What is the "Purging Strategy" in Armored Core 6 and how to use it optimally

On the surface, Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon might look like a traditional action game with a mech skin. However, once you do start playing the game, you'll quickly realize it's much more than that, with a staggering amount of depth within its combat system. From mech-building to the general gameplay systems, there's plenty of depth to be found in FromSoftware's latest mech-action game.

FromSoftware's games have always exuded a sense of depth and complexity within their gameplay systems, and Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon is no stranger to this notion. And much like in Dark Souls, Sekiro, or Elden Ring, you can even coin your very own strategies to deal with some of the toughest encounters.

One such highly advanced but equally rewarding strategy in Armored Core 6 is the "Purging Strategy." Here's a comprehensive guide on the Purging Strategy, its optimal use cases, and more.

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What does the "Purging Strategy" mean in Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon?

The Purging Strategy, for the uninitiated, stands for a specific playstyle in Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon where you enter missions with your AC being "overburdened" and purge weapons manually to compensate for the increased encumbrance. It essentially means that you enter a mission equipping heavier parts than what your AC can accommodate and manually discard each weapon after use.

While entering missions overburdened might seem counterintuitive to the whole aspect of assembling a fast and agile mech, it does have its benefits which in some cases outweigh the need to balance the AC's weight. The key component of this strategy is the "Weapon Bay" and "Weight Control" Core Expansions.

Both of these expansions can be unlocked fairly early in the game. Weapon Bay allows you to store hand weapons instead of your shoulder weapons and switch between them mid-combat. This upgrade can come really handy if you're planning to use kinetic or explosive weapons in your mech build.

The Weight Control OST expansion allows you to basically enter missions overburdened, which is otherwise not possible without this upgrade. It allows you to manually purge weapons, which you can't do otherwise while on a mission. The Purging Strategy basically revolves around you equipping, using, and purging the heaviest and most powerful weapons.

While entering overburdened missions might seem like a major trade-off, it rarely affects your AC's overall boosting speed. What is affected is the ability to boost upwards, which you can easily counter by sticking to the ground and quick boosting to dodge attacks.

Once you enter a mission overburdened, use the heavy weapons as you see fit and purge them to gain your AC's agility back. The best loadout I'd recommend using for this is a Reverse Joint AC with plasma cannons and dual gattling guns. This loadout not only melts boss healthbars but also works really well against minibosses and mobs in Armored Core 6.

To properly make use of the Purging Strategy, you will need to choose an arm part that has a high "Melee Specialization" stat which increases the amount of damage you deal with your AC's bare-handed punches. The Purging Strategy is very helpful in some of the late-game missions and boss fights, especially if you're going for the S-rank.