#nineballing

NO WAY! NO F*CKING WAY

HUSTLER ONE, IS THAT A NINE BALL REFERENCE?!!?!

Seraph’s most dangerous aspect in Masters of the Arena and Another Age is that it loves, LOVES to use its superior mobility to boost behind your AC’s clunky turning radius and maul you from the sides or from behind where you can’t target it. And I think it’s quite intentional that Seraph is made to fight like a cheater, this is an AI dedicated to its mission and that mission sees you dead, so it will use any cheap tactic available like exploiting the poor rotational ability of Armored Cores in its era.

Armored Core was made by Fromsoft afterall so ofc the final boss must be absolutely ruthless in behavior beyond just having better weapons and armor than you.

But Another Age sees Seraph against the likes of Gundams, blazing fast and highly maneuverable mechas so its main strategy is almost completely eliminated even with those massive back thrusters.

So instead it uses *cloaking tech* to slip away from targeting and attack from a more favorable position in both its boss fight and as a playable. Old habits die hard, even if Hustler One isn’t in charge, whoever is piloting Seraph human or AI was keen on keeping to the original’s tactics of striking from the shadows.

Some sad Armored Core lore:

Despite its name, Nineball does not in fact, have nine balls (it’s an AI that expresses itself as either sex in its many deceptions to hide its true nature, but still unfortunately lacks a biological body with which to have organs relating to reproduction)

Reasons Nineball is a great antagonist:

Insignificant: Kills your home and family, taunts you throughout the game as Hustler One persona, controls the Raven’s Nest you work under, cheats by virtue of being an AI that’s not held back by human limitations, final fight is faster stronger and more durable than you with every odd stacked against you as you are alone against a planet spanning supercomputer, even with its core AI destroyed and no logical way it can stay operating it drags its damaged Seraph unit up on its feet to try and snipe you from behind, still comes back anyway somehow to kill a bunch of pilots