The 9 best OS upgrades in Armored Core 6, ranked:

One of the most fascinating aspects of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is the ability to customize your mech from head to toe. Your Armored Core can be entirely redesigned, painted, and equipped with weapons according to your preferences, as long as you have the necessary parts. However, acquiring new equipment is not the sole option for determining the capabilities of your Armored Core.

When you take on the arena challenges and battle against other heavily armored ACs, you will earn OST chips by defeating them. These chips can be used for OS tuning, providing advantages, bonuses, and even new abilities to your AC's operating system. You'll definitely want to invest in the best chips, so here are our favorites from the selection, ranked from least to most useful.

9 Quick Turn

While many of your OS upgrades enhance firepower or defensive capabilities, there are some that simply offer quality-of-life improvements to boost your overall performance. Quick rotation is one of these upgrades, and it is quite essential.

Quick rotation is quite self-explanatory: With this upgrade, you can swiftly rotate your AC to the left, right, or behind you. This enhancement alleviates some of the slow monotony associated with maneuvering your AC and can assist you in keeping your enemy in sight much more efficiently.

8 Weapon Bay

There are a variety of OS upgrades that can be more or less useful to you depending on your individual playstyle. Weapon bay is one such enhancement, but the ability to utilize it remains extremely valuable nonetheless.

With the unlocked weapon bay, you have the opportunity to carry a second primary weapon on your shoulders instead of having a shoulder-mounted weapon. If you have a primary firearm on one of your shoulders, you can exchange that weapon with the one in your hand by pressing the corresponding button. If you prefer to have a wide range of rifles, swords, and other handheld weapons at your disposal, this is the upgrade for you.

7 Boost Kick

Armored Core 6 is a game centered around managing your weapons and ammunition while maximizing your damage output against opponents in every moment. With this mindset in mind, you want to ensure that you have as many offensive capabilities as possible, and this is where the Boost Kick proves to be extremely handy.

For just one OST chip, you can activate the Boost Kick when accelerating forward to deliver a powerful kick to your opponent. In a challenging situation, the Boost Kick provides you with an exceptionally damaging strike that you can add to your repertoire.

6 Terminal Armor

Terminal Armor is one of the few core expansions that you can equip during the construction of your AC. Only one can be equipped at a time, and while most core expansions need to be manually activated, Terminal Armor comes into effect automatically when your AP is depleted.

Once you have activated Terminal Armor, instead of perishing after depleting your health, you will retain a single AP and additionally receive a temporary barrier. This barrier will protect you from damage for up to two seconds, allowing you to heal yourself or execute a final strike.

5 Assault Armor

When it comes to core expansions, there are several options, with most of them aiming to protect you from incoming damage. Pulse Protection generates a stationary barrier that you can utilize to shield yourself from harm for 25 seconds, albeit limited to a specific area. On the other hand, Pulse Armor creates a barrier that actually surrounds your AC, though it would be much more useful if it lasted longer than ten seconds.

While it is not as focused on protection as the others, the Assault Armor surpasses them in several crucial aspects. It involves a one-time burst of energy, and while the explosion blocks incoming projectiles for your AC, its primary purpose is to jolt your enemies with its medium-range impulse thrust. This not only deals damage and defeats smaller foes but can also devastatingly impact your enemy's stagger meter when timed correctly.

4 Explosive Weapons - Fuse Control Tuning

There are a handful of OS tuning options specifically designed to increase the damage of your weapons. There is one upgrade for each weapon type - kinetic, explosive, and energy - as well as one dedicated specifically to melee attacks.

While you should naturally choose the upgrade that suits your specific build, we would recommend the option for explosive weapons to most players. Chances are, you will have at least one bazooka, grenade launcher, or rocket launcher attached to your AC, making this upgrade highly beneficial for the majority of players.

3 Repair Kits - Optimization

No matter how skilled you are in Armored Core 6, you will encounter some challenging trials. The enemies hit hard in this game, especially the bosses, and you want to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for their highly effective weapons.

The use of the Repair Kit Optimization upgrade is invaluable, no matter how you play the game. Each level of this OS feature increases the amount of AP you will heal with each used repair kit, reducing the frequency of healing.

2 ACS - Dynamic Deflection Control Tuning

You will need high firepower to survive Armored Core 6, but defense is also extremely important. No matter how fast or agile your AC is, you will get hit, but the ACS - Dynamic Deflection Control Tuning upgrade can help.

This straightforward upgrade helps reduce incoming damage by a certain percentage, thus decreasing the amount of AP you lose each time. By reinforcing your AC to withstand the hail of bullets and ballistic attacks, you will go much further in the game.

1 Direct Hit Modifier - Damage Tuning

If you were to explain the most difficult boss battles in Armored Core to someone, you would probably tell them that their first objective is to land enough hits to disrupt the enemy's balance. While most hits will decrease the boss's armor points (AP), the actual damage will only occur when you fill the yellow bar above the boss, causing it to lose balance and become vulnerable. It is the most important gameplay loop you will find in Armored Core 6.

The upgrade "Direct Hit Modifier - Damage Tuning" is specifically tailored for such encounters and therefore the most important OS upgrade in the game. Some of the other options can help you in specific ways, but this one provides a universally useful advantage. "Direct damage" is the game's term for the damage you inflict on enemies who have lost their balance, and each level of this OS feature significantly increases that damage. It is useful in regular encounters, but essential for boss battles. Unlocking this upgrade will greatly enhance your Armored Core 6 experience.