---------------------------------------- MEGA MAN X7 Bosses Guide (Final Version) -For the Sony PlayStation 2 (NTSC-U)- by Will Weaver (Team Ragnarok) ---------------------------------------- SHORT DISCLAIMER: For full legal information, see section 6 of the FAQ. This FAQ may not be posted on any site not on my permissions list without my express written consent. If you see this FAQ anywhere else, or if you see it with a different name at the top, please contact me at coredesat@outphase.com so I may hunt down those responsible and have a nice little chat with them about how stealing others' work is bad and all that. ---------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. Version History 2. Controls 3. The Bosses a. Scorpion Mechaniloid (Intro Stage) b. Tornado Tonion c. Splash Warfly d. Flame Hyenard e. Ride Boarski f. Snipe Anteater g. Wind Crowrang h. Vanishing Gungaroo i. Soldier Stonekong j. Steamroller Mechaniloid (Palace Road) k. Red l. The Capsule Room m. Sigma n. Sigma's Final Form 4. Credits 5. Contact Information 6. Copyright Information & Disclaimer ------------------------------ 1. Version History ------------------------------ 0.1 - First edition of the guide - covers the Scorpion Mechaniloid, Tornado Tonion, Splash Warfly, and Flame Hyenard (rejected) 1.0 - Strategies for all the rest of the Mavericks added, except for Red. Red will have to wait, because the battle with him is the hardest in the game. 1.1 - Added Red strategy. 1.2 - Added some alternate strategies and made some changes. Added some credits. 1.21 - Added a copyright line. 1.3 - Added some more alternate strategies and credits. Final - Added one more alternate strategy. There really isn't much more I can add, so I'm calling this the "final" version. Thanks to everyone on GameFAQs who sent me alternate strategies and info, whether I added it or not. You guys really helped my first guide be as successful as it was. ------------------------------ 2. Controls ------------------------------ Here are the basic default controls for the characters: ALL CHARACTERS: Directional pad/Left analog stick - Movement Right analog stick - Switch weapons L2 button - switch characters R2 button - toggle target crosshairs L1&R1 buttons - rotate camera in certain 3D sections X button - jump Square button - Use primary weapon Circle button - Dash/Air Dash Triangle button - Use special weapon/technique AXL: Press and hold X button - hover in the air for a short time Circle button - Dash. Press again in mid-dash to roll. Triangle button - Copy Shot (must be charged in order to work, and is rather weak (has the power of one regular un- charged shot) The Axl Bullet is a lot like the X-Buster, except Axl can't charge it. It works great if you have Rapid Fire mode turned on, but make sure to turn it off if you plan to use X, as it prevents X from charging his X-Buster. Some Maverick special weapons can also change the Axl Bullet into other, specialized weapons. The Copy Shot is ineffective against all the bosses. Besides, wouldn't you rather be using that time to deal damage in other, faster ways? ZERO: X button - jump, press again in mid-jump to do a double jump Square button - Use Z-Saber/D-Glaive/V-Hanger Triangle button - Use this button to perform most of Zero's techs R2 button - Use Bakuenjin technique (learned from Flame Hyenard) Zero's Z-Saber has a cool new feature in X7 - it can deflect most enemy shots. This fact is very important, especially in the final battle. Also, the Gokumonken (learned from Soldier Stonekong) makes this much more effective by eliminating the need for timed slashes to deflect shots. X: X button - Jump. Press again to glide if you have the Glide Armor. While gliding, press X again to stop. Square button - Charge/Fire X-Buster L1+R1 buttons - Use the Giga Crash attack (Glide Armor only) The Giga Crash is not as useful as the Nova Strike from past games. It's best to just stick to normal weapons to beat bosses, as the Giga Crash might leave X open to enemy attacks after he uses it. ------------------------------ 3. The Bosses ------------------------------ ------------------------------------- A. Scorpion Mechaniloid (Intro Stage) ------------------------------------- Weakness: Axl Bullet/Z-Saber Weapon Gained: None The scorpion mechaniloid that Axl and Zero encounter at the end of the intro stage can be tough if you don't know what you're doing. In the first part of the battle, while Zero is fleeing from it, don't bother trying to attack it, as it won't take any damage and you'll probably end up in a pit if you try. Instead, just dodge the shots it fires from its tail until the end of the section. After Axl teaches you how to switch characters, switch to Axl immediately. Zero can be used to fight the scorpion, but it's very hard to hit its face, which is its only weak spot. Have Axl climb up the walls and fire shots at the scorpion's face while avoiding the shots from its tail. When it fires a large blue orb from its tail, immediately jump up one of the walls - the orb sends out a sweeping wave of energy that can do some serious damage in your first game (it's not quite so bad in a New Game+). If the scorpion's tail cannon becomes a problem, switch to Zero and deflect the shots back at the scorpion's tail to damage and destroy it. This will cause it to simply run back and forth across the battlefield. Simply blast away at the scorpion while avoiding its attacks and it should go down quickly. ----------------- B. Tornado Tonion ----------------- Weakness: Axl Bullet/Z-Saber/X-Buster Weapon Gained: Volt Tornado (X and Axl); Raijinshou (Zero) *Axl gets the Raygun Tornado Tonion is one of those comic relief bosses Capcom threw in the game, but he's not necessarily a pushover. He's still fairly easy to beat, though, which is why I recommend that you beat him first. Tornado Tonion has two basic attack patterns. In the first, Tonion will alternate between a spinning tornado attack (that will do serious damage if you're caught up in it) and spinning around and spreading its skin shards in an effort to hit you. After you've depleted about half his life, he will get angry and switch to a pattern of sending walls of skin shards at you, the spinning tornado attack (he's stationary this time), and creating a large blade of skin shards and swinging it at you. To actually fight Tonion, start off with Axl and repeatedly fire Axl Bullets at him - each time you hit one of his skin shards several times, it will disappear, allowing you to damage him. If you've mastered the art of rotating the camera, it's easy to run around avoiding the tornado attack while firing at him. When Tonion spreads out its skin shards, switch to Zero and jump into the ring created by the shards, get in a few slashes, then air dash out and switch back to Axl. When Tonion switches attack patterns (you will see him get mad), switch to Zero and get in close. When he creates his first wall of skin shards, start slashing away until the shards almost leave the platform, then back off before he uses his tornado attack. Switch to Axl and fire at him repeatedly until the tornado stops, then switch back to Zero and slash away. It shouldn't be long before Tonion dies. ---------------- C. Splash Warfly ---------------- Weakness: Volt Tornado/Raijinshou Weapon Gained: Splash Laser (X and Axl); Suiretsusen (Zero) *Zero gets the D-Glaive You don't have a lot of room to move around without having to jump to another platform, so be careful. Splash Warfly's attacks are very powerful, and can easily kill you this early on in the game. He will alternate between using the Splash Laser, which is rather easy to avoid, and attacking with his staff, which does more damage than the Splash Laser does. He will also run around spinning his staff like a helicopter rotor - if he does, get away from him and jump onto another platform, as this attack does major damage, and Warfly is invincible until it ends. Finally, he will create a large splash and fire two missiles that will home in on you and do significant damage unless you destroy or avoid them. The splash itself does no damage - it's just there to distract you from the missiles. Expect to be doing a lot of switching. If you have X, it's best to use him instead of Axl because of the X-Buster, which will do more damage than the Axl Bullet unless you upgraded it with chip parts. Basically, all you have to do is avoid Warfly's attacks and get in close enough to use the Volt Tornado/Raijinshou, which will take off a bunch of life and cause him to jump back into the water - when he does, he will try to sneak up on you, so as soon as you see him jump out of the water, run up to him and use the Volt Tornado/Raijinshou again unless he does his spinning staff attack, in which case you should back off and go to another platform to avoid serious damage. Basically, avoid Warfly's attacks and don't fall in the water, and you should be fine. ---------------- D. Flame Hyenard ---------------- Weakness: Splash Laser/Suiretsusen Weapon Gained: Circle Blaze (X and Axl); Bakuenjin (Zero) *Axl gains the ability to fire two guns at once "BURN! BURN! BURN TO THE GROUND!" Flame Hyenard is one of the most frustrating bosses in the game, bested only by Red and Snipe Anteater. The key is the giant mechaniloid in the background - the real Hyenard is aboard it, and the other two that greet you as the battle begins are clones that are simply replaced if destroyed. When the fight begins, press Select to get a valuable tip from Alia (for once) - you have to disable the mechaniloid by hitting its leg joints with the Axl Bullet, X-Buster, or Z-Saber, then climb onto the mechaniloid's back. While you can disable both the front and the hind legs, it's easiest just to disable the front leg and climb on as fast as you can, as the Hyenard clones get rather annoying unless you get off the main battlefield quickly. When you climb onto the mechaniloid's back, you can do one of two things: 1) You can run to the mechaniloid's head and attack Hyenard head-on, which is not recommended as it is very easy to fall off the head and into the lava below; and 2) You can run to the middle of the mechaniloid's back, which prompts Hyenard to use his formation attack - this is much easier to deal with. Zero is an asset in this battle, as the Suiretsusen does not have the reliability problems the Splash Laser does, plus you can use it an infinite number of times. As soon as the real Hyenard calls his clones up to the center of the mechaniloid's back, keep your eye on the real Hyenard - he will be on the top when they start to run around in circles throwing weak flames at you. Intercept the real Hyenard with the Suiretsusen - this will destroy the clones, but he will just regenerate them. Repeat this process until Hyenard is finished. One last warning: the three Hyenards will often try to tackle you - jump to avoid them or you will suffer serious damage. Note that if you are tackled while trying to run away from the clones, you will not take damage. -------------------- Special Information: -------------------- I've been told by a bunch of people that destroying the horns on the giant mechaniloid will stop it from firing its missiles at you. This does indeed work, but destroying the horns is a bit tricky. The Volt Tornado/Raijinshou seems to work the best, but your mileage may vary. ------------------- Alternate Strategy: ------------------- From CocoFactorSuerte: About the Hyenard this is what I did: As soon s I appeared, I chose Zero and headed to the big walking animal WITHOUT hitting his leg joints: Zero is able to get to the top, so you don't get damaged at all. As soon as you get on the animal, go FAST to the neck, not on the head. Shoot like hell to the Hyenard and sometimes he pushes you out of the neck, but you won't fall , so get onto the neck fast and continue shooting. When he fires the missiles (which is most of the time), fire the Tornado and there will be the moment that there will be NO missiles ANYMORE, so it will be easy. On the neck, it was all the time Mr Axl, so it was one of the easiest bosses! :-) Yep, again, the Volt Tornado/Raijinshou shows its usefulness in this fight - it will indeed destroy the missiles. This strategy can be a bit tricky at times, but it does work! --------------- E. Ride Boarski --------------- Weakness: Circle Blaze/Bakuenjin; Splash Laser (see alt. strategy) Weapon Gained: Moving Wheel (X and Axl); Zankourin (Zero) Ride Boarski isn't all that hard if you can avoid his attacks and the grenades the Runnerbombs on each side of the arena throw at you. Boarski has four different attack patterns, and he may use them all at any point in the battle, so don't get a false sense of security if you haven't depleted half his energy yet. First, Boarski will simply charge at you and, if he catches you, slam you into one of the electrified walls, which will do quite a bit of damage even if you have chips equipped to lessen damage. Next, Boarski will ride around the center of the arena in a wide circle, throwing Moving Wheels at you, which can be a pain as X and Axl may end up locking onto the wheels and not onto Boarski, which means you'll have to do some moving around. Thirdly, he will create a large Y-shaped electrical beam in the center of the arena that will begin rotating and will damage you if you touch it. He'll generally be charging at you after he does this. Finally, he'll stand in one place and fire Moving Wheels at you. Unlike the other ones, these will home in on you, so you'll have to work to avoid them. Boarski is *nearly* invincible while he's charging at you. If you can't tell when he's charging, just listen for him to say "CHARGE! or keep yelling "You punk!" as he fires Moving Wheels. He's fair game any other time. Boarski is weak against the Circle Blaze/Bakuenjin, but you will most likely run out of energy for both. When you do, stick to an evasive strategy in order to avoid getting caught by his charge attack. X and Axl are much more preferable than Zero here, as both can attack from a distance. Wear him out with charged X-Buster shots or Axl Bullets to turn this hog into Reploid bacon. ------------- SPECIAL INFO: ------------- From TrunksGTZ8@aol.com: Circle Blaze will stop Hellride Boarski's charge attack. He will stop and just circle around the sphere of fire, preventing him from hitting you. Also, he says "you punk, you punk, you punk!" when he's riding in a circle around the center of the arena and causes wheels to move around the arena. He says "Charge!" when he's about to charge. ------------------- ALTERNATE STRATEGY: ------------------- From Lord Liu Bei: I'd like to tell you of a way I found to foil Ride Boarski very easily, without taking much damage at all. First, you must get X, and secondly, you must get his Buster Upgrade from Dr. Light's Capsule. After doing so, make sure you have Splash Warfly's weapons. Start off the battle with X, and switch to his Splash Laser, NOT his Circle Blaze. Let Boarski charge a bit, and dodge all his charges. When he does a charge-lap around the arena, start charging your Splash Laser to unleash it's ultimate attack. When he runs out of breath/power/whatever you want to call it, run up to him and let the Splash Cannon attack loose on him. It should do SIGNIFICANT damage to him, and you should be able to pull it off 3-4 times. After doing so, he should have about 1/5 of his health left, and you should be able to finish him off with the Circle Flame. If the Flame doesn't destroy him, it'll get him to at least 1/10 of a health bar, and he can be finished off with a charged X-Buster, Axl Shot, or a slash of the Z-Sword. I've found that you can defeat Ride in under 5 minutes easily with this technique, and you really should try it. I find it to my liking. ---------------------------------- F. Snipe Anteater (Snipe Anteator) ---------------------------------- Weakness: Moving Wheel/Zankourin; Raijinshou* Weapon Gained: Sniper Missile (X and Axl); Hieijin (Zero) Snipe Anteater is easily one of the hardest bosses in the game, so if you can't beat him now, skip him and come back when you've got more chips and Heart Tanks. Even then, this will still be an extremely tough fight, mainly because he has a safe haven on the other side of the platform you fight him on. You can't hit him while he's down there. Also, his weaknesses, the Moving Wheel and Zankourin, are rather cumbersome and unreliable weapons, and they don't do as much damage as the standard weapons. Snipe Anteater has multiple strategies. At the beginning of the fight, he'll shoot wind blasts at you, then quickly retreat under the platform. He'll do this repeatedly until you hit him at least once. Then he'll retreat under the platform and scatter ant-shaped proximity bombs all over both sides of the platform. They're called "proximity bombs" because they'll explode for huge damage if you go near them. After he loses half his energy, he will call forth several "Options", that will constantly be firing beams at you while Anteater does his normal attacks. These are EXTREMELY difficult to avoid while attacking him, but they can be avoided. Basically, for the first half of the fight, try to take as little damage as possible so you'll survive the brutal onslaught of beams, bombs, and wind blasts near the end of the fight. Stick to X/Axl toward the beginning and hit him with charged X-Buster shots, Axl Bullets, or Moving Wheels if you can manage to hit him with them. When he scatters his ant-bombs all over, try to cause them to explode without taking damage (just get near them, then dash away when they turn white) so they're not a problem later. When half his energy is gone, Anteater really starts to dish out the pain. Switch to Zero at this point and start slashing like crazy at him until Zero's life bar is almost empty, then switch to X or Axl and hit him with charged X-Buster shots or Axl Bullets from a distance (it's hard, but it can be done). If you manage to avoid his attacks and saved enough energy from earlier, you should be able to take him down rather quickly. When you do, breathe a sigh of relief - you've just beaten one of the most difficult Mavericks in the X series. --------------------- ALTERNATE STRATEGIES: --------------------- * From "Shadow Servant": I found Snipe Anteater to be one of the easier bosses. The first time I fought him, I used the ability Zero learns from Tornado Tonion and it took away a good 2 inches of his life bar. That ability would be the Raijinshou, and it does work. Good catch! * From TrunksGTZ8@aol.com: Snipe Anteater is a cake walk. Dash to his left side as X and hammer him with charged X Buster shots, Moving Wheel is just a waste of time. Then when things get chaotic, never stop dashing and jump often and you'll dodge most of the lasers and missiles. * From Heavy Z: Hello. You can call me Heavy Z. I have played X7 for 6 hours straight now, and I thought I'd let you in on something that I figured out. It deals with an alternative strategy for Snipe Anteater. If possible, have X and Axl in your party. If you dont have X, then just use Zero. When fighting Anteater, use the same strategy as before with Axl/X for his first half of energy. Then when he starts using his attack of "bombardments of pain," Use Zero's Hadengeki move, or Explosion, which you get from Vanishing Gungaroo. This attack deals much more damage to Anteater than Moving Wheel does. Use Zero as much as possible to conserve Axl/X. *Note, Axl's energy doesn't really run out unless his attack is charged, so use regular shots. X's energy, however, runs out easilly, and VERY quickly.* When Zero is almost done for, switch to Axl/X, and blow Anteater away with Explosion. ---------------- G. Wind Crowrang ---------------- Weakness: Sniper Missile/Hieijin Weapon Gained: Wind Cutter (X and Axl); Souenbou (Zero) * Zero gets the V-Hanger Compared to Snipe Anteater, Wind Crowrang is a joke. He's very predictable, and his attacks are very easy to avoid - that is, as long as you don't fall off the ship and die. The good news is that he doesn't even try to make you do that himself like Storm Eagle and The Skiver did in X1 and X5. Anyway, Wind Crowrang spends most of the time off in the distance firing Wind Cutters at you. Eventually, he will stop and try to crash into you - just dash away to avoid this (be careful not to dash off the ship!). He might try to attack you a bit while he's on the ship, but he'll sometimes do one of two things: 1) take to the skies and crash into the ship again, or 2) take to the skies, but fire a series of beams in both directions as he leaves to return to the background. The fight is easy, and if you start with X or Axl, you shouldn't need to switch to Zero for any reason. Crowrang is hard to hit when he's in the background, so try to focus on avoiding his Wind Cutters until he crash-lands on the ship. Once he does, fire a Sniper Missile at him - he will most likely do the same attack again as a counter- attack. He'll repeat this process about three or four more times before going back to the background. Repeat the process until Crowrang is defeated. --------------- SPECIAL POINTS: --------------- From TrunksGTZ8@aol.com: For Wind Crowrang, you cannot fall off the left side of the stage, and that "unavoidable beam attack" is most definitely avoidable. Just run and jump down to the lower ledge of the ship on the left side (you cannot fall off this side) and you'll be safe and dodge it easily. I didn't know you couldn't fall off the left side of the ship. Good catch. --------------------- H. Vanishing Gungaroo --------------------- Weakness: Wind Cutter/Souenbou/Ride Armor Weapon Gained: Explosion (X and Axl); Hadangeki (Zero) *Axl gets the G-Launcher Vanishing Gungaroo is not quite as easy as Wind Crowrang, mainly because after you get rid of his Ride Armor, he's a very small and quick target. The good news, though, is that you can make the fight quite a bit easier if the Ride Armor you used in the previous section of the stage is still intact - you can use it to make quick work of Gungaroo's own Ride Armor and deal quite a bit of damage to Gungaroo himself before it is inevitably destroyed. Here's Gungaroo's attack pattern. In his Ride Armor, he will simply either bounce around while trying to punch you, or fire off four or five very large but slow-moving and short-lived Explosions, which should be avoided at all costs. After you've offed the Ride Armor, he'll bound around the arena rather quickly, punching and kicking you. He'll also use the Explosion attack, but his are much smaller and weaker than the Ride Armor's. After half his energy is depleted, he will charge up, and his attacks will do slightly more damage than they did before, but they're not any different. If you have the Ride Armor from the previous section, then simply beat up Gungaroo's Ride Armor with it. If not, try to save your Wind Cutters and Souenbou until you've gotten rid of the armor. Zero is not a good choice here, as all of Gungaroo's attacks are short range. Stick with X and/or Axl, and use charged X-Buster shots and Axl Bullets from a distance to whittle away the Ride Armor's life bar. When the Ride Armor is destroyed, quickly locate Gungaroo and pound him with your Ride Armor until it is destroyed, then use Wind Cutters (or the Souenbou) from a distance. If Gungaroo uses his Triangle Kick, get out of the way quickly, then hit him with a Wind Cutter or a charged X- Buster shot when he lands (but not before, he's invincible during the attack). Continue this process after he charges up, and you should beat him easily. Be sure to use the camera's rotate ability (L1 and R1) if you can't locate Gungaroo. --------------- SPECIAL POINTS: --------------- From TrunksGTZ8@aol.com: Vanishing Kangaroo isn't a hard boss at all, I can just stand right next to him, shoot/slash him, then when he jumps just move. I don't know what's easier, his ride armor, or him. And his Triangle Kick is so easy to predict and dodge. He may be quick, but X, Zero, and Axl are quicker. -------------------- I. Soldier Stonekong -------------------- Weakness: Explosion/Hadangeki Weapon Gained: Gaia Shield (X and Axl); Gokumonken (Zero) Soldier Stonekong isn't very hard - the hardest part of the fight is keeping out of the fiery pits in the arena. However, if you don't avoid his attacks, you do pay a huge price - his attacks do a huge amount of damage. However, you can do as much damage to him as he does to you, if not more. Soldier Stonekong starts by trying to tackle you. Avoid this by turning around and dashing in the other direction until he stops moving. He will usually then climb onto the large fenced...thing...in the center of the arena and call forth a giant boulder, which then splits. The halves of the boulder then move in opposite directions around the arena. Avoid them by running toward where the halves would meet - they explode shortly before reaching that point. Stonekong will also throw his shield at you - simply jump over it to avoid it. Like I said, Soldier Stonekong isn't that hard - if you avoid his attacks, he's easier than Tornado Tonion. First, get away from him as he tries to tackle you, then use an Explosion on him - this should destroy his sword. Keep using Explosion or the Hadangeki - it doesn't take much to take Stonekong down. According to TrunksGTZ8@aol.com, Zero can use the Hadangeki an infinite number of times, so if you want an easy way to end the fight, simply use that against Stonekong for an easy win. ---------------------------------------- J. Steamroller Mechaniloid (Palace Road) ---------------------------------------- Weakness: Circle Blaze* (see below) Weapon Gained: None The entire Palace Road stage is all about getting away from the Steamroller Mechaniloid, but at the end, you get a shot at some revenge. The Steamroller has several attack patterns: 1) It will rush across the screen quickly in an attempt to run you over. 2) It will fire a large beam that will do a tremendous amount of damage if it hits you. 3) It will fire off spiked wheels from the sides of the steamroller wheel. 4) It will throw its steamroller wheel at you (it only does this once, and once the steamroller wheel is gone, it will not do strategy #3 anymore). It does this when about half its energy is gone. As long as you avoid its attacks, the Steamroller isn't that hard to beat. Just keep moving and firing charged X-Buster shots or Axl Bullets at the Steamroller. Zero should NOT be used in this fight, as the Steamroller is hard to hit at close range because it moves so quickly. ------------------- Alternate Strategy: ------------------- From Alvaro Jose Salazar: Hey pal: just one tip: When you battle against the Steamroller Mechaniloid, use the Circle Blaze against it to destroy his steamroller wheel. this weapon causes a lot of damage to it. Yep, this does work. He does still throw it at you, so be sure to dodge it. ------ K. Red ------ Weakness: Sniper Missile/Hieijin Weapon Gained: None Red can be tricky at first, but he's easier to beat if you have the Sniper Missile or Hieijin handy (preferably the Hieijin). Technically, he's weak against Explosion and Axl's G-Launcher, but he counterattacks strongly against those, plus they are short-range weapons. The Sniper Missiles allow you to get a shot off and quickly get out of the way. Red will counterattack with a powerful wave attack with his double scythe weapon every time you hit him, so you'll have to keep moving. Most of the time, he will stand still while some invincible clones of his appear near some of the platforms and try to attack you - these clones will do some serious damage as well. After he disappears the first time, Red will enter a pattern of appearing and disappearing about two or three more times before finally appearing on one of the platforms and calling forth five large tornadoes on the platform he's on, as well four adjacent platforms. These tornadoes are hard to avoid, but you do get a warning that the tornadoes are coming, so once you see it, quickly air- dash or glide away before they hit you for some major damage. A team of X and Zero is best here, as X and Zero are the best team for the next boss, and his stage occurs right after this fight without any opportunity to save. Also, X and Axl only have limited use of Sniper Missiles, while Zero can use the Hieijin an infinite amount of times. This battle will be long, but it's best to hop to a platform, lock on to Red, fire, then immediately hop to another one nearby to escape Red's counterattack. Get used to air- dashing, as X's glide move is too slow to get away from Red's tornadoes, and more often than not he will take damage. Stick to the "hit and run" strategy, and don't hesitate to use a Sub-Tank if you need one, and you should beat Red easily, though it will take quite a while. -------------------- Special Information: -------------------- I've been told that the Volt Tornado/Raijinshou works well against Red as well. While it does, it suffers the same shortcomings as Explosion and Axl's G-Launcher - it's short-range, and Red retaliates to it. Your mileage may vary. ------------------- L. The Capsule Room ------------------- In the capsule room, which you'll reach a little while after you defeat Red, you'll have to face the first eight Mavericks again. They have a lot more energy than before, but you most likely have the Weapon Sub-Tank by now, which makes that point rather moot. Just use the same strategies as before, and feel free to use a Life Sub-Tank during tougher fights, like the rematches with Flame Hyenard and Snipe Anteater. ------------------------------------ M. Gunner Sigma (Sigma's first form) ------------------------------------ Weakness: X-Buster/Axl Bullet/Z-Saber; Souenbou Weapon Gained: None This form of Sigma is extremely easy if you know what you're doing. Sigma really only uses two battle strategies: 1) shoot you, and 2) get a big gun and shoot you. He'll also go into the background often, but he's not invincible there. Sigma is protected against rapid fire - he'll take damage from four or five shots before blocking the rest, so wait until he stops blocking before hitting him with anything charged. Sigma doesn't seem to have any weaknesses, but the X-Buster works much better than the Axl Bullet and the Z-Saber, so stick to X unless you've been neglecting him throughout the game. Also, you see that platform up there, the one above X when the fight starts? That platform is the key to doing some big damage. When Sigma is standing still, firing three shots at a time, X can stand on the platform and move toward the edge until the target crosshairs appear - once they do, you get some free hits until Sigma starts blocking again. This only works well on the left side of the arena, but it can be done if Sigma is on the other side. Also, the platform is a great place to get off a good shot on Sigma when he appears in the background and fires his vulcan cannon (many little shots) at you. When Sigma fires his giant cannon at you, get in one of the low parts of the floor and duck. This is another free hit opportunity, as Sigma can't block while he's firing the giant laser cannon, so hit him with two or three charged X-Buster shots. Sigma should go down quickly, but once he does, the real fun begins. ------------------- Alternate Strategy: ------------------- From ZFA: Hi I discovered a super easy way to beat Gunner Sigma (Sigma's first form). With Zero, jump up onto the high ledge near the middle of the room and switch to the V-Hanger. Target Sigma and launch the Souenbu (V-Hanger special attack). It will hit him and he'll disappear, then reappear. No matter where he reappears, you can target him with the Souenbu once he's back (even in the background) and hit him again. Using this strategy, I've beaten Sigma flawlessly with Zero. Hey, guess what? This works too! It's pretty darn effective. --------------------------------------- N. Colossus Sigma (Sigma's second form) --------------------------------------- Weakness: Sniper Missile/Hieijin; Own Attacks (see below) Weapon Gained: None Sigma is BIG. The battlefield is SMALL. That means trouble. However, unless you don't have Zero in your team, this Sigma isn't all that hard. While you can move out onto the other floating platforms, if you have Zero, you shouldn't need to. Sigma has quite a few attack patterns here. Here they are: 1) Create and send forth several green energy mines. Zero can destroy these with his Z-Saber, and deflect them with the Gokumonken. If you don't have Zero, they're still easy to avoid. 2) Spin around and fire out four homing fireballs. These are also easily avoided by simply running around on the large platform, and can be deflected with the Z-Saber. 3) Get up close and sweep the area in front of him with a large laser. Just jump or dash to get out of the way of this attack. 4) Get up close and shoot fireballs at you. This is the sole reason why Zero MUST be on your team, as these are very hard to avoid and will do a ton of damage if they hit you. Zero can deflect these, and the benefit of that is explained below. 5) Go to a distance and rush up and punch you. This move is tough to avoid and will take away almost 1/3 of your life bar if you don't. Strategies 2 and 5 put Sigma at a distance. Also, he may appear at a distance, then disappear without doing anything in order to fake you out and make you waste your firepower. Sigma's entire body is vulnerable, but hitting his head does the most damage. Sniper Missiles are extremely effective, and they are the only weapons that can hit Sigma while he is far away; the same goes for Zero's Hieijin. Charged X-Buster shots also work very well, as does Axl's G-Launcher. However, the most effective attack of all is not one of yours - it's Sigma's up-close fireball attack. Zero can deflect the fireballs back at Sigma and hit his head for a great deal of damage, and can destroy the mask on his head, which lowers Sigma's defense a bit and allows you to deal more damage to him. As Sigma's life bar is drained, he gets faster, but his attacks can still be avoided. The ending you see will depend on which character strikes the final blow against Sigma, so keep that L2 button handy! Once you beat Sigma, enjoy the great main ending and character sub-endings, and have fun doing this all over again in New Game+ mode! ------------------------------ 4. Credits ------------------------------ Special Thanks To: Shadow Servant, TrunksGTZ8@aol.com, CocoFactorSuerte and Heavy Z, Lord Liu Bei - For giving some excellent points and alternate strategies for some of the Mavericks. Thanks, guys! ZFA - for an alternate strategy for Gunner Sigma. DParis - for letting me know that you can destroy the horns on Hyenard's mechaniloid. Alvaro Salazar - for pointing out a weakness in the Steamroller Mechaniloid Tim Bales - for letting me know that the Scorpion Mechaniloid's regular shots are indeed reflectable Capcom, for creating the Megaman and X Series and giving me a reason to write this guide. CJayC and GameFAQs, for hosting my guide. ------------------------------ 5. Contact Information ------------------------------ Contact me at TeamRagnarok@hotmail.com with any questions, comments, alternative strategies, or suggestions. Since this is the "Final" version, alternative strategies may not be added. All alternative strategies will need to be tested by me before being added to the guide. ------------------------------------------------ 6. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION & DISCLAIMER ------------------------------------------------ This guide Copyright (c) 2003 William Weaver. X, Axl, Zero, Mega Man, etc. are registered trademarks of Capcom of Japan. ***DISCLAIMER*** ---------------- This guide may NOT be posted without my permission anywhere other than the following sites: www.gamefaqs.com and all its affiliates (Gamespot, etc.) www.ign.com www.neoseeker.com www.ramsites.net Any website run by me You may not modify my FAQ and present it as your own work, and you may not profit from my FAQ - if I allow you to post my FAQ, it must go in a free section of your website, because profiting from others' work without their consent is just plain wrong. If you find that this FAQ is on a site not on the above list, do not hesitate to contact me at coredesat@outphase.com so I can yell at those responsible.