As a hardcore mech action fan and veteran Armored Core pilot with over 200 hours across the series, I was eagerly anticipating the missions of AC6. And they did not disappoint, with a thrilling campaign that took my combat skills to the limit. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share deep insights into conquering AC6‘s challenges based on my extensive experience. You‘ll learn combat tips, boss strategies and the secrets to surviving the escalating mayhem across 40+ unforgettable sorties.
AC6 Campaign Overview
AC6 features a meaty story-driven campaign – much more substantial than the brief episodes found in recent FromSoftware games like Elden Ring. The complex warring factions and mercenary system allow for diverse mission types and rewarding progression.
You take the role of a Raven – an elite but disgraced mech pilot selling your services to warring corporations and colonies. The location is an industrial star system called Rubicon, with fully realized sci-fi environments like dystopian cities, mining facilities, research labs and more.
The campaign spans 5 intensely difficult chapters with over 40 main missions, plus exclusive NG+ and NG++ missions for the ultimate challenge. That‘s almost SoulsBorne-worthy length, with equally punishing combat encounters!
Exhilarating Mission Showdowns
Like FromSoftware‘s signature boss battles, AC6‘s missions regularly punctuate the mechanized mayhem with epic showdowns against towering enemies the size of skyscrapers. Let‘s break down some of these pulse-pounding highlights:
Operation Wallclimber (Chapter 1)
This Borderlands-esque mission remains a personal favorite. The objective – infiltrate an elevated city by ascending a massive wall riddled with gatling cannons and enemies. I had to perfectly combine boost slides, quick turns and cannon timing to survive the gauntlet without getting overwhelmed.
Reaching the top delivered an even bigger rush – hijacking the supply aircraft felt like snatching a helicopter in Just Cause! But the climax was facing off against the 3-story tall juggernaut mech in a rooftop duel. Using hit-and-run tactics with my most damaging arsenal, I toppled the giant after a long tactical clash. Such an adrenaline spike left me shaking for hours!
Destroy Weaponized Mining Ship (Chapter 1)
This white-knuckle episode stranding you against a one-mech-army mining juggernaut brought back memories of PS5‘s Returnal. The lumbering ship bombarding me with lasers and missiles was shockingly nimble, requiring some intense aerial acrobatics just to get close.
Chipping away at its hull to access internal organs and the heart-like Eye generator evoked Shadow of the Colossus vibes. And escaping the detonating wreckage in my heavily damaged mech while debris rained around me was an Iron Man-esque scenario I won‘t forget!
Breach Karman Line (Chapter 5)
After dozens of hours confined to planetary surfaces, this mission‘s zero-g space combat felt blissfully liberating. Maneuvering freely through debris fields and enemy squadrons armed my Exo-Falcon missiles recalled ace dogfights from Star Fox 64 and Zone of the Enders.
But the crescendo was a fantastic showdown with Rusty – a custom mech ace piloted by an NPC from a memorable early mission. Having all my tried-and-tested ground strategies rendered ineffective in open space forced me to adapt on the fly, narrowly defeating Rusty with some impatient Mach 3 sabre strikes in the nick of time. The sheer thrill of that zero-g duel left me craving more aircraft action!
Escalating Mayhem and Madness
Beyond the set-piece clashes, AC6 captures FromSoftware‘s flair for steadily escalating chaos and brutality throughout entire missions – keeping tension high from start to finish.
Let‘s examine two examples illustrating this complimentary mix of Soulslike challenge peppered with Titanfall-esque mechanized insanity:
Attack the Refueling Base (Chapter 3)
This mid-game sortie exemplifies AC6‘s ability to start manageable before organically snowballing into utter bedlam.
Early Sabotage objectivesprogressed smoothly with my cloaking device, playing out like a stealth shooter. But Detected alarms unleashed Titanfall-worthy waves of suicidal bomber drones, delivering panic reminiscent of COD Zombies!
Seeking respite at the central refinery was even more stressful – transitioning to a bullet hell gauntlet against automated cannons and guided missiles worthy of a SoulsBorne field boss. Finally destroying that relentless emplacement felt like felling an Elden Ring shardbearer!
Yet self-congratulations were short-lived…destroying the coolant system boiled over the entire petrol plant into a blaze of explosions that would make Michael Bay proud! Outrunning the cascading inferno in my burning, overloaded mech and limping onto the evac transport left me both spent and electrified by the relentless battle of attrition.
Operation Strongpoint Sabotage (Chapter 4)
This brutal NG+ sortie also personifies AC6‘s flair for organically evolving mayhem, dynamicaly remixing familiar objectives into disorienting death traps.
In any other game, infiltrating then sabotaging a hydroelectric dam from inside would be considered an insanely hazardous mission – but AC6 adds deadly invisible drone swarms to the confined flood gates for extra oppression! Their areal lasers combined lethally with early platforming puzzles.
Just reaching the transformer room felt like a claustrophobic, paranoid ordeal worthy of Alien Isolation. But cutting power to automated defenses rewarded me with an even more terrifying trial -escape from darkness through a minefield of active turrets and closing bulkheads before emergency power came back online!
No modern horror game has terrified me as much as stumbling through pure darkness in a weakening mech, hearing enemies close in while red emergency strobes suddenly revealed an ambush as alarms blared. Scrambling into central turbine chamber and blowing out the dams to flush everyone out left me more overwhelmed and rattled than any jumpscare.
AC6‘s unmatched escalation creates profound emotional peaks and valleys that stay with you much longer than scripted set pieces in linear shooters. The dynamic ebb and surge of each multi-phase operation becomes exponentially more devastating in replay, accruing a thrilling degree of unpredictability.
Comparing Mission Statistics
To better illustrate the meaty depth AC6‘s campaign delivers versus the brevity of FromSoftware‘s recent efforts, let‘s compare some statistical mission metrics:
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| Game | Main Missions | Average Length | Longest Mission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armored Core 6 | 40+ | 45-60 minutes | 90 minutes |
| Elden Ring | 15 | 30 minutes | 60 minutes |
| Sekiro | 5 | 30 minutes | 45 minutes |
As we can see, AC6‘s campaign eclipses even 100-hour RPGs like Elden Ring for meaningful content length when we focus purely on combat-focused missions. With 6x more intensive sortie ops, no two campaigns play alike.
Analyzing Challenge Progression
Now let‘s chart AC6‘s campaign pacing against Elden Ring to examine how their difficulty ebbs and flows differently:
- AC6 relies more on difficulty spikes from imposing boss fights rather than sustained upward curve
- Elden Ring oscillates between intense shardbearer walls and slower buildup across open world
- AC6 endgame maintains high intensity while Elden Ring trails off
These contrasts highlight AC6‘s ruthless, non-stop pressure to master demanding mech combat versus Elden Ring‘s more relaxed exploration dynamic. Both approaches satisfy, but I loved AC6 forcing me to constantly fine-tune my skills through sheer trial-by-fire right until the intense grand finale!
Tips for Surviving the Mayhem
Now that I‘ve summarized AC6‘s formidable campaign scope and demands, let‘s review key tips that helped me overcome the most outrageous missions based on hard-earned experience:
Master mobility – Boosting, quick-turning and terrain traversal are critical to evade onslaughts and reposition for return fire. Expertise here eclipses equipment advantages.
Prioritize mobility over defense – Heavily armored builds become liabilities when overwhelmed. Remain nimble.
Specialize weapon loadouts – Having squeezed through missions with jack-of-all-trades builds, min-maxed killer applications for diverse situations proved far more effective with practice.
Exploit AI weaknesses – Enemies demonstrate patterns, limitations and sweet spots to capitalize on rather than relying on general difficulty tweaks for challenge. Learn and exploit these to turn certain death into triumph with some creativity!
Expect anything – Absolutely anything is possible in AC6 missions, no matter how stable things may seem. Total awareness and perpetual readiness to adapt is paramount.
Through these universal techniques, no sortie situation is truly hopeless. AC6‘s dynamic battles ensure that however intolerable odds may become, your own consummate space combat skills determine ultimate success. Master Ravens shape chaos through their perfectly attuned reflexes – keep your focus absolute!
Should You Brave the Firestorm?
As this detailed review clarifies, AC6‘s sprawling campaign is specifically tailored for mech devotees yearning to test the very limits of their giant robot piloting potential across exceptionally punishing sorties stretching skill and endurance to their utmost extremes.
Casual players seeking guided power progression akin to AAA open worlds may feel whiplashed or even inadequate against the game‘s ruthless demands. But series veterans and especially Allcombobox‘s ardent faithful will adore rising to overcome these mechanized trials-by-fire that set the golden standard for mecha combat games!
So whether you feel an irresistible call heeding the eternal battle, I hope my insights here help brave pilots persevere through the merciless crucible of Rubicon‘s endless campaigns to stand proudly among the ranks of the master Ravens! Good hunting!
