8Bit/Digi

Patch 1.05 for Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is now available and it fixes a series of bugs while adding new gameplay features.  

Having launched on December 19th, Patch 1.05 adds the highly demanded Ranked Matches to Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. At the same time, it fixes a variety of bugs and glitches while also addressing some balancing issues. 

Ranked Matches

Ranked Matches uses an automatic system to match players with others of similar skills to compete against one another. Ranks are earned by Rank Points (RP) while the status is broken down into UNRANKED, D, C, B, A, and S. Matches employ Single (1v1) and Team (3v3) rules with RP earned through victories in Single matches or through both victories and individual contribution in Team matches. Once a player has reached S-Rank, they receive a rating based on their ability. 

Patch 1.05 Improvements

Here is the breakdown of the improvements made with the Patch 1.05 to Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.

Weapons Balancing

• ASSAULT RIFLE RF-024 TURNER: increased Accumulative Impact / Ideal Range / Effective Range, decreased Recoil. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• ASSAULT RIFLE RF-025 SCUDDER: increased Accumulative Impact / Ideal Range / Effective Range, decreased Recoil. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• BURST ASSAULT RIFLE MA-J-201 RANSETSU-AR: increased Accumulative Impact / Ideal Range / Effective Range. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• MACHINE GUN MG-014 LUDLOW: increased Ideal Range / Effective Range. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• MACHINE GUN DF-MG-02 CHANG-CHEN: increased Ideal Range / Effective Range. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• BURST MACHINE GUN MA-E-210 ETSUJIN: increased Ideal Range / Effective Range. Reduced sway caused by accumulated Recoil
• BAZOOKA DF-BA-06 XUAN-GE: reduced explosion AOE
• BAZOOKA MAJESTIC: reduced explosion AOE
• BAZOOKA LITTLE GEM: reduced explosion AOE
• LASER RIFLE VE-66LRA: decreased Attack Power / Cooling, increased ATK Heat Buildup / Charge Time
• PLASMA RIFLE Vvc-760PR: decreased ATK Heat Buildup, increased Projectile Speed
• CORAL SHIELD IB-C03W4: NGI 028: decreased Impact Dampening / IG Damage Mitigation / IG Impact Dampening
• SPLIT MISSILE LAUNCHER BML-G2/P19SPL-12: increased Guidance. Missile payloads now split closer to target
• SPLIT MISSILE LAUNCHER BML-G2/P16SPL-08: increased Guidance, decreased Homing Lock Time / Reload Time. Missile payloads now split closer to target
• SPLIT MISSILE LAUNCHER BML-G2/P17SPL-16: increased Guidance. Missile payloads now split closer to target
• CLUSTER MISSILE LAUNCHER WR-0999 DELIVERY BOY: improved tracking trajectory, making it less likely for missiles to collide with terrain
• PLASMA MISSILE LAUNCHER Vvc-70VPM: decreased Guidance. Adjusted firing interval so timing of each missile hit is less spread out

Frame Balancing

• ARMS AR-011 MELANDER: increased Recoil Control.
• BIPEDAL 06-041 MIND ALPHA: decreased Weight.
• TETRAPOD VP-424: increased speed limit while hovering. Decreased acceleration when using QB while hovering.
• TETRAPOD LG-033M VERRILL: decreased acceleration when using QB while hovering.
• TANK EL-TL-11 FORTALEZA: decreased AP / AB Thrust, increased AB EN Consumption. AC weight now has more impact on movement and boost speed.
• BOOSTER BUERZEL/21D: increased QB EN Consumption, decreased AB Thrust.
• ACs with Tank legs will now perform a “readying” action at the moment of firing bazookas or grenade launchers.
• ACs with Bipedal, Reverse Joint or Tetrapod legs now have a longer period after performing a Boost Kick before being able to cancel into another action.
• ACs with Tetrapod legs now have reduced movement due to recoil when firing a weapon with high recoil while in mid-air.

Gameplay Bugs and Glitches

• Added visual effect to LINEAR RIFLE “LR-036 CURTIS” and “LR-037 HARRIS” when overheating
• Ascend input is now accepted while using Quick Turn in mid-air
• Queued input is now accepted for melee weapon attacks while switching weapons with the Weapon Bay
• *Note: excludes “44-143 HMMR” and “WB-0010 DOUBLE TROUBLE”
• Scan visual effect radius now reflects the scan distance of that Head part
• Mitigated attack performance disparity due to leg type with melee weapons, for enemy tracking angles, weapon trajectory, etc.
• Fixed a bug that resulted in unintended enemy tracking when using a melee weapon while charging a back weapon
• Mitigated a lingering tracking effect that would occur when performing a melee attack against certain large enemies, even after the initial approach
• Fixed a bug that caused reduced accumulative recoil when firing two of the same weapon simultaneously from both hands
• Fixed a bug that prevented shield deployment while firing a weapon on full auto under certain conditions
• Fixed a bug that caused reload-type weapons to have a slightly longer reload time when equipped to the left hand compared to the right
• Mitigated the impact of frame rate fluctuation on rapid fire performance of certain weapons
• Mitigated an issue that occurred when back weapons such as cannons were equipped to both back slots and fired simultaneously, where the right back weapon would fail to fire under certain conditions
• Fixed a bug with certain back weapons, where firing the weapon during Assault Boost just after passing an enemy would cause the attack to veer away from the enemy
• Fixed a bug that prevented the display of the attack warning alert when firing missile lock weapons such as NEEDLE MISSILE LAUNCHER “EL-PW-01 TRUENO” while using Manual Aim
• Fixed a bug with weapons that trigger a “readying” action when fired, where the action could be unintentionally cancelled with Assault Boost or Quick Boost
• Mitigated an issue with LASER LANCE “VE-67LLA” where the camera would become unstable when firing
• Fixed a bug when using PLASMA THROWER “44-143 HMMR” with Tank legs, where attacks made towards the rear side of the legs would fail to deflect even if they hit walls or terrain
• Fixed a bug with PLASMA THROWER “44-143 HMMR” where attacks would be flagged as deflected if they made contact with walls or terrain immediately after hitting an enemy
• Fixed a bug with PLASMA THROWER “44-143 HMMR” where performing a regular attack immediately after using Assault Boost would fire the weapon without stopping Assault Boost as normal
• Fixed a bug with NAPALM BOMB LAUNCHER “MA-T-222 KYORAI”, JAMMING BOMB LAUNCHER ”MA-T-223 KYORIKU” and STUN BOMB LAUNCHER “WS-1200 THERAPIST” when the same weapon was equipped to both hands and charged to fire simultaneously, the right hand attack would fail
• Fixed a bug with NAPALM BOMB LAUNCHER ”MA-T-222 KYORAI”, JAMMING BOMB LAUNCHER “MA-T-223 KYORIKU” and STUN BOMB LAUNCHER “WS-1200 THERAPIST” where the charge shot animation would not play correctly when performed after certain actions
• Fixed a bug with STUN BOMB LAUNCHER “WS-1200 THERAPIST” where rounds would fail to explode after the time delay when fired directly beneath the player AC
• Fixed a bug with CORAL RIFLE “IB-C03W1: WLT 011” that allowed Quick Turn to be used during a fully charged attack
• Fixed a bug where regular attacks from MULTI ENERGY RIFLE “44-142 KRSV” would not collide with certain objects
• Fixed a bug when using CORAL SHIELD “IB-C03W4: NGI 028” where a full-auto weapon equipped to the left hand would fail to fire after reloading even if the attack input was continually pressed
• Fixed a bug with BULLET ORBIT “BO-044 HUXLEY” and LASER ORBIT “45-091 ORBT” where attacking with these weapons while the player AC has its back turned to the enemy would result in the initial shot to veer away from the enemy
• Fixed a bug that prevented the core expansion “Pulse Protection” from reaching its full potential against charged attacks from CORAL OSCILLATOR “IB-C03W2: WLT 101” and fully charged attacks from CORAL RIFLE “IB-C03W1: WLT 011”
• Fixed a bug that prevented cancellation of Boost Kick recovery by using Assault Boost
• Fixed a bug with Tetrapod and Tank legs that reset the time required for EN recovery with jump/ascend input when EN is fully used up
• Fixed a bug with Tetrapod and Tank legs when using Assault Boost or Quick Boost to cancel attack recovery from ranged weapons that trigger a “readying” action such as charged attacks, bazookas, grenade launchers, etc., where cancelling would cause the attack to veer off target
• Fixed a bug with Tetrapod and Tank legs when using PLASMA THROWER “44-143 HMMR” where boost movement would be disabled when attacks from this weapon would hit the terrain and deflect
• Fixed a bug with Tetrapod and Tank legs that nullified the guard state of CORAL SHIELD “IB-C03W4: NGI 028” if a ranged weapon that triggers a “readying” action such as charged attacks, bazookas, grenade launchers, etc. is used while the shield is deployed
• Fixed a bug with Tank legs that prevented the use of weapons (excluding some charge attacks) while turning on the spot
• Fixed a bug with Tank legs where the guard state of a shield would remain for a very short time after releasing the deploy input
• Fixed a bug that caused charged attack inputs to fail, and attack animations to play incorrectly during landing recovery after falling from high altitude without boost movement
• Fixed a bug that prevented boost movement from toggling on after using Assault Boost if it was previously in the off state
• Fixed a bug that caused excessive visual effects for charging an attack with a hand-held weapon under certain conditions
• Fixed a bug that removed the booster visual effect if a weapon switch was performed with Weapon Bay during Assault Boost
• Improved usability of core expansion input during Assault Boost

Mission Bugs and Glitches

• During certain missions with dialogue events, the appearance of an event branching choice will no longer cause charged attacks to fire prematurely
• Fixed a bug during missions such as “Ocean Crossing” that feature the “AM06: WATCHER” enemy, where some of the enemy’s attacks fail to stagger the player AC even when the ACS Strain limit is reached
• Fixed a bug during the mission “Attack the Refueling Base” that prevented mission progress beyond defeating the boss AC
• Fixed a bug during the mission “Eliminate “Honest” Brute” that prevented acquisition of credit reward or combat logs if the Tetrapod MT is defeated due to a fall
• Fixed a bug during the mission “Tunnel Sabotage” that prevented mission progress beyond destroying the objective under certain conditions
• Fixed a bug during the mission “Prisoner Rescue” that prevented progress due to an event not triggering
• Fixed a bug that prevented the game from loading completely at the start of certain missions

Welcome to Rubicon

Armored Core is a mecha series by From Software that follows a mercenary pilot during a conflict in a post-apocalyptic future. The conflicts usually involve major corporations and tyrannical warlords. The first game in the series was released for the PlayStation back in 1997. Fires of Rubicon is the first entry in the iconic mech series in almost 10 years. 

Fires of Rubicon is set on Rubicon 3, centuries after a catastrophe transformed the planet into a hot zone. The planet is being torn apart by a war between major corporations and resistance forces. Players take on the role of a mercenary who has arrived to find their fortune in the conflict.

It launched on August 25th for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles along with the PC. It was highly praised by gamers and critics alike. To have an idea about the game, check out our review.

8Bit/Digi is an independent media outlet that provides insight into the gamer community of the San Francisco Bay Area.