By now, it’s no secret that Armored Core 6 is hard. Like the rest of FromSoftware’s pedigree, AC6 doesn’t back down from giving you a brutal challenge and expecting you to rise to the occasion where so many others burn out. Enter speedrunner Reiza R, who has put the rest of us to shame by taking out AC6’s hardest boss, the Chapter One gatekeeper Autonomous Craft BALTEUS, in a mere 15 seconds.
The speed and precision on display in his run are downright superhuman. He even manages to get through BALTEUS’ infamous missile barrages almost unscathed, repeatedly closing the distance and doling out the damage with close-range weaponry before BALTEUS can so much as blink. (I am aware that BALTEUS does not actually blink.)
Notably, Reiza R uses the Weapon Bay OS Tuning perk to great effect, eschewing shoulder-mounted weapons in favor of the ability to fluidly switch between a melee weapon and a shotgun as the situation requires. It’s this flexibility that allows him to keep dealing damage up close, rather than hanging back and putting himself at risk of BALTEUS’ missiles—since weapons stowed in a Weapon Bay will reload automatically, this upgrade makes frequent switching a good option for constant output.
Speed certainly doesn’t hurt either, and you’ll notice that he frequently employs his Assault Boost and Boost Kick to close the gap and deal chip damage at the same time. For a boss like BALTEUS, which is highly mobile and is encountered in a big, open arena, speed boosting like this is a must, although most players won’t be able to stick to the boss like glue and effortlessly weave between its attacks without a lot of practice.
OS Tuning trick or not, this is still a stunning display. Luckily, for us mere mortals, defeating BALTEUS is within reach as long as one uses the right strategy and, perhaps more crucially, the right build.
