AC Bishop Design

About AC Bishop

“Bishop” is a design I made because I wanted to find a way to build a reasonably unique, cool-looking AC without having to scratch build too many parts myself. The design is mostly based on the Mirage C01-GAEA kit, known as “AC Oracle” in Armored Core Nexus. To set apart my GAEA-based AC from AC Oracle, I chose different weapons and changed a few parts as well as a new color scheme. I used the “Bishop” configuration in the Armored Core games to try to develop it further and turn it into something I could use effectively.

One of the first changes I made was the addition of a fin-style shoulder radar. When you play the game, a high-quality radar unit isn’t always worth the weight or the use of the hardpoint – it’s often more advantageous to put more weapons there – but my ACs in Armored Core 2 always had a shoulder-mounted radar unit, so part of me feels like an AC without a big radar unit is missing something.

I experimented a bit with different weapons configurations: the high-power sniper rifle was an early favorite, but ultimately I settled on the SHADE2 laser rifle. Initially I selected the part for its looks, but I’ve found it to be an effective weapon when used carefully.

Power management with the Bishop design has always been a problem for me: the laser rifle, the energy-based EO weapons built into the core, etc. all consume a lot of power, as do the boosters necessary to dodge incoming fire. A careless AC player will overtax his reactor, leaving him a sitting duck until the reactor has time to recharge again. To try to deal with the situation I used the “JIREN” reserve battery units. I hadn’t used these before, but they were available as Kotobukiya parts and looked reasonably cool, so I gave them a try. For a while I used that configuration against other ACs, trying to perform rapid assaults with the rifle and EO units, sometimes with a back-mounted Orbit Cannon as well. This worked very well against weaker opponents but tougher opponents were able to dodge enough of the onslaught that its main effect was to drain both my generator and the JIREN parts: so lately I’ve been omitting the JIREN parts and trying to find a more stable configuration.

For long missions and situations where I need extra hitting power I found it useful to equip a rocket launcher. In Armored Core, rocket launchers are unguided weapons, but they don’t consume reactor power and they have a fast firing rate. It’s a very potent weapon if you can hit your target with it. In-game I’ve found the rocket launcher useful as a way to give Bishop extra staying power during a mission, and as a good close-in weapon in conjunction with the laser blade, and as a last-ditch weapon when the reactor is out of power.

So far, I’m still not very effective when using AC Bishop against another AC. It can’t dish out damage as quickly as most dual-gun configurations, so its ability to fight ACs depends mostly on its ability to dodge enough incoming fire to be able to hit the enemy with about half the rifle’s ammunition. It’s not truly fast enough for that, though. I’ve come up with other AC configurations that are much better at anti-AC combat – but where Bishop shows real promise, I think, is as an all-purpose AC. It’s workable in arena combat situations but also flexible enough to handle various kinds of missions.

AC Bishop Parts

	I chose this part mainly for looks. I had already decided on the “Bishop” theme and wanted something that would fit that. The “Cricket” head doesn’t drive the concept home the way, for instance, the “ROOK” head from AC2 might, but I felt it was one of the better candidates from AC3. In terms of performance I don’t like it a lot. No night vision, no bio-sensor, no mapping.
	This project was begun with the use of most of the “Gaea” kit parts as an assumption. This is an “Exceed Orbit” core, which means it has detachable weapon pods that can be dispatched to attack the enemy.
	Initially for the Bishop design I used Mirage A11-MACAQUE, the arms which were included in the GAEA kit. But as more AC kits have been released I now have other options available. These arms were part of the “Uranus” kit: after assembling them I decided I really liked them, and so after a little in-game evaluation I made the switch.
	Again, standard parts from the kit. They’re reasonably cool looking, similar to the legs from Klein’s AC in AC2. There are other parts I might have chosen for Bishop, but none of them are kitted yet.
	I specifically wanted to have the model’s thrusters be different from those provided by the kit, because I felt it was an easy way to customize the model. I also wanted the model to be a configuration I would actually play – so I chose the thrusters I felt worked best in-game. These boosters run hot and use a lot of power, but they make Bishop mobile enough to be able to fight ACs reasonably well.
	This is the laser rifle I chose because I liked how it looked with Bishop’s overall design and the white-and-black color scheme. It’s reasonably powerful but with its ammunition limitations and power drain it’s important not to waste shots.
	This is a part that was recently kitted as part of Kotobukiya’s “Armored Core Weapons” line. I had previously favored the Crest CR-WL88LB3 – a boxy-looking, extremely potent weapon – but I’ve come to favor the ’79 for Bishop, it’s a bit lighter and I think it fits the overall style better. It’s a Crest part that looks more at home with Mirage parts than with the “typical” Crest parts…
	This part was a major factor in my decision to buy the first Crest CR-C90U3 kit (AKA “AC Cascade Range”) – I don’t like the C90 core itself, or the head that comes with it, but this shoulder-mounted rocket launcher appeals to me – it’s potent and fairly cool looking. At times I’ve substituted an orbit cannon, such as WB26O-HARPY in place of the rocket launcher: but mostly I stick with the rocket launcher as it’s a good all-purpose weapon.
	The inclusion of a big, fin-style shoulder radar is an essential tradition to my mind. From a practical standpoint a shoulder radar isn’t necessary, especially when fighting a single target like another AC: the AC could be made lighter and faster by its omission, or tougher by replacing it with a weapon. But I feel like the shoulder-mounted radar is emblematic of Armored Core in general so I wanted to have one. I’ve found that I enjoy having the radar on missions anyway: it’s great for those missions where you need to keep track of what’s going on and deal with it quickly.
	My attempt to create a high-mobility middleweight core primarily using energy weapons has made the inclusion of this part very helpful: it gives the AC’s battery a quick recharge when activated. In addition to the practical aspects, however, I think it’s a reasonably cool-looking little ornamental part. The part is much heavier than it looks, though: lately instead of using JIREN I’ve been experimenting with heavier generators.