================================ ========Mega Man X Guide======== ================================ by Reeve : http://www.megaman-x.com/ : reeve@megaman-x.com ====== Index: ====== 1. Introduction 2. Boss Weaknesses / Recommended Order 3. Power-Up Uses and Locations 4. Stage Changes 5. Highway stage 6. Snow Mountain stage (Chill Penguin) 7. Power Plant stage (Spark Mandrill) 8. Gallery stage (Armored Armadillo) 9. Ocean stage (Launch Octopus) 10. Tower stage (Boomer Kuwanger) 11. Forest stage (Sting Chameleon) 12. Sky stage (Storm Eagle) 13. Factory stage (Flame Mammoth) 14. Sigma's base stage 1 15. Sigma's base stage 2 16. Sigma's base stage 3 17. Final stage 18. Secrets and Tips 19. Legal ================ 1. Introduction: ================ Welcome to the official Mega Man X Online guide for Mega Man X, the first installment in the MMX saga. Refer to the index above for an easy reference guide, and go to http://www.megaman-x.com/guides/ to find HTML versions of this guide, along with guides for all of the other games in the Mega Man X series. Happy gaming. ======================================= 2. Boss Weaknesses / Recommended Order: ======================================= -Chill Penguin ---------- Fire Wave (Mammoth) -Spark Mandrill --------- Shotgun Ice (Penguin) -Armored Armadillo ------ Electric Spark (Mandrill) -Launch Octopus --------- Rolling Shield (Armadillo) -Boomer Kuwanger -------- Homing Torpedo (Octopus) -Sting Chameleon -------- Boomerang Cutter (Kuwanger) -Storm Eagle ------------ Chameleon Sting (Chameleon) -Flame Mammoth ---------- Storm Tornado (Eagle) =============================== 3. Power-Up Uses and Locations: =============================== Power-Up Use Location ------------------------------------------- Leg Upgrade - allows X to dash - Found in Chill Penguin's stage. Helmet Upgrade - headbutt some ceilings - Found in Storm Eagle's stage. Arm Upgrade - more powerful X-Buster - Found in Flame Mammoth's stage. Body Upgrade - upgraded defense - Found in Sting Chameleon's stage. Heart Tanks - more life added to meter - One per stage Sub-Tanks - life energy reserve - Found in the stages of: Storm Eagle Flame Mammoth Spark Mandrill Armored Armadillo ================= 4. Stage Changes: ================= Certain stages change their appearance, becoming less hazardous if another has been beaten before it. They are as follows: 1. Defeating Chill Penguin before entering Flame Mammoth's stage cools down the lava, making it safe to walk on. 2. Defeating Launch Octopus before entering Sting Chameleon's stage fills a pit with water, allowing access to a Heart tank. 3. Defeating Storm Eagle before entering Spark Mandrill's stage powers out the electricity, making it darker, but removing the floor hazards. ================= 5. Highway Stage: ================= Basically a warm-up for the rest of the game, this stage should be fairly easy. Dispatch your first few enemies through frequent charging of your X-Buster. Before long, you'll find your real threat; a large bee robot. Keep charging your Buster and firing to take it down. A mid-range charge of the Buster is enough to destroy the walker robots that it drops toward you. Eventually it will be destroyed, and you can climb up the wall leading toward the rest of the stage. You'll have one more bee encounter as you progress, but it can be taken down in the same manner. After a bit, you'll reach the stage "boss," Vile. He's impossible to beat. You can fight if you'd like to, but it won't do any good. Eventually he'll prevail and a story sequence will save you. ========================= 6. Chill Penguin's stage: ========================= At the start of the level, you'll meet the woodcutter enemy. Jump onto the log that he's chopping and jump behind him to defeat him. Moving on you'll find bat robots and some wheel enemies such as the ones from the Opening Stage. After climbing some walls, you'll find the first Light Capsule, the only mandatory one. Leg Upgrade =========== This capsule is in plain sight, and can't be avoided. Moving on, you'll find some more enemies, such as floating robots and an ostrich robot. These are fairly easy to defeat, and after you do so you'll find the Ride Armor. While inside, you're invulnerable, making it fairly easy to breeze through the Ride Armor pilots you face. Just be careful not to go over an edge while in the Ride Armor. Heart Tank ========== At the entrance of the cave is a small platform that sticks up out of the snow. In the Ride Armor, jump up and then out of the Armor, and onto the ceiling of the cave. Use the Fire Wave on the first structure you see, and underneath will be a Heart Tank. The only threat left is the snoball throwers. Some snoballs cascade into much larger snoballs, posing a more significant threat, but they can be jumped over fairly easily. After moving through this area, you'll find yourself at the entrance to the boss. Chill Penguin Strategy ====================== Certainly the Fire Wave is the optimum weapon to use here, as it not only hurts Chill Penguin greatly, but it also debilitates him for a few seconds, stopping his current attack in its tracks. He has four basic attacks. 1. Shotgun Ice - Simply four shots of ice in a row. Cling to the wall to avoid these. 2. Ice Penguins - Partly a shield and partly an attack, Chill Penguin will sometimes form two penguins in front of him made of ice. You can shoot through these to get to him with a few shots. He'll either try to blow these toward you with the Snowstorm, or break them himself by Sliding. Either way, clinging to the wall avoids damage. 3. Sliding - Sometimes unexpected, a slide that moves all across the floor. Staying securely clung to the wall or simply jumping over it works. 4. Snowstorm - A strong gust of snow and wind that blows both X and the Ice Penguins to one side of the room or the other. ========================== 7. Spark Mandrill's stage: ========================== The first part of this stage is a pretty straightforward path of ladders and platforms. The only enemies in this section are the missile launchers, and they can be blasted with only a few charged shots, and dodging their attacks is easy. Eventually you'll come to a place where an option leads downward, and another upward. Sub-Tank ======== If you have the Boomerang Cutter, take the lower path and lean against the wall that you can see the Sub-Tank. Jump up and use the Boomerang Cutter to nab it. The next area involves total darkness, except for the occasional fly-by of a bug robot that lights the path. Be careful not to fall in any pits here, and you'll safely reach the mini-boss, Thunder Slimer. Dash to avoid getting stuck in the goo he'll drop, and attack him with charged shots when he lands. You can also cling to the wall to attack. Next comes an area full of robots, all over. You might sustain a hit or two here, but your life should be high enough that it won't matter. Heart Tank ========== At one point, you'll see a ladder leading downward and a solid wall on the right side. Climb the wall, and you'll see the Heart Tank. Either use the Boomerang Cutter to grab it, or Dash-Jump off the wall and jerk quickly right to latch onto the ledge. Next comes another dark section. This one is longer, but it isn't much harder. Once you make it safely through this section, you'll find the boss. Spark Mandrill Strategy ====================== The Shotgun Ice makes Spark Mandrill immensely easier. It freezes him in place, making him unable to move. If using it, you can just freeze him over and over while sustaining minimum damage. If using the X-Buster, you need to know how to avoid his three basic attacks. 1. Electric Spark - Two large sparks in either direction running along the ground and walls. Cling to the wall and jump off when the spark comes near, being careful to avoid Spark Mandrill himself as well. 2. Ceiling Climb - Quite frequently, Spark Mandrill will cling to the ceiling and climb across it, readying himself to jump on X when over him. Dash under him to throw off the jump. 3. Dash Punch - Usually directly after the Ceiling Climb, he'll charge, fist out. Cling to the wall instantly directly after dashing under the Ceiling Climb to avoid this attack. Usually you'll have to ready yourself for the Electric Spark as well. ============================= 8. Armored Armadillo's stage: ============================= At the start of the level, there is a wheeled cart. If you take it, you will destroy the enemies in your path, but get flung off when it comes to an abrupt stop at the end, falling down a pit. A well-timed jump can let you soar over the enemies and be fine, sustaining no injuries, but more likely you'll get hit by the ostrich robot. This doesn't do too much damage, and there are plenty of bat robots around to fill up your life gauge, so don't worry. If you want to take the safe path, though, start the wheeled cart and let it go, and blast your way through. Next there will be a small pit for you to go down. Sub-Tank ======== Instead of jumping down, cling to the wall and slide down. Jump back up when you see the rock crusher, and let him go by you, and go into the alchove that he was in. You'll find the Sub-Tank there. Now, try to destroy the robot as quickly as you can. If you have the Fire Wave weapon, it works fantastically to defeat him. Otherwise, fire your Buster fast and furiously. It's not important yet, but practice could help for when you actually have to hurt one in time. The award for defeating this one quickly is a few containers of energy, if you have the helmet upgrade. Afterwards, there will be a large section with more wheel, bat, and hard hat robots. These shouldn't be a problem, despite the fact that it goes on for a while. Eventually, you'll come to another wheeled cart. You don't have to fire at all on this one, and it's much easier to time your jump so you don't run into any enemies. Afterwards, there will be another pit, with another rock crusher robot at the bottom. This is the one that is important to defeat quickly. Heart Tank ========== If you destroy him in time, you will be able to climb up a wall with a Heart Tank at the top. For this one you don't need your helmet upgrade. Now there will be a few more bat robots, and yet another wheeled cart. This is the only cart that is absolutely necessary to ride. You can avoid being hit while riding it by firing off two normal shots, or one charged shot, for the short moment that the cart is on level ground right before the first jump. If you get hit, though, it shouldn't matter, since the spike of the cart will wipe out the pickaxe robots and they usually supply you with life. Fire at the birds to bring them down when you're on level ground, and cling to the wall just after the long jump to make your way through to the boss. Armored Armadillo Strategy ========================== Armored Armadillo is very difficult using the X-Buster, as most shots simply bounce off of his armor. The Electric Spark is the only weapon that can pierce and rid him of this armor, and he's weak to it afterwards. At this point, it's important to know how to avoid his three basic attacks. 1. Rolling Shield - His most frequent attack, this involves rolling into a ball and bouncing all over the walls of the room rather quickly. Fast footwork is the only way to avoid this. Be ready to dash and cling to walls. 2. Blast Attack - Usually directly after the Rolling Shield, Armored Armadillo will shoot plasma shots from his helmet. He'll continue to do this until he's hit, and then usually go into the Rolling Shield again. Clinging to the wall works, but he'll do it for a very long time if you do this. More recommended is to jump over the blasts and attack him. 3. Guarding - This is his Guarding ability that's debilitated by use of the Electric Spark. ========================== 9. Launch Octopus's stage: ========================== At the beginning of the level, there will be a few water skipper and turtle robots. These shouldn't be a problem. While you're on the ground level of the water, your Buster shots will line up directly with the water skippers, and there is plenty of room to dodge the turtles' missles. Once you get into the deep water, a few sea horse robots will attack you. No matter how many you shoot, they'll always come back, so it's better to simply jump over them and move on in the level. Eventually you'll meet a large submarine enemy. It has a few basic attacks. The most deadly is when spiked missles come out, twisting unpredictably. It takes a little while to get used to, but you can get in between the two sets of missles, saving you from any hits. Other than that, just blast him as quickly as you can. He'll sometimes try to suck you in or blow you out, but running the opposite direction from either saves you from that. There are a few spikes on the ground, but the hightened jump you get from being inside the water should make it easy to jump over them. There will also be a few fish robots. You can destroy them quickly, or you can get sucked in. Once inside the fishes, blasting them quickly will destroy them before they get any damage on you. You'll meet up with another submarine robot. The same strategies apply here, except that it's much more dangerous when he tries to suck you in or blow you away because of the spikes on both sides. If running doesn't work, try jumping. This will get you out of the path of the wind. Next there will be some wind generators pushing upwards. The first one leads to a platform with some energy. The third one leads to an enemy that you should try beating. It's not necessary, but it is worth it. Heart Tank ========== To get this one, you have to destroy two fairly hard enemies. First, the large Cruiziler boat. Fire at the blue crystal at the front of it (your Buster should be directly aimed towards it). Stay near the edge so the robot enemies can't grab you, and dodge the missles if they come at you. Eventually it will go down and create a new path underwater. Go to your right, and jump over the spike pits. A sea-serpent robot, Utuboros, will come out. Jump on its back and fire at the head. When the head is out of range, fire at the tail. If he's getting too close to the ceiling, jump off and wait for him to come back down and repeat the process. When he dies, he'll drop to the floor, and you along with him. If you're in front of the pillars in the background, you'll land fine. Now you can enter the area to the right and get the Heart Tank. Exit this area and move on in the stage. You will have to fight [another] Utuboros robot here. Follow the same strategy as is pointed out above, except two notable exceptions. For one, this one can burrow back underground, and it will do so sometimes. For another, there is no ceiling, so you don't have to worry about that. After you defeat him and pass by a few more fish robots, you'll find the entrance to the boss. Launch Octopus Strategy ======================= Launch Octopus' weakness is the Rolling Shield, but that alone can't do the trick. One could use the Rolling Shield to dispatch his Homing Missiles, but he fires off too many, and you'd run out of your Rolling Shield weapon very fast. You also have to know how to avoid his three basic attacks. Also, if you have the Boomerang Cutter, you can hit him with it a few times and slice off his tentacles, removing some of his nastier attacks. 1. Homing Torpedo - This should be taken care of with a charged X-Buster blast, and then switched to the Rolling Shield to inflict damage on Launch Octopus. 2. Energy Drain - Sometimes Launch Octopus will take you in his grasp and drain energy, adding it to his own. He doesn't use this very often, and as long as you don't get too close to him at a constant rate he'll never get the opportunity. 3. Whirlpool - Fairly often, he'll swirl around, creating a whirlpool with the potential to suck you in, damaging you and giving him the perfect opportunity to use the Energy Drain. Dash constantly away from the direction of the whirlpool and you'll be fine. ============================ 10. Boomer Kuwanger's stage: ============================ Making your way up the ladders, you'll eventually come to a shielded robot with a ball and chain. You can either try to attract his attack and fire at him as he does this, or switch to your Homing Torpedo weapon and use that against him. There will be a few wall-mounted gun robots and more ball and chain robots, and they shouldn't be a problem. You'll next come to some lasers. If you walk in front of these when they're red, you'll be fired at, so try to cross them only when they aren't red. Up the next few sets of ladders are some turtle robots, which shouldn't be a huge problem. There's plenty of room to dodge their missles. Next there will be a platform that rises up, trying to run you into blocks of spikes. Just run from one side to another, sometimes dashing, to make sure you don't get hit by them. There will also be a few spiked enemies, but you should be able to dodge them too. Next, climb up the walls and onto the platforms that stretch out. Destroy the gun-mounted enemies on the platforms, and the lizard-like robots on the ladders, and make your way to the top. Heart Tank ========== If you have the Shotgun Ice and your X-Buster upgrade, you can get this Tank. Charge up your Shotgun Ice until it turns pink, and then let it go. It will turn into a sliding ice penguin that you can ride on top of. Get on it, and let it go out past the platform. Jump from it to the platform that the Heart Tank is on, and move on in the level. Destroy the platform enemies and climb up on the floating platforms they're on. Use these to climb up to a ladder. Once at this ladder, destroy the mounted gun and climb up the left side of the wall to the ladder. This will lead to the boss. Boomer Kuwanger Strategy ======================== Boomer Kuwanger is one of the easiest bosses in the game, especially if you have the Homing Missile. If so, stay on the wall and fire repeatedly until he goes down. If you have the X-Buster, use it while avoiding his three basic attacks. 1. Boomerang Cutter - Lifting the crescent boomerang off his head and throwing it, it moves in a circle and goes back to him. Staying on the wall will easily avoid this. 2. Dead Lift - If you're caught on the ground when he's near, he'll pick you up with his head and throw you to the ceiling, incurring significant damage. He usually uses this in correlation with his Vanish manuever, and staying clung to the wall avoids it fairly easily. 3. Vanish - Boomer will often vanish and reappear, usually using the Dead Lift directly afterward. Staying clung to the wall avoids this connection, and gives you the upper hand to fire when he reappears. ============================ 11. Sting Chameleon's stage: ============================ Through the beginning of the stage, there's a few wood cutter robots and water skippers. These aren't too hard to handle, especially seeing as it's fairly easy to dash past them. You can destroy them, of course, but watch out for the small worms in the water. Once you reach the end of the brown rocks, you can go up, down, or straight ahead. Heart Tank ========== If you choose the downward path, and you've beaten Launch Octopus, it will be partially filled with water. Strangely enough, you don't need the Helmet upgrade to crush the rocks. As long as you jump from the side, you can crush them. If you get under them and try to crush them by jumping straight up, you need your Helmet upgrade. But it's not necessary to get the Heart Tank. Dash and then jump to the right, and then cling to the wall and jump up to the Heart Tank. Do another Dash-Jump to get back to where you were. Body Upgrade ============ This upgrade is fairly easy to find, but hard to obtain. By doing a well-timed Dash-Jump and clinging to the wall, you get to a higher level. Once there, the walls will close in on you, and a large robot named RT-55J will drop from the ceiling. His head is the only vulnerable part on him, and you will be able to tell when you hit it by the difference in sounds of when you hit his body or legs. His head, while vulnerable, takes a lot of hits. The easiest method is to stay near a wall so that when he fires his grappling hook you can cling to it, then Dash-Jump off the wall to the opposite side of the battle ground. Dash or run under him when he jumps over you. Keep this up for quite a while, and he'll eventually start smoking. Smoke will appear from him more and more until he's finally destroyed, at which time the capsule will appear. This upgrade reduces damage done when you're hit by fifty percent. Moving on in the straight path, you'll face some rock robots. You can't destroy them while they're rocks, but when they "unfold" themselves, they're vulnerable. If you've charged your Buster, it will takeone of those and a few extra rapid hits to destroy them, and you should be able to take them outbefore they can get a hit off on you. Once you exit the cave, there will be some woodpecker enemies.These aren't hard, and can be skipped if you'd like. Just a charged up blast should destroy them. When you climb up the hill, you'll be greeted by a ball-and-chain robot. Wait for him to start to attack, then jump over their ball and hit him with a charged X-Buster shots, plus a few more singular shots. Next you'll find some Riding Armor. You can't be hurt while in this, but it will be destroyed if it gets hit too much. Given the relatively small area you have to cross in it, you don't have to worry about it being destroyed. You have to jump constantly to avoid getting too deep in the mud, but this shouldn't be aproblem. If something does happen and your riding armor is destroyed, make sure you charge up your X-Buster before entering any unfamiliar enemies. You'll then find the entrance for the boss. Sting Chameleon Strategy ======================== Sting Chameleon is fairly easy, especially if you have the Boomerang Cutter. Staying on the ground is your best bet for Chameleon, and using your charged Buster or Boomerang Cutter while avoiding his three basic attacks. 1. Chameleon Sting - Clinging to the ceiling with his tongue, he'll shake the trees so spikes fall, posing danger. If you hit him with his Boomerang Cutter enough, he'll seldom if ever use this. Otherwise, Dash to avoid the attacks. 2. Irontongue - A tongue whip. This is his most infrequently used attack. If you keep your distance, he'll never even get the chance to use it. 3. Blend - Being a chameleon, Sting Chameleon can blend into his surroundings for a short while and reappear with a different position. This also makes him invulnerable to your attacks for a few seconds. Just wait for him to reappear and then attack. ======================== 12. Storm Eagle's stage: ======================== The most prevalent danger in Storm Eagle's stage is the falling hazard. Be careful. As you progress through the level, you'll find some floating platforms with robots. These are easily destroyed with charged shots. Heart Tank ========== When the conveyor belt platform reaches the highest point of the far left, do a Dash-Jump to the left. You'll reach the top of the building with the Heart Tank. Moving on, you'll find cannons posing a threat to you. Some will be on the ground, and later some will be on floating platforms. Blast them with powered Buster shots and move on. Sub-Tank ======== From the first platform, you can go left instead of right, which leads to a glass tower. Blast a hole in the wall and move to the middle of it. The Sub-Tank lies there. Grab it and go right to continue. You'll next find some spitfire robots, but they should be far enough away that they don't pose any threat to you. Simply be patient and destroy them one by one. After this, you'll be on safe ground once again, and be faced with a very tall tower. Climb it to move on. Helmet Upgrade ============== Dash-Jumping off the right side of the tall tower will land you near some explosive gas tanks. Blast them to open the way to the capsule. After moving through some more of the usual enemies, you'll come to the gunship with some heavy-duty cannons. Still, they shouldn't be a problem, especially as you can easily hide under them through the provided lower ground. After this, you'll find yourself at the boss. Storm Eagle Strategy ==================== Whether using the Chameleon Sting or the X-Buster, the strategy is basically the same. The advantage of using the Chameleon Sting is that it takes off more damage per hit, and it fires diagonally upwards, making it easier to reach him when he hovers. He has four basic attacks. 1. Storm Wind - A steady stream of wind intended to push you off the ledge. Dashing forward is just about the only way to avoid being blown off. 2. Storm Tornado - A gust attack that fires off one visible tornado. Also intended to blow you off the ledge, but dashing isn't needed for as long as it is to avoid the Storm Wind. 3. Diving - Moving out of range, he dives from the left or right repeatedly. Since there's no way to know which side he'll dash from, dashing from side to side works well to avoid both. 4. Egg - Storm Eagle will occassionally fire off an egg and small eagles will come out. If you destroy the egg or the small eagles early, it's not a problem. Otherwise, you have to try your best to jump over the small eagles. ========================= 13. Flame Mammoth's stage: ========================= Hopefully you've beaten Chill Penguin before you came here. If so, dash along the grey bottom level and avoid all of the enemies. If you haven't, you'll have to run along the conveyer belts, destroying and avoiding enemies as you go. Eventually there will be a chasm to fall down. Go down it, and go towards another area with the grey bottom level. Arm Upgrade =========== Once at the bottom level, stand on the green platform. There will be a small crack in it, and that should be a guide for your feet. That should be the edge of where your foot is. Dash-Jump to the left and cling to the wall, bashing it with your Helmet upgrade. When you climb up this wall, you'll find the capsule, which allows X a more powerful charged shot and the ability to charge any weapon. Heart Tank ========== Again, tracing along the bottom level of grey, all the way to the end, there will be a Heart Tank waiting for you. You can only get this if you've beaten Chill Penguin, and you have to avoid some pickaxe robots attacks, but it shouldn't be a problem. Now climb up the wall at the end of the platforms. You can go forward (right) to move on in the level, or you can go back (left). Sub-Tank ======== Traveling left, fight your way through the pickaxe robots with powered up Buster shots, moving from platform to higher platform. You're near the end when you meet some hardhat robots. Destroy them, and collect the extra life at the end of the platform. Dash-Jump from it onto the wall at the left and find an area where you can crush the blocks with your head. After you do, you can get inside to the Sub-Tank. Now you'll have some more conveyer belts to face. This time, you can't simply trace along the bottom. Jump over the robots that will be firing at you and avoid the compressors trying to crush you. It's best to get the enemy robots trapped in them. Next will be a small network of pipes. Take the first ladder and simply jump over the spiked robot. Have a charged shot prepared to take on the ball-and-chain robot, and entice his weapon so he's vulnerable. Continue this process for the next network of pipes, and then you'll find yourself at the entrance to the boss. Flame Mammoth Strategy ====================== Flame Mammoth is the only boss with a larger battle field, leaving room for more freedom of movement. The conveyor belt on the floor hinders that movement slightly, but it can still be moved upon. The Storm Tornado, both in normal and charged form, work well against him, but whether using the X-Buster or Storm Tornado, the strategy for avoiding his three basic attacks remains the same. 1. Fire Wave - This is hardly a wave, but more of a small shot that lands on the ground and stays on the conveyor belt. Simply dodging or clinging to the wall works to avoid this. 2. Oiling - If you're near Flame Mammoth he'll sometimes fire an oil blot at you, making you stick to your position as he hits you with a Fire Wave. Again, normal dodging through the use of jumping, dashing, or clinging to the wall will render this useless for him. 3. Jump Press - Occasionally Mammoth will jump up and land, making the ground shake and debilitating your movement for a few seconds. This can be avoiding by careful timing of jumping just before he hits ground. ========================= 14. Sigma's base stage 1: ========================= The first of the Sigma's Base stages isn't all that hard, especially since now you should be versed inhow to beat all of the normal enemies. When first entering, there will be some turtle and flying spikeenemies, but these shouldn't be a problem. As usual, there's plenty of room for fighting the turtles. Once you get to a giant pit with some hovering pads, it helps to charge up your Rolling Shield and use it. This will protect you from any flying spike enemies that try to hurt you as you jump from platform to platform. If you don't have the Arm Upgrade that allows you to do this, simply charge up your Busterbefore moving on every time so you can kill them quickly. Next there will be an area a lot of enemies. Mounted guns, turtles, walkers, flying spikes, missle launchers, you name it. You might get hit a few times, but as long as you make it up the ladder at the end alive, it won't matter. Charge up your Buster to destroy the walkers quickly, and keep moving up the ladders. Once at the top, you'll find Vile and Zero. Vile Strategy ============= Like the first time, Vile will eventually trap you. Also like the first time, Zero will bail you out of trouble. But this time you have to take on Vile himself. His armored carrier has been destroyed, but he remains. Luckily, your life will be fully recharged before you do battle. The Homing Torpedo is the best weapon to use against him. Fire off about two at a time and then concentrate on dodging until those hit him, at which time you should fire off two more. Simply jumping over his net attack and when he charges at you isn't hard. Sometimes he'll hover over you and fire down energy blasts that will trace the ground. These aren't hard to jump over, with a well-placed Dash-Jump. In time, the Homing Torpedos will get the best of him, and victory will be yours. Now there will be some ball-and-chain robots, and a few that will fire at you if you cross their lasers while they are red. Now that you have the Arm Upgrade (if you didn't have it before, Zero should've just given it to you), charging it up to full and letting the ball-and-chain robots have it will kill them in one hit. Other than that, jump over the springs that try to run you into the lasers. If you do cross in front of them, dodging the fire isn't that hard. Next you'll reach an area that you climb up a wall for a long time. Use your Homing Torpedo weapon to destroy the ball-and-chain robots. Afterwards, charge up your Rolling Shield weapon and use it to avoid the other enemies. Switch back to your Homing Torpedo whenever you need to get rid of the ball-and-chain robots, but always switch back to a charged Rolling Shield to protect yourself. Once you get through this, you'll be facing Boomer Kuwanger once again. Simply utilize the same strategies outlined above. There will be quite a few spiked robots, hardhats, and spiked wheels in this next area. You can blast them away pretty easily, or you can get through extremely easily by simply charging up your Rolling Shield once again. It destroys all the enemies in this area, keeping you completely safe. Just make sure you only walk up to the hardhats when they aren't shielded. Either that, or just dash past them. Once you're through here, you've made it to the boss. Spider Strategy =============== The boss of this level is a robotic spider. There are four poles lined up on the wall, and he will make his web out of that, forming bars between the poles to walk on. He'll come down to your level, randomly, and expose his weak spot for a moment. The more he's hit, the faster he'll come down, increasing your chances of being hit by him, which takes away the small window of time when he's vulnerable. He'll also sometimes fire four small spiders down to ground level with you. Dash-Jump over these when you can, or fire at them with a charged up X-Buster shot or your Shotgun Ice. The Shotgun Ice is the spider's weakness, but a charged X-Buster shot will do well too. Dash from one side to the other to throw him off, and stop when you're getting an idea of which side he's going to stay on. Sometimes he'll only make the bars appear on one side, making where he'll go very predictable. In this case, go to the side the bars aren't on and wait to fire at him. ========================= 15. Sigma's base stage 2: ========================= You might want to, once again, equip yourself with the powered up Rolling Shield weapon to null the risk of being knocked off the platforms by the bats. After the floating platforms, you'll have to deal with a couple of ostrich robots, one on the ground and one after you climb up a wall. Neither of these should be a problem, and after them you'll go through a boss door to face Chill Penguin. Like Boomer Kuwanger in the previous stage, utilize the same strategies as before to defeat him. Power up your X-Buster and move on. Inch onto the screen a robot enemy who will be looking around. Blast him and take his armored carrier. If you don't, he'll get into it and pose a serious threat. But if you blast him, the armored carrier is yours and it will carry you easily to the point that you'll have to get off, at the ladder. Climb up the ladder, charge up your Rolling Shield again, and go on the path to the right. You'll make it up easier with your shield guarding you. Moving on, you'll run into Storm Eagle. Defeat him and blast your way through the bat and wheel robots, and use your Homing Torpedo on the ball-and-chain robots. You don't need that weapon for any bosses in the level, so it shouldn't be a problem to use it here. Before long, you'll find yourself at the boss. Rangda Bangda Strategy ====================== Hope you saved a little bit of that Chameleon Sting from Storm Eagle, because that's what Ramba Bamba is weak against. Dodge the shots that come from the eyes and fire at them with the C. Sting when they're exposed. When the walls close in, cling onto them to avoid falling into the pits, and fire at the nose-structure robot that will float around the room when it exposes its weak spot. Drift down the wall or climb up it to avoid being hit by the nose that will richochet off the walls, but make sure you don't fall down into the pit. That's instant death. This boss is, overall, the easiest inside Sigma's fortress. ========================= 16. Sigma's base stage 3: ========================= This stage is, more or less, a bout of Maverick boss after Maverick boss. Expect a lot of deja vu. Upon entering, climb up the wall and take out the turtle. There will be two guns mounted on the ceiling, but neither of them should be pointed anywhere that will pose a threat to you. If they do, do the obvious thing and move out of their way. There's plenty of room to take out the turtle without getting hit. After this, you'll be facing Armored Armadillo again. After defeating him, you might want to power up your Rolling Shield weapon to be on the safe side, in order to destroy the bats so that the pickaxe robot won't be as much of a hassle. After you take out these minor threats you're going against Sting Chameleon. Defeat him, and then move on and cling to the wall as you take out the first pickaxe robot, and then charge up your Buster to destroy the cycle and the other pickaxe robot at the same time. Then use the Boomerang Cutter to snag the energy and weapon energy capsules inside the wall. If you want to charge up a different weapon than the Boomerang Cutter (like the Rolling Shield, for example), switch to it right before the weapon energy gets to you. You'll next face Spark Mandrill. Shooting down the big fish that are in this next underwater area isn't that hard, and if you get sucked in, you can still kill them without sustaining any damage fairly easily. The water will give you a heightened jump that will make it easy to reach the energy and weapon energy resting on a pipe above you. And, as if being underwater didn't make it obvious enough, you'll next be facing Launch Octopus. The next area is jam-packed with enemies, and simply using a charged up Rolling Shield isn't going to help much. So what's the answer here? Charged up Chameleon Sting, of course. Take the higher path, the one with all the spikes, and use a charged up Chameleon Sting to make sure the spikes don't hurt you. There will be energy, weapon energy, and even an extra life on this path, and using the Chameleon Sting assures that if you do it fast enough, none of the enemies in this area will hurt you. And you'll be well-prepared to face Flame Mammoth. After defeating him there are no enemies, and therefore no potential to refill your life meter. You go straight from Flame Mammoth to the boss. Tank Strategy ============= The boss of this Maverick-packed stage is a giant two-piece tank. The best weapon to use here is the Boomerang Cutter, and aim for the eye on the top part of the tank. He uses one of three attacks. The first is to make the bottom and top part separate, and ram them both against the wall. Dash-Jump between these two and cling to the walls occasionally to avoid being crushed. The other is to get you to stand on the bottom part, and have the top part come on top of you. This is why you Dash-Jump between them instead of staying there. The third is to gather on the right side of the screen and make a huge blast of energy. Cling to the wall and Dash-Jump out of the way of the blast. It's easy to draw it off-course and go over where it lands. Be forewarned; the more you hit it, the faster and more deadly it will be. ================ 17. Final stage: ================ Here it is: the final level. It helps to have all your Sub-Tanks full, and have gathered your Heart Tanks and capsule upgrades. The level itself is simply climbing up a wall to meet Sigma. To avoid these, simply climb up the left wall until you see a hole, then jump to the right wall. Once done climbing up the wall, you'll face the three bosses. Velguader Strategy (1st Boss) ============================= Sigma chooses to test you using his mechanical partner, and this robotic pooch doesn't want to let its master down. Of all the weapons in X's arsenal, the Shotgun Ice works best. If you run out of this for some reason (like having to play him more than once), use the Storm Tornado. His moves are fast and furious, and require quick reflexes. Dash-Jump out of the way when he lunges for you, and try to find your way to a wall. From there, you can Dash-Jump accordingly to his next attack. He will somtimes jump towards the wall, and from there onto the ground, so be prepared to jump off the wall if need be. He will also use a fairly easy to avoid flamethrower attack, which can usually be dodged simply be clinging to a wall and jumping off of it. His other attack is a row fo energy blasts that go to different points in the room. Cling to a wall and Dash-Jump towards him, but not quite at him, when he does this. Then be prepared to dash or Dash-Jump away when he prepares his next move. Use your weapon as much as possible, and remember that the Shotgun Ice weapon can ricochet. Powering up the Shotgun Ice or Storm Tornado isn't a bad idea either. If you don't use any of your Sub-Tanks here, you should be in pretty good shape for the other two bosses. Sigma Strategy (2nd Boss) ========================= Upon destroying his dog, Sigma shows no remorse, but rather chuckles at your impressive abilities. At this, he sheds his cape and takes you on himself. This is probably the easiest boss of the three in this final stage, simply because his patterns are more predictable than the other two. Use the Electric Spark weapon, and cling to the left wall, staying at the very top, as far as you can go. Sigma will jump from wall to wall, getting higher and higher, trying to hit you. Fall when he's just jumped from right below you, and fire off your Electric Spark. Sometimes you should also consider charging it. It will hit him on the way back, and he'll start coming down. You can stay on the ground if it looks safe, or cling to the wall if he looks like he'll run into you (the second is the more likely of the two). Either way, cling to the wall before or just after he comes back to the ground and repeat the process. Keep doing this over and over again until he's gone. If you don't exploit his pattern like this he has an attack that he fires rapidly from his head, but this is the best way. You shouldn't have to use a Sub-Tank here, and if you didn't in the last one or here, the final boss will be much easier. Wolf-Machine Strategy (3rd Boss) ================================ All four Sub-Tanks should be conserved for this fight if possible. His weakness is the most unwieldy of the weapons, the Rolling Shield. And charging it does no good. All of his attacks penetrate the shield. When the wolf head's eyes light up, he'll soon do one of two attacks. The best method for both of these is to get far to one side of the screen, and adjust your actions according to which it is. It also helps to know his four basic attacks, and how to avoid them. 1. Head Attack #1: Electricity - Balls of electric energy will spew out at an alarming rate, all the way across the screen. There's only one safe spot for this, on the claws (discussed later). If you aren't on the claws, though, you're not doomed; you just have to work harder. Dash just after you see the one right in front of you touch down. It takes a bit of practice, but you can dodge them completely this way. 2. Head Attack #2: Fire - Unlike the individual balls of electricity in Head Attack #1, his second attack is a giant wall of fire, that also moves across the entire screen. You can't simply dash through this. Remember getting to one side of the screen? Stay there. Distract the electric shocks coming from the claws by going a little off the edge of the screen, waiting for them to shake (meaning they're about to do one of their two attacks), and moving over to the far side of the screen as you were before. This should keep you safe. While it requires practice, it doesn't require as much as it does to withstand Head Attack #1. 3. Claw Attack #1: Electricity. When you see the claw shake, get out from under it, or off of it if you're on top of a claw. It is possible to be on top of a claw and not be hit by this, if you're on the very edge, but it's pretty hard to do, and jumping off is a safer bet. 4. Claw Attack #2: Scratch. The second claw attack is the one that is necessary to the completion of the game. After it shakes, it will come down on you. Dash out of its way quickly. But it will remain on the ground for a moment, and that's your opportunity. Jump on top of the claw to rise high enough to hit Sigma's head with the Rolling Shield. If you feel brave, you can try to climb up the side walls, dodging the claws that come so close to them, and get to his head that way. This is dangerous, however, and I don't recommend it for beginners. Don't be afraid to use your Sub-Tanks; you're not conserving them for anything anymore. After enough pelting he'll be down for the count, and you'll earn yourself the ending to the game. Enjoy. ===================== 18. Secrets and Tips: ===================== 1. Easy Sub-Tank Fill - To quickly and easily fill up your Sub-Tanks, go to Armored Armadillo's stage after you have beaten him, and once you have the Arm Upgrade. At the beginning of the stage, power up the Rolling Shield weapon and use it to have the shield surround you. Now run up and down the downward at the beginning of the level. The bats will die when you hit them with your powered up Rolling Shield, rendering you invulnerable, and they drop life frequently. This will quickly fill up your Sub-Tanks to full in only a minute or two. 2. Zero's Arm Cannon - If you neglect to pick up the Arm Upgrade, you still obtain it through slightly different means. After Zero self-destructs on Vile, while he is talking to X, he offers X his Arm Cannon. Through this, X gets the same effect of the Arm Cannon upgrade. 3. "Haduken" Fireball - Fans of Capcom's Street Fighter series recognize the term "Haduken," while the rest of the world simply calls it a fireball. No matter what it is, it's powerful. To get it, you must have collected all the power-ups (that means 8 Heart tanks, 4 Sub-tanks, and 4 capsule upgrades) and have beaten all 8 Maverick bosses. Once this is accomplished, go through Armored Armadillo's stage without dying. At the end of the stage, when the wheeled cart goes flying over the large pit, jump off of it and onto a ledge. Collect the energy at the top, and then go to where you would be fighting Armored Armadillo, and X will leave. Go back into Armored Armadillo's stage and repeat this 4 to 6 times without dying. Eventually, there will be a new capsule where the energy once stood on the ledge, and he will give you the ability to use the Haduken. To do this, follow the motion you would follow in a Street Fighter game. Down, Down/Left, Left, Y, all in one smooth motion. Note: Lefts are exchangable for Rights, depending on which way you're facing.) ========== 19. Legal: ========== This guide must always be shown in full form with credit given to the author, and a link and credit must be given to Mega Man X Online (http://www.megaman-x.com/). All associated characters and games are copyright to Capcom.