The Moonlight Greatsword is a recurring weapon in FROMSOFTWARE’s games and, somehow, they’ve even managed to sneak it into ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON. As a weapon, the Moonlight Greatsword has always been an iconic, powerful tool that allows the player to utilise ranged and melee attacks in a single weapon, topped off by a gorgeous, clean aesthetic and some incredible effects. A lot of the philosophies with the weapon have carried over to the AC6 variant – named the IA-C01 W2 Moonlight – and gives melee-focused pilots another unique tool in their kit.
However, if you want to get your hands on the Moonlight, you’ll have to do a bit of searching: you won’t find it knocking around the AC Parts shop, nor will it be given to you at the end of a mission. Instead, you’ll be getting your hands dirty as you search for it in one of the game’s most treacherous missions.
Here’s how to get the IA-C01 W2 Moonlight, the AC6 version of the iconic Moonlight Greatsword, in ARMORED CORE VI.
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Where to Find the IA-C01 W2 Moonlight in AC6
The Moonlight is one of several AC Parts you can find strewn about the various missions of ARMORED CORE VI. Specifically, you’ll find the chest containing this part in the final mission of Chapter 4, Reach the Coral Convergence. If you’ve already beaten this mission, you can simply re-enter it via the Replay Missions section of the Sortie screen.
After the start of the mission, you’ll be tasked with dispatching both a Balam Redgun and an Arquebus Vesper – G3 Wu Huahai and V.VI Maeterlinck – in the old city. This fight isn’t too challenging and you should be clear of both corporation’s dogs in no time flat.
Reach the Coral Convergence
Following this, you’ll be asked to cross the city and make for the large structure in the distance. This will bring you to a massive ruined bridge and, from this point forward, keep an eye on the water below the bridge. Reach the other side and then peer over the edge: On a tiny patch of rubble in the middle of this watery graveyard is an inconspicuous AC Part chest surrounded by three rough-looking machines. This is the chest containing the Moonlight Greatsword in AC6 and you’ll need to loot it to add it to your post-mission rewards screen.
Once you have the Moonlight, you cannot just exit the mission, either. No, you’ll also need to complete the entire thing, which means fighting the Ibis Series CEL 240, a deadly C Weapon standing in your way at the end. This fight is very tricky and will pose a lot of trouble for some players, acting far more like a Soulsborne boss than anything else in ARMORED CORE VI. Beat it, though, and you’ll be on your way back to the Garage, IA-C01 W2 Moonlight in hand.
Moonlight Chest Location
Autonomous Gears
Of course, before you can complete the mission, though, you’ll need to figure out how to get to the chest containing the Moonlight.
Defending the Moonlight in AC6 are three Autonomous Gears. These machines are really nasty, with the ability to ram you for massive damage or spray explosives at you as you try and dart away: You cannot even snipe them from long range as they’ll send a barrage of tracking rockets at you. You’ll already have tussled with one Cog on the main mission path but facing down three at the same time is another story.
Fortunately, there are ways around this. If the Moonlight is your only objective, all you need to do is dash in there, interact with the chest and then get out as quickly as possible. You’ll probably take a few hits doing this, but you should be able to survive while still picking up the Moonlight. If, however, you’re also Hunter Logs to increase your Hunter Class, then you’ll have to take these Gears down: try and isolate them as best as you can while constantly being on the move to avoid their relentless stream of attacks.
Autonomous Gears
Moonlight Weapon Overview
Despite not being from a Soulsborne game, the AC6 variant of the Moonlight Greatsword shares a lot in common with the versions present in games like Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
The main thing separating it from other melee weapons like the Pulse Blade or the Laser Lance is that it’s the only ranged melee in the game. Instead of dealing with a close-range combo, pressing the attack button will cause you to let loose a slice of greenish-blue energy which flies off towards your target. Like with the Pulse Blade, this weapon is capable of two consecutive attacks, letting you send off two slashes in a criss-cross shape by quickly pressing the attack button twice.
Alternatively, you can also hold down the attack button to charge the weapon. This takes a couple of seconds but, at the end of the attack, you will unleash a massive horizontal slash of energy. Compared to the more singular, tracked hits from the regular melee, the charged attack is more punishing, dealing tons of damage and capable of hitting multiple targets at once: of course, it does lack the tracking of the normal attacks and so requires a lot more tact and preparation when you plan on using it.
Moonlight Weapon Stats
The Moonlight is a tricky melee weapon to use. To compensate for its longer range, it lacks the high impact of other melee weapons. When paired with the travel time of the blade slashes, it can lead to some frustrating moments where you don’t hit anything for a while and, even when you do, it doesn’t deal a lot of damage. Melee is already a tough commitment in AC6 – especially compared to other, simpler playstyles like double Gatling Guns or Shotguns – and the Moonlight is perhaps the hardest melee weapon to learn in the entire game.
Of course, learn to master it and you’ll have a deadly tool on your hands. If you can figure out the timing on the melee swings and learn when to close in, you’ll have a ranged weapon with infinite ammo which doubles as a massive, hard-hitting if enemies get too close. Speaking of, the Moonlight’s charged attack is where it really shines: against Staggered targets, it will deal absurdly high damage, making it an excellent choice for punishing high-strain enemies.
While it likely won’t be your main melee tool, it is invaluable to any player who wants to excel at melee with some flair. Keep Pulse Blade or Laser Lance as your main weapon, whereas the Moonlight can serve as your way of dealing damage as you close in and as your way of dealing crazy damage once you stagger. It takes some time, but learning the Moonlight is very worth it.
Cuts of the Moon
That was where to find the Moonlight Greatsword in ARMORED CORE VI.
