Armored Core VI is hard enough if you’re playing it the right way, but have you considered trying to beat every boss without guns, laser swords, or rocket launchers? That’s what Twitch streamer ZeroLenny just did in what he’s billed as one of his least-fun stunt runs ever: He managed to beat the game using mech fisticuffs and nothing else.
If you’ve ever run out of ammo for one of your guns while playing Armored Core VI, you’ve probably noticed that you’ll automatically ditch the weapon and just start punching instead. You can in fact go into battle without any weapons at all and just punch enemies until they explode.
In some instances, punching can even be a little OP, as user Dynoexe demonstrated in a clip that blew up on the Armored Core subreddit yesterday. Punching does decent damage, has a quick cooldown, pulls you toward the enemy, and can even stunlock them for a bit if you get the right flow down. While not recommended against human opponents online, it can completely throw AI enemies off their game.
Enter ZeroLenny (via Eurogamer) who decided to try and take down every boss this way and document it in a video. Using only the assault charge kick and weapon-less arms, he managed to eventually beat the game, though it was clearly a slog. The tutorial helicopter boss was a pain because he couldn’t manually ditch his guns and had to rely solely on his charge kick. But after that, ZeroLenny quickly settled on a quad-leg build to maximize the kick effectiveness and aerial maneuverability.
Infamously tough boss Balteus wasn’t even that big of a chore. It was actually the Cleaner, a giant lava spewing street sweeper, that presented more of a nuisance due to the awkwardly placed weak spot and dangerous short-range swipes. Unsurprisingly, CEL 240 ended up being the toughest encounter simply because of its mobility and second-phase health bar. Even on multiple playthroughs that fight is still a pain, and I can’t imagine it without long-range, high-impact missiles to easily stagger it.
“Is this run hard?” ZeroLenny said near the end of his video. “Yes oh fucking god yes it is.” While the Ice Worm and CEL 240 were the biggest challenges, he noted that Core vs. Core fights are actually very straightforward thanks in large part to being able to pin similarly-sized opponents into corners like they’re in a boxing ring. So if you’re struggling against the late-game Cinder Carla fight, for example, maybe give it a try. The beauty of Armored Core VI is all about experimentation, after all.
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