Armored Core 6: How to Beat AA P07 Balteus

Armored Core 6
Armored Core 6

Armored Core 6’s bosses are nothing to sneeze at. Whether it’s an AC piloted by a rival pilot or some ridiculous mech bristling with more guns than a battleship, you probably will face something like it at some point. In typical FromSoftware fashion, at the end of the first Chapter of Armored Core 6 players will be met with an extremely challenging boss meant to test every major mechanic of the game that players have been taught up to this point. Did you take notes? Here’s how to beat AA P07 Balteus, the autonomous PCA mech at the end of the mission “Attack the Watchpoint.”

Balteus is very similar to the “Unknown Craft” encountered in the previous mission in that it has Pulse Armor along with a wide array of attacks that are incredibly intimidating, but the damage they do can be minimized if you maneuver and position yourself correctly during the fight.

In the first phase, Balteus has a few main attacks: A couple variations of a missile swarm, a shotgun, and a grenade cannon. If kept at medium to long ranges, Balteus’ missile swarms will usually either be shot out from the hoop or as a massive “dome” of projectiles that slowly spread out, and then all converge on your current position as they rapidly speed up. If you have Quick Boost available, get up close to Balteus and quickly sidestep it and avoid the missile swarms. The shotgun is usually deployed if you are extremely close to Balteus and it attempts to avoid your frontal assaults. Beware as this weapon can easily kill you in 2-3 hits and instantly Stagger your AC, so never stand still near the boss for too long. Periodically as Balteus rockets around, its grenade cannon can prove to be a pretty deadly attack. Telegraphed by a lock-on warning from your AC, the grenade cannon can be avoided usually if you are airborne and quickly boost around Balteus’ flanks.

In the second phase of the fight is when it gets the most difficult. The second phase starts via a warning from Ayre, your newly-found partner and operator, saying “The Waves are increasing!” which is a signal to open the gap quickly before the boss deploys a massive energy explosion from an Assault Armor attack. Balteus retains all of the same attacks as before, but the missiles launched in the swarm formations can move much faster and come more often.

In addition, the boss can initiate a flanking move where it shoots its gatling gun and then closes in with a massive blade-like attack from a flamethrower. The melee attack can come in a few different flavors, usually as two horizontal swipes that cover its whole frontal arc, a vertical cleaving attack, and a quick spinning attack if you hit Balteus from behind. It can also attempt to ram you with the blade out front and speed towards you, but this attack is heavily telegraphed by Balteus deploying its thrusters and flying away in a huge hairpin-turn and charging directly at you at high speed. The last attack is the most deadly, where it can ignite the floor with flames by jumping into the air and pointing downwards. You can see this attack coming by the warning on your HUD.

To keep Balteus from moving around too much, the main thing to abuse during this fight is extreme amounts of Stagger damage. If you breach the Pulse Armor, that immediately stuns Balteus and leaves it vulnerable to further stuns while the shield is down. The best guns for this job are ones that offer sustained fire such as rifles and machine guns on your arm slots, and fast-firing missiles on your back slots. Bazookas and grenade launchers also offer large amounts of Stagger damage, but can be somewhat difficult to use effectively as they require a heavy AC to wield them and the slow projectile speeds. Consistent and aggressive gunfire will quickly bring down the Pulse Armor and keep up the pressure as much as possible. Make sure to stay in optimal weapon range to deal the most damage possible and never stand still for too long.

Keep up the pressure and attack aggressively and often, Balteus will eventually falter and you will be rewarded with the next chapter of the game.

READ NEXT: Armored Core 6: How to Beat the Unknown Craft

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