Armored Core 6: What does EN Shortfall mean in AC6?

I like to play Armored Core 6 with a lot of explosions. Bazookas, Grenade Launchers, and Missiles are my thing.

But when I needed to replace these explosives with energy weapons like Plasma and Laser ones, I saw the “EN Shortfall” warning when assembling my AC, preventing me from deploying. Fortunately, solving this problem is as simple as changing your generator.

There are two ways of getting rid of the EN Shortfall warning: You either increase your Current EN Output or replace parts of your Armored Core for others with lower EN Load, weapons in particular. Here are some tips and the downsides of increasing your EN Load.

What is an EN Shortfall?

An EN Shortfall in Armored Core 6 means your generator’s EN Output stat is lower than your total Current EN Load, which means it’s not providing enough energy to power your mecha. That’s why you can’t set off on a new mission if you have an EN Shortfall, because your Armored Core can’t turn its systems on.

For you computer geeks, it’s exactly like having a PC power supply that provides a maximum of 500 watts when your rig needs 600 watts. Something won’t work right or your PC won’t even turn on. That’s exactly what’s happening with your mecha in Armored Core 6 when there’s an EN Shortfall.

Solving EN Shortfall in your Armored Core

To get rid of the EN Shortfall warning, you must equip a Generator with higher EN Output than your current one or change parts of your AC that are draining too much of your EN Load.

For example, in my Armored Core build I share in the screenshot below, my DF-GN-02 Ling-Tai generator providing a mere 2,340 EN Output isn’t enough to power my heavy build with a Gatling Gun and a Bazooka. To solve this, I replaced this generator with the DF-GN-06 Ming Tang generator with 3,160 EN Output, which made the EN Shortfall warning disappear.

If you have a good reason to not replace your Generator, then your only option is to replace other parts of your Armored Core. All parts of your mecha have different EN Loads, but weapons tend to be where these numbers vary more between different weapon types. If you’re using lots of Laser and Plasma weapons, consider replacing them with kinetic alternatives like Assault Rifles and Machine Guns.

The downsides of increasing the EN Output of your AC

Whenever you equip a generator with higher EN Output, other stats will go down. For example, replacing the DF-GN-02 Ling-Tai with the DF-GN-06 Ming Tang like I did resulted in almost half of the EN Recharge I had and a considerably lower Supply Recovery. That means my Armored Core will take longer to start recovering energy between actions and when I fully deplete my EN supply as well, which I let happen more often than I’d like to admit. But that’s a price I’m willing to pay to use a bunch of heavy weapons at once.

When choosing a new generator with higher EN Output, check how much your other stats will change and if the change is worth it. For a light build with a lot of dashing and movement, having low EN Recharge and Supply Recovery can be the difference between a great build and a failed Armored Core.