Armored Core 6 Arena and OS Tuning System Explained

There are many ways to bring the pain to other mechs in Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. From advancing the game’s complex story to battling other players in the Nest, a lot is going on. The Arena system offers a break from both of those activities. In it, the player goes head to head against custom ACs in 1v1 duels. By doing so, they unlock unique perks through the OS Tuning system. Like most things in this beautiful FromSoftware game, there’s more to the Arena and OST than meets the eye. Here’s everything players need to know about the Arena and OS Tuning.

How Does the Armored Core 6 Arena Work?

Armored Core 6 contains three major gameplay modes: story mode, the Nest, and the Arena. The first is a scripted story divided into missions, while the second is the game’s online PvP offering. In a way, the Arena is a fusion of both. The Arena consists of a series of 1v1 battles against AI-controlled mechs. Many of them play a crucial role in the game’s story, and all of them are unique. These battles are divided into lettered ranks. With each battle, the player works their way closer to their final goal: S Rank.

Only one rank is available at a time. For example, the player must finish all of the E-rank battles before proceeding to D-rank. Clearing all the battles at a given rank isn’t enough to open new fights, however. Only by completing chapters in story mode can the player unlock additional ranks. Arena battles scale in difficulty, and it’s a good idea to tackle Arena battles at the same pace that they become available. The player can bring their usual AC to these battles, but there’s one big difference. The Arena disables Repair Kits: if you run out of AP, it’s game over.

OS Tuning System Explained

The primary reward for beating Arena missions is OS Tuning points. Each victory against a new opponent in the Arena grants OST points that the player can spend to customize their AC in Armored Core 6. Some OS upgrades, like Manual Aiming, are full-featured, one-time purchases. Others, such as the various bonuses to weapon damage, the player purchases in increments, allowing them to specialize however they’d like.

There aren’t enough OST points in Armored Core 6 to buy everything at once. Fortunately, the player can pay a small amount of COAM to respec their spent OST points. That means there’s no reason not to try wild ideas. If they don’t pan out the way you planned, you can always start over from scratch. Between OS Tuning, parts, weapons, and paint, there’s an almost endless variety of ACs you can build in the newest gem from the developer of Elden Ring.

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.