Armored Core 6 PCA Enforcement Squad guide: How to beat the 'Steal the Survey Data' mission

At the start of Armored Core 6's third chapter, the Planetary Closure Administration makes planetfall on Rubicon 3, initiating a planet-wide scouring of mercenaries, corporations, and rebels—no exceptions. Unlike the corporations, the PCA is a modern standing military body, levying ground troops, drones, warships, and special forces, all equipped with state-of-the-art technology that's a full generational leap ahead of the Armored Cores you have access to. There's no single best way to defeat these guys, so this guide will give an overview on the PCA's weaknesses and some strategies that work against them.

Part of what makes the PCA frontline troops, called LCs, so difficult to win against is their sustained flight—they're a lot more agile than anything you've come up against so far, so the first encounter in Steal the Survey Data will probably see you miss 90% of your shots before getting wiped out by the accompanying warship. Let me help you get revenge.

Here's how to beat the PCA enforcement squad at the end of the Steal the Survey data mission.

Best AC build for the PCA enforcement squad

• Right arm weapon: Plasma Rifle
• Left arm weapon: Zimmerman shotgun
• Back weapons: Songbirds
• Head: DF-HD-08 Tian-Qiang
• Core: CC-3000 Wrecker
• Arms: Nachtreiher/46E
• Legs: RC-2000 Spring Chicken
• Booster: BST-G1/P10
• FCS: FCS-G2/P05
• Generator: VP-20C

The most important part of this build is the Spring Chicken legs—take advantage of the free high jumps you get with these heavyweight reverse-joint legs to stay mobile and on top of the enemy.

Winning against LCs reliably means having a well-rounded AC build that can dish out consistent ACS build-up, deal devastating direct damage when necessary, while also being agile enough to evade high powered attacks at range. We also have to account for the presence of the warship—that means our movement needs to be fast enough to be able to compensate for the trajectory of the beam, missile, and drone attacks, while also having a high powered booster than can get us out of the firing line and onto the ship deck as fast as possible. Easy, right? 

With all this in mind, I've assembled a build that can adequately meet every requirement of this fight.

How to beat the PCA enforcement squad in Steal the Survey Data

PCA LCs and their weaknesses

LCs will hover around in the air like wasps, often working as part of a coordinated team. Steal the Survey data has three LCs deploy from the warship to confront you directly, with another posting up on the ridge with a high powered laser cannon. If you've got their attention, then they'll be dodging an alarming number of your direct attacks, and the fact that they hover above the ground means that some of your best indirect attack options (grenades, napalm) are only situationally viable. 

The big weakness of LCs is their low resistance to ACS build-up, especially from shotguns. A few solid blows from a shotgun will drop an LC to the ground, leaving it vulnerable to your most powerful weapons. They're also only able to dodge attacks that they can see coming, leaving them vulnerable to vertical missile streams.

PCA Warships

PCA Warships are dangerous carriers that will support the LCs they deploy with fanning laser beams that sweep across the combat area, dealing massive AP damage. They can also fire a swarm of high-speed missiles from the deck underneath, which are incredibly difficult to avoid if you find yourself underneath the ship itself. In Steal the Survey data, the warship will move into a frontal position to assault you directly, spawning a web of defensive drones with high powered lasers. 

PCA Warships have one huge, easily exploitable weakness—the ship bridge is unshielded, and the top cover provided by the deck guns is negligible.

Putting it all together

As stated above, the Spring Chicken legs are the lynchpin here. You want to be above the PCA LCs as much as possible. In fact, you can start this fight by ignoring the initial enemies and quickly boosting up to the plateau above them. When the PCA arrives, dodge the warship's lasers and let the two factions duke it out.

Once you square off with the PCAs, try to stay above them and fire the overcharged plasma rifle at the LCs below. Use the shotgun on the descent when you reach close range (don't fire from too far, or you'll be outside its ideal range of 102 meters). When one of the LCs becomes staggered, focus everything you have on them—this is likely the only time you'll be able to land any hits with the Songbirds.

Staying close to the cliff face on the right will prevent the sniper LC from hitting you, which makes him an easy target once his friends are gone.

For the warship, steer clear of the fanning lasers when it passes and overboost up and around the missiles. When the LCs have been scrapped and the warship begins its second approach, jump up using the boost pad and overboost onto the deck—the Songbirds will make quick work of the bridge and destroy the ship.