Armored Core VI - Fires of Rubicon (From)

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121053980#Comment_121053980

Use the scan to see the cloaked feckers.

To be honest if you are having trouble there then you are going to hit a brick wall with Balteus as it's From Software boss battle at its finest, a big jump in difficulty and a real skill check to see if you are ready for the rest of the game so that will probably be a roadblock for you.

Potential-Monke

That's why I'm pretty sure I'm out. If I'm struggling there... I know I haven't a hope of later stuff. It's annoying me because I really enjoy it otherwise, but nothing will beat my impatience unfortunately. #IntroduceDifficultyOptions :P

bugs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121054424#Comment_121054424

The game balance is broken (as it generally is in some form or another in AC games). An overpowered build might give you a bit more enjoyment or at least let you blow through the trickier parts of the game. If it's any consolation, the older AC games were much harder than this one and often times (arena battles in the PS2 era games) required broken builds to have a reasonable chance.

Andrew76

Picked it up for €43 from cdkeys so going to get stuck in this evening. 🙂

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121053768#Comment_121053768

10%

You f*cker....

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121055120#Comment_121055120

0.004%

One thing the Souls games have that this doesn't is a decent lock-on. Half the time Balteus disappears off the screen or is right above me and I have no idea where he is and can't avoid his attacks.

I'll get him.... but not in the foreseeable future. Once Baldurs Gate 3 started pre-downloading, I kinda want to play it for the next few weeks instead.

Edit: F*ck it, went back and finally beat him. Still going to jump to Baldurs Gate 3 tomorrow, but couldn't leave him unfinished when I was getting the strategy down.

Retr0gamer

You can get a dedicated lock on by pressing the right stick inwards. Works much better for 1v1 and bosses.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121058158#Comment_121058158

Yeah I've used it, but it's not that helpful. Maybe it's just the increased movement speed and verticality of combat in this game, but there were a lot of times, particularly after having to dodge a lot of incoming missiles, where Balteus just pretty much disappeared and I'd usually get lamped with a heavy hit while trying to find him again. Whereas Elden Ring etc usually did a better job of keeping the enemy more in frame even if you've dodged around them a bunch.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121051583#Comment_121051583

So I've been playing a bit more and it seems there's more to this. When you go to replay a mission there's an indicator to show if there's secrets you missed. Usually these are a secret fight with an AC or a mid boss but some are just a scannable object. You get unique parts and weapons for completing them.

Retr0gamer

Its very easy to buy a weapon for the wrong hand but I also really appreciate you get the full price back when you sell a part of this happens. A nice QoL feature.

Ive gotten to the point where you need to make decisions about what ending you get in chapter 3. Seems there's 2 endings you cand get with a third opening in NG++. So you can get both endings before getting the third.

DarC_Kn1ght

Got the platinum. Some of the S ranks were a pain but overall are superb game

EoinMcLovin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DyH1ML2Oo

Digital Foundry - Tech Review

Retr0gamer

Replace the beast mech with dual Zimmerman's:

Retr0gamer

Looks like they nerfed the chapter 1 and 2 boss.

Retr0gamer

Finished chapter 3. The worm boss was a From gimmick boss but a fantastic boss none the less. Some great spectacle.

The story is really getting interesting as well.

Retr0gamer

Finished up new game. Got the liberator of Rubicon ending. I'll definitely be going for the other two endings. I'm surprised how the game can make you care so much for characters you don't even see the face of. So far this is my game of the year although that will probably change if I get around to Baldur's gate.

Retr0gamer

Finished chapter 1 on new game plus. There's one new mission and a variation of another mission that makes it a. Absolute bitch. Both were really fun. Had to laugh at how easy Balteus was to finish off after how long it took the first time. Really shows how far I've come in terms of skill and understanding of how the weapons work.

Retr0gamer

The party is over, the Zimmerman's have been nerfed.

Of course it's not like I ever had to fall back on the dual Zimmerman's build when a section was too tough and definitely not in new game plus when I had to take on two Balam ACs in the dam area.

Retr0gamer

Into Ng++ now and at the end of chapter 3. Story is just getting interesting for this loop of the game.

Retr0gamer

Finished up New Game ++ last night. There were some nice small changes to the game leading up to the final chapter which was all new. The final boss was a bit cheeky, it's one of those bosses where they add cannon fodder to up the difficulty. By this point in the game I was pretty good at it but the main issue was running out of ammo before I could kill them. Switching to energy weapons worked.

This is my game of the year so far but I want to get around to Baldur's gate 3 and Mario wonder.

johnny_ultimate

Got through Balteus this evening. Wasn’t too bad in the end. Abandoned it a few days ago after a few attempts as I obviously needed to grind currency for some extra weapons, and tonight my flow was interrupted when I accidentally restarted the whole mission at one point just as I was settling into the rhythm of Balteus’ second phase. But it was probably around 60-90ish mins of attempts in the end, and the pulse ‘bubble’ gun and starter sword won the day. In some attempts I think it was ammo anxiety about the former that made me lose concentration - ‘only 30% ammo already?!!’

It really is a great fight - has that special alchemy that makes a From boss great. It’s a thrill to whittle down and then face off against an assault, regardless of the outcome.

Enjoying the game on the whole, with a few caveats. I’m not into the super detailed customisation, but I am enjoying the experimentation with weapons (loving dual machine guns for general use). Not sure about the extra short missions between the big ones either as they don’t really teach you much more about the game. Wish I’d realised how valuable the optional training missions are a bit earlier than I did - they teach you important things and shower you with good AC parts too! Had thought they’d just be repeating stuff from the in-game tutorial sections. It also has a problem I have with a lot of mech and pilot games - the sheer volume of info on screen sometimes makes it hard to properly parse the action, and sometimes you can be hit by a powerful blast from a tiny dot somewhere on or off screen that you had no idea was there because there’s so much stuff vying for your attention.

Lots to love though. The combat is fast, tense and urgent and excels in the boss and arena encounters. The sense of scale is superb, especially a massive walker encountered halfway through chapter one. Need a bit more time to come to a full assessment on it, and it lacks - on purpose even! - the exploration, complex world design and wider intrigue of a Souls game. But it’s proudly a different beast, and there’s definitely strong hints of that From magic scattered throughout this thing.

skerry

Picked this up a few months back, beat first boss and got dug into Baldur's Gate 3 since (amongst others). Picked it up again yesterday. Just beat Balteus, man that was intense. Never played an AC game before but enjoying this so far. I like how they encourage experimentation by buying back parts for the same price you bought them. Nice change of pace from Baldur's Gate 3 and will do before I get stuck into Act 3 on that.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862328#Comment_121862328

Well done, Baltheus is the gatekeeper to the rest of the game.

skerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862378#Comment_121862378

Was definitely a test and forced me to assess loadout and learn mechanics better. Just reading Johnny's comment above and I ended up using the same weapons, pulse gun and starter sword. Missiles and pulse gun melt his shield, but missile barrages were draining me and aoe at 50% health caught me every damn time. It really clicked when I started getting in his face and using kick to prolong the stagger and punish with the sword.

Loadout options are starting to open up nicely now so I'm looking forward to tooling around with builds a bit more. Didnt know training missions gave goodies so need to start into them. Have been keeping up to date with arena missions as they pop up.

Retr0gamer

Yep the kick does insane stagger. I actually used it quite a bit, boosted through the missile barrages and kicked. Usually had enough time to dodge before I got him.