====================================================================== ROCKMAN X4 FAQ / WALKTHROUGH Written by Shadow Dragon [shadow_dragon95@hotmail.com] For PC / Sony PlayStation / Sega Saturn ====================================================================== CONTENTS -------- 1. Game Basics * Controls * Items * Mech Armors * Characters * Zero's Abilities and Weapons 2. Walkthrough 3. Codes & Secrets 4. Credits ********************************************************************** ====================================================================== 1. GAME BASICS ====================================================================== [] Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~ To avoid confusion, I'll be using the below notations for buttons, since these can be altered in the Options screen. Up F = Fire / Slash | J = Jump Left - 0 - Right D = Dash | S = Special Technique (Zero only) Down G = Giga Attack L / R = Toggle through available weapons (X only) Start = Pause / Resume [] Items ~~~~~~~~ Energy Pellet (glass pill with glowing red center) - Restores your lifebar. The small pellet gives you a small recharge, normal gives you about a fourth of your lifebar back and the large one fully recharges your lifebar. Weapon Pellet (blue sphere with red lines) - Restores your weapon energy. Also available in 3 sizes: small recharges a bit, normal recharges a quarter and large fully recharges your weapon energy. If there is no weapon selected or the current weapon is full, the energy will be added to the weapon with the lowest energy, or to the W-Tank if all weapons are full. 1-Up (looks like X's / Zero's helmet) - Gives you an extra life. Heart Tank (take a wild guess) - Increases the length of your lifebar. There are 8 of these, one in every stage. Collect them all to make your lifebar as long as the bosses'. E-Tank (embossed with an 'E') - Also known as Sub-Tanks. When your lifebar is full, collecting Energy Pellets will store the surplus energy in these tanks. You can then drain them to recharge your lifebar when you need the energy. To do so, select an E-Tank in the Pause screen (press Start) and press F to drain it. How much your lifebar will be recharged is dependant on the amount of energy stored in the tank. There are 2 E-Tanks to find in the game. W-Tank (embossed with a 'W') - Identical to E-Tanks in every way, except that this stores weapon energy instead. When all your special weapons are full, collecting Weapon Pellets will charge the W-Tank. See the Weapon Pellet and E-Tank sections above for more details. There is only 1 W-Tank in the game. EX-Tank (looks like a pot with a molecule floating inside) - Like the W-Tank, there's only one to find in the game. This thing gives you 4 lives when you start a stage instead of the usual 2. Not that useful in my opinion, but it's there, so take it anyway. Upgrade Capsules (you'll know 'em when you see 'em) - Only X can find and use these capsules. There are 4 in the game, and each will upgrade one of X's parts: Legs, Helmet, Armor and X-Buster. When you approach a capsule, a holographic image of Dr Light will appear and brief you about the effects of the capsule. Step inside to receive the upgrades. Zero can visit the places where the capsules are hidden, but they won't appear for him. [] Mech Armors ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eagle Mech Armor - Found in the Air Force and Final Weapon stages. Tap J while in mid-air to hover, and charge the F button to fire three energy blasts which will home in on nearby enemies. You can hover for a good 30 seconds before falling, or until you get hit by an enemy. Also, when charging, you cannot move unless you happen to be hovering while doing so. Ridden Mech Armor - Found in the Volcano and Military Train stages. Has a short-ranged slash attack; tap F rapidly for three slashes in quick succession, or charge it for a dashing attack. Like the Eagle Mech Armor, you cannot move while charging. Land Chaser - You get this automatically in the Marine Base stage, and fight the entire stage with it, which means you die if it gets destroyed. You cannot charge its shots, but it is the only Mech Armor in the game equipped with an Air Dash -- which, along with its normal dash, also doubles up as a rushing attack. * Mech Armors will not display a lifebar, but sustaining too much damage will destroy them nevertheless. However, keep in mind that except for bottomless pits, Armors are pretty much invincible against most hazards and traps that will kill you outright (spikes, lava and such). * If you decide to jump out of a Mech Armor while falling, you can no longer Air Dash, hover, Kuuenbuu or Hienkyakuu for the remaining duration of your descent. * With the exception of the Land Chaser, you can ditch Mech Armors in mid-way if you want. Just press Up + J. [] Characters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ROCKMAN X Known as MegaMan X outside Japan. He's obviously the main hero, since all the games are named after him. Although X was created by Dr Thomas Light in the 21th century, it was not clear whether he was the Blue Bomber himself after being enhanced, or an entirely new robot altogether. X was found by Dr Cain in the 22th century by accident as the scientist stumbled upon the remnants of the late Dr Light's lab and the capsule in which X was sealed. Fascinated by X's technology and how human he seemed, Dr Cain tried his hand at replicating Dr Light's handiwork. Although he did not comprehend, or was unable to duplicate certain parts of X's technology, he did come out with a satisfactory result. This was followed by another, and another, and another, until there were a sizable number of these sentient robots running around, forming their own communities in this world. They were later to be termed as Replica-Androids, or Reploids for short. At some point or other, some of the Reploids' programming went haywire, causing them to turn... I dunno, evil? The Mavericks, as they were known, rebelled against humankind, believing themselves to be superior and swearing to eradicate their creators from the face of the world. Hence the wars started, and so did the games. X's primary armament is the X-Buster, a miniature arm-mounted cannon capable of firing multiple plasma bursts in rapid succession. It can also be charged for a larger, meaner shot and, including the normal uncharged shot, can be fired at 3 varying strength levels. The X-Buster can be enhanced by finding and using the X-Buster Upgrade capsules in the Air Force stage. Note: Background storyline may be slightly inaccurate. ZERO Much of Zero's past is revealed by the cinematic sequences in the game. In the beginning we see Zero dreaming about a funny-haired person in a lab coat, who claims to be his creator. Then, before facing the final boss, another movie clip is played, showing Zero himself a Maverick in the days before when Sigma was still the commander of the Maverick Hunters. In a battle between Zero and Sigma, Zero almost defeated Sigma until the blue jewel on his forehead flashed with a 'W' (W for Wily? I dunno...), somehow crippling his systems for long enough to let Sigma land one single punch to his head which turned the battle decisively. Sigma then ordered Zero to be taken back to Dr Cain's lab and studied. He was then reactivated, and later joined the Maverick Hunters. Judging from the way he talks with Colonel and Iris in the Sky Lagoon stage, Zero appears to have built up an acquaintance with them some point in the past. In the previous games Zero was armed with an extra-powerful version of the X-Buster, but it has been scrapped in favor of the Z-Saber in this game, an energy blade that materializes in a flash of green light as Zero draws it. Tapping the F button rapidly causes Zero to slash three times in quick succession. What this weapon lacks in range, it makes up for it in power. The Z-Saber can be enhanced by beating Split Mushroom and Storm Owl to obtain the Kuuenzan and Tenkuuha. [] Zero's Abilities and Weapons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For those used to the RockMan series, X's weapons are simple enough: select a weapon, press F and there you go. Zero, however, is more complex, since he seems to be based more on Capcom's Street Fighter series, in which special attacks cannot be selected, but are executed by certain button presses. I'll be listing them here, complete with translations, how to execute them plus a brief description of the said weapon. Raijingeki S (on ground) Kuuenbuu J (in air) Kuuenzan F (in air) Hienkyakuu D (in air) Ryuuenjin Up + S (on ground) Hyouretsuuzan Down + S (in air) Rakuuhouha G (on ground) Tenkuuha F (ground / air) Shippuuga S while dashing (on ground) Raijingeki (Raijin Fury) - Obtained from Web Spider. Zero thrusts an electrical saber forward after a short lag time. Extremely powerful, but slow. For best effects, use this as the final hit of a triple slash by tapping F,F,S. - Note: According to Jason Tucker's The Zero FAQ, 'Raijin' is the Shinto Thunder God, which in itself translates to Thunder Blade or something. Kuuenbuu (Air Dance) - Obtained from Split Mushroom. Zero performs a second jump in mid-air. While not particularly quick, Zero can jump almost twice as far, twice as high or a combo of both if you want. Who needs an Air Dash? I sure as hell don't. =) Cannot be performed if a dashing jump or Hienkyakuu is executed. Kuuenzan (Air Slash) - Also obtained from Split Mushroom. Zero executes a somersault in mid-air, performing a complete revolution with his Z-Saber swiping downwards, very much like a shield. Once you get this, use it in place of normal ground-based slashes whenever possible. Hienkyakuu (Swallow Kick) - Obtained from Jet Stingray. Air Dash. Enough said. Cannot be executed if a dashing jump or Kuuenbuu is used. Ryuuenjin (Dragon Fire Blade) - Obtained from Magma Dragoon. Uppercut attack with a fiery saber. You can do just about anything while you descend as if you're landing normally: Kuuenbuu, Hienkyakuu, direct your fall etc. You're invincible as you rise, but when falling, that's another story... Hyouretsuuzan (Ice Burst Slash) - Obtained from Frost Walrus. Zero thrusts an icy saber at the ground, then dives downwards. You can exert limited control over Zero's descent by holding the Left or Right buttons. Handy for popping enemies below you as you fall. Rakuuhouha (Falling Phoenix Surge) - Obtained from Cyber Peacock. Zero punches the ground, sending multiple energy blasts flying all over the screen in a full 180-degree angle. This is the only one of his moves which require weapon energy to be executed, and a full energy bar is worth only 4 shots. It can be recharged by Weapon Energy Pellets, the weapon tank or by getting hit, though, and is Zero's most powerful technique. Tenkuuha (Heavenly Mandate) - Obtained from Storm Owl. Zero's Z-Saber changes from green to purple, giving him the ability to deflect or destroy small enemy shots (missiles don't count, except for those already destroyable without the Tenkuuha). Shippuuga (Tornado Fang) - Obtained from Slash Beast. Zero whips out his saber and performs a slash while dashing forward. Executing this will cause him to end his dash immediately. Cannot be used with the Hienkyakuu. Note: With a few exceptions, which were borrowed from Jason Tucker's Zero FAQ (see the Credits section for more details), the above translations were done by me and may not be fully accurate. Heck, they may not even be anywhere near accurate at all! ;) Corrections to any possible errors would be very much appreciated. ********************************************************************** ====================================================================== 2. WALKTHROUGH ====================================================================== Note that the stages listed here are according to the order which X should fight them, seeing as how he's the main character. =) Worry not, Zero's order will also be included here. After the name of the stage, you will see a notation stating the order which they should be fought by X and Zero. For example, if a stage is X's third and Zero's fifth, you would see [X3, Z5] and so on. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SKY LAGOON --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE The introduction stage which you go to automatically when you fight the game. Not much of a challenge, just meant to orient you to the game. Blast through everything, including the walls. Somewhere in Area 2 you'll suddenly find yourself falling into a compactor. Grab the 1-Up and Energy pellet, then get the hell outta there! And, oh... keep an eye for ceilings that drop down and try to squish you. MID-BOSS Anyone know what this thing's really called? Anyway, wait for him to raise his arm. When he does, he's gonna punch you. Dash away and hit his arm before he draws it back. If he flies down and out of sight, he's going to punch you from below. Jump to avoid this. You won't be able to do anything except to dodge the first time, but subsequent punches will have his fist protruding from the ground. You know what to do. Really easy. FINAL BOSS: KING DRAGON This guy has three attack patterns, but for the most part he'll just stand around, allowing you to hit him. Aim for the upper body; his legs won't sustain damage. When he flies up, he'll mostly just land on the other side, but sometimes he'll dash down at you. Stay at the very corner of the stage, and you should be safe. His fireballs are easily avoided by correctly-timed dashes and jumps, and if he spits that long stream of fire, get to the other end, wait for it to reach you and jump. This guy should be gone in no time. --------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNGLE [X1, Z1] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS Leg Upgrade - As you descend the second waterfall (the first being the one you come across right in the beginning), keep an eye on the right wall for a passageway. Go in and find the capsule. This upgrade allows X to Air Dash and hover in mid-air for short periods. Tap J while in mid-air to hover. You can hover for about 5 seconds or so, but if you move left or right while hovering, the time period is dramatically reduced to only a second. Heart Tank - When you reach the part of Area 2 overpopulated by electrical-web-spinning spiders, look for pieces of wood which look aged and somehow rotten. The second piece can be burned by the Rising Fire / Ryuuenjin to reveal the Heart Tank. Return here after you have defeated Magma Dragoon and have obtained the said weapon. FINAL BOSS: WEB SPIDER WS has two attack patterns, both of which are pretty simple to avoid and counter. He'll appear from the top, dangling from a thread as he throws a spider web at you which has limited homing abilities. When you chip away about half of his lifebar, WS will create a network of harmless energy webs in the centre of the stage, floating about. Aside from the afore-mentioned webs, he'll now also throw small spiders which will crawl towards you. When he appears, hit him. Then dash away, climb up a wall and jump off to shake the webs from your tail. Dispose of the small spiders as he throws them with a fully charged shot / multiple Z-Saber strikes, and hit WS repeatedly as he scuttles about in his web. The main danger for Zero players is that the small spiders will distract you long enough for the homing webs to catch you! Try to intercept the spiders in mid-air as WS throws them. Also, take special care not to mess up on this pattern; WS has the tendency to rack up lots of damage on you even with only a few hits. When you face him again later in the Final Weapon stage, use the Twin Slasher / Shippuuga against the small spiders. Zero: Go to the Bio Laboratory. --------------------------------------------------------------------- BIO LABORATORY [X2, Z2] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS Heart Tank - In Area 2, get past the staircase and onto the teleporter. The Tank is plainly visible above you. Hop to the right as the drills destroy a section of the ground, then perform a dashing jump over to the left ledge to fool the drills into falling down. Dash back, and... (X) Stand on the elevated surface and fire a Lightning Web to the left. Air Dash at it, then jump right. Newbies might end up falling straight into the pit if they're not careful. (Z) Use the Kuuenbu. You won't be able to get it on your first visit, since you'll need to defeat Split Mushroom to get the Kuuenbu. MID-BOSS The trick here is to have enough blocks to stand on. Get on one side (I prefer right) and work your way towards the other end, smacking him as you go. Zero players can finish this guy off in 3 hits with the Raijingeki. X will just have to make do with charged shots. With five blocks, you only have four chances to pummel him, so make them count! FINAL BOSS: SPLIT MUSHROOM Simple! The only attack pattern you should let him use is the part where he throws colored holograms of himself. As X, wait for him to jump up the wall, then zap him with a Lightning Web. He'll fall and (stupidly) jump on the other wall, where you should just repeat until he's history. Just try not to miss a single shot, because you need 12 hits to kill him, and 12 hits are all you get from a full weapon bar. Zero's fight takes longer, but is equally easy. When he throws the second hologram, wait a split-second and whip out the Raijingeki. Throw another when it ends, then another. Done correctly, SM will fall right into the third Raijingeki, where he'll them jump to the other wall and throw holograms again. Like X, 12 hits are required to kill him. If you miss, SM is going to split himself in two and ram into you from both sides! You're gonna need very good timing to hit him (you need to hit the real one) 3 times before he gets back together into one piece and starts throwing holograms again. Zero: Go to the Volcano. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CYBERSPACE [X3, Z4] --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE Very... unique. Area 1 is comprised of three races. Get to the end of these quick. You can finish them with three ratings depending on how fast you are, namely... * S: Best rating. Wins you an item, and takes you to the next race. Refer to the 'Items' subsection below to see what item you get for finishing which race. * A: Second best rating. Takes you to the next race. * B: Worst rating. Takes you back to the beginning of the current race. By the way, you can destroy those pesky yellow orbs with special weapons; Soul Body for X, Kuuenzan for Zero. Area 2 is not hard, but somewhat confusing. You'll need to step on those buttons to turn the stage upside-down so the purple balls can roll down ramps and bash through certain walls for you. Sometimes, stepping on a wrong button at the wrong time will result in the ball rolling back at you! Watch out for this. ITEMS Heart Tank - You'll get the Heart tank for finishing the first race as X, the second as Zero. Don't use the Soul Body yet; this one's simple enough. Save it for later. E-Tank - Finish the second race as X, third as Zero. Slightly harder than the first race, but still manageable. Don't use the Soul Body just yet! For Zero, however, getting this is a real pain in the ass. Dash through those glowing portals before an enemy robot pops out, and Kuuenzan those yellow orbs to bloody hell. You might need a few tries before you complete this successfully. Helmet Upgrade - Finish the third race to get this. Here's where you'll be glad you saved the Soul Body. Unlike Zero who can Kuuenzan endlessly, you only have 8 shots, so make them count! Use them to get rid of the yellow orbs, and dash past the glowing portals before an enemy appears. This upgrade allows X unlimited use of his non- charged special weapons (not counting the Nova Strike), provided he still has remaining energy for the weapon in question. Very handy, since energy requirements for special weapons have been drastically increased since X3. FINAL BOSS: CYBER PEACOCK Is this thing a 'she' or what? Ugh. Anyway, CP will vanish once the battle starts, then reappear where you are to damage you by direct contact. If you don't hit her with the correct weapon and cause her to disappear, she'll fan out her tail into multiple energy beams, further damaging you. Sometimes she'll appear in mid-air and, if not forced to disappear, throw homing feathers (?) at you, which are very hard to avoid. The trick here is to keep moving when she disappears. When she pops into sight, nail her with a Soul Body / Ryuuenjin before she can attack! Dash towards her to get within range if she appears in mid- air. The thing to watch out for is not to wait for too long before hitting her, or you'll regret it. Zero: Go to the Air Force. --------------------------------------------------------------------- AIR FORCE [X4, Z5] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS Heart Tank - Plainly visible, but hard to get. The Tank is sitting on one of those platforms which will get destroyed by laser beams (the first one). You'll need to get it before it vanishes along with the platform! Jump on it and dash. If the laser hits, tap J twice to hover to the other side (you have the Mech Armor, right?). X-Buster Upgrade - Remember me saying that there are only 4 capsules earlier? Okay, so I lied; there are 5, 1 for each part and 2 for the X-Buster. After you ride the moving platform across the spikes, you should see a hole in the ceiling, lined on both sides by spikes. Get on the elevated surface, jump and fire a Lightning Web to the left. Now perform a dashing jump over to the Web, jump off again and cling on to the right wall above the spikes. You'll find 2 capsules on the left. The right one allows you to charge and store up to 4 shots, while the left one (known as the Plasma Shot) generates a globe of energy whenever a fully-charged shot hits anything, further damaging whatever it is that comes into contact with it. Both allows you to charge up your special weapons. You can have only one of them at a time, but you can come back here and switch them should you decide you prefer the other one. Still, it's better to make up your mind, because coming here is a major pain in the ass. Don't be surprised if you lost a few lives while attempting this little stunt. I recommend getting the Plasma Shot, by the way. MID-BOSS You want to hit the red eye on the right wall. Those laser-shooting dudes will appear in force here, and fire laser beams at three height levels: bottom level (where you're standing), medium level (where the eye is) and top level. Destroy those at the bottom level to avoid getting hit, and also those at the medium level so you can hit the eye when it opens. Zero players will need to dash around a lot. For the eye, use the Ryuuenjin as Zero. This will be a most frustrating battle for X, since the only weapon capable of dealing with the laser dudes is the X-Buster, and you'll soon find you're unable to land charged shots at the eye. =) You'll just have to make do with uncharged shots this time around. FINAL BOSS: STORM OWL I have no idea what this guy's attack pattern is, and neither should you. Blast him before he can attack! Use the Aiming Laser as X, Rakuuhouha as Zero. X players should have no problem, but Zero is very much likely to run out of energy before SO's finished. To avoid this, wait until SO's _almost_ right next to you before firing at him. This will inflict more damage, since more of the shots will hit him. Done correctly, this guy will be gone in 4 shots, but if not, he should have at least been softened up quite a bit already. Go crazy on him with the Kuuenzan and Ryuuenjin. Or, if you have energy to spare, simply let him hit you to recharge your weapon energy. Zero: Go to the Snow Base. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MEMORIAL HALL --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE You'll come to this stage after defeating 4 bosses in any order. If you've followed my order here, it's after the Air Force for X, Cyber Space for Zero. Just go right to meet the Colonel. You'll have to fight him as X, but all Zero players have to do is watch a really cool movie clip. COLONEL I highly recommend having the Leg Upgrade before coming here. Our Repliforce Colonel has two attack patterns here. He will either teleport right next to you and slash you, or fire three energy waves at you from the corner of the stage. When you see him disappear, wait a while, jump and Air Dash away as Colonel appears where you were a split-second ago. Repeat this as necessary. When he warps to the corners, let loose a blast, then dodge his energy waves by dashing below the first and third, and jumping over the second -- he fires them in a high-low-high pattern. Blast him again when he's finished. Defeating him requires patience and, like Web Spider, try not to mess up here or half of your lifebar will be gone before you even know it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLCANO [X5, Z3] --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE Early in Area 1, as you descend a slope, you'll notice the ground starting to shake and several fireballs chasing after your butt! Jump and grab on one of the overhangs to dodge them. This happens twice; the next is near the end of the area, where you'll be going up a slope. Another thing to watch out for is the chasms. Time your jumps so as not to get clobbered on the head by a fireball in mid-jump or you'll drop right into the chasm. In Area 2, you'll be faced with the task of jumping over a whole lot of the chasms, but unlike Area 1, you won't be landing on solid ground in between your jumps, but on floating platforms instead. Of course, some fireballs just HAVE to hit the platforms, and two hits and a platform's dust. ITEMS Heart Tank - Found in Area 2. Proceed until you come to the first robotic enemy. Destroy it, and look left where you'll notice an outlying ledge. Fire a Lightning Web at it to get up there, or use the Kuuenbuu as Zero. Armor Upgrade - When you come across the Mech Armor, get in it, then perform a dashing jump to the right. Jump out of the Armor to grab the ledge and climb on it. Blast through the wall with a charged Twin Slasher, then go in to claim your prize. This upgrade allows X to execute the Nova Strike (press the G button), but it doesn't seem particularly useful to me... FINAL BOSS: MAGMA DRAGOON When (it seems like) it's time to ditch the Mech Armor, don't. Jump into the lava instead, bash through a few blocks in your way and ta- da! You can use the Armor against MD! Yeah!! Just go crazy and mash on the F button like a crack addict. I've heard you can defeat MD and not lose the Mech Armor, but I've never been able to do it. :-\ When he destroys your Armor, it's time to switch tactics. For X, whip out the Double Tornado and blast him. He'll then jump to the other end of the stage. Get there before he does and hit him again. Continue until he explodes. If there's a problem with X, it's that these battles are so easy, they're almost getting boring.... For Zero, however, its a totally different story. MD is, in my opinion, one of the hardest fights for Zero. MD has no set pattern for his attacks! In the middle of the stage, he can either jump, uppercut or throw fireballs. In the corner, he'll summon a ball of fire and throw it at you or shoot a whole stream of fire across the stage. Don't stand too close while slashing him in case he does an uppercut, and dash under his jumps before he stomps down on you. His fireball is quick, and only players with the best of reflexes will be able to dodge it. He's gonna throw a second one right after that, so jump behind him and Kuuenzan! Watch him closely when he gets into the corners. If that ball of fire appears above him, ignore it and slash away at him. However, if he crouches and opens his mouth, he's gonna spit fire. Although it's not visible, there's a tiny space between him and the lava where you can stand unscathed. Double jump behind him, then shove a Raijingeki up his ass! Try not to die, because you'll reappear right outside MD's room WITHOUT the Armor if you do so. Once MD is defeated, go back to the Jungle and use your Rising Fire or Ryuuenjin to get the Heart Tank. Zero: Go to Cyber Space. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SNOW BASE [X6, Z6] --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE Right at the beginning, climb up the wall to your left and go right. Plenty of pellets to be found; a good place to come and recharge your tanks. =) Every visit here will charge up half an E-Tank, but note that taking this path will make you bypass the Heart Tank. In Area 2, you'll come across a few bird-like robots which will summon a circle of ice around them. Get them quick, or the stage will freeze up and drop icicles down on you. ITEMS Heart Tank - Found in Area 1. Fight the stage normally, but keep an eye on the ceiling. When you see the stone punctuated by a block of ice, stand beneath it and destroy it with a Rising Fire / Ryuuenjin. The tank will then fall right on you. EX-Tank - Also found in Area 1. When you get to those appearing and disappearing slopes that keep you from falling into spiked pits, go right until you hit the wall. Climb up, and the EX-Tank is clearly visible on an outlying ledge. Use a Lightning Web / Kuuenbuu to get it. W-Tank - Found in Area 2. Punch your way through those ice blocks and go down. When you start ascending again, go left when you reach the top. Destroy the ice block to get it. Or just hit every block until you find it. MID-BOSS Your normal weapons will be sufficient for this match. Hit the hand when it opens, dash under it as it starts floating up and down and repeat as it opens again. If it disappears from view, wait a while, then dash away because its gonna slam down on you! The falling icicles are hard to dodge, but can be destroyed by a Rising Fire or Ryuuenjin. When it shapes itself into a spiked ball, some quick dashing will settle it. Not particularly challenging. FINAL BOSS: FROST WALRUS The bigger they are, the harder they fall. =) You'll want to use your fire attack for this. When FW starts walking towards you, get close and pound him. You'll need to adjust your distance for this: not too close for Zero, directly under his chin for X (if this doesn't sound appealing, don't worry; he moves slower than hell). Once you hit him, he'll get on all fours and slide towards you. Climb up the wall and jump off when he gets close, let him stand up, repeat. When you chip away about half of his lifebar, he'll change tactics and start making ice chunks. Do not climb the walls!!! Stay near the ice, wait for it to hit the ground and shatter, then move between the icicles. Hit him again when he stops, and he'll make ice chunks again. Repeat until dead. Zero: Go to the Marine Base. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARINE BASE [X7, Z7] --------------------------------------------------------------------- STAGE Heh... this stage is pretty much like Wily Stage #1 in MegaMan V for Game Boy. Anyway, you fight the entire stage in the Land Chaser, a jet bike. See the 'Mech Armors' section above for more details. The thing to watch out for is not to ram into any obstacles (enemies not counted), or it's curtains for you. Jet Stingray himself makes two appearances in Area 2 before you fight him, tossing stingray drones at you which can get annoying. Drive him away with a dash attack. ITEMS Heart Tank - Found in Area 1. There'll be two bridges spanning the third pit, one upper, one lower. Just don't jump and you'll land neatly on the lower bridge and nab the Heart Tank. Remember to jump when you reach the end to get back on the main path, though. E-Tank - Found near at the end of Area 2. You'll know you're there, because you'll have to blast a few crates in your path. There'll be a jump platform right after that. When you reach the end of it, jump off and hit the D button while firing like crazy! If all goes well you'll destroy the crates, land on the platform and get the E-Tank. If not, you'll ram into the platform. Jump off and Air Dash right after getting the Tank instead of dropping back on the water, or there's a good chance you'll smack into an obstacle waiting for you right below. FINAL BOSS: JET STINGRAY Easy or hard, depending on who you're playing. JS has two main attack patterns; either firing mini stingray drones, or rushing down and trying to hit you. When half of his lifebar's gone, he'll add two more, by dashing vertically up and down, or getting into the water, try to suck you in with a vacuum-like weapon then dashing at you. X gets the easy battle. JS will ALWAYS descend on the side where he goes up. Get right under him when he appears, jump up, Frost Tower. He shouldn't even be able to attack you as you finish him off. Zero's fight isn't exactly hard, provided your fingers are nimble enough. You know which side he'll be coming down. Get to the other side then, just as he shows himself, double jump over to him. If he dashes, you'll dodge him nicely. If not, serve him a Hyouretsuuzan. This is the difficult part, since you need to hold J long enough to get next to him, press Down then S. But if done correctly, you'll be able to finish him off with a perfect lifebar, just like X. Practice is the key. Zero: Go to the Military Train. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MILITARY TRAIN [X8, Z8] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS Heart Tank - You can't miss this one; it's sitting right in your way a short while after you get the Mech Armor in Area 2. MID-BOSS Eh..? What is this thing anyway? Leap over the middle spike (the top and bottom ones can't hurt you) and let loose with the Plasma Shot. Two hits (3 at most) and this sucker's history. For Zero, jump the middle spike, then perform a dashing jump over as the bottom spike retracts and before another spike shoots out. Destroy the bottom spike with the Raijingeki, then slash the rest of this thing to death. FINAL BOSS: SLASH BEAST Heh heh... looks like Capcom is running out animal names to use. ;) Another insanely easy battle for X. Ground Hunter shots have the effect of clipping off his toenails, so fire that at him. With his nails gone, all SB will do is rush back and forth. Jump and Air Dash over him, fire, repeat. *yaaawwnn* And oh, by the way, remember to re-visit the Volcano stage to get the Armor Upgrade with your brand-new Twin Slasher. Zero gets the satisfaction of a more challenging battle (hey, this is what the game's for, right?). When he jumps, SB's gonna do a full-stage leap, or stomp down at you from mid-air. Trouble is, there's no tellling which he might do. Try to guess, and use a dash to save your butt if you get unlucky. Sometimes he'll glow red in the hands, which means he's gonna rush at you, then double back when he hits the wall for two consecutive attacks. Jump. The main menace, though, is his Twin Slasher. You can Hienkyakuu between it, but it's damned fast! All in all, though, SB isn't that hard. Keep slashing him between his attacks, and he'll go away soon enough. * Now you've beaten all 8 bosses, you'll fight the remaining stages in the pre-set order, which is listed below. Be warned, though, major spoilers a-comin'. Capcom did a great job with the plotline in this game, and I's suggest not reading any further unless you get stuck or something. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SPACE PORT --------------------------------------------------------------------- COLONEL Don't like battling Colonel with only half your lifebar full? No prob. Before you go through the first door to meet Colonel, take a look at the left wall. Do you see a green block on top? Yes? Good. That part's fake. Climb up and go in to nab yourself a large Energy Pellet. With that done, let's see what we can do... X should already know what to expect. Aside from his two old patterns, Colonel gets two new ones by summoning a whole lot of electrical sparks all over the place, or firing a HUGE purple wave at you. Deal with him as before -- jump and Air Dash as he vanishes, and blast him whenever he gets into the corners. This time, though, I'd recommend climbing up the wall to dodge his three energy waves, since they come twice as fast now. When Colonel points his sword skywards, scramble up a wall, then drop down between the sparks as they rise. Deal with his purple wave also by climbing up the wall; there's no jumping it. Zero, however, will be facing him for the first time. Colonel has 4 attack patterns -- he'll try and teleport next to you and slash, or retreat to the corner of the stage and fling three energy waves at you from there. As he gets sufficiently weakened, Colonel will send electricity all over the stage, or fire a large purple energy wave at you. When he vanishes, wait a while, then double jump. Colonel should pop out somewhere below you. Pin him with a Hyouretsuuzan! If he retreats to the corners, you have two options: climb up the wall, or dash under the first wave, jump over the second and Shippuuga the third to return the favor. When Colonel points his sword up, sparks will follow. Climb up the wall, and drop down between them as they rise. If you see him jump, its the purple wave. Climb up the wall. Remember not to get careless around here; like Web Spider, Colonel can inflict tremendous damage with only a few hits. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL WEAPON --------------------------------------------------------------------- DOUBLE (X ONLY) Okay, I've heard that the Double Tornado works on him. I tried it, which resulted in those small things popping out of him and floating towards you. Make your own choice, but it really isn't my cup of tea. The trusty ol' X-Buster works for me here. Anyway... Double has 3 attack patterns, all of which are relatively simple to avoid. He'll either rocket around the room, toss energy discs or fire two consecutive giant waves of energy. When he starts bouncing around, climb up the wall, wait for him to fly towards you, Air Dash off and blast him as you land. If you get lucky he'll repeat this for the entire match. The discs are easily jumped over, and if he starts throwing those energy waves, dash under the first one, then dash back and climb the wall up to the very tippy top. No problem. IRIS (ZERO ONLY) I must say, not being the one in the Mech Armor doesn't feel very nice. Iris is either very, very hard or easier than hell, depending on how you fight her. Small floating bombs will pop out of her Armor when you hit her, or she'll fire a laser beam at you. When her crystal appears, her lasers become tougher to dodge, but still very much possible. You'll want to hit the crystal here; her Mech won't take damage. Before her crystal appears, it is imperative you do not hit her more than necessary. Iris will float towards you. Push her back with the Ryuuenjin to (hopefully) destroy the bombs as they appear. Try not to hit her more than twice. When she rushes back, destroy any bombs still remaining, then climb up the wall. After taking enough, her crystal will appear. Heh heh heh. This time, don't bother hitting her at all, since she won't move full screen and pin you against the wall. Stand away from the wall as Iris prepares to fire, then wait until the LAST POSSIBLE nanosecond before performing a dashing jump over to the wall and clinging on for dear life. When she's done, drop down and slash the crystal before it rises! This may take a while, but hey, no hurry there. In fact, the most common mistake most players make is to slash Iris like crazy, then suddenly find themselves trapped between two laser beams and a sh*tload of bombs. Finish her, and watch the movie clip. Note -- Is it just me, or is the way Zero acts simply pathetic after Iris tried her best to kill him? GENERAL Okay, whose bright idea was it to build this guy? Like Colonel, General isn't exactly hard, but his attacks really pack a wallop! Mostly, General will float around the room, or use his rocket punches + energy rings. When you wear him down, he'll fire several energy blasts from his, uh... naval. :-\ Float around the room: (X) Get on the wall as he comes towards you, greet his head with a blast then scramble up. Wait for him to fly away, slide down then blast him again. (Z) You can actually hit his head while on the wall! Do exactly that. Climb up and, when he gets under you AND floats up a little, slash him. Rocket Punches + Energy Rings: Do not, repeat NOT, climb the walls. Stay on the ground while dodging his incredibly slow rings, then get on his upper fist and ride it as it flies back to General. You may need to jump over a ring or two while on the fist. Wait for General to get within sight, and... (X) Jump as he fires another ring, blast his head while still in mid-air and Air Dash away. (Z) Jump as he fires another ring, land back on the fist and jump again, this time to slash him. Immediately use a Hienkyakuu to get to safety. As he prepares to fire the energy blasts from his tummy, simply stand on the ground and jump between the upper and lower blasts as they fly towards you. Note that sometimes, when General floats across the room, he'll use his rocket punches / energy rings instead of flying away. You'll need to Air Dash / Hienkyakuu over him and get to the other side of the room, or risk being hit by the rings. RE-FIGHT THE BOSSES Welp, tradition is tradition. For the information of our fellow newbies out there, you're taken to a room where 8 teleportation hatches are arranged in a pattern, each leading to one of the 8 bosses. If your E-Tanks are not full already, I STRONGLY suggest you pay a few visits to the Snow Base to stock them up before coming here, since that is the very last chance you'll get. For X, this will be a breeze; fight them in any order you want. Zero, however, will have a much harder time. This time around, I recommend fighting the bosses in a new order which, along with the layout for the teleportation hatches, is listed below: (2) Web Spider Magma Dragoon (8) (7) Cyber Peacock Storm Owl (3) (1) Jet Stingray Frost Walrus (6) (4) Split Mushroom Slash Beast (5) Note that you'll be alternating between fighting a hard boss and an easy one, thus reducing your chances of dying. You can re-shuffle the above order to your liking, but keeping Magma Dragoon for last would be a very good idea. Pick up the pellets deposited by the bosses, even if you didn't take a scratch. Remember not to use any of your E-Tanks, since you're only prolonging your death if you do so; you'll really need them for the final boss. Once all 8 bosses are down, step into the gold teleporter to face... SIGMA (FIRST FORM) Amazingly easy. When he appears above you, pop a Rising Fire or Ryuuenjin at him and make him vanish. Every third attack will have Sigma rushing across the room with his scythe, so climb up the opposite wall and jump over him as he passes. If you're playing as X, DO NOT charge the Rising Fire against him! It won't make him disappear, and he'll fire energy blasts at you instead. SIGMA (SECOND FORM) Like Iris, this one's easy or hard. Proper know-how is the key. To beat him without taking a scratch, let's see what Siggy does. He has 3 patterns, two of which are fixed and a variable third depending on what you do. First, he'll jump up and throw his scythe across the room. When it returns to him, he'll throw it again, this time aimed at you. If it lands on the floor, four invincible, undodgeable boomerangs will appear and home in on you ala Quick Man. If it gets stuck on the wall, Sigma will leap back, then fire optic lasers at you, which is the pattern we want him to do. Dash under him the first time before he throws it, and the scythe won't hurt you. Hit him as he grabs it. Now climb up to the top of the wall. As soon as you hear Sigma yell, wait a split-second, then drop down to the floor. The scythe should get stuck on the wall. As Sigma jumps back, follow him, jump and Air Dash / Kuuenbuu over his head and cling on to the wall! After this, Sigma was repeat his across-the-room scythe throw, where you deal with him appropriately. Do not let the scythe fall to the ground at any cost, or the boomerangs will make you pay... dearly. By the time you're done with both of him, you should still have AT LEAST 50% of your lifebar and all two E-Tanks full. If not, good luck to ye... SIGMA (THIRD FORM) For a rough comparison of how tough this guy is, think Kaiser Sigma from RockMan X3. More or less. Anyway, there are five parts to this monster: three colored heads (blue, red, yellow), one ugly head that sits on the floor and Sigma himself in a robotic body toting a huge laser gun. For X players, I hope you followed my advice and chose the Plasma Shot. Yellow Head: Electricity attacks. Hardest to dodge. Start from under it, then run to either side, climb up the head and the wall, then jump off. I've only managed this a few times. Blue Head: Ice vapor. Easiest to dodge of the three heads. Climb up the heads on the left wall, and you've got it. If you're playing as Zero, double jump up and stand on it just for fun. Risky, though... Red Head: Fire waves. Shoots in 3 different height levels -- high, medium and low. No fixed pattern, but the first wave will always hit low, so climb up the heads on the right wall, then jump over and dash under the low and medium waves respectively. Ugly Head: Has two attack patterns, either trying to blow you into a spike-lined wall, or sucking in debris then spitting it out at you. No matter who you play as, ALWAYS stand a fair distance away as it appears. If it sucks debris, (X) Have a fully-charged shot at ready. If debris floats too close, fire. If they don't, fire anyway. The Plasma Shot should destroy the head on the right. Once it starts spitting, climb up the right wall to the top. It's the only spot where the debris can't reach you. (Z) Defend yourself with the Kuuenzan. When it stops sucking, double jump to get on the head on the right, then climb the wall up all the way. If it decides to blow you into the spiked wall instead, (X) Dash towards it, letting loose as many fully-charged shots as possible. The Ground Hunter also works well here. (Z) Dash towards it, then lead in with a Shippuuga the moment it stops. Slash it as many times before it disappears. Sigma with Gun: Like the head, Sigma has two attack patterns, both of which involve shooting at you with his rifle. If you hear him shout "The end!", then scramble up the heads on the left as fast as you can. X can get in a hit if you're careful here -- the target is the head. If not... (X) You should be able to get in five shots before he vanishes. Stand on the first head, jump and fire. Climb the second head as he shoots his laser at the place you were standing, and blast him again while hanging on. Land on the first head again when he's done and repeat. (Z) Stand below his lowest aim and destroy the spiked Red Head with a Raijingeki. With that done, keep standing on the floor and hitting him with the Ryuuenjin. Just make sure you don't stand too close to avoid being injured by direct contact. This form of Sigma has two lifebars: one for the ugly head, and one for Sigma himself. You need to destroy both to defeat him. You can hit the colored heads and destroy them, but they'll just come back. Anyway, if you have 2 full E-Tanks, you shouldn't have much to worry about. Once he goes *kabooshki*, go through the door and watch the ending. And oh, congrats to ye. ********************************************************************** ====================================================================== 3. CODES AND SECRETS ====================================================================== [] Play as Dark X ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Command: Select X at the Player Select screen, hold Up and press F. If this is successful, X will turn a darker shade as the game starts. The main benefit of Dark X is you get the Ultimate Armor and unlimited use of his Giga Attack, the Nova Strike. To get the Ultimate Armor, simply visit any one of the four capsules in the game, the easiest one to find is being one in the Jungle stage. [] Play as Dark Zero ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Command: Select Zero at the Player Select screen, hold Down and press F. Zero's body armor turns black if successful. Aside from that, Dark Zero plays exactly like regular Zero...? I'm not sure. A friend of mine mentioned that there was a Grinder upgrade to find in the game, but if I know him, he's just pulling my leg. That's it. Sorry, folks, no get-all-weapons-and-items code in this game. Note that the above tricks were only tested for the PC version of the game. If you're on a PlayStation or something, there are plenty of sites on the Internet sporting not only codes for this game, but thousands of others as well. A little digging should unearth them for you. And if you're too lazy for that, check out the 'Credits' section. ********************************************************************** ====================================================================== 4. CREDITS ====================================================================== - Me [shadow_dragon95@hotmail.com] Heh heh... I wrote this, didn't I? - Ling Ming Han That tubby guy who sits next to me in class. Resident RockMan freak or genius, depending on how you look at it. Plenty of tips and info in this FAQ come from him, including the location of the Armor Upgrade and the Heart Tank in the Jungle stage. - Yeoh Kher En Another tubby classmate (no, I'm NOT tubby myself!) who lent me the PC version of this game. Major kudos to this fellar. - Codeman [gloryblaze@aol.com] Author of another RockMan X4 FAQ, also found at GameFAQs. Also a great source of small info tidbits, including the Energy Pellet section in the Snow Base, the code for Dark Zero, how to get the Ridden Mech Armor into Magma Dragoon's room and others. - Jason Tucker Author of The Zero FAQ, also found at GameFAQs. Translations for a few of Zero's techniques, the Hyouretsuuzan, Tenkuuha, Raijingeki and Rakuuhouha were borrowed from his FAQ. - GameFAQs [http://www.gamefaqs.com] - GameWinners [http://www.gamewinners.com] - ActionTrip [http://www.actiontrip.com] - DLH.net [http://dlh.net] - PlayStation Cheat.net [http://www.psxcodez.com] - The Cheat Empire [http://home.planetinternet.be/~twuyts] For hosting this goddamn thing. - Capcom Entertainment [http://www.capcom.com] Makers of this game, as well as all its predecessors, from RockMan 1 to 8, RockMan X to X5. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2000-2001 Shadow Dragon [shadow_dragon95@hotmail.com] ----------------------------------------------------------------------