FromSoftware rolled out a new update for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon on Monday, and players who threw in the towel when they hit the game’s first major skill check might want to revisit that boss. The developer has made Balteus, the game’s demanding missile-spraying machine, slightly easier.
Armored Core 6’s new patch also buffs a long list of early-game weapons, which also should make Balteus (and other aspects of the mech game) less difficult. Various assault rifles and machine guns have had their attack power boosted and their reload times decreased.
In general, patch 1.02 is focused on buffs — don’t worry, your trusty Zimmerman shotguns haven’t been touched — and some adjustments to bosses like Balteus, the Sea Spider, and CEL 240. That trio of end-of-chapter boss battles has given players some humbling moments, forcing them to rethink their AC builds and serving as major roadblocks to progress.
According to data miner King Bore, Balteus’ homing missiles are slightly less accurate and CEL 240 does less damage with certain attacks following the patch. Sea Spider now takes more damage from all types of weapons, but is now much more vulnerable to energy and explosive weapons.
These types of balance adjustments to bosses aren’t uncommon for FromSoft; the Elden Ring developer tweaked many of the elements of that game, including famously nerfing Starscourge Radahn, and buffing spells and weapons when players relied too heavily on certain builds.
Read on for the full list of balance adjustments and bug fixes for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon – Patch Notes 1.02
Balance Adjustments
Weapon Unit balance adjustments:
- MA-J-200 RANSETSU-RF: Increased attack power/rate of fire, decreased reload time.
- LR-036 CURTIS: Increased attack power, decreased reload time.
- RF-024 TURNER: Increased attack power/projectile speed, decreased reload time.
- RF-025 SCUDDER: Increased attack power/projectile speed, decreased reload time.
- MA-J-201 RANSETSU-AR: Increased attack power/projectile speed, decreased reload time.
- MG-014 LUDLOW: Increased attack power/total rounds/projectile speed, decreased recoil and reload time.
- DF-MG-02 CHANG-CHEN: Increased attack power/total rounds/projectile speed, decreased reload time.
- MA-E-210 ETSUJIN: Increased attack power/total rounds/projectile speed, decreased reload time.
Adjusted certain attacks performed by the enemy units AAP07: BALTEUS, IA-13: SEA SPIDER and IB-01: CEL240.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that prevented certain weapons from dealing damage to the boss of the mission “Destroy the Weaponized Mining Ship”.
- Fixed a bug that caused the boss of the mission “Prevent Corporate Salvage of New Tech” to be unable to detect the player.
- Fixed a bug that caused certain enemies to not be displayed correctly during the mission “Survey the Uninhabited Floating City”.
- Fixed a bug that caused certain enemies and background objects to be displayed incorrectly during the mission “Attack the Old Spaceport”.
- Fixed a bug that caused vertical missiles and certain coral weapons to deal unintended amounts of damage.
- Improved camera controls when spectating online arena battles.
- Fixed a bug that caused the punch animation to not be displayed correctly on the opponent’s screen during online arena battles.
- Other bug fixes.
- [Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / Steam] Fixed a bug that caused the game to enter offline mode and unable to save progress after the device recovers from sleep mode.
- [Steam] Fixed the text displayed onscreen after selecting “Quit Game” from the System Menu on the title screen.
- [Steam] Fixed a bug causing certain bosses to be rendered incorrectly.
The version number of this update shown at the lower right corner of the Title Screen will be as follows:
App Ver. 22
Regulation Ver. 1.02.1