Balteus from Armored Core 6 is the Margit, the Fell Omen of the mech world

Millions of Elder Ring players faced a humbling experience last year during their journey to Stormveil Castle, where they encountered Margit, the Fell Omen, one of the game’s first bosses and an early skill test. Tough, Margit is a roadblock to progress for Tarnished, still relatively new to the Lands Between.

Armored Core 6: Burning Rubicon players will take a similar beating if they face the machine AA P07 Balteus, perhaps the WHERE first boss of FromSoft’s new mech game. What makes Balteus different? The previous boss-level mechs players will encounter include the tutorial-style AH12 HC Helicopter, which can be easily defeated with a few wobbles and blows from the starter energy blade; and HA-T-102 Juggernaut, which gives you a computer-controlled ally and very clear instructions on how to defeat him.

However, the battle against Balteus is full of surprises: it has a regenerative shield, you have no cover at all, and, oh yes, it fires somewhere in the realm of 10 million homing missiles every few seconds. When it’s not raining missiles on you, Balteus pulls out a huge flame sword and slams into your AC like a nasty fly.

While Margit, the Fell Omen can be the most important test of strength that makes or breaks Elder Ring players, there is no Sorcerer Rogier or Spirit Summon that can help AC pilots in the battle for Balteus. Players also cannot make a quick detour to Murkwater Cave to obtain Margit’s Shackle. Balteus is sink or swim, and it is the moment when players are forced to learn Armored core 6‘s omnidirectional movement, how to best take advantage of staggered opponents, and how to optimize the mounting of their mechs.

The bad news is that you have to learn how to use all the tools of Armored Core. The good news is that once you’ve learned what Balteus has to teach you, you’ll be prepared for whatever comes next. It gets (mostly) easier from here.

Balteus can of course be beaten. To overcome it, you must learn to read its attack patterns. It requires aggressive tactics – despite your best instincts, one of the best ways to break the shield of Attitude Stability is to fly straight at it: absorb some of that rocket fire, kick Balteus in the face and shoot it with a shotgun off the point. – empty range.

Players do not have the option to grind XP and work their way up to become more powerful than Balteus. Your best option is to practice, replay missions for cash, and invest in new AC parts and weapons. Most importantly, don’t “overheat” yourself; give yourself some rest. Don’t do what I did: fruitlessly spend three hours of failed Balteus attempts in an attempt to meet a review deadline.

Yes, Balteus is a ‘skill test’. A gatekeeper. It’s a serious difficulty, one of the six difficulty levels comes up Armored core 6. But it can be done. And after you’ve honed your skills, upgraded your AC, and taken on bigger challenges on Rubicon, you’ll need to return to Balteus and fight there again. You will find that it is no longer the impenetrable steel wall it once seemed.