Ultimate Weapons (abbreviated as UW), known in Japan as "Overed Weapons") are a special class of weapon in Armored Core V and Armored Core: Verdict Day.
Overview
The most powerful armament class in the game, Overed Weapons are special weapons intentionally built to ignore an Armored Core's original scale and limits. UWs can only be used once in every mission and cannot be used with bay units at the same time. UWs cannot be purged. Once UWs are activated the generator of the AC will also disable its limiter, pushing its output to dangerously high levels. This gives the AC almost an infinite EN and enables the charging of the UWs (charge speed depends on the weapon's charge capacity, generator's critical output, and the core unit's EN trasmitting efficiency). Using the AC's boosters still drains energy though, especially using the glide boost can severely impact the charge speed of the UW.
When an Overed Weapon is triggered, a timer will begin, during which the player must use the weapon as much as they can before the countdown ends, if the weapon is fully charged when the countdown ends it will fire automatically. During the activation of an Overed Weapon, the AC's main system will say that it does not recognize the unit, and will warn the player to stop using it. Their power output will generate extensive stress on the Core, gradually damaging the mech over time. The damage attained from Overed Weapon use can be limited by a core unit with a high heat tolerance, this reduces the damage per explosion caused on the AC. However the energy conductivity of the core unit dictates the frequency of the explosions with the frequency increasing far more than linear with higher conductivity so that the highest conducting cores will see dozens of explosions while less conductive ones may only see one every ten seconds. While using an Ultimate weapon, the screen will distort, with the exception of your AP and the overed weapon charge meter.
Note: During the warning your mech might lose an arm to the UW, this will make you significantly lighter but will reduce how effective you are during combat. Also, they can be used and fired underwater.
Lastly, all Ultimate Weapons will temporarily store all weapon types in their own specialized Bay Unit with exceptions of Cannon-type weapons (colloquially known as Kneel/Zoom Weapons) that must be purged. A notable exception is the Grind Blade (see below). There are five Ultimate Weapons in Armored Core V and an additional one added in Verdict Day. Every UW has their own unique usage and power.
In Verdict Day, all of the Ultimate Weapons come with a strong downside; when it deactivates it greatly reduces the AC's generator output and disables the FCS for a while. (aprox. 40 seconds, depends on the used UW) Only ACs with a high EN output surplus can still generate some energy, most will actually lose EN over time and if the energy is completely drained the AC becomes unable to glide or hover. The energy drain depends on the UW, the GIGA MISSILE has the lowest post-use energy drain of all UWs. In return it's possible to equip shoulder units along with an Ultimate Weapon in Verdict Day. Weapon arms are unable to equip ultimate weapons.
Grind Blade
- Main article: Grind Blade
First introduced in the reveal trailer of Armored Core V, the Grind Blade is a massive rotating gear formed by six saw-like blades. A powerful melee weapon, once charged and released, the player's AC will lunge forward while the blades are spinning, and its target will be destroyed (around 90000 damage).
It is the fastest UW to use, but using it will also result in the purging of the entire left arm unit (including the shoulder weapon if it is housed in it), leaving the AC with only its right arm weapon after the Grind Blade shuts down. This weapon is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
In Armored Core: Verdict Day, it is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
Mass Blade
- Main article: Mass Blade
The Mass Blade is not actually a blade. It's a massive pillar made of cement and steel I-beams like those found in modern day construction sites. However it is outfitted with huge boosters which gives it a very intimidating look. It is as powerful as it looks, having the highest attack power in the entire game (around 150000 damage).
Once activated a pair of clamps will hold both the arm weapons while the AC wields the Ultimate Weapon. Once charged and used, the AC wielding the weapon will make a very long lunge, before its torso spins a full 360, along with the right arm unit (which holds the weapon) and the boosters on the weapon itself activate, brutally swinging the weapon and smashing anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. The weapon features a homing ability for fully locked-on enemies, and with lowest EN charge cost and second longest active time, it can be potentially fired as much as three times in a row. The weapon is obtained by completing the story missions or the Heavy Assault pre-order weapon pack.
In Armored Core: Verdict Day it is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
Giga Cannon
- Main article: Giga Cannon
The Giga Cannon (Huge Cannon in Japan) is a powerful ranged overed weapon. Once activated a pair of clamps will hold the AC's arm weapon, freeing both hands to use the cannon. The AC retains mobility until you start to charge the weapon, which will force it to remain stationary until the weapon discharge or the charge is canceled. Note that the weapon has no scope or lock on capability but unlike a ready-stance weapon it does not restrict the aiming angle either, the user can rotate a full 360 degrees while charging the Cannon. The user must rely on manual aiming. Once fired it will create a huge explosion that does massive splash damage (around 80000 in the center). This weapon is obtained after completing all story missions or by downloading the Recon Pack.
In Armored Core: Verdict Day it is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
Legion Pulse
- Main article: Legion Pulse
The Legion Pulse (Multiple Pulse in Japan) is a strange looking Ultimate Weapon. Once activated a pair of clamps will hold the arm weapons and freeing the AC's frame to use it. The weapon is then moved to both sides of the AC and opens in a fan fashion, covering roughly a 120 degree field of fire.
Once released the weapon shoots pulse and plasma balls in a horizontal fan-shape in front of the AC, destroying everything caught in it (around 60000 damage). Unlike other short ranged UWs the Legion Pulse can be aimed up or down to hit opponents at a different height. However the pulse only has an activation time of 20 seconds (30 seconds in Verdict Day); the shortest in all ultimate weapons; and even the best fitted AC can only fire the weapon once, while some AC poorly fitted for the ultimate weapon will find their timer running out before the weapon fully charges. This weapon is obtained after finishing every story mission and order mission or with the Heavy Assault pre-order pack.
In Armored Core: Verdict Day it is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
Giga Missile
- Main article: GIGA MISSILE
The Giga Missile (Huge Missile in Japan), as the name suggests, is a huge missile. It is fired from a vertical launch position. Once it starts charging the player must remain stationary. The missile has lock on capability but can only lock on to targets visible to the user, unless a flare gun is used on an enemy AC, then the user can lock in to the target whether it is in cover or not.
Once landed the huge missile creates an even larger explosion and does splash damage (around 100000 Damage at ground zero). The destructive power and explosion radius is such that there has been documented cases of the weapon killing two ACs at once. The user is unaffected by the missile's explosion, hitting an enemy near the user or launching the missile below a ceiling does no damage at all to the user while hitting enemies fully. It is the last overed weapon the player obtains after triggering conditional Zodiac AC encounters during Story Missions. It can also be obtained with the Heavy Assault weapon pack.
In Armored Core: Verdict Day it is obtained after finishing all the story missions.
Mega Blade
- Main article: Mega Blade
The Mega Blade is a Ultimate Weapon introduced in Armored Core: Verdict Day that despite the name it doesn't look like laser blade that would be attached to a 5th generation Armored Core but rather a turbine that acts as the beam emitter with a shell covering it.When activated the turbine part attaches to the right arm of the AC while the shell acts as a temporary pauldron on AC's right shoulder. The blade itself has great range and damage, (around 70,000) has slightly less charging capacity than the Grind Blade and the same amount of operation time as the Grind Blade.
The weapon propels the user slightly less forward than the Grind Blades and does not lock onto the target like the Mass Blade but the range and lunge of the energy blade itself makes up for it. Unlike the Grind Blade it does not purge it's left arm when used. The beam is swept from the top right to the bottom left of the user's view, meaning it is advisable to jump to the user's left to avoid it. The user cannot move after the lunge until the sweep completes and will drop to the ground, making attacks against airborne targets very difficult.
This weapon is unlocked after beating all the story missions in Verdict Day.