Tag: Technology

While Armored Core has a healthy retinue of extension parts for just about every pilot’s needs, there are exceptions. And I don’t mean the cut above the rest, like the extension magazines, or those awesome projectile-swatting AMS that’s saved our asses more times than we can count.

I’m talking about the bottom of the barrel; the sort of parts that leave you scratching your heads and wondering WTF was going on the in the dev’s heads when they created them. They’re the sort of parts you’d rather die than equip on your AC (or more probably, you did die when equipped on your AC), and only keep around so you can brag about having a complete garage.

When it comes to missile technology, From Software has developed a twisted knack for finding all sorts of creative ways to screw us over. If you’re dodging the four-pronged assault of the Hydra, then you’re either evading Death-From-Above from a Mortar Rocket, or the slow, impending doom (and mushroom cloud) that follows from touching a Titan.

Up until a certain point of Armored Core, sniper rifles were something of the neglected child of the rifle family. While they dished out absurd amounts of damage and had incredible range, their small lock boxes and slow firing rate made them nearly useless at medium to close range, which is where most AC fights happen.

So there they sat in the shops, unwanted, unloved, until From Software hit upon two changes that suddenly made it a very, very bad idea to bumrush anybody packing them. The first were left-arm mounts, which allowed users to expand the SR’s miniscule lockbox by synergizing it with the much larger lockbox of handguns in the left hand.

There are two weapons in Armored Core that quads are almost never without (pre-AC4, at least): Grenade Launchers, and Railguns. We’ve already covered the ass-kicking abilities of the Grenade Launcher, so we’ll be focusing our attention on the latter.

Being a track-based AC in Armored Core has several advantages, one of them being the ability to mount and fire some of the game’s biggest back-mounted cannons while you’re on the ground, and in the air.

In fact, some weapons only really kick you in the balls when they’re mounted on treads. And no other weapon best exemplifies this than the chain gun, at least during their heyday in Armored Core 3. Feared for their combination of shot velocity, stopping power, and rate of fire, the chain gun was like a machine gun on steroids.

Energy shields are the ugly duckling of the Armored Core series; From one of the franchise’s most useless pieces of gear, they have evolved into an essential component that is literally part of every AC you fly.

When they first made their appearance in AC, EN shields weren’t quite as effective as we all hoped they would be. While their defense boost did turn your AC into a brick wall, their energy drain and weight ensured you also had just as much mobility as one.