<MMZ1 Hard Mode Boss FAQ - Because Sometimes, Z-Saber Charge Doesn't Cut It>
< Written by: Thomas Holt, ©2005 >
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1A)Intent of this Guide
B)Copyright Information
C)About the Author
D)Version
2)Pre-guide information
3i ) Golem
ii ) Aztec Falcon
iii ) Train Core
iv ) Anubis Necromancess
v ) Maha Gahaneriff
vi ) Factory Boss
vii ) Giant Mechaniloid
viii ) Harpuia
ix ) Blizzack Stagroff
x ) Fefnir
xi ) Phantom
xii ) Leviathan
xiii ) Hanumachine
xiv ) Beetle Borg
xv ) Herculious Anchortus
xvi ) Rainbow Devil
xvii ) Copy X
xviii ) Angel X
=============================================================================
1A)INTENT OF THIS GUIDE
There was a long, rambling explanation here; but then I decided to stuff it
and cut to the chase. Bottom line is, most of the FAQs here give the same
boss strategies, more or less C&Ped; Z-Saber Charge with elemental weakness
of the boss. Granted, that's a fantastic strategy for normal mode. But in
Hard Mode, there's no charging; so what to do? I'd done a hard mode run for
the game previously, so I decided I should write a FAQ where the boss strats
worked for all flavours of game. And here it is. Over the course of two runs,
one hard mode, one hard mode A rank game, this was written.
B)COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
This document is Copyright 2005 Thomas Holt. It may be not be reproduced
under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be
placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part
of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
C)ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Quick little tidbit about me. My name is naturally, Thomas Holt - though I go
by Tom. I'm mainly into RPGs, but spend most of my time on the game I am
currently obsessed with. Challenge nut I am, though I haven't completed many.
Only ten so far, I think. Anyhow, yeah. If you want to contact me, e-mail is
[email protected]. Make sure to include in the subject something
mentioning MMZ.
D)Version
1.02 - Tossed in the contributions from SirFuzzi on Angel X.
1.01 - Added in an alternate strategy from falcon815 for Leviathan.
1.00 - Uploaded the FAQ, self-satisfaction abound.
=============================================================================
2)PRE-GUIDE INFORMATION
A few things; I'm not going to give stage runthroughs and cyber elf locations
because Hard Mode requires a completion of the game. Secondly, these strats
require no Cyber Elves to work; although you might want some to help augment
your health. I'll be avoiding them, mainly because I like to feel better
about myself.
Also, you'll notice a LOT of usage of the Z-Saber. It's my favourite weapon.
So don't be surprised when I force melee range on a boss that it's not a good
idea for (ie Maha Gahaneriff)
Also, I do the bosses in order that the missions appear. When I did this, I
just went down the mission list going through level by level. EX attacks are
the attacks they use when you enter the battle with an A or an S rank.
Two last pieces of advice - this is going to sound a little silly, but don't
get cocky. It's easy to make mistakes when you're too sure of yourself. Not
only that, practice makes perfect; these strategies are suggestions on what
to do, and you may make mistakes. It's fine, and just keep at it; eventually
you'll beat the boss.
=============================================================================
3) THE BOSS STRATS
i)
Golem
Difficulty? *
Attacks:
Laser Down - He sweeps his laser from mid-wall to across the floor. To avoid
it, just stick to the upper wall like glue.
Laser Up - He sweeps his eye-laser from mid-wall to across ceiling. This also
causes rocks to fall down on the ground. Dash right beside the Golem to avoid
these rocks.
Charge - He charges forth, destroying all rocks. Stick to upper wall to avoid
it.
EX Attack - Doesn't exist.
Strategy:
Well, I'd put something insulting here, but hell. Just stick to the wall and
fire off pellets at him. He'll get to lower health, you get the Z-Saber,
dash jump slash, kill him in one hit. Eh.
====
ii)
Aztec Falcon
Difficulty? **
Attacks:
Ground Pound - He jumps on the wall, then slams in the ground sending sparks
across floor and wall. Stick to the wall then jump down beside him when the
sparks reach bottom-wall.
Quad-shot - He goes from kneeling to standing, firing off four arrows. Stick
to the wall, and just as the last arrow leaves his gun, dash off the wall and
saber slash him from the air.
Tri-shot - He jumps on the wall, and fires off three shots. Just wait for him
to finish then do a quick dash-jump up and saber slash.
Magnetic Personality - He opens up his hand and uses some sort of magnet to
pull you in. Dash away.
EX Attack - Doesn't exist.
Strategy:
At the opening of the battle, he'll likely head towards you. Dash to the wall
and dash-jump over him. To make this battle easiest, just wait for him to do
quad shots and slash him at the opportune time. Sometimes, he might do Quad
close to the wall; make sure the arrows are worn out before jumping back on
the wall. If there's only one more saber slash to victory, you can get close
and do a jumping saber slash trickily if he's doing Magnetic Personality.
===
iii)
Train Core
Difficulty? *
Attacks:
Flames - This is one of his two attacks. He does two blanks, then a small
puff. Two blanks, a small puff. Two blanks, large jet. Just stand back
for the puffs, and on the opposite side of the room for the jet.
Platforms - He raises the platforms under you to head you towards the
spikes in the ceiling. Dash off. Later on, he raises three at a time.
The strategy remains the same; dash off. At his last health, he raises
the three seperately. Make sure not to trap yourself and dash off.
EX Attack - Platformed Flame - He does two blanks and then a flame; two
platforms will then trap you in place. As a general strategy to avoid this,
stand as far back as possible when he does the first flame of his pattern.
Also, he won't move back.
Strategy:
He opens with flames. During the blanks in between puffs/jet, dash in and get
in a jumping slash. When he goes to platforms, dash closer, slash at him, and
then dash away. Simple, shouldn't even take a hit. If he's using his EX, then
hang on the left side of the room.
===
iv)
Anubis Necromancess III
Difficulty? ***
Attacks:
Staff Throw - He throws his staff fairly close to you, moves, and calls it
back to him. Make sure not to get in its path.
Zombie Summon - He summons one or two zombies. They're slow, just kill them
with repeated dash-jumping slashes. If he gets more than two out, stand there
and nail them with repeated standing slashes.
Spiked Pillars - Every 1/4 of his health, he drops in the sand, and brings up
two spiked pillars at a time; when you see the dust appear, dash away from
where the pillars will appear. When he summons the two at the very edge, just
dash wall climb the left one until the last second, at which point you dash
jump up and around the spikes onto the ground. He reappears with two zombies.
EX Attack - Staff Roll - He sends his staff under him, then lets it roll to
the other side of the screen, where it goes slightly up in altitude and rolls
back to him. Wait in the middle of the field for it, dash-jump over, and then
wait underneath the boss to avoid.
Strategy:
When the battle opens, wait for him to Staff Throw; when he catches, dash
jump up and slice. After he sinks in the sand, wait for his white aura to
wear off before doing a dash-jump slice. Kill the zombies before going after
him when he summons them; they're a pain, and if he gets four out, it's just
annoying to deal with.
===
v)
Maha Gahaneriff
Difficulty? **
Attacks:
Hundred Hand Slap - He just punches the air in front of him many times. Stand
back and laugh at him when he does this.
Swing - He attacks himself to the ceiling by his trunk, swings back and forth
twice before launching at the wall. Wait for him to launch at the wall and
dash under the big ball.
Bomb Roll - He rolls forward, tossing bombs behind him. This is a fun attack
to dodge; simply wait until he's about to hit you, then dash away and jump
towards him. He'll roll right under you harmlessly. Do this after he's tossed
his first bomb.
EX Attack - Tuskorang - He fires one of his tusks forward like a boomerang.
Dash away from it, and then head back and get him back on your screen, but
just barely. Watch for his next move from this position, and dodge as needed.
Strategy:
More or less, just dash-jump towards him and hit him with a saber in the head
then dash away. Do this when you can, and when he's not HHS'ing. It is hard
to predict when he will, granted. After he does a swing, make sure to get in
a free hit; ditto for when he does the Bomb Roll.
===
vi)
Factory Boss
Difficulty? *
Attacks:
Physical Head - Orange heads pop out, and do a bite attack. Stand behind the
left head for the right's attack, and dash away to the right head when the
left attacks.
Ice Head - Blue heads pop out, and breathe ice. Stand behind the left head.
Fire Head - Red heads pop out, and breathe fire. Stand behind the left head.
When the left head comes down to attack, dash away towards the right head.
Lightning Head - Green heads pop out, and do a spread of lightning balls.
Stand behind the left head and jump.
EX Attack - Bullet Spray - All his heads sparkle for a moment, then he
sprays bullets in your direction. Dash under him and jump off the wall to
change direction. All the bullets will pass away from you.
Strategy:
Stand behind where the heads appear and dash in and slice before the first
head attacks, and after the first head attacks. Dodge the different attacks
as necessary, and get in attacks where possible. Sounds vague, but most of
the fight is in the above attack descriptions.
===
vii)
Giant Mechaniloid
Difficulty? N/A
Attacks:
Mines - If you get too close, he drops mines behind him.
Grenades - He causes grenades to fly behind him and softly land
Flyer Toss - He lets loose three flying enemies.
EX Attack - Reploid - After you destroy those three, a reploid pops out. He
brings out a rapid-fire machine gun first; just stay out of his range for him
to miss. Then he brings out a net; he fires a general net thing in your
direction. Just jump or dash under it, depending on where it fired. He could
also toss two grenades behind him. Just.. either take those or move back.
Strategy:
Blitz his behind with saber slashes. When it's busted, you're going to be
in shock from what I'm about to say: whip out the triple rod. Poke at the
flier release mechanism; when it releases the enemies, wait for them to get
above you and poke up to kill all three at once. When it's just down to the
grenade tosser, jump close and poke. Shouldn't take too much damage.
Alternatively, if you don't have the Triple Rod, you can go the dangerous
way; keep on the saber, and just closely slash at the flier release mechanism
and when it's destroyed, kamikaze slash at the grenade tosser. It should die
before you: key word there is SHOULD. It might not. If you have an A coming
in to the mission, and get the Reploid after it all, just relentlessly go at
it with the saber.
===
viii)
Harpuia
Difficulty? **
Attacks:
Air Wave - He swoops to the other side of the screen in the air, and lets
loose a pink wave of energy. Dash to where he flies to before he gets there.
Ground Wave - One wave forward, one wave upward, one wave forward. Jump, dash
and forward dash then jump backwards. If you have trouble visualizing that,
think of what I recommended for the Bomb Roll on Maha Gahanariff.
Back to the attack, Harpuia then flies upwards, and lets out a fourth.
Dash away.
Pickup - He dives down and tries to pick you up. Just dash away from him.
If he does actually pick you up, he flies you high in the air and slams
you down on the ground. Painful.
Missiles - He focuses inwards, and then fires out two missiles which come
careening on a crash course with you. Dash and jump over them as necessary
while still pecking at Harpuia. Of course, he shouldn't get the chance to do
this as it takes so long to do; your saber should hit him before he even
launches one.
EX Attack - TORUNADO - This looks painful, but just be calm. He summons two
electrical barriers on either side of you, and then brings in the tornado. To
dodge it, lightly tap the dash button once or twice to push through it. You
don't want to overdash into the barriers, so be delicate and just lightly tap
the dash button. I repeat this for emphasis.
Strategy:
Pansiest battle ever contingent on one thing: you keep him grounded. Easiest
way to do this is to wait for him to do one wave, then slice him. Dodge the
Ground Wave attack, and then saber him when he's back in the air. He'll fall
to the ground again; repeat as necessary. Also, when you're knocking him out
of attacks, it's far easier if you do it near the edge of the screen.
===
ix)
Blizzack Stagroff
Difficulty? ***
Attacks:
Ice Beam - He fires a wide icebeam that does no damage, but slows you down.
Hug the wall opposite the beam to dodge it, and be sure to jump off once the
attack is finished.
Ice Crystal - He creates an ice crystal on the ground that freezes you on
contact. No damage unless you get hit by it as he throws it. He throws it at
your exact location. Wait a sec to see where it's going to land, then dodge.
Shake Off - He throws his ice horns off and they land one after another on
the ground in front of him. How do you dodge it? Simple - stand beside him.
Give him a slice while you're there.
EX Attack - Crystal Ice Beam - He fires the ice beam, except this time it has
fragments of ice in it shooting towards you. Dodge it in the same way you
would the normal Ice Beam.
Strategy:
The easiest way to do this is just to let him jump around like a fool, and
wait for him to do Shake Off. When he does, just kill him then. Also, you can
get in spare jump slashes when he lands and is deciding his next move.
===
x)
Fefnir
Difficulty? ****
Attacks:
Earth Slash - Earth's Anger running through my arms! Earth Slash! He creates
a small wave of energy across the ground. When charged, it becomes huge. In
both cases, stand back and let it run out before resuming assault.
Fireball - He fires a small fireball at you, or a series of three. Jump over
it/them, or in the case of fired downwards, dash away from it. When charged,
the fireball becomes bigger and does more damage.
Dash n' Grab - He dashes at you and tries to grab you. If he gets you, he
clamps you and does some painful damage. He then tosses you in the air. When
charged, he grabs you midair and slams you into the ground. But, it's easy to
dodge: Dash away from him.
EX Attack - Rain of Fire - He engulfs himself in flame and fires fireballs up
in the air. They will land in locations near you; just keep on the move and
don't backtrack much and you should come out unharmed. If he catches you in a
corner, try to dodge the first one that lands then do a dash-jump over him.
It's a bit of a gamble, but that's your best bet.
Strategy:
First and foremostly, it's happy to know for this fight that Fefnir can be
jumped over easily. The main strategy I developed for this fight is to dash
jump over all his attacks, and then go in with a dash jump saber slice. If
you're distant enough, you can hit him with a dashing slash.
A nice spot for him to be is on the ridge above flatland; the fireballs will
go over your head. I wish there was more to this battle to say, but that was
it for me; just dodge as best you can while pegging him with saber slices.
A note for the refight; since it takes place on completely level ground, it's
easier and a bit harder. Easier in that you can just spam jump-slash while
dodging over him when he gets too close, harder in that you have to jump over
all his fireballs.
===
xi)
Phantom
Difficulty? ****
Attacks:
Dashing Slash - He dashes across the room, swiping his sword. Jump over it.
Replica - Jumps to the center of the room, and creates four clones of himself
Four times he changes his position amongst the clones. For the most
accuracy, do a jumping slash on the correct clone to harm him and cause a
new wave. After the last position, he comes out above you with his sword
down. Dash jump with a saber slice and away. If you hit a wrong clone, the
broken reploid will harm you, so make sure not to turn around.
Shuriken - This is a fun attack to dodge. Dash jump over the shuriken such
that you land beside Phantom. Then, dash underneath it as it reaches the
center of the battlefield. Just dash around so that you don't get hit by the
knives he throws down.
Shuriken Toss - He randomly finishes moves with a shuriken that explodes in
four pieces, which head diagonally. The best way to do this is to get it
thrown to stick to somewhere in the mid-right, and jump right over where it
will land. It'll explode diagonally, leaving you unharmed.
EX Attack - Pitch Black - He engulfs himself in flames, and the screen turns
black. He disappears in a puff of smoke. Seconds later, shuriken blades like
the ones at the animation before the fight will appear. The best way to dodge
this is by starting at the left or the right hand side of the screen; a
second after he disappears in a puff of smoke, dash to the opposite side of
the screen. If possible, peg Phantom with a jumping slash on the way.
Strategy:
Jump over his dashing slashes; when he does the jump to the center of the
screen to do Replica, hit him with a jumping slash. Wait out the clones,
hitting the right one each time with a precisely aimed jumping slash. When he
does the shuriken, avoid as instructed, and get a jumping slash in on him as
he lands, but not if he's already hit the ground. You can even get in some
damage on him when he's throwing the shuriken, since you're right beside him.
VERY KEY ABOUT THE REFIGHT: Do jumping slashes until he's down to ~2 ticks of
health. At that point, swap to Buster and fire off a stage one charged shot
when he's on the opposite side of the battlefield. Should you fail in doing
this, at least make sure he doesn't die in the middle of the battlefield;
then there's at least a chance you can jump over his sacrificial explosion.
===
xii)
Leviathan
Difficulty? ****
Attacks:
Ring of Ice - She spins her staff around and sends a ring of ice crystals at
you. Jump over it.
Missiles - She sends multiple missiles away from her that home in your vague
direction. Stand behind her, or move far away. Never be close and high.
Ice Rain - She makes a bunch of ice crystals while floating up. Saber them
to nothing.
EX Attack - Ice Dragon - She engulfs herself in flames, and summons an ice
dragon that follows you around while she does her attack pattern. Jump around
it and attack it with slices, while going after Leviathan. It's really more
annoying than anything, and if you can get it going in circles, it's harmless
Strategy:
You're in water with spikes; this is an advantage and a disadvantage. You're
able to jump around higher, but you have to be careful, because of the spikes
and her ability to swim. Bottom line is to get in attacks mainly during
Missiles and Ice Rain, and after Ice Rain and Ring of Ice. For the most part,
only jump around as if it were a normal arena; especially during Ice Rain,
when she might fly into you on purpose while you trash the crystals.
A good rule of thumb is that if you're on the island, normal jumping; if
you're on the edge lands, jump high. She does a pattern of Missiles -> Ring
-> Rain, so prepare for that.
A alternate method from falcon815:
"She makes three passes of ice crystals, each going progressively higher.
Jump-slash some crystals in layer 1 as she does layer 2, and in layer 2 as
she does layer 3. After this, do not leave the ground. Stand in a gap amongst
the crystals as close to the middle of the platform as possible, and she will
hover near you. As soon as all the crystals are gone, stand directly beneath
her. Voila, missiles miss. (You can pound on her unimpeded with the Triple
Rod as she fires.) She'll move a little bit away and start Ring of Ice, which
is a free jump slash. However, before she fires it, make sure to get to the
edge of the platform that's closest to her. When she fires, dash away, and
stay on the ground. Repeat this paragraph and you likely won't even take a
hit. ^_^_v"
===
xiii)
Hanumachine
Difficulty? ****
Attacks:
Fire Spin - He spins in a circle, shooting three embers at you. Just stand
back and watch him do it.
Monkey - He creates three monkeys. Kill them with one standing slash apiece.
If one latches on to you, you'll have a real monkey on your back. It'll
explode and damage you, unless you're dashing.
Fireball - And now the most pain in the neck attack ever. Jump, become a
fireball and bounce around the room at random. Good news about it: you can
do the back-dash-jump that you did for Gahaneriff's bomb roll to dodge it.
Similarily, you can wait till he hits the walls and dash jump off the wall
over it. But that's riskier.
Driven Up the Walls - He runs up the wall onto the ceiling and falls. Ow.
EX Attack - Ukikiki - He extends his pole thing and then jumps towards you.
Dash AWAAAY. Hang up on the walls to avoid this attack, it's painful.
Strategy:
I've always hated this boss, but there is a way to do it. Dodge the monkeys
and kill them with a jump slash when it's safe. The best time to hit him, I
find, is after he's driven up the walls or coming out of a fireball. He has a
short recovery time that you can use to peg him with a slice. This is one of
the tougher fights, as you have to keep up the dodging and anticipation while
he runs back and forth. You CAN interrupt his running with a slice, though.
If he has his EX attack? The battle changes a bit. You can't always destroy
the pet monkeys with a standing slash as he's going to nail you with Ukikiki.
So, I'm going to go out of my habits and suggest you put on the buster for
this time. When he summons monkeys, take them out with a charged buster shot.
Should sweep through all three and destroy them. And, if he's summoning more,
it should destroy those too and hurt him.
====
xiv)
Beetle Borg
Difficulty? **
Attacks:
Swordorang - He throws his swords in front of him. Hug the wall above them,
or stand back when he does that.
Top Spin - He spins around on the ground; easily avoided by hugging the wall.
You can also knock him out of it easily by jumping on his head with Triple
Rod when he's near the wall.
Sword Dive - He jumps up and comes down with his swords. Just don't be where
he's going to land. Easy.
EX Attack - Juggle - He throws his swords up in the air, then tosses them in
an arc in front of him one at a time. Stand out of range and move in slowly.
Hit him with a saber slash after the last one returns.
Strategy:
Simplest way to do this is to wait for him to do Swordorang, and then hit him
with a jumping saber slash when the last one returns. Dash away immediately.
The hits from hitting him out of Top Spin will help matters out too. If
you're having trouble doing an attack post-Swordorang with Saber, then use
the Triple Rod; it's got a little bit extra reach.
===
xv)
Herculious Anchortus
Difficulty? **
Attacks:
Charge - He charges at the opposite wall. Just hug it and jump over him.
Anchor - He fires both claws at different sections of one wall, and then will
slam into it. Dash-jump above him to dodge it, or if he goes for the floor,
dash away.
Lightning Ball - He fires 3-4 lightning shots. Dash jump off the top of the
wall after he fires the fourth and land beside him.
Super Lightning Ball - He fires off a huge lightning ball. Go high on the
wall to avoid it if he's charging, then dash-jump off. If he's Anchoring,
then dash-jump off immediately.
EX Attack - Four-Armed Frenzy - He extends his four arms and fires a pellet
from each one of them. Just dash underneath to avoid.
Strategy:
Just dodge his attacks easily, and get in saber slashes after each Charge,
Anchor or Lightning Ball. Shouldn't be too hard.
===
xvi)
Rainbow Devil
Difficulty? *****
Attacks:
Pellet Spew - He spews four pellets of himself on each side, then they crawl
back to him. Hug the upper wall opposite to him.
Bounce - He swirls up and into a weird head shape. This is an annoying attack
to dodge. For the big head, just dash back and forth. When it splits into
two, wait for it to turn around after hitting the left wall, then slash it.
After it bounces once, dash to the left wall and hug the very top of it. If
he decides to do Bounce while in the left-middle of the room, then stand to
the right of him; he should bounce off the left wall, at which point you
follow standard procedure.
EX Attack - Punch - He vaults forward in a punching motion. Kinda lame, and
easy to dodge; move backwards or hang on the wall.
Strategy:
Get in hits on him when he reforms after Pellet Spew, Bounce or moving back
and forth. The key to this battle is dodging the two-head part of the pain
in the neck bounce attack. If you can get that down, this battle is cake.
Dodge that, and get in dash-jump-saber slashes followed by a dash jump back
to the opposite side of the room every opportunity you can, which is usually
after he reforms after doing an attack.
===
xvii)
Copy X
Difficulty? ****
Attacks:
Falcon Armour - Fires 3 blue wave shots; mid-air, is fire down-left/right.
When charged, fires a big blue shot. Easy to avoid; either jump over it, or
sidestep if fired from midair.
Shotgun Ice - Straight out of the original MMX, he fires a chunk of ice your
way. When it hits the floor/wall, it explodes into 8 different shards. Try to
be on the opposite side of the room when it goes off, so all you'll have to
do is jump to avoid the pellet. When charged, he shoots forward a tornado
of ice crystals. Cling to the wall, or stand behind him to avoid it.
Fire Attack - He fires a long rising fire stream. When he adopts the firing
pose, prepare to jump; but it's better if you can interrupt it with a slash.
Charged, he fires a fireball up which explodes into about 6 fires, 3 on
either side of him. Make sure to interrupt it.
Lightning Attack - He fires a slow-moving lightning ball, similar to the one
of Herculious Anchortus. Just jump over it and avoid it until it goes away.
Charged, he pumps electricity into the center of the ground, causing sparks
to move away from him across floor and wall, much like Aztec Falcon did. Just
jump over the sparks and give him a jumping slash to interrupt it.
EX Attack - Subtank - Those of you who've played MMZ3 will recognize this. He
cries out, then a large aura surrounds him as his health recharges by one
full bar. After you're finished cursing, just keep at it. This just prolongs
the fact that this is a fight all about endurance. Two additional notes about
it, however: One, if you recognize him doing the animation for the cry, you
can interrupt it. This is highly recommended. Two, if you don't interrupt it,
do NOT walk into the flashing aura around him. It hurts.
Strategy:
Don't let him leave your screen, always keep your eye trained on him. When he
does one of those leaps, dash to him, and possibly punish him for it with a
jumping slash. When he dashes, dash-jump behind him and follow him, hitting
him with a slash when you can. When he midair dashes, follow underneath, and
if you can, knock him out of the air with a slash.
When he does that midair dash that's only slightly above ground, wait until
he reaches you and then dash under him, not over. This battle is all about
evasion and getting in hits where you can; since you'll need all the life you
can get for Angel X. Ideally, he should never got off a shot, and should be
kept dashing around. But that might not always be possible, especially since
the fight is made longer when he has his EX attack.
===
xviii)
Angel X
Difficulty? *****
Attacks:
Ring Toss - He protects his head and fires 3 rings down onto the stage. If
caught in them, Zero will be unable to move for a period of time. The amount
of rings increases as his life gets lower.
From SirFuzzi:
"Stand in one place until you hear the last ring shot, or until they start
appearing on-screen; make little baby-steps out of their range if you can't
wait until the last one, and then dash away. No attacking for you here unless
you brandish the Triple Rod and stab him."
Immolation - A white laser fires across the platform, and a wave of fire
sweeps across the floor and remains there for a bit. When you see the laser,
DASH and jump to the nearest paddle as quickly as possible.
From SirFuzzi (with minor edit):
"This move is something you're going to be praying for, as you'll be scoring
the bulk of your damage here. When he announces it, hop onto a paddle and
just let loose on his face with 1-stage charge shots from your buster."
The minor edit I made here was his original suggestion of one or two stage
charge shots. Small problem - focus on hard mode, where you can't charge.
Laser Beam - He sprays 10 lasers in a fan from each hand in your general
direction. To avoid, try to find the gap where none will land. I have
difficulties dodging this still, and am shamed in admitting I find it almost
a luck thing in praying he doesn't use it.
From SirFuzzi:
"Now, dodging this is very tricky. When he announces that he's firing it off,
DASH LIKE A MADMAN to the other paddle- remember how I said you should be on
paddles at all times aside from Ring Toss?- and the lasers should all fire
off at the first panel. With a little bit of practice and learning what he
announces it with, you should be able to dodge it all. Once again, damage
here is scored by unleashing a charged shot or two at his face."
EX Attack - Hold and Poke - He fires off multiple rings while sending the
paddles in a bouncing pattern towards the center. Start in the center, and
dash to the left, making sure to dash under the paddles when they bounce, and
from the left dash to the right, and back to the center.
Strategy:
Shock and amazement, switch to Triple Rod for the weapon of choice. He should
open up with Ring Toss, so try to get in a hit before he locks up. After that
it's a tossup between Laser Shot and Immolation. If he does immolation, dodge
it as recommended, and then dash-jump off the paddle and get in a saber slice
That's about this boss in a nutshell. Avoid immolation, pray for no Laser
Beam, triple rod before and after Ring Toss if you can, and dash-jump saber
during Immolation. Should all go well with that, then you will be the victor.
From SirFuzzi:
"Make sure you've got the buster charged when you're not shooting it, always
and everytime. And if he's not using Ring Toss, you SHOULD be on one paddle
or another. [...] avoid using your Z-Saber during Immolation for extra damage
because you have a chance of falling onto the Immolation and taking that
beefy damage, or even making contact with him- and seeing as you probably
don't have any life upgrades, you're not made for that sorta stuff."
I would like to slightly justify myself in using saber for this fight - I'm
somewhat fanatical about the use of it. However, if it doesn't work for other
people, fair is fair.
That being said, if anybody would like to contribute in any way as they've
found my way of doing things ineffective, send me an e-mail at the
aforementioned address of
[email protected]. Include MMZ in the
title, so that I know what you're talking about.
--------------------
Recognition/Credits
This is the part where I acknowledge things people have done;
falcon815 - Proofreading to make sure I had clarity in what I was saying.
- Alternate Leviathan strategy.
FFMike - For testriding some of my strategies to make sure they worked for
more than just me.
SirFuzzi - Laser Beam dodge strategy, Ring Toss dodge strategy
- Alternate killing strategy for Angel X
Harpuia - For being such a pushover and giving me an ego boost.
