The Ibis Series CEL-240 mech (or simply Ibis) quickly got its reputation as one of the most challenging bosses in Armored Core 6 for a reason. This slender war machine is as fast as it is terrifying, capable of filling the screen with red beams of death and destruction like nobody's business.
There's no competing with the Ibis' speed, and almost no weapon in Armored Core 6 is capable of catching up to it as it darts around the Coral lake. Thankfully, there's one very effective strategy for this boss fight, and it more or less trivializes this scary opponent's main strength.
How to Beat Ibis in Armored Core 6
Ironically, the best way to beat this boss is to engage it in melee combat. Despite its dizzying movements, Ibis actually has a lot of exploitable openings that make it extremely vulnerable to critical close-range blows.
The secret to beating Ibis in melee lies at the very beginning of the fight. It has a specific move where it spreads its drones to its side in a wing shape before diving toward the player in a swooping slash with its redshift blade. To exploit this, turn boosters on and perform an upward curving maneuver to the left. Players will be able to avoid both the lasers and the sword attack without dodging, and they'll end up right next to Ibis as it tries to recover.
The strategy is to just be patient and wait for Ibis to do the move it does at the beginning of each fight. Players can find other cheeky openings, but exploiting the mentioned move is the safest and most effective way of taking this mech down. This applies to the second phase as well.
Other big openings include its big chest laser and laser barrage attacks — these suspend Ibis in midair, leaving it vulnerable to ranged hits.
Best Build Against Ibis
Players will want to build for speed and survivability for this fight. At this point of Armored Core 6, there will be parts that can net players builds with over 10k AP and more than 300 Boost (like the one pictured above). Any reverse joint leg part is recommended here for their bonuses to jumps and quick boosts.
As mentioned, going melee is arguably the best strategy to go with versus Ibis. The Stun Baton paired with either the Ashmead Pilebunker or Laser Lance is the best combo to use, with the former being the better choice in terms of raw damage output while the latter is the easier weapon to use.
The thing about the Pilebunker is that its charged attack does not boost players forward, which means it is very easy to whiff even if players think Ibis is within pilebunkering distance. If it does connect, though, it will break the boss' ACS bar while also taking out roughly 40% of its maximum health in a single blow.
Meanwhile, the Laser Lance is the complete opposite of the Pilebunker. The range on its charge attack is very long, but its damage doesn't quite compare. Either way, pair these with the Stun Baton (docked on the left-shoulder Weapon Bay), whack Ibis with it for more damage, and stagger the boss long enough for a second charged Pilebunker hit.
Players can completely forego the use of ranged weapons against this boss. However, those who want to try S-Ranking this mission can go with the tried-and-tested Zimmerman/Songbirds combo for their right side slots so they can deal with the earlier parts of the mission more easily.
Armored Core 6 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
