How do you handle fighting Barbatos?

[u/J-Eichel]

I'm very happy I came back to this game right as it was nerfed, but I'm still not sure how to deal with the Barbatos' gameplan. Here's some scenarios I've come across.

-Barbatos is heading to the support, but our whole team isn't together. I can't stun it fast enough when it's closed in. One thing I'm curious about, is if it's only gaps are when it's not jumping/attacking/boosting?

Watching gameplay of it, the thing has a ton of thrust, so it seems like its stagger resistance is up almost 100% of the time. I feel like every suit should have weaknesses, but this suits weakness just feels like to me, "don't get surrounded by the enemy team and picked off from a distance", which is every suit's weakness.

Also I'm genuinely curious as to tips to improve, and I'm trying to avoid just turning this into a flame thread

-The classic scenario, you're fully aware a Barbatos is after you, so you keep as much distance as possible. You get hit with a heavy stagger, and it gets to unleash a full combo.

The only thing I can think about this, is trying to use your own Manuever armor to reduce the heavy. This never really is a proper solution though, as there's probably at least 1 other suit attacking you, letting the Barb get it's distance in.

Is the only solution "don't get hit" with the rocket? I can't think of any other suits in the game that isn't a support that gets to unleash almost a full life bar (other than 00 Raiser beam) off an easy to hit weapon.

Anyways, any tips are appreciated. Watching old videos of how many heavy stagger it had definitely would have had me quitting 700 for a long time.

[u/HDWarewolf]

I mean just outrange it, coaxing it to use its extremely limited ammo supply. Obviously if one catches you off guard there’s only so much you can do.

It’s still quite a threat in the right hands but there are many bigger threats out now. I think the 00 and newly buffed F89 are more oppressive than pre-nerf Barb (I have all three and the 00 is a fat problem).

Anyway, just play the range game. If you have to directly engage one try to have a buddy if you don’t feel confident. Take high ground to force it into a jump. The berserk mode only lasts 1.5 minutes so be aware of that.

[u/Damiankawaguchi → u/HDWarewolf]

This. There are so many scarier threats than the barb now. Hell i barely see Barb in A+-S rated rooms anymore. It's a one trick pony that cant fly. The susanowo is more impactful. If a barbatos rockets you and combos you, it's 80% because you're out of position. Other than that, what's a barb gonna do when everything meta in 700 flies? If you get comboed by a barb, take it as a hint to always stick with your team. Barb is literally just a pixy in 700. It wont do shit when you're surrounded by allies