Weapon Types

AC4 Weapons — Examples of Weapons in the Universe of Armored Core 4

The capstone of any Armored Core, weapons are the means by which ACs dominate the battlefield. Indeed, the deployment of AC-scale weapons is the primary reason for fielding Armored Cores in the first place. The following is a list of weapon types introduced in various eras.

Hardpoints[]

Orbit weapons notwithstanding, most weapons in an AC's arsenal are physically attached to the AC at some connection point. Weapons in a given game can be categorized by where they attach to an AC. (Note that these categories are not necessarily universal.)

Arm Weapons: These are the mainstay of an AC's weapons. They tend to have a lot of variety and are very usable. Unlike human-scale weapons, AC Arm Weapons are made in specifically right-handed and left-handed variants.
- Right Arm Weapons: In earlier games, the Right Arm slot generally offered a greater variety of options than the Left Arm slot.
- Left Arm Weapons: Originally just a melee blade, Left Arm Weapons later get expanded into their own type until the Gen 4 games where they become identical to the Right Arm Weapons. In ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON, melee weapons are only available in the Left Arm slot.
Weapon Arms: Rather than holding or attaching weapons, some arms contain built-in weapons with their own ammo. These may offer superior firepower, lower installation requirements, and/or other benefits, but sacrifice the ability to hold any other weapon. An Armored Core built around a set of powerful weapon arms may be nearly useless in circumstances outside its intended operating parameters - or once its limited ammunition runs out.
Back Weapons: Back weapons generally offer greater firepower than arm weapons, but can be heavy and difficult to use.
Support Weapons: These weapons are usually support weapons and equipped on the AC's shoulders or core, or inside the AC.
- Extensions: Also called Shoulder Weapons, Extension units generally offer more versatility at the cost of raw offensive power.
- Hangar Weapons: Arm weapons stored in a hangar. Depending on the game, these may be small weapons stored inside the core (as in Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer), or arm weapons of any size that occupy a back weapon slot when not in use (as in ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON).

Armored Core 1 Era[]

The following weapon types were usable by First Generation Armored Cores:

Rifles: Average in all respects, rifles are the most basic weapon, afforded to all new Armored Core pilots. Rifles are effectively scaled-up versions of their infantry-carried brethren: medium firing speed, medium damage, medium-to-high ammunition reserves. A rifle fires at an average speed, with bullets that do minimal damage, but with an overall damage-per-second ratio that rates to average to below-average. Rifles are poor weapons overall, but cheap and reliable for the firepower they afford to an Armored Core.
Handguns: Like the rifle, the Handgun or pistol is essentially a very large version of its small arms counterpart. Handguns are low power, short range, low ammunition weapons, with a low bullet velocity; they are overall a poor choice, but for small weapons, they nevertheless have two significant advantages: pistols carry an above average stun, and their single shots are filled with heat, capable of very quickly overheating other ACs. These two features afford the crafty pilot some use for a Handgun against even heavy, well-armored opponents.
Machine Guns: As expected, the machine gun is exactly as it sounds: a rifle-to-pistol sized weapon that sprays a steady stream of small-to-medium sized rounds at high speed. Machine guns are short-to-medium range weapons, experiencing steadily increasing kick-back as they fire. However, a machine gun's ability to place a wall of bullets down range in a relatively short amount of time allows it to be one of the most reliable and effective weapon types in the game. The most well-known machine gun of the First Generation of Armored Cores is the WA-FINGER machine gun, a hand-shaped weapon with the "fingers" forming the barrels, hence the designation.
Sniper Rifles: The polar-opposite of the machine gun, the sniper rifle is an extremely long range, high powered rifle. Possessing little ammo and a longer reload time, sniper rifles are best used at range, though a skilled pilot can utilize a sniper rifle at mid-range and excel. Sniper rifles are poor choices for combat in enclosed spaces, such as hallways, but conversely, excel at combat in wide-open areas, such as a field.
Gatling Guns: Multiple-barreled rotary machine guns that rapidly fire bullets and have high ammo capacity.
Bazookas: Bazookas do not work on the same principles as their infantry-carried counterparts; an infantryman would, upon encountering an enemy tank or entrenched position, mount the bazooka on his shoulder, load a rocket, and fire it on a direct-fire arc. The AC version of a bazooka functions more like a scaled-up pistol, firing a medium-sized rocket at relatively low velocity, which, if it hits its mark, will cause high stun and medium-to-high damage. The bazooka's increased power over the pistol makes it a better choice, but its relatively high weight and still limited use hinders its overall effectiveness. Bazookas also come in spread form, where they function as a very powerful rocket shotgun.
Flamethrowers: A niche weapon, flamethrowers were very difficult to use, and the payoff for using them was minimal. The FCS would not lock on when utilizing a flamethrower, making it very difficult to acquire and hold a target lock on an enemy. Also, the flamethrower's damage-per-second was quite low, indicating the heat it creates with its flame was insufficient to efficiently burn through AC-grade armor.
Laser Rifles: A staple armament of the Armored Core, the laser rifle is a high efficiency weapon, with a medium fire rate, high power-per-shot, and zero ammunition cost. Laser rifles burn through enemy armor, and are an effective anti-AC weapon. A poster weapon of the Armored Core series is the KARASAWA weapons line, a class of high-power, long-range laser rifles that can shred enemy forces in seconds.
Laser Cannons: Scaled up laser rifles, the laser cannon is a high-output energy cannon of remarkable power, though it does not possess the same destructive ability as a grenade launcher; laser cannons serve as the more ammunition-efficient version alternative to said grenade launchers. It can be inferred of Armored Core laser technology that it is based on chemical or particle laser technology, as normal lasers would have no destructive effect.
Pulse Rifles: In simple terms, the pulse rifle functions somewhere in a happy medium between the speed of a machine gun, the power of a rifle, and the size and weight of a pistol. In practice, the pulse rifle is largely more akin to a rifle than either the machine gun or pistol. The pulse rifle makes for an excellent mission weapon, with its zero-cost (and medium amount of) ammo and relatively high damage-per-second, but it is not efficient for arena-play.
Pulse Cannons: Scaled up pulse rifles, pulse cannons serve as energy-firing contemporaries to the chain gun, though they lack the same level of spontaneous firepower and the rotating barrels. "Pulse" weaponry can be assumed to be ion pulse, which would explain the behavior of the energy pulses as they fire.
Laser Blades: Exactly as they sound, a laser blade is composed of an emitter mounted on the Armored Core's wrist, which, when activated and in use, briefly emits a high-intensity beam of energy. This beam can cut through almost any enemies, and even the lowest grade laser blade can outclass many projectile weapons in power. The MOONLIGHT class is the brother weapon to the KARASAWA, possessing extreme power and ability.
Missiles: Missiles are exactly the same for Armored Cores as they are today; guided rockets equipped with warheads that track their targets and explode upon impact with a solid object, whether its an enemy or a wall. Missiles come in several varieties: "Small" missiles, which are light, medium power warheads which follow their target and explode upon impact. "Middle" missiles are essentially the same, but are more powerful, about equal to a small rocket. "Large" missiles are cruise missile-sized weapons capable of laying waste to enemies with their firepower and blast radius. Multi-fire missile launchers are missile launchers which fire a predetermined number of missiles on a single lock, usually between two and four. Multi-warhead missiles are missiles which, when a predetermined distance between the missile and the enemy is reached, split into several missiles; another missile type, ground torpedoes, works on the same principle, but travels as a small pod, which splits into low-flying missiles. Lastly, there are vertical missiles, which fire upwards in a climbing arc before dropping back down to hit their target.
Rockets: Rockets are similar to missiles, but fire faster projectiles, have a shorter reload, and do more damage per warhead. However, rockets are unguided, and do not lock on with the Armored Core's FCS, meaning the pilot must manually aim and fire the weapon. Rockets come in three varieties: small, medium, and large.
Bomb Dispensers - Bomb dispensers are weapons that drop explosives.
Chain Guns: Chain guns in game usually are multi-barreled cannons, though this is not the case with actual chain guns which are single barrel by design, firing rifle-sized or above bullets. The barrels rotate at high speed, the cannon firing a bullet through each as it comes through the top most opening; by rotating the barrels, the heat build up is distributed between multi barrels. This allows for increases in the firing rate of the weapon. A chain gun can shred enemies, and possess the firepower to effectively eliminate enemies, including Armored Cores. It is a misconception that a chain gun's name comes from the 'chain' of bullets feeding the weapon; the ammo is actually referred to as a belt not a chain. The name Chain gun is a trademark for 'externally powered machine gun' which are chain driven, unlike multi-barreled weapons such as Gatling guns and Miniguns. Weapons such as miniguns are normally driven by electric motors and have no need for a chain.
Slug Guns: A slug gun is, in essence, a back-mounted, cannon-sized shotgun of extreme power. However, unless an enemy is exceptionally close, the slug gun's effectiveness is limited immensely. This makes the slug gun a very high-risk high-reward weapon in combat, and an inefficient choice of weapons for missions.
Grenade Launchers: Though called a "grenade," grenade launchers bear little in common with their counterparts used by infantry; the infantry grenade is a small, hand-thrown or rifle-launched explosive, while the Armored Core's grenade is a high-explosive artillery shell launched from a large-caliber cannon. Grenade launchers serve as a symbolic weapon of Armored Cores with their high power and large blast radius. A single grenade is typically sufficient to destroy almost any non-Armored Core enemy in a single blast.
Grenade Rifles: Scaled down grenade launchers. They are very mobile and still powerful, but have limited ammo capacity.
Plasma Cannons - Plasma is the fourth state of matter, or matter superheated to intense temperature. In weapon-form, it is fired in a "blob" suspended in a magnetic field. Plasma weapons serve as the energy version of grenades, though they trade the blast radius for zero-cost ammunition that is more mission-friendly.
Linear Guns - Cannons which fired high-speed rounds at their targets. It did not appear that the rounds had a warhead, and, combined with the name of the weapon and the nature of its rounds, it can be strongly inferred that linear guns were railguns. It should be noted that there was a weapon in Armored Core 3 called a "linear cannon" that actually fired large energy bursts; it could be assumed that it was a typo, since, in later games, the designation is rectified, listing the weapon as a laser cannon.
Missile Interceptor Guns - A unique core-install weapon. The aforementioned anti-missile system consists of a gun turret installed in the front of the core that automatically intercepts any missiles that have approached it the front direction. Missile interceptor guns are the most basic form of missile defense: they do not consume any energy of Generators and have an unlimited ammo, but in turn have specifically limited coverage range and exhibit the least probability of capturing a missile compared to the dedicated defense systems (such as the extension anti-missile launchers). Missile interceptor guns are installed in every core of PS1 trilogy games, Emeraude's cores and Crest Industries' cores.
General Magazines: These back-mounted units contained various kinds of ammunition for the AC's armaments, and, in gameplay terms, flatly increased the available ammunition for all of an AC's weapons by a certain percentage (including 10%, 20%, 30%, and 60%, through the various AC generations).
Radar: Exactly as they sound, back radars served as alternatives to the radars already equipped in most AC heads. Though they have increased range over the head radar, it's usually preferable to equip another weapon if possible, or to leave the slot empty for decreased weight.
Stealth: A unique "weapon," stealth units were double back weapons which temporarily hid the equipping AC from radar and lock-on. These could be used for a significant tactical advantage in player-versus-player combat, although it does not seem that the AI were particularly affected by the lock-on disruption.

Armored Core 2 Era[]

Also added during the Second Generation were several new weapon types, which consisted of:

Shotguns: Though slug guns were present in the First Generations, handheld shotguns did not appear until the second. Shotguns are straightforward weapons, functioning identically to their human-held counterparts; a rifle-sized weapon firing a spread of small bullets, doing proportionally higher damage as the distance between the target and shooter decreases.
Spread Bazookas - A shoulder-mounted bazooka type that fire split explosive rounds.
Energy Machine Guns - Machine guns that have very fast continuous fire energy projectiles.
Plasma Rifles - Scaled down plasma cannons. Lower damager but lighter weight.
Pursuit Missiles: A remarkably unique weapon, pursuit missiles are designed to produce a hail of ordinance fire on demand. To that effect, they are designed to launch a missile pod, which will promptly fire a barrage of small missiles at the intended target. On an interesting note, the pod itself did significant damage, at least the sum of every missile it launched, if not more. A valid tactic, therefore, would be to simply hit an enemy with the pod, though their low ammo count made this somewhat impractical considering that they were manually aimed.
Napalm Missiles - A special type of missile that sets a target on fire, if it hits.
Ground Torpedoes - Another unique type of missile that fires a low flying warhead that splits into 4 missiles when close to the target. Due to their trajectory and speed of the missiles, they're somewhat difficult for anti-missiles to shoot down.
Hand Missile - Arm-mounted version of the small missile launcher.
Relation Missiles - A missile that it can fire when other guided missiles are launched.
Anti Missiles - Missiles used for suppress missiles like missile interception guns.
Multi-Fire Rockets - A simple modification, these are rocket launchers which fire more than one rocket in varying patterns, depending on the launcher used. Some patterns used would include a circular spread, successive firing, and a flat, side-by-side formation.
ECM Rockets: Rockets which adversely affected the enemy's ability to utilize radar and FCS aiming. Still rocket type weapons, ECM rockets required manual aiming just as regular rockets do, and were therefore rather difficult to utilize effectively.
Hand Rocket - Arm-mounted version of the small rocket launcher.
Energy Shields - Energy shields were relatively similar to laser blades, in that they were also mounted on the left arm and and are about the same size and weight. Shields, however, were a toggle weapon, which, when on, absorbed a significant amount of damage to the forward areas of the Armored Core, and also, if aimed correctly, would deflect an enemy laser blade attack. Though the damage absorbing capabilities of the shields were impressive, the constant energy drain when in use and the removal of a critical weapon (the laser blade) lowered the weapon's effectiveness somewhat.
Orbit Cannons - Working on a similar principle as missiles, orbit cannons locked on to their targets almost instantly. Upon firing, the weapon launched several semi-autonomous drones, which rapidly circled their target, firing many medium-power lasers at it in quick succession and continuing until they ran out of power and self-destruct or the target was eliminated.
Plasma Dispenser - An inside part that launches plasma bombs.
Mine Dispenser - An inside part that launches floating mines.
Rear Vulcan - An inside part that fires backward.
Decoy Dispensers - Inside parts that fire decoys for enemy missiles.
ECM Makers - Inside parts that disrupt enemy locks.
Back Boosters - Extension parts that move the AC back and retreat quickly.
Dive Booster - An extension part that moves the AC down quickly.
Turn Boosters - Extension parts used for rapid turns.
Additional Armor - An extension part for improved defense.

Armored Core 3 Era[]

Assault Rifles - Assault rifles fired bullets in three-round burst, but otherwise behaved identically to normal rifles. It should be noted that several variations of existing weapons were added in the Third Generation bearing the "assault" designation, all of which fire in bursts, usually of three.
Howitzers - An interesting weapon, howitzers were some of the most difficult weapons to utilize in the game. Howitzers, like rockets, did not lock on with the FCS of the Armored Core. Unlike, rockets however, which have three red lines marking the travel path of the rocket, howitzers were utterly manual, required the pilot to "eyeball it." This made howitzers, though exceptionally powerful, extremely useless, with the exception of the left-arm howitzers, which used the right-arm weapon's lock on. Howitzers were, in terms of mechanics, small artillery weapons, firing what looked like small, glowing shells which traveled on arcing shot patterns, and which exploded on impact. Howitzers came in three types: standard, napalm, and split, which fired one shot which split into several more when in close proximity to a target.
Parry Blades - Weapons which use a powerful drive system to force a hard, dense, and very sharp solid-metal blade into an opponent, doing incredible damage. It can be inferred that "parry" comes from the intention of using the blade to attack an enemy attempting a laser blade strike; however, unlike laser blades, parry blades do not automatically track and adjust the Armored Core's position to hit, and have a delay before hitting, making them extremely difficult to hit with. The high power of parry blades can offset this, and makes them a good choice for slow moving or stationary targets with high health; however, laser blades are also good for the same task, and are useful for other targets as well, giving parry blades limited effectiveness overall.
Hi-Act Missiles - High-mobility missiles, hi-act missiles come in both straight-arc and vertical forms, and are able to track enemies much better than standard missiles.
Stealth Missiles - Stealth missiles were able to ignore enemy AMS, and simply travel straight to the enemy unhindered; enemy core AM guns and AM lasers or missiles Another example of a Third Generation Armored Core: a lightweight biped with the Third Generation Karasawa laser rifle, laser blade, extension stealth units, and back unit additional boosters would not react to stealth missiles, though they could still be seen on radar, dodged, and be attracted to decoys.
Burst Missiles - Odd weapons, these missiles flew like their vertical missile cousins; then, when they reached the air above their target, they showered it with hot bomblets, causing large amounts of damage and heating their victims by huge amounts. However, burst missiles had low accuracy against all but slow moving or stationary enemies.
Napalm Rockets - Rockets that set targets on fire.
Generator Jams - Inside parts that launch generator disruption rockets.
Quartet Cannons - Back unit weapons with a double-barreled cannon on each shoulder. The disadvantages are that they take both two back unit slots and consume an amount of EN.
Exceed Orbits - A type of orbit weapons and cores. These emerge from the users core in place of an Over Boost and follow the AC using it, providing additional support. These range from weak, fast firing machine gun-like rounds, to heavy cannon shots. They also vary in ammo types, from solid rounds with limited ammo, to energy rounds that can regenerate their ammo count but constantly drain energy whilst in use. Solid EOs cannot regenerate their ammo upon depletion and become useless until the next mission.
Mine Dispensers - Different from the Armored Core 2 Era's mine dispenser, they deploy landmines instead.
Floating Mines - A rename of the Armored Core 2 Era's mine dispenser.
Solid Shields - Energy shields for the left arm were introduced in the Second Generation, as were extension solid shields. But in the Third Generation, left arm solid shields were added, which used no energy, but broke after repeated hits. On an related note, extension energy side shields were added, as well.
Stealth- Stealth continued to function in the same manner it had in the previous two generations, but it was moved from the back as a double weapon to the shoulders as an extension weapon.
Radar Jams - Inside parts that dispense radar disruption pods.
Add Boosters - Back units that increase the AC's maneuverability. They, however, take both two back unit slots and consume a lot of EN.
Multi Boosters - Multi-directional auxiliary boosters.
Hover Boosters - Extension parts that provide mid-air hovering capability.
Side Shields - A rename of the Armored Core 2 Era's additional armor.
Energy Coolers - Extension parts used for emergency cooling.
Energy Packs - Extension parts used for emergency energy recovery.
ECM Assist - An extension part that speeds up system recovery.

Armored Core: Nexus Era[]

Assault Rifles (AST) - Rather than firing bullets in three-round burst, Assault rifles starting in Armored Core: Nexus fired like standard rifles except had lower firing interval which led to their in-game description as rapid-fire rifles.
Burst Rifles - A rename of the Armored Core 3 Era's assault rifles.
Micro Missiles- A new type of ordinance launcher, micro missiles focused on a "quantity over quality" strategy in order to achieve maximum effect. Micro missiles were smaller than even "small" type missiles, leading to their apt name, and were typically launched in massive swarms of 5 to 9. These missiles, though individually weak, were able to do astonishing damage upon connection with their target, and their numbers allowed them to overwhelm even the best anti-missile systems.
Railguns - Interesting weapons, "railguns" in the Nexus Era were actually charging energy cannons. They would begin charging a shot, and then when fired they would release a high speed burst of (possibly laser) energy. They came in back-mounted and, in Last Raven, hand-held forms.
Hi-Lasers - Essentially a simple sub-classification distinction, the hi-laser weapons were merely the top power laser weapons, like the KARASAWA heavy laser rifle, given their own distinction.
Shoulder Magazines - The old back magazine "weapons", which flatly increased all weapons' ammo count by a specific percentage, were removed and replaced with these "weapons." Equipped on the shoulder, they resupplied an AC's standard or laser rifle with ammo a preset number of times with a preset amount of ammo per refill. Thusly, they were far more limited than their general ammunition ancestors.
Missile Counters - Extension parts that generate pulses to interfere with missile guidance systems like missile interceptor guns and anti missiles.

Armored Core 4 Era[]

Kojima Cannons - A special category of weapons, the Kojima Cannons use Kojima Particles to fire them in one cohesive and destructive bolt. They are capable of destroying most targets with one or two shots.
Kojima Rifles - Scaled down Kojima cannons. More mobile but deal lower damage.
Kojima Missiles - Carry a volatile Kojima payload and do significant damage upon impact. Very slow, but has a long flight time.
Kojima Blade - A Kojima equivalent of parry blades. Rapidly depletes the enemies' Primal Armor and causes an explosion upon hit.
Assault Cannon - A weapon that allows the NEXT to fire Assault Armor as a destructive projectile. It takes the Kojima Particles from the KRB system and launches them in a single direction, incredibly increasing range and power. However, it takes both two back unit slots.
Railguns - Seem to be a combination of the previous generations' linear guns and railguns. They are all hand-held weapons that fire solid bullets that also consume EN when used like energy weapons.
Railcannon - A scaled up railgun. Deals more damage but is heavier than hand-held railguns.
Dozer - A joke melee weapon similar to Parry Blades that has infinite uses and pushes the enemy back.
AS Missiles - Missiles that target an enemy automatically without any lock on necessary.
PM Missiles - Similar to the Hi-Act Missiles in that they track targets very well. They don't deal as much damage as normal missiles however.
Hi-Act Missiles - A type of missile that has a slow speed, but with high agility. Perfect for engaging enemy NEXTs with slower speeds. Not similar to Armored Core 3 Era's Hi-Act Missiles.
Relation Missile - A missile that it can fire when other guided missiles are launched.
Scatter Missiles - Similar to micro-missiles, scatter missiles fire a large number of smaller, weaker missiles.
VTF Missiles - A high-damage missile with increased agility and power.
Shock Rocket- A shoulder unit weapon that fires a rocket that does not actually explode.
Flash Rockets - Rocket shoulder units. The strong flash that occurs when the rocket hits impacts the AC's lock-on function. They do not have a lock-on function and move straight after launch.
Grenade Cannons - A rename of previous generations' back-mounted grenade launchers.
Grenade Launchers - A rename of previous generations' arm-mounted/hand-held grenade rifles.
Sniper Cannons - Essentially scaled up sniper rifles, boasting high power and high impact force, they also have high PA penetration performance, but have lower melee suitability than sniper rifles, and can easily become deadweight weapons in close combat.
Buckshot - A shoulder-mounted shotgun unit.
Flares - Shoulder units that fire heat sources to suppress missiles like the previous generations' missile interceptor guns, anti missiles, and missile counters.
PA Charger - A shoulder unit that releases Kojima particles to restore Primal Armor.
PA Molder - A shoulder unit used for strengthening Primal Armor.
Assault Amplifier - A shoulder unit that increases the power of Assault Armor.

Armored Core V Era[]

Cannons - An equivalent of previous generations' grenade launchers/cannons and grenade rifles that are hand-held and have KE attribute. Directly fire high-speed, high-power shells. A stance occurs when shooting.
H.E.A.T. Cannons - Another equivalent of previous generations' grenade launchers/cannons and grenade rifles that are hand-held and fire large caliber CE bullets and have very good firepower, but the bullet speed is extremely slow.
Autocannons - KE attribute guns similar to machine guns and chain guns that instantly cause massive damage by firing all at once. A stance occurs when shooting.
Battle Rifles - An equivalent of bazookas from the previous games that deal CE-type damage.
H.E.A.T. Machine Guns - CE attribute machine guns that rapidly fire explosive bullets.
H.E.A.T. Howitzers - A type of howitzers that fire multiple CE-attribute high-explosive bullets with a unique parabolic trajectory.
Pulse Machine Guns - TE attribute machine guns that rapidly fire pulse projectiles.
CIWSs - Shoulder unit type that automatically intercept missiles similar to the previous generations' missile interceptor guns, anti missiles and missile counters. They can be turned on and off, and when activated they automatically recognize approaching missiles and shoots them down.
Physical Blades - Blades entirely and completely made of physical materials that deal KE-type damage.
H.E.A.T. Pile Drivers - An equivalent of parry blades and Kojima blades from the previous games. Attack with an explosive CE stake.
KE Missiles - Missile type that does damage by delivering the kinetic energy into a target. KE missiles have wide variety of different types.
CE Missiles - Missile that delivers a chemical payload. Has fairly good tracking and can fire many in a short period of time.
TE Missiles/Plasma Missiles - A special missile type similar to KE VTF Missiles, they explode nearby a target and unleash a plasma field which damages opponents. These missile have a high resistance to missile interception technology, and have overall good tracking.
H.E.A.T. Rockets - CE attribute rocket shoulder units. Have high attack power. Do not have a lock-on function and move straight after launch.
Sentry Guns - An equivalent of orbit cannons from the previous games. Launch autonomous turrets to attack enemy craft.
Auto-Attack Guns - An equivalent of exceed orbits from the previous games. KE attribute weapons that automatically recognize enemy craft within a certain range and attacks them.
Physical Shields - A rename of the Armored Core 3 and Nexus Eras' solid shields, they have been completely revamped. Instead of decreasing the amount of damage that an AC takes, it has its own AP and absorbs damage completely until it has been depleted. Much like the damage types it is split into three types: KE, CE and TE.
Target Guns - Have almost no power by themselves (the attack power of the KE attribute is set), but the enemy craft they hit can be locked on as normal even if they get between obstacles. In addition, green smoke rises from enemy craft that are hit, making it easier to detect them visually.
Jammers - Parts that inject a small device that interferes with AC behavior. They are controlled by the FCS, which limits the maximum number that can be installed at the same time.
Optical Chaffs - Shoulder unit type that prevents lock-on from enemies. When used, the pilot can delay the lock-on time for a certain period of time.
Subcomputers - Shoulder unit type that enhances the heads' analysis function and FCS's performance. They also have a certain effect on nearby friendly aircraft.
Energy Amplifiers - Shoulder units that improve the performance of TE weapons.
UAVs - Shoulder units that launch a camera unit into the sky and conduct reconnaissance.
Ultimate Weapons - Oversized weapons equipped at the back of the AC. When used, the AC receives damage overtime and has to use them instantly and precisely.

ARMORED CORE VI Era[]

Coral Rifles - A special type of weapons that use Coral Swarm Intelligence. When charged up, they make a chain of explosions or fire a Coral Beam when fully charged.
Coral Oscillators - A Coral equivalent of laser blades that enhance the damage.
Coral Missile Launcher - Slow missiles with low speed and maneuverability. When charged, it turns into smaller missiles that tracks the enemy target.
Coral Shield - A type of shields that protect incoming damage in a 360-degree sphere of protection.
Burst Rifle - A rifle type that normally fires a single shot, but when charged up, it can fire 3 bullets in 3-round burst.
Burst Assault Rifle - A rename of the Armored Core: Nexus Era's burst rifles.
Burst Machine Gun - A machine gun type that fires 4 shots in 4-round burst.
Burst Handgun - A handgun type that fires 2 shots in 2-round burst.
Needle Gun - A handgun type that fires needle-like bullets instead of regular ones, dealing more damage.
Stun Gun - A handgun type that fires electrified shots to stun enemies. Can cause "Electric Discharge" effect.
Detonating Bazooka - A bazooka type that fires a chain of explosive rounds.
Bomb Launchers - A rename and hand-held version of bomb dispensers from the previous games. Have three variants: the Napalm Bomb Launcher that fires incendiary bombs and produces "ACS Anomaly" effect, the Stun Bomb Launcher that fires electrical bombs capable of stunning enemy craft, and the Jammer Bomb Launcher that fires bombs capable of inflicting the "Camera Disruption" status effect, which affects targets in multiple ways depending on their position in relation to the cloud.
Explosive Thrower - Another rename and left arm-attached version of bomb dispensers from the previous games. Arranges the spray of projectiles into a vertical spread when using the charged attack.
Laser Shotguns - A laser weapon type the fires scatter laser projectiles similar to shotguns. Can be charged up to concentrate the laser to make a beam of laser that makes explosions or produce a thrusting spike of energy.
Diffuse Laser Cannon - A scaled up laser shotgun and also an equivalent of the previous generations' solid slug guns. Can be charged up that fires a beam that explodes on contact.
Laser Handgun - A handgun that fires laser bolts. Can be charged up that fires a burst of laser beams.
Multi-Energy Rifle - A special type of rifle that can fire both laser and plasma projectiles.
Laser Dagger - A laser blade with a shorter blade and lighter weight.
Laser Slicer - A double-bladed laser blade with more continuity in attack. Can deflect incoming projectiles when using the charge attack if the pilot is skilled enough.
Pulse Blade - A blade that uses pulse energy instead. Uses PA Interference to destroy Pulse Armor and pulse shields.
Light Wave Blade - Laser-pulse blade capable of firing blade waves like some laser blades from the previous games.
Chainsaw - A new type of melee weapon with high continuity in attack. While charged state, it deals continuous damage before it can push a target to accumulate stagger.
Stun Baton - A new type of melee weapon that stuns enemies upon hit.
Pile Bunker - A rename of the Armored Core V Era's H.E.A.T. pile drivers, now capable of using the charged attack.
Laser Lance - A new type of melee weapon that has its own built-in boosters and is used for thrusting enemies.
Plasma Thrower - A new type of weapon similar to infantry's flails. Attacks by swinging a flail attached to a plasma cord. Capable of creating plasma bombs and deflecting incoming projectiles when charged up. Can able to perform a 2-hit stagger if hit perfectly.
Active Homing Missile Launchers - A type of missile that contains a high-explosive payload, with slow maneuverability.
Cluster Missile Launcher- A missile that releases a cluster payload. Can release payload in three strafing passes before exploding.
Container Missile Launcher - A type of container missile that releases micro missiles, perfect for indirect attack.
Detonating Missile Launcher - A type of missile that creates a chain of explosives for suppressive fire within in a high trajectory, even the missile was evaded.
Siege Missile Launcher - A type of missile that lingers for a while after launch and propels into a target that allows the user to surround their intended target single-handedly.
Needle Missile Launcher - A first ever guided missile that deals kinetic damage. Low tracking ability, can fire on a straight line.
Light Wave Cannon - A laser-pulse missile that fires homing light wave projectiles.
Pulse Missile Launcher - A type of missile that uses PA Interference to destroy Pulse Armor and pulse shields.
Stun Needle Launcher - A back unit weapon that fires electrified stakes capable of stunning enemies and creating electrified fields. Can be used as an Anti-Ice Worm weapon as it can destroy Coral shielding with electrical interference with one shot.
Gatling Cannon - A back-mounted version of Gatling guns.
Orbits - A rename and back-mounted version of exceed orbits from Armored Core 3 and Nexus Eras' exceed orbits. Can be deactivated if overheated or staggered by an enemy.
Laser Turret - One of the two renames of orbit cannons from the previous games. Launch slow-moving drones that fire lasers before exploding.
Laser Drone - One of the two renames of orbit cannons from the previous games. Launch a swarm of fast-moving drones the fire lasers before depleting. While charged, it can form into two drones that deal more damage.
Pulse Shields - A rename and left back-mounted version of the previous generations' energy shields. Can be deactivated if overheated or staggered by an enemy, but it does not deplete AP while activated. They have 2 variants: Pulse Bucklers that have high Initial Guard output or long Initial Guard duration, and the Pulse Sanctum that must remain idle for a short time after deployment to exhibit its true potential and provides higher damage mitigation than IG.
Pulse Shield Launcher - A back unit weapon that launch pulse shields. Enemies coming into contact can cause ACS strains.