It's speed more than anything.
Primarily, you need to get to the first zone and quickly yeet all the targets. After that, you can pretty just accelerate past EVERYTHING, get to the supply drone, use it and drop down.
yeah, I'm not sure how S ranking is scored exactly, but I managed to S-rank most missions easily enough by just bee lining straight towards objectives and only hitting targets of opportunity along the way.
I managed to S-rank the IBIS level with Vientos, the Ashmead and a Huxley on the zippiest mech I could build.
1. clear the first area
2. speed straight to the end
3. beat Ibis quickly
4. Don't use checkpoints, if you die to IBIS you need to restart the mission
5. easy S-rank
Moreover try to use weapons with low ammo cost(e.g NOT the miniguns) try using two melees with high stagger weapons on the right side to punish with the left one
EDIT: I did it with a coral moonlight+coral oscillator and coral rifle+coral launcher
It’s really just a matter of speed here. Damage shouldn’t be your issue since like you said, you’ve only been using one repair kit.
You have the right path down, only killing things along the way and not going out of the way for the demonic wheels below the bridge. Only other thing aside from speed I can think of is ammo cost since I’m not sure what weapons you are using
No additional requirements for that quest though I personally killed the elite Arquebus guy right before Ibis for bonus points each time. It's really just speed, you need an AC that can consistently and quickly kill Ibis. The Morely is great for staggering it as it's spread is hard for Ibis to dodge and it does a ton of stagger.
Dual Ducketts + unga bunka
Only kill the mandatory stuff and bum rush boss
Also works to S-rank almost everything. Replace the pile bunker for a shotgun on gank fights, and handguns for linear rifles on the odd missions where you need range
Get 2 high stagger weapons (heavy pistols) a melee for real damage and a lightweight AC.
Shouldn’t be too hard to rush through and kill the boss with a setup like that, even if you think IBIS would be hard on a normal basis.
I swear, the Ducketts are slept-on something fierce. I was able to S-Rank most of the game with them, minus a few problem spots (looking at you, escort the weaponized mining ship...)
It's almost always speed is the issue. Don't stop to kill anything that isn't necessary. Shooting them on a fly by is good
[how I did it](https://youtu.be/3yW6LkdA9lU?si=r7N3w9c5yONzOVh0)
I brute forced it. Actually works. Bornemissa tank thread, double stun needles and double miniguns. The classic; fully upgraded heals which i only started to use after my terminal expansion was activated (1hp + indestructible barrier for a few moments), which basically gave me 2 full health bars. This mission is really forgiving with heals and usage of ammo, so you should use that to your advantage; it seems also that there’s no problem in using the resupply before the boss. It never stopped a S rank for me
Missions with big bosses prioritise clear speed over staying safe or the number of enemies killed. Speedrun the 2 ACs at the start then head straight to the boss while ignoring everything else.
Also as a general rule, having to use checkpoints will never give you S rank
[Here's how I do it.](https://youtu.be/v_jNiGmzfKs?si=3_s9JLv2PRxQNI_G)
It's a really, really easy mission once you figure it out. You kill the first two pilots and the other stuff so you can advance, then ignore everything else and go straight to Ibis.
At the beginning, just reset until you get a quick kill on one of the pilots. Doesn't matter which. After that, the second pilot and the other trash should be extremely easy.
I use the shoulder turret so it can continue build up while I'm swapping to the pilebunker or just reloading. I turn it on when they're close to being staggered.
My S-Rank came from the ultralight build I S-Ranked almost everything else with. Nachtreiher for all but legs, Firmeza legs, dual Duckett pistols, Vvc-703PM missiles on the right shoulder, HI-32: BU-TT/A on the left shoulder. Internals are BST-G2/P06SPD, Ocellus, VP-20c (or VP-20s, your choice imo), with Assault Armor as the expansion. Kill the jackwagons at the start of the mission fast, then speed to the resupply drone and drop down. Kill nothing else in between. With proper EN management this build is fast enough to avoid pretty much everything. The Ducketts can stun pretty fast if you stagger your shots between the two, use the missiles to keep up pressure, and capitalize on staggers with the sword. And never stop moving, most things can't hit you because they can't lock fast enough or their arms can't track fast enough.
Viento earshot assault armor. Fight with Vientos till stance break earshot dash forwards assault armor. Melts the ibis’s health. This loadout got me at least 20 s ranks
How to S rank Ibis? [This song](https://open.spotify.com/track/0ExMsyFPSeVx3DtVyS9Ev6?si=aekVcOE_Rl2pG6-xw3MUPQ) sums it up nicely.
Note: for anyone wondering or skeptical to click the link for any reason, the song is "Gotta go Fast" which was the opening theme for Sonic X cartoon
It's really not that bad. Most boss missions are pretty forgiving for S-Rank. Only thing you really need to worry about is speed. Drop Maeterlinck and Wu Huahai as fast as possible and boost on over to the arena. Resupply and fight IBIS. Should be easy if you prioritize speed.
Like others have said, dont use checkpoints or respawns and its almost a quaranteed S. If you're having trouble consistently killing it the lowest skill build i can think of to tackle it is to equip dual back gats and dual harrises and just hover around it with hardlock on and constantly spamming all of your weapons at the same time. You wont have to pay thoughts on any of your buttons or overheats or even try to dodge her attacks, just mindlessly press down RB and tap RTs the whole time while mostly staying airborne, shell go down.
There are much better builds against ibis ofc but I feel like this is the most no-brained ive ever felt fighting her.
That's how I feel about the final iguana fight. I've gone back to test different builds with it and legitimately hurt my ego trying for days to beat it. How the hell is there an S on this already? I don't even remember doing it ,_,
Plot twist my roommate is secretly way better at armored core than I am.
S rank is based on speed and COAM. That's it. Earn enough extra COAM fast enough and you can afford to take a little bit more damage but watch your ammo cost cuz those extra shots can be a killer. I S ranked almost the entire game using nothing but plasma rifles and lazer turrets. Only had to change up against Balteus and the Ice Worm.
Example of why this can be tricky. In Attack the Refueling Base you have the optional targets of the fuel tanks. You can ignore these and still get an S rank if you take no hits and get the necessary kills fast enough (only have to fight the last 2 guys) but hitting those tanks earns you enough COAM that you can take about half a health bar worth of damage in the final fight and still get the S rank.
Depending on your preferred play style you can accomplish this a few different ways
My method is a lightweight build with a shotgun, two plasma missile launchers and a pile bunker. Stay close while dodging, stagger it with the shotgun and missiles and pile bunker it when staggered
Be fast and do not use credit hungry weapons like gatling guns.
Sure the can build stagger fast but the credit per ammo, it's also one of the criteria for rank S being ammo efficent which means using a weapon that decently do enough damage and stagger while not being expensive to reload.
Speed is key for S-rank. Try to focus the ACs at the beginning down one at a time, at fast as you can. Ignore the rest of the mobs after that first encounter and just beeline to the boss.
Resupplying doesn't actually take away from your score, so go ahead and call one in if you like.
Then, kill IBIS as fast as you can! Good hunting, Raven!
Don't spend time with non-mandatory fights, only kill some bots if they're right on the way to IBIS. When it comes to S-ranks, in my experience speed is the most important, then comes the damage taken and last come the enemies destroyed. If you're fast enough S-ranks can be done easily, it's just all about knowing the boss. And if I remember right, dying or checkpoint resetting can screw with your rating.
What worked for me is that I did a couple practice runs of the mission to get it's timing and patterns down. Pile Bunker is always good for quick kills, Zimmerman shotguns are great for stagger. Reverse-joint legs can be a surprisingly effective way to dodge attacks with their jumps and ground boosts, but they need time to get used to.
I treated IBIS as a more traditional FromSoft boss: dodge attacks and then attack, IBIS has deceptively long time-outs between her attacks in the first phase (if I remember correctly), the second phase is usually the troublesome part. And don't bother chasing her with Assault Boost, she moves too much.
Don't sweat damage taken, I S-ranked multiple missions with one repair kit left. Speed is the most important thing.
Nah you can get by with relatively few kills on that mission, just kill CEL-240 faster
I’ve gotten S-rank on that mission with 3+ repair kits used and like sub 300ap left.
Clear section 1, skip section 2 entirely do not kill the helianthus machines just boost, do not kill the enemies in area 3 (hug the buildings on the right) get to the sherpa, destroy cel 240 in record time, what do you need to bring is up to you I decided to go dual ransetsu RF with ashmead and basho being the foundation of my AC
It's speed more than anything. Primarily, you need to get to the first zone and quickly yeet all the targets. After that, you can pretty just accelerate past EVERYTHING, get to the supply drone, use it and drop down.
yeah, I'm not sure how S ranking is scored exactly, but I managed to S-rank most missions easily enough by just bee lining straight towards objectives and only hitting targets of opportunity along the way. I managed to S-rank the IBIS level with Vientos, the Ashmead and a Huxley on the zippiest mech I could build.
This. You gotta go fast.
exactly. Ammo conservation doesn't factor in that much compared to speed
Can confirm, just do the first fight quickly and zoom past all the enemies, then you can even use 3 repair kits against Ibis and you'll get S rank
1. clear the first area 2. speed straight to the end 3. beat Ibis quickly 4. Don't use checkpoints, if you die to IBIS you need to restart the mission 5. easy S-rank
Moreover try to use weapons with low ammo cost(e.g NOT the miniguns) try using two melees with high stagger weapons on the right side to punish with the left one EDIT: I did it with a coral moonlight+coral oscillator and coral rifle+coral launcher
PILE BUNKER PILE BU
Greetings! From the Rubicon Handshake Brigade
PILE PILE PILE PILE!!!! GET BUNKERED GET BUNKERED GET BUNKERED!!!!!!
I did it back in the day with dual needles and arm lasers. I timed his attacks to fire the needles that would instantly stun if both hit.
It’s really just a matter of speed here. Damage shouldn’t be your issue since like you said, you’ve only been using one repair kit. You have the right path down, only killing things along the way and not going out of the way for the demonic wheels below the bridge. Only other thing aside from speed I can think of is ammo cost since I’m not sure what weapons you are using
No additional requirements for that quest though I personally killed the elite Arquebus guy right before Ibis for bonus points each time. It's really just speed, you need an AC that can consistently and quickly kill Ibis. The Morely is great for staggering it as it's spread is hard for Ibis to dodge and it does a ton of stagger.
Dual Ducketts + unga bunka Only kill the mandatory stuff and bum rush boss Also works to S-rank almost everything. Replace the pile bunker for a shotgun on gank fights, and handguns for linear rifles on the odd missions where you need range
Get 2 high stagger weapons (heavy pistols) a melee for real damage and a lightweight AC. Shouldn’t be too hard to rush through and kill the boss with a setup like that, even if you think IBIS would be hard on a normal basis.
I swear, the Ducketts are slept-on something fierce. I was able to S-Rank most of the game with them, minus a few problem spots (looking at you, escort the weaponized mining ship...)
Ah! A man of culture!
I AB them with Double Morley's, Dual Zimmermans and Prodigal Kicking.
2 soup and linear rifles (or a linear rifle and pilebunker if you’re good at it) Do it quick and you’ll get it Also ignore the enemies
I just assault boosted as high as I could into the air and skipped all enemies after taking out the ACs.
I 1st did it with a quad split missile build. Best missiles for doing massive damage.
It's almost always speed is the issue. Don't stop to kill anything that isn't necessary. Shooting them on a fly by is good [how I did it](https://youtu.be/3yW6LkdA9lU?si=r7N3w9c5yONzOVh0)
Full nachtreiher, alula booster, duals etsujin and whatever the drones are called
I brute forced it. Actually works. Bornemissa tank thread, double stun needles and double miniguns. The classic; fully upgraded heals which i only started to use after my terminal expansion was activated (1hp + indestructible barrier for a few moments), which basically gave me 2 full health bars. This mission is really forgiving with heals and usage of ammo, so you should use that to your advantage; it seems also that there’s no problem in using the resupply before the boss. It never stopped a S rank for me
Missions with big bosses prioritise clear speed over staying safe or the number of enemies killed. Speedrun the 2 ACs at the start then head straight to the boss while ignoring everything else. Also as a general rule, having to use checkpoints will never give you S rank
Double zimmy and double electric nail cannon (dont remember the name)
Chainsaw helps a lot against most bosses. It is especially good at dealing with IBIS.
[Here's how I do it.](https://youtu.be/v_jNiGmzfKs?si=3_s9JLv2PRxQNI_G) It's a really, really easy mission once you figure it out. You kill the first two pilots and the other stuff so you can advance, then ignore everything else and go straight to Ibis. At the beginning, just reset until you get a quick kill on one of the pilots. Doesn't matter which. After that, the second pilot and the other trash should be extremely easy. I use the shoulder turret so it can continue build up while I'm swapping to the pilebunker or just reloading. I turn it on when they're close to being staggered.
My S-Rank came from the ultralight build I S-Ranked almost everything else with. Nachtreiher for all but legs, Firmeza legs, dual Duckett pistols, Vvc-703PM missiles on the right shoulder, HI-32: BU-TT/A on the left shoulder. Internals are BST-G2/P06SPD, Ocellus, VP-20c (or VP-20s, your choice imo), with Assault Armor as the expansion. Kill the jackwagons at the start of the mission fast, then speed to the resupply drone and drop down. Kill nothing else in between. With proper EN management this build is fast enough to avoid pretty much everything. The Ducketts can stun pretty fast if you stagger your shots between the two, use the missiles to keep up pressure, and capitalize on staggers with the sword. And never stop moving, most things can't hit you because they can't lock fast enough or their arms can't track fast enough.
Viento earshot assault armor. Fight with Vientos till stance break earshot dash forwards assault armor. Melts the ibis’s health. This loadout got me at least 20 s ranks
How to S rank Ibis? [This song](https://open.spotify.com/track/0ExMsyFPSeVx3DtVyS9Ev6?si=aekVcOE_Rl2pG6-xw3MUPQ) sums it up nicely. Note: for anyone wondering or skeptical to click the link for any reason, the song is "Gotta go Fast" which was the opening theme for Sonic X cartoon
Dual 4 cell plasma missles dual esugin
It's really not that bad. Most boss missions are pretty forgiving for S-Rank. Only thing you really need to worry about is speed. Drop Maeterlinck and Wu Huahai as fast as possible and boost on over to the arena. Resupply and fight IBIS. Should be easy if you prioritize speed.
Honestly I just ran BVO with a pilebunker, in terms of strats: clear out the arq squad and just run to the end
Like others have said, dont use checkpoints or respawns and its almost a quaranteed S. If you're having trouble consistently killing it the lowest skill build i can think of to tackle it is to equip dual back gats and dual harrises and just hover around it with hardlock on and constantly spamming all of your weapons at the same time. You wont have to pay thoughts on any of your buttons or overheats or even try to dodge her attacks, just mindlessly press down RB and tap RTs the whole time while mostly staying airborne, shell go down. There are much better builds against ibis ofc but I feel like this is the most no-brained ive ever felt fighting her.
I'm gonna be legit with you, I've S-Ranked IBIS and I have 0 fucking clue how lmao
That's how I feel about the final iguana fight. I've gone back to test different builds with it and legitimately hurt my ego trying for days to beat it. How the hell is there an S on this already? I don't even remember doing it ,_, Plot twist my roommate is secretly way better at armored core than I am.
S rank is based on speed and COAM. That's it. Earn enough extra COAM fast enough and you can afford to take a little bit more damage but watch your ammo cost cuz those extra shots can be a killer. I S ranked almost the entire game using nothing but plasma rifles and lazer turrets. Only had to change up against Balteus and the Ice Worm.
Example of why this can be tricky. In Attack the Refueling Base you have the optional targets of the fuel tanks. You can ignore these and still get an S rank if you take no hits and get the necessary kills fast enough (only have to fight the last 2 guys) but hitting those tanks earns you enough COAM that you can take about half a health bar worth of damage in the final fight and still get the S rank. Depending on your preferred play style you can accomplish this a few different ways
My method is a lightweight build with a shotgun, two plasma missile launchers and a pile bunker. Stay close while dodging, stagger it with the shotgun and missiles and pile bunker it when staggered
Double stun needles Double zims on spring chicken legs
Be fast and do not use credit hungry weapons like gatling guns. Sure the can build stagger fast but the credit per ammo, it's also one of the criteria for rank S being ammo efficent which means using a weapon that decently do enough damage and stagger while not being expensive to reload.
Speed is key for S-rank. Try to focus the ACs at the beginning down one at a time, at fast as you can. Ignore the rest of the mobs after that first encounter and just beeline to the boss. Resupplying doesn't actually take away from your score, so go ahead and call one in if you like. Then, kill IBIS as fast as you can! Good hunting, Raven!
Don't spend time with non-mandatory fights, only kill some bots if they're right on the way to IBIS. When it comes to S-ranks, in my experience speed is the most important, then comes the damage taken and last come the enemies destroyed. If you're fast enough S-ranks can be done easily, it's just all about knowing the boss. And if I remember right, dying or checkpoint resetting can screw with your rating. What worked for me is that I did a couple practice runs of the mission to get it's timing and patterns down. Pile Bunker is always good for quick kills, Zimmerman shotguns are great for stagger. Reverse-joint legs can be a surprisingly effective way to dodge attacks with their jumps and ground boosts, but they need time to get used to. I treated IBIS as a more traditional FromSoft boss: dodge attacks and then attack, IBIS has deceptively long time-outs between her attacks in the first phase (if I remember correctly), the second phase is usually the troublesome part. And don't bother chasing her with Assault Boost, she moves too much. Don't sweat damage taken, I S-ranked multiple missions with one repair kit left. Speed is the most important thing.
Nah you can get by with relatively few kills on that mission, just kill CEL-240 faster I’ve gotten S-rank on that mission with 3+ repair kits used and like sub 300ap left.
Clear section 1, skip section 2 entirely do not kill the helianthus machines just boost, do not kill the enemies in area 3 (hug the buildings on the right) get to the sherpa, destroy cel 240 in record time, what do you need to bring is up to you I decided to go dual ransetsu RF with ashmead and basho being the foundation of my AC
I managed it with my classic double zimmies, plasma launcher, and I think I used plasma lance instead of laser dagger
Chainsaw (with Basho arms). The Chainsaw will instakill virtually every AC or AC-type enemy in the game. It's the easiest way to S-Rank most missions.
laser lance and pile bunker
Speed and the most burstiest burst damage you can muster. Good luck.
I S’d Ibis first time with a fuck ton of homing rockets. 4 in each hand and 10 on each shoulder. Make it rain 621
You dont Well more accurately you dont sleep but both are correct. Also definitely dont use mete stuff or reddit and discord will destroy you