If you are stuck on the big ass chopper at the end of the Armored Core 6’s prologue, then you are in the right place.

If you are like me, you blasted through the first level of Armored Core 6. Steamrolling all those that stood in your way until that is, you reached the final downed AC. Then, you were obliterated by the heavy chopper that swooped in and unleashed a barrage of missiles. Then you probably restarted the checkpoint and again got your ass handed to you on a platter. I am here to give you some tips on making this fight a little more manageable, if not outright easy.

After completing the first mission, you can replay them, including the prologue. Which is locked to the starting “Loader 4” build AC, so you cannot use custom builds. You must utilize your right-hand rifle, right-shoulder rockets, and left-hand sword. In Armored Core 6, there is a stun mechanic that leaves foes open to heavy damage, which helps take this frustrating foe down fast.

Here’s what I found works best. After initiating the search and the dialogue starts, make your way to the building on your left. As soon as the chopper is in range, be sure to target lock on it. Move in as close and under it as possible, as I found this helps avoid most of its attacks. If and when the chopper moves away, do your best to stay close or move behind cover, jumping and dashing to avoid attacks. Continuously blast with your rifle and missiles until the chopper gets staggered. If you are close enough to do so, utilize melee attacks, you will deal massive damage. I found this to be very effective, and I adopted it into a much more aggressive in-your-face approach rather than a defensive ranged one.

The heavy chopper’s behavior is very sporadic and hard to predict, even to the point where it can back out of the playable area where you cannot follow. This means this strategy won’t work at all times, but you can take cover and wait for it to return.

For you visual learners, I have included a video of me taking it down twice with somewhat different results. The 2nd time was one of the fastest and netted me an “S” rank on the mission.

Did you have a hard time with this first boss? Did a different strategy work for you? Let us know in the comments.