL
Arm Unit R: WR07M-PIXIE3
Arm Unit L: WL-MOONLIGHT
Arm Unit R Hanger: -
Arm Unit L Hanger: -

O01-ANIMO, CR-O69ES, CR-O69SS, CR-O71EC, O03-CODON, O07-PRIMER, MARISHI,

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Blues_Mage]

Frigid
Serial Number: BZJ-01R-FRGD
Frame and Tuning:
Cicada2 | Helios | A92XS | Dingo
0,5,0,0,5 | 0,10,~ | 0,10, ~ | 0,7,0,3,0
Internal Components and Tuning:
Gull | F73H | Fudoh | R92
2,0,8 | N/A | 0,10,0 | 0,0,10
Armaments and Countermeasures:
- | Gar | - | Nymphe | Giant | WL95G
Optional Parts:
Amino, O69ES, O71EC, O79L+, Organelle, Codon, Marishi

------------------------------------------------------------------

[Blues_Mage]

Bottle Rocket
Frame and Tuning:
Eye | C75U2 | A92XS | LN91HM
0,3,4,0,3 | 0,5,3,2,0 | 0,10,~ | 0,8,2,~
Internals and Tuning:
N/A | F73H | Lotus | Linden
N/A | N/A | 0,3,7 | 0,0,10
Armaments and Countermeasures:
- | - | - | - | WR93B3 | Hiten
Optional Enhancements:
Amino, O69ES, O69SS, O71EC, Kissyoh, Organelle, Marishi

------------------------------------------------------------------


__ Shout Outs

Wow, there are a lot of people that I should be thanking right now......here we go: Brian (Xfighter), Flashback, LaserLight, Tekka (D.Boy), Blues_Mage, Eddie (BCK), BlackIce (pretty much all of the Forgotten guys), Thanatos and Kazzar for sending in some sample jousting designs. Everyone else at Ravens' Nest that I may have forgotten, Game Hits (for getting me started with heavy AC design), ACO, Ravens' Haven. The guys who made the Hash NX builder, everyone who has every tested my jousting designs and has given me constructive feedback.....and anyone else that I've bound to forgotten....thanks a ton guys !!


__ Links and Contact Information

Here are some of the places that I post at now and have posted at in the past, as well as other useful links:

www.acnest.com (The Ravens' Nest forums and the NX AC builder are here as well)
www.armoredcoreonline.com
www.game-hits.com (The old Armored Corner fourm....my very first board)
<a href='http://home.earthlink.net/~koelgael/hashnx_data.htm' target='_blank'>http://home.earthlink.net/~koelgael/hashnx_data.htm</a> (this is the data that was used to create HashNX....compiled by Kobel of Ravens' Haven)
<a href='http://www.freewebs.com/m3chac' target='_blank'>http://www.freewebs.com/m3chac</a> (This is my personal website where I store my SL and NX staple designs....its in need of a serious update though)


__Updates

[02/23/05] I got some free time and I added Blues's, Thanatos's, and KaZZar's sample jousting designs that they allowed me to use. All of the sample designs in this guide are for REFERENCE ONLY!! If you wish to use the design for, contact the respective owner for permission. I also updated the FAQ section....but it will constantly be upadated until NB comes out.

[02/18/05] Finally finished the guide....I've proofread it the best that I could, and its now ready to be posted up at Ravens' Nest. Happy Jousting !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have a question, email me at m3chadon@gmail -or- find me on AIM, screename is Pyromechadon -or- you can find me at any one of the AC boards that I mentioned above.

This faq cannot be put on any other board without Mechadon's permission

~Copyright 2005-2006 Brett "Mechadon" Harrell~