Armored Core 2: Weapons Guide (PS2) Version 1.5 This document Copyright 2001 "Zaku IX" Armored Core 2 is © 2000 From Software, Inc. Armored Core is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. Foreword: While arguably more useful to newer players, this guide should have a few obscure facts thrown in for the more experienced players to make it worthwhile. I've basically taken each weapon and, at the very least, provided an accurate description of the pros and cons associated with it. What I did with most weapons, however, was create a set of statistics, and use them to complement my notes, as well as make up for the major shortcomings in both the in-game rating system, and weapon statistics. Version History: Use this in conjunction with the Table of Contents to find the newest changes quickly. 7/9/01 Version 1.0 * First version, roughly 80% of what's here is from this one. 7/14/01 Version 1.1 * Slight Alterations, first public release. 7/22/01 Version 1.2 * Corrections * New topics under Section 4-I created, Section 5 updated to reflect it. 7/25/01 Version 1.3 * Corrections * New Stats added to Section 2, "Reticle Mobility" and "Precision". * Section 5 updated. 7/29/01 Version 1.4 * Corrections * New topic added to Section 4-I. * Profiled all Optional Parts. * New Stats added to Section 2, "Recoil Control", and "Accuracy". * Blade Attacks topic in Section 4-I revised with new info added. * Canned Updates section, created less clunky Version History. * Updated Table of Contents to reflect new/moved sections. 8/06/01 Version 1.5 * Corrections * New Stat "Travel Speed" added to all projectile weapons. * Rewrote a few things here and there to make them easier to read. Note to readers: I'm fairly sure this is the last version I'll be doing before the expansion "Another Age" is released. I can't think of anything else to add, (aside from the obvious, which would be profiling everything from that game, and updating the stats), so suggestions are welcome. Table of Contents: 1) Legal Info 2) Statistics Explained 3) Additional Statistics 4) Weapons 4a) Blades 4b) Shields 4c) Inside Parts 4d) Extensions 4e) Right Arm Weapons 4f) Back Weapons 4g) Fixed Arm Weapons 4h) Optional Parts 4i) Miscellaneous (or FAQs yet to be asked, but already answered) 5) Thanks 6) Contact ******Section 1********************************************************** Legal Info: While I exclusively hold the right to edit this document, reproduction of it is generally unrestricted as long as no changes are made to either the document itself, or any copies of it. If you see it, like it, and decide that you want to display it on your own site, you're more than free to do so IF you do it under the conditions set by the site that you are viewing it from. This means if it says, "no linking", don't link, and so forth. All that I ask is that you don't change anything about it. A notification e-mail is courteous, but not necessary. It WILL be your responsibility to make sure you have the most recent version. Any site that I personally submit this to doesn't have to worry about that, as I will ALWAYS provide them with it. Currently, the only site I am attempting to submit to is GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com). If you want to make sure you have the most current version, look there. ******Section 2********************************************************** Statistics Explained: I'm trying to go for only what's involved. I will skip some more obvious ones, just to save myself the hassle of typing it all when either the manual or the in-game help system gives an adequate description. By the way, I alphabetized them since classification was getting too hairy. Accuracy: This determines how well your blade attacks will be guided. The higher this number is, the more reliably your AC will target the enemy for sword attacks. Lower numbers can make it much more difficult to strike with the blade. {Arm Stat} Ammo Heat: More or less the single round value of "heat damage". Consider this number cut in half if you are fighting a Plus that has had the third operation performed on them. Heat damage is the amount of heat your opponent takes in when hit. The higher it is, the closer they will be to overheating, (once they're overheating, any additional heat damage will make it much harder to cool off), but of course, the Radiator they have will work hard to "undo" the heat damage after it's been inflicted. By "undo", it will lower the AC's temperature, but not undo any damage to the AC's armor that's already been done as a result. {Right Arm Weapon, Arm, Right or Left Back Weapon, Inside Part, and Extension Stat} Ammo Price: Corresponds DIRECTLY to Ammo in that one ammo count is worth whichever value is given. {Right Arm Weapon, Arm, Right or Left Back Weapon, Inside Part, and Extension Stat} Attack Heat: This is how much your opponent heats up when they get hit by your sword. Think Ammo Heat here, but for your sword. I'm willing to bet that this also gets multiplied if you get a nice clean hit. {Left Arm Weapon Stat} Attack Power: This is the raw, (usually single round), damage for a weapon. What you are not told, however, is how much damage a single discharge of a spread shot weapon causes. In the case of such weapons, I will include the full damage of the weapon if the the entire cluster of shots were to hit. A good thing to remember is that Laserblades which also possess this stat will multiply it based on how clean the hit is, (and are also manipulated by Energy Supply), but energy projectiles made by a Laserblade have the power given and nothing more. {Right or Left Arm Weapon, Arm, Right or Left Back Weapon, Inside Part, and Extension Stat} Bio Sensor: A simple yes or no stat. A part either has it or doesn't. What it does depends on what part has it. In back radars, it causes Disorder Units to appear on radar, as without a Bio Sensor equipped radar, you must locate them visually. In a head, it can do that, (providing it has a sensor interval greater than zero), and it will let you lock on to Disorder Units, whereas an AC that does not have a head equipped with a Bio Sensor could not lock on to Disorder Units. {Head and Left or Right Back Weapon Stat} Blade Range: This is more of a notice. While the stat itself is self explanatory, the sword arms are given in a different scale (1/15) from the left arm swords. From Software apparently forgot to translate the stats for those arms. The higher the number, the longer the blade. Longer blades obviously have a better striking distance which makes them easier to hit with. {Left Arm Weapon Stat} Discharge Heat: I don't think it's important, but it's the heat your sword or shield generates. The values are all really small, but I guess they wont help when you're already overheating. {Left Arm Weapon Stat} Energy Supply: This affects the attack/defense stats of sword/shield weapons. The higher this is, the more potent your sword and shield will be. {Arm Stat} Lock Speed: This dictates how quickly your missile weapons will lock on to their targets. The lower this number is, the faster they will lock. This isn't really important if you use single lock missiles, but eight or twelve lock types can definitely benefit from having a lower number for their lock speed. {FCS Stat} Maximum Lock: The most locks you'll get out of a weapon. Both the weapon in question, and the FCS you have equipped will determine this, with the lower number of the two having priority, since neither can exceed the other. {Right or Left Back Weapon, Arm, and FCS Stat} Precision: After a lot of play testing, I have to conclude that this is strictly the ability of the FCS to compensate for movement. In this case, the results of my testing have suggested that a higher number will make your weaponry more accurate against moving, particularly quick moving targets. {FCS Stat} Range: There are a few places where you'll find this stat, and in each, it has a slightly different meaning. Range with a weapon is the effective distance it has, or to specify how far the shot will travel before it fizzles. On a FCS, it's the maximum range from which you can lock on to your opponent. Even if your FCS has LESS range than the weapon, you would still be able to hit a target outside of that range, so long as it does not exceed the range of your weapon. If the weapon's range is less than the FCS range, the FCS will revert to the weapon's range, (hint hint guys, don't equip DOX-ELENA with a handgun). {Right Arm Weapon, Arm, Right or Left Back Weapon, Inside Part, Extension, and FCS Stat} Recoil Control: What recoil? None of the right arm weapons have it. Despite that, I gave this one a few shots and honestly noticed no difference whatsoever in how my Right Arm Weapons performed. Ignore this. {Arm Stat} Reload Time: Specifically, the time needed for a reload. Even if you don't know what the unit given is, you know that whatever it is will be proportional. Lower numbers are better here. Additionally, for weapons that function as missiles, it's the time between launches, the difference being that however many locks you had is the number of missiles you'll launch before waiting out the actual reload. {Right Arm Weapon, Arm, Right or Left Back Weapon, Inside Part, and Extension Stat} Reticle Mobility: This appears to be the speed of the reticle when, and only when you lock on with missiles. The reticle in question is the little diamond that appears in front of your AC, and then finds its way to an enemy within the range of the FCS. Once it reaches its target, the lock process begins. Higher numbers are good here. {FCS Stat} Weapon Lock: The size manipulation of your FCS for using the weapon. In other words, it will either make your FCS bigger, smaller, not affect it at all, or make it a tiny bit smaller. Those parameters are respectively, Wide and Shallow, Narrow and Deep, Standard, and Special. {Right Arm Weapon, Arm, and Right or Left Back Weapon Stat} ******Section 3********************************************************** Additional Statistics: This section will explain some stats that I use, but the game does not, stats that I think more accurately describe weapons. Such stats assume several things, and those things, along with the actual calculations are given here for your convenience. One VERY important thing to remember is that ALL stats which are calculated through a formula involving the number of Ammo a given weapon has will be affected if either, two of the same, or both Magazines are equipped. For a good estimate, you could simply take that stat and add the given percentage increase to it, but for the truly accurate count, you should replace the Ammunition part of the formula with the increased number of ammo after using the Magazine. Yet another important note is that all energy weapons' stats are calculated as if NONE of the optional parts were equipped, which means they can be very much affected by them. Keep that in mind when trying to select a weapon that's right for your AC. And yet ANOTHER note, (I promise, this is the last one!!!), Missiles are compared to MISSILES, and not other weapons. I say this because there simply is no reliable way to calculate their stats so they could be compared to weapons that don't require a certain amount of time to lock on. You'll have to use common sense to do that, and there just isn't a formula for common sense. I've done as much as I could by supplying a relative lock speed. Without any more diversions, here are the statistics. Burst Power: The calculation of the full damage of a spreadfire weapon i.e. the Slug Gun, Shotgun, Bombs (others too). The assumption is that every round that is part of the burst hits. This stat is only used on weapons it applies to. It very directly corresponds to ONE unit of ammunition. Therefore, if a weapon fires multiple shots at once, but subtracts the same number from the ammo count, I wont provide this stat, (although I do consider it to be part of the fire rate), so for Dual Back Weapons, Fixed Arm Weapons, and any others that apply, you'll have to double, (or triple, quadruple, whatever's necessary), the value. I will put up a reminder whenever that's an issue though. Burst Heat: Same as the above, but measuring heat. Potential Damage: This is a simple "Ammo" multiplied by "Attack Power" formula. It does not make provisions for heat damage, or additional single round damage such as that caused by the Karasawa's shock wave. Such a calculation does not take missed shots into consideration, which isn't so much an assumption as it is a matter of sticking to the definition of potential. It is the full damage that a weapon will inflict if every last shot hits its target. Offensive Edge: Not to be confused with Offensive Point, this is the measurement of damage over time. This stat is obtained by dividing a time period of 255 by the current weapon's reload time, then rounding down to the nearest number, or just ignoring the decimal value, however you choose to view it. That number is multiplied by the attack power, or burst power if it applies. It does, of course, assume that you are constantly firing, and that no extra space is put in between you and your target. The stat when given for missiles is given as Maximum Volley Offensive Edge. Minimum Volley Offensive Edge will be given too. If a missile only locks once, you get plain old Offensive Edge. This stat should really help you when thinking in terms of one on one combat when enemies could actually survive for a long period of time, (Mainly ACs). Also, some weapons do consume more than one shot at once, so that is also taken into consideration when this stat is given. Accumulative Heat: The same as Offensive Edge, but given in terms of Heat as opposed to damage. Because of this, the calculation is the same as the above, but with Attack Power, or Burst Power, as the case may be, replaced with Ammo Heat, and its burst counterpart, err... burst heat. Just like Offensive Edge, this stat will be given for the maximum and minimum volley of a multiple lock missile. Likewise, it does not account for the time it takes to acquire a lock. Lasting Power: A simple calculation with "Reload" multiplied by the "Ammo" to come up with a number. The assumption here is that you never take your finger off the trigger and thus fire as quickly as possible. The idea of this one is to let you know how long your weapon lasts even when someone, (namely me), is desperately trying to empty it as quickly as possible. Minimum and Maximum Volley versions of this stat are supplied for multiple lock missiles. Total Cost: Yet another simple calculation, this time consisting of "Ammo Price" multiplied by the amount of "Ammo". There is no assumption here, as it is, much like Potential Damage, defined as the maximum possible cost. Energy Consumption: Like Offensive Edge, but it tells you how much energy you will use in that given time frame. Even though many energy weapons aren't meant for constant firing, it complements the Offensive Edge statistic. It is, of course assumed that the attacking side does not refrain from firing for as much as a nanosecond more than they have to. Travel Speed: Nothing entirely special, as it is self explanatory. It's given for nearly all of the normal projectiles, which are defined as anything that isn't a missile. Now, the ones I could not do were the higher burst count spread weapons, since they fire shots at different speeds, and at awkward angles making it next to impossible to measure. It's just as well, seeing how those types of weapons ought to be used very close to the enemy anyway, where such information is irrelevant. Missiles couldn't be done because they deviate too much from the intended course to be measured. ******Section 4********************************************************** Weapons: This section is going to be divided into several sub sections. That will hopefully make it much easier to classify weapons. All Right Arm, Back Unit, Extension, and Inside Part weapons will have new stats listed for them, all derived from the previous section. None of the stats you could get by pressing Triangle while viewing a part will be listed outside of the summary, (and in that case, I'd probably try to use relative terms and not numbers unless it's really important). Lastly, _please_ look at Section 3 of this guide for an explanation of all the statistics I use here. ~~~~~Section 4-A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Blades: There are no more than five blades to use, and each has varying statistics that I'll spare you of, (really, they're self-explanatory enough). "Plus Blade" refers to the blade generated when a Level 2 Plus uses the sword and adds energy to the blade, (by pressing X during the slash), to create a projectile. When talking about the blade itself, (and not the Plus Blade), I mean potential damage, since it is possible to end up doing less damage if you don't score a clean hit. "ELS-2772" This orange blade is the one you start with. It boasts the longest range (though honestly not by that much), and the lowest weight. Accordingly, it is the weakest. I consider it the very bare minimum requirement for most missions, especially those with many non-enemy targets. Lots of ammo could be a substitute, but this weapon is very reliable. -Plus Blade: When used by a Level 2 Plus, this sword can create a small orange energy plane, which strikes from much farther than the blade itself, but is also much weaker. Of course, you could use it while normally slicing somebody for more damage. Again, you can only do that if you have had the Plus operation done twice. "ELS-3443" This green blade trades just a bit of range for more power, and actually drains less than the above blade when used. It is slightly heavier though. It is a good choice for missions, having sufficient power to defeat weaker enemies very easily. -Plus Blade: When used by a Level 2 Plus, this sword can be used to make three green energy planes that fire out in a fan trajectory. Used up close and combined with the blade itself, you could do serious damage with an apparently weak blade. "ZLS-T/100" This triple bladed pink sword has noticeably less range than either of the above, but offers impressive power, (more than the last two), at the cost of increased weight and a higher drain in addition to diminished range. This is a good choice for Arena participation more than missions, but that's not to say there wont be any tough cookies to be fought in missions. Overall, a very well rounded sword. -Plus Blade: A larger, single pink energy plane can be made with this sword. It is of course, significantly weaker than the actual blade. "LS-MOONLIGHT" Despite being watered down, the awe-inspiring blue sword still reigns as the best. Possessing nearly twice as much power as the previous sword, it is a luxury on Missions, but very helpful in the Arena. It weighs in at almost triple the previous sword as well. Gone is its once impressively low drain, though it still drains just a bit less than the T/100 sword. The range is equivalent to that of the 3443. -Plus Blade: A huge plane of blue energy can be made with this sword, although it's not as bright, nor does it explode as violently as it used to. It also does NOT do 3000-4000 AP damage anymore. Like the previous swords, the power is proportional to the blade itself, but it's most likely the same small scale. "ZLS-400/SL" This irregular sword enjoys no benefits from any Plus Upgrades. Instead of slicing with a blade, this sword creates a yellow disk like energy plane akin to the Plus Blade made with all of the other swords. The severe toning down of this type of blade hits this one hard, as it is heavier than the T/100 blade, though by far not as heavy as the MOONLIGHT, it would only be marginally stronger than the T/100, (talking in terms of energy plane to energy plane, since the T/100's actual blade dwarfs this thing in power). To justify the low power, this blade can be used to make energy planes even in the air. Very enticing to use as a regular pilot, but if you are a Plus, you probably don't need it unless you're hell bent on throwing these things in the air. Either way, this sword has the highest usage drain of all. Be careful with it. ~~~~~Section 4-B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shields: There are only four shields to be acquired and/or used. Ideally, these would be given to ACs with a great amount of Ammo for use in Missions. Generally, you can afford to be more lenient with ammo in Arena battles, so you don't have to design your AC to have huge amounts of ammo to use these there. Another thing to chew on is the fact that if you have enough of your Generator's Energy Output left over, you can recover energy WHILE using the Shields. Be careful though, since movement will stress your Generator in some cases, enough to actually make the shields start draining. Using your boosters while shielding will drain under ANY circumstances, and it will drain FAST. Be careful. "EES-2555" This plain and boring little shield emits a yellow energy barrier that shields the AC's forearm. Coverage is so-so, shell defense is so-so, energy defense isn't too bad, and drain is extremely low. Weight itself is also not bad, weighing in as the lightest of the shields. Good for slow ACs generally, but usable by quicker ones. If you can't use a better shield for any reason other than you want to pack on as many weapons as you can, you better change this to the ELS-2772 because chances are you'll run out of ammo and be left defenseless otherwise. In an Arena Battle, this isn't as much of a risk. "EES-777LAR" This shield offers much better shell defense than the previous one, and quite a bit more energy defense as well, just not as much of a boost, but drains yet more, and is also a bit heavier. The shield emitted is blue, and covers roughly the same area as the previous one. This shield is a much better balanced version of the 2555, so if you can fit it on, do so, but make sure you are more than covered in the ammo department. "ZES-500/SU" Quite possibly the best shield in terms of balance. Both types of defense are boosted, especially energy defense, but it has the highest drain of all, yet thankfully not the heaviest weight, even if it is heavier than the 777LAR. One big bonus is the incredible coverage you get from this shield, so think about that while your energy gauge is draining faster than anything you ever saw. I cannot stress enough though, your need to have a lot of ammo if you make this commitment. "ZES-99-MIRROR" This shield emits a green barrier that absorbs the most damage, of either type, making it the absolute most defensive of all. It is 100 WP heavier, but drains just a bit less than the previous shield. Coverage is better than usual, but not as good as the 500/SU. I can wholeheartedly recommend any tank that uses the Moonlight to drop it in favor of this unless they are truly deprived in the ammo department. The nigh 300 WP you are given back can be put towards yet more weaponry, hopefully shutting out any ideas of running out before you're done with your job. ~~~~~Section 4-C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inside Parts: Often overlooked and underestimated, these parts are generally light, and have varying uses. Believe me when I tell you nothing is worthless here. Unlike any other weapons, inside parts always fire backwards. Keep that in mind. "INW-DEC-00A" Type: Decoy Dispenser Total Cost: 1680 This part and the next are probably the most widely used. They set decoys right behind your AC when "fired". This decoy will attract missiles to it, thus aiding you in your dodging efforts. A single decoy can fool as many missiles as are launched at it, providing it doesn't blow up, which it will do after a short time. Its life span is typically long enough to last against a volley of missiles. "INW-DEC-M02" Type: Decoy Dispenser Total Cost: 2800 More or less the exact same thing as the above, except it has more ammo, and thus weighs more, and drains more energy. Use this whenever possible over the previous part, unless you can't take the weight and/or energy drain. "INW-EM-RRD" Type: ECM Maker Total Cost: 6525 This is an interesting little part. First, it is a bit pricey. Second, it has limited ammo. It does do a lot of good though. When you launch one of these, it breaks all locks within a certain range. If you stay near it, the opponent cannot lock onto you. Like the previous part, it does blow up after a while, but you have plenty of them. "INW-DM-PUPPET" Type: Dummy Maker Total Cost: 6720 This is good to bring into battle against a human competitor. The CPU always knows where you are, regardless of what the Radar it may or may not have tells it. This item fools the Radar by sending out a dummy which emits a signal just like that of your AC. Enough of these at once will make you VERY hard to find. Like the previous parts, the Dummy will blow up after a while. "INW-BD-X22" Type: Bomb Dispenser Burst Power: 4080 Burst Heat: 978 Potential Damage: 81600 Offensive Edge: 4080 Accumulative Heat: 978 Lasting Power: 3000 Total Cost: 4800 Probably the most underestimated part. It dumps six bombs outwards, which fall to the ground and explode. While it's near impossible to hit someone behind you with this weapon, it is very easy to hit someone in front of you if you boost backward along the ground and drop it. Of course they'll have to be very close, so it's ideal to use against aggressive enemies like Merciless, for example. Just don't drop them on yourself! Also, the higher you are when you drop these, the farther apart they will spread. "INW-BD-XVX" Type: Plasma Dispenser Burst Power: 4440 Burst Heat: 504 Potential Damage: 266400 Offensive Edge: 4440 Accumulative Heat: 504 Lasting Power: 9000 Energy Consumption: 1200 A vastly superior version of the previous weapon. It's a bit heavier, and drains energy, but you get three times the ammo, and a higher attack power. Usage is the same as the last weapon. "INW-DM/R11" Type: Mine Dispenser Potential Damage: 118000 Offensive Edge: 7375 Accumulative Heat: 1315 Lasting Power: 3600 Total Cost: 32000 VERY expensive. Normally, these are dropped insanely high. If you drop them while moving backwards, they'll drop lower. Low enough to do some huge damage to any AC that walks into them. Caterpillar types, however, can sneak under them UNLESS they happen to be boosting, where they'd probably lift up and get hit. Useful if laid out strategically, or else they're just a waste of valuable space. ~~~~~Section 4-D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extensions: Very useful, very popular, these plug into the hardpoints on your AC's shoulders. They come in three types, each with at least two parts varied enough to warrant usage. While very light, none of these are standalone weapons, but they can give you a huge boost in combat. "BEX-BB210" Type: Back Booster Useful little part. When activated, it pushes you back suddenly in a short burst. This obviously has many uses, since the boost is so spontaneous. It can do such things as fake out the opponent's FCS, or even your opponents themselves. Great for otherwise immobile ACs. "BEX-BD150" Type: Dive Booster This part is more helpful to those who enjoy flying. It will give you a quick drop in altitude, enabling you to shake off many things, including missiles, and approaching opponents. Using it on the ground is pointless, but funny. "BEX-BRM-04" Type: Relation Missile Potential Damage: 21840 Total Cost: 12560 This is a very popular part. When used, it interfaces with any weapon that uses the AC's FCS to program a guided projectile. This includes all missiles, and the Orbit Cannon, but NOT the Pursuit Missiles, since they are guided by whatever targeting system their home pod uses. So, once you toggle it on, and fire one of those weapons, it will launch four missiles along with whatever your weapon launched. Two weapons, (the S608 and S612 back missiles), allow this weapon to fire twice for the same launch since they fire constantly for longer than the duration of its reload when locked on eight times or more. Of course, that would mean expending almost half of your supply with one launch. "BEX-BRM-02" Type: Relation Missile Potential Damage: 9240 Total Cost: 8960 This is more or less the same as the previous weapon, except it fires weaker missiles with more than 1.5 times the range. It also fires two at once when triggered, as opposed to four. Having the same reload time, it can be made to fire twice from the same launch as the above extension can. The reason to use this is either if you're pressed for weight, or if you just want to spread out your relation missile launches as it has the same number of ammo, but just goes through it more slowly. It also uses cheaper ammo. "EEX-AM45" Type: Anti Missile Total Cost: 4080 This is the least taxing Anti Missile you could equip, in terms of weight, drain, and expenses. It serves as a shield against enemy missiles, by aiming at and shooting them down when they are within range. By toggling the extension on, it will scan for incoming missiles, and upon detecting them, it will launch missiles of its own to counter them. It does not work perfectly, however, it does help you out tremendously. The missiles it counters are of the missile projectile type, not weapon type, so it will NOT counter the Orbit Cannon, but it WILL counter Pursuit Missiles. "ZEX-RS/HOUND" Type: Anti Missile Total Cost: 5440 Better quality than the above, being capable of doing a better job all around. Being a better all around product, it has more expensive ammo, and is a bit heavier, plus it drains more. "BEX-BAMS-287" Type: Anti Missile Total Cost: 8000 Does the best overall job of shooting down missiles, at the most expensive cost, for the most weight, and highest energy drain of the solid anti missiles. It also has more ammunition. "ZEX-AL/REX" Type: Anti Missile Unlike all the previous Anti Missiles, this one intercepts with lasers, for a more immediate interception. The stats are not up to par with the solid interceptors, but for free, you really can't complain. ~~~~~Section 4-E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Right Arm Weapons: Often thought of as the main weapon of the AC, being the one selected by default. All sorts of weapons fall into this category, each with their own class, and specialties. Weapon type is kept handy as it was in the previous sub sections, for those of you who haven't committed every part to memory. "ZWG-RF/37" Type: Rifle Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 36540 Offensive Edge: 1421 Accumulative Heat: 637 Lasting Power: 5940 Total Cost: 3600 This isn't a terrible weapon if you have patience, and a moderate amount of weight to spare. I'd think twice about taking this into the Arena, since its main redeeming factors really only apply to missions. It is a good weapon for use in most Missions, particularly those with many weak enemies. "EWG-RF-M15" Type: Rifle Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 41550 Offensive Edge: 2216 Accumulative Heat: 1104 Lasting Power: 4500 Total Cost: 7500 The tweaked stats on this Rifle make it a good offensive weapon, but also much easier to empty out, as well as more expensive to use. It is light, which makes it an easy enough weapon to just grab with whatever WP you have left over. While the hiked up price and lower ammo don't necessarily make it as mission friendly as say, the previous weapon, the potential damage is something worth thinking about. "EWG-RF-M35" Type: Rifle Travel Speed: 9 Potential Damage: 45000 Offensive Edge: 2025 Accumulative Heat: 1008 Lasting Power: 5600 Total Cost: 9000 The best thing about this one is the potential damage, thanks in no small part to the high ammo count. This boosts many important aspects as well, giving it the reputation for being a balanced weapon. It also boasts the fastest reload of all rifles, which makes it almost as deadly as the previous one. "ZWG-SRF/8" Type: Sniper Rifle Travel Speed: 11 Potential Damage: 41680 Offensive Edge: 2605 Accumulative Heat: 465 Lasting Power: 3520 Total Cost: 7200 The nature of this weapon makes such things as offensive edge, and lasting power somewhat useless, as it is supposed to be a weapon of opportunity. It's an accurate weapon with limited ammo. Note the phenomenal range of this weapon. I seriously wouldn't even think about putting this on a Heavy AC despite the weight of the weapon itself. You need the mobility to keep the enemy in your sight, as well as to keep them away with this. "EWG-SRF-9" Type: Sniper Rifle Travel Speed: 11 Potential Damage: 36480 Offensive Edge: 2432 Accumulative Heat: 528 Lasting Power: 3120 Total Cost: 6000 This rifle leans more towards the heavy weapon category with its higher single round damage. Being a Sniper Rifle, it's still good at a distance, but the range is diminished, in order to offset the damage. It's bound to be the more popular of the two, especially with its lower weight and lower total ammo cost. "ZWF-S/NIGHT" Type: Sniper Rifle Travel Speed: 12 Potential Damage: 24560 Offensive Edge: 3684 Accumulative Heat: 93 Lasting Power: 1300 Energy Consumption: 5040 Probably the most deadly of the Sniper Rifles. Being energy based gives it one weakness, which is that it needs energy to be fired, but on the other hand, the single round damage, accuracy, and all around good range, (though the poorest of all Sniper Rifles), make it a weapon to be careful of. Potential damage is rather low, which affects the mission performance, (that and having 20 shots to its name). It is the lightest Sniper Rifle as well. "EWG-MGA2" Type: Machine Gun Travel Speed: 5 Potential Damage: 47250 Offensive Edge: 5355 Accumulative Heat: 1428 Lasting Power: 2250 Total Cost: 8100 Getting into deadly territory, which is good. This weapon is a good one to put on mobile ACs that can keep the opponent within their targeting box relatively easily. It has a very high single round attack power for a Machine Gun, but at the same time, has a good load of ammunition, as well as some decent lasting power. It does run your ammo bill up very quickly though, but in the end, not much more than the average weapon. "ZWG-AR/K" Type: Machine Gun Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 27300 Offensive Edge: 7735 Accumulative Heat: 2210 Lasting Power: 900 Total Cost: 4500 This is a lovely little weapon. It's not too expensive to use, and does damage very quickly, in addition to its rampant overheating abilities. It doesn't last long, and wont do much damage in the long run, but if it did, it wouldn't be a very balanced weapon, now would it? The stats speak for themselves on this one. "EWG-MGSAW" Type: Machine Gun Travel Speed: 5 Potential Damage: 65000 Offensive Edge: 3315 Accumulative Heat: 1632 Lasting Power: 5000 Total Cost: 10000 This is the weakest of all machine guns, showing its true value to those patient enough to wait it out with both a long lasting power, and great potential damage. A very practical choice if you're thinking about grabbing a shield. "ZWG-MG/ENE" Type: Energy Machine Gun Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 36600 Offensive Edge: 6222 Accumulative Heat: 408 Lasting Power: 1500 Energy Consumption: 34680 You'll notice a couple of common properties of energy weapons here, particularly poor ammo heat, and of course, now energy consumption. This one is an interesting concept. Sort of a double edged sword. The offensive edge is charming, but the accumulative heat is not. Potential damage is okay, lasting power is so so. Energy consumption is a bit annoying, and I can only urge you to take very good Generator if you are going to consider this heavy machine gun. Thankfully, it will not cost you a single credit to fire. Plus, it's energy damage, which can be good or bad depending on your opponent's armor. Don't know why it's so heavy though. Slap on the energy weapon enhancing optional parts to make it worth its weight. Oh yeah, since it does drain, be careful if you want to use it while flying, or else you'll end up having to charge your Generator all the way up. "EWG-HG-51" Type: Handgun Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 17500 Offensive Edge: 2100 Accumulative Heat: 1584 Lasting Power: 2000 Total Cost: 6600 All in all, not a very good weapon. But then again, at that weight, it's to be expected. Note the high accumulative heat, as well as the marginal offensive edge and lasting power. Despite a very short range, this is a good weapon to equip if you really want to sacrifice raw power for speed or a good Generator, or whatever. One thing the stats don't tell you is that this weapon has a good stun value, a common characteristic of handguns, (more accurately, it's more effective because of their characteristically fast reload). Therefore, it's not a complete waste in the Arena either. "EWG-HG-ART" Type: Handgun Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 14475 Offensive Edge: 1930 Accumulative Heat: 2550 Lasting Power: 1875 Total Cost: 6375 I'd say that accumulative heat is where this one excels. It is the lightest of all Right Arm Weapons, but still has good performance to back it up. High Attack Power, as well as high Ammo Heat help to make it what it is in spite of low ammo. In all other areas, it's only marginally worse than the previous gun, but is cheaper to use, although not by much. The stun value of this weapon makes it quite annoying combined with the heat. "ZWG-HG/111" Type: Handgun Travel Speed: 9 Potential Damage: 27000 Offensive Edge: 2970 Accumulative Heat: 2090 Lasting Power: 2200 Total Cost: 7400 The best, albeit heaviest Handgun in terms of balance. Attack Power and Ammo are at their peak, accumulative heat is somewhere between the other two, lasting power beats the other two, (thanks to a slower reload however), and all that means this is one good weapon for its low weight. Mind you that I say that with regards to it as a weapon for use on missions. Arena Combat is another story. The stun value will get you somewhere, but a powerful Heavy AC will be able to take you out long before it helps, well, that and you wont have an easy time stunning a heavy AC. Not with this weapon, anyway. Drop this to one of the other two if you need free weight for stronger back weapons. "EWG-BZ-B1100" Type: Bazooka Travel Speed: 1 Potential Damage: 57200 Offensive Edge: 4290 Accumulative Heat: 1122 Lasting Power: 2600 Total Cost: 6560 Nasty weapon. This is a great choice for a heavy AC. Slow traveling shots, big damage, decent ammo, not insanely expensive either. It has the potential to do a lot of damage, but it's better suited for large, durable targets so as not to waste the attack power of the weapon by killing little disorder units three or four times over with a single shot. You get the idea. Guard your ammo well. Note the stun value in addition. That's a common characteristic of Bazookas, although it isn't quite as maddening as the Handgun's near consistent stun, it can snuff pesky blade happy opponents. "ZWG-BZ/555" Type: Bazooka Travel Speed: 2 Potential Damage: 61200 Offensive Edge: 6120 Accumulative Heat: 1359 Lasting Power: 2250 Total Cost: 5550 Offensive Edge seems fishy, and if it does, it's because I'm rounding down to the nearest whole shot before multiplying. That's why it's seemingly disproportionate between the two bazookas. So while if more time were a factor, you'd see the weapons a LOT closer together, it isn't. Anyhow, this is best described as high risk, high reward. Ten less shots, for a considerable boost in damage. As you can see, thanks to the potential damage stat, the missing ten shots don't really keep this weapon down. Offensive edge is vicious as well. The main form of balance on this weapon is the tiny targeting box. "ZWG-BZ/HYDRA" Type: Spread Bazooka Travel Speed: Varies Burst Power: 1680 Burst Heat: 324 Potential Damage: 36960 Offensive Edge: 6720 Accumulative Heat: 1296 Lasting Power: 1276 Total Cost: 8140 In all fairness, a unique weapon. It fires three shots at once, meaning heavy damage up close, and a chance at smaller damage from far away. The spread feature makes it harder to dodge, and it's very nicely balanced by a low ammo count, thus potential damage. Not only does it empty quickly, but it is also the second heaviest of all handheld weapons. "EWG-GS970" Type: Shotgun Travel Speed: Varies Burst Power: 852 Burst Heat: 150 Potential Damage: 40896 Offensive Edge: 4260 Accumulative Heat: 750 Lasting Power: 2304 Total Cost: 5664 Useful little spread shot weapon. This one has a decent punch up close, and all in all okay power from far away, depending on how many shells hit. For what it does, it does it rather well. The ammo cost is nice and low, compared to some of the other weapons. As a spread shot weapon, it could hurt a few enemies from far away with one shot, somewhat evenly, making it good for mission use. In the Arena, you probably want to be up close and personal to deal the most damage. "EWG-GSH8" Type: Shotgun Travel Speed: Varies Burst Power: 1504 Burst Heat: 288 Potential Damage: 54144 Offensive Edge: 6016 Accumulative Heat: 1152 Lasting Power: 1980 Total Cost: 5112 This one is quite a bit more deadly. Unlike the previous shotgun, this one has a burst count of 8. It has a bit less range, as well as noticeably less ammunition. The fact that each shell fired is deadlier makes the increased burst count even more effective. "EWG-XP1500" Type: Pulse Rifle Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 29760 Offensive Edge: 3472 Accumulative Heat: 644 Lasting Power: 2160 Energy Consumption: 16100 Pulse Rifles really got toned down in this game. Use with option parts or not at all. Low weight is a huge plus, however, so when you can't get something better to fit, you can use this. Another perk is that it's a relatively easy to use energy weapon, which means that not only will you not pay a single credit for using it, but you'll also not have to worry about suddenly running out of energy unless you're extremely careless. "ZWG-XP/400" Type: Pulse Rifle Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 46950 Offensive Edge: 2191 Accumulative Heat: 280 Lasting Power: 5400 Energy Consumption: 10500 This one is a much better mission candidate, but is also heavier, and weaker. Single Round damage is higher, but the reload is intolerably slow. As with the last one, use this with option parts. The big perk with this pulse rifle is that it lasts much longer than the above, and can do a lot more damage given the time, and still costs nothing. The lower fire rate keeps energy consumption nice and low too. "KARASAWA-MK2" Type: Laser Rifle Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 79000 Offensive Edge: 6320 Accumulative Heat: 272 Lasting Power: 2650 Energy Consumption: 13120 There isn't much to say here. It's the Karasawa. Use it reasonably competently and watch stuff blow up. IMO needs to weigh about 500 WP more. The most it has going against it is the high single shot drain which even then, thanks to a somewhat more reasonable reload, though still unjust, doesn't drain too quickly under reasonable use. Did I mention that it stuns? As a mission weapon, this is probably more than you'll need. Even with just fifty shots, it should prove useful for most missions, but you'll want to keep some extra firepower with you just in case. "ZWG-HC-IR/K99" Type: Plasma Rifle Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 30180 Offensive Edge: 5030 Accumulative Heat: 164 Lasting Power: 1104 Energy Consumption: 19800 No. This weapon doesn't suck. Anything following the Karasawa is bound to look like it does. Well, weighing in at 777 WP, it isn't all bad. High single round damage, low ammo, slow, slow reload. That sums it up. It does offer better range than the Karasawa though. A Good midweight weapon, it even fits on lightweights with a little bit of room to spare. "EWG-HC-GN210" Type: Grenade Rifle Travel Speed: 4 Potential Damage: 58000 Offensive Edge: 5800 Accumulative Heat: 1900 Lasting Power: 2400 Total Cost: 16400 This weapon's almost as heavy as the Karasawa, but heats the enemy up very nicely. Not quite as unbalanced as the Karasawa though. Though significantly slower than the K99, it doesn't really show that until another shot or two, where the K99 will officially beat it's Offensive Edge. It happens to be quite an expensive weapon to use. "EWG-HC-RAW" Type: Hand Rocket Travel Speed: 10 Potential Damage: 52020 Offensive Edge: 14450 Accumulative Heat: 2880 Lasting Power: 774 Total Cost: 5040 This is one deadly weapon. Not only is it the second most powerful Right Arm Unit, it also runs at a very low cost. This deadly weapon fires two shots at once, but it also subtracts two counts for that, (which is why I didn't give the burst power, because it doesn't burst, it just expends ammo twice as quickly). It is extremely vicious because of that, but at the same time, runs out of ammo quickly. How is such a fierce weapon balanced? No locking mechanism whatsoever. Better sharpen those manual aiming skills. "EWG-FTG500" Type: Flamethrower Travel Speed: N/A Potential Damage: 188000 Offensive Edge: 19975 Accumulative Heat: 14195 Lasting Power: 2400 Total Cost: 8000 While the stats may be impressive, keep in mind that like the previous weapon, this does not lock on, and also note the range of 48. Aside from the obvious fact that you must be very close to use it, you also have to manage to keep the flames on your opponent to keep doing the damage. In all likelihood, you'll never get to do the potential damage, or keep the majority of the offensive edge from going to waste. You see, to use this weapon in short bursts will yield better results than spraying it around against an active opponent. ~~~~~Section 4-F~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back Weapons: These parts plug into either, (and sometimes both), of the hardpoints on the back of your AC's torso and fire over your shoulder. Some of these are so powerful that you have to kneel to fire them lest they knock you over, (or at least that's what would happen if the game let you do it). However, having a fourth Plus Operation performed on your pilot would somehow eliminate all recoil, thus correcting the problem. "EWM-S602" Type: Small Missile Potential Damage: 18720 Lock Speed: Normal Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 3120 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 6240 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 580 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 1160 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 1344 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 672 Total Cost: 3360 This would be your default missile launcher. Not much potential damage, not much lasting power, not expensive at all. In fact, this is your below average launcher. It is light, which will hopefully justify its use. As a missile launcher, it has to acquire a lock for each missile it fires, and missiles, as projectiles generally do track fairly well, but are easily tricked given ample time. Also, they can be shot down by extension anti missiles, or the core's anti-missile gun, if it has one. "EWM-S608" Type: Small Missile Potential Damage: 37440 Lock Speed: Barely Slower than Normal Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 2340 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 18720 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 435 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 3480 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 3360 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 420 Total Cost: 6720 There are some obvious perks to this launcher. It launches the exact same missiles as the above launcher, but has different properties. First of all, it holds double the ammo, and can lock up to eight times, vastly increasing its usefulness although the ever so slightly slower lock speed means you'll have to wait quite a while to reach that potential. This one is probably most easily used like a high ammo version of the above weapon, but if you have the chance to acquire eight locks, unleashing all those missiles can be a daunting sight. Note the significantly slower reload though. Also note that this is capable of triggering your Relation Missile twice if you fire enough missiles (8) to last through its reload in one volley. "EWM-S612" Type: Small Missile Potential Damage: 46800 Lock Speed: Fast Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 3900 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 46800 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 725 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 8700 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 2880 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 240 Total Cost: 8400 The best, and of course, heaviest small missile launcher. Not only does it lock very quickly, but it can lock up to twelve times. Top it off with yet more ammo, and a FASTER reload time, and this one is a winner. Like the previous launcher, if you can lock and fire eight missiles, you'll be able to trigger your relation missile twice if you use it with this deadly weapon. This one also fires the exact same missiles as the previous launchers, so while it has the potential to cost more, it's still a very good deal if you're worried about money. "ZWM-M24/IMU" Type: Multi Missile Burst Power: 3920 Burst Heat: 1240 Potential Damage: 54880 Lock Speed: Fast Offensive Edge: 15680 Accumulative Heat: 4960 Lasting Power: 728 Total Cost: 15750 These are very pricey missiles. They are also interesting in design, in the sense that they start off as one missile, but once they get within a certain range of the enemy, they split into four missiles. Unfortunately, they don't always hit, because the bottom missile, (they fly in a cross formation), has a tendency to hit the floor and not the opponent, but that can be rectified by shooting from way above. The range lets you get very far away for just that. Oh, and yes. These work wonderfully at draining enemy missile interceptors, providing 56 missiles when all is said and done. "EWM-M444" Type: Vertical Missile Potential Damage: 25440 Lock Speed: Normal Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 4240 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 16960 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 1000 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 4000 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 1368 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 342 Total Cost: 9960 These are okay missiles. They launch upwards, soar really high, and rain down. Two things: One, beware of low ceilings. Two, pray your opponent isn't under anything. Things like the segments of the highway on the Abandoned Highway are just what to watch out for. They are a bit more pricey, but since they do more damage than Small Missiles, you could say you get your money's worth. "ZWM-M24/IMI" Type: Middle Missile Potential Damage: 26640 Lock Speed: Slightly Slower than Normal Offensive Edge: 17760 Accumulative Heat: 4288 Lasting Power: 372 Total Cost: 8736 Weapon Classification is a bit off if you ask me. These are Quad Missiles and they're very deadly. A single lock is all you need to send out four missiles. With only 24 missiles, that's not going to last long at all. These missiles are very straightforward, which makes them easy to shoot down, (your anti missile hardly has to look very far), and somewhat easy to lead. "ZWM-LD2/IDA" Type: Dual Missile Potential Damage: 29880 Lock Speed: Fast Offensive Edge: 8300 Accumulative Heat: 1800 Lasting Power: 792 Total Cost: 4680 This is a nice cheap weapon. It sends missiles out quickly, in pairs, and has a very decent amount of ammo. Better still, these are indirect missiles, which makes them harder to keep track of. You have to watch out for walls with these. Keep some distance, and you should be fine. They also have a much better range from which they can be effectively used than the previous missile. Furthermore, these are good to use on missions since they're as I said, dirt cheap. "EWM-FIN-BOO" Type: Large Missile Potential Damage: 27200 Lock Speed: Extremely Slow Offensive Edge: 6800 Accumulative Heat: 1730 Lasting Power: 1020 Total Cost: 38000 Okay. If you're thinking about using this in missions, get that thought out of your head. It simply will not work. Just one missile is more expensive than the entire contents of two IDA launchers combined! Furthermore, you only have four of these. It wont do you much good. These are best used where you don't have to pay for them. And use them close, from behind, but give yourself time to get the hell away from it before it hits. Launching these from far away is asking for your opponent to OB away or shoot them with anti missiles. These are slow. Real slow. Persistent too. Reload takes a very long time, allowing you to get off one shot in the 255 time period. "ZWR-S/60" Type: Small Rocket Travel Speed: 10 Potential Damage: 42000 Offensive Edge: 7350 Accumulative Heat: 1610 Lasting Power: 1440 Total Cost: 3920 Finally, out of Missile Territory, (for now anyway). These rockets are powerful, quick, and inexpensive. They are good for some very quick damage, but there is one thing about them that scares people away. Rockets don't lock. Period. You have to aim them manually. No FCS in the world could help them. This makes them somewhat difficult to use at first, but eventually, they become very effective. "EWR-M60" Type: Triple Rocket Travel Speed: 10 Potential Damage: 50400 Offensive Edge: 12600 Accumulative Heat: 1980 Lasting Power: 960 Total Cost: 6000 Self explanatory. This launcher fires weaker rockets, but it fires three at a time. Such an idea should be enticing to people who either can't aim with rockets to begin with, or enjoy weapons that hit over a wider area. Used point blank, you will do some big damage, but also note that firing three rockets at once means you'll be out of ammo quickly. There's something in it for everybody. Be warned that both the increased ammo capacity and slightly higher ammo cost do mean you'll spend more to use these on missions. "EWR-L24" Type: Large Rocket Travel Speed: 7 Potential Damage: 74400 Offensive Edge: 15500 Accumulative Heat: 3175 Lasting Power: 1152 Total Cost: 8208 Not cheap, but not bad at all. Huge potential for damage, despite a somewhat limited amount of ammo, and better still, it heats enemies up nicely while doing really quick damage. As with any rocket weapon, you cannot lock on to use this, and must aim manually. This weapon should be valuable especially to a non-plus, since you can run around and fire it whereas to get this kind of power anywhere else, you either take the rip-off FIN-BOO with four missiles, or a cannon. Of course, if you can't aim, you wont like this weapon no matter what. "ZWR-R/OCTOPUS" Type: ECM Rocket" Travel Speed: 11 Potential Damage: 3780 Offensive Edge: 840 Accumulative Heat: 32 Lasting Power: 1080 Total Cost: 8640 Impressive stats, eh? Well, that's not the idea of this weapon. The idea of this weapon is to hinder the performance of your enemy. When this rocket hits, your opponent's FCS dies for a little while, leaving them to aim manually. Obviously, this screws over some people more than others. Note that I said "people". This weapon ideally wouldn't harm the CPU at all, seeing how everything is so meticulously calculated by it, but the game simulates the effect by making the CPU not shoot at all. While the enemy has their FCS disabled, you can see a change in the opponent's AC, so you'll know when they need another rocket. Also, if your opponent is one of those "Missile Boat" types, they're just screwed period. No lock equals no missiles, you know. "EWC-CNG4000" Type: Chain Gun Travel Speed: 5 Potential Damage: 52500 Offensive Edge: 7350 Accumulative Heat: 2100 Lasting Power: 1800 Total Cost: 16500 This is one pricey weapon, and the first of the Cannon Type. I see this as a better Caterpillar weapon, or at the very least, Quad. Any other AC type would have to kneel to use it, and that just isn't good at all for this type of weapon, unless you're on a mission where you can destroy enemies quickly, and easily. Or if you have a really high defense AC with a shield and you want to have a bit of a standoff. Bring a nice, Wide and Shallow FCS with you if you're going to play that way though. "ZWC-LQ/2552" Type: Laser Cannon Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 44250 Offensive Edge: 7080 Accumulative Heat: 1040 Lasting Power: 1500 Energy Consumption: 33200 This is much more of a Cannon than the previous weapon, complete with recoil so you can scrape your AC's knees along the ground as you fire it. It's mission friendly, energy burning, and surprisingly weighs less than 1000 WP. I'd prefer this cannon on the move, given its less than stellar attack power, but it's not bad if you were to kneel down, fire, and then get yourself back up and on the move. Power should be sufficient to handle most common mission enemies. Don't use this too close, or the explosion will hit you too. "EWC-GN44-AC" Type: Grenade Launcher Travel Speed: 4 Potential Damage: 50250 Offensive Edge: 6700 Accumulative Heat: 2440 Lasting Power: 1425 Total Cost: 14250 Probably the definitive Cannon. Devastating single round damage makes this worth the effort to use on any AC. You'll find that it's really easy to get your enemies to overheat with practically no effort at all. And last, but not least, there's the stun, just as good as any high damage Cannon. Low Ammo makes this a bit of a gamble to bring with you on a mission, but it does the job very well, and excels at taking down stronger enemies with its higher potential damage than the previous weapon spread over fifteen, (hopefully), well placed shots plus splash damage. "ZWC-IR/FLUX" Type: Plasma Cannon Travel Speed: 3 Potential Damage: 56100 Offensive Edge: 5610 Accumulative Heat: 286 Lasting Power: 2400 Energy Consumption: 9800 Best thought of as the midpoint between the Laser Cannon and the Grenade Launcher, in terms of power and ammunition. Though slow, this is a fantastic cannon, with good power, combined with an all around low usage drain, thus energy consumption. Though heavy, it has many uses. "ZWC-LNT/250" Type: Slug Gun Travel Speed: Varies Burst Power: 3216 Burst Heat: 960 Potential Damage: 102912 Offensive Edge: 3216 Accumulative Heat: 960 Lasting Power: 4576 Total Cost: 5120 Wonderful. That time limit of 255 is really screwing over these stats, but I don't want a bunch of insanely high numbers for the Offensive Edge. This is one slow weapon, but having a burst power of 3216 over sixteen, you heard me, sixteen shots, it's worth the effort. I don't think though, that it would be a good weapon to kneel with because of how close you'd have to be to let it unleash its full power on somebody, but I could see it being used to hurt a group of small enemies at mid range, putting a few shells into each one. At long range, you may as well use a Handgun. This would do fairly well equipped on a Caterpillar or Quad, since they can both get up close and personal with this, and fire it off without stopping. "EWC-XP0808" Type: Pulse Cannon Travel Speed: 4 Potential Damage: 46200 Offensive Edge: 9450 Accumulative Heat: 108 Lasting Power: 1144 Energy Consumption: 45900 This is another one you don't want to use if you have to kneel. While you could probably get away with a few shots before you got up and left, you still leave yourself open for a little while. It does have good ammo for what it deals in raw power, and a good potential for damage. Watch your energy though, this is one of the more serious energy eaters. "EM-AAT110" Type: General Magazine Not a weapon per se. This adds ten percent ammo to every weapon you have equipped. And I do mean every weapon, including extensions and inside parts. "EM-SD120" Type: Solid Magazine This is like the previous magazine, but it adds twenty percent ammo to all shell weapons, but nothing to energy weapons. Really shows its worth when you load up with an extension, an inside part, a back weapon on the other side, and a right arm weapon. Or load up with two of these. I do wish it added more though, but it's still good. "ZRS-554/BW" Type: Radar This one isn't good or bad. It's just there. Let's think of it as normal. "ERM-TE3000" Type: Radar More range than normal, but lacking a Bio Sensor. It's lighter too. "ZRL-774/WH" Type: Radar Better in practically every way than the last two, and it still has a Bio Sensor. It's also heavier and drains more. "BRLT-B10000" Type: Radar Even more range. Heavier, and now with a Stealth Sensor. "BRS-B-OSPREY" Type: Radar Best radar. Period. Has everything, including a Noise Canceler, and has the best range. It is, however, the heaviest, and drains the most energy. "EWX-BAL4" Type: Multi Missile Burst Power: 3520 Burst Heat: 1360 Potential Damage: 84880 Lock Speed: Fast Offensive Edge: 35200 Accumulative Heat: 13600 Lasting Power: 564 Total Cost: 19800 Pricey little weapon of mass destruction. You take this weapon, and that's it. It attaches to both hardpoints on the back of the AC. It fires TWO multi missiles at once, which both split into four missiles each. Using it on the ground is asking for the bottom two missiles to blow up on the floor and not the enemy, but if they all hit, there will be a substantial loss of AP for the unlucky recipient. By the way, the burst power given is only for one full multi missile, it's more of a reminder, nothing that I haven't been doing all along. As we're getting into dual weapons, it's even more important to remember. "EWX-VLS241" Type: Vertical Missile Burst Power: 4240 Burst Heat: 1000 Potential Damage: 135680 Lock Speed: Fast Offensive Edge: 42400 Accumulative Heat: 10000 Lasting Power: 392 Total Cost: 14720 The classification is a bit misleading. These are not just Vertical Missiles. They're Vertical Multi Missiles. Dual Vertical Multi Missiles, at that. These are extremely deadly, and rightfully are to be attached to both hardpoints on the back of the AC. As with regular Vertical Missiles, low ceilings and anything with room underneath are your enemies. Use with care or not at all. These aren't good mission weapons, really. Eight launches and they're gone. "ZWX-IV/PURSUIT" Type: Pursuit Missile Burst Power: 8160 Burst Heat: 480 Potential Damage: 32640 Offensive Edge: 8160 Accumulative Heat: 480 Lasting Power: 800 Total Cost: 6480 A very unique weapon. This one also makes use of both hardpoints on the back of your AC, but unlike the previous two weapons, it fires only one shot at a time. This shot is in fact, a (pretty expensive) pod, which stops at one point, and empties its contents of 12 missiles into all surrounding enemies. The pod is launched like a rocket, and CAN hit. After launching all of its missiles, it blows up. It's very good in the sense that you can shoot it somewhere near the opponent, and keep on moving while it does your work for you. You only have four pods, however, so don't waste them. It actually isn't a terrible weapon to have on missions. Just remember that you'll need something to take care of nearly all minor enemies before you get to the point where you may actually need that kind of firepower. The big gamble, of course, is that some missions may not have a big enemy that needs that kind of beating. "ZWX-F04/ORBIT" Type: Orbit Cannon Burst Power: 2030 to 2320 Burst Heat: 168 to 192 Potential Damage: 41760 Lock Speed: Extremely Fast Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 4060 to 4640 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 12180 to 13920 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 336 to 384 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 1008 to 1152 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 2160 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 720 Minimum Volley Energy Consumption: 2600 Maximum Volley Energy Consumption: 7800 This needs a bit of explanation. Firstly, this is a double back weapon, meaning it is attached to both hardpoints on the back making up your entire back mounted arsenal, as the last three, and next three weapons do. Second, it's not a Cannon per se. You don't have to kneel to use this for any reason whatsoever. Thirdly, it locks like a missile, which means it can be combined with relation missiles (!) and that it fires in varying degrees. For each lock, you will launch two pods that zoom over to the enemy, surround it, and open fire on it. After MANY uses, and a lot of pausing, I have noticed that each pod fires from 14 to 16 shots before exploding, (note the variable damage stats). With a full three locks, a total of six pods will have encircled the enemy and will fire for some great damage, if only all the shots would hit. Nimble enemies can make a joke out of this weapon if you use it like that. I think you are best advised to fire with one lock against them, so you at least get some time with it to harass the hell out of them. "EWX-GCN77-4" Type: Chain Gun Travel Speed: 2 Burst Power: 410 Burst Heat: 106 Potential Damage: 57400 Offensive Edge: 12710 Accumulative Heat: 3286 Lasting Power: 1120 Total Cost: 9800 The stats for this weapon are messed up, so I treated it like a spread fire weapon after a comparative damage test with the starting rifle. One unit of ammunition for this weapon is basically two shots, which makes it extremely deadly. Thankfully, the price wasn't doubled too! This is great weapon if you're willing to sacrifice having a second back unit to use it. The stats, as I have said about other weapons, speak for themselves. This weapon, however, is still a Cannon, so you must kneel to use it if you are not using either a Quad or Caterpillar Base without the Human Plus enhancements. Slap it on a lightweight and watch yourself fly across the room! "ZWC-E90/MAC" Type: Plasma Cannon Travel Speed: 8 Potential Damage: 38500 Offensive Edge: 7700 Accumulative Heat: 116 Lasting Power: 1240 Energy Consumption: 13800 The most powerful energy weapon around if you want to go by single round damage. For a weapon that is equipped on both sides, you should expect nothing less. As with the last weapon, you have to kneel to use this weapon, but the single round damage makes it well worth the effort. Ten shots wont go a long way in missions, but they'll be a big help in the Arena. Make sure you have something, anything in addition to this though. "ZXR-S/STEALTH" Type: Stealth First off, this part has two functions. Primarily, it conceals your location on Radar UNLESS your opponent's radar has a Stealth Sensor. If it does, this part is now half useless. If it doesn't, good. They have to locate you visually now and will never be able to see you on radar. The second function is the one that requires you to switch to it, and fire it like a weapon. This makes you invisible to the FCS. Thus, your opponent has to aim manually, and can't use Missiles. The catch? Firstly, it wears off after a little while. It's long enough though. But, if you were to fire any weapon, or even use your sword, the effect cuts off completely. If either of those happen, just fire Stealth again. It's not a terrible system. Not at all, if you were to have say, twenty or thirty shots, but no. You get ten. At the cost of not one, but two back weapons, which is exactly what you could equip in its place, I just don't think it's worth it. If you ask me, this is the next candidate to become an inside part if From Software ever makes AC3. ~~~~~Section 4-G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fixed Arm Weapons: These arms don't hold weapons, they are weapons. A universal benefit would immediately be the loss of weight since you don't have to equip arms and weapons, making them ideal for quick, lightly armored ACs, but perfectly acceptable on heavy ACs that want more weight to go towards other parts. All of these arms have no defensive points, but make up for it in raw power since all but one of these sets have fire linked in both arms. Occupying both arms with weapons as these do can lead to ammunition issues, so pick your other weapons wisely to make sure you'll have at least something to throw at your enemy for quite a while. "ZAW-2/SAMURAI" Type: Laserblade It should be said that the length of the sword is 105, no more, no less. The given length of 7 corresponds to the Japanese Units used for all swords. Translation goof I guess. Anyhow, these Swords are somewhat weaker than the T/100 blade, (six sub sections up), with a an attack power of 999. This is the only Arm Weapon that does NOT fire two shots, (in this case, blades), at once. Its use is much like a regular left arm weapon, in fact, it's the exact same, except for the fact that you can follow it up with a second attack by pressing Circle for a second time. This has obvious benefits. For one, it does effectively double the attack power if you can make both strikes hit, and hit cleanly. After the second slash, it would be as if you had used a left arm sword in terms of when you can attack again. Drain isn't too much to sweat over, but it is high for a Laserblade that doesn't emit energy waves on its own. The stats built into the arms aren't too bad, nor are they spectacular. Plus Blade: For each strike, these arms can create one purple energy plane for a long distance attack. As was said in the blades sub section, you must be a level two Plus, (meaning you had two operations performed on your pilot), or more in order to do this. "EAW-MG-03" Type: Machine Gun Travel Speed: 2 Potential Damage: 63300 Offensive Edge: 10550 Accumulative Heat: 2800 Lasting Power: 1500 Total Cost: 14100 These aren't terrible. You do get a good amount of damage out of them, and rather quickly. They don't last too long, nor do they run out of ammo in the blink of an eye. The fire rate is probably the worst I've seen for any Machine Gun, but the linked fire makes up for it. I can't see penny pinchers using these liberally for missions, but a lot of people will favor these for Arena Combat. As with all arm weapons except the previous one, once you're out of ammo, you have no melee weapon to fall back on. "EAW-BZD" Type: Bazooka Travel Speed: 5 Potential Damage: 66400 Offensive Edge: 13280 Accumulative Heat: 2200 Lasting Power: 1100 Total Cost: 9200 I'm sort of partial to this weapon. It's easily one of the lighter weapon arms, and also one of the cheaper. It does burn ammo surprisingly quickly, thanks in no small part to the linked fire, which helps it do tons of damage in no time at all. The slow traveling ammunition practically begs you to use this close, but the Narrow and Deep weapon lock will make that hell. If you can get past that, you'll probably find it to be a good set of arms to put on lighter ACs. Make sure you have some good back weapons with this, however, if you plan on milking the lower total cost for all its worth. "EAW-DC10" Type: Grenade Launcher Travel Speed: 4 Potential Damage: 55540 Offensive Edge: 11108 Accumulative Heat: 3104 Lasting Power: 900 Total Cost: 24200 This weapon specializes in both drilling a hole in your pocket, and the enemy's AP. Ideal for people who like to pull off one shot and leave. So how do you get your money's worth out of this weapon? Use it in the Arena. There are so many reasons to keep this well away from missions. Low ammo, pathetic lasting power, exorbitant ammo cost, all of those put it in league with the FIN-BOO missile, which, by the way, is the way to go if you want to Plus yourself out if you can buy it. If not, these will do in a pinch. "ZAW-XP/T9" Type: Plasma Cannon Travel Speed: 4 Potential Damage: 40320 Offensive Edge: 16400 Accumulative Heat: 1640 Lasting Power: 576 Energy Consumption: 76340 This always was a fun weapon. It was more fun when it made big explosions, but we can't hold that against it, now can we? As you can see, it guzzles energy, and empties rather quickly, but also has a great potential for damage. Once again, slow traveling ammunition and a Narrow & Deep weapon lock balance it. If you're going to dream about taking it with you on a mission, don't forget to include a Chain Gun and/or S612 Small Missile in that dream, or basically anything with a high potential damage and high ammo. "ZAW-SPLASH" Type: Laser Cannon Travel Speed: Varies Burst Power: 750 Burst Heat: 50 Potential Damage: 48000 Offensive Edge: 13500 Accumulative Heat: 900 Lasting Power: 896 Energy Consumption: 43200 Now we know where the SPGUN went, sort of. Um, well, for a Slug Gun, this is slightly unorthodox. Instead of one huge cluster with devastating damage that takes forever to reload, this fires fairly quickly, but with weaker clusters of shots. The result is a higher offensive edge, but lower burst power. Plus, since this isn't a Back Unit, this can be MUCH better for Bipedal, Reverse Jointed, or Hover ACs to get close with. It does have quite an appetite for energy, but it has a decent amount of ammo, which is also spread fire, making it capable of damaging many enemies significantly enough to matter. Between this and the previous weapon, I'd say this is a better bet for missions. Much better, but you still should support it with a high ammo, high potential damage back weapon or two. "ZAW-LC/NPM" Type: Laser Cannon Travel Speed: 6 Potential Damage: 57996 Offensive Edge: 9666 Accumulative Heat: 144 Lasting Power: 1332 Energy Consumption: 55440 I'd say that this is a better Mission weapon comparing it to the DC10 arms simply because it has more ammo, does more damage in the long run, and best of all, costs nothing to fire. As a weapon, it is much weaker, thus not as well suited to the hit and run style of the DC10. As long as there is something to back these arms up when they're all out of ammo, you should be just fine for most missions. A little trick you can use to conserve ammo with this, or any energy ARM weapon is to fire when you have enough energy for only one shot, as opposed to two shots. The AC will fire with just one arm, as if it were a right arm weapon. "EAW-H801" Type: Small Missile Potential Damage: 49200 Lock Speed: Fast Offensive Edge: 10250 Accumulative Heat: 5000 Lasting Power: 1104 Total Cost: 39840 Use for their their intense heat, or not at all. These are ridiculously heavy, and expensive. See the next weapon for more reasons to avoid these. As much as I hate this weapon, I don't want to waste space by bashing it twice in full detail. "EAW-S604" Type: Small Missile Potential Damage: 62400 Lock Speed: Fast Minimum Volley Offensive Edge: 9360 Maximum Volley Offensive Edge: 37440 Minimum Volley Accumulative Heat: 1740 Maximum Volley Accumulative Heat: 6960 Minimum Volley Lasting Power: 3280 Maximum Volley Lasting Power: 820 Total Cost: 11200 Round 2 of why the H801 is garbage. Firstly, if you use this weapon with only two locks at a time, you have exactly what the H801 is only better in nearly every single way. Use them with the full four locks, and you have a devastating weapon that drains ammo very quickly. No matter what you want in an arm missile, this weapon gives it to you, and the H801 will give you something similar, but at more weight, and energy drain, not to mention less AP. Only in the long run will the H801 be able to do more heat damage to the enemy, but that's it. ~~~~~Section 4-H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Optional Parts: Just about all of these parts, with maybe a few exceptions do, in one way or another, affect your weaponry. Each part occupies a set number of "slots" in your Core, where the Core you select determines how many slots you have available. The number of slots used is kept with each part here for convenience. "SP-S/SCR" Slots Used: 2 This part increases your defense against shell weapons. It doesn't increase it by any vast amount, but it does help lightweights feel a bit tougher, and makes Heavyweights even more durable. "SP-ENE-SCR" Slots Used: 1 This one increases your energy defense a little bit. Using just one slot, it's probably the most widely used optional part. Like the previous part, this will make a noticeable difference, but it wont be anything dramatic. "SP-BCNDR" Slots Used: 4 This part gives you a higher maximum charge on your Generator, while apparently doing nothing for your energy output. Very useful for any and all ACs. The only big drawback to this part shows itself when you run out of energy, where it will take longer to charge back up. I don't see many people doing that often though. "SP-BSI-LE" Slots Used: 2 This will make you take your hits a little better, making it harder to snuff your attacks, or trap you by stunning you while shooting you to death. Lightweight ACs should definitely give this a look. "SP-SAB/J" Slots Used: 1 If you've had the fourth Plus Operation performed, you don't need this one bit. If you haven't, it'll make you move back less when you fire cannon style Back Weapons other than the one sided Chain Gun, (which has no recoil to speak of). "SP-CIR-K" Slots Used: 5 This makes you turn faster. Not THAT much faster, but it's still an improvement, all the same. Any AC can benefit from this one, although some are just lost causes in this area, and are better suited to upgrades in other areas. "SP-BE++" Slots Used: 6 Very, very useful. This part increases the attack power of all Energy Weapons, thus boosting their offensive edge, and potential damage stats. If you have more than one energy weapon, (or an energy weapon with very little ammo), you really should put this on. Don't use this thinking it makes your sword stronger. It doesn't affect it, blade, or Plus Blade. "SP-BMALAD" Slots Used: 1 Very few scenarios where you'd need this. First of all, if you've had at least one Plus Operation performed, you don't need this, as the first operation gives you a radar that has a missile display. Secondly, a few of the Radars you can equip will also have this function. If your AC can't detect oncoming missiles, you MIGHT want this. I find it rather distracting myself. "SP-BFS/LOSP" Slots Used: 2 Just what a missile boat needs. It will lower the time needed to acquire a lock on with any weapon that functions as a missile. "SP-ENE-ACC" Slots Used: 1 Lowers the reload time of energy weapons, thus boosting their Offensive Edge, but lowering their Lasting Power, while boosting their energy consumption. Taking up only one slot, I'd put this on any AC with the Energy Machine Gun, or a Pulse Rifle, or just to fill a leftover slot on any AC that has an energy weapon. "SP-E/SAVER" Slots Used: 5 Looks to cut down energy usage as a result of using energy weapons by 25 percent. I, personally would use this with any of the Energy Weapon Arms, and the Pulse Cannon back weapon. With the Energy Machine Gun? A definite maybe. "SP-ECM-JAM" Slots Used: 5 This breaks missile locks after a little while, making it very hard to line up a good volley, and even harder to get multiple locks. A thoroughly annoying part. "SP-M/AUTO" Slots Used: 1 This uses one too many slots. Basically, it fires any weapon that functions as a missile automatically when it locks as many times as possible. I'd like it more if it launched them for you when your opponent was about to counter your lock with the previous part, or when they were about to exit your targeting box, but it doesn't do that. I'd rather leave that slot empty than put this thing in. "SP-BLS" Slots Used: 6 Slightly increases the energy supply of your arms, thus leading to more potent blade attacks, as well as more durable shields. "SP-CBRK" Slots Used: 2 This part is helpful for ACs using Hover Legs, or those who are fond of Override Boosting, as it allows you to come to a complete halt much more easily. "SP-VEICH" Slots Used: 6 This part improves your FCS by letting it scan a larger area for targets. Great for Narrow and Deep Weapons. ~~~~~Section 4-I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Miscellaneous: Just a bunch of information that you shouldn't be without, but doesn't quite fit into any other section. If I get lots of questions, I'll be sure to add them in with a future update. Core Weapons: Just a touch up on something not everybody knows. Three of the six cores have a gun fixed in the center of the front of them. For easy classification, those would be the Emeraude Cores. Whereas Zio Matrix Cores seem to excel in the areas of Override Boosting, (mostly, compared to others in their weight class, and in terms of power), and room for Optional Equipment, (compared to others in their weight class), these Emeraude Cores do one VERY important thing to make up for their shortcomings in those areas. They shoot down missiles with those aforementioned guns. Several stats determine how well they will do so, but you can rest assured that if you are facing missiles that are speeding towards you, your core will on average, nearly always try to shoot down at least one, often more. Shields and Cannons: In the case of most cannon weapons, an AC using one will grasp it with one hand when it's readied, providing that hand is free. The hand always corresponds to the side that the weapon is equipped on. However, when used with shields, this becomes complicated. For a shield to be readied, the hand must be neutral. For some reason, if the left hand of an AC using the shield is being occupied to hold the cannon, the shield cannot be activated. This means that you can't shield yourself while using that weapon. Furthermore, if you ran out of ammo, and the last weapon you used, (the last one to run out), is your left back weapon, you can't use the shield at all! Well, you would be more than likely done at that point anyway. Fortunately, not all of the cannons are held by the AC when in use. Specifically, two of them, namely the EWC-XP0808 and EWX-GCN77-4 are too small to grab, and thus do not interfere with shields in any way at all. I just can't help but find it funny how something started in the first AC, presumably as a matter of aesthetics, has gone on to cause a very real problem. Your lesson? When using a shield, equip cannons on the RIGHT side, (unless they're either of those two). Classification: While most weapons can be easily classified by their type, their functions fall into six Categories. They are normal, missile, cannon, automatic function, sword, and shield. While the type often helps speak for the function, (i.e. Small MISSILE, Laser CANNON), it can also be misleading. For one, Pursuit MISSILES do not function as missiles at all in the sense that they don't lock, thus can be fired as long as they're not reloading, just like any normal weapon, and at the same time Orbit CANNONS, aren't Cannons at all, but missiles. For single back weapons, the only cannons you'll find have _WC as the prefix of their part name. The blank represents the enterprise that makes the part, of course. Now, with dual weapons, (_WX), you need to know what they really are since the name doesn't tell you anything other than that they connect to both hardpoints on your AC's back. Another note is that Arm Weapons use the _AW prefix, which hardly classifies them as anything but arms with built in weapons, but their types thankfully correspond to what they are. To add to the wonderful confusion, projectile types can be different from weapon functions, (Pursuit Missile again), which means next to nothing until we begin to talk Anti-MISSILE systems. In that case, always assume the name is right. Dual Back Weapons: Cannons: Such weapons require the AC, if it uses bipedal, reverse joint, or hover legs, to kneel prior to firing in order to counter the force of the weapon. When used as Arm Weapons, they act precisely like Normal Weapons. Such Dual Back Units are: EWX-GCN77-4 (Chain Gun) ZWX-E90/MAC (Plasma Cannon) Normal: Such weapons require no special circumstances for firing. Such Dual Back Units are: ZWX-IV/PURSUIT (Pursuit Missile) ZXR-S/STEALTH (Stealth) Missile: Such weapons require at least one full lock on to fire, and can also trigger Relation Missiles. Such Dual Back Units are: EWX-BAL4 (Multi Missile) EWX-VLS241 (Vertical Missile) ZWX-F04/ORBIT (Orbit Cannon) Automatic Function: Such weapons or parts function whenever they are equipped, needing only a trouble free system to function properly. Such Dual Back Units are: ZXR-S/STEALTH (Stealth) Blade Attacks: The laserblade is a fairly limited weapon, in that it can only be used to perform one type of strike on a given AC. There are three distinctly different attacks, each more or less determined by the legs the attacking AC uses. It's relatively uncomplicated until we get to middleweight Bipedal legs which act like true hybrids bringing your AC's arms into the matter. ACs using light Bipedal legs, (ZLN-EK1/SRRT, ELN-701, and ZLN-WA02/SS), or ACs that use Reverse Joint Bipedal Legs will perform the Diagonal Slash. This is the weakest of all blade attacks, and is also somewhat difficult to hit with, especially from the air. ACs using heavy Bipedal legs, (ZLN-2A/GR, ELN-STVM, and ZLN-9001/A), or Hover legs will perform the Horizontal Slash. This has a nice wide arc, has around twice the power of the Diagonal Slash, and is much easier to connect with. It is more possible, however, to do half of the intended damage by just barely hitting with it. Lastly, ACs using either Quadrupedal or Caterpillar legs will perform the Thrust Attack. This is by far the most powerful blade attack, but is also the most difficult of all to connect with. Now, regarding midweights, there are all too many factors involved. ACs that use middle weight legs, (ZLN-XX0/TP, ZLN-XA1/FA, ELN-2002AT, ELN-02A, and ZLN-XA2/FF), can do either the horizontal, or diagonal slash depending on the rest of their equipment. If you place a midweight core, (ECM-XR00 or ZCX-F/ROOK), or a heavyweight core, (ECH-D4 or ZCH-GR/1), on top of those legs, the AC will perform the Horizontal Slash when it uses the laserblade. Should you use either lightweight core, (ECL-ONE or ZCL-XA/2), things will become complicated, as you can still perform either slash depending on what arms you put on. If you place lightweight arms, (ZAN-202/TEM, EAN-02-BG, ZAN-303/S, and EAN-1111), on the core, your AC will perform the Diagonal Slash. Placing any other arms on, however, will cause it to use the Horizontal Slash. Blade Damage: There are quite a few factors involved here. The most important, I suppose would be Attack Power. After that, you have Energy Supply. Make those as high as you can and you have statistically, the best blade. For your convenience, that would be the LS-MOONLIGHT with the ZAN-303/S arms, and the SP-BLS option part. The parts you take will determine the attack you perform as detailed above. No matter what parts you take, once you are in battle, to do the most damage possible, you must hit your opponent with a sword blow from the air. It does not matter where they are. A hit from the air is significantly more powerful than a charging strike from the ground. On Quadrupedal legs, doing all of those things will result in a blow that will inflict almost 4600 Armor Points of damage to the starter AC. Missiles: Missiles are clearly different from most projectiles. The way they are used is different, and the way they strike is different. Their semi-intelligent tracking and high damage swarms make them deadly. To defend against them, we have the old style fixed guns on some of the Cores, which will attempt to shoot them down, and we now have dedicated Anti Missile Extensions, which do the same thing, but much more reliably. Such things, combined with the limited air time of missiles, have over time lead people to believe they can shoot missiles down with normal weapons, such as Rifles, Grenade Launchers, and normal Missile Launchers themselves. Not so. On a tip I received from a fellow message board user, I too tried to shoot them down in that manner, only to see what he saw. It is not possible. Missiles can be shot down by the fixed gun on the AC's Core, or Anti Missile Extensions, or they can blow up after a set time, during which they were not able to strike anything, be it their target, or some scenery. ******Section 5********************************************************** Thanks: Basically, these are the people or parties without whom this guide would never have been typed up, as well as those who gave feedback which led to improvements throughout the document. Many thanks to everybody listed. -From Software and AGETEC: The former, for making this game, the latter for releasing it here. Without them, there would be nothing to write about. I also did use the statistics given in the game in my formulas, as well as part names. -"DiabloLDark": He helped verify that a nifty little converter program was working as advertised. That effectively put an end to all formatting problems. -"Kenjii": Several suggestions, gave me a few good ideas for new topics that need to be addressed under the Misc. section. -"Collider": Conducted several tests to dispel the widely believed myth which would have people think they could shoot down missiles with anything other than dedicated anti missiles. This caused me to repeat his test, and in doing so, I found that to be true. I created a topic under the Misc. section to formally address the matter. That's it. Thanks guys! ******Section 6********************************************************** Contact: E-mail: (standard feedback, corrections, guide hosting notifications) ixzaku@optonline.net GameFAQs Message Boards: (just so you know I'm there) Gelgoog IX I do have other contacts, but that IS my only GameFAQs username.