====================================== =========Mega Man Zero Guide========== ====================================== by Reeve : http://www.megaman-network.com/ : reeve@megaman-network.com ====== Index: ====== 1. Introduction 2. Weapon Upgrades 3. Elemental Weapons 4. Cyber-Elves 5. Ranking 6. Underground Lab (Golem) 7. The Disposal Center (Aztec Falcon) 8. Destroy Train (Pantheon Core) 9. Find Shuttle (Anubis Necromancess III) 10. Occupy Factory (dragon-head boss) 11. Mechaniloid Attack 12. Find Hidden Base (Blizzack Stagroff) 13. Retrieve Data (Maha Ganeshariff) 14. Rescue Colbor (Harpuia) 15. Duel in the Desert (Fefnir) 16. Protect Factory (Phantom) 17. Stop the Hacking (Leviathan) 18. Hanumachine strategy 19. Neo-Arcadia stage 1 20. Neo-Arcadia stage 2 21. Neo-Arcadia stage 3 22. Secrets and Tips 23. Legal ================ 1. Introduction: ================ Welcome to the official Mega Man Network guide for Mega Man Zero, the first installment in the Gameboy Advance series. Refer to the index above for an easy reference guide, and go to http://www.megaman-network.com/ to find HTML versions of this guide, along with guides for all of the other games in the Mega Man series. Happy gaming. =================== 2. Weapon Upgrades: =================== There are four basic weapons available to you in Mega Man Zero; the Buster Gun, the Z-Saber, the Triple Rod, and the Shield Boomerang. The Buster Gun and Z-Saber are provided to you during the natural course of the game. The Triple Rod can be gained from Cerveau, the man in the Engineering room, after you defeat Maha Ganeshariffariff. The shield can be gained after another mission is completed, also from Cerveau. The levels are based on how often you use a technique. For example, if you jump and use your Saber alot, you'll gain the ability for the air spin attack before anything else. Stars (weapon experience) is gained by use (see the Secrets and Tips section for an easy way to gain experience). New abilities are gained with each new star. The listings are: Buster Gun: 2 stars: You can now shoot 4 bullets at a time!! 3 stars: You can now charge your Buster up to 2 grades!! 4 stars: You can now charge your Buster in less time!! Z-Saber: 2 stars: You can now perform a double slash!! 3 stars: You can now perform a triple slash!! 4 stars: You can now charge your slash!! 5 stars: You can now charge your slash in less time!! 6 stars: You can now perform a jumping rolling slash!! 7 stars: You can now perform a dash rolling slash!! Triple Rod: 2 stars: You can now perform a double attack!! 3 stars: You can now perform a triple attack!! 4 stars: You can now charge your attack!! 5 stars: You can now charge your attack in less time!! Shield Boomerang: 2 stars: You can now perform a middle range attack!! 3 stars: You can now perform a long range attack!! ===================== 3. Elemental Weapons: ===================== Elemental weapons are gained by fighting certain bosses. There are three Elemental effects: Fire, Lightning, and Ice. Lightning is gained by defeating Aztec Falcon, Fire is gained by defeating the 8-headed dragon, and Ice is gained by defeating Blizzack Staggroff. To use an elemental weapon, charge up any of the four weapons (the ability to charge must be gained, see above). Each weapon has a different charged attack, and therefore the way that each weapon uses an elemental is different. The Buster is a long-range attack, while the Saber and Triple Rod are closer range. Different combinations of elements and weapons work best against different bosses. To use an element, equip one in the menu screen and then charge the attack until the charge turns orange. =============== 4. Cyber-Elves: =============== There are three types of cyber-elves and they can be found in various places, from destroying bosses to defeating normal enemies. The types of elves are Red (Nurse), which affect Zero's life gauge, Green (Animal), which affect Zero's offensive or defensive power, and Blue (Hacker), which affect the stage itself. Cyber-elves can only be used once. You can equip three at once for use in a stage.There are also three sizes of elves in each of those three catagories. Small, medium, and large elves exist. Small elves have a one-time use. For example, a small green elf might cast a barrier around you for the duration of a stage. Medium elves can be upgraded once, and after they have been upgraded have permanent effects after use. For example, a medium red elf might give you a Sub-Tank that you can fill and reuse from that point forward. Finally, large elves can be upgraded twice, and also have a permanent use, and the effects are greater. For example, the largest red elf effectively doubles your lifebar by giving you an extra color for it (similar to some of the bosses). Elves are upgraded by gaining Energen Crystals, small green circles encased in a blue square that is sometimes dropped by enemies or can be found in various places (see the Secrets and Tips section for an easy way to gain Energen Crystals). Below is a full listing of the Cyber-Elves and their uses. ===Nurse=== Priest Type, Doubles Your Vitality, Permanent: Winkie - container surrounded by walls, pit section warehouse mission Level 2 Red Type, Increases Max Vitality, Permanent: Nuppie - old lab, up high left of exit, container Mippie - high hook in junk stage, container Reppie - top-left computer, hacking stage Lippie - hidden above resistance desert gate, container Level 2 Blue Type, Becomes Sub-Tank, Permanent: Hapitan - in a shaft opened by the armored car in the second building, Armored Car stage Lubtan - top of desert ruins, desert mission Nebitan - behind sand waterfall, underground prison mission Nutan - hidden room container above pit area entrance, warehouse mission Level 1 Red Type, Restores Some Vitality, One-Use: Areff - bottom ledge of underwater cliff, hacking mission Bireff - above-room in train stage before gate, container Sireff - left of Morikku, container, Halpyuia Dereff - container in lower room, Harpuia mission Ereff - left container temple roof above flying guardians, Neo Arcadia area 1 Fureff - Guarded room in base; container Hareff - container on right ledge in vertical corridor, Neo Arcadia area 2 Greff - warehouse mission ventilation shaft, container Ireff - right bottom temple roof left container, Neo Arcadia area 1 Gireff - Gun-X, early junk stage Level 1 Blue Type, Absorbs Damage for Vitality, One-Use: Motolar - container in top right corner of pit area, warehouse mission Tielar - container at 2-01, hacking mission Muelar - temple roof container above bug boss, Neo Arcadia area 1 Rohealar - container on platform above submarines, hacking mission Level 1 Green Type, Restores Full Vitality, One-Use: Morick - lower level container between turtles, Harpuia level Keick - top-right computer, hacking mission Coswick - container ledge off cliff, Neo Arcadia area 1 Somack - new area in lost lab after data mission, container ===Animal=== Turtle Type, Increases Defense, Permanent: Shelter - Turtle tank, underground prison mission Cheetah Type, Increases Speed, Permanent: Turbo - Fefnir defeated, Fefnir stage Frog Type, Reduces Slide Speed, Permanent: Ribbid - spread shooter enemy, warehouse stage Monkey Type, Increases Climb Speed, Permanent: Gibber - Spike pillars, junk stage Bird Type, Rescues From Pitfall, One-Use: Buffer - Arm-X, on train Birsky - Spiked wheel enemy, early junk area Birtack - Flying bat enemy drops, Armored Car stage Birdain - Flying missile jet, train Birtross - Flying-X, Harpuia stage Birfly - vulture enemy, plane rescue Birrair - hardhat helicopter enemy, Neo Arcadia area 2 Sea Otter Type, Stuns Enemies, One-Use: Sticken - little copy monkey, energen protection mission Stickon - jumping dog enemy, Phantom/bomb mission Stickle - hanging spider enemy, warehouse mission Sticker - green wall crawling cannon, lost data mission Globefish Type, Explodes on Enemies, One-Use: Bompu - skeleton fish enemy, hacking mission Bomga - floating bomb enemy, Lost data mission Bomgu - defeat Leviathan, hacking mission Bompa - squid enemy, hacking mission Bee Type, Shoots Bullets for Cover, One-Use: Beesus - defeat tall mid-boss, train stage Beedle - defeat Halpera, Harpuia mission Beenet - shield attacker enemies, warehouse mission Beehoney - defeat Heracrios boss, Neo Arcadia area 1 Beefive - defeat 2 winged guardians, Neo Arcadia area 1 Beevoize - Ciel's room (level A, S), container ===Hacker=== Magician Type, Shields in Damage Zone, Permanent: Totten - defeat Pantheon Core, train stage Armor Type, Wipes Out Some Enemies, One-Use: Eenite - Monkey boss, protect energen crystals mission Kenite - Camel enemy, Fefnir mission Giant Type, Cuts Boss Energy, One-Use: Hafmargo - rolling cutter wielder, train Hafmarda - Phantom defeated, Phantom/bomb mission Time Type, Temporarily Stuns Enemy, One-Use: Stocchu - digger mission boss Stoctto - old lab, first time through, Sword-X Stoccue - bug generator enemy, opening Stochpoh - left container temple roof above flying guardians, Neo Arcadia area 1 Sutoppi - bear trap thing, plane stage Clock Type, Slows Time, One-Use: Clocka - old man (Andrew), talk to him (Yes, No) Clocta - container at 3-02, hacking mission Cloctch - bug mid-boss, Neo Arcadia area 1 Clocpah - old lab, next to Zero stasis, container Clocpooh - high on wall in junk stage, next to energen crystal, container Item Type, Beaten Enemies Drop Items, One-Use: Itettle - sand snake enemy, plane rescue Itemon - roader robot, early train stage Itecle - Maha Ganeshariff defeated, lost data Itepon - container at 3-05, hacking mission Iteron - right bottom temple roof right container, Neo Arcadia area 1 Met Type, Turns Enemies Into Mets, One-Use: M-orell - secret underground passage, Bull stage M-oria - Anubistep, plane stage M-orque - armadillo cannon enemy, Fefnir stage M-orekka - container at 1-02, hacking mission ===Rare=== Chameleon Type, Temporarily Invincibility Jackson - See Secrets and Tips section To Use Jackson: Press and hold the jump button for 5 or 6 seconds, until Zero begins to turn different colors (he may turn invisible also). This effect lasts about 10-15 seconds, and while this effect is going, Zero takes no damage from anything, even spikes. On the flip side, Zero will be unable to pick up items, go through doors and boss gates, use the Trance machines, or use the elevator platform at the Resistance base during this chameleon effect. =========== 5. Ranking: =========== Ranking is achieved by achievements and performance during stages. Along with grades ranging S, A, B, C, D, E, F (in descending order), there are codenames that are given to players based on their style. Below is a listing of the codenames and what is required to achieve them. Hunter - base codename Buggy - Get F rank in Stage Lazy - Get F rank 3x in Stages Scrapper - Get F rank 5x in Stages Crasher - Get F rank 7x in Stages Slowpoke - Get no clear time points in ranks A through E Sniper - 9/10 use of Buster in ranks A through E Destroyer - 2x or more than required enemy kills in ranks A through E Fearful - Quit/Give Up mission in ranks S through F Speedster - Complete stage 10 seconds or more under time limit in ranks A through E Warrior - Rank A through E, no other requirements Slayer - 9/10 use of Z-Saber in ranks A through E Pacifist - 10% or less than enemy kill requirement in ranks A through E Collector - 77 or more Cyber Elves in ranks A through E Hero - Get S rank in a stage Superhero - Get S rank 3x in Stages Savior - Get S rank 5x in Stages Immortal - Get S rank 7x in Stages =================== 6. Underground Lab: =================== This first stage is fairly simple. Use your Buster Gun to shoot through the various enemies, and try to make sure Ciel doesn't come to harm. Get used to how to dash, shoot, and jump, and how to intigrate all three, because it's useful knowledge in later times. The stage itself, though, is simple. When you get to an elevator area and drop down below, you'll come to a story event in which Ciel will be snatched by a Golem. Golem Strategy ============= Golem has only a few basic moves, and it isn't that difficult. Cling to the wall and fire at its face. When it opens its mouth and is facing straight forward, drop to the ground and get as near to the Golem as possible without touching him, as that would hurt you. Bricks will fall from the ceiling, but none of them should hurt you if you're in the proper spot. Climb them and cling to the high point of the wall so that when the Golem crushes the blocks he doesn't hurt you as well. If the mouth opens and Golem faces more downward, cling to the highest point of the wall and stay there. After a bit of damage is dealt, you'll get your Z-Saber weapon. Equip it and use it on the Golem; one hit will bring him down. ======================= 7. The Disposal Center: ======================= The first new threat of this stage are rolling spiked enemies. The best idea is to hit them once with your weapon of choice, jump over them, and then hit them again until they're gone. Other than that simple soldiers are around, so you shouldn't have huge problems. When you come to a building you'll have to climb up it and then come down the other side. On your way you'll find a flying soldier that can usually be ignored, but if you have to take it down it may be best to use a long-range weapon like the Buster Gun. Large spiked purple objects will sometimes block your path, but they can be brought down with the Z-Saber and then jumped over. Don't take too long, though, as they will regenerate and grow tall again. Continue along the path until you find your way to the boss door. Aztec Falcon Strategy ===================== This battle is fairly simple. Cling to the walls for most of the time and make sure your Z-Saber is equipped. If you've gained the ability to charge it, make sure you do that in preparing to attack. Simply stay to the wall to avoid his various attacks, and then when he charges toward you jump off the wall, slash him with the saber, and go to the other side. The battle will be over in no time and you can pick up the element of electricity. Then go to the Trans Sever to report back to base. ================= 8. Destroy Train: ================= Collect the Energen Crystals at the top level and then take the ladder down. You can go left to pick up a continue, and then go right to continue on in the stage. There are a few simple enemies and pits along the way. When you come to electrical wires, you can cut them down to reduce the risk of jumping across the gaps. You'll come to a boss door leading to a mini-boss. This robot isn't too hard. Use your Buster Gun to keep it back by hitting it when it has its shield up. When it's about to let the shield down, charge up and fire when the shield is gone. Keep it back, but do a dash-jump over it if it gets too close so its mace attack can't hit you. After this, you'll find a train that will start to move. From then you'll have 3 minutes to make it to the end of the train. You'll face some pretty tough armored soldiers, but don't worry about taking all of them down. Simply destroy the ones you can and move on as quickly as possible. When you make it to the end go into the last train car and you'll find the boss door. Pantheon Core Strategy ====================== The boss of the train is a figure that spews fire forth in varying degrees. For this reason, it's safest to use the Buster Gun and stay as far away as possible. If you want to risk it and get the timing right, a charged Saber shot works well, but only if you can dodge the attacks. After he's done with his fire attack platforms on the floor will rise trying to force you into spikes. Dash to avoid this fate. Once his life is drained a bit, three platforms will rise at once, so be very careful to make the platforms do what you want and be prepared to get out of the way. Continue hittng the boss and he will eventually go down. ================ 9. Find Shuttle: ================ This stage is fairly simple. Most of the enemy threats are from the ground, so if you keep a sharp eye out for them coming you should be alright. There are also vulture enemies, but a quick jump and slash should take care of them. When you come to tornado gusts, use the Buster Gun to destroy the machine in the center creating it. Eventually you'll find Anubis. Anubis Necromancess III Strategy ================================ Anubis can be fairly tough, but once you learn his patterns you should be able to handle him. Use the charged saber against him. He has three basic attacks. The first is to throw his staff, which will hover for a moment in the air and then come back to him when he reappears on the other side. Simply make the staff go towards you and get to the other side of the screen, and be ready to slash him when he comes back. He also uses undead robots to capture you and take life off. Destroy them before they get a chance. The Electricity elemental makes them stop in their tracks. He will also sometimes go underground and towers will rise. You can see where they're coming from from the dirt rising, and get outside of the radius of them, or you can simply climb the towers and jump over them while they start to close in. Keep slashing at him among dodging these attacks and he will go down. After defeating Anubis, go left to find a Resistance member in need of rescue. After some dialogue, the member will follow you wherever you go, so simply walk slowly and make sure you destroy all the traps along the ground plane. Don't be afraid to let yourself get hurt in the process; his safety is the important factor. Sometimes a vulture will come down trying to hurt him as well, so be ready to jump and slash at them. When you get back to the base the mission is over. =================== 10. Occupy Factory: =================== First and foremost, there are some shielded robots throughout this stage. Stay behind them until they pass by, and then when they turn around hit them in the back. Before long you'll find yourself among several alarms. Tripping one will cause a door up top to slowly shut, and you'll only have so much time to get there before the door shuts and your mission therefore fails. Just head through this area cautiously and slowly. It's hard to get through without tripping one of the alarms, so if you do just dash ahead as quickly as possible to get through the large door before it closes. Next, you'll be on an elevator with a switcher. Hit the switcher to make it go down and proceed. After this, you'll be before a large pit with robots that are able to carry you across. Get on, and be careful not to get hit by the sparks that are going back and forth at key points. Jump from robot to robot, and then climb up the ladder. Dash carefully to avoid getting hit by the electrical surges in this next area, and then climb up the ladder to find the boss door. Dragon Head Strategy ==================== This boss can be hard if you don't know where to focus your attacks. There are four different types of heads, and each type has two that will come out (one on each side). The orange heads try to swipe at you. The red heads let out an electric attack. The green use an electrical attack, and the blue use an ice attack. The left head always attacks first, and then the right head. For the orange and red sets, go to whichever side the head that is not attacking is on (left and then right). For the green and blue heads, go to whichever side is attacking (right and then left). As you do this, use your charged Saber attacks to slash at the middle whenever you get a chance. Once you've gotten used to the patterns of the boss you should be able to get two or maybe even three attacks on it per turn. Keep this up and the boss will go down, earning you the elemental of Fire. ======================= 11. Mechaniloid Attack: ======================= There isn't much to this stage. Just climb up the wall to find the boss. Mechaniloid Strategy ==================== This boss is pretty easy, especially if you have the level 6 Saber. Simple follow the car slashing at it. If it damages you, it's not really a big deal. Just avoid jumping into the spikes when they appear and use your saber slashes to take down the various parts. There are three major pieces. The nose, a lid, and a set of missiles. Take these down one by one. ===================== 12. Find Hidden Base: ===================== This stage is very much like the Anubis stage. You will encounter a new enemy, a large creature that spits fire. Hit its head to make it reel back, and then destroy it. When you get to the thresher machine, destroy it to find a new cave to go down into. There will be some spikes here, so slide down the walls slowly as you make your descent to make sure you don't jump into any. Next dispatch the enemies while shooting the chunks of rock to give yourself save passage, and you'll find yourself on a sheet of ice with a few enemies. If you go all the way to the end of the sheet of ice you can find a few items, but to move on you have to go up the ladder. After going through a few doors, you'll find yourself in a structure that has many prisons. There are seven Resistance hostages here, and your job is to go from cell to cell destroying the green locks on the cell doors to set the prisoners free. Be careful as you do that not to let the soldiers with red sensors see you. They'll summon the stronger soldiers, making your approach much harder. After all the prisoners have been freed, go to the boss door and you'll be allowed access through. Blizzack Stagroff Strategy ========================== This boss is very easy, especially if you have the Fire elemental. Charge your saber and let him have it as often as possible, making sure to dash under him when he tries to stomp on top of you. He'll go down in no time, giving you the Ice element. ================== 13. Retrieve Data: ================== This stage is fairly straight forward and consists of enemies that shouldn't pose a huge problem to you. The only new obstacle are spinning bars of electricity. Proceed past these carefully, since they can sting a bit. They can't be destroyed, so just try to get past them as best you can. Continue through the stage destroying the enemies and you'll find your way to the boss door. Maha Ganeshariff Strategy ========================= Ganeshariff isn't too difficult, especially if you can use the Elec Saber. He will start spinning towards you. A well timed jump over him works. He can also do a fast punching maneuver, which you should just wait until he's done with to hit him. Hit him with a charged Elec Saber as often as possible and he'll fall very quickly. After Maha Ganeshariff has been brought down, large blocks will start to fall from the ceiling. Dash to your right and move quickly to avoid being crushed. Doors will close on you quickly, so destroy them with your weapon and move on. All the enemies will be gone, the point is to just go fast enough to stay alive. ================== 14. Rescue Colbor: ================== There will be a lot of soldiers in this area, but nothing you haven't dealt with before. The only new threat, really, is the falling floors, so be careful when you see cracks. You'll also eventually come to an area with moving platforms over a large pit, so be careful not to fall. Soon you'll come to Harpuia. Harpuia Strategy ================= Harpuia is fast, but predictable. He will swoop from side to side doing various attacks like firing a large energy beam or trying to pick you up. Get him to aim at you by standing still, then dodge by dashing quickly to the other side. Hit him with a charged Saber (the Ice element with it works best), and then get to the other side of the screen. He'll fire four shots. Jump over the first, stand for the second, jump over the third, and then jump over the fourth. Then just repeat the process of hitting him again after dodging her next attack until he's defeated. ======================= 15. Duel in the Desert: ======================= This stage is full of enemies. None of them are new, but they fill the screen often to make up for none of them being particularly challenging. Eventually you'll come to a helicoptor dropping enemies, so defeat them and move on. Fefnir will jump out of the helicoptor to challenge you. Fefnir Strategy =============== Fefnir is fast, unpredictable, and can be pretty strong. Fortunately, you can outmatch his weaponry. Equip the Saber with the Electricity element and charge it up. This is his weakness. Hit him with it as often as possible, and then be sure to be ready to dodge his attacks. He shoots fireballs in varying numbers, and has a pulse attack that traces across the ground. He will also dash towards you trying to grab you, so make sure you keep your distance when you aren't attacking. When he has a white glow around him, it means that he's moving slightly faster and his attacks are stronger. His fireball and pulse attacks will be quicker, and his grab move will consist of a double hit that will hurt more. Be especially careful to keep your distance at this point, but keep hitting him, and he'll go down. ==================== 16. Protect Factory: ==================== This stage begins with the battle with Phantom. See below for strategy. After beating him, though, you need to find all the bombs in the compoud within 3 minutes, or the place will explode and the mission will fail, making whether you defeated Phantom or not a moot point. There are 8 in all. You can take a shortcut by climbing up a set of pipes and going through the fan system, or you can get inside the building through normal means. Either way, you'll find your first bomb and it will be very obviously placed. Knock it off the wall and touch it, then go to find the next. Two more will be present during your descent in the elevator, and you'll see another on a platform as you ride across the large gap. Another will be on the platform just behind you as you jump from one robot to another. After this you'll see one of the bars hanging from the ceiling hanging slightly lower than the others. Climb up the right side of it to find yet another bomb. The next bomb is in a small alchove in the middle of the electricity area. You'll find the final bomb just after you climb the ladder and the mission will be complete. Phantom Strategy ================= Phantom is one of the tougher bosses of the game, especially since he has no inborn elemental weakness. Equip your Saber with no elemental and be ready to charge. Using the Buster Gun as the secondary weapon is helpful too, as sometimes you can get a shot off. He will make copies of himself, and you can tell which one is the real him by it blinking differently. Keep your distance as he does this. After he gets out of it, he'll dash. Hopefully he will dash to the left side. Stay to the far right and fire off a charged shot as he's there. Then, he'll probably shoot a throwing star at you. Dodge it, and then hit him as he rises near you riding on it. His moves are fast and hard to see coming, but if you keep hitting him he'll go down. It may be a good idea to bring a Sub-Tank with you. ===================== 17. Stop the Hacking: ===================== Follow the directions down into the pit where you fought Blizzack. Here, instead of ice, there will be water. Proceed cautiously as there are some spikes, and then get on top of the boat. It will shoot missiles from time to time, so be careful to avoid them. Proceed along the boat until you come to the end of it, and then do a dash-jump to get to the next one. You'll find a ladder at the end where you can climb up. Go up the ladder, and then go left and go up the first ladder you see. Then go right. There will be a fake wall that leads to a hidden area. Go through the door and destroy all of the sphere objects. This will get you power-ups and it is required for the mission. Exit the compound completely now and go back down to the boat. Walk off the right side of it and get into the water again. Get into the center between the two spikes and Leviathan will challenge you. Leviathan Strategy ================== Leviathan is fairly easy, especially since you should have the Fire elemental by now. As usual I recommend the Saber, since it's so powerful, but most weapons will do against her. Her attacks will hit you sometimes, but your life should be able to easily outlast hers. After being hit, she will swim in a path directly where you're standing, so make sure you jump over this. She'll also sometimes create spikes of ice that can hurt you, and make them descend on you. Destroy them before they get the chance to. You can also hit her with the Fire element as she creates them to force her to stop. She will sometimes through icecicles or a circlet of ice at you, but again a well-timed hit will stop her in her tracks. Before long she'll be gone. ========================= 18. Hanumachine Strategy: ========================= After the missions are completed (or failed), the base will be invaded and it will be your job to find and defeat a boss that is inside the base. Drop down to the bottom and go inside the building to save the Resistance member. After doing this the elevator will be at the bottom again and you can take it to the floor just above the Data floor. Take this path until you find a ladder leading down that says "Energy." Here is where you'll find Hanumachine. Hanumachine will fire out small monkeys that will cling to you and slow you down, and he moves fairly quickly, but other than that he's pretty easy. Just charge your Saber and let him have it whenever you can and your lifebar should be able to outlast his. Electricity is his weakness. ======================== 19. Neo-Arcadia Stage 1: ======================== This level isn't too difficult. It's composed en mass of enemies and situations you've already faced. When you get to a platform that's staying still, hit it to activate it. You may have to do this a few times because the platform will go up and you need to time it to make sure it lines up with the other platform that you have to jump onto. When you get out of the platform hopping, you'll come to a mini-boss, two armored soldiers that are stronger than most. Go to either the left side or the right and use a level 6 Saber spin attack whenever they come by to defeat them. A charged Saber with no elementals works well too. A few more simple enemies and you'll come to yet another mini-boss, a sword-wielding robot with four arms. Use the Elec Saber to hit him, and simply stay on the wall whenever he's going into his spin attack or firing his projectiles. After this you'll face a few more enemies and then a new obstacle, disappearing platforms. Jump up to one and then jump off of it and to the next as soon as you see the first one fade. It takes a bit of practice, but it's not that hard. Stay out of the direct line under the disappearing platforms, because they'll fire at you. After all of this you'll finally arrive at the boss of the stage. Herculious Anchortus Strategy ============================= This boss is pretty easy. His weakness is ice, and his attacks are simple to avoid. Sometimes he will rush at you at the wall. Just jump up onto the wall while you charge your Saber and jump behind him to deliver a hefty blow. The same basic strategy can be used when he uses two rope-like mechanisms to pull himself closer to you. Keep employing these strategies and he'll be gone soon. ======================== 20. Neo-Arcadia Stage 2: ======================== This stage is essentially an ascent up through several means. There will be a lot of enemies, but none of them should pose a huge threat. The hardest part of the stage is when there are platforms over (and under) spikes, but if you used the correct Hacker elf this won't even be a problem here. Before long you'll find yourself at the boss. Rainbow Devil Strategy ====================== This boss is easy so long as you stay on the walls as often as possible. All the elementals seem to deal about the same amount of damage, so just go with whichever you have equipped. Cling to the highest point of either wall unless you have a clear hit, in which case you should get down, hit the boss, and then get to the highest point of the wall again. The only time that this isn't safe is when the boss takes the form of a head, since it can reach the highest point. When it does this, get down on the ground and dodge the bouncing head, and then get back on the wall and wait for it to split into two smaller balls that will miss you if you are at the highest point. Keep exercising this safe strategy and you'll win. ======================== 21. Neo-Arcadia Stage 3: ======================== Most of stage is primarily a boss revisitation stage. After battling some simple soldier enemies, you'll find yourself in the first of two boss revisitation rooms with doors at each corner of the room. Top-left is Anubis, top-right is Blizzack, bottom-left is Herculious, and bottom-right is Maha Ganeshariff. Exercise the same strategies you did the first time and pick up the life in between the levels between each boss. After another simple enemy area, you'll come to the second boss revisitation area. This one is the four Neo-Arcadia generals. The top-left is Harpuia, top-right is Fefnir, bottom-left is Phantom, and bottom-right is Leviathan. Like before, exercise the same strategies and be sure to refill your health. After this you'll battle through some more simple enemies. When you get to the boss door, try to make sure your lifebar and Sub-Tanks are full. If not, go destroy enemies until they are. When you step through that door, you're on your way to the final boss. Copy X Strategy =============== Copy X uses an armor that lets him change his elemental status, so he has the elemental attributes of Harpuia, Fefnir, and Leviathan all rolled into one. He attacks quickly, so your best bet is to stay on the wall and come down to slash him with your saber whenever possible. His weaknesses change based on his color, so you can either change your elemental weapon based on his weakness (green is fire, red is elec, blue is fire), or you can equip a non-elemental and simply use it as a general weapon. This form isn't too hard to beat so long as you stay away from his attacks as much as possible. You can use a Sub-Tank here if you need, but it's probably best to save it. Final X Strategy ================ After the first form has been defeated, Copy X takes on the form of an angelic being. This form is incredibly powerful, but has a limited set of attacks. One he uses is to fire circlets that will trap you and drag you down. Make sure you are not over the two pits to either side when he does this, or you'll fall and die. To avoid them, stay still as he fires and then dash quickly to make them fall to where you had been standing. If a sudden glow comes from his head, it means he is about to fire several energy beams. Again, stay still for a moment and then jump onto one of the two floating platforms next to you. This will ideally make his weapon fire toward the ground. He also sometimes fires a laser beam across the ground, which will make a row of fire appear on the entire ground, in the direction that he fired the laser. Jump onto one platform or the other as quickly as possible and then jump back down onto the ground once the fire has faded. Slash at him with a charged saber whenever you jump off the floating platforms and don't be afraid to use your Sub-Tanks. ===================== 22. Secrets and Tips: ===================== 1. Easy Levels, Sub-Tank Fill, Energen Crystals - After beating the first stage, it can be revisited using the Trance machine by choosing the first option to transport and then the second option listed to transport to where the first stage took place. There are plenty of enemies here that can give you energy and such, including spiders that constantly regenerate. Find one of these webs and stand in front of it, destroying the spiders as they come out. Several minutes of this will give you upgrades to any weapon quickly and easily, and the spiders will often drop life energy for filling Sub-Tanks and Energen Crystals for upgrading your cyber-elves. It is important that you DO NOT defeat Maha Ganeshariff if you still want to use this trick, because after he has been defeated the area cannot be visited again in this respect. 2. New Game Plus - Similar to games such as Chrono Trigger, after beating the game a new one can be started with your upgrades in tact. Simply wait for the credits to end and save your game when you have the option, and then select that game in the continue screen of the main menu. You'll start a new game with any effects from the cyber-elves still in use. Your weapons, however, will not be in their upgraded form. 3. Hard Mode - To play in Hard Mode, hold L while starting a new game after having beaten the game. You won't be able to charge any weapon but the Shield Boomerang in this mode, so elementals are quite impaired and your weapons stay at their basic model. 4. Ultimate Mode - Starting a game with Jackson in your inventory (see below), you must use all of the elves and then beat the game. After this is done you will unlock Ultimate Mode. Access the mode by holding R and starting a new game. In Ultimate Mode all of the permanent elf effects are already active, and all weapons are at their max levels from the start. Also in this mode, rank isn't affected by use of the permanent elves, since they are used automatically. And in Ultimate Mode, Zero can perform key combos to do charged attacks without having charged, similar to his attacks in X4-X6. 5. The Rare Elf Jackson - After gaining Hard Mode by beating the game, you must play through Hard Mode and collect and max out all the elves, and then beat the game on level A or S. This is very difficult to do. Now when you start a new game from that saved beaten game, you will have all of the elves including the Rare Elf, Jackson. 6. Zero's Combo Attacks - In Ultimate Mode (see above), key combos can create charged attacks. The following is a list of the button combinations d = down; df = down + forward; f = forward Buster Shot Charge level 1: d, df, f + attack Charge level 2: d, df, f (2x) + attack Z-Saber f, df, d + attack Triple Rod f, d, df + attack Shield Boomerang d, df, f + attack ========== 23. 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 Network (http://www.megaman-network.com/). All associated characters and games are copyright to Capcom.