Armored Core VI: YOU DIED in a giant robot

You mean the one with the stealth mechs that are invisible at range and can seemingly teleport in the first part of the stage? That's a bit of a weird one-off, it tells you to use your scanner to find them initially, but I don't think it works in the boss fight when they're clinging high up on the walls.

I found the scanner to generally be of limited utility, it's best in the enclosed hallway/tunnel levels to see if an enemy mech is around the corner, or hiding on the ceiling before you drop down somewhere. Not sure if it actually highlights the chests where you find parts, but I don't think it ever helped me find one.

Oh I think scanning might also highlight any mission targets, ie when you have to destroy some inanimate object? Not entirely sure if it's necessary or not.

xp, yeah that's it. the scanner didn't seem to help at all. It was mega confusing. The only way to spot them was to just haphazardly shoot in the rough direction the lazers were firing from until I got a lock

Haha yeah, I would go to the wall they were shooting from and try to jump up directly below them like an excited dog (I think I eventually switched to quad legs on my first playthrough to get up there more easily). Definitely died a lot, it was fun to blow through it in ng+.

If Balteus has been nerfed I hate to think of what he was like before that.

It's great that I can respec between checkpoints, but it's sort of a shame that going back to the shop means starting the mission again and having to do the same bullshit every time I want to experiment with a different build. Maybe that's too much of an ask though.

Anyway, I can somehow get him down to a slither of health but somehow die right at the end. Happened a half dozen times yesterday with a lightweight build I was using. So so close!

Well I finished ng++ and I think I can put this game aside now. Glad I played through all the endings and appreciated the new missions/variations that get peppered in along the way, but my sore hands will be happy to move on to something with less frantic button pressing (partly my own fault for sticking with the laser handguns and not something with rapid fire).

I have been enjoying this game but in small doses. The levels are alot easier than the bosses.
I got up to Balteus and hit a bit of a wall. I looked up a guide that suggested a very light mecha, and I was frequently getting it down to the last 10% but he'd come and wreck me in the Nth minute.

I've seen a more tanky, heavy build suggested, but I guess the frustrating bit about re-speccing is that this is fine mid-mission, but not if you want to go to the shop. I also doubt this big tank build would be any good for the level preceding Balteus, so it's a given I'd have to sell all my current stuff, then buy everything for the tank build plus a build to get through the level.

How do you all feel about the build system? Do you find it easy to get your head around? I don't find the different parts easy to distinguish from each other and they all have quite cumbersome names, so it's kind of difficult for me to experiment. Instead it seems I'm reliant on online guides to tell me how to build my mecha.

Then again, it's early days for me. I've a lot to learn

Very soon you'll have enough money that you won't have to sell parts to make new builds, and can keep different saved mechs that you can easily switch to at a boss checkpoint (you could replay earlier missions to get that together if you want, the 'Destroy the Tester AC' one is popular for being very short with a decent payout).

I end up liking the build system. I don't even really look at the names, just the blue lines and numbers. Basically I go for a combo of legs + weapons that I want, and everything else is just to support that (with maybe more attention to the generator, especially if I'm using energy weapons). Again it got easier once I had a bunch of saved builds that I could tweak slightly at a boss checkpoint, rather than making builds from scratch.

Strictly anecdotal, but I feel that a couple of years after release people are still excitedly talking about "Elden Ring," but a couple of months after release far fewer people are talking about "Armored Core."

The reasons are:

Baldur's Gate 3 came out the week after and I think that just ate into everyone's play time
A much more linear storyline means less to discuss. Unlike Elden Ring.

I haven't really played much - I got to the second boss and then started BG3. I fully intend to get back into it.

It's a far shorter and more contained game that Elden Ring, and I haven't felt compelled to keep playing the multiplayer after finishing it (3x). It was still very memorable though.

I did end up really liking the story elements, there are some straightforward elements but there's certainly a lot left to the imagination about the various characters, and the AC reddit was still chewing on it last time I looked.

Yeah, I suspect I'll get to it at some point. But even setting aside "Baldur's Gate," there has been a steady stream of stuff that seems to have gotten, or will get, more attention. "Lies of P" or "Lords of the Fallen" for From nerds, "Spider-man 2" or "Alan Wake 2" for tech-chasing single player nerds, "RE4" remake and "Tears of the Kingdom" for franchise nerds, etc. There will always be distractions. Just arm-chairing, but I suspect it may be a combination of limited appeals: a long-dormant cult franchise, the still relatively niche appeal of From, factoring in how this game apparently deviates from formula, the reportedly now fixed frustrating early boss checks, and so on.

Yeah, funny because the front end of this year didn't seem especially fruitful for games and I ended up mostly going back to things like Dark Souls 1 and Sekiro. Then suddenly it's all go!

It's finally discounted (down to $40) but ... I just can't do it. Looks too frenetic, doesn't look fun, and I still have "Returnal" to play when I feel like self/controller punishment.

i played the first chapter and it was good (although really really hard at times, even by from standards) but what put me off continuing in favour of other games (bg3 actually came out weeks earlier on pc though) was that having to redesign my mech constantly to adapt to each level was such a hassle, it's just so complicated and difficult to assess what was an effective upgrade or not.

i'll get back to it eventually

That's what I find most frustrating, or unappealing. The last thing I want to do is constantly swap out 5 million different builds, depending on the battle. To each their own. Hell, there are people that really seem enthused about Balders Gate's character creator, but I couldn't give a shit about that stuff. I've tried watching a couple walkthroughs, and the first episode is almost always entirely creating a character.

UFO otm. I wish it were easier for me to tell one head set from another but it really is like trying to find the exact right replacement screw for secondhand flatpack furniture sometimes

I find From games tough enough without needing to juggle stats and builds.

I really wouldn't worry too much about the details. The main thing is picking legs and weapons (and maybe an appropriate FCS), and then just fill in the rest whatever will let you hit the weight/energy requirements.

I quickly hit a point where I had a few saved build templates that I liked, and I would just switch between those for the rest of the game. With occasional upgrades when I would get access to new weapons or wanted to try a different approach on a boss.

I thought I would find it stressful because I like to forget about stats in Souls games as quickly as possible, and avoid complicated builds. But honestly I found it much more relaxing than being locked into a build. It's fun to try things without having to start a new character and play the whole game over.