AAAAAAAA RRRRRRRR MMM MMM OOOOOOOOOO RRRRRRRR EEEEEEEEE DDDDDDDD AAAAAAAA RRR RRR MMMM MMMM OOOOOOOOOO RRR RRR EEEEEEEEE DDDDDDDDD AA AA RRR RRR MMMMM MMMMM OO OO RRR RRR EE DD DD AA AA RRR RR MMMMMM MMMMMM OO OO RRR RR EE DD DD AAAAAAAA RRRRRRRR MMMMMMMMMMMMM OO OO RRRRRRRR EEEEEE DD DD AAAAAAAA RRRRRRRR MMM MMM MMM OO OO RRRRRRRR EEEEEE DD DD AA AA RRRR MMM MMM MMM OO OO RRRR EE DD DD AA AA RRRRRR MMM MMM OO OO RRRRRR EE DD DD AA AA RR RRRR MMM MMM OO OO RR RRRR EE DD DD AA AA RR RRRR MMM MMM OOOOOOOOOO RR RRRR EEEEEEEEE DDDDDDDDD AA AA RR RRRR MMM MMM OOOOOOOOOO RR RRRR EEEEEEEEE DDDDDDDD CCCCCCCC OOOOOOOOO RRRRRRRR EEEEEEEEE 4444 CCCCCCCC OOOOOOOOO RRR RRR EEEEEEEEE 44444 CC OO OO RRR RRR EE 444 44 CC OO OO RRR RR EE 444 44 CC OO OO RRRRRRRR EEEEEE 444 44 CC OO OO RRRRRRRR EEEEEE 444 44 CC OO OO RRRR EE 444 44 CC OO OO RRRRRR EE 444444444444 CC OO OO RR RRRR EE 444444444444 CCCCCCCC OOOOOOOOO RR RRRR EEEEEEEEE 4444 CCCCCCCC OOOOOOOOO RR RRRR EEEEEEEEE 4444 O============================================================================O | Table of Contents | O============================================================================O Hit Ctrl + F on Windows Systems and search for the section ID to quickly move around in this FAQ. A. Before You Start Playing........................................(000A0) i. Controls, Options, Regulations.............................(000A1) ii. Terminology/How to use this FAQ...........................(000A2) iii. The many, many different attributes......................(000A3) B. General Tips....................................................(000B0) i. Combat.....................................................(000B1) ii. Building your AC..........................................(000B2) iii. Other....................................................(000B3) C. Missions........................................................(000C0) 1. Chapter 1...................................................(000C1) 2. Chapter 2...................................................(000C2) i. Swarms of Red Eyes.........................................(000C3) ii. Elimination...............................................(000C4) iii. Dangerous Waters.........................................(000C5) iv. Operation: Descent........................................(000C6) v. Sharpshooting..............................................(000C7) vi. Bald-Dora.................................................(000C8) vii. Sandstorm Citadel........................................(000C9) viii. Desert Wolf.............................................(00C10) 3. Chapter 3...................................................(00C11) i. Aerial Interdiction........................................(00C12) ii. Icebreaker Defense........................................(00C13) iii. Water Gliding............................................(00C14) iv. Might Makes Right.........................................(00C15) v. Barbe-Bleue................................................(00C16) vi. Retaliation...............................................(00C17) vii. A Dark Night's March.....................................(00C18) viii. Up In Flames............................................(00C19) ix. Internal Purge............................................(00C20) 4. Chapter 4...................................................(00C21) i. Ego Boost..................................................(00C22) ii. Firefly...................................................(00C23) iii. Operation: Ascent........................................(00C24) iv. Line of Defense...........................................(00C25) v. Sea of Blood...............................................(00C26) vi. The Womb..................................................(00C27) vii. Break The White Lance....................................(00C28) viii. Empress.................................................(00C29) ix. Juggernaut................................................(00C30) 5. Chapter 5...................................................(00C31) i. Unseen Assailant...........................................(00C32) ii. Hail of Bullets...........................................(00C33) iii. Silent Avalance..........................................(00C34) iv. Futile Resistance.........................................(00C35) v. Pillar of Light............................................(00C36) vi. Sol Dios..................................................(00C37) vii. Jardin De Chavalier......................................(00C38) viii. Marche Au Supplice......................................(00C39) ix. Bitter Obligation.........................................(00C40) 6. Chapter 6...................................................(00C41) i. Seed a Barren Earth........................................(00C41) D. The Simulator...................................................(000D0) E. Basic Enemy Information.........................................(000E0) F. Frequently Asked Questions......................................(000F0) G. Version History.................................................(000G0) H. Legal/Contact...................................................(000H0) I. Credits.........................................................(000I0) O============================================================================O | Before You Start Playing (000A0) | O============================================================================O Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Controls, Options, Regulations | (000A1) \--------------------------------------------------------o Controls: There are two standard sets, and the ability to customize controls from these templates. At least give the controls a look by checking the sets you can customize, so you know how to do everything. I'll explain what each does here. During the solo missions, they can be edited via the System tab. Move - Moves your Armored Core in the specified direction. Sidestep - Strafes your Armored Core in the specified direction, while facing forward. Look - Causes your Armored Core to look in that direction. Reset View - Returns your view to its normal level and position. Turn - Causes your Armored Core to face in the specified direction. Boost - Increase your speed when moving, causes your Armored Core to lift off of the ground stationary/moving slowly. You'll be boosting a lot, so stick with one of the shoulder triggers. This drains your energy meter based on the energy consumption levels of your boosters. Over Boost - Activates your Over Boost, giving your Armored Core a huge speed boost for a short time. This is pretty useless, since you'll want to dedicate the energy it uses to your Primal Armor instead. Quick Boost - Causes your Armored Core to boost sharply the direction you're moving it. This is useful to evading slower projectiles and gaining position on stronger foes. However, it'll use up a significant amount of energy. Use Weapon - Fires the selected weapon. Some weapons will fire more than once per pressing. Switch Weapon - Switches between your back and arm weapons. Purge Weapon - Discards the selected weapons. This lowers your weight and allows you to use hangar weapons. Unless you're a terrible shot or using low ammo weapons against a horde of enemies, you probably won't have to use it. Lock-On target: Directs any and all attacks toward (not necessarily at) the enemy in question. This is most useful for taking out a select enemy in a swarm. If Auto-sighting is on, this will also direct your view to the enemy. Options: Your standard options. Some are self explanatory, and up to your discretion to decide which is best. Druing the solos missions, they can be edited via the System tab. *Change Schematic/Paint Data Storage will allow you to choose where you save your schematic and Paint data to; hard drive, memory card, what have you. *Auto Sighting - When this is on, the AI will automatically target foes for you. This is both useful and a hindrance, depending upon your task. I'll cover what you should do with this as the need arises. *Auto Boost - Keep you from have to keep yourself afloat in water. I suggest you keep this on, as you can sink rather easily. *Auto Weapon Switch - The AI will automatically switch your weapons for you. Despite recent technological advances, the average human mind is many times more apaptable than AI. Turn this off, and keep it off. Regulations: If you have XBox Live Account (All X360 Owners have at least a Silver level membership), you can periodcally download new regulation files. Since the game is still new and I don't have my X360 hooked up to the internet yet, I can't be 100% certain what these are. However, reading various sources and a bit logic tell me that they're similar to patches for PC games, made to balance the online game. You could put a Regulations file on a memory card or HD and load it to your unconnected version of Armored Core 4, as well. You can also decide to play with version 1.00x at home if you so choose, as well. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Terminology/How to Use This FAQ | (000A2) \--------------------------------------------------------o Here is a list of terms commonly encountered terms/abbreviations in the game and in this FAQ. Most are taken directly from the Wikipedia page for AC4. * Actuator Complexity System (ACS) - The Next's new and improved system of control which far surpasses that of Normals in terms of precision. Originally researched and developed by Aldra, poor data management has cost them a great deal of advantage in the field. It is now looked at among Companies as a comparatively easily surpassed engineering hurdle. * Allegorical Manipulation System (AMS) - Piloting system allowing those with a certain in-born psychic trait to control Nexts. Though the strain it places on pilots is considerable, it allows for an extremely high degree of AC control. * Anatolia - A colony in an unspecified location. Presumably, you live here, and you definitely work for them as their mercenary and sole Next pilot. * Armored Core (AC) - A new form of humanoid multi-purpose weapon, armed with unparalleled firepower and capable of deciding battles single-handedly. The ACs were originally developed to combat the terrorism and violence that rose with the world's sovereign nations inability to preserve order. Recent developments in Armored Core technology have yielded a new breed of ACs, called Nexts, in addition to the previous Normals. * Armor Points - Like Hit Points from most RPGs. These signal how much damage your AC can take before ceasing function. Abbreviated as AP. * Colonies - Collective dwellings inhabited by all except for the privileged employees of the Companies, ranging from small city-states to tiny villages. Economic transactions take place exclusively between the Companies and a Colony representative, leaving the majority of the population to work in exchange for their food and security. The tight supply of food and energy, however, paired with the Companies' prohibition of direct inter-Colony trade, still leaves nearly all of the inhabitants in destitution. * Companies - The six corporate groups, and their holdings, which have assumed the responsibility of providing a new order in the place of the world's former nations. * Firing Control System (FCS) - The weapons control system that operates alongside the IRS when sighting targets. * Fractional Regulation System (FRS) - An AC control system that relays commands to each of the individual parts of the mechfrom the IRS. The ability of the FRS to optimize and execute control over separate parts without losing overall control gives FRS the advantage over IRS performance. Furthermore, FRS performance can be enhanced through the addition of specialized external memory chips. Basically, this allows you to increase your stats. * Integrated Regulation System (IRS) - The centralized AC control system stored within the craft's head. The IRS processes data output from the AMS and fills in any gaps in the pilot's commands and relays them to the parts. The IRS system also handles data from the AC's camera eyes and sensors. * Kojima Technology - A recent breakthrough in engineering that unravels the differences between Nexts and Normals. Originally developed by Akvavit and Rayleonard, Omer Science Technology replicated their results through independent research shortly thereafter. Thanks to tight data control within the labs of these three companies, the inner workings of Kojima tech remains a black box to outside developers and corporate espionage among the Companies has escalated to a fevered pitch. * Kojima Particles - A new substance discovered approximately 7 seven years prior to the National Dismantlement War by a researcher of the same name. Ensuing research has shown that when Kojima technology is applied to a host of applications that the basis of the Nexts is formed. Kojima particles have also been found to be a powerful pollutant, causing dangerously widespread and persistent damage to all forms of life exposed to them. Created by Akvavit and Omer Science Technology, Kojima Particles hold great potential for military use. These supply power to your Primal Armor and OverBoost. * Linx - Title applied to Next pilots who are AMS-compatible. While the Nexts' AMS control system directly translates the user's skill into AC performance in the field, it requires pilots to possess a special psychic trait in order to properly function. Only candidates born compatible are suited to act as pilots. Their psychic peculiarities could be called a form of genius, and many of them are used as the Companies' experimental test subjects. * National Dismantlement War - The armed conflict that erupted after the Companies decided to form a new world order. After explosive population growth, the sovereign nations of the world lost their ability to maintain control in the face of food and energy shortages. Beginning with the Companies' sudden and unilateral blitzkrieg, the largest scale coup de etat in world history was concluded within weeks, with the Companies standing victorious. * Nexts - A new breed of weapon developed in secret, initially used as the Companies' ace in the hole during the National Dismantlement War. Though based on Normal AC technology, the combination of Akvavit's Kojima technology, Aspina's Allegorical Manipulation System, and other new breakthroughs yield a product with far greater potential. The exclusive Nexts also represent the Companies' power, as most Colonies and independent armed groups do not have access to them. * Normals - High-powered, multi-purpose humanoid weapons developed to counter the terrorism and violence which rose to fill the vacuum left by the sovereign nations' waning power. The strongest weapons in play prior to the National Dismantlement War, Normals are now - with the exception of some of the latest or most highly specialized models - all but powerless in the face of the world's few Nexts. That said, Normals still compose the bulk of the Companies' forces, and represent the strongest units available to both Colonies and independent armed groups. In one on one combat, your next would destroy a single Normal. However, you rarely face them one on one. In groups of 3+ they can be deadly if you're not careful. * Originals - Title given to Linx who piloted Nexts from the time of the National Dismantlement War, which is to say from the very outset of Next technology. Over half of the Linx in existence are Originals, with the number of post-war additions still extremely few. A strong sense of being one of a chosen few pervades the ranks of the Originals, who were numbered from one through 26 following the war, in the order of their battlefield accomplishments. * Primal Armor (PA) - A defensive shield created by molding Kojima particles into a sustained, stable flow around the AC's exterior which is capable of greatly diminishing or entirely nullifying a wide variety of attacks. After an attack Kojima particle dispersion can lead to temporary weakening, but unlike conventional armor, PAs restore themselves with time. There are few drawbacks to using PA though it can be weak comparatively against highly penetrative weapons, and the necessity of expelling a large quantity of Kojima particles into the atmosphere risks serious environmental contamination. Some missions will not allow the use of Primal Armor, which means you'll have to have to evasion skill or a lot of AP to survive. * Quick Boost (QB) - Though Boost technology is hardly new in Normals and other weaponry, this breakthrough technology allows for immediate acceleration in any direction over a short distance. With the Nexts' revolutionary energy provision system and the AMS's high degree of control, the Quick Boost has become one of the new ACs' characteristic features. * Raven - Common name for a mercenary AC pilot after the widespread use of Normals in battle began. Their high degree of specialization and the impressive power of their crafts represented the chaotic era in which they fought. Now, after the close of the National Dismantlement War, however, most Ravens have been forced to become lackeys of the Companies and patrol the Colonies for next to nothing, or give their all to independent armed groups. Their current struggle to survive is a far cry from the glory they once held as the unchallenged masters of the battlefield in the days before the advent of Next technology. How to use This FAQ Since your strategies in this game will depend upon what initial AC build you choose, you may find some of my strategies difficult or impossible to execute, unless you're also using the Energy-based starting AC. Adjust your strategies accordingly. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ The Many Attributes | (000A3) \--------------------------------------------------------o Note: The parts parameters were compiled using the PS3 JPN version of the game. Minor wording differences might be present in contrast to the localized, Xbox 360 version. I will attempt to fix these errors myself, but please do e-mail me if something is not clear. Most of the statistics can be checked by editing your AC's schematics and then switching to the screen with a laundry list of statistics and attributes. Special Thanks to seigyoku from the AC4 forums on GameFAQs for writing this section. All Parts: WEIGHT - The affects the overall weight of your design. Also affects the speed, acceleration, turning, and stability of the design. In the case of stability, the affect weight has is minimal compared to the stability parameters of the head and legs. Note: once the weight goes over the loading capacity, the performance will not be lowered any more. Basically, the performance will not see any more decrease once the design goes overweight. EN CONSUMPTION - Affects the default EN drain. Affects how fast the EN gauge recovers. With a design of low drain parts, the EN gauge will recover even during flight. The opposite is also true, with enough high drain parts, the simplest actions will drain your gauge. Frame Parts Common Parameters: AP - Self Explanatory. Basically your HP. The higher this is, the better. SOLID DEFENSE - Affects how much damage you'll take against solid weapons. The higher this is, the less damage you'll take. Appears to stack with PA defense. EN DEFENSE - Affects how much damage you'll take against EN weapons. The higher this is, the less damage you'll take. EN weapons generally pierce the PA, having this high will help, especially in missions since most enemies carry EN weapons. PA RECTIFICATION - Affects PA defense, PA bar length. The higher it is the longer the PA gauge, the less damage you take while PA is on, and the longer it takes for PA shield to reactivate when the gauge empties. While it does not affect the rate at which the PA/KP regens, it does affect the reactivation point of the PA shield. PA DURABILITY - Affects the rate at which the PA decreases when hit. Head: FRAME STABILITY - Overall stability of AC. Affects all stability, everything from being shot to landing. 1.2 helped balance out stability in regards to stun. However, having this high still helps. Core: Has no extra parameters. Arms: MOBILITY - The speed at which the arm moves. Affects how fast the arms track the target, which in turn affects the speed at which a stable lock-on is achieved. RECOIL STABILITY - Affects how well the arms handle recoil. Important for large recoil weapons and fast firing weapons for precision. ALIGHNMENT PRECISION - Affects how well the arms adjust to enemy movement. The lower this is, the more the bullets will spread around randomly. Especially useful for sniper rifle and machine guns. EN WEAPON COMPATIBILITY - Affects arm EN weapons damage. Applies to blades. (Weapon Arms share some stats with weapons for most part) Legs: LOADING CAPACITY - cross this and you go overweight. can be pushed back by tuning. Once you're overweight, mobility and stability performances will not go any lower. Although differences under the loading capacity will show up, though very minimal and hard to notice. MAX LOADING CAPACITY - Cross this and your design is unusable. MOBILITY - walking speed. Useless since you'll rarely be walking. In fact anything below constant 300kmh in online will get you killed. BRAKING ABILITY - How fast you stop. Pretty useless too since QB can cancel momentum just as well if not better. TURNING ABILITY - Affects turning speed. Also affects QB turns. JUMPING ABILITY - Affects takeoff speed and jump height. Higher this is, the faster you'll leave the ground. Very useful for quickly taking off into the air. Although once you're flying, this stat is meaningless. STUN STABILITY - Affects how well the AC stands against stun from enemy fire. If it's too low, you might get stun locked and pushed by enemy bullets. 1.20 patch balanced stun a bit by weakening the stun power of rifles. Still important nonetheless. Also differs between land and air. QB can help somewhat but not always if stunned. LANDING STABILITY - QB can get you out of landing stun, and auto-boost softens the landing. Once familiar with boost mechanics this can be overlooked. FIRING STABILITY - : Recoil/Stability when firing a heavy recoil weapon. Also minor difference between land and air. QB can get you out of this stun too. Still good to keep it high if you wish to carry cannons on a biped while on the move. Quads can stop for a second to fire which neutralizes almost all recoil. Tanks feel nothing eitherway. FCS: MAX LOCK NUBMER - Affects how many people you can lock on. Affects how many you can people you can target with missiles at once. LOCK SPEED - almost unnoticeable, since it locks on pretty much instantly. Even the slowest FCS can lock on at .8 second. Difference is only noticeable in close range where the target appears to move larger distance between your screen and the FCS might need to repeatedly lockon, there by stacking the lock on times, even then you won't notice much difference. MISSILE LOCK SPEED - Self explanatory. This is more noticeable. Yellowstone is recommended for missile carriers. LOCK DISTANCE - Affects lock on distance. BLADE LOCK DISNTANCE - Affects how far you can track with a blade. Can be adjusted with duration of button press to a limited extent. Holding onto the button longer will allow you to track farther while delaying the activation of the blades. Note: Parry's are unable to track. PARALLEL PROCESSING - Affects dual lock-capable weapon designs for deviation calculation and lock. This will affect lock and tracking performance more than lock speed itself when it comes to dual gunners. The lower this is the more likely the arms will diverge and sway making the bullets go off track or completely lose track-lock. Arm lock-able weapons only. Dual Back and arm + back is considered single. RADAR RANGE - Radar range. Most of the FCS radars are small in range. Better to actually carry a radar if really necessary. RADAR REFRESH INTERVAL - How frequent the radar updates. VS. ECM PERFORMANCE - How well FCS peforms against ECM. Can be ignored since ECM only affects radar this time around. Generator: EN CONSUMPTION LIMIT - Affects the EN limit for AC design. Cross this and you'll have EN problems. Even ground boosting will drain the gauge if you cross it... so don't. Staying under this also helps in EN regen rate. EN OUTPUT - EN gauge refresh rate. Affects how fast EN gauge regens. EN CAPACITY - EN gauge length KP OUTPUT - KP refresh rate. Does not affect KP/PA gauge length, important nonetheless. Booster Common Parameters: HORIZONTAL THRUST - horizontal boost power. Affects speed. HORIZONTAL BOOST EN CONSUMPTION - EN used for horizontal boosting. QUICKBOOST THRUST - boost power from quickboost. QUICKBOOST EN CONSUMPTION - EN used for quickboosting. QUICKBOOST DURATION - how long the quickboost remains activate and how long it takes before it can be reused. Larger number = longer boost duration and longer reuse time. QB cancel can shorten this, and Advanced QB lengthens it. Main Booster: VERTICAL THRUST - vertical boost power VERTICAL BOOST EN CONSUMPTION - EN used for flying up Back Booster: Nothing extra Side Booster: Nothing extra. OveredBoost: OB THRUST - Higher = faster OB EN CONSUMPTION - EN drain while OB'ing OB KP CONSUMPTION - KP drain while OB'ing ACTIVATION EN CONSUMPTION - EN consumed when OB is activated and charging ACTIVATION KP CONSUMPTION - KP consumed when OB is activated and charging OB ACCELERATION THRUST - Affects speed of acceleration. The higher this is, the faster you reach top OB speed. OB ACCELERATION EN CONSUMPTION - EN expended immediately after OB activates following the charge-up. OB ACCELERATION KP CONSUMPTION - KP expended immediately after OB activates following the charge-up. OB ACCELERATION DURATION - Affects speed change during OB. The higher this is, the better you'll be at maintaining topspeed and the faster you'll reach it. Weapons Common Parameters: Exception for some weapons: Primarily EN weapons have have no recoil and stun, with the exception of the railgun which does have a stun but no recoil. Missiles only share the first 4 parameters plus cost and number of ammo. ATTACK POWER - Damage the weapon can deal PA DECAY POWER - How well the weapon decreases the enemy PA PA PENETRATION POWER - How well the weapon pierces through the PA to deal damage. STUN POWER - How well the weapon stuns the opponent. ALIGNMENT PERFORMANCE - Affects how fast and precise the gun matches the target's movement/position. FIRING PRECISION - controls how well the bullets align to target. The higher this is the less likely the bullets will spread all over the place. FIRING RECOIL - The larger this is the larger kickback you'll receive. Similarly, for fast firing weapons like machineguns, continuous fire will accumulate the kickback received from the weapon and make the firing off target. BULLET SPEED - How fast the bullet travels. Faster is better. FIRING RANGE - Effective firing range. larger number = farther distance. RELOAD TIME - Firing speed NUMBER OF AMMO - Obvious AMMO COST - Obvious Rifles, Machine gun, Handgun: MAGAZINE RELOAD TIME - Higher = Greater Time MAGAZINE NUMBER - Number of Magazines BULLETS PER MAGAZINE - Obvious Bazooka (weapon arm included), Sniper Rifle (back included), Grenade (back included), Gatling, Shotguns (Shoulder Included): SIMULTANEOUS FIRE NUMBER - Number of bullets fired simultaneously. Higher is better. EN Weapons (Back Included), railgun, Kojima Guns (Weapon Arms/Back Included): FIRING EN CONSUMPTION - EN used to fire 1 round of the weapon. Kojima (Weapon Arms/Back Included): CHARGE TIME COMPLETION - Time it takes to full charge. Push once to start charging, again to fire. Charge can be broken when stunned or PA is drained, ammo is not wasted. CHARGE KP EXPENDITURE - KP required to charge the weapon. Blade (Parry): BLADE RANGE - Blade range is short, but activation is coupled with a forward boost. There's no tracking for parry blades. OPERATION INTERVAL - Time it takes to reuse USAGE NUMBER - Number of uses Laser Blades: BLADE RANGE - Length of blade. Does not affect tracking length. OPERATION INTERVAL - Time it takes for reuse. FIRING EN CONSUMPTION - EN it uses to activate. Rockets (Arm, Back): EXPLOSTION SCALE - How large it explodes. Has some splash damage, however it's hardly apparent unless PA is gone. SIMULTANEOUS FIRE NUMBER - Number of rockets simultaneously fired. ACCELERATION - Speed at which the rocket moves. Overall speed is affected both by this and bullet speed, which rockets do have. Flash Rocket: Shares same parameters as rockets with exception of explosion scale. EFFECTIVE RANGE - The range in which the flare effect is active. FCS jamming included. EFFECTIVE TIME - Time in which it's effective. Missiles (Hand, Back, Shoulder, Relation): EXPLOSION SCALE - Same as rockets MAX TARGET NUMBER - How many targets it can lock on to simultaneously. Missiles are divided evenly among targets. Firing it without complete lock on will result in the missiles flying randomly and exploding. Some are useful as decoys since missiles can now be targeted. SIMULTANEOUS FIRE NUMBER - Number of missiles fired simultaneously. CONSECUTIVE FIRE NUMBER - Number of times missiles are fired consecutively. Number of overall missiles fired is equal to simultaneously fired number times the number fired consecutively. Multi-locks have no bearing on number of missiles fired. ACCELERATION - Speed at which missile moves. Missiles do not have a bullet speed. MISSILE TURNING PERFORMANCE - Affects how sharply it can turn which also affects how well it tracks the enemy. FLIGHT TIME - Amount of time the missile will continue to fly. Explodes once it reaches limit. Radar: RADAR RANGE - Range at which Radar functions RADAR REFRESH RATE - Similar to FCS VS. ECM PERFORMANCE - Similar to FCS PA Molder (back, shoulder): PA PERFORMANCE - Similar to frame parameter. Affects gauge and defense. PA DECAY RESISTANCE - Similar to frame parameter. Flares: DECOY PERFORMANCE - How well it attracts missiles MISSILE GUIDANCE RANGE - The range in which it will effectively misguide missiles. ACTIVE TIME - The length of time in which it will continue to be effective. For the MSAC missiles it's best to shoot it up in the air and let it fall for max duration SIMULTANEOUS FIRE NUMBER - Number of flares simultaneously fired ECM Makers: Scrambles the radar. ECM CONCENTRATION - Effective power of the ecm. Larger is better, radar will be more scrambled. EFFECTIVE RANGE - The range in which the ECM will induce scrambling. EFFECTIVE TIME - Time for which it remains active. SIMULTANEOUS FIRE NUMBER - Number of ECMs simultaneously fired. PA Charger: KP PROVISION - Amount of KP it recharges EFFECTIVE TIME - How long it is effective RELOAD TIME - Time between uses USAGE NUMBER - Number of uses AMMO COST - Obvious Stabilizers: RECTIFICATION - The higher it is the more it'll will affect the balance. Spread Sheet Parameter: Here's the spread sheet parameters (the one that appears on the right hand side after pushing triangle twice during assembly). Weight EN Consumption --------------------------- Fire Power VS PA Performance Suitable Range Extent Speed Performance Durability Turning Solid Defense EN Defense PA Performance Stability Performance AP EN Supply Lock Performance Enemy Locating Ability (Radar/FCS) II. TUNING CAPACITY: EN OUTPUT - How fast EN recharges. EN CAPACITY - EN bar length. KP OUTPUT - KP recharge rate. LOADING CAPACITY - Weight Load. Not max, just the point at which you become overweight is pushed farther. ATTACK: EN WEAPON SUITABILITY - Affects EN weapon damage mostly for arm weapons, Blades included. MOBILITY - How fast the arm moves. In other words, how fast the little white crosshair moves on to the available target to get a lock on. RECOIL CONTROL - Self explanatory ALIGNMENT PRECISION - How well the arms adjust for enemy movement. Long range weapon users should focus more on this. CAPTURE: LOCK SPEED - self explanatory MISSILE LOCK SPEED - self explanatory RADAR REFRESH RATE - self explanatory, useful to get a better idea on hi-speed missile movement and light weight AC movements. VS. ECM ABILITY - self explanatory PRIMAL ARMOR: HEAD - affects the PA bar length. Damage taken with PA shield on. Even if the bar is maxed the extra points carry into PA defense. CORE - same as above ARMS - same as above LEGS - same as above BOOST: MAIN - Boost Power. Self explanatory MAIN LIFT - Self Explanatory SIDE - Self explanatory BACK - Self explanatory SPECIAL BOOST: QMAIN - QBoost Power. QSIDE - QBoost Power. QBACK - QBoost Power. OB - Over Boost Power. MOBILITY: MOVEMENT - Walking Speed. Useless unless you have some serious EN problems. BRAKE - Self explanatory. TURNING - Self explanatory. Also affects QB turning. JUMP - Affects how high you jump and how fast you leave the ground. After leaving the ground the speed at which you rise is affected by boosters. Useless for tanks. STEADINESS: FRAME - Overall stability. affect everything else a bit. STUN - How well you deal with getting hit. If its too low you'll get stunned and pushed by rifle fire, even. LANDING - How hard you land. Pretty useless. QB can get you out of stun if you land too hard. FIRING - Same as above except deals with the stun you get from firing a weapon. Again QB can get you out of it when you get stunned from firing a large recoil weapon. O============================================================================O | General Tips (000B0) | O============================================================================O Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Combat | (000B1) \--------------------------------------------------------o * Don't try to simply let your AP, Primal Armor, and Defenses absorb every shot the enemy AI throws at you. All that will get you is a heavy AC repair penalty to earnings (or even a fee). If you're just rushing through some small arms to reach a target enemy, you should be okay, but don't try to take on Normals, Nexts, or other heavy hitters without evading. Quick Boosting and left/right strafing are your best options for evading non-missile/rocket attacks. * Evading missiles is usually easier than evading other attacks, as they both move slowly and show up on your radar. Quick Boost forward/laterally away from missiles, and you'll probably evade most or all of them. If you feel you need practice evading missiles, the Mission Breaking The White lance is loaded with missile barrages from multiple directions, and makes for great practice. Replaying it isn't available until after you beat the game once, but you shouldn't need that much practice unless you're going online anyway. * Energy, Energy, Energy. The more you have, the better off you are. More EN means more boosting, which means less damage and time, which means more money. * Good offense makes up for lack of defense - enemies you have eliminated can not possibly harm you, so you would do well to be able to kill them as quickly as possible. * On missions where you only have one or a few targets, don't waste your time getting into serious engagements with smaller foes. They'll just waste your time, AP, energy, and ammo. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Building Your Armored Core | (000B2) \--------------------------------------------------------o * Buy an small energy gun with plenty of ammunition, or an energy blade early. These two purchases will save you a lot of stress when it comes to mopping up large groups of weak enemies where your low-ammo, high power weapons would be wasted. Energy blades are also great for taking out slow-moving or immobile targets with lots of endurance, which saves both ammo and money. * Don't be afraid to buy new parts to get a job done. Most parts will pay for themselves if they make the difference between mission success and failure, and if they don't, you can always sell them later. However, most parts have more than one application anyway. * Don't get too immobile and rely on your defense and AP to carry you through. Faster foes are going to be able to flank you and cut through that defense with heavy weapons or blades while you sit there trying to find them. You're also going to end up costing yourself too much money. * Don't use too many energy weapons unless you are good at EN management and have a top-notch generator. You'll want to have plenty of EN left for boosting and dodging, and relying too heavily on EN weapons can leave you grounded and flat-footed for too long, even against the AI. * Have a long range weapon equipped or in your garage at all times. Some missions call for long range weapons, and they're good for softening up enemy Nexts's AP, and more important, their Primal Armor. Once a Next's Primal Armor is gone, it's defenses are significantly weakened, and it can't even OverBoost to get away from you. At that point, it's just a matter of time before your heavy weapons make them pay. * Be sure to have at least one weapon that can do heavy damage (Atk Power listed at 9000+). These are probably going to be back mounted weapons like Grenade launchers, missile systems, Laser Cannons, and the like. Blade weapons do not count in this category, as it's very rare that Nexts (the most dangerous enemies in the game) will sit still for very long, even the slow ones. * If you do carry a blade as a standard armament, don't get too in love with it - their range is virtually nothing, and most enemies can be taken out by arm guns. Blades are useful against Normals, which are rarely mobile enough to get away from your blades, and sometimes too much for arm guns to handle. As previously mentioned, blades are usually the weapon of choice against against certain types of enemies, such as large, slow/immobile ones. * Make sure to check how new parts compare to what you have. You'll want to be especially certain that you have the best generator and boosters, but all parts are pretty important. * I reitrate: Energy, Energy, Energy. It's very important, even to ACs with no EN weapons. If you don't have enough energy to sustain prolonged evasion and chase cycles with enemy Nexts, you're going to have more trouble than you'd have to with them. * I have never used a Kojima weapon. While they may have some limited uses offline in the missions, the missions can most certainly be completed without using them. I hate them, as being hit breaks their charge, they have low ammo, and they drain valuable Primal Armor energy/Kojima energy. This is the same reason I never, ever Overboost - Kojima energy is best left to feed your precious Primal Armor. * This game doesn't make selling/buying too obvious. Go into the parts menu, find the item you want, and press X. That will bring up the buy/sell menu. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Other Tips | (000B3) \--------------------------------------------------------o * Money is important, but not too important. If a missions gives you a lot of trouble, and you just barely finish it but end up losing money, don't worry. Granted, practice helps, but you're better off in the simulator if you some practice. The simulator can also make up for lost cash from missions, too. * If you near "The Egde of the Combat" area (which can be sides, the top, or even the bottom), don't worry. It doesn't do anything except annoy you until you actually cross the border and stay out there for too long, at which point you fail the mission. * You should probably expect to get your core handed to you in your first online experience. I've never played online, but that is usually the case with rookie online play. * Simulator Tactic: If you are having trouble beating a simulator opponent and just want the parts they offer: Choose the small green arena. The starting location between you and the AI is very short. Carry heavy stun or heavy damage weapons. Since the starting distance is so short, you will already have a lock on, so at the start of the match you can get in a few free shots. With heavy stun weapons you can permanently ground them at the starting spot with this tactic. * Advanced QB: A more powerful version of regular QuickBoost. Covers more distance at a faster speed then regular QB for the cost of a slightly longer refresh time. Useful for losing enemy lock-ons and covering large distances without using OB. Can also be used with overweight AC designs as speed compensation. Requires a steady hand. 1. Map the QB to a pressure sensitive trigger. (RT/LT) 2. Figure out at which point the QB activates by lightly pushing down on the trigger. 3. After figuring out at which point it activates, lightly hold the trigger down to the point right before QB activates. From there simply push down on the trigger to activate the powered version QB. The QB should activate with a larger booster flare and different sound, giving you a farther boost distance and faster speed than normal quickboost. Success Checklist: Larger booster flare A deeper activation sound Longer distance covered than regular QB Faster speed output than regular QB A slight blur and pulls away from the camera similar to when using OveredBoost It's best to first practice this in the test room.You will able to better judge the whether you've done it correctly or not by measuring the distance against the floor hexagons. O============================================================================O | The Missions (000C0) | O============================================================================O * The Hard Missions are, in most cases, much more difficult. It may be some time before I can be of any help to you on those. The few hard missions I've tried also have some nasty tricks, so I'll do my best to tell you what I know of those. However, hard missions do, at least have higher quotas. Expect those to be incorporated shortly after the normal mode FAQs are posted. * Quotas indicate how much of a certain parameter (ammo, damage, and time) you are expected to use/take. Coming in under the damage quota always results in payment. If there is an ammo value under the "Projection Data" heading, coming in under the ammo quota will result in extra money. If it does not say "No Mission Time Bonus" in the Reward/Objective heading, then coming in under the time quota will result in extra money. Exceeding ANY quota in ANY mission results in you having to forfeit some of your earnings. This can sometimes exceed what you otherwise earned, resulting in a net loss for the mission. If this happens, you can retry the mission if you choose to. If you're just glad to be done with a certain mission, don't bother with trying to scrounge some extra cash. There's plenty of ways to make extra money, so you needn't bother yourself with redoing difficult missions. I'm only going to list an ammo quota if you're paid for undershooting it. Listing the quotas is somewhat pointless altogether, since you gain access to seeing the quotas and doing the mission at the same time, but whatever. I noticed an error in my quota listings, and have tried to fix it. However, I admit that mistakes are still very possible. If you notice an error, please e-mail me the correction. You will be credited. Just be sure that it's truly an error, and not just a difference between the way I and Armored Core 4 are listing things. * As of yet, I'm not going to provide specific enemy counts for missions, and I probably never will. There's almost always far too many to count, and they are usually not that important. I will, however, try to provide an accurate count of the number of target enemies - those that must be destroyed to clear the mission. * On missions where you can't use your Primal Armor (your advisor will alert you of this), your OverBoost will be useless, but for some reason I've had no trouble use Kojima Weapons, and they seem to work capably. In Normal mode, the non-PA missions will generally not require Kojima weapons, and they're not very good anyway, but it is something to keep in mind. * The Tutorial is just that: A tutorial. It's pointless to guide you through it, but you can skip it if you so desire. There are no rewards, other than getting used to the initially daunting controls, for completing it. * When I mention others Nexts, I'll include their ranking, if they have one. These are based more on the reputation of the pilot than their skill - for example, the top 26 are all veterans from the National Dismantlement war, but the other 14 sometimes exceed them in skill. Unranked foes are generally not that good, but don't underestimate them - they're still Nexts, and you too are technically unranked. * I'm writing these guides to help you pass the mission, not S-Rank them. I'm too impatient, and not talented enough, to both S-Rank every mission and tell you how to do it. * Once you finish a chapter, you can access it by hitting RB/LB on the mission select screen. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 1 | (000C1) \--------------------------------------------------------o There's only one mission here: First Strike. Objective: Eliminate Enemy Normals. There are two of them, in the rear of the combat area. Difficulty: 1/10 Quotas: Damage - 8000 AP Ammo - N/A Time - 150S My Method: I generally try to keep my AC elevated, and then swoop down on the target enemies after pinpointing them via radar. They don't last very long, and aren't very mobile. This is your first real combat, but it's not much of a test. Don't worry about this one very much. Hard Mode Notes: There are more enemies all around, about 8-10 target enemies, AND you can't use your Primal Armor. Expect to take some serious damage, but get the job done. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 2 | (000C2) \--------------------------------------------------------o The Final Mission of Chapter Two is Desert Wolf. Keep that in mind. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Swarms of Red Eyes | (000C3) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Prevent the facility from taking too much damage. Difficulty: 1/10 Quotas: Damage - 0 AP (You shouldn't get hurt much/at all anyway, so don't worry) Ammo - N/A Time - N/A My Method: I took some high ammunition weapons to this battle, and basically unloaded on as many of the targets as I could. There are plenty of things to fire at, but it's not much trouble. Missiles seemed to be especially good for thinning the mines' numbers, but it's really not that difficult. Just keep on firing at them and don't let up. Note: Blades are entirely useless here. Carry anything else, even a basic handgun. If you're really having trouble somehow, carry spare guns. Hard Mode: Some Normals come to make your job a little harder. They're basically nuisances. Smash them if you want, but focus on the objective. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Elimination | (000C4) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat all enemies Difficulty: 2/10 Quotas: Damage - 11200AP Ammo - 50000C Time - 180S My Method: Use low powered weapons to take out the enemy foot soldiers. They are pathetically weak, and will not pose any threat unless you stand there taking hits with retaliation for some reason (and even then they're not too dangerous). Clear out the first chamber, which has only foot soldiers, first. Then move on to the next chamber, which has some normal and more grunts. Focus on the Normals first - although the tight quarters and numerous obstructions make their missiles almost useless, they're still a much bigger threat than then enemy foot soldiers. These close quarters and slow moving enemies are begging for a blade weapon. If you're feeling confident, do this using only a blade for maximum payment. Just don't take too long, and make sure your blade has decent range. Hard Mode: This mission is MUCH harder on hard mode. You'll be blitzed with rockets and missiles from the start, and you'll probably die a few times before you can even figure out what's going on. I haven't beaten this on Hard yet, so that's all I can really offer. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Dangerous Waters | (000C5) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat 3 enemy Normals Difficulty: 1/10 Quotas: Damage - 12000AP Ammo - 40000C Time - 155S My Method: Slow your descent with boosting, being sure not to touch the water, as there are mines the will do some rather significant damage (about 1500AP) to your AC, and waste time and money. QUickly advance, taking out a floating gunner or two if you need to. Drop down to the floor, and engage the enemy Normals. They're nothing special, but don't be too slow or sloppy. This is a very simple mission, and 155S is probably too much time. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Operation: Descent | (000C6) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat 4 enemy Normals Difficulty: 2/10 Quotas: Damage - 13400AP Ammo - N/A Time - 210S My Method: The only difficult part about this mission is the laser guns at in your initial descent. These are easily dodged by Quick Boosting laterally as the beams approach your AC. Once you land, you can seek and destroy your 4 targets. They don't like to get close to you, but they're not very good at evasion and or staying away. Just keep them in range and blast them - and, for your own sake, don't leave the ground once you make contact with it. If you do, you risk entering the laser guns' range again, and that's just asking for pointless trouble. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Sharpshooting | (000C7) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy the three Big Cannons Difficulty: 3.5/10 Quotas: Damage - 15000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 225S My Method: As quickly as you can, get behind the big cannons, then sneak through the streets as you destroy the three main targets. Ignore everything else, and just get it done as soon as possible. If you don't get behind them, or otherwise kill their ability to target you, you're just going to take more damage than you have to, and risk failure. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Bald-Dora | (000C8) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy enemy Normals at rear of combat area Difficulty: 4/10 Quotas: Damage - 20800AP Ammo - N/A Time - 270S My Method: Get to the end of the valley as fast as you possibly can, rushing like a madman while avoiding all combat, as well as the cannon batteries. They can easily shred your AC, killing it before you can even get near. The best way to avoid cannon fire is to keep moving and changing directions, and using Quick Boosts when things get dicey. You can't avoid every shot, but this will minimize damage. Once you get to the end of the level, take out the Normals. There's about 6 of them, and they're not at all harder than what you've already faced. They've already divided themselves for you, so that just leaves the conquer step. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Sandstorm Citadel | (000C9) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy enemy Ballistic Missiles (3) Difficulty: 1/10 Quotas: Damage - 15600AP Ammo - N/A Time - 270S My Method: Ignore EVERYTHING except the missiles, get behind them (so there's no little platform between you and them) and just hit them with a laser blade or other weapons. It shouldn't take much more than a minute. Use your standard evasion tactics (Quick Boost, stay moving) to minimize damage while you head straight for the missiles. They're immobile, and there isn't much protecting them that you can't just bypass. Overall, this mission just is not difficult at all. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Desert Wolf | (00C10) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat Enemy Next - Amazigh, piloting Barbaroi (Unranked) Difficulty: 3/10 Quotas: Damage - 20000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 300S My Method: Advance until you're ready, and then cut off to the side of the path and wait (by the time your advisor says the transport has entered combat range, you should be of the side). Get closer to the path if needed, and once the target is close ("close" depends upon your range), hit it with everything you've got. If you've got some very heavy hitting weapons, you could stop it before it even has a chance to start. If it does manage to survive your initial barrage, don't sweat it. It's still going to be weakened, and isn't all that challenging to begin with. He may be quick, but he's not all that strong. Just focus on hitting him whenever you have the chance, and keep an eye on your AP - overconfidence leads to defeat. If you're still having trouble, consider changing your AC or getting some practice. Although White Glint (#40) will come to help you, most of your other battles against enemy Nexts will be solo, so you'll need to be ready for those. Consider this practice. Hard Mode: This mission becomes a bit harder. Barbaroi is active much earlier, though speedy ACs can get some shots, and disabling him early isn't impossible. Instead of waiting for him, blitz him this time. However, this time, White Glint, formerly your ally, is now out to get you. He's tougher than Barbaroi, but if you can dispatch Barbaroi quickly, White Glint isn't too tough. He's fast, with pretty good firepower, but he's not particularly tough to disable. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 3 | (00C11) \--------------------------------------------------------o The Final Mission of chapter 3 is "Internal Purge." Keep that in mind. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Aerial Interdiction | (00C12) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Prevent all enemy transports from escaping (About a dozen copters and one big train). Quotas: Damage - 18600AP Ammo - 123000C Time - 0S (No penalty) Difficulty: 5.5/10 My Method: This is one of the most frustrating chapters in the game, but it can be accomplished. It took me about 10 attempts before I got it right, but I did finish. The choppers you want are large, and red dots on your radar. Unfortunately, it becomes difficult to spot the red dots if you're looking skyward, so you'll be forced to look down for contrast before you can easily locate your targets on radar. Visual confirmation of targets should only be relied on in close ranges - you'll never spot them at distances. Anyway, you'll want to have a good generator and efficient boosters for this mission, since you'll spend almost all of it in the air. The only time you should ever consider stopping flight is to recharge - only do this on the bridge! You'll waste too much time otherwise, and risk failure by letting the choppers escape. If even one does, you lose. Having powerful, long range weapons like Sniper cannons is helpful as well. Focus on the choppers nearest to escape first (two will be flying right at you to start the mission), and never stop moving or being aggressive. Once you know you've handled all the copters near the edge, sweep backwards and hunt down new targets. You shouldn't have more than 3 to go by the time your advisor warns you about the train's approach. Once it's in the area, you had better be done with the choppers, or about to send the last one down. Once you finish off all of the choppers, head down and left of your initial position to the train tracks, and start firing on the train. Unlike the helicopters, this thing is huge - you can rely on visuals alone to spot it. Once you have the train targeted, unload everything you have on it. Do not stop until you're sure it's not going anywhere. If you land on it, adjust your view downwards and keep firing. If you handled the choppers in time, this shouldn't give you much trouble at all. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Icebreaker Defense | (00C13) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat all enemy submarines while preventing the tanker's demise. There are about 8 submarines. Quotas: Damage - 12800AP Ammo - N/A Time - 330S Difficulty: 5/10 My Method: This chapter isn't quite as frustrating as Aerial Interdiction, but it's still pretty nasty. It took me about 8 attempts. Be sure to defend the tanker. Always be on the lookout for missiles heading for it, and be ready to shoot them down. It should take about 3-4 shots from a standard arm gun to eliminate each barrage. The tanker isn't very tough, and can't take more than 4-6 barrages. If you're thinking about crossing from one side to the other without defending the tanker, think again. That's too risky. You'll be boosting a lot, and defending the tanker provides a good chance to recharge your EN, anyway. You're going to want an energy blade for this mission - it's the best way to take out the submarines. Most weapons would take too much time, but a blade can take them out in a few shots. Be absolutely certain that you've taken a sub out before moving on - otherwise, you'll make your job a lot tougher than it has to be. To take out a sub, you have to wreck both the center and one of the sides - you can easily tell they're wrecked by their appearance. If you take too long to defeat a sub, it will dive again and move around. Overall, this mission requires your constant attention. You need to focus on both defending the tanker from missile barrages AND on sinking the subs. You'll need to be quick, and have weapons for taking down missiles (high ammo) and taking down subs (high power). You'll probably want a good generator. You'll ALWAYS want a good generator. It's just very helpful on this mission. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Water Gliding | (00C14) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Sink enemy combat ships (3 small, 1 large) Quotas: Damage - 23300AP Ammo - N/A Time - 240S Difficulty: 7/10 My Method: The first ship is far away from the others, easily visible from your starting position. The other three are on the other side of the combat area, more or less straight ahead. Start with the single small ship first. If you have a blade weapon, that will make short work of it. If not, just evade its shots and hammer it as quickly as possible. Once it's sunk, head for the group of ships, which is a much, much bigger challenge. Don't bother with the helicopters above. They don't do too much damage, and you don't have the luxury of dealing with them anyway, as the ships are constantly firing missiles and heavy cannons at you. Do NOT approach the three ships from directly in front of the big one or from the air unless you're very good at evasion. Otherwise, the big ship's heavy cannons, which are very powerful and frustratingly accurate given such power, will just tear you to pieces. Approach the ship on the left from another avenue, which is to the left of the frontal approach on the big ship. In this route, you can attack the small ship on the left without worrying about the heavy cannons from the big ship. Use whatever weapons you have; hopefully you have some heavy hitting weapons with decent ammo counts. I've noticed that missiles aren't very useful for this mission, as too many can smack the water instead of their targets. Once you've eliminated the ship on the left, head for the big ship. Don't be surprised if you fail this mission a lot, I know I certainly did. However, if you can get fairly close to the big ship and just unload on it with everything you have, it should go down. Hopefully, you've evaded enough of its attacks to leave you with enough AP to finish off the little ship directly to the right of the big one. If you have a blade, you can take out the last ship with that. If not, just do what you've been doing the entire mission. Hopefully, you'll have enough AP after your first three fights to finish off this little one. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Might Makes Right | (00C15) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat Target Enemies (There are about 7) Quotas: Damage - 19900AP Ammo - N/A Time - 255S Difficulty: 4.5/10 My Method: This isn't nearly as difficult as Water Gliding, but there's a lot of surprises and it's something of a maze, too. Immediately fire off a light weapon a few times to destroy an enemy that is targeting you and can be targeted right from the start. One that's done, slowly advance and turn your AC to the left. A radar will locate your target before it can target you, so aim at it, then bust out of the hall and smash it before it can do anything to you. After that, boost upwards as quickly as you can, and take out the floating gunners from above. If you try to do it from below, you will just take unneeded AP damage. Once your clear out this first cylinger, head for the door near the two big pipes, about 40-50% up the height parameter of the cylinder. If there aren't any enemies in the tube, then you're in the wrong one. If there's a door blocking your progress, you're in the wrong tube, as well. Once in the next cylinder, use the same 'attack from above' strategy to take out the stationary guns and floating gunners. You can also just rush to the next cylinder. The tube you want is on the bottom of the cylinder. This tube has a few stationary guns and a tank-type normal, so be careful. Blades are useless here, since the guns can do heavy damage but are hard to hit with any blade. Don't get too close to them, either. Once again, fly up and eliminate any foes if you wish. This time, you just want to drop directly down and advance into the open room, which you should recall from a previous mission. There's less water this time, and more normals (about six of them). They have plenty of firepower, but don't last too long. As long as you got through the rest of the mission with enough AP, you should be fine. I would advise you to focus on one normal at a time, preferably coming in from one side or the other and blasting the normals with lots of firepower. Keep an eye on your AP, and use your standard evasive and attacking tactics to take out all the targets. They have you outnumbered, but you have them outgunned. Keep your wits about you and you should win. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Barbe-Bleue | (00C16) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Protect Target, the construction dock (Yellow squares on map/radar) Quotas: Damage - 9600AP Ammo - 110000C Time - 240S Difficulty: 2/10 My Method: All this mission requires is a decent amount of speed and plenty of ammunition (enemy evasion capabilities are pretty much zero, so an energy blade works wonders here, and lets you claim plenty of that heft ammo quota for yourself). You should ground boost back and forth between the two main invasion avenues, which are the central and left paths on the map in the lower left of your screen. Your radar is useless compared to that map, so rely on the map. There's really not much to say about the first few waves. They can't do much damage, and will never take evasive action. Just mop them up with your guns, and use a blade on anyone who gets too close. After several waves, your advisor will warn you that another wave is coming from a third avenue of attack (the one on right), and that they were spotted late. It's no big deal, but it is the biggest threat on this mission. Jet over there and take them out, there's only two of them. After that, return to the normal two avenues of attack and finish off the remaining waves. This shouldn't take more than the four minutes you're given, and 9600AP is plenty of damage quota. If you have an energy blade, the ammo quota should provide you with plenty of cash. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Retaliation | (00C17) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat all enemies Quotas: Damage - 19000AP Ammo - 85000C Time - 180S Difficulty: 5.5/10 My Method: You don't even get your Primal Armor for this mission, so don't even think about getting close to your foes until there's just a few of them. Start off by taking out as many enemies as you can while maintaing the best evasive position (distance yourself from them) possible. You're going to need to be very evasive and quick to kill on this mission, but once you get those two things down, it's not very hard. Make sure you eliminate every enemy from a group before moving on, or you'll just risk failure (and you need to kill them all anyway). Hard Mode Notes: There are two mobile fotresses, which have a lot of AP. Use blades on them if you've got them. This mission isn't a whole lot harder on hard. Your advisor lets you use your Primal Armor, but I finished before it could even activate. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ A Dark Night's March | (00C18) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat all enemies Quotas: Damage - 15600AP Ammo - 120000C Time - 300S Difficulty: 4/10 My Method: You'll probably want a blade weapon for this mission, as there's a mobile fortress at the end of it. Other than that, there's not a whole lot of difficult foes here - the only thing that makes it hard is the darkness, and the fact that the support flares aren't too helpful. You'll definitely want a decent radar and a mop up weapon to take out smaller foes like tanks. Advance directly towards the enemies groups via radar, and let your targeting systems find your foes in the dark for you. Visual detection is useless anyway. Nothing here is too tough aside from the handful of normals and mobile fortress at the end - everything else should fall to a few shots. The normals are said to be mobile, but they're not very evasive, and their light construction makes them easier to take out than most normals. Once you dispatch everything but the mobile fortress, rush to it and unload on it. If you have a blade weapon, get close and slash at it until it falls (it's very tough, so you'll need to hit it many times, even with a blade). Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Up In Flames | (00C19) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat Asyut Minya (Unranked), piloted by Sus. Quotas: Damage - 24000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 270S Difficulty: 3.5/10 My Method: Try to keep the enemy Next trapped in the solid structure area so he can't try to evade you. If you can keep him stuck there, then you can unload on him and he'll go down quickly. If he gets out, focus on evasion first, then on attacking. His weapons are pretty powerful, but he's not very good at evasion. However, his attacks do plenty of damage, and have a stun effect (not a big deal, given your QuickBoosting power). Even if he does manage to get out, it's not too challenging. Just make sure you don't stand still (that advice goes for fighting any Next). Like battles against any other Next, blades are almost entirely useless, and weapons with good PA Piercing (laser cannons) are going to be very useful. Hard Mode: Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Internal Purge | (00C20) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy 3 targets (large, immobile, inactive fortress units) Quotas: Damage - 20000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 300S Difficulty: 2.5/10 My Method: You're once again at the Hejde Arsenal, and thus have access to the map. Your radar is a little more useful this time, but the map will still be the superior guidance method. Unlike the last mission, you are now on the attack. There are plenty of foes in the hallways and target rooms, but none pose a serious threat. As you move towards enemies in the halls, feel free to take them out - you'll be seeing them a lot if you don't. The enemies in the target rooms (marked on your map) aren't overly dangerous, so you can just blitz the targets and skip the other enemies in the rooms. If you want to, you can shoot one or two of them as you approach, but it's largely a waste of time. Your targets are the enormous, inactive fotress units. The quickest way to take them out is by using a blade weapon. Their weak point is a little "valley" formed by large rectangular processes. It's under a catwalk of sorts. Just hit it with something - a few slashes from a blade should take them out. After that is done, just get out of the room and don't bother with the normals. Hard Mode: Manno Ruh and the #10 Next After this and a cutscene, it's on to Chapter 4. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 4 | (00C21) \--------------------------------------------------------o The final mission of chapter 4 is Juggernaut. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Ego Boost | (00C22) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Protect the Stealth Jet and destroy enemy Normals (About 27) Quotas: Damage - 19500AP Ammo - N/A Time - 270S Difficulty: 2/10 My Method: If you're fast, your biggest worry will be the fact that you have no Primal Armor, not protecting the jet. Actually, if you're fast enough, there's absolutely nothing to worry about at all. Immediately head straight, towards the first group of copters carrying the normals. If you can blast the carriers out of the sky (they're very fragile), you'll save yourself a lot of effort, since the Normals are much deadlier, and about can take about 10 times as much damage. If the Normals do touch down, I'd recommend aborting and trying again. If you're too slow, edit your AC to be faster. After taking out the first group of transports, head left towards the second squadron, and take them out in the same. Like the first group, they'll try to touch down on an extension of the tarmac. If you can't get there fast enough on the ground or water, take off and fly over to them - you're faster in the air. Once you've downed the second group, turn around and head for the final group. They're to the right of where you began the mission, and shouldn't have landed yet. Once again, take out their transports. Once you finish that, the mission is over. If you're fast enough and do it in the order I told you, an A or S rank should be easy to get. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Firefly | (00C23) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy The Fermi Aerial Fortress Quotas: Damage - 33900AP Ammo - N/A Time - 255S Difficulty: 6/10 My Method: As always, fly right for the main enemy, ignoring everything else. The advisor mentions something about destroying a Kojima Tank Unit to get some light, but I've never found this mission quite that difficult. The Fermi is in the back of the combat area, floating in an open area near some water. Once the Fermi is in range, unload on it. It's got plenty of AP, and lots of firepower, but it's basically immobile. Use your mobility to your advantage to avoid damage - it's far too powerful to simply try to soak all it throws at you. Unfortunately, all the buildings make it hard to evade, you can use them for cover. Still, you can expect to take some rather heavy damage, and come pretty close to that high damage quota. The Fermi fires large missile barrages, and has a nasty laser cannon that is hard to dodge because you don't get much warning. Try to stay above it or very close. I initially used the Sirius Laser cannons on this one, but later attempts show blades are just as, if not more, effective. It's rather difficult to keep your AC at the right altitude, but it can be done. Just slash at the Fermi with your blade(s), and it should go down surprisingly quickly. Alternatively, as Devil.Red reminded me, you can get on top of the Fermi and just unload on it. You're quite safe up there. Hard Mode: Once you beat the first one, 3 more show up on the opposite side of the map. They can easily shred you with their laser cannons, and there's less cover, too. Blades will really help on this one - specifically the Moonlight laser blade (a favorite of mine). It makes (relatively) short work of the Fermis. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Operation: Ascend | (00C24) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Destroy the turbine-like things (for lack of a better term) in the power plant's spire. There are 3 of them. Quotas: Damage - 18000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 220S Difficulty: 6.5/10 My Method: Bring a blade weapon. Rush into the spire, Quick Boosting forward to minimize damage. Once in the spire, use fly towards the center of the turbine and smash it, then get to the sides of the tower to avoid being brought down by the falling debris. Do not stop unless you absolutely must, or the vertical gunners will rain damage on you. The steps for each turbine are the same. Do NOT, under any circumstances, go above the glass unless you're in the spire. The anti-air laser cannons will take you out in seconds. Hard Mode: After you take out the turbines, some Fermi aerial fortresses show up to muck things up. Furthermore, you're pinned down by the laser cannons, which is not good, considering the Fermi's firepower. Good luck... You'll need it. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Line of Defense | (00C25) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat All Enemies Quotas: Damage - 25700AP Ammo - 120000C Time - 330S Difficulty: 2/10 My Method: This mission requires more patience and ammunition than it does skill. There's plenty of targets, but not even the normals are very tough. They have some barriers, but you can very easily fly right over them. The Normals are the biggest threat, but don't worry too much. They're mobile enough to get away from blade attacks, but not much else. Just blast them, while making sure to mop up all the other enemies. Late in the mission, you'll get a message about reinforcements, but there's only a handful of planes coming in to drop what looks like tanks (I've never actually seen them drop them - I dropped the planes before they could). Once you've taken care of all the ground forces, head up on the bridge and take out the several enemies up there. Use your radar to track down and stragglers, and finish this simple little mission. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Sea of Blood | (00C26) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat Enemy Next, Critique (#14), piloted by Sherring. Quotas: Damage - 31200AP Ammo - N/A Time - 300S Difficulty: 7/10 My Method: Critique has some backup here, but he's the only one you should target. Rush forwards to get a lock on him, and try to blast him with heavy weaponry. I noticed my energy weapons weren't very effective against him, and that he had a habit of getting too close to me (he lacks a blade weapon, so no worries there), which invited my own blade to attack him. He was pretty good at avoiding it, but I did get him once. Anyway, just use your standard Next combat tactics - he's not amazing, but he is pretty good. If possible, try to take the fight away from his backup to make it easier on yourself. He was not very evasive for me, so just keep firing and evading. He should go down before you. If you have trouble, just keep trying. You'll get the hang of it soon enough, and you'll have some valuable experience for fighting other Nexts in the field. Hard Mode: White Glint comes to make your job more difficult. No new strategies to use here. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ The Womb | (00C27) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat New Type Enemy Nexts (No Names, ranks, or pilots, as far as I know). Quotas: Damage - 20000AP Ammo - 130000C Time - 210S Difficulty: 4/10 My Method: This mission needn't be too hard if you have two heavy hitting weapons, such as the Sirius High Laser Cannons, on your back. The Nexts on this mission aren't nearly as good as those you encounter in other mission, such as Sea of Blood. Make your way through the linear facility, taking out any guards you so choose. They're no threats at all, but your arm weapons are going to be dwarfed by your heavy hitters when you fight the Nexts anyway. There's also two Normals at the end of the tunnel, shoot them if you like, rush past them if you don't want to bother with them. Once you get to the Nexts, unload on them with your Sirius Cannons or whatever. They're not very evasive at all, and the only big threat they pose to your AP is with their... uhh, those things aren't blades. They're the Greatswords of Armored Core 4 (No, you can't unlock them). They'll do plenty of damage (I charted it at 7000-10000) with their blades, and have other, less important attacks, as well. Just blast them before they can get near you, and stay on the move so they can't get near you. Note that, after you knock them out, they don't immediately cease function like other Nexts. They seem to have to smash themselves into walls or something. You can't target them and they fall off your radar, but do keep this strange trait in mind (maybe it's to prevent salvage and subsequent theft of the technology). Hard Mode: Unless I'm mistaken, this mission is actually EASIER on hard mode. The Nexts didn't even draw their swords before I defeated them. I'm not sure if anything else was supposed to happen, but nothing did. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Empress | (00C28) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat Enemy Next (Mary Shelly, #5, piloting Prometheus) Quotas: Damage - 35200AP Ammo - N/A Time - 360S Difficulty: 4/10 My Method: You chase The Modern Prometheus to the forzen poles of the Earth... Yes, this should sound familiar to anyone who has read Frankenstein. Of course, Victor's creation wasn't many times taller than a tank and armed with sniper rifles and Primal Armor. Of course, neither was Victor. Shelly likes to snipe, so get close to her - preferably trapping her against an iceberg to limit her movement, or engaging her on the open glacier to take away terrain advantages. Either way, just get close and blast her with your heavy weapons (My beloved Sirius Cannons can take her out in 4-6 direct hits). If you could beat Critique, Prometheus shouldn't be any problem whatsoever - he had far more backup, a more suitable combat area, and was certainly more talented than Shelly. I'm told that, if you take too long, White Glint will come to help you out. If you take that long, your AC and play style must be incredibly methodical, or you're purposely wasting time. Hard Mode: I noticed absolutely no difference, other than that White Glint will not come to help you at all. Do the same thing again, and Shelly will fall just as easily. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Break The White Lance | (00C29) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Break The QueensLance (Defeat it, <_<) Quotas: Damage - 22000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 240S Difficulty: 1/10 My Method: This mission is a joke. Just bring a blade weapon, and you'll win. Simply go around (preferably to the left) the entire fleet until your advisor informs that the QueensLance is in sight. At that point, turn to the right and head for it. Smash the middle a few times, and then one of the ends. That will break the QueensLance, and finish the mission. Just be sure to bring a radar unit, or you'll have a little extra trouble. If you try to fly through the fleet, you'll take so much damage, and most lighter ACs will fall. Just go around and smash the thing. It's simple. Hard Mode: Same method, except you need to go a hell of a lot faster. Liberally use QuickBoosts to make up for lost time, but don't try to cut through the fleet. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Juggernaut | (00C30) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat The Juggernaut Quotas: Damage - 30000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 180S Difficulty: 2/10 My Method: Upon my re-play, I found this mission to be especially easy. Using a heavy-hitting distance weapon of some kind (not a blade), shoot at the four bluish orbs. Once all four are gone, just start hitting the Juggernaut - if you can't hit it, you're probably blind AND have really crummy luck. Keeping your aim steady enough to hit the orbs is a bit difficult, but that's the only hard part of this mission. Just keep boosting backwards, sticking towards the middle to make sure you pass through the doors. Later on in the mission, the lights will go out. Just keep blasting the thing, and it should go down. Hard Mode: Nothing new. It's just a little more difficult. Reader Strategy #1: "I barely even had time to see the juggernaut before my operator said I won. Take dual RJAM and just rush to his "hand-like" appendages that goes forward of the vehicle on the ground, as soon as he breaks the wall, just dual-parry-blade them. It should blast him immediatly, if not, the arm is dead, just go hit the other one, and then he'll die for sure. Worked in hard mode admirably, second fastest mission I have ever done." Source: SebbyTheFreak (He found it easy...) Reader Strategy #2: "Build: Anything, I myself used a tank legs with a focus on EN defense. Weapons: Back weapons should be dual YAMAGAs, the larger grenade launchers. Take the back boosters with the fastest horizontal boosting speed, GAN01-SS-B.CG (although the energy efficient tank legs have a faster boosting speed, 9000 compared to 5764). Put max 50 FRS points into horz boosting on your back boosters *The mission*: Simple enough. Move back a bit and wait for the train to bust through the doors. Ground boost backwards. Nail him with dual grenades. After 2-3 shots, his rectifiers will go down, and then it's another 2-3 to kill him. I got an S on both normal and hard first try with this. For hard, try to take no damage. The juggernaut's large cannon fires down the center of the tracks, and if he has any other weapons, I wouldn't know, he's never gotten a chance to fire them. Stay out of the middle of the tunnel when he fires, and then get back in the middle so you don't get stuck." Source: Deus Ex Eve (He also found it easy...) Reader Strategy #3: Use the upgraded (not the broad horizontal) version of the Scatter Missiles. One volley does about 30,000 damage, and 4-6 volleys takes out the Juggernaut. ***Note*** I've dropped the difficulty from 10 to 5 due to the number of people sending me strategies that seem to make short work of this mission. I'm keeping my strategy here because... well.. the FAQ doesn't feel complete without it. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 5 | (00C31) \--------------------------------------------------------o The Final Mission of Chapter 5 is "Bitter Obligation." Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Unseen Assailant | (00C32) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Take out 5 enemy Normals Quotas: Damage - 17600AP Ammo - N/A Time - 255S Difficulty: 4/10 My Method: Despite the presence of ECM, which causes tracking problems in the already difficult to navigate Razghul Facility, I still recommend you use a radar unit. There are plenty of light enemies on this mission, which you'd normally ignore, but take most of them out with a light weapon this time. The Razghul facility is a bit of maze, and you'll be in each room a long time. Use your radar (it still shows enemies, albeit briefly) to track enemies in the maze, relying on your memory, logic, and patience to fill in the gaps. Once you locate the Normals, it's a simple matter to take them out. They're not very strong, so the only problem in this mission is running over the time limit. I wouldn't worry too much, the reward should cover extra time if you need it. If you don't need it, all the better. I wouldn't waste my time retrying this mission, though. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Hail of Bullets | (00C33) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Eliminate target Normals and Stationary Rocket Launchers, in two groups of about 6 of each type. Quotas: Damage - 19900AP Ammo - N/A Time - 270S Difficulty: 5/10 My Method: Despite the fact that your enemies have long range weapons, you'll probably want to stay away from them anyway. Their bullets/rockets move quite slowly, so putting plenty of distance will make evading them pretty simple. Stay in the air and keep firing on them (the rockets will have difficulty hitting you will you're airborne, allowing you to focus on evading fewer shots). This mission isn't complex, but it's pretty easy to lose AP because of the sheer volume of attacks thrown at you. When approaching either group, be sure to attack from an angle that makes it difficult for the rockets to fire at you accurately. Lastly, make sure you have enough energy to sustain evasion, as landing to recharge will be complicated by all the rocket launchers. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Silent Avalanche | (00C34) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat enemy Normals (10-12 of them) Quotas: Damage - 30300AP Ammo - 150000C Time - 300S Difficulty: 6.5/10 My Method: This mission is made difficult by how prepared your enemies are. Cover is rare, and their weapons are too powerful and have too great a range factor to make soaking their attacks a viable option. Your best bet is to take out one group, the move on to the next group to the left/right. The middle group is the farthest back, so don't go for them first or you'll take too much damage. When moving between one group and another, you can make use of the different heights of the ice to provide some cover, but the other groups (if there are some) have a habit of sneaking through your cover and hitting you, in my experience. I used two Sirius cannons and a Sniper rifle, along with an AC of 44000+ AP, on this mission. The Sirius cannons have plenty of firepower and good range, which are both very useful because it's very difficult to close in on your enemies without taking heavy damage. The Sniper rifle was useful for softening up foes, as the Sirius cannons couldn't down them in a single shot (a dual blast from both of them, however, usually can). Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Futile Resistance | (00C35) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat all enemies (7) Quotas: Damage - 26000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 240S Difficulty: 5/10 My Method: Speed, speed, speed. That's how you need to do this mission. If you take too long, the Kojima Particle levels will sap your AP all the way down to nothing. If you find yourself getting swallowed up by the KP damage, then make your core lighter and quicker. Do not head down until you have taken care of all the Normals on a given level. Having to go down, back up, and down again will simply cause extra damage to your AC. Other than that, watching your AP, and being quick, the only other thing to mention is that it's a tough place to navigate. You may be forced to spend a few attempts just getting used to the layout of the level. Once that is done, you shouldn't have much trouble getting through this mission. Do not worry, there isn't another mission like this in the entire game. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Pillar Of Light | (00C36) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Take out Anti-Satellite Cannon Quotas: Damage - 24600AP Ammo - N/A Time - 210S Difficulty: 6/10 My Method: A lot of people seem to have trouble with this mission, but isn't particularly difficult. There's probably something most people are missing: The Primal Armor maintenance unit. It's tucked under the small (relatively speaking) structure, near your starting point. Bringing a laser blade (the Moonlight if you've got it) is a great choice here, as they can quickly take out both the maintenance unit and the core itself. Once your take out the PA Unit, head for the core. It's well protected by many light/medium units and guns, which fire plenty of bullets and missiles at you. While avoiding those weapons is helpful, avoiding the big laser cannons is the most important thing. They're not too hard to dodge, but do plenty of damage. An easy way to neutralize them is to come up the snow in front of the right front gun, staying low to the ground. This will cover you from almost all laser cannon fire, if not all of it entirely. Once your cover fades as you progress, boost up and over the cannon's tower and head for the core. After reaching the core, get to the front of it and unleash your blades on the cylindrical things in the middle. No more than 20 slashes should take it out (the Moonlight blades don't need nearly that much). You'll take plenty of damage, but the alternatives are equally dangerous. Hard Mode: All the enemies are more active, the laser cannons in particular. On Normal, they fired a single blast before recharging - now they fire three, which makes evasion significantly more difficult. Still, the same strategy can be used on Hard as on Normal. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Sol Dios | (00C37) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Take out the Sol Dios Behemoths Quotas: Damage - 35500AP Ammo - N/A Time - 420S Difficulty: 5/10 My Method: This mission is more annoying than difficult. The Sol Dios are only vulnerable when the green-ish Kojima particles are gathering at their spherical "heads." This charging doesn't last long, but Sirius Cannons or other heavy weaponry can easily dispatch them in time. However, the greatest difficulty is actually getting a lock on the targets. There's plenty of decoys, which can make locking onto the target a pain. It's also difficult to score a hit or lock from an angle or when you're too close, so try to be directly in front of it at about 450-600 in distance. When you see them charging, blast them, and hope the clunky targeting doesn't fail you. After you destroy them, they explode, killing your Primal Armor, but that doesn't matter much. The real reason you should get away is to move on to new targets. On Normal, White Glint takes out one group of them for you, allowing you to focus on the other group, which is supposed to be larger in numbers. For some reason, the Sol Dios sometimes explode, even though you only disabled one near them. I can't really help you a whole lot on this mission beyond that. You'll just need some luck and patience. Readers tell me that you can get under the behemoths and hit some vents for an easy kill, but I've never tried this and obviously can't now. Hard Mode: White Glint doesn't do his job quite as well, leaving you with more Sol Dios to take down. It doesn't seem to change a whole lot in terms of enemy numbers, but the advisor says it does. It certainly isn't much harder at all. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Jardin De Chavalier | (00C38) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat enemy Next; Orleans, #3, piloted by Anjou. Quotas: Damage - 29000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 180S Difficulty: 2.5/10 My Method: If #3 is this easy to beat, I really have to question the quality of these so-called "Originals." Since the quarters are so tight, her evasive capabilities are minimized. You can unleash Sirius Cannons and even blades on her with frightening ease. You've had much harder battles before this joke, so just get in there and take Anjou out. I'm not quite sure what they're going for with this mission's name, as the proper French for "Garden of the Knight" would be Jardin du Chevalier. Hard Mode: Now that you have the Moonlight blade, this mission is even easier. Just slash the hell out of her with it. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Marche au Supplice | (00C39) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Defeat enemy Nexts #1, Supplice, piloted by Berlioz #12, Roughcut, piloted by Zanni #15, Red Cap, piloted by Unseel #21, Hilarious, piloted by P. Dam Quotas: Damage - 33900AP Ammo - N/A Time - 360S Difficulty: 5.5/10 My Method: As is common with Next combat, Sirius cannons work wonders here. Your allies, #30 Null and #4 Noblesse Oblige, can easily distract the enemies, allowing you to blast them to bits with your heavy weaponry. They won't last very long with your heavy weapons on them. Just keep after them, and make sure you fight the ones that pursue you first. They're not significantly more difficult than most other AC fights, and your skill should be sufficient by now to easily beat them. Hey, their French is a little better this time! (March to Torment, if you're curious) Hard Mode: "This mission goes from slightly above average to extremely hard. This time around, you don't have any backup, so all four of them will be on you from the start. I still have trouble with this. Hard Mode Reader Strategy #1: Use a setup with the lightest core, head, arms, longest range FCS, and heaviest generator. Your legs need to be the reverse joint legs (ones with the best jumping ability). Next, the boosters, lightest overboost (a pretty useless part). Depending on what kind of a player you are equip the most efficient or most powerful booster. I prefer the most powerful, Aaliyah I believe. For the two auxiliary boosters equip the most powerful, these are necessary. For your weapons all you need are two grenade launchers (the ones with 30 shots each). Your going to need to augment your AC so that your load capacity and energy output are maxed, put the rest of your FRS in lock on speed. So how do you take on 4 AC's at once? First of all the first one that approaches you is severly weakened, four grenades and she's down. Pull this off by boosting toward her as soon as the mission begins. As soon as you have put four rounds in her quick boost far far away from the three remaining ACs. Once you get to the other end of the aren, one AC should separate himself from the pack, each time he lands on the ground send two grenades his way. Once he bites it you have a slow sniper to deal with, and the hardest AC to take care of. Berlioz will track you down, as long as you keep moving, and constantly use your quick boost, he should have a hard time hitting you... too much. Again, only fire exactly when he hits the ground, this generally ensures that he won't quickboost out of the way of your slow moving grenades. At this point you should be down to about 9k AP, not alot to face a sniper that'll tick off 1k per shot landed. The up side of facing this guy is that he's slow, and if you can close in on him, and circle him using quickboosts, he should have a hard time hitting you. He is a large and slow enough target, and when close up you should be able to nail him with a couple grenades close range. 5 should do the trick. One general rule of thumb is to make sure you seperate these guys, only face one at a time, otherwise their ability to stun you and cut through your primal armor will shred you in seconds. Separate them and quickboost, only fire at the three humanoid legged AC's when they are on the ground. After a few tries you should be able to beat all of them." Source: soccer***pa Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Bitter Obligation | (00C40) \--------------------------------------------------------o Objective: Take down the supports for the HQ. Quotas: Damage - 31200AP Ammo - N/A Time - 300S Difficulty: 5.5/10 My Method: Yet again, the Sirius cannons are useful here. Your only objective here is the support beams (about 12 of them), so ignore everything else. Do not land, as you can't get a clear shot at the beams, but your enemies can easily blast your AC. Just progress from one side of the structure to the other, taking out the beams as you go. It's pretty easy to get a lock on your targets in this mission, but there's plenty of firepower coming at you. Just watch your AP, quickly take out your targets, and you should be fine. Also, you need to get away from the facility after you knock it down. Nothing major, but worth mentioning. Hard Mode: The enemies have more firepower. All there is to say is that you should move a little more quickly. Reader Strategy #1 (Submitted by Fengrong): Equip a handheld grenade launcher. Rather than take on each pillar individually aim for the very top where they connect to the triangular building. Don't bother locking on, just let the rounds explode on the building. A couple of shots to both connecting areas will bring the structure crashing down and leave you with an S rating. Works on hard, too. Armored Core 4 /---------------------------------------------------------o -------o--------\ Chapter 6 | (00C41) \--------------------------------------------------------o There's only one mission here: "Seed a Barren Earth" Objective: Defeat Enemy Next (#0, Aretha) Quotas: Damage - 40000AP Ammo - N/A Time - 450S Difficulty: 5.5/10 My Method: This guy has insane QuickBoosting powers, some really strange weaponry, and plenty of firepower. After awhile, he seems to stop QuickBoosting as much and allow himself to take fire, which is your cue to use... Say it with me... "The Sirius Laser Cannon!" Some people have had trouble with this, but I did it on my first try by simply using the same anti-AC tactics as always. He barely even scratched my AC that time, but subsequent attempts have been less lucky (hardly difficult, though). If you're having trouble, keep trying first. He's got a fairly pattern-esque style, so you should be able to handle him with experience. Still, I don't find it very hard at all... the 5.5/10 is based on what I've read on the boards, in part. Hard Mode: Aretha is more skilled, and #6 Celo shows up after to make things tougher. This mode is much more difficult - I'd say 10/10. No, you can not acquire Aretha's schematic; and for the record, Nine Ball could beat Aretha any day. O============================================================================O | The Simulator (000D0) | O============================================================================O The simulator is a simulated combat with one of the 40 or so Nexts in AC4. Do not be fooled by the ranks - the originals are 1-26, but aren't always good. Note that, in the simulator, you can use parts you don't own, which is actually a pretty good way to pay for them. Refer to the tips section for an easy way to handle Simulator tasks. This startegy can be combined with Dual Sirius cannons (no other weapons), the GAN01-SS-GL generator, and a low EN-use build to take care of any Next the simulator throws at you. I haven't gotten many e-mails regarding the Simulator, but I'd imagine it could be difficult. You should also try other weapons for the Simulator, if the Sirius Cannons don't work for you (I have yet to try the new Regulations, and can't, really). The simulator is accessible after you open chapter 3. Clearing data packs and other chapters unlocks more simulated foes. Clearing an individual AC unlocks its schematic, and sometimes parts. O============================================================================O | Basic Enemy Information (000E0) | O============================================================================O There are numerous types of enemies. I shall put them into several groups: Light - These are the most common foes, such as infantry, small helicopters, tanks, and other things that, in many cases, you aren't worried about at all. These are often called MTs. Medium - These are more powerful foes, and can be taken out at your leisure. Examples include stationary guns, stationary rocket launchers large helicopters, and such. Heavy - This category includes normals, which are often mission targets and should usually be taken out. This also include medium/large guns, battle choppers, and vertical gunners. Behemoth - This is the group for foes that are larger than you. This ranges from fairly small ships to massive walking battlestations, and most things in between those to. The massive battlestations are many times your AC's size, while smaller ships are only about 3-5 times larger. Nexts - These are the most powerful foes by far, but are very rare in mission play. However, they're almost always challenging, albeit to different degrees. There's ~40 different Nexts, including your own. O============================================================================O | Frequently Asked Questions (000F0) | O============================================================================O Q: How is this related to the other Armored Core games? A: I have no idea. There isn't much of a story, and what there is doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. The AC series as a whole has never been very clear on the storyline front. Besides, I've only played AC2:AA and the original AC, anyway. Q: Where are Nexts #23, #29, and #39? #39 is you. #23 and #29 were Nine-Ball and Phantasmagoria, final bosses from previous Armored Core games. They were only available on the pre-release disc from Gamestop, and came with two broken weapons (the KARASAWA Mk. 4 and the true Moonlight blade, LSI-MOONLIGHT) that one can't use on Live because they were simply too powerful. Q: What do the Stabilizers mods do? A: They represent some sort of balance, in the X/Y plane. I used to try to get them as high as possible, but now it seems that 0 is the ideal. This keeps your center of gravity in the center (a conclusion supported by my "Breaker" Schematic, which has high numbers and visibly leans forward and to the right). Readers tell me that they can impact all sorts of things such as speed, QB duration, recoil strength, and PA strength, but never significantly, really. Unfortunately, I can't test any of these ideas anymore since the Xbox 360 was taken by my brother when he moved out, but I'd still say to worry about your AC's performance first, and then tweaking it with Stabilizers rather than attempting to have a perfectly balanced design. Q: How do PM Missiles work? A: "PM Missiles fire straight left and straight right, if you are not locked on to the enemy, if you are, they work like most other missiles, but they hit the flanks instead of the front, so you cannot dodge them to the side. I found them to be a great help on the Barbaroi missions because his AC is designed for side to side dodging." ~ Direct quote from nun ya Q: What is your AC? A: I change my AC very often, to suit my needs. The only common things are that it's based on the Tellus model, the Sirius Cannons, and the Moonlight blade. Q: How do you keep your FCS from getting knocked out? A: Your FCS does not get knocked out. Ever. You're likely holding your control stick down for some reason, switching you to manual aim. Stop abusing your controller, and let up on the stick. Also, getting hit with high stun weapons (certain ballistic weapons only) can knock your lock off. Q: How much FRS can I get? A: 337. Q: What does FRS do? A: You can put FRS points into various statistics to increase said statistics. Q: How do I achieve multiple lock-ons? A: Use Missiles, and have a FCS that's geared towards mutliple lock-ons. Missiles are the only weapons that would bother with mutiple lock-ons. I don't see any pratical applications, as all the missions can easily be S-Ranked without multiple lock-ons, and online combat has too few targets to make it worthwhile. Q: What are Sirius Cannons, and where do I find them? A: They're very powerful Hi Laser Cannons with excellent anti-Primal Armor capabilities and power. The full name is HLC02-SIRIUS.You get them after completing Chapter 3. Questions? Check my e-mail and I'll see what I can do, and possibly add sections to this FAQ. O============================================================================O | Version History (000G0) | O============================================================================O Version 0.50 - (26 March 2007) - Began the FAQ Version 0.60 - (27 March 2007) - Continued the FAQ, added minor edits Version 0.70 - (28 March 2007) - Continued the FAQ, added minor edits Version 0.71 - (28 March 2007) - Fixed a Table of Contents error <_< Version 1.00 - (29 March 2007) - Completed enough to call it 1.00 Version 1.01 - (30 March 2007) - Added my e-mail, other content. Version 1.02 - (06 April 2007) - New Strategies, clarifications. Version 1.03 - (13 April 2007) - New FAQs, better Juggernaut strategy by me Version 1.04 - (11 June 2007) - Minor update Version 1.05 - (27 June 2007) - Small spelling fix, new FAQ, important note Version 1.06 - (08 July 2007) - Firefly update, small fixes, copyright fix Version 1.07 - (15 July 2007) - FRS clarifications Version 1.08 - (12 Sep 2007) - Minor Updates Version 1.09 - (06 Oct 2007) - PM Missile update Version 1.10 - (07 Jan 2007) - Minor Updates, Changed Armoredd to Armored Version 1.11 - (03 Aug 2010) - New license O============================================================================O | Legal/Contact (000H0) | O============================================================================O This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit this work to remix – to adapt this work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor: Credit me as either Jeffrey McGaffigan or BlueYoshi579 (but not in any way that suggests that I endorse you or your use of the work). share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. Questions, corrections, comments, and all other forms of feedback are welcome as well. Corrections are especially appreciated - if you send one, please include a way for me to credit you in the section below. Be sure to have patience and a good topic line, as well. And don't send me questions asking to specifically help you. I, nor any other reasonable FAQ writer, would ever do that. My e-mail: faqiynx AT gmail DOT com - You can also PM me on GameFAQs! O============================================================================O | Credits (000I0) | O============================================================================O The GameFAQs administrators (CJayC, Sailor SBAllen) for starting and keeping GameFAQs running. Wikipedia, for definitions of various terms that I was too lazy to type out myself. seigyoku from the AC4 forums, for providing a comprehensive and, quite frankly, better version of the attributes section. His help and willingness to share are greatly appreciated. He also provided several useful tips. Everyone who has sent information, questions, or things of the sort. A I e x, for helping in ways he's not aware of (formatting), and for writing top-notch FAQs from which I drew some tips on writing. FromSoftware, Agetec, and Sega for putting out a great series. You, for reading this FAQ.