Fyonn
did their best!
Every time I play Armored Core, I play it the exact same way, using a medium-light four-legged AC armed primarily with a machine gun and whatever shoulder weapon seems to fit the mission best.
This time, I metaphorically popped Armored Core in for a casual run that I would end when I got bored. Then, I looked at Nine-Ball's ranking profile, and noticed it was using one of the pulse handgun things? Is that really that good? Isn't the the worst one of those, and it should be using the next one up? What's the performance difference between those?
I started to do math and immediately realized that if I'm going to do a bunch of math, which already seemed inevitable, I should bust out a spreadsheet. And so I did!
While I'm not going to share the spreadsheet in full as it only includes the arm weapons available at the start of the game, I do want to share some highlights.
Let me explain some of my terminology first: Total DMG is how much damage a weapon theoretically deals if every shot available is fired and connects. DMG/60r is how much damage the weapon will deal over the course of 60 reload ticks - Reload in this case is the stat that determines the interval between shots; depending on how Armored Core was programmed this is likely damage per second, or maybe damage per two seconds, but the comparison between weapons is what's important. DMG/$ is how much damage the weapon deals per individual credit spent on ammo; the higher this number, the less sad you get when looking at the ammo cost on the post-mission invoice. Full Ammo Cost is how much you'll be spending if you completely empty the weapon.
The starting rifle, RF35 (Total DMG 43600; DMG/60r 2616; DMG/$ 12.1; Full Ammo Cost 3600), is actually surprisingly good, which is to say, not the worst weapon on the list. It features both longevity and ammo efficiency. It can't deal damage very quickly, and I don't think you can actually kill an AC with it alone. Trading this and the starting missile launcher and maybe even the starting laser blade in for anything else is still extremely the correct move.
The first machine gun, MGA1 (Total DMG 42500; DMG/60r 5100; DMG/$ 9.4; Full Ammo Cost 4500), surprisingly packs even less of a total punch than the RF35, but it makes up for that with how quickly it shreds AP. It's still in the "replace ASAP" tier, though.
Both the sniper rifles are straight-up terrible , but I'm going to focus on RF/P (Total DMG 36720; DMG/60r 3060; DMG/$ 6.4; Full Ammo Cost 5700) because it is so astonishingly bad. Not only are we talking the lowest total damage in the game, but also some of the most expensive bullets in the game! The only thing that saves your bank account from this gun is the extremely low number of rounds available. I guess this could have a role versus MTs, but an AC can move fast enough to force any engagement into a midrange duel effortlessly, so what range advantage it has matters little, especially when long-range missiles accomplish the same role but better.
Now. Let's talk about the good stuff.
AR1000 (Total Damage 105000; DMG/60r 6300; DMG/$ 8.8; Full Ammo Cost 12000) is, as a half dozen playthroughs of anecdotal evidence have already proven to me, busted. You're not reading that wrong, the AR1000 boasts roughly 60000 more potential damage in its ammo reserves than the starting gun. The ammo cost is pretty shocking, resembling bazookas more than any other weapon on the list, but the AR1000 does have an absolute ton of ammo (1000, unsurprisingly) and at the rate it shreds AP, you probably won't need all of it. I use it on virtually every run of the game as my primary weapon. It's also my least favorite gun in Armored Core because it's dominant. Up until AC4, the best strategy I've found is to grab this machine gun or the equivalent and just keep the enemy in my sights. It is a similarly effective strategy in the hands of the AI, which doesn't fire shots that won't hit (outside of your intervention).
Nine-Ball's pulse rifle, XP1000 (Total DMG 54360; DMG/60r 6040; ENERGY WEAPON), is pretty good. Not a lot more damage on offer than RF35, but it's dealt at an AR1000 pace, so. You might notice that I didn't include ammo costs, though. That's because energy weapons like this have free ammo. And that's worth a lot when AC is all about putting the economic pressure on you to use a state-of-the-art weapon to commit war crimes against protesters.
But Nine-Ball should be using the XP2000 (Total DMG 87000; DMG/60r 4350; ENERGY WEAPON). Sure, you trade out 2000 damage per secondish?, but you get 33000 more damage potential in the gun, which in my opinion is extremely worth it.
You know what's good? Bazookas. B2120 (Total DMG 100000; DMG/60r 4687.5; DMG/$ 7.7; Full Ammo Cost 13040). The price on all those explosive isn't cheap. But you get what you pay for: it's a ton of damage, especially once you factor in all the splash damage that will make near-misses hit and multiply your damage against groups. I'm tired of writing stats out, but B2180 is much the same, but less total damage, dealt faster, across a smaller number of shots, and for more $$$.
This time, I metaphorically popped Armored Core in for a casual run that I would end when I got bored. Then, I looked at Nine-Ball's ranking profile, and noticed it was using one of the pulse handgun things? Is that really that good? Isn't the the worst one of those, and it should be using the next one up? What's the performance difference between those?
I started to do math and immediately realized that if I'm going to do a bunch of math, which already seemed inevitable, I should bust out a spreadsheet. And so I did!
While I'm not going to share the spreadsheet in full as it only includes the arm weapons available at the start of the game, I do want to share some highlights.
Let me explain some of my terminology first: Total DMG is how much damage a weapon theoretically deals if every shot available is fired and connects. DMG/60r is how much damage the weapon will deal over the course of 60 reload ticks - Reload in this case is the stat that determines the interval between shots; depending on how Armored Core was programmed this is likely damage per second, or maybe damage per two seconds, but the comparison between weapons is what's important. DMG/$ is how much damage the weapon deals per individual credit spent on ammo; the higher this number, the less sad you get when looking at the ammo cost on the post-mission invoice. Full Ammo Cost is how much you'll be spending if you completely empty the weapon.
The starting rifle, RF35 (Total DMG 43600; DMG/60r 2616; DMG/$ 12.1; Full Ammo Cost 3600), is actually surprisingly good, which is to say, not the worst weapon on the list. It features both longevity and ammo efficiency. It can't deal damage very quickly, and I don't think you can actually kill an AC with it alone. Trading this and the starting missile launcher and maybe even the starting laser blade in for anything else is still extremely the correct move.
The first machine gun, MGA1 (Total DMG 42500; DMG/60r 5100; DMG/$ 9.4; Full Ammo Cost 4500), surprisingly packs even less of a total punch than the RF35, but it makes up for that with how quickly it shreds AP. It's still in the "replace ASAP" tier, though.
Both the sniper rifles are straight-up terrible , but I'm going to focus on RF/P (Total DMG 36720; DMG/60r 3060; DMG/$ 6.4; Full Ammo Cost 5700) because it is so astonishingly bad. Not only are we talking the lowest total damage in the game, but also some of the most expensive bullets in the game! The only thing that saves your bank account from this gun is the extremely low number of rounds available. I guess this could have a role versus MTs, but an AC can move fast enough to force any engagement into a midrange duel effortlessly, so what range advantage it has matters little, especially when long-range missiles accomplish the same role but better.
Now. Let's talk about the good stuff.
AR1000 (Total Damage 105000; DMG/60r 6300; DMG/$ 8.8; Full Ammo Cost 12000) is, as a half dozen playthroughs of anecdotal evidence have already proven to me, busted. You're not reading that wrong, the AR1000 boasts roughly 60000 more potential damage in its ammo reserves than the starting gun. The ammo cost is pretty shocking, resembling bazookas more than any other weapon on the list, but the AR1000 does have an absolute ton of ammo (1000, unsurprisingly) and at the rate it shreds AP, you probably won't need all of it. I use it on virtually every run of the game as my primary weapon. It's also my least favorite gun in Armored Core because it's dominant. Up until AC4, the best strategy I've found is to grab this machine gun or the equivalent and just keep the enemy in my sights. It is a similarly effective strategy in the hands of the AI, which doesn't fire shots that won't hit (outside of your intervention).
Nine-Ball's pulse rifle, XP1000 (Total DMG 54360; DMG/60r 6040; ENERGY WEAPON), is pretty good. Not a lot more damage on offer than RF35, but it's dealt at an AR1000 pace, so. You might notice that I didn't include ammo costs, though. That's because energy weapons like this have free ammo. And that's worth a lot when AC is all about putting the economic pressure on you to use a state-of-the-art weapon to commit war crimes against protesters.
But Nine-Ball should be using the XP2000 (Total DMG 87000; DMG/60r 4350; ENERGY WEAPON). Sure, you trade out 2000 damage per secondish?, but you get 33000 more damage potential in the gun, which in my opinion is extremely worth it.
You know what's good? Bazookas. B2120 (Total DMG 100000; DMG/60r 4687.5; DMG/$ 7.7; Full Ammo Cost 13040). The price on all those explosive isn't cheap. But you get what you pay for: it's a ton of damage, especially once you factor in all the splash damage that will make near-misses hit and multiply your damage against groups. I'm tired of writing stats out, but B2180 is much the same, but less total damage, dealt faster, across a smaller number of shots, and for more $$$.
