Armored Core 6 Arena & OS Tuning System Explained

As a mercenary on Rubicon 3, there are plenty of ways to keep yourself busy. Along with going out and completing contract jobs and sortieing on missions, you can also spend your time fighting in the Arena, earning COAM, OST Chips and experience in your AC. If you were wondering how the Arena and OS Tuning system work in Armored Core 6, here’s the lowdown.

What is the Arena in Armored Core 6?

In AC6, the Arena is essentially where you can practice 1v1 combat with other ACs, and pit your builds and skills against theirs. This isn’t a multiplayer mode, but it can help get you prepared for some intense battles. You can also earn COAM and what are called OST Chips, which will allow you to further customize and improve your AC.

The Arena is set up based on your ranking as a pilot, meaning that you’re only able to take on other ACs within the same rank as you. When you first unlock the mode after investigating the BAWS Arsenal or collecting the Combat Logs, you’ll only be able to fight the ACs that are ranked F, but win all the fights you can to unlock more difficult ACs further in the story.

Each fight will be with a different pilot and a different build of AC, so not only will you get to play around with your own mech, but you can see what weapons you might be interested in trying for yourself based on how they hurt. If you’re struggling with an entirely different boss, you can also come in to the Arena just to train your skills with different weapons so you know what works the best.

How Do You Use the OS Tuning System in AC6?

Unlocking the Arena also unlocks the ability to tune your Operating System for your AC. This allows access to a bunch of various different customization features for your mech including Core Expansions, System Unlocks, and upgrades for your attacks and defenses.

To use any of these features, you can spend OST Chips, which you earn through beating enemy ACs in the Arena. Each fight rewards you with varying amounts of COAM, but 2 OST Chips per win. After you’ve got some saved up, you can head into the OS Tuning menu to see what modifications you can make.

You can unlock aspects of your system like aiming manually, quick turns or a powerful kick at the end of your boost, and this is where you get to play around with the different Core Expansions. You can use these upgrades to massively swing the course of a fight, with shields to protect yourself with or higher damage from direct hits with your weapons.

Both the Arena and the OS Tuning system are key parts of mastering your AC in the game. You can train around in the Arena, but get rewarded for it in different ways to further improve your mech. While it might feel like there’s a lot to keep track of, fully utilizing these features will make the rest of your gameplay both more dynamic and more approachable.

That’s all there is to the Arena and OS Tuning System in Armored Core 6. Once you’ve got them unlocked, you can play around with different combinations of upgrades, or just fight to save up and get as many as possible. Either way, if you need any more guides for AC6, don’t forget to keep checking back here.