In Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, players can replay any mission they have already completed in the sortie menu. In addition to being an excellent way of testing new AC designs and earning some cash, replaying missions also allows players to recieve a rating. This rating is based on a number of different factors and the highest possible rating is "S."
Earning an S rank in a mission requires players to manage a number of different criteria. Depending on the mission, certain criteria are more important than others. Players will need to strike a balance between speed, ammo efficiency, damage taken, and optional objectives in order to earn an S rank on a mission in Armored Core 6.
S Rank Criteria
There are a few different elements that contribute to a player's final rank. The first of these is the time taken to complete a mission. Players will need to complete missions in a timely fashion to achieve a high rank, though exactly how quickly is determined by the mission's length and difficulty. Generally, missions with a greater number of objectives are more generous in regard to the time criteria.
The next criteria players will need to account for when trying to achieve an S Rank is damage taken. Players will need to take full advantage of cover and quick boosting to fulfill this criteria, though missions with particularly damaging threats tend to be much more forgiving in this regard. For example, the mission where players face off with Sea Spider is very forgiving when considering this criteria.
Ammo efficiency and ammo cost are another factor players must consider. Weapons with expensive ammo should be used with caution and precision if players hope to achieve a high rank. Once again, missions where players face off with powerful foes and bosses tend to be more forgiving in regard to this criteria. Fortunately, reloading does not waste ammo and players are able to manually reload freely without it impacting their score here.
The final criteria players will need to consider is the number of enemies defeated. This criteria typically only applies if the mission offers a bonus for eliminating enemies. This means players can easily see what missions consider this criteria just by reading the mission briefing. In missions that do not offer such a bonus, there is often no need to account for this criteria when attempting an S rank.
More generally, any mission with optional objectives will factor the completion of those optional objectives into the final ranking.
Armored Core 6 is available for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.