While most find the games by FromSoftware extremely hard, a few others seek even more challenge. These daredevils will do whatever it takes to add an extra layer of difficulty to the game. This week, one brave Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon player and YouTuber by the name of ZeroLenny beat the game with no weapons, simply by punching and kicking his enemies into piles of rubble with his fists and feet in Armored Core.
How did ZeroLenny do it?
Lenny didn’t exactly unequip his weapons, because they’re forced onto your AC unit. Still, he found out that he could simply not use them and charge into his enemies instead, as that also provides a reliable damage output. Naturally, punching doesn’t use ammunition, but that doesn’t mean ZeroLenny came across an infinite source of damage. This is a nu-FromSoftware game, meaning that anyone whose name isn’t Sekiro has a stamina bar — even robots. Melee attacks cost you stamina, so there’s an extra layer of hardship — in case having to get close you your enemies every time isn’t tough enough already. Lenny found a workaround by getting the DF-GN-02 LING-TAI, the generator with the smallest recharge delay in the game.
Unforeseen consequences
At first, Lenny thought that a way of the fist run would just make the game harder all across the board, but he ended up discovering that, in true Souls fashion, it had some unexpected perks. Melee attacks do great posture damage and are better at destroying the enemies’ posture than most weapons. Also, enemies take more damage when their stamina is down, so there’s an extra perk. If you’re good enough, you can doom most enemies to perpetually cycling from a state of stagnation to one of binge-eating knuckle sandwiches.
Best tips for players who also want to embrace the way of the fist
While likely unadvisable, Lenny’s Armored Core way of the fists isn’t entirely unviable. On top of what you already know, Lenny has some tips for footwork. Lenny says that tank legs are the best for melee damage, but they severely hamper your dodging. The best options for legs are normal or quad ones. These will give you the extra option of kicking your enemies. Kicks are good and will net you countless (imaginary) style points when you kick enemies off cliffs.
Lenny says that one of the hardest missions in the game for no-weapons users will be the tower defense one. The devs expected players to shoot the enemy projectiles shot at them, but that won’t work here. Lenny managed to finish the mission by learning the map, destroying only specific targets, and by flying over the others. This will take up much more time, but it’s completely doable.
I’ve previously written about how it’s only a matter of time until someone beats AC6 using only a banana. This isn’t that, but we’re getting closer. You can now try to beat Armored Core 6, bare-fisted or not, on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
