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How to Use Core Expansion in Armored Core 6 – Best Core Expansion

An Armor with a significant impact

As Armored Core 6 is all about what weapons you choose to take with you into battle based on your combative capabilities of playing on the offence or defence, you should not never neglect your armor. But with no indication of where you can get armor from, especially when your mech is covered in armor to begin with, the Core Expansions act as a function to increase your attacking or defensive stats with a temporary boost of power that can be an absolute game changer on the battlefield. This is Vincent’s guide on everything you need to know about Core Expansions in Armored Core 6.

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How to Unlock Core Expansions in Armored Core 6

Core Expansions act as a limited-use ability in AC6. It can be incredibly helpful to use in dire moments that may normally result in a game over. Similar to the Ember in Dark Souls in that it temporarily boosts your life source for a short duration of time. In AC6, this duration lasts for a total of 10s. There are a total of 4 Core Expansions in Armored Core 6 – Assault, Pulse, Protection, and Terminal. Each Expansion has its own special ability that can be used mid-fight to change the momentum of the battle in your favor. They can help you get out of situations that the boost or dodge roll cannot. The purpose of the Expansions is to offer either an offensive or defensive boost for a 10s duration that aids the AC in winning the fight.

Core Expansions are unlocked via OST Chips. In order to get these Chips however, you will find them upon completing Arena Missions. Each Expansion requires a different amount of Chips to unlock and can be upgraded further using another set of OST Chips.

Related: How to Use Pulse Armor in Armored Core 6.

Best Core Expansion in AC6

For those wondering, the best Core Expansion to use in Armored Core 6 is the Assault Armor. This creates a pulse explosion around your AC which does not damage you but damages any enemy in close proximity to your mech. The Assault provides great offensive capabilities which are great for those either using a defensive build or a more balanced loadout. It is extremely helpful in providing damage against enemies when you are reloading and can be used in replace of missile launchers, where you can use handguns installed into your shoulder blades instead of launchers with the Weapons Bay. In a way, the Assault Armor provides the support of the Pulse Armor whilst dealing out damage. As you cannot take damage when the pulse releases from the Assault, you can use this to reposition, reload and attack all at once.

How to Use Core Expansions in Battle

Core Expansions firstly need to be unlocked in the OS Tuning Menu. Here you can purchase the Expansion you want with the OST Chips you have gathered. After unlocking, make sure that you have actually equipped this to your AC’s loadout. When you want to use this, all you need to do is use the Left stick simultaneously with Triangle (PlayStation)/ Y (Xbox). This will provide you with the Expansion ability that lasts a total of 10s.


That was our quick guide on how to equip and use Core Expansions in Armored Core 6. For more on this FromSoftware game, be sure to see all GJ articles written here. Thank you for reading this guide.

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Hadley Vincent
Hadley is a Freelance Writer for Gamer Journalist. They have been with the company since October 2022. With a BSc Honors in Psychology, Hadley focuses their creativity and passion for Video Games by primarily covering Horror, FPS, and anything with a great narrative. You will often find Hadley covering the latest indie horror games or deploying into Call of Duty's DMZ. They love a good story and one that can keep them up at night, be that for its scares or its lore.