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I'm still not getting that. The White Glint parts are good, sure, but I've yet to see anyone with those parts use them in and get me to think, "Gaaaaah, the only reason I lost was because he was using those WG parts." At least, that's the sort of mindset that comes to mind for me when I hear "absolute best"; I'd expect said parts to verge game-breaking/end-all status.

I agree with that. There doesn't seem to be any one build that I think would set itself far above the rest. The closest I can think of is the combination of 063AN arms and the Ekhazar core, but even then it's still just high tier, not banlist-able. Many things counter many other styles to the point where it's pretty hard to find one that can play well against a majority of them, partly because skill still plays some part in your win percentages, I find. Still, though, can they do better? Yes, of course. The netcode and ping in the current gen send many parts, which should work otherwise (i.e. Bazookas, kojima, flash/shock rockets, and even hi-lasers to some extent), to the trash, drop others to a lower tier (i.e. Sniper rifles/cannons, shotguns, grenades), and makes other illegitimate for competitive scenes (i.e. Blades and add-boosters). If they did get around to fixing the netcode, hypothetically. I think they'd need to rework some stats because they way I see it, some of the parts that work in the current regulations are able to do so because FROM changed the stats to compensate for the delay (for example how machine guns can do monstrous amounts of damage from quite some range away; so imagine that same damage output without any sort of ping).

I've never used Gemma, actually. I've only used the hand ones.

Haha oh, right. I'm sure it wouldn't work well on PS3 at all. It's dodgy enough on Xbox, and what with PS3 FA's horrible hit registration it probably just makes it even worse.

The thing is, though, that it lost what made it so good in AC4 and even past FA regulations--its melee ability. Before, it had some decent melee for a regular rifle (somewhere higher than MR-R100R and lower than RF-100). So add to it your aforementioned attributes and it was a wonderful rifle. But now, it has the same tracking mods as the 051ANNR which is pretty bad because it takes it out of its most useful close-mid range. At the 600+ ranges is where I find the two rifles' tracking to be the most steady and reliable. The 051ANNR is fine because it has quite some damage and the slow RoF allows it to last for a while. To me, the 047ANNR will run out of ammo too quickly and not do enough damage. If you try to close in, the hit percentage doesn't increase that much more because of the melee ability. MR-R100R or 063ANAR would be better alternatives, IMO. ANYWHO Pulse Weaponry~ Definitely not top tier, but I think it's good enough for high level casual play if paired with other weapons. No doubt the pulse shotgun can score some quick damage as a surprise.

I need to get into this demo! So snipers have bullet drop in this game? And I'm getting that it's still headshot only at long distances, yes?

What? Oh. Yeah, I knew all this. The level/amount of PA didn't matter in this test, I just didn't know that bullets could enter the PA, not hit the AC and still strip PA. D:?

Octagonal Quick Boost Chains.

Aright so I know this also came up in chat at some point and I tested it in some sloppy manner with two different AC's (Fragile and Soluh|Soluh|Aaliyah/A|Aaliyah/L). The hit boxes between the two seemed pretty constant, despite the numerous spaces the Sobrero frame parts offer; the higher space between the legs, the spaces of the core, the increased length of the core did not affect the hitbox. Eventually I'll get to mapping the hitboxes of certain part types (because I'm sure that bipeds won't have the same hitboxes as tanks) if people want that done. Also as a side note: PA can be stripped without causing damage to AP. As long as a bullet enters the PA sphere, the KP pool is reduced. Feel free to test these yourself and post your results!

Update once more: This time ran tests regarding back weapons. Confirmed that back weapons have an individual maneuverability stat of around 4500. These are also affected by dual processing whenever there are two weapons with a "melee ability" stat in use. Translucent locks don't seem to affect the aim precision, but I didn't test more than that. I'll get to the other things eventually.

Any chance that high-power snipers kill in one hit now? Andwaitwhat? Killcam? What is this. This isn't CoD.

Haha with the one with the Dorito ninja-guy, I thought they were setting it up to where the chips they were eating were the same chips the guy wears on a regular basis.

I suppose that makes more sense because of wording. It wouldn't be about joining one clan so much as it would be about representing one clan.

Unless ACU becomes the clan central gathering site, it wouldn't really have any power to regulate such things. Either that or you would have to change the implied rules of clans in general (and that's even more outlandish).

UMP45. http://x84.alo.ru/spool/weapons/submachine_guns/012_ump45.jpg

Oh okay from AC4. Yeah, I just did some tests tonight on FA. I didn't seem to notice the distance from the center playing into speed unless it was with recentering after losing a lock, but this is just along the horizontal axis; vertical or vertical+horizontal may be something different. The problem with the sniper rifle modifier in this game is that sniper rifles all three have the lowest three melee numbers so unless we can find some sort of baseline for melee's influence, the modifier would be pretty iffy.

Just an update on this: I found that it's not the distance from the center that affects the reticule speed, but the distance from what ever it is you're trying to track. As the reticule gets closer to the intended target, it slows down (which makes me think of "precision" and therefore Aim Precision for some reason; so that's testing for another time). The distance that it slowed down at did seem to be affected by maneuverability, but then so did reticule speed as a whole (so I'm thinking some sort of gradient that gets tighter as maneuverability increases). Other than that, the lockboxes are oval like Exorcet said, weapons don't seem to affect lockbox size nor does FCS, I didn't find anything that supported Exorcet's sniper modifier, and recoil on the arms seemed to push the reticule towards the target (?). Also, as for back weapons, during battles, I've noticed that they initially have the same range of movement as arm weapons and then shrink back to their limits. So that opens up to the possibility that these elastic qualities of the range of movement also apply to arm/arm weapons, which could explain the insane auto-sight tracking of featherweights. For future tests: Test melee/maneuverability of back weapons Test effect other arm stats may have on reticule speed Further explore weapon recoil vs. reticule movement Test solid locks vs. translucent locks in performance

http://world.guns.ru/sniper/ai-as50-1.jpg And then the SA80-related rifles are pretty boss. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/SA-80_rifle_1996.jpg Hooray aesthetics!

Haha it looks like a nerf gun.

Haha everyone takes the troll bait because everyone on the most-current-popular-FPS is a testosterone loaded, internet tough guy. They're fucking everywhere; it's so easy. And then trash talking and whatnot assures. But yeah, anyways. What's up with that DLC for MW2? Or did they release it without me knowing or something?

I started with AC4. Then got all into it. Then tried Ninebreaker and failed miserably at it. And then FA came along. And that's my life story.

Hahahahaha wow. Very nice. I don't want QB's taken out completely, though. D:

inb4megachainsaw I kinda fell behind in the whole speculation about AC5 other than what Billy, here told us. So anyone mind me bringing me up to speed? Edit: Gosh darn it. You already mentioned the chainsaw in the topic description.

So, the concept of "tracking" came up in chat (refer to spoiler), and I suppose it was getting a little to technical for just a handful of people in chat, exchanging lines. We need WALLS OF TEXT. So, if you wish to contribute, I suggest you kindly read the log and previous posts before contributing to the discussion. The whole system of tracking in Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: for Answer is very vague. Unlike the older generation of Armored Core games, there is no visible lockbox. Instead, we're left with several "phases" of the lock: No lock, translucent white, solid white, white with trailing reticule, translucent red, solid red. The general consensus is that the ability to acquire and maintain a solid red lock has to do with some combination of arm maneuverability, weapon melee ability, dual processing, and sometimes head choice and FCS choice (be it lock speed or a hidden stat or, again, back to dual processing) So, I suppose to start this off: What I think. The ability to physically aim the weapon at the target is determined by arm maneuverability alone. Additional stats (dual processing and melee ability) serve to modify it as a percentage (much like camera functionality modifies max lock range, 505 roughly being 100%). Things such as lock speed can indirectly affect this by modifying how long it takes to acquire a solid lock, for example. One of the bigger areas of difference was regarding the actual lock boxes in these current generation games. How I see it, there are two lock boxes, so to speak. There is one where locks can be acquired and one where locks can be maintained. Both are still very wide, but the latter lock box is slightly more liberal. (Refer to next spoiler) So pretty much the numbered things are my representations of the locks (no lock, white, solid white, trailing white, red, solid red, respectively). If I were better at art and understood perspective I'd be able to make a better diagram, but I think it's good enough to serve it's purpose for now. The gray box represents the the viewable screen. The white outline represents the area in which you can acquire a solid lock red or white. The radius of this area is what ever the max lock range is and covers somewhere less than 90 degrees upward and downward. Any lock here will pretty much hold. The red box that's slightly outside the viewable area is the extent to which solid locks can be maintained. So trailing locks and translucent locks will break completely. Now (if I've covered the bases well) it should come together how I see all these things working. Maneuverability indirectly affects tracking (I'll now use tracking to refer to the general ability to both aim towards and keep a lock on an enemy) as a whole by reducing the chance of a trailing lock. FCS contributes by allowing for quick acquisition of a solid lock, so on and so forth. Stability and aim stability does play some role in this too as high amounts of recoil tends to force the arms towards the center, directly in front of the AC. ---------- Aaaanyways, this is completely my own speculation based on anecdotal evidence and very questionable testing with friends. Feel free to contribute your own theories and contest my own shaky one.

Note: I'll probably edit this sometime later today to fix part names and give exact tunes. I'm pretty sure some of the parts I'm listing too are wrong. Head|Core|Arms|Legs 047AN|063AN|Soldner|Gan02-NSS FCS|Gen Ekhazar|Judith(?) Main|Back|Side|Overed Judith|Aaliyah/B|Lahire|Linstant/O R Arm|L Arm|R Back|L Back|Shoulder 050ANSR(?)|[spread Bazooka]|Kamal|049ANSC|[GA Vert Flares] Designed to be a aerial, shell defense-based side-pedaler, and it's surprisingly agile in side movement with SSQB's to boot (I think it can hit high 1800 km/h with repeated SSQB's). Not too much else to add. The weapons are meant to work at most ranges, but it has a slight blind area at the 500-600 ranges. However, the side/back speed helps to get this AC out of those ranges. It's not really ever meant to move forward, though, so hence the Judith for high vertical boost and overall low drain (vs. the Aaliyah/M or Latona, for example). The Ekhazar is for low drain + high dual processing should the battle ever run to the point where I'm forced to use both arm weapons; the 047AN head is to boost the lock range to the 1000+ ranges. --MINDLESS RAMBLING-- (Feel free to skip if you dislike reading) Spoiler! --Click Here to View!-- I have been considering some changes to this AC myself--the right and left arm weapons, the arms, and the generator, specifically. I picked Soldner arms because I find it a middle ground between Hilbert and Gan01-SS-A as far as a performance and defense/AP, respectively. If anything, I'm leaning more towards the SS-A for more defense, but I'm concerned about how much the tracking will drop because of that. As for the right and left arm weapons, it comes down to which sniper rifle/bazooka to pick. For the right, it's mainly between the 050ANSR(?) and the 061ABSR(?) for ammo vs. overall performance. Probably not, but the 047ANSR(?) I might consider too since it might be able to cover the blind spot with it's melee ability. For the left, it's between the [spread Bazooka] and the [Not Spread Bazooka] (I'll fill those in when I edit) this time weighing raw damage against ammo and single-shot damage. I have been thinking some about the Brocken, but I usually dismiss it because I'm uncertain about its low ammo count as far as ammo balance between weapons go. Now for the generator. KPO is a slight area of unease because with the Judith, while still average, my PA can get taken out relatively quick, leaving me open to grenades/MG's and the like. Aaliyah/G was one that I might swap it with, but weight would become an issue. And the ramblings are done. Have at thee!