Eliminate the Search Team is a mission in Armored Core 2: Another Age.
Synopsis[]
Requester: Indies
Advance: 0
Upon success: 30000
Theater of operations: Old Gal Abandoned Block
Enemy forces: MTs (Unknown number)
Objective: Destroction of the enemy search team
File No: A-AA-5492
Code Name: Dear Friends
Client: Indies
Opponent: Old Gal BOC
Place: Abandoned Block
Weather: Fair Weather
Mission Start Time: 16:05
Estimated Success Rate: 84%
Briefing[]
The Bureau of Control is attempting to locate one of our bases in Old
Gal. If they succeed, we're in trouble. We have to stop their search
team before they stumble upon our location.
Apparently they're not having much luck, but they are in the vicinity
and don't seem to be deterred.
We've verified that they have limited offensive capability and would
make easy targets, but if we attack, it will confirm the Bureau's
suspicious regarding our whereabouts.
For this reason we've decided that sending a Raven is the more prudent
course of action. Good Luck.
Enemies[]
Dialogue[]
Operator: "The enemy has requested reinforcements. Be on the lookout."
Operator: "Enemy ACs detected. Don’t bother with the ACs, concentrate your attacks on the targets."
(If your AP drops to about 1/3) Operator: "Stay with the targets."
Walkthrough[]
Armored Core 2 Another Age Eliminate the Search Team
Unless you're in for a challenge, it is recommended to just kill the MTs to complete the mission. Otherwise, you'll have to utilize different strategies for taking out the other 2 ACs.
During the initial sweep, the two Ravens will arrive on the scene soon after you engage the Badora at the back end of the apartament block. These ACs will come from the other end of the block, back where you have entered the area. Once they are on scene, another MT force will spawn behind you. It is highly recommended to focus on dispatching the MT search team as quickly as possible, as the mission will be cleared once the final MT is destroyed, letting you skip the AC fight.
However, if you do intend to face the two Ravens, you better come prepared for one of the hardest fights in the game. Do note though, that you will not receive any sort of reward or compensation (or even a remark) for defeating the intervening AC pair, so treat this endeavour as a completely optional bonus boss fight - and at that, do not expect a fair fight here.
One of the ACs is a hard-hitting heavy bipedal with an insane amount of durability, but is rather slow in terms of mobility. The other one is a quick-assault type, constantly Overboosting light bipedal. The heavy bipedal often shoots spread bazooka rounds and pursuit missile pods, and the other sprays machine gun rounds while flying and Overboosting around constantly flying to avoid you, and occasionally fires missiles at you to catch you off guard (and rarely, he also tends to shoot grenades from his back launcher, he's a Human PLUS overweight guy).
If you choose to focus on the big guy first, then be sure to avoid his pursuit missiles as this is the weapon he can hurt you the most with. He usually switches to that if you're too far away to hit with his HYDRA spread bazooka, so it's better to stay close to him. In case he deploys a missile pod, either take cover immediately or try your best to dodge away (preferably Overboosting) the moment the sub-missiles are released to minimize their chances of catching up with you.
The next thing is to try and outmaneuver him, as he's a heavy bipedal and rather slow in terms of mobility and turning speed, so a powerful laser blade is recommended to use against him, namely the MOONLIGHT blade. Do note though, that he's also constantly boosting about (bunny hopping nearly all the time), so some of your blade swings are bound to miss and not to mention he has an energy shield too, to protect himself from melee combat, meaning that it's gonna take a frigging long time to take him down. Another thing is that, he likes to use the spread bazooka at close range, so make sure you're not directly in front of him when you're trying to blade him, as the spread bazooka has a decent amount of stun, hits easily, and will cancel your blade animation. Overall, the tricks to defeat him are to avoid as many hits as possible and blade combat is recommended. As long as you stay away some distance from him (but not too far away) and avoid fighting him directly upfront, he will have trouble hitting you with anything while being a slow target himself.
Also since the heavy bipedal's only weapons are his pursuit missiles and spread bazooka, you can actually make him run out of ammo, that way he won't be able to attack once he's out. Given that his weapons have rather limited ammo (just 24 bazooka shots and 4 pursuit missile pods, precisely speaking), this is actually very easy to do and won't take very long either.
On the other hand, if you choose to focus on the lightweight AC first, then you'll have to utilize a completely different strategy.
Rather than trying to outmaneuver him, you'll have to outclass him in firepower, as he is a PLOW AC but doesn't possess that much firepower to kill you (unless your AP is already depleted to a point that he can). His tactic usually involves constantly spraying bursts of machine gun fire down at you and occasionally shoots missiles as well to catch you off guard. While he does all this, he will Overboost constantly to evade you, and he has what it takes to do it since Human PLUS grants him longer boost duration. However, he does have limited energy, and after a while he will descend to recover energy while walking, and this is your time to strike. Hard-hitting weapons like the KARASAWA can easily break him, as he is a lightweight AC and doesn't harbor much defenses. Missiles are viable too but do note that he has missile interceptor extensions as well and also has the missile jamming optional part installed (so missiles with multi-lock won't work so well against him), so use your missiles sparingly. Blade combat, although another viable way of defeating him, isn't recommended as he has the highly damaging MOONLIGHT blade and he WILL use it if he has a chance, notably attempting to hit you by firing blade waves in between turns, so it's better to avoid that. Lastly, despite being a Human PLUS, he will only rarely take advantage of it to fire his grenade launcher on the move, only doing so infrequently. When he does that, it is mostly when he tries to circle strafe you from a distance while air boosting - be on a lookout.
In comparison to the heavy AC, this lighter AC has the ammo to keep up for long battles, so it's best to kill him quicker than the other guy. Besides, he doesn't possess as much durability as the other AC so he will fall much faster. Overall, the tip to defeat the lightweight AC is to outclass him in firepower or outwit him (wait for him to come down and then blast away at him).
If you intend to take on the 2 ACs, just be sure to have only one of them engaged on you at the same moment, as facing both at once is extremely risky and their combined firepower can spell doom for you, not to mention they'll also try to make you switch targets while engaging one. To keep both of them from engaging you, stay at the far end of the block (at the end where you encountered the Badora units), and most likely only one of them will come after you if you do not go around the corner of the block. Utilize the environment for cover - stay near the apartament buildings in order to make yourself less exposed to your attacker. Fortunately, it is likely that one of the Ravens will get stuck on one of the blocks while the other goes to fight you. Alternatively, you might consider holding a high ground on one of the apartament roofs, limiting your exposure to the attacks from the ACs a great deal. From there, you should only worry about the lighter AC as it tries to ascend and attack airborne - but is not likely to actually land on the roof and engage you there - while the heavier one will have trouble hitting you at all, especially if you choose one of the taller buildings. Whatever you do, do not let both Ravens go after you at the same time, and keep them isolated at all times.
On a final note, after you have managed to defeat the 2 ACs, just be sure you still have enough ammo (or AP) to kill any remaining enemies. You will have to destroy about the same amount of enemies on your way out as when you first entered, so keep in mind to save enough ammunition for them once you are done with the AC pair.
Trivia[]
- Destroying the two ACs is optional in order to complete the mission.
- In order to complete the mission you have to destroy every enemy except the two ACs.
- You will not receive any bonus reward for defeating the ACs.