Armored Core 6 How to Beat Balteus

Balteus is one of the bosses in Armored Core 6. It appears at the end of Chapter 1. Balteus can shoot out a barrage of homing missiles in different orientations which makes avoiding its attacks almost impossible to do. Read ahead as we share some tips and tricks on how to defeat Balteus in Armored Core 6.

AC6: Balteus Boss Fight Walkthrough

Balteus appears at the end of the Attack the Watchpoint mission of Chapter 1. It starts off with a Pulse Shield that you will need to whittle down in order to deal direct damage to it; it also regenerates after a few moments of no damage.

Balteus’ main weapon is its missile arrays that appear as rings and arcs around its body. These shoot off homing missiles in different patterns, usually vertically, horizontally, and spread out. Its other weapons include a mono shot/spread shot firearm, and flamethrowers that shoot out dense plumes of flames that act like blades.

Balteus Attack Patterns

Balteus has several attack patterns and it also has a second phase. Here are some of the tells to look out for and some tips on how to avoid them:

H/V Missile Salvo – Balteus usually opens up the fight with this attack. It shoots out missiles both horizontally and vertically. Time your strafe to one side just right before the first missiles reach where you are. You can also dash towards the boss and land an attack as soon as the missiles fly, but you will need to immediately dash back to avoid getting hit by them.
Horizontal-Spread Missile Salvo – The boss will fire off missiles horizontally, followed by a spread missile salvo. Strafe to avoid the first salvo, then keep on strafing backwards and in a circular manner to avoid the next salvo.
Shot Charge – The boss fires a single shot, then shoots its machinegun while charging at your direction. If it lands close to you, it can also follow up with another shotgun attack, otherwise it will shoot multiple shotgun shots that deal less damage. Pay attention to the single attack indicator and strafe to your right to avoid the single shot and the machinegun fire.

Impact Blast – Once it is down to half of its health, the boss charges up and sends out a blast of energy that deals damage depending on your proximity; this also starts up its second phase. Dash away from it for at least 400m to avoid taking damage.
Flame Slash Combo – As soon as it enters its second phase, the boss will do a long chain of attacks. It will shoot its machinegun at you, followed by a flame slash from its left (your right) to its right. Next, it fires a salvo of missiles as it prepares to do another slash from its right side (your left). Immediately after, it will do a spinning slash simultaneous to when the missiles land on your direction. To avoid the combo, strafe to the left for the first attack, then strafe to the right for the remaining attacks; just focus on evading until the combo is done.

Double Flame Slash – The boss backs away and shoots out flames on both sides. It then charges on your direction and slashes both flames towards you like a pair of scissors. Jump up once you see the two flames to avoid the attack.
Scorched Earth – The boss jumps up and shoots out flames on both sides. It then brings the flames forward and incinerates the ground below, igniting a huge floor area. It then follows it up with a spread salvo of missiles. To avoid this attack, immediately jump up as soon as you see the flames shoot out, then fly away for a short distance. Then, once the missiles start to fly towards your direction, time your dash to go through them and towards the boss. Dashing away will give the missiles enough time to fully lock on to you, making it harder to evade them.

Balteus Boss Fight Tips

It’s best to learn all of its attack patterns to also find out when are the best windows to do a counterattack.
The missile salvos are delayed and oftentimes the boss remains almost idle while the missiles are flying towards you. Instead of flying away from them, it’s sometimes safer to just dash through a volley to bait the missiles to explode earlier or not give them enough time to fly towards you.
Keep sending out your missiles at the boss to keep its pulse armor down and build up its impact bar. Make sure to have a plasma weapon equipped as it can deal with the shield a lot quicker than other damage types.
Stay as close as you can to Balteus as this will force the boss to keep repositioning which prevents it from performing its missile salvos.