Best Armored Core 6 weapons, guns and equipment

The best Armored Core 6 weapons are inevitably highly contextual, designed to match the specifics of your build and your playstyle - and yet there are some standouts that we can recommend to the vast majority of players, from swords to shotguns to launchers to energy weapons and more besides. If you need some help picking out the best arsenal possible in Armored Core 6, here's a selection of the best weapons for you to try out on the battlefield.

Best weapons in Armored Core 6

The best weapons in Armored Core 6, by our experience, are the following options:

• Best sword/melee weapon: Vvc-770LB Laser Blade
  • Pros: Huge damage, wide-reaching, infinite use
  • Cons: Wind-up locks player in place, can struggle with verticality

The Laser Blade is devastating when fully charged, a massive slash that sweeps around and cuts through everything nearby for massive damage. However, its tendency to lock the player in place means it has to be used wisely, and slashing horizontally means irregularly placed enemies can just watch it swing over their heads.

• Best machine gun/assault rifle: DF-MG-02 Chang-Chen Machine Rifle
  • Pros: Large ammo clip, respectable damage, fast firing, light weight
  • Cons: Unimpressive range, individual shots do very little

The DF-MG-02 is our pick for a respectably workable kinetic weapon, something that works nicely without being too complicated or demanding. Its short range and individually weak shots mean you'll need to be up in the enemy's face for a time, but the damage really stacks if you do.

• Best shotgun: WR-0777 Sweet Sixteen Shotgun
  • Pros: Massive damage, light weight
  • Cons: Single-shot clip, very short range

Dual-wielding the Sweet Sixteen is one of our favourite approaches in lightweight builds, leaping in and blasting an opponent's head off, or taking a third of a bosses' health bar in a single barrage of fire. The downside is that you're playing for that one, devastating shot - but if you can land it, you'll win the fight handily.

• Best energy weapon (handheld): Vvc-760PR Plasma Rifle
  • Pros: AOE shots, decent damage, can be charged for greater effect
  • Cons: Slow projectiles, charge shot stops you, small ammo reserves

The 760 Plasma Rifle is a nice, dependable option for those who want greater energy power in their hands. It fires hearty, if slow projectiles that don't need to directly land, as they cause AOE explosions around them, and you always have a charged shot for slower enemies or when you want big damage.

• Best shoulder weapon (Kinetic): BML-G1/P03VTC-08 Missile Launcher
  • Pros: Good damage, hard to dodge, shield-evader
  • Cons: Middling damage and weight

Though obtained early, there's something just very reliable about the BML-G1 missile launcher, though it lacks the punch for certain bosses. It's an all-rounder option that works well with most builds and against most enemies, lacking the specificity that many shoulder weapons have.

• Best shoulder weapon (Energy): Vvc-706PM Plasma Launcher
  • Pros: Very hard to dodge, wide AOE, surprisingly kind EN drain, doesn't halt the player
  • Cons: Somewhat heavy, damage isn't massive

The Vvc-706PM Plasma Launcher is borderline guaranteed to hit the target, with both multilock, fast-moving projectiles and a wide AOE. We prefer the bigger version of this weapon, but the 703 model is also there for those who want something smaller and whippier.

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