Designing tips

Eva turns its gaze upon...
A post by Rogan from ArmoredCoreOnline.com forums. Very imformative. i Learned from this


CQC ACs need to be fast enough to close in. This means using high powered boosters to out maneuver and close in on your target.

Main boosters:

Virtue: These are the fastest boosters in the game and one of my favorites. Their Quickboost power is second to none and when combined with adds you can move as fast or faster than a blader. Excellent for closing and rushing with a very low equip cost. Their downfall is their vertical thrust. Extremely drainy for poor performance.

Aaliyah: High stats everywhere. Solitaire said it, these will have an advantage over every other booster in the game. They can position very well and they won't suck down your En as fast as Virtue does. These are likely the best CQC booster because of how easy it is to stick to people with them. Unlike virtue your target cannot escape by flying given their great vertical thrust. Equip cost is high but its well worth it.

Judith: Ok these are kinda weird and are very situational, often requiring a strong overbooster to help with closing. I've seen light quads use these to great effect and some MG arm featherweights. Not for beginners though, try using Aaliyah before you use these.

Back boosters:

Latona: If your playing CQC you really don't want to be backpedaling for long. These are the easiest to use and equip. They also keep your drain down.

Lahire: A stronger version of latona with a slightly higher equip cost. However they are lighter and can be used to place your self in a more strategic position.

Aaliyah: You won't be back pedaling but this gives you the ability to buy yourself a little breathing room should you come across another CQC AC. It has the same use as lahire for positioning but does the job better for a much higher equip cost.

Side boosters:

Holofernes: insane QB powers with drain that is manageable. Combined with Virtue mains its easy to run rings around other AC's. However that same power makes it even easier to overshoot your target.

Judith: Used for chain boosting on pure rushers. Low cost and performance. The chain boosting tactic works, but can eat your En quickly.

Latona: Low En drain and decent performance. Works well on just about any AC.

Lahire: Stupid amounts of instantaneous thrust. It will move you from A to B very quickly. It suffers from the same issue of over shooting as the holofernes and it drains more. However the booster is very light for its power.

Ortega: A very nicely balanced booster. It has good power and a very low equip burden. However it can be harsh on the En. Only the lahire's QB drains more and the Ortega drains more with its normal boost.

Aaliyah: behold and instant flank. These things are nuts and move ever faster than lahire. Beware their high equip cost and usage drain. Otherwise these are great boosters.

Schedar: High Equip cost for low useage drain. You can chain boost well with these and use them to dodge or flank acceptably. My favorite since I rush so much.

Overbooster


Linstant: For a little more weight and En drain than judith you get a lot more power. Used mainly for jousting and its effective at chasing people because of its speed.

Aaliyah: Zoom. High equip and usage cost but its extremely fast. If you have a heavier AC in need of some extra kick take this for a spin. However, its fairly situational and linstant is probably better overall.

Rigel: Assault Armor is incredibly useful for getting rid of an opponents Primal Armor and can be used to temporarily blind people. Extra damage is also welcome. Rigel has a low equip cost as AA goes and it has decent power. What makes it popular is how easy it is to hit with, it has an extra 10 range and that does make a difference.

Sobrero: Weights very little and drains a lot. In exchange you get the strongest AA blast out there.

Generators: En is important for any AC and CQC AC's need to be fast and be able to out maneuver their opponent. Plus since they fight in close they need defense in order to survive their opponents attacks PA is a big help here as most CQC AC's will be LW's and not putting much into their AC's defenses. Then generators listed are the most commonly used ones on CQC AC's because of their low weight and respectable stats.

Lahire: One of the most commonly used generators out their. It has balanced stats everywhere and no real drawbacks. You can AA or OB with it. The only problem for CQC AC's is that this is the heaviest generator you could get away with using.

Judith: Its lighter than the Lahire and has a much greater capacity, with slightly less En output and KP output. For a weight of 650 its an excellent generator, although I personally would rather use lahire.

Sobrero: For those of you who need all the recharge you can get. This generator is a light as it gets and has the highest En output in the game bar none. The capacity is fine given its huge recharge where it really falls is its very low KP output. Sobrero is great until you run into another CQCer or anything with a MG for that matter. Your PA will be gone before you know it and that hurts.

Linstant: If you can manage your en well this may be the best CQC generator. Its very lightweight and provides the best KP output in the game. This makes abusing assault armor easy and can give you a leg up vs other CQCers as your PA will last longer. However its low en output can be a problem.

Extra Equipment:
While a CQC AC generally want to be as light as possible there are a few pieces or equipment you should consider using outside of your weapons.

09-Flicker: the flash rockets are nasty pieces of work in the hands of a skilled player. Blinding your opponent and stopping them from locking on. However they are very tricky to hit with, you generally have to bounce them into an obstacle next to your opponent to hit the ground at their feet. If you score a direct hit more power to you.

P-Marrow: These amplify the range and power of Assault Armor. The longest possible range of attack is attained with the rigel for 235 effective range on your AA. The power you get when this is equipped to sobrero is plain silly. On reg 1.4 I've consistently landed AA hits that do 10k damage.

Flares: having to stop and dodge missiles is a royal pain. Flares negate that need and allow you to continue your attack. Highly useful and they have a low equip burden.

Laligras: These are fun, but their delay makes them extremely difficult to use and they have poor registration online. It should be noted that these plus the Sampaguita and a motorcobra can stunlock a light AC, provided you can get them to hit.

ACB-0710: These add boosters are more commonly seen on bladers but they do have a place on CQC AC's. The speeds you can reach using these boosters rivals that of a blader and you will be faster than some of them. These make it very easy to position yourself and close in on your target. However, you lose both your back slots in the process. I recommend using these with an AA overbooster since you aren't going to need to OB to close on fleeing targets. Unfortunately these are well know for causing large amounts of lag due to the speeds you'll be moving at. It can net you nasty messages from other players or even kicked out of rooms.


Weapons:
The most important thing for a CQC AC to do after closing is to break their targets PA. This means machine guns, shot guns and anything else that can strip PA has its place in close quarters combat.

Rifles: These work well at both mid and close range as spam and pressure weapons. Certain models can even provide kill weapons given their fire rate and power. The most common rifles will be listed.

MR-102: huge ammo reserves and decent power. This is the most commonly used rifle in the game for a good reason. Excellent for spamming or fighting up close. Pairs nicely with most other weapons in the game.

063ANAR: a more accurate version of the 102 it lacks the ammo and power of the 102 but it makes up for it with ballistics velocity and range. Simple put this rifle will hit more often from longer distances. Its good at poking people who back pedal away from you like a madman.

Marve: This thing rips AC's to shreds. Combined with the Motorcobra machine gun or a sister rifle. Then you can lock onto your opponent an watch their AP go down the drain. Only problem is it's low ammo.

AR-0700: A lighter weaker version of the Marve with more ammo, less drain and lower weight. These things are absolutely great as even PA won't save someone from an assault with these at 200m.

Machine guns: Their job is to break primal armor and they do so every effectively. After the target is stripped of its defenses the MG makes an excellent offensive weapon. However it should be noted that they don't work well outside of a 300 meter range. However since CQC is 200m, this shouldn't be an issue.

03-Motorcobra: The ultimate PA stripping machine gun with enough ammo to hold the trigger down all match. It is heavy and drainy though.

01-Hitman: A lighter more accurate and less drainy version of the motorcobra. In my experience it also registers better.

Eklakh: the MG arm weapons. These have a huge ammo reserve. If you have these equipped and your not firing them YOU ARE WRONG. They eat both your arm slots but make up for it in power and the ability to fire at awkward angles. I'm not going to lie, these weapons give a huge edge over another player in a CQC v CQC match since, unless you have absurd amounts of lag working in your favor, it's impossible to stand toe to toe with these. You will need a strategy or weapon to counter them. A lot of players consider them cheap so be warned before using them.

Shotguns and slug guns: Poor registration turns may players away, however they are great weapons.

SG-0700: This is a nasty little piece of work. It cuts through lag better than the other shotguns but thats not saying much. It also fires very rapidly allowing it to shred PA and AC's in seconds. Very light but has little ammo.

Mburucuya: Unlike the other shotguns this fires 16 rounds instead of 12, kinda like a mini kamal. Low ammo though.

Sampaguita: The heaviest shotgun and does the most damage per shot along with decent stun and the highest ammo out of all shot guns has made it my favorite one. It requires timing to use properly as it registers very poorly otherwise.

Kamal: A good rushing weapon. However it can only hit something when your on the same level as it. Trying to get it to hit something above or below you is a losing battle. Registers the best out of all the slug weapons.

Sautees: These are fun. They stun and inflict loads of damage with a very high ammo count. Harder to make register IMO but are great rushing weapons.

Bazookas: These are more commonly seem as CQC deterrents. They cause massive damage and large amounts of stun which can stop a CQC player cold. However the lighter models can be used to stun your opponent and provide loads or damage very quickly.

BZ-Brocken: A lightweight bazooka which can be used on a CQC AC given the right support. However it suffers from the same registration problems as shotguns do and it only has 35 rounds.

Grenade Launchers: These things can swing the flow of a game with just one shot. Break you target's PA, blast em and they lose a couple thousand AP easy. However they are hard to hit with. The most common ones will be listed.

Travers: This lighter grenade launcher was a gift to CQC AC's. Its light enough to be used on a LW CQC build and the recoil is easy to manage.

Spala: A spam drop weapon or a finish weapon. Light and easy to transport

Raiden Arms: Considered to be broken by many players. These boost the greatest accuracy and ammo in the grenade world. They also fire two grenades not just one and just like the MG weapon arms can hit from awkward angles. Best combined with a sniper cannon for accurate stun or a weapon that forces the opponent to dodge in a predicable manner. cough*wheeling*cough

High lasers and laser cannons: And they thought that enough shell defense would save them. Nope. Alas, laser weaponry is often screwed over by lag. I'll give a few that have worked well. Keep in mind that these are very heavy and you should only use one per AC, don't try to dual wield these.

HLC09-Acrux: A lighter high laser with decent hit registration and excellent power. However since CQC AC's tend to use high power boosters it can be difficult to mange your En. Pick your shots right and it will last you the whole match, don't try to spam it.

HLC09-Becrux: The hand held version of the Acrux. It weights more but drains less with more ammo. Solitaire's Aether build makes great use of this weapon as an example.

ER-0705: A En zook, the nasty little thing will and does make mincemeat of the toughest of AC designs. Provided you can hit with it. It has the same problems as a zook but fires rapidly.

EC-0300: Combine this with a 102 for a CQC combo that cannot be escaped at mid range. Slow fire rate and low ammo are the only bad things I can say about this weapon.

Plasma weapons: I retract my earlier comments, if these things hit then the opponent lost a good amount of AP, had their PA take a nasty hit and now has to deal with ECM. Very hard to make register.

Samsara: This is fun, and tracks well for the amount of damage it can cause.

Tresor: Faster ballistics velocity makes it more likely to hit and it comes with all the plasma benefits.

Missiles: These are easy to use weapons and can keep constant pressure on a target. They have a high drain cost and that can be a problem if your not ready for it.

Musselshell: Great jousting weapons. Get in close to your target before you let them fly and unless your opponent is very skilled or has cover readily available you won't be disappointed.

Dearborne02 and 03: Works in the same manner as the Musselshell, combine with a MG to deny your opponent any Primal Armor. Get in close and just keep firing, AC's will die, unless your opponent is good at dodging. Watch out if your trying to thread these through MG fire, they hurt if they explode in your face.

MP-0203: These can work like the Dearbornes or as mid range harassment. They are also your best weapon versus permaflyers. Very solid missiles but they do drain a fair amount, which can make them difficult to work into your AC.

Niobrora03 and the Allegheny01: You can joust these or use them like the dearbornes but they are lighter and drain less. The damage they produce is similar and in the case of the Allegheny can be better. These things are very hard to dodge at close range and most AC's will attempt to flee from them. You can then gleefully shoot your opponent in the back as your missiles chase them down.

Sniper weapons: For the most part these are combined with the raiden arms to stun and hammer someone. Keep in mind that someone skilled with a SC is a nightmare to face with a light CQC AC.

049Ansc: Most commonly seen as a long range spam weapon it also works up close for stunning people thus leaving them vulnerable to other weapons. Raiden arms are the best example. This SC is also great for jousting. On the downside its very heavy and the recoil is something most LW's can't deal with.

I'll post a frame breakdown tomorrow, too tired to do it now.
Ok here it is:

Frames: CQC AC's need to be able to close in and maintain their effective combat range above all else. This means you need to be fast. I tend to run a CQC build at around 8000-9000 weight for a LW build and around 11000-11500 for a mid CQC build. Sometimes lighter. Although they could work at higher weights depending on the weapons you have equipped and what type of opponent your fighting. The other factor which greatly impacts a CQC AC is the unit's stability. Without some stability any good stun weapon is going to give you a hard time.

Heads: Your need to look for stability and low weight here. For the most part heads that work well on dual rifle lights and mids work well here too.

047an02: This could be the best head part out there in 1.4 regs. Decent PA, great system recovery and very high stability. As an added bonus its camera function means that you can lock on from greater ranges. Its kinda heavy for my taste but I've seen it work for others.

Ekhazar: While its lacking in the areas or PA rectification and system recovery the head has an incredible stability rating with out being as heavy as the 47 and it drains less than some of the other heads. If you feel you AC needs an AP boost this head can give you that as well.

Judith: This thing is bad@ss. Nice PA rectification, over 600 in stability and acceptable system recovery. It also gives a boost to your lock on with camera functionality. All of this for 200 weight. The only real down side to this head is its drain.

Holofernes: The lightest head part in the game. It also has great stability and passable PA rectification, the downside is its low system recovery, getting hit with AA will hurt.

Soluh: Light and easy on the En with the best stability out of any head part. PA is passable although system recovery could be better. This may be one of the best choices for a CQC AC.

Linstant: Lightweight with the best PA rectification score. Stability and system recover are fine but this is also the drainiest head.

Cores: This is were you get most of the defense on your AC it will generally be the heaviest part you equip. Choosing a core should give you a balance of PA, defense and Stability without being too harsh on your En supply. As with the heads a few mids work, most of the LW's do and the heavies should be avoided.

Ekhazar: Watch out for its low PA score, but otherwise it excels in all other areas without being too heavy or too drainy. Its a fine choice for any AC. IMO its kinda overused but thats just me.

Aaliyah: If if weren't for the drain I would use this on every AC I built. Its a nice balance between mid and LW good defense, passable stability and great PA. The drain can really hurt AC's that aren't prepared for it though.

Latona: Very easy on the En, with passable stats everywhere else. Its one of the heavier LW cores though.

Lahire: Very light with PA out the wazoo. It has low defense though and the drain can be tough to manage.

Soluh: A solid choice if the Ekhazar it too heavy for you taste. It has nice PA and good stability with better AP and defenses that the other lightweight cores. Low cost to equip.


Arms: There are really only a few that work well in CQC one of them is a lightweight part and the other two are midweight.

063an03: Acceptable maneuverability with excellent aim precision. These work very nicely with an assault rifle and a machine gun. High weight and drain though.

Ekhzara: Same maneuverability as the 063 with less aim precision. However they are lighter, drain less and have more AP.

Lahire: Excellent maneuverability and are very lightweight. These are for those how really like to get in their opponent's face. Hence they are great for MG + shotgun AC's. They do have high drain however. My favorite CQC arm.


Legs: Like the core part you want to find a nice balance of stats that work well for you. I recommend looking at Stability, turning ability, how heavy the legs are and how much they drain. All the lightweight legs work well along with some of the mid weight ones. I'll also do my best to cover quads and RJ's.

Aaliyah: These legs are once again a nice balance between speed, stability and defense they aren't overly heavy and drain less than some of the LW leg parts. These stack nicely with the ekhazar core to give you loads of AP. A favorite of mine for light mids.

Judith: Light with good stability and turning, they are faster than the latona legs but also drain more.

Lahire: The Gremlin legs move at lighting fast speeds and turn very well, never giving your opponent a chance to rest. However they are quite drainy and their defensive stats are somewhat lacking compared to other leg parts, PA does help with this. This is the leg part I use the most.

Soluh: A bit slower and heavier than Lahire with less drain, the stability they give can be a great asset when using cannons and they turn very well.

Sobrero: The Feather weight legs make very quick agile AC's but thats all they have going for them. On the right AC these can be brutal, use them on the wrong build and you'll be dead before you know it.


RJ legs: CQC RJ is kinda weird. However they can move quickly in any direction and are great to pair with weapon arms. They play differently as well since you more of a spam bot than a controlled CQCer. MG arms plus missiles and assault armor are likely the best combo for these.

Saubees: Fast with great jumping. You can really mess someone up with how easily these can change elevation.

Alicia: The best turning out of all RJ's they give you the same abilities as the Saubees but for more weight and En drain you get better defenses and turning so you aren't completely screwed by a good flanker.

Quads: These have a lot of drain and poor air performance but their speed is their selling point. With Virtue mains these things will zip all over the map. Unfortunately they don't like grenades and thie high en cost is hard to get used too.

Duskaror: Very quick with great turning and they can abuse cannons with their high stability. They do have over 7k drain though.

FCS: Again only a few of these work well for CQC.

Inblue: Lock speed and high parallel processing make these great FCS for getting right in your targets face.

Ekhazar: If you have a weapon set like Marve/Marve/sapla/sapla use these. THE dual rifle FCS and can be used to fix tracking with weapons that have drastically different melee abilities.

Judith: If you want to use missiles look here. They have good stats all around.

Things CQC hates:
First and foremost, lag. If your opponent lags your likely going to spend time pounding them for nothing. Extremely frustrating. The best way around this is the use missiles, if you can stagger your shots well you can hit through flares.

Reverse Joints: A skilled reverse joint player is a terror to face. They move differently from other AC's and your aren't going to be controlling the air. A smart RJ player is also using high powered boosters so they might be faster than you are depending on the AC you've built. Their weakness is their piss poor turning. Flank them and once you get a proper position don't relinquish it for any reason. Easier said than done.

XCG-B050: When used defensively this is a surprisingly effective weapon. When combined with a SC it will give and CQC AC trouble. This is where Linstant gen comes in handy as the increase PA output can be a great asset. Approach carefully and focus on dodging. Don't let an opportunity slip by though.

Lightweight Dual rifle AC's. The most common AC out there, these are only an issue if the have high powered boosters. If they are idiots and using latona mains rush them and flat out overpower them. High powered boosters ones, however, will be much more difficult. They can pace you and control the range of the game well slowly wearing you down with their rifles. They cannot however stand toe-to-toe with your heavier weapons. Something to be especially wary of are DR lightweights with adds and Virtue mains. These will likely be faster than you and their weapons will register better both offensively and defensively. Try using one of your own and you'll see how easy it is to overwhelm someone with it.

Defensive play with a Kamal. The kamal will stun you and inflict major damage plus you still have to worry about their other weapons. Missiles can help here but if they have flares it becomes more difficult. Try to approach from above or below them as the kamal will be less effective there. Again, easier said than done.

Things CQC likes:
CQC: These matches are a blast. Its a knock down drag out slug fest that can have you on the edge of your seat given their furious pace. Keep a level head and remember that PA is your friend. Regrettably the number of people who play CQC is very low so you won't see this often.

Heavies: A good heavy player is also an extremely fun match up. As these two styles are counters to each other.

Tanks: Easy to flank and out maneuver unless your opponent knows exactly what their doing. Beware of those that drop all their weapons since they are likely to pull out hanger Marves which can shred you in seconds.

AC's with Sobrero gens. Their PA won't last long, don't hesitate to use assault armor if you've got it. An AC without PA is a dead AC versus CQC.

One on One matches. Some nut jobs like me enjoy battle royals but CQC AC's work better one on one. Given their weapons low ammo and poor registry its difficult to have to fight more than one opponent. Particularly since you'll likely lose some AP closing.

Look in schematics section of the forums, there are some good CQC AC's in there. Modify them to suit your taste.