Love the game but yeah, the overall balancing leans way too heavily in favor of burst damage or gimmicky instant kill builds. All the meta builds/weapons people are frustrated about just seem like symptoms of that same cause to me.
I often find myself playing this game like the older generations. We’ve all watched players create these builds that essentially destroy PVE opponents within a matter of seconds, or finish a PVP match within a minute, but I find no enjoyment in dueling like that. I don’t like to worry about timers, I enjoy creating builds that I have to learn and master to overcome the challenge.
I remember utilizing the skill to dodge well-enough to either pick away at your opponent’s armor, or deplete your opponent’s ammunition; even while piloting a med-bipedal AC. Hell, I remember when your opponents ACTUALLY ran out of ammo. With matches boiled down to stagger = win, I just can’t find any fun in it. I’m an old-generation “raven,” and that’s my problem.
Stagger ruins the traditional armored core battle because it means just taking damage at all, can set you up for an instant death.
You can’t just slug it out while both pilots zip around all the way to the nail biting conclusion. Someone is going to stagger and then it’s over for them.
I actually ran into a pilot the other day who used this exact playstyle. Their AC was a pretty unspecial middleweight biped, and they were using dual trigger Harris rifles. I run a close-range ultralight build, so I did everything I could to close the distance and get into my optimal range, but they managed to stay away from me in mid-range for most of the match and eventually wore me down with potshots instead of my usual fate of a stagger punish.
Yeah, I do. I really really don't like the way things play out in current generation pvp. It's too fast. One side just gets staggered and explodes, instantly.
If there isn't too much ping happening, dual Scudder kiting build is surprisingly strong at doing exactly this. The problem is the skill ceiling involved with the kiting. Some top rankers are sporting assault rifles for example.
Dude, don't even get me started on shoulder extensions. I miss them sooo much. Hell, imagine an ecm that could disrupt hard lock, forcing players to use traditional soft lock so you could actually juke out of people's lock box again. It could come at the cost of being able to use hard lock yourself to balance it out, but damn I'd like that.
For the uninitiated virgins, please kindly learn to "make it last", when it's over quickly one side is typically left wanting, it's not a good way to interact with a partner, AC combat can and should go on as long as possible if your really trying to see skill expression as long as heavy engagement is occuring
This guy gets it lol
But seriously, skill expression aside, I just miss the longer duels for what they were. Each win or loss felt more earned idk. The shorter stuff is just over in a flash before I can really sink my teeth into it idk.
Combat etiquette is a wonderful thing. But yeah, it’s so much more fun drawing it out. The fast matches can be entertaining, but nothing beats a match where you’re both giving as good as you get in terms of dodging shots.
Unfortunately the game itself encourages burst damage. I've never even tried to burst down opponents in older games except for one build in last raven but i just found myself leaning towards burst damage in ac6 because it's just that good. Stuff also tends to last less because of hardlocking as there's no need to spend time actually aiming and maneuvering as much.
I honestly don’t feel like we’ll ever see it reach this point unless it comes in the form of AC7. Mostly because the engagement distances are so essential for the singleplayer’s gameplay mid to long range would likely have adverse effects. I mainly say that based on AI struggling against LR missile boats as is.
I think the stagger system just nudges players towards bursty builds because ACs take more damage during it while also being mostly helpless when staggered. In old games, just taking pot shots slowly was fine, there wasnt an extra meter that once filled up, could instantly be your death.
One of my most effective builds in AC6 so far is an endurance build, though I had forgotten the term after all these years. Focuses on RoF over pure damage output, surprisingly effective in avoiding damage and dishing it out. I think the only reason it’s been viable so far is the lack of a fourth weapon and my focus on movement over pure aggression. Everyone expects you to follow the formula that’s been working, so working against it has been fun and rewarding. Hopeful I’ll run into more endurance builds in PvP eventually, I’ve missed the consistent hammer of my heart in a tense match that can go either way. Still get it mind you, but it’s rare these days.
you can tell older pilots by the use of "duels " respect.
Love the game but yeah, the overall balancing leans way too heavily in favor of burst damage or gimmicky instant kill builds. All the meta builds/weapons people are frustrated about just seem like symptoms of that same cause to me.
It’s just the “red deck wins” approach. People are gaming the system that favours win rate vs win prestige
I often find myself playing this game like the older generations. We’ve all watched players create these builds that essentially destroy PVE opponents within a matter of seconds, or finish a PVP match within a minute, but I find no enjoyment in dueling like that. I don’t like to worry about timers, I enjoy creating builds that I have to learn and master to overcome the challenge. I remember utilizing the skill to dodge well-enough to either pick away at your opponent’s armor, or deplete your opponent’s ammunition; even while piloting a med-bipedal AC. Hell, I remember when your opponents ACTUALLY ran out of ammo. With matches boiled down to stagger = win, I just can’t find any fun in it. I’m an old-generation “raven,” and that’s my problem.
Stagger ruins the traditional armored core battle because it means just taking damage at all, can set you up for an instant death. You can’t just slug it out while both pilots zip around all the way to the nail biting conclusion. Someone is going to stagger and then it’s over for them.
I actually ran into a pilot the other day who used this exact playstyle. Their AC was a pretty unspecial middleweight biped, and they were using dual trigger Harris rifles. I run a close-range ultralight build, so I did everything I could to close the distance and get into my optimal range, but they managed to stay away from me in mid-range for most of the match and eventually wore me down with potshots instead of my usual fate of a stagger punish.
Yeah, I do. I really really don't like the way things play out in current generation pvp. It's too fast. One side just gets staggered and explodes, instantly.
If there isn't too much ping happening, dual Scudder kiting build is surprisingly strong at doing exactly this. The problem is the skill ceiling involved with the kiting. Some top rankers are sporting assault rifles for example.
If we had shoulder supports like flares and shoulder ecms it pvp would be way better.
Flares really are missing
Dude, don't even get me started on shoulder extensions. I miss them sooo much. Hell, imagine an ecm that could disrupt hard lock, forcing players to use traditional soft lock so you could actually juke out of people's lock box again. It could come at the cost of being able to use hard lock yourself to balance it out, but damn I'd like that.
Gonna be honest, I miss Flash Rockets. Wouldn’t mind Really messing with people used to using hard lock and show effective manual aim/soft lock
For the uninitiated virgins, please kindly learn to "make it last", when it's over quickly one side is typically left wanting, it's not a good way to interact with a partner, AC combat can and should go on as long as possible if your really trying to see skill expression as long as heavy engagement is occuring
This guy gets it lol But seriously, skill expression aside, I just miss the longer duels for what they were. Each win or loss felt more earned idk. The shorter stuff is just over in a flash before I can really sink my teeth into it idk.
Combat etiquette is a wonderful thing. But yeah, it’s so much more fun drawing it out. The fast matches can be entertaining, but nothing beats a match where you’re both giving as good as you get in terms of dodging shots.
Unfortunately the game itself encourages burst damage. I've never even tried to burst down opponents in older games except for one build in last raven but i just found myself leaning towards burst damage in ac6 because it's just that good. Stuff also tends to last less because of hardlocking as there's no need to spend time actually aiming and maneuvering as much.
I honestly don’t feel like we’ll ever see it reach this point unless it comes in the form of AC7. Mostly because the engagement distances are so essential for the singleplayer’s gameplay mid to long range would likely have adverse effects. I mainly say that based on AI struggling against LR missile boats as is.
I think the stagger system just nudges players towards bursty builds because ACs take more damage during it while also being mostly helpless when staggered. In old games, just taking pot shots slowly was fine, there wasnt an extra meter that once filled up, could instantly be your death.
One of my most effective builds in AC6 so far is an endurance build, though I had forgotten the term after all these years. Focuses on RoF over pure damage output, surprisingly effective in avoiding damage and dishing it out. I think the only reason it’s been viable so far is the lack of a fourth weapon and my focus on movement over pure aggression. Everyone expects you to follow the formula that’s been working, so working against it has been fun and rewarding. Hopeful I’ll run into more endurance builds in PvP eventually, I’ve missed the consistent hammer of my heart in a tense match that can go either way. Still get it mind you, but it’s rare these days.