AC-Vet Explains why "Hard-Lock" is GOOD - (Armored Core 6)
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- čas přidán 1. 10. 2023
- I've seen a lot of hate towards hard-lock, and not a lot of people explaining the positive affects it has on the overall gameplay - So, here's why as an Old-School player I really enjoy hard-lock in AC6!!
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Armored Core SoftLock Footage from Ssinis_Oshino:
• ARMORED CORE VI FIRES ...
HardLock Demonstration from Meep's Armored Core Garage:
• PLEASE DO NOT USE SOFT...
Elden Ring Combat footage from Shirrako:
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Smooth Moves Light-weight Footage from Shift:
I just wanted to say as an old school AC vet, whether you use hard-lock or not, I'm just really happy to see you guys having a fun! Please enjoy the game however you want :) And, hope you have a fantastic day-!!
Sir we play fromsoft games not to get fun, but to get our ass kicked.
Honestly, one of the best parts of AC6 has been seeing so many people discover the rest of the Armored Core series. Its been really nice seeing so many people learning what us old grey Ravens have known all along: Armored Core is friggin' sweet!
And I'm glad that we have such an amazing playground as AC6 to hang out in and have fun together. Whether you're a Nest master, try to S-rank every mission, dive deep into the lore, or just want to build silly mechs and goof off, I'm proud to be a Raven along side you all.
as someone who plays on the Xbox and can only have their thumb on either the face buttons or the right analog stick, (looking or jumping \ boosting) hard lock it's almost a necessity in many encounters, despite the hindrance to tracking, which I guess is their way to try to balance out the hard lock.
I just bought the game today. Will be my first game to introduce me to the series. And was worried about going up against M&K because I’m a controller user, is that a valid concern ?
@@vdubo Nah, you’ll be fine even against a player with softlock, the slight nerf to hardlock is a bit noticeable, but you can usually overcome it counterpicking the right build, strategy, or weapons -
"For the first time ever, we have a new generation of players" oof i felt that. Been playing since 2nd gen and yes, the player base went up 9999%
I’ll second that, AC2 was my gateway into this series of games and haven’t looked back
for me, if you already beat armored core 6 or any other series in my book, you are a Raven
This comment made a noob and a tryhard who tries to get good at close range lightweight builds like me felt better 😂🤝
Even if they just beat Formula Front? 😂 /jk
The literal last scene, the last message of armored Core 6 is to head into this new age together. The elitists who are trying to gatekeep have not been waiting for this franchise for 20 years.
But I remember Daemon lol...
Yeah anyone that uses auto aim in GTA or hardlock in ac6 have a special place in hell
@FaceMoses huh?!
As a first gen original raven, I can confirm that the footage at 5:50 was my usual experience as a teenager outclassing opponents with my aerial maneuverability and managing to simply aim better with tank controls on PS1/PS2. Now, at 37 and having nearly mastered the mechanics of AC6 on Xbox, I am having way more fun than back then and have been pleasantly surprised with some of the newer ravens. I welcome the newcomers and the changes, especially being a King's Field and Dark Souls fan.
Haha! My friends hated the aim of this game so much that they would only play with me during my birthday. It becomes some sort of a ritual back then. Fun times...
Well stated. Started on the Demo disc PS1 in 1997-98.
I feel like so many complaints are more of a product of 10 years of not having armored core.
AC6 is a great, faithful soft reboot. It's well done and glossy. Can't wait for AC7
you mean AC6's standalone expansion?
Also started on the demo disc! Loved it up til AC4. LOVE AC6 and recently 100%'d it and have been enjoying online play.
i've heard people complain that they want the negative earnings to come back hard and those werent even since AC3 and earlier
@@greatlust Yeah, that's just dumb.
Pizza hut demo started it all for me, Armored Core, Resident Evil, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, such good times!
As someone that works a 9-5, that bit where you called out the sweatlords resonated with me
everyone works 9-5 generally to call somone a sweatlord for being BETTER THAN YOU is ridiculous 🙄 always shaming tactics to take competition out of objective based games or vs games how much of a fukn idiot is this guy
sweatlord is new to me, what's the meaning?
@@marsbase3729 Pretty much try hards
@@milantarbuk1039 oh, thanks
Don't work a 9 to 5 but I 4 days a week 10 plus hours and I like to game after work and the fact ac6 is more friendly than older titles is awesome. Plus these sweatlords are acting like there no challenge when there still is. It's just more reasonable challenges for a video game
Yeah, in PvP, hard lock all but completely negates the advantages of speed and maneuverability, but I don't want to imagine the game without it. I actually forgot I had hard lock for much of my first playthrough and the faster enemies were a nightmare and I thought the kick was useless. Then I rediscovered hard lock and was punting MTs across the map left and right, lol. The single player experience is definitely designed with hard lock in mind.
Multiplayer just needs some rebalancing, and perhaps it needs to be done separate of single player. Nothing is worse than having your casual single player experience mangled in favor of a bunch of sweaty, competitive multiplayer try-hards.
I went through 4 chapters without realizing I could lock on. I literally was like, okay, it's a boss time to become some dude on crack for 30 mins.
Not quite. Hard lock makes your FCS totally suck at tracking targets well, the issue is that close-range target assist is so powerful that it srews the intended downsides.
And more importantly, with no turn speed stat, if you've got a mouse it doesn't matter. So long as you keep the enemy in the center of your screen you'll pretty much have a perfect lock and never miss.
I had trouble landing kicks and using Hard lock only made it worse for some reason.
So now I just manually aim my kicks
literally, i go in pvp and there’s the same cuck from 4 days ago sitting in the lobby using a new cheap scummy meta build and bming me every round. lol
@@Dj2xPdid I miss something, you can kick opponents in AC?
As a mouse and keyboard player I just never used hardlock because I felt like I was fighting it whilst playing. However on a controller I don't really see a world in which you can keep up with ibis and other late game bosses without either switching to mouse and keyboard for quicker camera controls or using hardlock and like all fromsoft games they're built around the singleplayer and the multiplayer systems are just a bonus.
It takes some time getting used to. Just have to remember not to move your mouse on hard lock mode. I heard one trick is to hold the mouse on its side or something so the sensor doesn't pick up movement.
The reason you can't keep up with them is because they were designed to force you to use hard lock.
I play on the PS4 and yeah, I tried to do no-hard lock for a bit, but it was near impossible to keep up with the faster enemies even at camera sensitivity 10
AC6 is my first AC game and I played it with controller and never used hard lock because like you I felt I was playing against it and it also noticably made me miss a lot more shots.
Ibis was hard at first but it made for fun practice, Allmind was tougher becuase of the multiple targets but overall easier fight since you play that one with Ibis experience.
as someone who plays on the Xbox and can only have their thumb on either the face buttons or the right analog stick, (looking or jumping \ boosting) hard lock it's almost a necessity in many encounters, despite the hindrance to tracking, which I guess is their way to try to balance out the hard lock.
I swapped some binding so I quick boost with L3, Assault boost/Kick with R3, and hard lock with A. I find it easier to maneuver while aiming and shooting. It took some getting used to, but ultimately I think it was worth it.
I preferred auto sighting from ac4/acfa. It still let you out pilot people by breaking their lock while maintaining the camera tracking necessary for high speed game play.
The hard lock is a big step up from back in ACFA, where even that game's "hard lock" was a challenge to keep up, especially against even certain NPC ACs like Fragile or the more widely known White Glint, or the Moonlight wielder of ORCA.
I am very invested in seeing this go further, and hopeful for the series to keep on keepin' on.
honestly rather than hard lock being an issue i just want there to be turn speed so that quick turns has a use outside of controller and assault boosting.
the current mechanics are fine and just needs some tweaking for the parts.
i do want the light weight builds to be faster though. the wheelchair was funny but i want to be fast with legs if thats possible. honestly i think the issue is lack of parts.
but i feel like they will probably address the reduced amount of parts with a follow up game? this was the pattern with older games yeah? new AC generation, less parts, generation sequel has more parts, and tweaked gameplay.
so maybe we get an sequel for AC 6 like how older ACs had master of arena, last raven, for answer, verdict day, etc?
i do wonder what it would be titled as?
As someone playing this series since a couple months before Project Phantasma came out in the US, I have to say that hardlock works for Armored Core VI. I keep turning it on and off as needed, based on the situation. I've found that it works better with some builds than others, and some situations cause it to be a detriment.
I'm one of those players who loves tinkering in the garage and optimizing specific builds for specific missions. I have some builds that just BARELY work. But work they do. And more importantly, they work for me. There's a lot of missions where I wouldn't be able to get an S-Rank. Except by specifically tailoring my build to the mission. And the amount of time I've spent tweaking and tuning and testing and adjusting to hit the precise mix of damage, mobility, defense, and other attributes that I needed to beat the game with my physical skills? Especially after suffering some serious nerve damage in the time since Verdict Day? Hard lock lets me land a boost kick that pushes the enemy into stagger, which lets the rest of my build take them out. If not for hard lock, there would be zero point in getting that upgrade, since I have trouble hitting the Tetrapod MT in the AC Test with its AI turned off...
Also, it amuses me that a number of your points remind me of the video by GiantGrantGames titled "The Next Major RTS Will Fail." The summary of which basically comes down to "When the devs focus purely on what the super-competitive players want and forget that most people want a fun single-player experience with lots of spectacle, the game fails." Fromsoft remembered what their job is.
In this context, they know AC is predominantly a single player game and vs mode is kind of just an add-on; and they learned hard from the poor reception of vanilla AC5 going all-in on vs mode that is where the real draw and appeal of AC sits.
But on the hard lock subject, yeah, boosting kicking feels borderline impossible to even have a chance of landing without the hard lock steering you to the enemy, melee in general feels really hard to hit any AC, or even the High Mobility LCs, when only relying on the soft lock. Being on honest, most of the bitching about the hard lock I see is coming from the ride-or-die 4A purists, less from the people who like 3rd gen or earlier best...which is funny since 4th Gen had a substantially similar hard lock system. But us really crusty vets, yeah we know how cumbersome AC is to control, since it's controls for 15 games are rooted in a first dungeon crawler's- since 1997, these 3rd person giant beep boops have been controlled like we're in the 1st person King's Field. 6 is the first game in the IP to genuinely break free from that and have a real 3rd person orbit camera, the lock-on mechanics can't simply stay exactly the same anymore, you no longer MUST face the direction you want to see in.
@@gtf234 I'd disagree on 4th gen having a substantially similar lock-on system. It was more like ACVI than most games in the series, but it really didn't provide most of the benefits in ACVI. Perhaps that was because of how 4th gen was constructed, but I never felt like the lock-on there felt anything like what people would consider a "lock-on." It gave me an image of what the other AC was doing when they were off-screen, and told me what direction they were in. But that was about it.
Melee with soft-lock seems to depend on the weapon. I tend to have good results with the Pulse Blade when I want to hit two weaker enemies in one combo. But hard-lock is better when I'm focused on a single target that's more evasive. I once caught a LC with the first hit of that, it moved directly behind me, and my hard-lock had me shift for the second hit and I landed that as well. But only because he was still within my dash range.
But I strongly agree with you on adapting to the orbit camera. That's a good way to put it. I think Fromsoft handled it well this time, and I'm excited to see where they go with it in the future.
So, I just want to say this because as someone who's played AC casually on and off, and I would hardly call myself an AC vet- AC casual would be the term. I'm not even CLOSE to your level lol. But always did appreciate the series. Now, with that out of the way. When I started AC6, I had an idea of what I was in for because of FromSoftwares recent releases of Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bloodbourne. But still, giant robots and I was born in the early 90's so I got to experience the renaissance of anime known as Toonami and watched Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Big-O- yeah you get it.
This game was a journey for me. Whether it was large scale bosses like The Cleaner, Balteus, C-Spider or other AC pilots in the game. I was challenged and sure, I could've given up, but I didn't. I kept going and adjusted my AC or kept hitting my head against the wall until said wall cracks and I break through it. Now to get to the meat of this comment because I want to make this clear. All the way up to NG++ Final Boss, I had NO IDEA how to use hard lock and have been using soft lock THIS ENTIRE TIME!
It wasn't a matter of how to enable Hard Lock, as I already knew. What I didn't know was that once you were locked onto the target. I didn't need to use the right stick to track it as it did it automatically. It wasn't until after a couple hours of fighting the final boss of NG++ that I found that out and was able to actually beat it...barely lol. Still, I got no problem whether someone hard locks or soft locks. Regarding meta for online/single player. That's another topic as you put it, but yeah. Also, I'm subbing now, because I like this video and watched your previous video on Filtering.
Hard lock is mostly what make the players that play with controler and the ones playing with mouse and keyboard on same baseline
on controller for a new player is really difficult to get used to if wasnt for the hard lock
on keyboard and mouse, hard lock is almost impossible, unless you dont move the mouse, but mostly dont need to because you can keep the camera on the enemy by your own
also if i remember one of the features people wanted a lopt on older ACs was this possibility, at least the people that i knew
and now that have one, they were dissing about the people that use it
that said im getting so hapy to see how many people are getting into the game
a lot of ones also saying that "I wasnt to much into the mech genre, but i love this game"
last month i watched so many AC streams, and see people firshand experience on their, for most of the time, first AC game, was amazing.
Cant wait for the dlc/AC7
As old ac player, this feels as nice addition. I think most important thing is to realize when to toggle it on and off. If im playing mid or long range, its off. If someone get too close i turn it on, while still doing some manual aiming. And ofc its on for melee builds. Playing only on sticks and console.
I really liked AC4/ FA's system. It wasn't a hardlock, the game was still more about dodging than aiming, but you did need _some_ aiming skill to keep track of where your opponent was.
I wholly agree that lightweight builds need some changes though. As a Rusty and Nachtreiher and Alba stan, I appreciate you
Love this video, I found that alternating between hardlock and “normal mode” has worked for me personally. I only activate it when I’m against a really good AC and I lose them lol. I am also completely new to the series and the game. I’m on NG+ and I am absolutely loving it😭 I haven’t been excited or had this much fun in a game in years. I came from failed games like destiny and overwatch. I can’t wait for DLC or Co op to be introduced to the story missions!!
I don't see hard lock as that big of a deal when it comes to lock on and light weights because your arms determine your target tracking speed meaning if you have low tracking it still takes time to lock on and with enough speed you can still dodge locked missiles even homing missiles
well said. my buddies and i spent many nights lugging our ps2s to play ac2 and another age with the firewire .. it was great to see the love ac6 is getting
Hard Lock is better when you're playing against a fly on a sugar rush. So PvP and some PvE.
Great video, and I agree wholly. I'm also a vet since the series' debut, and it's awesome to see AC go from obscure and dying to mainstream.
How exactly do you use hardlock btw ?
Click the middle mouse button or L3
It would be cool to see how many OG Armored Core players have made their way to Rubicon from the destroyed remnants of Earth and Mars
Thankyou for putting that steal man argument out. I agree with it but don’t feel I have an outlet or platform to voice it, so I’m glad somebody with a CZcams channel put it out there.
The problem with hardlock is more of a problem with the turning speed, if turning speed varied with lights to heavies it would be fine, although with the balance changes as of recent its gotten alot better
Thankyou to introducing me to the expression "steelman".
I think it's extra funny that patch 1.03 changed nothing about Hard Lock and lightweights laser builds are now very meta, on account of their immense speed letting them dodge and stay at their preferred range with ease, and the attitude recovery meaning lightweights can now shake off stagger buildup completely with just a few moments of evasion.
But......... when we do fuck up and get hit we take MASSIVE DAMAGE and rightfully so.
This is literally not even true unless your opponent is incapable of closing distance with a shittily made build
Not to beat a dead horse, but... I do enjoy how much these videos are applicable to things outside of Armored Core, or even shooting games in general. Trading card games have a similar issue: new players don't have the good cards. If it happens to be a game where decks are thin, then owning a single card in triplicate gives you a massive advantage over someone who has to play on a budget.
Now, there are ways around that. Often you'll get archetypes that are highly specialised around a certain mechanic and abuse it to its full extent, not opting for rare cards at all. Ire of Kaminari was one example from Magic: the Gathering, the Cog archetype from Fifth Dawn really revolved more around the trash commons than its rares (oof, really showing some age there...), but more recently you had the cycling deck in the Ikoria set, technically you could make that with no rares. Aggro in general is cheap to build. Yu-Gi-Oh has a few similar archetypes, I think Necrovalley was supposed to be cheap at one point, but able to wreck face if the opponent wasn't prepared for it...
Thing is, then you run into the problem at a concept level: in trading card games, the build is either where the money sinks, or it's the reward, if it's an online game. It incentivises the wrong things: don't play for fun, play what wins, or you won't get the cards you want. And if you're a new player who wants the fun stuff other people are using... shell out cash or grind. So how do online games fix that? Starter decks with some rares, Event decks on paper. Event decks were never competitively viable at high level, but they were strong enough to measure up to an average table, at least.
So yeah, sounds like a good decision? You lower the bar to new players, but maintain the importance of decisions in your build. You still need to be tactically sound to get to a high level, but you can enjoy the strategic side of it, at least, whereas before a lack of tactics made the strategy completely pointless. The whole point of multiplayers games is that the players can *interact* with each other, but the best strategies in any game are the ones where you can limit said interaction. It's a tricky balance to strike for developers.
Final point, for those non-native speakers or just folks who aren't familiar with the terms: strategy is your decisions *before* a fight starts. Tactics is your decisions *during* a fight. That's why we do get tactical shooters, but not a lot of strategic ones: most of them put the major decision-making in the actual shooting. It's also why you'll see people remark on tactical errors much more often than strategic ones: strategic errors are made way in advance, so you tend not to see them in real-time.
Hardlock makes melee quite enjoyable too ^^
melee is dog shit now and should have followed V model making high risk high reward
Makes it broken.
@@colbyboucher6391 Eh? In old gen you couldn't do melee in air with much sucess, now we are able to. Nothing broken with melee mechanics.
The guides and experiments you have been putting out have been super informative. Despite not being a guide, this video was also very pleasant. Well done, man.
Thank you for this masterful insight on the game lock system! Cheers Raven
There was no cd on sword in the old ac games, so if you lost sight of em, u were prob gonna get fooked
Btw, i still dont use the hard lock. I played AC from original to Nexus. You just have a sense of where they are from years and years of experience.
Ill never understand the vets crying about hardlock. Us dual-melee had been begging for it!
you are fast .. gonna need to step up my game .. awesome content man
The part at the end got me 🥲.
For me, timing has replaced aiming. You can’t just throw out charged attacks and bazooka shots and expect them to hit. Unless you’re a meta slave. But you can bait the enemy into boosting and time your shot to hit them when they can’t boost again. For example, enemy on the ground, you’re in the air, you fire missiles, wait for them to get close enough, enemy begins to boost, fire your bazooka in the middle of the boost, bazooka lands right as there boost is ending and they don’t have time to boost again. With the right combination of weapons you can stagger a medium weight AC in a matter of seconds. And all of it relies on precise timing.
I use Hard Lock but quite often I switch it off.
Wait, people are playing the game with a mouse and keyboard? Dunno why but for some reason I was assuming everyone was playing with controllers. Most games get easier with mouse controls because they reduce game mechanics to point-and-click. Always so sad to see twin stick shmups (like Bleed) getting reviews saying that the game is too hard unless you play with mouse.
In general I agree about the hard lock and I've heard similar from others. Aside from your point about light builds, I feel like it also restricts your movement flexibility a bit (e.g. forces you to strafe in circles around your enemy) and based on what I've seen also makes melee attacks WAAAAY more effective. I'm not 100% either of those is bad, but I'll have to wait till I have time to actually play it for myself.
Agree. I played AC since Master of Arena.
Hard lock is not the issue, the weapons balance and the over reliant of stagger meter are.
Also Assault boosting advantages are overloaded.
hard lock also make the melee combat more fun.
I really appreciate your videos. As a fellow vet from AC1 PS1 days (who is coming into online pvp fresh for the first time ever) I find it personally intimidating and have held out doing so for quite some time since AC6 landed. I'd prefer just building mechs and making arenas to share with select people I can be conformtable playing with (such as folks like yourself), but unless I can do this then it still puts me right back into the "why even bother box". Anyways, I am more motivated now to try - so thanks 🙏
Soft lock may be faster but hard lock gets the job done in close. its pretty much necessary to land melee and maybe that's the entire reason it exists. This is also why it's balanced in such a way as you want to swap it on and off a lot.
It's also a bit of a concession to having a real 3rd person orbit camera after 15 prior games all still married to King's Field's 1st person dungeon crawler tank controls. Even after Nexus finally stopped pretending all home consoles didn't have dual analog sticks, you are still moving like a tank, having to turn to face a direction you want to look in. I do feel like the FCS is over-simplified, mainly because I liked 1st-3rd best and the FCS was maybe the 2nd most important choice you make, just after the legs, since it impacted so many things- but I get that's also another concession to lean away from every single part being a wall of spreadsheets
totally, I just think the soft lock hard lock differentiation kinda works even if it is still an awkward solution to the exact issues you describe. it's a tiny bit clunky which is actually less clunky it usually is but it manages to make piloting a lot more manageable when things are highly mobilized. @@gtf234 PS that new explosive thrower buff is a wall of spreadshoots.
Very strong statements, really liked it.
I started the game being sceptical about hard-lock but ended up fully accepting it. Although there is one thing left I can't understand: one of tutorials says that "while hard-lock is active, your FCS is compromised" meaning your auto-aiming gets worse which is proven in other yt videos. Sounds like devs themselves say "you should probably learn not to use it". Do you have any thoughts about that?
It's just a trade, I don't use hardlock on mt, or other enemies that are not zooming around.
the only problem i have with hardlock is that no imput is allowed or you lose aim assist even worse than manual aim which is more a mnk problem that a controller problem. the next game needs a smoother curve between soft and hardlock
Agreed. There needs to be a sort of artificial deadzone to break hardlock.
Can you clarify? What do you mean by losing aim assist with any input for hardlock?
@@arz6271 Pretty much ANY movement of the mouse breaks the hardlock, and it usually just throws your aim and if the target is moving around fast, disorient you worse than just using softlock.
It's crazy to me that people actually played like, AC3 and Silent Line with tank controls.
After Nexus, I went back to those games, (particularly SL,) and fully remapped the controls so that aiming was done with right-hand face buttons, rather than the shoulder buttons, and just mapped the shoulder buttons to the weapons and boost. It's not quite as responsive as using a joystick, but it's immediately manageable without 900 hours worth of training and in my opinion is the best way to play the pre-Nexus games.
I did the same thing, though I beat 3 and SL before 6 (beat SL as 6 was downloading).
I am honored to be a raven . Thank you . I like to use soft lock also , on more easy encounters .
As a Raven since 98, yeah I like having both. 😂
Even if you can keep up with freelock, when your in your thirties, those eyes start gettin' real tarred and feathered real quick 💀
Fer me, I use freelock at long to mid range, and swap to hardlock when closing in or throwing a kick out 🤙
5:49 Ah, The sound of target lock unlocked an AC3 core memory
Hard lock is a godsent for me, a 6th gen, who quickly became obsessed with reverse joints and squeezing as much speed as possible out of my AC, pushing 390 on my most extreme setup. Having a free thumb to access quickboost and jump is immesurably useful when in a close quarters furball. Sure I ain't got enough skill to keep up at that pace unlocked up close, but I'm glad the game let's me be a mosquito without having to grow a 2nd thumb on my right hand
after so many armor core games. i can appriecate the hard lock. less pain on my fingers, but a silly question, how u feel about the quad concept in this gen? i kinda feel they was the best in 4th for being land based with a slight hover leg motif, but i also enjoy 5th gen for the omega stabilty when firing cannons. they are alright in AC6 but the transition between hover mode and normal more should be looked at, it feels clunky, and ur momentum doesnt linger after boosting while hovering too which feels odd
Perfect video bro!!! We do NOT need any gatekeeping around here. I've been into this thing since AC2 and like everyone else, I've been wishing for a new AC to come out every year. Now that it's here we need to embrace all players and really push this community to hopefully continue being blessed with more games
@godtiermullet so you could say you just "wanted a callsign" right? That poor guy got so abused in my game lol
@godtiermullet there's a mission in ac6 where you hunt down a trainee pilot and he says he just wanted a call sign and it's pretty hard to miss
If you can plot an AC and Learn to adapt while having fun then you're a Raven, Lynx, Panther in my book. Armored Core was always about customization and experimentation to see what works for you.
Bro I love your videos. Glad to see another old AC player repping it up
I remember the first two AC games being the jam back in the day. I had a lock jammer that pissed all my friends off. Somewhere along the third or fourth game I lost interest but I'm back for AC6 and it is legit AF.
I like that you can combine both play styles. I tend to do soft lock at least for a bit to get some good ranged damage whether its a boss or enemy ac.
5:40 Is this how the RLF MT pilot feel like when they were fighting against Rusty. Lol
I consider myself an AC vet.. granted I began my Armored Core journey with AC 4 and I've only played through that one, AC 5 and V day; but I still like to say I'm a vet. As a vet I find myself using hard lock in PvP often. I find it extremely convenient especially concerning the fact that I play using a controller. Wrangling all of the controls on a controller in PvP, especially in the heat of a match versing high level players can be a bit daunting. I would honestly consider myself one of the "top level" players purely because I tend to win more than I lose and based on the fact that I have almost 6-7 different build/mechs that I swap through when I play PvP. I'm not a one trick pony like some of the other players that use the same stun lock build over and over again. Anyway, when it comes down too Soft-lock vs Hard-lock both have their respective up sides and down sides, so I feel like it's a very balanced system. Especially because if I didn't use Hard-lock and I went up against someone with mouse and keyboard, I would be at a HUGE disadvantage. Also, as you stated, it gets new players into the game which is nothing but good for our community.
As one of the newer players, thank you, needed that. Manual aiming is hard man.
Never used hardlock since I just hate having my camera fixed on a target, coming from a dragon’s dogma and monster hunter background. So I never really used it and found no real reason to on mouse and keyboard. It does the annoying reticle spasm when you move the mouse slightly too that I don’t like. I finished a play through and currently on ng+, played a few pvp games all of it with softlock so I don’t think I’m missing out on much other than boost kick which I’ve never really used. Melee’ing with like the pulse blade, laser slicer and lance also not really an issue for me in softlock.
Fires of Rubicon is my first game In the Armored Core series; currently in the middle of chapter 3 on NG+. While I’ve dabbled a bit with soft lock and manual aim, I’ve become accustomed to using hard-lock myself. It reminds me of the tracker cam introduced in Monster Hunter World in that it lets you keep track of where the target is. You’re only guaranteed a hit when the red reticle is on top of the target and you’re in effective range. At least that’s been my experience.
I had no idea there was a debate over whether it was good or bad in truth. Ultimately it comes down to what works better for you.
Ayyy meep clip in the background, shout out lol
My issues with hard lock come down to the fact that it doesn't feel like a mech sim in any shape or capacity anymore as I'm no longer in control of which direction my AC is facing. Often I just take my whole thumb off my stick (or hand off the joystick, in the case of PC) and it just doesn't feel rewarding or immersive. Also, every benefit I could possibly glean from using soft lock is lost and then some if my opponent is using hard lock and can benefit from special movement options I cannot replicate with soft lock, which means I'm getting punished for playing the way I want to, and that feels awful.
I started with master on arena on PS1 and have played every game. I could not agree with you more. I love the new hard lock and I LOVE that we are getting new players. I hope this means more AC games in the future.
I think FromSoft is trying to be lenient for newcomers, just from simplification of mech stats, to hard-lock
In my opinion, it smoothens the learning curve to make it more welcoming to new players, but at the same time also add some hardcore aspect in other stuff to balance it out, I mean the aiming/tracking accuracy is reduced when doing Hard-lock as a compensation to make it less unfair
But despite that, people still ended up getting filtered out lol
Not a Veteran, but I've played a few Armored Core games before, and as much as I absolutely adore the games, it's always frustrated me how I almost can't play it because my aim is bad.
I so badly wanted to have a 2-Leg build that could utilize any of the melee weapons, but with the speed with which some of the enemies moved, especially against even an NPC AC, it just didn't seem feasible.
So, on go the Tank Legs, the machine guns, Rockets abd Laser Cannons. And the game just became about launching so much firepower at the enemy that hopefully it kills them before they can get too close and mess me up.
Which is sad, because the game just looked so interesting. I just couldn't manage to keep up, so any stats that weren't Turning Speed and AP or Damage just became irrelevant.
AC 6 just feels very fresh and lets even a brand new player feel like they can actually play the game. The learning curve doesn't feel too steep either, and while Hard Lock isn't always helpful, it definitely helps me keep up in those high speed engagments where I can't turn fast enough.
Just like in soulsborne games where locking on provides a more effective means of tracking a fast/strong enemy like a boss while learning to free cam for more precise movements is unbelievably useful for dealing with packs of enemies; The difference between hard and soft lock in AC6 is nearly identical.
If you hard lock against a fast moving enemy, your FCS accuracy may take a hit sure, but you'll still be landing more shots than if you couldn't even keep the enemy on your screen. Likewise, there's no point in hard locking enemies that are practically stationary compared to you, so soft lock provides an aim bonus because you can more easily manually keep them on your screen.
You should be using BOTH as the situation demands ideally, not just one or the other. From clearly learned from all the years of Souls and I doubt hard lock is going anywhere.
If you are only using soft lock, you aren't playing the game as intended. If you are only using hard lock, you aren't playing the game as intended.
From wants AC players to become more like Souls players, and wants Souls players to become more like AC players; it's the literal best of both worlds. Don't be stubborn and stick to the playstyle you've picked up from your experience with previous From games be that AC or Souls. Combine the playstyles of both and you've got something truly special.
AC6-2 when?
Played through the game, NG, NG+, got all weapons unlocked xcept the oscillator, and i just learned there was a hard lock mode rofl
As a new player who began using hard lock during my attempts against the Fires of Raven final boss, I feel like the lock on should be handled completely differently.
It seems backwards that touching the camera at all is the worst thing you can do when in hard luck. I feel like the lock on should guide your camera so that the target is at the center of your screen, but if they go completely off screen you lose sight of them. Then, there could also be a stat (probably on the head) that affects how well it does that, and if you move your camera, you can help keep your target on screen semi-manually. This would allow for more depth in customization, more skill expression in aiming and outmaneuvering, would be more intuitive than the slightest touch of your camera making you lose sight of the enemy, and would give lightweights another advantage (though I'm not sure how much they need that after the recent patch).
I've been thinking about this more since posting this comment and my opinion has changed a bit. AC is a series traditionally designed with controllers in mind first. With that in mind, I think the inclusion of hard lock has more to do with freeing up the right thumb than anything else. This allows them to map things like the jump and QB to the face buttons and keep the game extremely fast paced.
I still think there should be stats that affect lock on characteristics, and the hard lock should have a dead zone applied to camera controls to reduce the likelihood of accidentally cancelling the hard lock, but I think hard lock makes a lot more sense with controller button mapping in mind.
'Armored core 4' and 'AC For answer' are exactly like your first comment, and it is a lot more fast paced and mechanical than AC6
I played the game for 77 hours, unlocked all the endings and achievements and only NOW found out that the game has a Hard Lock, I have never used it. Now I understand how people were able to kick and track me so well in duels KEKW
I came from the AC1 PP/MOA era. Mastering the tank controls are a must if you wanted to climb the arena back then.
That said, there's no shame playing with hard-locking in AC6. There are many boss fights designed to overwhelm you with numbers. Personally I started using it against Coldcall (Iguazu's assassin) in NG++ because I hated that map we're fighting in.
I find that the pvp matching system kind of defeats the purpose of the paper scissor rock system since most payers just beat you 1 round and leave the room. I meet so many payers who just come into my room, rocks literally the most disgusting build, erase me when I try to be nice and play a rather fun and not stupidly op build, do the sliding emote and leave. nothing I can do about it, they won't give u a chance to swap to a build that is going to counter theirs.
I can't imagine fighting something like CEL 240 without hard lock.
You have to be able to switch between the two to get the most out of your AC. Soft lock when fighting at a distance, hard locking when you want to close the range. Both have their uses.
I think in ac 6 the most annoying thing to happen to me in pvp is when I ran into a guy who had shotguns and then used melee and assault armor to stun and kill me with no way to fight back
Same here. Vet since Project Phantasma here. I purely use hard lock in pvp. Though in pve, I only use hard lock for the bosses. Use what suits your play style.
omg. i can NOT imagine playing this with the old controller scheme. lmao. learning how to properly maneuver, aim, dodge, over boost, bunny hop and fire each weapon practically required playing like it was a religion until movements became muscle memory
Hard-Lock is a step towards a Human-Centered Cockpit.
I've heard rumors that a F22 can be easier to pilot than a Cesna in some ways because of the Human-Centered Cockpit design philosophy.
The more automation that a vehicle has, the more the pilot of that vehicle can focus on more critical tasks like situational awareness and strategy.
Armored Core was never (and never will be) a test of how well you can manually control each and every single mechanical aspect of an AC.
As someone who was there for the very first Armored Core way back on the original PS1 and has been there for literally the whole series (save for a couple lesser known subtitles I missed,) I also bestow the "hard lock pass" on new players. I use it, you use it, it's meant to be used. If you prefer to play without it and do better in the process, more power to you. Otherwise, use it and laugh at the whiners.
AC6 is the first AC Game I have ever played, and it's absolutely God Tier
So what would be good ways of buffing lightweights to balance out hardlocks in the game?
Thank you, now I no longer feel bad for using hard lock
7:42
This. This is why i consider my gripes with the game to be minor.
Is it perfect? No. But this is what new fans of the series are expereincing, and if they are happy, then I'm happy to see this beloved series experience new life
Couldn't agree more dude!! Been playing since AC2 and as much as I love every iteration up to now, AC6 is the absolute best this game has ever been. ✊✊
Excellent video! I feel that the "hard lock is bad" crowd are just a vocal minority. This game would be nearly impossible for a controller user to play without hardlock, especially on PC. I've been playing AC since AC4 (and slowly working my way backwards) and while there are some changes from the older games that AC6 makes that I am iffy on, hard lock is not one of them!
Also pro-tip for fellow lightweight AC pilots: Quick Boost is your friend. QBing back and forth with a thruster that has a fast QB reload like the Allula or Gils will mess with people's hard lock and give you the mobility advantage. Also, torso parts that has high booster efficiency, such as Firmeza, Alba, or Nachtreier, are also your friend!
but AC4/FA is a lot faster than AC6, and it has only soft lock, so it would be completely fine in AC6 too
I was about to dish the game since im no the same as i was at my 20s now at 41 year my eye are aging and MAN tracking those fast enemies are a pain and sometimes i spend like 3 seconds lost trying to find them when they go above my head and today i learned about this option and omg is a game changing.
As a new fan to the series.
I am frothing at the mouth for more.
Soft lock changes your speed when you switch directions which is the bane of FCS targeting.
I agree! I have played since the first AC game. I love hard lock! It encouraged my friend, who also doesn't like this game to play and enjoy it. KB and mouse have their place. But so does a controller. The hard lock allows you to focus on other things and has a downside. So it's up to the player to decide whichever trade-off they will take.
Imho it’s subjective in terms of “deciding” what you like more. I rarely use hard lock and, when I do, it is for knowing where the enemy is. Regardless, these games care designed for fun so I no issue if someone desired the use of hard lock because if they’re having fun, that’s all what matters
Played all of the games from the first demo. Lightweight AC use needs to be able to boost and change direction every 1.0-0.5 seconds it'll disrupt most locks.
Actually this is the 5th time "hard-lock" is in Armored Core. The feature used to be called Auto-Center. In AC4 and ACfA, just click in the right stick and you go it. You might lose it if the target leaves the screen somehow. Also it's not fun playing against those who rely too much on staying out of sight by quick boost jousting you. It's always a trap to trick players into wasting their time trying to find them and it's almost always a losing game on the back of their typically shit connection making them impossible to hit even when you do know how to beat the trap.
In AC5 and ACVD, it was significantly worse. It will only function as long as the target was inside the lock on circle.
I couldn’t agree more. From playing AC1 all the way to the current installment The franchise has always encouraged flexibility and ingenuity. And though earlier titles were a bit more rigid in their playing curve, with the exception of the expansions; each AC game plays fairly differently from the ones previous. This title is certainly the most accessible for a wider range of audience and the franchise benefits from having more players than the cult following seen previously. I have never been a master raven, but I would rather lose to a “noob” then to have no one to play the game and appreciate it with. God willing, if they make expansions, DLC’s or a continuation of this format; I hope they include a greater customization for your individual OS and hud. It would be great if customization extended beyond your combination of parts. A free roam element would be great also, but Ac has always remained a linear game so I’m OK with it not resembling other from soft media. Just random thoughts, but I love the video. Keep preaching the good AC word sir.🎉
I actually thought hard lock was outright useless until I learned it aims your kicks. I toggle it all the time to squeeze more damage out, especially on my reverse joint builds.
The reason I thought it was useless was that it restricted my movement abilities *and* doubles your weapon tracking time. It very clearly is not meant for every build and you are seldom better off having it on the whole time. It’s literally just another tool that increases the game’s skill ceiling.
Amen. I’m so thankful Armored Core has been revived by this release.
Let all the old Ravens welcome all the new generation of augmented humans, hopefully for more gameplay hours and installments to come.
That is what when I play last raven. Almost every bosses move so fast and they hard lock on you.
I haven’t played this yet but I love the souls games and I’ve enjoyed a lot of froms games with that being said I like when developers do new stuff because they can stretch their imagination and take lessons from the other games they made and experiment then future games benefit from all of that I don’t like mecha games at all or the genre tbh but it’s made by one of my favorite develops and I do have one game that I enjoyed called custom robo and this game reminds me of those good old days anyway I’m going to play this
On some controller layer for example steam deck, without the hard lock it would be almost impossible to multitask - keeping aim on target & jumping/hovering in the air or melee you can do only one at the time, while on the other hand, using keyboard and mouse makes it trivial
I grew up on Armored Core also, starting with the original on PS1 and I’ve played every gen. I think showing Daemon from Last Raven is a good example of the disadvantage aiming was in the older generations. I utilize the hard lock myself. If you’ve ever watched the arena battle replays from the CPUs perspective they always had a hard lock on you, even seeing you through objects and walls - and you still found a way to dodge attacks. This entry is no different I’m sure. We all have and will adapt, but I think the feature should stay.
I’d like to know your thoughts on how lightweight builds can’t be at a disadvantage
As someone who's played nearly every AC game out there, even I'm enjoying having a hard lock on. The only gripe I keep hearing about it is that it's super finnicky for KB/M users due to the fact that moving the mouse will remove the hard lock.
I will say that if I use hardlock on kb m i lift the mouse off the pad so that minor movements don't screw up hardlock.
Hope this advice helps.
Interesting topic... AC6 was my first AC game and I loved it, played on controller and used hard lock without thinking about it too much. The game gives you plenty to make it interesting and challenging: the movement / positioning in 3d plus juggling 4 weapons with their own cooldowns took my entire 1st playthrough before it clicked but it was super rewarding. I compare this discussion to Apex where they introduced very high aim assist for crossplay so that controller could compete against kbm. In that game I felt betrayed and frustrated because suddenly worse players could easily win fights with certain weapons. i viewed it as a skill ceiling issue: a high skill ceiling gives you more room to grow and improve which is very engaging. So I can understand why AC vets would be upset. But you make a good point that there are other systems in AC6 that keep the skill ceiling high, such as the high complexity of crafting your build in the garage before you even get to execution. I'm not sure if hard lock really reduces the skill ceiling if it forces you to engage with these other systems more rather than aim being all you need. In an FPS game like Apex, aim doesn't replace the other systems in the same way, so it seems different, but I'm no AC pro so hard to compare. Anyway thanks for the thoughtful video 🤙