Armored Core 6: Difference between Total Load and Arm Load explained

Don't skip Arm Day.

Armored Core 6 allows you to customize an AC (mech) in almost every way possible—generators, weapons, operating system upgrades, boosters, and even rust and scuffs from battle. The end to the means is to make your mech as formidable as possible in battle, and, of course, there is way more than just one way to achieve this.

Naturally, customization means making trade-offs. An objective best weapon or part is never any fun. In Armored Core 6, the trade-offs are many and can become somewhat tricky to navigate—you’ll have to be aware of your mech’s energy usage, but a larger generator to increase energy means added weight. Added weight means needing heavier legs, which in turn means clunkier movement. It sounds complicated (and it sort of is), but after tweaking stuff around for a while, you should get the hang of it.

You don’t just have to worry about your AC’s total weight, however. Just like the human body, the total amount of weight a mech can carry is very different from the amount of weight its arms can carry.

The Armored Core 6 Assembly menu has almost 20 different stats on it, and each one is important for how your mech operates. When customizing your AC and selecting new parts, you will see at the bottom of your screen a stat labeled “Current Load” followed by a slider that indicates how close you are to reaching the maximum weight your AC can handle.

Related: Armored Core 6: How to increase EN Load in AC6

What you won’t see here is Current Arm Load—and this is just as important. You’ll have to select the “Toggle Display” option in order to see your AC’s Current Arm Load and how close you are to reaching that limit. Arm Load fluctuates according to the weight of the weapons you have equipped, which contributes to both Arm Load and Total Load.

If your AC is overburdened, you won’t be able to depart on missions—unless you’ve taken a specific OS Tuning. If just your mech’s arms are overburdened, but the Total Load is still within its limit, you will be able to go on missions, but your performance will suffer.

Related: Armored Core 6: All stats in AC6 explained

Arm Load affects your AC’s ability to aim and track targets. If your mech is carrying weapons that are too heavy for its arms to support, you will have a much harder time keeping your reticle focused on your targets. This, of course, prevents you from actually landing as many shots, leading to less damage and negating the whole reason you wanted heavier weapons in the first place.

You can increase your AC’s Arm Load Limit by equipping stronger arms. Keep in mind that stronger arms are heavier arms and will increase your Total Load as well as the amount of power required to operate.

Arm Load is cumulative in Armored Core 6, meaning it is the total weight of the weapons in each arm. If there is a heavy weapon you really want to equip, you won’t necessarily need heavier arms—you may be able to stay within the limit of your current pair by equipping a much lighter weapon in your AC’s other hand. Again, the name of the game is “compromise”. You cannot have it all in Armored Core 6.

Related: Armored Core 6: All arm weapons in AC6

Freelance writer, playwright, actor, and jack-of-all-games.