Armored Core 6 OST Chips: Best OS upgrades & which to buy first
Armored Core 6 OST Chips can be used to buy OS upgrades and expansions, here is how to get them, what upgrades you can get, and the best options to buy first.
Armored Core 6 OST Chips are a resource used to purchase upgrades to your AC operating system, so you'll need to know the best OS upgrades and which to buy first. Armored Core 6 tasks you with making money to improve your mech, and upgrading your OS is one of the best ways to do that.
OST Chips are used to buy OS upgrades and expansions, some of the strongest upgrades in the game. Here is everything you need to know about OST Chips in Armored Core, the best OS upgrades they can buy and which ones to get first.
Armored Core 6 OST Chips: All OS upgrades
Here is the list of all of the Armored Core 6 OS upgrades, with a description of what each one does. Of note, some of these upgrades are expansions, meaning they must be actively equipped as part of your build. All other upgrades are passive effects.
Here are all of the Armored Core 6 OS upgrades:
| OS Upgrades | Description |
| Boost Kick | Press the boost button again while boosting to end your boost with a kick |
| Weapon Bay | Allows you to store weapons on your shoulders, which can then be swapped into your hands |
| Weight Control | Can sortie with an AC that is overburdened, with reduced movement speed. Can drop weapons in order to increase speed |
| Manual Aiming | Allows manual weapon aiming to be activated by pressing a button to toggle it |
| Quick Turn | Instantly turn in either direction or 180 degrees around |
| Assault Armour (Expansion) | Can create a shockwave that cancels out incoming attacks and damages nearby enemies |
| Pulse Protection (Expansion) | Create a spherical shield that blocks attacks, so long as the player remains inside |
| Pulse Armour (Expansion) | Puts up a forcefield around the player that blocks attacks like the Pulse Protection, but stays on the AC even when moving |
| Terminal Armour (Expansion) | When your AC is destroyed, instantly regain all AP and a temporary shield as your AC gets back up |
More OS upgrades below...
| OS Upgrades | Description |
| Kinetic Weapons – Fire Control Tuning | Increased Kinetic weapon damage (3%/6%/9%/12%/15%) |
| Explosive Weapons – Fuse Control Tuning | Increased explosive weapon damage (3%/6%/9%/12%/15%) |
| Energy Weapons – Output Control Tuning | Increased energy weapon damage (3%/6%/9%/12%/15%) |
| Melee Weapons – Drive Control Tuning | Increased melee weapon damage (5%/10%/15%) |
| Direct Hit Modifier – Damage Tuning | Increased damage to staggered enemies (5%/10%/15%) |
| ACS – Dynamic Deflection Control Tuning | Reduced incoming damage (3%/6%/9%/12%/15%) |
| Access Speed – Optimization | Reduces time required to interact with doors and other objects (50%/100%) |
| Repair Kits – Optimization | Improves the amount of recovery granted by repair kits (500 AP/1000 AP/1500 AP/2000 AP) |
- Can you get more repair kits in Armored Core 6? Click here to learn more
How to unlock OS upgrades in Armored Core 6
As you make your way through Chapter 1 of Armored Core 6, you will unlock the Arena. This is a feature that allows you to take on other ACs in one-on-one combat, and climb the ranks to become the best in the Arena.
Each time you defeat an opponent in the Arena you gain a certain amount of OST Chips, or Operating System Tuning Chips. This is the currency you use in OS Tuning to buy OS upgrades and expansions.
The full range of OS upgrades is available to you from the get-go, so you need to spend your OST Chips wisely to get the most out of the few you have in the early game.
Best OS upgrades to buy first in Armored Core 6
If you complete the first three fights in the Arena which unlock in Chapter 1, you should end up with 6 OST Chips to spend. There are a number of ways you can spend them depending on your build and playstyle, but our recommendation is to get Pulse Armour.
Of all of the OS upgrades you can get early, this is by far the most significant. You will want to invest heavily in OS upgrades as the game goes on, but in the early goings with limited resources, having an active shield is incredibly useful.
After that, prioritise upgrading the damage of the weapons you mostly use. For example, if you do a lot of melee damage with the energy sword, choose the Melee Weapons - Drive Control Tuning to up the damage output. A great option regardless is to upgrade your Direct Hit Modifier, as staggering enemies to deal increased damage is core to taking down tough enemies.
There are cheap and useful upgrades like Quick Turn and Boost Kick which you might want to pick up, especially for high-mobility builds. Overall, our recommendation is to get a shield and then spec into the stats that suit how you play.
Don't worry about buying the wrong upgrades, you can reset them at any time for a minimal fee and choose a whole new set of upgrades at any time.
That is it for our Armored Core 6 OST Chips guide, giving you all the details you need on OS upgrades. For more, head to our Armored Core 6 homepage, or check out our guide to beating the Armored Core 6 Balteus boss.
About The Author
Dave McAdam
Dave is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon, after several years of freelancing across the industry. He covers a wide range of games, with particular focus on shooters like Destiny 2, RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
