How to beat Ayre in Armored Core 6

Of the three endings possible in Armored Core 6, I think this one made me feel the most sad. I loved Ayre, and I appreciated what she was standing for in the plot of the game. It was a shame to have to destroy Rubicon, but I thought that removing the cause of the problems was the answer. No Rubicon, no more war. For the greater good, you may say. However, I didn’t expect the fight to be as hard as it was. Ayre kicked my ass for far longer than she should have in Armored Core 6 before I beat her.

How I beat Ayre

I was rinsing through the bosses in Armored Core 6 before I came up against Ayre. Even Ibis hadn’t posed too much of a problem, really. I had completed all the Arena battles by this point, so I had my Armored Core totally kitted out. However, Ayre moved in a way none of the previous bosses had, and it caused me a lot of problems. Playing Mouse and Keyboard was my downfall in the end, and if you’re also playing with this method, there is a workaround.

Armored Core build

Screenshot by PC Invasion

I had my tried and tested mech in Armored Core 6 by this point, and I went in with it again against Ayre before second-guessing for 45 minutes and returning to my original model. Eventually, I went with a heavy Bipedal build with huge tanky arms and legs, ensuring I had the strength to carry my loadout and the arms to have decent aim and AP still. I was rocking the dual Songbirds and dual Zimmerman Shotguns. Call me basic, I don’t care.

Ayre is so fast; she is able to switch from being miles in front to being directly behind you in a blink. I don’t think there is any point in trying to make a build that can match her speed. But a mech that has the boosters to make multiple boost dodges is absolutely essential, so make sure you have the Generator and the Boosters to make that work. You want a solid 4 or 5 Armored Core boosts out of those babies.

Ayre technique

Screenshot by PC Invasion

First things first, if you are playing with a mouse and keyboard and you’re not using this technique already, you have played the game at a huge disadvantage. By using a mouse, you instantly negate any of the lock-on the game is designed to have. As soon as you touch your mouse, you lose lock on. I played the whole game not realizing this, and only when it came to Ayre did I realize there was something wrong with the way Armored Core 6 was playing. I ended up playing with my mouse held upside down in my hand so I could only use the two buttons with no movement on the mouse. Once I figured this out, I beat Ayre the first time.

She moves so fast, and lock-on is your friend. Rely on this and wait for Ayre to charge to unload into her. With my heavy stagger shotgun Armored Core build, it took only two shots as I attack boosted towards her, or three when she was attacking me to put her into a stagger state. After this, unload your shoulder Songbirds and the two rounds of each hand you should have time for.

As Ayre attacks, take a step back and focus on dodging her Armored Core attacks. There is no point in rushing the fight. Attacking while she’s waving her sword around is futile. Keep an extra eye out for the melee attacks. These should either be boosted away from or use your dodge boosts to keep away. She will often throw these in while you are staggered.

Ayre has a second phase that has a huge laser shot that has a significant warm-up. If you spot it early enough, unload your shoulders, then dash. If you spot Ayres attack anything other than straight away, simply run; it isn’t worth it.