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

polygon.com:

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

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon players will endure a similar drubbing when they face the machine AA P07 Balteus, arguably the true first boss of FromSoft’s new mech game. What makes Balteus different? The previous boss-level mechs players encounter include the tutorial-style AH12 HC Helicopter, which can easily be defeated with a few staggers and strikes from the starter energy blade; and HA-T-102 Juggernaut, which gives you a computer-controlled ally and very clear instructions on how to beat it.

The battle against Balteus, however, is full of surprises: It has a regenerative shield, you have no cover whatsoever, and, oh yeah, it fires somewhere in the realm of 10 million homing missiles every few seconds. When it’s not raining rockets on you, Balteus is pulling out a massive flame sword and batting your AC like a pesky fly.

While Margit, the Fell Omen may be the major test of strength that makes or breaks Elden Ring players, there’s no Sorcerer Rogier or Spirit Summon that can aid AC pilots in the battle of Balteus. Nor can players take a quick detour over to Murkwater Cave to acquire Margit’s Shackle. Balteus is sink or swim, and it’s the moment that players are forced to learn Armored Core 6’s omnidirectional movement, how to best take advantage of staggered opponents, and how to optimize their mech’s assembly.

The bad news is you must learn how to use all of Armored Core’s toolkit. The good news is that