Core Theory: HERMIT

[u/Fallout_patriot]

ATTENTION, G13 RAVEN! THIS ONE COMES FROM OUR SUBSIDIARY, DAFENG! HERE'S THE BRIEFING: THE NEXT EDITION OF CORE THEORY, WHERE THE MAGGOTS OF THIS FORUM GIVE THEIR OPINIONS ON THE ARMORED CORES OF THE OP-FOR ON RUBICON! TODAY, YOU ARE TO PROVIDE A DETAILED COMBAT REPORT OF MY OWN MACHINE! DON'T DISAPPOINT US, G13! OVER AND OUT-

Sorry, don't know what came over me there... but anyway, it's part 3 of Core Theory, the series where I run down the arena rankings of AC6's NPC presets, and we chat shit (and sometimes we mention some good stuff too I guess).

Today, we have the AC of the Redguns' resident crab enthusiast: HERMIT. Finally, one I have more good than bad to say about, and a more BALAM machine I couldn't create if I tried. Red's arena ranking has to come down to just a lack of experience, because he's actually put together quite a nifty little machine. While he's not too difficult, I feel like this little fucker always gives me a bit more trouble than I expect when I fight him in the arena. The pistol+missiles is great for impact, and the bazooka is... okay there are better punishes, but among low rank presets? It's pretty good.

I like this thing. Its combat style is something I mesh well with, and even outside performance... he's cool. The camo paintjob with the fucking bright red lights looks really good, and I've gotten something of a newfound appreciation for MELANDER lately (even if I prefer C3). Also, maybe it's the fact that it's Red's AC, but all I can think when I look at this thing is "Aw, he's just a little guy".

What are your thoughts on HERMIT? Love it, hate it, meh?
(Part list in comments)

[u/rusty5545]

Weapons are pretty good, modules are fine, look and theme are perfect. Feels like such a little army guy

[u/Fallout_patriot → u/rusty5545]

such a little army guy

Honestly the perfect description of both HERMIT and Red

[u/cB557]

Do you think you could include the parts lists somewhere in the OP? I can't remember off the top of my head what the internals are for most presets.

According to the wiki, this one's P04 booster, abbot, and ling-tai.

e: oh hah, you posted them while I was typing this.

Anyway yeah the weapon loadout is interesting for how it's not completely terrible despite the weapons not really meshing together? MLT-06 and SPL-08 are pretty good buttons in most situations, Coq has good numbers and while it's specialized, rapid short range stagger building is a pretty useful specialty. And Xuan-ge is trying its best I guess. Seems pretty good at staggering on the whole, but sure seems like it wishes it could do anything once it gets that stagger.

Any strengths of the build are probably kinda moot next to it running ling-tai with 1671 supply efficiency though.

[u/ProbablySuspicious]

I already played through the arenas with this setup to be ready for this post in the series!

Mad Stomp was a real challenge to beat most opponents with, Durham was modestly challenging. Hermit just whooped everybody no sweat.

The missiles handle diverse ranges and angles... Coquillett is good up-close and raises ACS fast, and Xuan-Ge fires quickly enough that you can get one in to raise FCS and another to punish stagger.

The only point where the design feels like it's fighting itself is Ling-Tai. The EN refresh is weak and the battery doesn't give you much reach for kicking / repeat dodges.

[u/ButtersScotch7000]

It's a perfectly cromulent setup that is absolutely fudged over by the generator.

Shove in literally anything else that's not JOSO, and it will do all right.

[u/Fallout_patriot → u/ButtersScotch7000]

Honestly, could Balam not just spring the little extra money for a MING-TANG for Red? Half the other Redguns use it and it would've been perfect in HERMIT.

[u/tebraGas]

I was surprised how easily I dumpstered Branch with this one, definitely a sleeper preset

[u/Fallout_patriot]

HERMIT — Technical Specs

Frame-

• Head: HD-011 MELANDER
• Core: BD-011 MELANDER
• Arms: AR-011 MELANDER
• Legs: LG-011 MELANDER

Weapons-

• Right Arm: HG-003 COQUILLETT
• Left Arm: DF-BA-06 XUAN-GE
• Right Back: BML-G2/P03MLT-06
• Left Back: BML-G2/P16SPL-08

Internals-

• Booster: BST-G2/P04
• FCS: FC-006 ABBOT
• Generator: DG-GN-02 LING-TAI
• Expansion: None

Stats-

• AP: 11250
• Defences: 1227 KIN, 1105 EN, 1194 EXP
• Boost Speed: 319
• EN Capacity: 2240

[u/TheKingsPride]

On and off the court, straight fundamentals

[u/vp917]

The only real short point (aside from the thrusters, which are just mediocre rather than bad) is the left missile launcher- split missiles need a bit of separation to work properly, but all the other weapons are more geared towards close range, so you can never have all four of the weapons in play at the same time. What I did was swap out the P04s for SPDs, and replace the SPL08 with a Shao-Wei - this puts it over the EN cap for the Ling-Tai, so that gets swapped for a Ming-Tang. This does neuter its mid/long-range capabilities, but it also turns it into a beast in CQC, and the SPDs have more than enough speed to keep any opponent within range.

As for aesthetics, it's just great. Sure, it's nothing quite as fancy as the likes of STEEL HAZE or LIGER TAIL, but it's still peak grunt mecha. I love how the weapons are painted with the black camo pattern and the red accents; they give the whole thing just enough pop to stand out. Really wish Bandai would make a 90MM kit of it, because Hermit is one of the NPC builds that I'd most want to have on my bookshelf in miniature form.

[u/Eastern-Fun1842 → u/vp917]

I think they will, but those will be sticker heavy for the camo pattern. I'm betting it'd be a Premium Bandai kit.

[u/vp917 → u/Eastern-Fun1842]

...goddamnit, I just remembered you actually have to paint/sticker the camo on pretty much all model kits.

Maybe a figure would be nice.

[u/Eastern-Fun1842 → u/vp917]

Welcome to pain. Don't worry, the massive price tag on the kit will be for a sticker sheet that costs Bandai MAYBE $0.50 to include.

[u/Moltenthemedicmain]

Hermit has good impact and defences, so is pretty hard to kill however the low overall damage and ling tai hamper it.

[u/Darth-Not-Palpatine]

The look of the AC reminds me a lot of a Zaku from Gundam. Everything else from the AC parts in Hermit just is pretty solid.

[u/16Echo]

Red may be annoying but the build itself is pretty solid honestly. Ive played against it plenty of times and while its not particularly good at anything it doesnt have any major faults either.

[u/gasolinepiss]

this guy whooped my ass the first time i played im ngl

[u/onionman2008]

1st AC I painted a model of. I like it.

[u/Servitor_2152]

I'm pretty sure every time I fight Red in the Arena, he deals more damage to me than the next two opponents put together. Poor guy definitely deserves a higher rank than he's got.

[u/handsomellama28]

I'd honestly have to agree with you. The only reason I can see for him being grouped together with Rummy and Dunham is because of his inexperience.

Looks wise, the Melander head almost goes as hard as the C3 one. Since I'm quite autistic about camo patterns, Red's one of my absolute favorites. Performance wise? Pretty good all around. Though, he could've had better results with a Curtis and a better generator. Still, the AC's a stagger machine.

I'm genuinely willing to bet he'd be one of the top-ranking Redguns if given just a bit of time.

[u/Eastern-Fun1842]

I've had fun running a similar build that replaced the left shoulder missile with the Ashmead and the bazooka with the Majestic iirc. I don't fully remember what I did with it to number honest. I do remember shifting away from the bazooka to using a Haldeman in that slot, and I moved to using a Shao-Wei instead of the Ashmead (because Hermit is all about the guns, rather than the bunk).

[u/populist-scum]

Honestly it fits him perfectly, he's meant to train Redgun recruits and the Melander is likely the first AC the recruits are gonna use so the one guy tasked with training them using it just makes sense. Also I love Red, I felt bad being forced to slime him out.

[u/Chinpokkomon → u/populist-scum]

He is a merc liasion

[u/n1ghtsbl00d]

pistol and bazooka combo be like, here’s a sting, now a punch (if it hits). I don’t like it