How to defeat the AH12 HC Helicopter in Armored Core 6? The opening of Armored Core 6 is easily one of the biggest skill checks in a FromSoftware game recently. The Helicopter you fight as the first boss is incredibly overwhelming, especially if you choose the wrong strategy. But, that is where this guide comes in as we have a great way to beat the Helicopter in Armored Core 6.
It can be very easy to back away, hold off, and try to avoid all the machine gun pellets and rockets coming your way. But, that simply isn’t what you want to do here, or else you won’t make it to any of the other Armored Core 6 bosses. These tips come from our current Armored Core 6 review playthrough.
How to beat the Helicopter in Armored Core 6
To defeat the Helicopter in Armored Core 6 you need to:
- Execute a melee attack straight away – Assault Boost to the mech and perform two slashes.
- Rely on melee attacks, not your weapons – the helicopter is far more vulnerable to your blade than rockets or machine gun pellets.
- When on the ground, stick close – Try to stay as close as possible to the boss when you are recovering energy.
- Dodge or ascend to avoid rockets – Rockets are the big damage dealer in this fight so dodging them is key.
As mentioned, the one thing you do not want to do in this fight is try to kill the AH12 HC Helicopter with your machine guns and rockets only. You simply won’t have the damage output and the boss is resistant to ranged fire. Instead, when the fight opens you want to Assault Boost up to the boss and perform two slashes. It can be a bit janky trying to get these to hit if the boss moves too fast, but try to land at least one.
Once you land an attack, drop back to the ground and recover your energy, but try to keep close or beneath the boss. While on the ground, you can supplement your melee attacks with rocket and machine gun fire, just to keep up the boss’ stagger bar (the yellow bar), as we eventually want to stagger the boss and disable one of its weapons.
As soon as you get your energy back and are either underneath, or up close to the boss simply Assault Boost once again, perform two melees and drop back to the ground. Simply repeat this over and over to win the fight.
Once the boss is staggered, it will lose access to one of its weapons systems. This makes the fight a bit easier. However, throughout this fight, you will still want to be dodging, just as the fast-firing missiles lock onto you and start heading in your direction. Three or four dodges in the same direction should let you avoid them.
You can also do this with the slow-firing missiles, but jumping is a much better method of evasion, as is hiding behind the buildings scattered around the arena. This tactic can also be done to avoid the machine gun fire, which is quite deadly when up close.
That covers how you can beat the Armored Core 6 Helicopter. It is an immense fight and we were stuck on it for around half an hour before we tried the aggressive, up close and personal strategy. But, if you are also looking for more tips as you continue on, check out the full list of Armored Core 6 missions and some of the Armored Core 6 weapons you can use as you progress.