As an experienced Armored Core pilot and mechanic, optimizing my mech‘s performance through stat management is second nature. But for many new recruits, the vast array of numbers and abbreviations can seem overwhelming.
This extensive guide illuminates every key stat you‘ll encounter when customizing your AC in Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. I‘ll explain how each one impacts combat and mobility, provide tangible examples, and offer optimization advice. Whether you favor agile hit-and-run tactics or heavily armored assaults, you‘ll learn how to tailor your build.
Let‘s get started!
Table of Contents
- Offensive and Defensive Capabilities
- Weight, Load Limits, and Maneuverability
- Energy Reserves, Recharge Rate, and Boosting
- Stat Prioritization for Different Build Types
Offensive and Defensive Capabilities
These parameters directly influence the offensive might and durability of your AC on the battlefield:
Armor Points (AP)
Your mech‘s total health, indicated by the HP bar. Higher AP values allow you to absorb more punishment before being destroyed. Upgrading armor parts or boosting their reinforcement level is the primary way to raise AP.
For example, equipping a Mark III heavy armor core instead of the starter Mark I core raises my test AC‘s AP from 2500 to 3800.
Anti-Kinetic Defense
Reduces kinetic damage taken from weapons like machine guns, rifles, and physical projectile cannons. Increase if battling enemies wielding rapid-fire ballistic guns.
Anti-Energy Defense
Lessens beam, laser, plasma, and other energy weapon damage. Vital when facing foes with high-output lasers, pulse cannons, and blasters.
Anti-Explosive Defense
Mitigates damage from all explosive armaments – missiles, rockets, grenades, artillery shells, and the like. Crucial if engaging missile boat ACs that unleash relentless barrages.
Upgrading these defenses via reinforced, high-grade armor parts is key to longevity. But finding the right balance is complex. Here‘s a comparison of low, balanced, and maxed defensive builds:
| Build Type | Anti-Kinetic | Anti-Energy | Anti-Explosive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glass Cannon | 1200 | 950 | 1050 |
| Balanced | 2500 | 2200 | 2400 |
| Tank | 5100 | 4870 | 4950 |
As you can see, almost quintupling defense ratings is possible…but very costly in both credits and mobility penalties!
Weight, Load Limits, and Maneuverability
Weight and load constraints impose restrictions on equipped parts and significantly impact mobility:
Total Weight
Sum of all equipped AC parts. Higher totals decrease turning rates, stride speed, boost handling, and hill climbing capability.
Arms Weight
Influences weapon draw/aiming speeds. Heavier arms translate to slower reaction times during combat.
Arms Load Limit
The max weight shoulders and arm joints can support. Restricts the size and quantity of attached weapons.
Surpassing load limits causes severe handling penalties. But higher baseline limits permit equipping devastating heavy weapons.
Total Load
Encompasses all upper body parts – arms, shoulders, cameras, radars, etc. Affects turning, hill ascent speeds, and boost handling.
Load Limit
The max burden legs can bear before mobility sharply decreases. Caps total parts on torso, shoulder, arms, and hips.
EN Load
Total quick boost energy consumption across equipped components. Impacts recharge delay after boosting and can prohibit deploying on missions if too high.
Compare these mobility-related ratings for light, moderate, and heavy setups:
| Stat | Light AC | Medium AC | Heavy AC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Weight | 3500 | 8250 | 12100 |
| Arms Weight | 950 | 2500 | 3700 |
| Arms Load Limit | 1250 | 5000 | 7500 |
| Total Load | 1800 | 4100 | 6200 |
| Load Limit | 2250 | 9500 | 14500 |
| EN Load | 34 | 72 | 107 |
Lighter builds allow phenomenal mobility at the cost of durability and firepower. Meanwhile, heavily loaded juggernauts suffer from sluggishness but pack devastating weapons.
Getting the right balance for your preferred combat doctrine is crucial…and endlessly tunable!
Energy Reserves, Recharge Rate, and Boosting
Managing your AC‘s quick boost energy (EN) usage and recharge is equally important:
EN Capacity
Your total available EN for boosting, jumping, and gliding maneuvers. Higher capacity sustains longer continuous use before depletion.
EN Supply Efficiency
Rate that equipped generators and converters replenish EN reserves. More efficient parts enhance recharging speed.
EN Recharge Delay
Time after EN is fully exhausted until recharging commences. Shorter delays let you boost again faster.
EN Output
Max EN expenditure rate for quick boosting. Limits total boosting distance/duration per activation.
EN Recharge Rate
Pace at which EN replenishes after being depleted. Rapid rates allow more frequent use of quick boosts.
Boost Speed
The maximum movement rate attainable while boosting. Higher speeds facilitate quicker evasion and traversal.
QB Speed
Your AC‘s top velocity achievable specifically while quick boosting. Affects outpacing and outmaneuvering adversaries.
QB EN Use
Amount of EN consumed per quick boost. Impacts total number of sequential boosts before recharging is required.
QB Reload Time
Cooldown between expending your quick boost and it becoming ready again.
Compare the EN benchmarks across various optimizer levels:
| Stat | Unoptimized | Streamlined | Max Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| EN Capacity | 350 | 850 | 2200 |
| EN Recharge Rate | 8 p/s | 25 p/s | 190 p/s |
| EN Output | 17 p/s | 22 p/s | 65 p/s |
| Boost Speed | 520 kph | 840 kph | 2150 kph |
| QB Speed | 400 kph | 780 kph | 1850 kph |
As shown above, optimized generators, condensers, and boosters can double or triple EN performance. Translating to more frequent, longer-duration boosting during battles and traversal.
Stat Prioritization for Different Build Types
Optimizing stats is highly dependent on your preferred combat doctrine and mission types. Here are my recommendations:
Battling Other ACs
Early on, concentrate on AP, kinetics defense, mobility limits, boost speed, and QB durations – allowing you to rapidly reposition while surviving bursts of machine gun fire.
Mid and late game, add upgraded energy weapons while boosting laser defenses, then augment AP and explosives defense to counter missile barrages. Always keep boost capacity high.
Assaulting Fortifications
Initially focus on AP, explosives defense, high ammunition weapons like rifles or machine guns, boost speed, and load limits for heavy weapons. This lets you advance cover-to-cover while surviving artillery.
Later obtain anti-tank plasma cannons, fortify AP and kinetic defense to block return fire, and expand energy reserves to sustain boosting between objectives.
Pursuit and Blitz Missions
Maintain low weight for responsiveness, maximize quick boost stats, speed, and duration. High kinetics defense helps during ambushes but achieving extreme speed is paramount. Energy efficiency streamlining lets you boost nearly continually.
As enemies escalate, add reinforcements to ensure survivability if caught and increment boost speeds even higher. Reduce ammunition reliance since reloading hampers mobility.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope this exhaustive reference has demystified Armored Core 6‘s numerous interlocking stats for you. Learning their impact takes experimentation. Don‘t hesitate to tweak configurations between missions while regularly testing in combat simulations. With practice, stat balancing for specialized or adaptable builds becomes second nature. Soon you‘ll assemble a hangar of customized AC juggernauts tuned precisely for every challenge!
Let me know if you have any other stat-related questions in the comments! For detailed part comparisons and crafting guides, check out my other AC6 articles. See you on the battlefield, pilots!
