Exusia

The Exusia

Exusia is an immensely powerful and agile Special Weapon developed by the Corporation and piloted by Chief. It serves as the final boss in the Story Missions of Armored Core V. More powerful versions (red-and-black colored ones) appear in the multiplayer sorties for Armored Core V as well as Armored Core: Verdict Day.

Weapons

• Large Laser Blade x 2, on the bottom of the legs (story version)
• Multiple Vertical Missile Launchers (story version)
• Arm Mounted Plasma Rifle x 2 (story version)
• Pulse Cannon (Multiplayer version)
• Gatling Gun (Multiplayer version)
• VLS Missile (Multiplayer version)

Armored Core: Verdict Day Special Sortie

• Multi Blade, TE 3000
• Boson Drive, TE 20,000
• Missile Pods, KE 1200
• Wing Blade, TE 8000
• Wing Blade, TE 16,000 (Flight)

Stats

Armored Core V Story Mission

• AP: 100000
• KE Defense: 100
• CE Defense: 200
• TE Defense: 2000

Armored Core V Special Sortie

• AP: 300000
• KE Defense: 200
• CE Defense: 100
• TE Defense: 2000

Armored Core Verdict Day Special Sortie

• AP: 900000
• KE Defense: 1156
• CE Defense: 5461
• TE Defense: 1384

Tactics

Exusia fights like this.

1. It strafes your mech shooting a laser cannon at you 4/5 times. the player should be able to just boost out of the way. If that fails, try hiding behind a building.
2. It dashes at the player's mech, mostly like an energy blade. Just dash sideways to dodge it, unless the player's mech is abnormally heavy. It'll be open after it performs this attack. Being directly hit by this will destroy your AC more than likely, but being clipped by the blade will not outright destroy the AC.
3. It flies outside of the area, shooting missiles at the player. Every once in a while, it flies in and shoots a few rounds of plasma shots at you like a bombing run, and then flies out to continue bombarding you with missiles. He'll normally end the attack with the energy dash attack. Just keep a look out for Exusia mech, and overboosting sideways will dodge the missiles, the player will have to dash backwards along with it to dodge the plasma shots, and dodge the dash attack like you would normally. Staying around something to jump off of it is very helpful during this attack.

In the Multiplayer Sortie of Armored Core V, Exusia is different, in these aspects:

1. Exusia is now upgraded & modified, and instead of the blue one that appears in the final mission, it's colored red & black (possibly a reference to Nine-Ball). It sports higher AP & defense.
2. Weaponry is similar to the story mode version, possessing the same laser/plasma cannon (albeit shooting 3 times instead of 4/5). This weapon is mislabeled as 'Pulse cannon in Scan Mode data'. However, this one has a few additional armaments, including a rapid fire gatling gun which it uses alongside the plasma cannon blasts, and 2 large clawed wings (which are actually laser blades) on the sides (which also double as wing-bladed weapons when it is in flight mode) that can deal massive damage to your AC.
3. It possesses an energy shield-like mechanism, which often activates when it launches itself in the air and uses a red-colored laser to target a single player. After that, Exusia activates its flight mode and transforms its side claw weapons into large wing energy blades/destructive laser beams. It will then fly about the map like the story mode version, while firing blue Ootheca missiles at you. At the same time, Exusia will usually fly around while tilted to one side, meaning one of its side claws wing blades would act as a destructive laser beam streaming across the ground.
4. After a while of flying, Exusia will charge back onto the ground, stretching its side claws out front (this would often kill an AC outright if hit directly) and resume normal ground-based combat, before it takes a certain amount of punishment and will fly up again to attack you from the air.

In Verdict Day, Exusia also makes an appearance as a Multiplayer Special Sortie boss fight. This version is far more powerful than its predecessors and can decimate an entire team of ACs if they're not careful

1. For starters, this version has an insane amount of AP (900000 to be exact, close to a million AP!) and it's defense stats have also been greatly increased. Possessing over 1000 KE defense, over 5000 CE defense & over 1000 TE defense, it renders nearly all kinds of general purpose weapons useless against it.
2. Weaponry on this one has also become even more deadly. It possesses a powerful focus laser beam cannon, that can stun even the hardiest ACs. This weapon is far more powerful than the plasma cannon used by its predecessors and can easily destroy lightweight ACs at one go. On top of this, it also sports the same energy shield mechanism that the multiplayer version of ACV Exusia did, and this can also be used as an extremely powerful 'Boson Drive' cannon, this can easily one-shot kill even heavy ACs. It also possesses blue-colored circular missile pods which it frequently uses, this also has a deadly amount of stun effect and also cannot be shot down by CIWS. The side claws wing blade weapons are also retained in this version.
3. Just like the multiplayer version of ACV, it also will launch itself high into the air to activate its energy shield before using a red-laser beam to target a certain player before transforming into flight mode. When in flight mode, it will also use its clawed wings as destructive laser beam weapons that can glide across the surface due to it flying tilted (just like the ACV version).
4. After flying for a short time, it will then charge back to the ground, stretching its clawed wings to the front to perform a deadly charge attack. It will then resume ground combat employing its focus beam cannon and missile pods.

Strategy

Note that Exusia doesn't have any real defensive advantages against any of the three weapon types, so any mech build that you've made will be at least moderately effective. Rifles, Battle Rifles and other good, rapid fire weapons are useful against Exusia. Also due to its mobility and power, an AC with speed is necessary to keep up with it and dodge the attacks.

The Exusia can be easily beat by equipping two H.E.A.T Pile Drivers to an AC with moderate speed, just simply wait for the Exusia to use its dash attack then when it stopped attack with both H.E.A.T Pile Drivers. It should be destroyed with just that.

ACV's Multiplayer version of Exusia is however, harder to deal with in comparison to the story mode version. Due to it possessing higher AP & upgraded weapons, a single AC will have trouble taking it down alone. It's recommended to have a team to fight alongside you. However, this version still possesses the same weakness as the story mode Exusia, namely in KE & CE defense. Thus, the weapons best recommended to use are rifles or battle rifles. KE/CE missiles will also work well against it. Tanks with fully-specced out autocannons also work well against it.

After it takes a certain amount of punishment, it will then launch itself into the air and activate an energy shield, rendering him invincible to your attacks. While it charges its shield, it will also use a red-laser beam to target/lock-on to a certain player's AC. Once it has fully locked-on to a target, then it will transform itself into its flight mode, turning the clawed wings it has on its sides to destructive laser beams that strew across the surface while it flies slightly tilted. Avoiding the laser beams is top priority, as getting hit by it will more often than not one-shot kill an AC. During this time, it will also fire the blue missiles similar to the one fired by the Oothecas. These missiles are rather weak so you need not pay attention to this.

After flying for a while, Exusia will then charge back to the ground, stretching its side claws to the front to execute a deadly charge attack (being directly hit by this will also one-shot kill an AC, but getting clipped by the attack won't outright destroy it). After that, it resumes normal ground combat, blasting away with its plasma cannons and gatling guns. Do note that at this time the energy shield is still up, meaning that during this time, he will not sustain any damage no matter how many times you shoot him. The only way to disable it is to either wait it out or overwhelm it with sheer firepower. Waiting it out is often time-consuming, as it usually won't disable its shield until a period of time has passed. If you want to kill it fast, the only way to break his shield is to overwhelm it with sheer firepower. To this end, having a team with tank ACs having fully-specced out autocannons would be the most effective method. It IS also possible to destroy it using only H.E.A.T pile drivers, but do note that since this Exusia never really stalls unless it's charging it's energy shield while in the air (and is quite difficult to reach him while he's in the air), meaning you will have to charge at him normally and wait till he is close enough to launch your attack.

In Verdict Day, Exusia appears as a Special Sortie boss. It fights similarly to the ACV multiplayer version and the strategy to defeat him isn't much different from the one used to defeat that version. The only difference is that it sports a massive amount of AP and increased defense stats. Having a team full of tank ACs equipped with high power autocannons would be the way to beat him, as it will overwhelm his energy shield and disable it. Other high power KE weapons would work against it as despite its increased defense stats, the KE defense on it is still not enough to compensate for sustained autocannon fire. As Exusia's weapons mainly deal TE & KE damage, using a tank AC that is capable to withstanding constant punishment from him will also help reduce the damage taken from it.

Gallery

Exusia's defense stat scan data

Exusia enters the battlefield

Exusia activates its energy shield

Trivia

• Exusia's appearance is strikingly similar to "boss" ACs from previous Armored Core games, such as IBIS and Nine-ball Seraph.
• Exusia is Greek for "Power." In Christian angelology, the exusiai are the "Authorities", the angels who supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies. The exusiai also oversee power and authority given to humans, such as kings, reflecting the Corporation's involvement in establishing Don Tyrell and Cesar Venide as the leaders of their respective territories. Furthermore, they are the 6th ranked angels, and Chief has an upside-down motif with his Hanged Man's emblem; if you turn a 6 upside down, it becomes a 9.
• Exusia's build seems to bear a resemblance to the Scavengers you meet throughout the story mode, having high agility, missiles, lasers, and a charge attack.
• The ACVD Link archive secret reports on the unidentified weapons confirms that Exusia is powered by a generator that uses special particles that allow for powerful bursts of movement as well as a defensive barrier. This particle is extremely hazardous to the surrounding environment. It shares this trait with the N-WGIX/v and LiV.
• Exusia and LiV were made to be "anti-Special Weapons".
• The red Exusia uses red Kojima Particles. How different they are to normal Kojima Particles is currently unknown.