Armored Core 6’s new patch finally explains the secret to earning S-ranks in missions

One of the biggest achievements a player can get when playing Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is an S-rank rating in missions, but the game didn’t tell you the requirements needed for that rank before Patch 1.04 on Oct. 12.

Now, the explanation of how to earn an S-rank in AC6 is clearer. “To achieve an S-rank rating, you must complete the mission without retrying from a checkpoint, while also destroying a large number of enemy targets and minimizing incoming damage, time taken, and ammunition consumed,” Bandai Namco said in the Patch 1.04 notes.

Previously, AC6 didn’t mention whatsoever that players needed to destroy “a large number of enemies” to get an S-rank rating. The community widely believed that was the case, but some players were still confused about why they didn’t get an S-sank on certain missions.

On top of changing the wording around how to secure an S-rank rating in missions, Bandai improved gameplay stability and applied bug fixes in Patch 1.04. The developers most notably fixed a bug that prevented AC Data from being loaded and fixed bugs affecting arms units WB-0000 BAD COOK, IB-C03W1: WLT 011, and IB-C03W1: WLT 011.

Patch 1.04 has been deployed to all AC6 platforms—PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC—but be sure it has been downloaded before you start playing the game again. In case you were still figuring out why you didn’t earn an S-rank on certain missions, now is the best time to go back and replay them.