LR Frame Part Guide:
This brief guide will go over the usable and viable frame parts of LR that you can do well with in a competitive environment. LR has a pretty decent variety of usable frame parts for PvP situations.
Heads:
There’s surprisingly a good amount of heads to use in LR, and all serve their specific purposes really well, here’s a brief breakdown on which ones you’ll probably want to use and why. Because heads don't affect your overall stats nearly as much as core, arms and legs, you can get away with using the more average heads and still be viable, albeit not maximally efficient.
YH70S2: This head has very high ap for its low weight, and provides a substantial amount of stability too. You’ll need to pair a back radar with it, so you won’t be the fastest you could be while using it. However its high ap and high stability makes it ideal for aggressive lightweight ACs.
H81S4: This head is pretty much overshadowed by S2, and is niche use. S2 is both lighter and has slightly more AP. However, there are rare instances where you need to squeeze out as much defense and stability as you can get, and S4 allows for that. Of particular note is the fact that S4 allows an AC using Panther legs to meet 6,000 stability, which will allow you to tank RM3 rounds. Like S2, you’ll need a back radar. This head also breaks easily as well. You’ll most likely use S2 4/5 times instead.
YH85SR: This is a very niche use head. It does sport very high AP for its weight, and has above average defensive stats. Stability is good, drain is rather high. Usually other heads like Drone or Spider are better choices if you want a heavier head with high AP and defense. Use this head if you find yourself in a situation where you want to gouge AP.
Spider: This is the head you want to use if you find yourself wanting to flesh out the energy defense on your AC. This head is actually rather light for the considerable amount of defense it provides. Stability is ok, and drain is average. AP is decently high for its weight as well. It is one of the sturdier heads in the game, but will break more than its break number lists, because its hurtbox is rather large. Use this head if you want to gouge energy defense on your AC, and your AC is a midweight, midrange brawler-type of AC.
Queen: This is a head you use if you want good ap for low weight. It also has good cooling, with good stability and low drain. Overall it’s just a really good head. However it isn’t a specailist in any one stat. For instance it’s not as high in stability as S2/S4/Eye3, and it’s not as high in defense as Drone/Eye3/Spider. This lack of specialization makes it niche use, but you can’t go wrong using it.
Eye3: This is easily the best head in the game. It’s stupidly light weight for the sheer amount of defense and stability it gives you. The cooling and drain are average. The possible weakpoints of this head are lowish ap and the fact that it’s prone to breaking, but its light weight and defense/stabiltiy far outweigh those cons. Put it on an aggressive light-weight that needs stability or a tank whose head is going to break more often than not, and it still would be a good choice.
Drone: Drone is the sturdiest head in the game, easily. It will probably never break on you, even if you’re sitting in a tank getting pelted on the head from Fenrir the entire match. It’s also got really good ap and good defense for its weight. Stability and drain are average. Because of its high durability and ap/defense, this head’s the go-to head for use on tanks and some heavier bipeds/quads. For things wanting to remain lighter, Eye3 is still a far superior choice.
Cores:
Cores have a great amount of variety as well. In Last Raven, either going hangar-only, EO or OB can all be a very strong strategy for being competitive, although the former is the most failsafe and the latter require more specific builds. Hangar only cores are the kings of stat gouging, and will be used for most play-styles, while OB cores sacrifice lots of stats for maximum rushdown potential, and EO cores can be slightly too heavy.
Gaea: This will be the EO core you'll want to use in Last Raven, it jokingly has its own archetype centered around its EO. This core is actually really heavy, but does provide decent stats. You won't be able to gouge AP, defense and speed as well as you can with some of the better hangar only cores, but if you build a fast AC centered around playing defense while letting its accurate EO do a lot of the work, you'll have yourself a very competitive AC. Best used for fast things that can run with an AP lead and have lots of ammo to work with on the arm weapons.
C75U2: This is one of the better hangar only cores in the game. It finds a nice sweet-spot between U4 and UL, but usually you're better off using either the lighter UL or the beefier U4, and thus it's niche use. There are a few times however where you can find the right combination of frame parts to make U2 give you the perfect balance of speed and armor that you're looking for with your AC. Its high heat resistance and lowish drain are bonuses as well, plus one of the best CAMS in the game. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC03U4: This is the hangar only core you use if you can't get away with using UA. You sacrifice about 200ap, 100 shell defense, and a load of energy drain, but you get the all-important option to equip pocketed weapons. The U4 is a beastly core that will provide you some of the best defense and AP in the game when using other gouged frame parts with it. By far its biggest limiting factor is its high energy drain, so the other viable hangar only cores with functional hangars (U2 and UL) might become better options if you're planning on running a drainy quad, or anything with drainy weaponry. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
Cronus: This core is so functionally similar to the 99UL, that it's almost not worth talking about the difference, although for the most part the 99UL is the better, safer option. You'll gain the slightest bit of speed with the Cronus, lose the slightest bit of defense and AP, but the real trade-off is that you'll lose your CAMS and get an additional optional slot. Because the the additional optional slot is the major appeal of the Cronus over the UL, it's a very niche core, but a possible choice if you're running an AC in need of lots of optional slots, such as something with lots of energy weapons. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC99UL: This is usually the hangar only core you'll choose instead of Cronus. If you had U4 or U2 on your AC prior, and you find yourself needing that last bit of speed to stay competitive, then you choose the 99UL. Depending on the choice in arms, the arm/core combinations you get with 99UL, U2 and U4 can all be very close statistically, and all offer subtle differences of specialization that may best fit your style. In that sense, there's plenty of variety you can have with the frame of your bot when using these 3 hangar only cores. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC010/UL2: This is the first choice for an OB core to use if you're going to be using any type of OB at all. It's a bit of a rarity compared to the other lightweight OB cores, because it offers beefier stats while still remaining absurdly light. The OB itself isn't the fastest int he game, but it's fast enough, and the OB heat is low enough that when your core goes yellow halfway through the match, you won't get your wings clipped quite like you would with the /UL core. If you find yourself not using the OB to its fullest potential, then chances are you're better off with a lighter hangar-only core like 99UL, but if your playstyle revolves around getting great positioning through the OB, then you'll find yourself using this.
C83UA: This is the best core in the game, although thanks to a clever ban on its hangar functionality, it's not a clear-cut winner like the Eye3 is to the heads. Thus you'll most likely see U4 just as often as the UA in competitive situations. Inability to equip hangars aside, this core has absurd stats, the disparity between this core and the rest actually makes you wonder just what the hell From Software was thinking when they made it. It's barely heavier than the U4, and its heat resistance, drain, ap and defense are off the charts good. What's even more amazing is that its CAMS is one of the best in the game too. However, because hangaring handguns under lower ammo weapons is such an overwhelming viable strategy in Last Raven, the UA's usability is a bit more limited. It is easily the go-to choice if you find yourself with arm weapons using plenty of ammo (Shade, Pixie3, lefty R3), or if you're sporting a beefy quad whose back weaponry can carry it through the entire match. No core gets close to the UA in terms of gouging armor for the speed.
EOS: This beefy OB core is mostly used for tanks, but you can get away with using it on a bulkier biped or quad as well. Its OB is the fastest in the game, and also doesn't turn to crap when it reaches yellow halfway through the match. Because of its fast OB and beefy stats, it's the default choice to use for tanks, who absolutely need the lateral speed of OB to stay competitive. Cooling and heat resistance is very high, while energy drain is surprisingly low. The EOS's mix of stats is almost hangar-only tier, but its key weakness is a lack of hangars and to a lesser extent a lack of optional parts. Still, it is one of the major reasons tanks can still be competitive in Last Raven.
Arms:
Thankfully, because of a couple bans to Loris and Lemur2, the arms in Last Raven have good variety, while there are about 2-3 that you'll probably find yourself using almost all the time, there's a good amount that have very good niche uses, and you can find yourself plugging them into your frame to give you the best combination of stats that you like.
Gibbon: This arm is a monster when it comes to defense. It's easily at the top of the midweight arms in Last Raven when it comes to total defense. Not only that, but it does it while being decently light with acceptable drain. Its AP isn't the highest, but it's enough considering the high defense provided. The negatives on Gibbon are its low cooling and low aim accuracy. Considering this arm tunes rather well for weight and cooling, you'll most likely be leaving the aim accuracy alone. Aim accuracy isn't too big of a factor in Last Raven if your shot selection is good. Use this arm on midweight-heavyweights if you find the Macaque not quite beefy enough and you find Lemur too heavy and drainy, and you find yourself needing to give a steroid shot to your AC's energy defense.
[b]A72F:[/b] The counterpart to Gibbon, A72F is a specialist in shell defense. Although its total defense is lower than the Gibbon, it provides better stats all around, including better cooling, slightly more AP, better aim accuracy and lower drain. Most frame parts in the game already have more shell defense than energy defense, so you'll most likely be seeing the A72F less than the Gibobn, especially because the XS arms are lighter and drain even less, while still providing good AP and shell defense. However, if you're using energy defense dominant parts like some of the quad legs for example, then there's a good chance A72F will fit your needs. If you're using a a midweight that had XS arms, and is already fast enough for your liking, then you can try to use A72F for even more defense.
[b]Lemur: [/b]This is the only 'heavyweight' arm in the game you will be using. The other heavyweight arms are far too heavy to be even worthwhile. Lemur is the one stop shop if you're looking for the most defense and AP you can muster on your AC, however its high equip drain and high weight makes it less versatile than a lighter well rounded defensive arm like Macaque. There's also the fact that some of best leg parts in the game provide considerable AP for their weight. Still though, if you're looking to gouge as much armor as possible out of your AC, then consider Lemur.
[b]A88FG:[/b] These are the lightest arms in the game by a good margin, and still offer respectable AP for their low weight. As a result, these arms give the potential for very fast ACs with high AP. The FG also sports very good aiming accuracy, and tunes really well in its defenses and cooling. Like the rest of the notable lightweight arms in the game, it's not universal plug-and-play option, as there are times where you'll want the additional cooling and defense of the FL while going about 8kph slower, or there are times where you would want the extremely low drain of the XS. However if your goal is to be as fast as possible for having as much AP as possible, FG is the best arm to do it with.
[b]Gibbon2:[/b] Consider these arms a Gibbon light, however even more niche. Since lighter ACs have more balance between shell and energy defense, you'll hardly ever need the energy defense focused Gibbon2 arms, but there are a few times where it does come in handy. If you find yourself mix/matching light and heavy parts, and you end up with a drastic deficit in energy defense, then you might consider the Gibbon2. Like Gibbon, it has low aim accuracy and cooling, but the total defense for weight provided makes up for it. The Gibbon2 provides more defense overall than the more popular lightweight arms such as XS and FL, and it does it while being really low in weight. Did I mention the AP is also really good as well?
[b]Macaque:[/b] These arms are the closest it to being universal plug-and-play for Last Raven. They work good on almost any frame combination, and they provide a great amount of defense for their weight. The AP is decent, but they're a tad-bit drainy and have really bad cooling. However, these are shortcomings easily corrected via choices in other parts and some tuning. Use these arms on anything light-midweight, and you'll get a big boost in overall defense while still retaining speed. There are times where you'll want to use Gibbon instead, sacrificing a small amount of speed for slightly beefier stats, and there are times instead where you'll most likely want to drop down to FL or XS for even more speed and lower drain.
[b]A92XS: [/b]This is the other universal plug-and-play arm for Last Raven. Due to its exceptional low drain and high ap for its weight, this arm can be plopped into any frame that runs energy weapons or needs to move around a lot, to give that last bit of extra energy supply you need to stay competitive. Its high shell defense and AP also assure some extra survivability for your AC as well. The FL provides overall more defense and slightly lighter weight with more cooling, but it also is far drainier.
[b]A94FL: [/b]This is a great all around light-arm part, with exceptional defense and cooling for its low weight. You won't see it get used all the time, because the other light arms all have great specialities as well that can fill niche roles really well, but consider this your first option when looking for a lightweight arm, and go from there. FG can provide a good amount more speed without sacrificing too much AP, but you will sacrifice some armor. Gibbon2 will provide a huge boost in energy defense, while XS will provide a huge boost in energy surplus. The real high cooling of FL makes it a prime choice for aggressive ACs that will most likely be in a lot of situations with high heat, rather it's from OB'ing around or taking high-heat weaponry to the face.
Legs:
Considering the huge amounts of legs in Last Raven, leg variety is the smallest amongst all the frame parts. While heads, cores and arms all have certain 'best' parts, and a whole lot of viable and niche parts, leg parts are just a couple 'best' parts, and some better parts for different leg categories. I'll break this section into leg-type to make it cleaner.
[b]Midweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]Dingo2:[/b] This is the quintessential staller leg in the game. Due to the underweighting mechanic in Last Raven, you can have midweight bipeds that are heavier than their lightweight counterparts move faster on the ground than the lightweight bipeds. Their handles both on the ground and in the air will be slightly inferior however, though still really good. Dingo2 takes the best advantage of the underweighting mechanic, and is the king at ground speed. Because of that you can gouge ap and defense while running away as fast as possible. Due to good defense and incredibly low drain, Dingo2 is also a great leg-set to use for general-usage midrange play. This is one of the 3 best biped legs in the game.
[b]LH92S3: [/b]This is a tremendous leg set. If you ever find yourself wanting to gouge as much AP as possible out of your AC, this is the first and only leg you want to use. Not only does it completely destroy the rest of the midweight class in terms of AP, but manages to have as much shell defense as the shell-defense specialized midweight legs, the SSA. Somehow it manages to have even more defense and AP than the heavyweight-classed FA legs as well. Even though it's heavy, it's a midweight-classed leg so it will give you midweight-class handles, meaning faster responsiveness on the ground and in the air, faster turning than heavyweights, and a slightly smaller hurtbox. The only downside the S3 has is high drain, so it's not quite as plug-and play as stuff like Cougar2 and Dingo2. Ultimately it is quite possibly the best leg in the game if you build your bot around it.
[b]Cougar2: [/b]This is the third of the 3 best legs in the game. This leg is like a Dingo2, and somehow manages to nearly match it in ground speed, but it adds additional bulk, with higher AP and defense. Going on stats alone, this is a better legset than Dingo2, but its slightly heavier weight means you lose the slightest amount of handling. You'll often find yourself choosing between this and Dingo2 on your bot. Use this if you plan on brawling more than controlling range and being elusive. Use Dingo2 if you want the latter. Both legs excel at midrange.
[b]Lightweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]Panther: [/b]These legs are your first choice to go to for wanting a lightweight leg. Because of the underweighting mechanic, lightweight legs see less use than they should, but their supreme handles mean they excel at very specific playstyles, including being super aggressive. Panther is one of the best lightweight legs because it offers a high amount of stability and low drain, making it great for rushing down opponents while remaining elusive and somewhat sturdy. AP and defense aren't the best for its heavier than normal weight, but your handles are a balancing factor in this case.
[b]L2:[/b] This is the second set of lightweight legs you might find yourself using in the game. It has high AP and good defense for its low weight, and its turning ability is even faster than Panther's. It will also break less often than the Panther as well. Of all the viable bipeds in the game, the L2 will give you the best handles, but it has disadvantages in having high equip drain, so you'd need to work the rest of your AC around that. Consider Panther the more general-usage lightweight leg while the L2 is the more specialized lightweight leg.
[b]Heavyweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]LH96FA: [/b]This is the best and only usable heavyweight leg in the game. It's also the lightest heavyweight leg in the game-- even lighter than S3. It fully takes advantage of the underweighting mechanic as well, so you have the potential for really good ap and defense on a very fast AC. Every other heavyweight in the game is too slow to be viable except for FA. Going only by the numbers, FA and S3 trade blows, one being slightly slower and drainier while having more AP and defense, the other being faster but having less armor. You might find yourself using FA in place of S3 if you absolutely need something with high armor but has less drain than S3. The biggest advantage S3 has over FA howver is its midweight handles. FA handles just like the rest of the heavyweight legs, meaning you'll turn slower, be less responsive, and have a slightly larger hurtbox. This makes S3 the better legs.
[b]Reverse Joints:[/b]
LRJ84M: When determining the viability and usefulness of the frame parts in Last Raven, you have to take into account their merits based on niche needs. The only reason to use an RJ would be to jump high. Some might even argue for low equip drain as well, however you're much better off with parts like XS arms to give you a boost in surplus energy, while legs like Dingo2 and Cougar2 give you low enough drain. RJs have all-over worse stats than the best biped legs in the game, including very importantly turning, stability and defense. However if you ever wanted to jump high, nothing beats 84M. 84M also happens to turn decently fast for being an RJ as well.
[b]Gazelle: [/b]This is like a beefier 84M, with even less drain, and still jumps pretty high. It makes it slightly better at brawling it out compared to the 84M, but bipeds are still the easy choice for that type of playstyle. Use this if you want to still jump high like the 84M, but if you want to be slightly beefier.
LRJ90A2: These are the S3 of RJs in last Raven. They're monstrous at gouging AP for their weight and potential dash speed (even slightly better than S3), but are slightly set back by subpar turning speed and energy defense. In most cases you're better off using FA to get a nice speed boost and overall better stability, or the S3 for slightly better turning. However for those looking for highest AP totals possible with a viable mid-heavyweight, the 90A2 is a strong consideration.
[b]Quads:[/b]
[b]LF88A: [/b]Consider this the S3 of the Quad legs. While its weight puts it right in the middle of its leg-type in terms of heaviness, it manages to have very high AP for its mobility, but it's also very drainy as well. Use this leg if you want to gouge AP for your speed, but also build the rest of your frame around its high equip drain, meaning using low drain stuff like XS arms, 72F arms, UA or U2 core. Not having too many energy weapons is a good idea as well. Shell defense is average, Energy defense is stupidly good, and cooling is below average. This is one of the 3 best quads in the game.
[b]Lizard:[/b] Use this leg if you want to be the fastest you can be on a quad. LF71 is even slightly faster, especially when underweighted, but it's paper-thin in defense and AP next to Lizard. It also breaks way easier during battle. Lizard provides really good defense for its speed, while AP is decent. Equip drain is overall very low as well.
LF93A2: These are the legs you use if you find yourself wanting the beefiness of the LF88A, but don't mind sacrificing some speed for better all-around stats, including cooling, lower drain, high stability, higher turning, and being even less prone to breaking. Because of the lower drain you can equip drainier frame parts elsewhere as well.
[b]Tanks:[/b]
Boar: The Boar series is probably the only tank legs you'll find yourself using in the game, with Boar2 being the generally better tank leg thanks to higher all around stats. However, Boar is still great to use if you want to be as light as possible for faster air acceleration. Nearly every other set of tank legs in the game is far too slow to be competitively viable.
Boar2: This is the beefier of the Boar series, and generally the better of the two legs. You trade in an additional 400 units of weight, but you gain around 200 ap, more cooling, and better stability. However you lose out on 100 energy defense.
LHT92: This tank leg used to wreck havok in Nexus and Ninebreaker, so much that it was banned from competitive play. It's still usable in Last Raven, but the general nerf to GLL has made it lose its biggest usefulness. Overall it's still the fastest tank leg in the game, and the closest you're going to get to op-i. It's also pretty damn high on defenses overall, and offer good stability as well. The biggest downside you'll have is the booster heat, which means you'll have to use Lotus on your AC. This means you'll have less energy to play with, so you're almost relegated to shell weapons as a result. This leg can break once in a while too, meaning you'll suffer the same fate of the hovers and become too hot to handle.
Hovers:
This brief guide will go over the usable and viable frame parts of LR that you can do well with in a competitive environment. LR has a pretty decent variety of usable frame parts for PvP situations.
Heads:
There’s surprisingly a good amount of heads to use in LR, and all serve their specific purposes really well, here’s a brief breakdown on which ones you’ll probably want to use and why. Because heads don't affect your overall stats nearly as much as core, arms and legs, you can get away with using the more average heads and still be viable, albeit not maximally efficient.
YH70S2: This head has very high ap for its low weight, and provides a substantial amount of stability too. You’ll need to pair a back radar with it, so you won’t be the fastest you could be while using it. However its high ap and high stability makes it ideal for aggressive lightweight ACs.
H81S4: This head is pretty much overshadowed by S2, and is niche use. S2 is both lighter and has slightly more AP. However, there are rare instances where you need to squeeze out as much defense and stability as you can get, and S4 allows for that. Of particular note is the fact that S4 allows an AC using Panther legs to meet 6,000 stability, which will allow you to tank RM3 rounds. Like S2, you’ll need a back radar. This head also breaks easily as well. You’ll most likely use S2 4/5 times instead.
YH85SR: This is a very niche use head. It does sport very high AP for its weight, and has above average defensive stats. Stability is good, drain is rather high. Usually other heads like Drone or Spider are better choices if you want a heavier head with high AP and defense. Use this head if you find yourself in a situation where you want to gouge AP.
Spider: This is the head you want to use if you find yourself wanting to flesh out the energy defense on your AC. This head is actually rather light for the considerable amount of defense it provides. Stability is ok, and drain is average. AP is decently high for its weight as well. It is one of the sturdier heads in the game, but will break more than its break number lists, because its hurtbox is rather large. Use this head if you want to gouge energy defense on your AC, and your AC is a midweight, midrange brawler-type of AC.
Queen: This is a head you use if you want good ap for low weight. It also has good cooling, with good stability and low drain. Overall it’s just a really good head. However it isn’t a specailist in any one stat. For instance it’s not as high in stability as S2/S4/Eye3, and it’s not as high in defense as Drone/Eye3/Spider. This lack of specialization makes it niche use, but you can’t go wrong using it.
Eye3: This is easily the best head in the game. It’s stupidly light weight for the sheer amount of defense and stability it gives you. The cooling and drain are average. The possible weakpoints of this head are lowish ap and the fact that it’s prone to breaking, but its light weight and defense/stabiltiy far outweigh those cons. Put it on an aggressive light-weight that needs stability or a tank whose head is going to break more often than not, and it still would be a good choice.
Drone: Drone is the sturdiest head in the game, easily. It will probably never break on you, even if you’re sitting in a tank getting pelted on the head from Fenrir the entire match. It’s also got really good ap and good defense for its weight. Stability and drain are average. Because of its high durability and ap/defense, this head’s the go-to head for use on tanks and some heavier bipeds/quads. For things wanting to remain lighter, Eye3 is still a far superior choice.
Cores:
Cores have a great amount of variety as well. In Last Raven, either going hangar-only, EO or OB can all be a very strong strategy for being competitive, although the former is the most failsafe and the latter require more specific builds. Hangar only cores are the kings of stat gouging, and will be used for most play-styles, while OB cores sacrifice lots of stats for maximum rushdown potential, and EO cores can be slightly too heavy.
Gaea: This will be the EO core you'll want to use in Last Raven, it jokingly has its own archetype centered around its EO. This core is actually really heavy, but does provide decent stats. You won't be able to gouge AP, defense and speed as well as you can with some of the better hangar only cores, but if you build a fast AC centered around playing defense while letting its accurate EO do a lot of the work, you'll have yourself a very competitive AC. Best used for fast things that can run with an AP lead and have lots of ammo to work with on the arm weapons.
C75U2: This is one of the better hangar only cores in the game. It finds a nice sweet-spot between U4 and UL, but usually you're better off using either the lighter UL or the beefier U4, and thus it's niche use. There are a few times however where you can find the right combination of frame parts to make U2 give you the perfect balance of speed and armor that you're looking for with your AC. Its high heat resistance and lowish drain are bonuses as well, plus one of the best CAMS in the game. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC03U4: This is the hangar only core you use if you can't get away with using UA. You sacrifice about 200ap, 100 shell defense, and a load of energy drain, but you get the all-important option to equip pocketed weapons. The U4 is a beastly core that will provide you some of the best defense and AP in the game when using other gouged frame parts with it. By far its biggest limiting factor is its high energy drain, so the other viable hangar only cores with functional hangars (U2 and UL) might become better options if you're planning on running a drainy quad, or anything with drainy weaponry. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
Cronus: This core is so functionally similar to the 99UL, that it's almost not worth talking about the difference, although for the most part the 99UL is the better, safer option. You'll gain the slightest bit of speed with the Cronus, lose the slightest bit of defense and AP, but the real trade-off is that you'll lose your CAMS and get an additional optional slot. Because the the additional optional slot is the major appeal of the Cronus over the UL, it's a very niche core, but a possible choice if you're running an AC in need of lots of optional slots, such as something with lots of energy weapons. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC99UL: This is usually the hangar only core you'll choose instead of Cronus. If you had U4 or U2 on your AC prior, and you find yourself needing that last bit of speed to stay competitive, then you choose the 99UL. Depending on the choice in arms, the arm/core combinations you get with 99UL, U2 and U4 can all be very close statistically, and all offer subtle differences of specialization that may best fit your style. In that sense, there's plenty of variety you can have with the frame of your bot when using these 3 hangar only cores. As with all the other hangar-only cores in the game, it has great all-around stats.
YC010/UL2: This is the first choice for an OB core to use if you're going to be using any type of OB at all. It's a bit of a rarity compared to the other lightweight OB cores, because it offers beefier stats while still remaining absurdly light. The OB itself isn't the fastest int he game, but it's fast enough, and the OB heat is low enough that when your core goes yellow halfway through the match, you won't get your wings clipped quite like you would with the /UL core. If you find yourself not using the OB to its fullest potential, then chances are you're better off with a lighter hangar-only core like 99UL, but if your playstyle revolves around getting great positioning through the OB, then you'll find yourself using this.
C83UA: This is the best core in the game, although thanks to a clever ban on its hangar functionality, it's not a clear-cut winner like the Eye3 is to the heads. Thus you'll most likely see U4 just as often as the UA in competitive situations. Inability to equip hangars aside, this core has absurd stats, the disparity between this core and the rest actually makes you wonder just what the hell From Software was thinking when they made it. It's barely heavier than the U4, and its heat resistance, drain, ap and defense are off the charts good. What's even more amazing is that its CAMS is one of the best in the game too. However, because hangaring handguns under lower ammo weapons is such an overwhelming viable strategy in Last Raven, the UA's usability is a bit more limited. It is easily the go-to choice if you find yourself with arm weapons using plenty of ammo (Shade, Pixie3, lefty R3), or if you're sporting a beefy quad whose back weaponry can carry it through the entire match. No core gets close to the UA in terms of gouging armor for the speed.
EOS: This beefy OB core is mostly used for tanks, but you can get away with using it on a bulkier biped or quad as well. Its OB is the fastest in the game, and also doesn't turn to crap when it reaches yellow halfway through the match. Because of its fast OB and beefy stats, it's the default choice to use for tanks, who absolutely need the lateral speed of OB to stay competitive. Cooling and heat resistance is very high, while energy drain is surprisingly low. The EOS's mix of stats is almost hangar-only tier, but its key weakness is a lack of hangars and to a lesser extent a lack of optional parts. Still, it is one of the major reasons tanks can still be competitive in Last Raven.
Arms:
Thankfully, because of a couple bans to Loris and Lemur2, the arms in Last Raven have good variety, while there are about 2-3 that you'll probably find yourself using almost all the time, there's a good amount that have very good niche uses, and you can find yourself plugging them into your frame to give you the best combination of stats that you like.
Gibbon: This arm is a monster when it comes to defense. It's easily at the top of the midweight arms in Last Raven when it comes to total defense. Not only that, but it does it while being decently light with acceptable drain. Its AP isn't the highest, but it's enough considering the high defense provided. The negatives on Gibbon are its low cooling and low aim accuracy. Considering this arm tunes rather well for weight and cooling, you'll most likely be leaving the aim accuracy alone. Aim accuracy isn't too big of a factor in Last Raven if your shot selection is good. Use this arm on midweight-heavyweights if you find the Macaque not quite beefy enough and you find Lemur too heavy and drainy, and you find yourself needing to give a steroid shot to your AC's energy defense.
[b]A72F:[/b] The counterpart to Gibbon, A72F is a specialist in shell defense. Although its total defense is lower than the Gibbon, it provides better stats all around, including better cooling, slightly more AP, better aim accuracy and lower drain. Most frame parts in the game already have more shell defense than energy defense, so you'll most likely be seeing the A72F less than the Gibobn, especially because the XS arms are lighter and drain even less, while still providing good AP and shell defense. However, if you're using energy defense dominant parts like some of the quad legs for example, then there's a good chance A72F will fit your needs. If you're using a a midweight that had XS arms, and is already fast enough for your liking, then you can try to use A72F for even more defense.
[b]Lemur: [/b]This is the only 'heavyweight' arm in the game you will be using. The other heavyweight arms are far too heavy to be even worthwhile. Lemur is the one stop shop if you're looking for the most defense and AP you can muster on your AC, however its high equip drain and high weight makes it less versatile than a lighter well rounded defensive arm like Macaque. There's also the fact that some of best leg parts in the game provide considerable AP for their weight. Still though, if you're looking to gouge as much armor as possible out of your AC, then consider Lemur.
[b]A88FG:[/b] These are the lightest arms in the game by a good margin, and still offer respectable AP for their low weight. As a result, these arms give the potential for very fast ACs with high AP. The FG also sports very good aiming accuracy, and tunes really well in its defenses and cooling. Like the rest of the notable lightweight arms in the game, it's not universal plug-and-play option, as there are times where you'll want the additional cooling and defense of the FL while going about 8kph slower, or there are times where you would want the extremely low drain of the XS. However if your goal is to be as fast as possible for having as much AP as possible, FG is the best arm to do it with.
[b]Gibbon2:[/b] Consider these arms a Gibbon light, however even more niche. Since lighter ACs have more balance between shell and energy defense, you'll hardly ever need the energy defense focused Gibbon2 arms, but there are a few times where it does come in handy. If you find yourself mix/matching light and heavy parts, and you end up with a drastic deficit in energy defense, then you might consider the Gibbon2. Like Gibbon, it has low aim accuracy and cooling, but the total defense for weight provided makes up for it. The Gibbon2 provides more defense overall than the more popular lightweight arms such as XS and FL, and it does it while being really low in weight. Did I mention the AP is also really good as well?
[b]Macaque:[/b] These arms are the closest it to being universal plug-and-play for Last Raven. They work good on almost any frame combination, and they provide a great amount of defense for their weight. The AP is decent, but they're a tad-bit drainy and have really bad cooling. However, these are shortcomings easily corrected via choices in other parts and some tuning. Use these arms on anything light-midweight, and you'll get a big boost in overall defense while still retaining speed. There are times where you'll want to use Gibbon instead, sacrificing a small amount of speed for slightly beefier stats, and there are times instead where you'll most likely want to drop down to FL or XS for even more speed and lower drain.
[b]A92XS: [/b]This is the other universal plug-and-play arm for Last Raven. Due to its exceptional low drain and high ap for its weight, this arm can be plopped into any frame that runs energy weapons or needs to move around a lot, to give that last bit of extra energy supply you need to stay competitive. Its high shell defense and AP also assure some extra survivability for your AC as well. The FL provides overall more defense and slightly lighter weight with more cooling, but it also is far drainier.
[b]A94FL: [/b]This is a great all around light-arm part, with exceptional defense and cooling for its low weight. You won't see it get used all the time, because the other light arms all have great specialities as well that can fill niche roles really well, but consider this your first option when looking for a lightweight arm, and go from there. FG can provide a good amount more speed without sacrificing too much AP, but you will sacrifice some armor. Gibbon2 will provide a huge boost in energy defense, while XS will provide a huge boost in energy surplus. The real high cooling of FL makes it a prime choice for aggressive ACs that will most likely be in a lot of situations with high heat, rather it's from OB'ing around or taking high-heat weaponry to the face.
Legs:
Considering the huge amounts of legs in Last Raven, leg variety is the smallest amongst all the frame parts. While heads, cores and arms all have certain 'best' parts, and a whole lot of viable and niche parts, leg parts are just a couple 'best' parts, and some better parts for different leg categories. I'll break this section into leg-type to make it cleaner.
[b]Midweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]Dingo2:[/b] This is the quintessential staller leg in the game. Due to the underweighting mechanic in Last Raven, you can have midweight bipeds that are heavier than their lightweight counterparts move faster on the ground than the lightweight bipeds. Their handles both on the ground and in the air will be slightly inferior however, though still really good. Dingo2 takes the best advantage of the underweighting mechanic, and is the king at ground speed. Because of that you can gouge ap and defense while running away as fast as possible. Due to good defense and incredibly low drain, Dingo2 is also a great leg-set to use for general-usage midrange play. This is one of the 3 best biped legs in the game.
[b]LH92S3: [/b]This is a tremendous leg set. If you ever find yourself wanting to gouge as much AP as possible out of your AC, this is the first and only leg you want to use. Not only does it completely destroy the rest of the midweight class in terms of AP, but manages to have as much shell defense as the shell-defense specialized midweight legs, the SSA. Somehow it manages to have even more defense and AP than the heavyweight-classed FA legs as well. Even though it's heavy, it's a midweight-classed leg so it will give you midweight-class handles, meaning faster responsiveness on the ground and in the air, faster turning than heavyweights, and a slightly smaller hurtbox. The only downside the S3 has is high drain, so it's not quite as plug-and play as stuff like Cougar2 and Dingo2. Ultimately it is quite possibly the best leg in the game if you build your bot around it.
[b]Cougar2: [/b]This is the third of the 3 best legs in the game. This leg is like a Dingo2, and somehow manages to nearly match it in ground speed, but it adds additional bulk, with higher AP and defense. Going on stats alone, this is a better legset than Dingo2, but its slightly heavier weight means you lose the slightest amount of handling. You'll often find yourself choosing between this and Dingo2 on your bot. Use this if you plan on brawling more than controlling range and being elusive. Use Dingo2 if you want the latter. Both legs excel at midrange.
[b]Lightweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]Panther: [/b]These legs are your first choice to go to for wanting a lightweight leg. Because of the underweighting mechanic, lightweight legs see less use than they should, but their supreme handles mean they excel at very specific playstyles, including being super aggressive. Panther is one of the best lightweight legs because it offers a high amount of stability and low drain, making it great for rushing down opponents while remaining elusive and somewhat sturdy. AP and defense aren't the best for its heavier than normal weight, but your handles are a balancing factor in this case.
[b]L2:[/b] This is the second set of lightweight legs you might find yourself using in the game. It has high AP and good defense for its low weight, and its turning ability is even faster than Panther's. It will also break less often than the Panther as well. Of all the viable bipeds in the game, the L2 will give you the best handles, but it has disadvantages in having high equip drain, so you'd need to work the rest of your AC around that. Consider Panther the more general-usage lightweight leg while the L2 is the more specialized lightweight leg.
[b]Heavyweight bipeds:[/b]
[b]LH96FA: [/b]This is the best and only usable heavyweight leg in the game. It's also the lightest heavyweight leg in the game-- even lighter than S3. It fully takes advantage of the underweighting mechanic as well, so you have the potential for really good ap and defense on a very fast AC. Every other heavyweight in the game is too slow to be viable except for FA. Going only by the numbers, FA and S3 trade blows, one being slightly slower and drainier while having more AP and defense, the other being faster but having less armor. You might find yourself using FA in place of S3 if you absolutely need something with high armor but has less drain than S3. The biggest advantage S3 has over FA howver is its midweight handles. FA handles just like the rest of the heavyweight legs, meaning you'll turn slower, be less responsive, and have a slightly larger hurtbox. This makes S3 the better legs.
[b]Reverse Joints:[/b]
LRJ84M: When determining the viability and usefulness of the frame parts in Last Raven, you have to take into account their merits based on niche needs. The only reason to use an RJ would be to jump high. Some might even argue for low equip drain as well, however you're much better off with parts like XS arms to give you a boost in surplus energy, while legs like Dingo2 and Cougar2 give you low enough drain. RJs have all-over worse stats than the best biped legs in the game, including very importantly turning, stability and defense. However if you ever wanted to jump high, nothing beats 84M. 84M also happens to turn decently fast for being an RJ as well.
[b]Gazelle: [/b]This is like a beefier 84M, with even less drain, and still jumps pretty high. It makes it slightly better at brawling it out compared to the 84M, but bipeds are still the easy choice for that type of playstyle. Use this if you want to still jump high like the 84M, but if you want to be slightly beefier.
LRJ90A2: These are the S3 of RJs in last Raven. They're monstrous at gouging AP for their weight and potential dash speed (even slightly better than S3), but are slightly set back by subpar turning speed and energy defense. In most cases you're better off using FA to get a nice speed boost and overall better stability, or the S3 for slightly better turning. However for those looking for highest AP totals possible with a viable mid-heavyweight, the 90A2 is a strong consideration.
[b]Quads:[/b]
[b]LF88A: [/b]Consider this the S3 of the Quad legs. While its weight puts it right in the middle of its leg-type in terms of heaviness, it manages to have very high AP for its mobility, but it's also very drainy as well. Use this leg if you want to gouge AP for your speed, but also build the rest of your frame around its high equip drain, meaning using low drain stuff like XS arms, 72F arms, UA or U2 core. Not having too many energy weapons is a good idea as well. Shell defense is average, Energy defense is stupidly good, and cooling is below average. This is one of the 3 best quads in the game.
[b]Lizard:[/b] Use this leg if you want to be the fastest you can be on a quad. LF71 is even slightly faster, especially when underweighted, but it's paper-thin in defense and AP next to Lizard. It also breaks way easier during battle. Lizard provides really good defense for its speed, while AP is decent. Equip drain is overall very low as well.
LF93A2: These are the legs you use if you find yourself wanting the beefiness of the LF88A, but don't mind sacrificing some speed for better all-around stats, including cooling, lower drain, high stability, higher turning, and being even less prone to breaking. Because of the lower drain you can equip drainier frame parts elsewhere as well.
[b]Tanks:[/b]
Boar: The Boar series is probably the only tank legs you'll find yourself using in the game, with Boar2 being the generally better tank leg thanks to higher all around stats. However, Boar is still great to use if you want to be as light as possible for faster air acceleration. Nearly every other set of tank legs in the game is far too slow to be competitively viable.
Boar2: This is the beefier of the Boar series, and generally the better of the two legs. You trade in an additional 400 units of weight, but you gain around 200 ap, more cooling, and better stability. However you lose out on 100 energy defense.
LHT92: This tank leg used to wreck havok in Nexus and Ninebreaker, so much that it was banned from competitive play. It's still usable in Last Raven, but the general nerf to GLL has made it lose its biggest usefulness. Overall it's still the fastest tank leg in the game, and the closest you're going to get to op-i. It's also pretty damn high on defenses overall, and offer good stability as well. The biggest downside you'll have is the booster heat, which means you'll have to use Lotus on your AC. This means you'll have less energy to play with, so you're almost relegated to shell weapons as a result. This leg can break once in a while too, meaning you'll suffer the same fate of the hovers and become too hot to handle.
Hovers:
