[This is a repost of this post I originally made on Cohost on 19 September 2023.]

I've beaten Armored Core VI, all the way through the third loop. I've S-ranked every mission, and then I went back and S-ranked a bunch of them again to get better recordings. I have every piece of equipment, every combat log, every OS upgrade. Although my fingers haven't given up their itch for it, I can't justify playing this game anymore when so many other games are sitting on my virtual shelf, so I'm putting it away. For now.

As I always do with FromSoft titles, I've recorded my major accomplishments. They're available for anyone who's interested in two different playlists:

• My boss fights, including AC fights that felt major enough to be worth including. These are all official story mission victories in the order I did them in my three loops through the game.

• My S ranks, in the order they appear in the game. If you're struggling to S-rank a specific mission, this may help you out.

I had five different Armored Cores I rotated through for the S ranks, largely based on my experimentation during the main game:

FLAUMPTCH Three Time Charmed

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My go-to mech. Double SG-027 ZIMMERMAN shotguns are already a cliché but they're so much fun I can't bring myself to care. They force you to prioritize getting in close, hitting quick, and punishing hard. The digitigrade legs allow for huge quick boosts to get out of dodge fast if the enemy starts a melee attack or an AOE, plus it gives a great kick with a long hitbox—crucial for punishing staggers during this build's long reload windows.

This is a terrific boss-killer and one-on-one battler. Its biggest downsides are the relative lack of long-range options for mob-heavy missions and the low ammunition which makes it ill-suited for long-haul S-ranks.

APOCRITA Plasmatic Surgeon

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A relatively minor variation on FLAUMPTCH, with two Vvc-760PR plasma rifles taking the place of the shotguns and some tweaks to handle the added energy burden and give better long-range tracking. What this lacks in one-on-one stopping power it makes up for in its ability to absolutely mow down MTs and other weak enemies. The plasma rifles have good range and a long-lasting AOE when they land, so they can one-shot all but the toughest mobs.

I use this for missions where the bulk of the fighting is with random smaller enemies, or where I need a good amount of reach. It's great for "tower defense" style missions and some of the trickier "mop up the random MTs" missions where waiting for a shotgun or a missile reload for each enemy is just not practical. It struggles mightily to build up ACS damage against bosses and ACs, so look elsewhere if you want to bring down larger prey.

MAILLARD Cuite à Point

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I'll be honest: when I first saw flamethrowers in AC6, I…