In Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, players will frequently find themselves working for one of the corporations vying for control of the Coral. One such company, "Arquebus," will eventually come into possession of a large quantity of PCA technology. This includes another model of Chapter 1's final boss, "Balteus."

The first appearance of Balteus earlier in Armored Core 6 is a brutal boss battle that tests the player's skill at piloting an AC. This second encounter is somewhat similar to the first, but Arquebus has made some changes to Balteus and it now has new weapons and deadlier attack patterns.

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Attacks

Phase 1

Arquebus Balteus has replaced its myriad missile launchers with pulse cannons that fire in waves. When firing horizontally players can dodge these pulse waves by jumping/boosting into the air. It's important to return to the ground between dodges, however, since V.II Snail will aim these pulse waves at the player's current location and tends to fire several times in a row. Snail can also unload rapid-fire barrages from the pulse cannons, which travel in a straight line with very weak homing and can be dodged by strafing to the side.

Snail will also charge an electrical pulse shot. This glows purple as it charges and can be dodged by quick boosting to the side as he fires. Snail can chain two of these shots together, necessitating a second dodge a moment or two after the first to avoid the follow-up. Snail can also fire blue laser blasts that can be dodged in the same way.

Phase 2

Snail begins Phase 2 after dropping to half health, opening with an assault armor explosion that can deal tremendous damage and ACS strain if the player is too close. After this Snail will add a few new moves to his arsenal, making him harder to predict. These include some charged purple lasers that he used to sweep vertically and horizontally like blades. When he charges a sweep aiming to the left or right of the player he will launch a horizontal sweep and it can be dodged by jumping/boosting into the air. When he aims above the player or down towards the ground, he's preparing a vertical sweep that can be dodged by quick boosting to the left or right.

Snail can also charge up two beams on either side of him, which means this Armored Core 6 boss is preparing for his most dangerous attack. He will initially combine the two beams and perform a diagonal sweep, which can be avoided by boosting diagonally towards the other side of him. He then splits them and performs horizontal spinning sweeps that can be dodged by jumping and boosting into the air. He will then perform a diagonal sweep with both blades that can be dodged by getting underneath him and out of their path, before finishing with another diagonal merged sweep.

The diagonal sweeps can also be dodged by getting airborne and jumping over them and away from snail, which might be easier for builds with reverse-jointed legs and/or excellent vertical boost capabilities.

Strategy

The biggest problems with fighting Snail are the speed at which he boosts around the arena and his Pulse Armor. Overwhelming the Pulse Armor with rapid-fire weapons or weapons that fire multiple projectiles at once is the easiest way to stun him. Once he's stunned players can deal massive damage with their preferred weapons (the Pile Bunker is especially good here.) Generally, players should attack with ranged weaponry constantly to maintain pressure, only stopping when they need to focus on dodging.

Players should back away once Snail drops below half-health to avoid getting hit by his assault armor burst and then continue as before. Players feeling especially confident might want to get underneath him while he uses his beam slashes and fire up from his blindspot.

Build Recommendations (Best Build)

When building to fight Arquebus Balteus, Armored Core 6 players will want to focus on speed and use weapons that fire multiple projectiles at once or otherwise fire quickly. This will allow players to outmaneuver Snail and overwhelm his pulse armor. The build below is very effective at tearing through Snail's defenses and also boasts the speed necessary to avoid his attacks.

This setup uses twin shotguns in a double-trigger setup to strip away Snail's armor. When Snail gets staggered, players should swap in the ASHMEAD Pile Bunker and land a charged strike for massive damage. The Missile launcher on the right shoulder helps provide some ranged pressure and stop Snail from recovering his FCS Strain.

Armored Core 6 is available for PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.