The Mega(man) Battle Network LP!

He can totally Dash through enemy attacks, it's pretty awesome. And he gets the best battlechip of all time; Hadouken!

Didn't stop his father (Lan's grandfather, I mean) from creating X in an alternate timeline...

Like BN2, clearing the game both puts a star on the title screen and unlocks a lot of new things to do.



First off, Chaud wasn’t kidding about challenging us on Hades Isle.






BN3 Protoman is different from his earlier incarnations. While BN1 Protoman focused on countering, and BN2 Protoman was kind of in-between defense and offense, BN3 Protoman is pure offense.



Protoman uses Sonic Boom more than any of his other attacks. While this is manageable in his base form, by Beta you’ll basically have to be in the middle row at all times to avoid the thing.




Step Sword and Fighter Sword are still there as well.



As is Protoman’s shield, only instead of a Sonic Boom counter attack he’ll warp behind you and attack with a Wide Sword. (If you’re in the back column he’ll just warp in front of you.)

Protoman generally attacks in sequence. He’ll almost always start off with a Sonic Boom, then either do another Sonic Boom or use one of his close range attacks.




To deal with this, you could try to do what BN1 Protoman did: shield, then counter.




Or you could just use Plantman.




Protoman would probably be a much more difficult opponent if it weren’t for BN3’s awesomely broken navi chips.

Meanwhile, at the top of Hades Isle is another thing to do.



I’m not sure whether or not you need the yellow star to challenge this guy, or if you just need to beat Quiz Queen. Anyways, I’ll just show the end result.






This would be useful if it weren’t a Mega chip.



Well you gave me infinite retries.



Anyways, there are also three new jobs. “Give your support!” pits you up against 10 relatively difficult viruses in a row, and rewards you with



“Stamp collecting!” is just a game of cyber hide-and-seek really. The reward is a Step Cross Q.

“Help with a will!” is a fairly amusing sequence of hints.



Well, to be exact there’s only one hint but it tells you everything you need to know. If you read it top to bottom from the left, you get Squirrel, Armor, Water Heater, and Devil Pillars.




I wonder if the Will was supposed to have every hint at once.



Cue battle with Omega viruses. Rinse, wash, and repeat for the rest of the hints. Let’s skip to the Devil Pillars.

I have no clue how you’re supposed to figure out where to go next without a guide.





Megaman notes it’s a photo of a family.



Our prize for all of this is rather unspectacular.



Sure, we can do Big Heart now, but you’d think we’d get something better for going through all of that.

Moving on, Metalman Beta and Bowlman Beta are ready for battle. Well, Metalman Beta’s probably been ready for a while.

While I’m at it, I should go fill in a few holes in my Library.







Getting Flamman V3 took the better part of an hour.



This update probably would have been ready hours ago if it weren’t for this bastard. Not only does have an absurdly low encounter rate, the strict requirements for fighting him mean you can only take three hits, max. Deleting him isn’t very hard though, as long as you start with a couple Flashmans. Which takes luck. Which takes resets. Which means I have to find him again.

And when I finally did get my lucky hand, do you know what I got?



Ass.

At least after I beat him once, I was able to use Lock Enemy to guarantee an encounter. Of course then the game’s RNG decided to spit in my face and not give me any Flashman chips ever, so I had to reset somewhere around sixty times.



For the sake of my sanity, I decided to turn on Infinite HP while getting Bubbleman V2. Why?

Because I have Super Armor, to get a V2 chip I have to make the battle last over 30 seconds. The only way I could possibly do this is by perfectly timing Reflect over and over again to heal me, or by pre-setting the strongest Recover chip I have (which still wouldn’t do much more than give me a few extra hits).

And even if I uninstalled Super Armor and took a hit or two (which would be enough to drop me down to rank 7-9), I’d have to actually delete Bubbleman Beta immediately afterwards, which is entirely luck based.

It’s possible to do this, but I don’t have the folder to do it conveniently yet. And really, I’ve spent enough time on this ass.

Let’s move on to a brighter topic.

*Insert normal after tame virus battle speech*



After you find and defeat the Omega viruses, they’ll get get sent to the Virus Breeder for you to feed and are also added to the Virus chip roulette.







Had to go all the way through Yoka 2’s Press maze to reach this guy, and I’m not even going to use him.

I actually completely forgot about this place. Inside is a Fire +30 * and another hint that the Yoka Hot Springs aren’t real.







There’s also a warp to Yoka 2.



Since the only other way to reach this place is to have Press installed, this NPC normally just laughs at Megaman for being so small. If you’re at normal size and have Humor installed though…

The hint for Swordy Omega was that he really likes broken things. (I mashed A too fast so I didn’t get a screen cap of the hint).







This guy is hiding in Zoo Comp 2, near the path to Zoo Comp 3.



And with that, I’m done.



Kind of strange how there’s one more empty room though.

Alright, I’ve been dancing around the issue long enough. Clearing BN3’s main story gives Megaman access to a brand new area.



Before, examining this hole would just give you a description about how it’s a hole. But now…







Now Megaman is transported to the Secret Area.

There are two things about the Secret Area that need to be mentioned now.



First, like BN2’s WWW Area you can’t jack out. You need to return to the warp at Secret 1.



Second, the viruses are all at high levels. But I’m sure you already expected that. What I want to draw your attention to is that Ratty3.



You want four of these, pronto. It doesn’t matter what code it is; as long as you have a Ratty 3 you can dump it in the Chip Trader and get it back in F code through the Order System. You should also probably install Collect to help with the process.

But why? What could be so important about this chip?




The Program Advance it’s a part of, that’s what. Hyper Ratton does 500 non-flinching damage.

“But BlitzBlast, that doesn’t mean a thing if it doesn’t hit the target!”

Good point. But you’re forgetting someone very important.




As you might recall, Flashman paralyzes everything he hits (which would be the entire field). And the thing about paralyzed targets is that they don’t move for a certain amount of time. This certain amount of time just happens to be far more than enough for Hyper Ratton to do its thing.

With Hyper Ratton, I’ve mostly completed the Blue version of the Flashman folder. It’s not quite as ridiculously powerful as the White version, but it’s more than enough to destroy everything in my way.

Let’s find a guinea pig.



Works for me.





For the record, I‘ll post exactly how the battle went:

Ice Stage > Flashman V2 > Flashman V3 +30 > Full Custom > Hyper Ratton > Flashman V3 > Elemental Sonic Wave.



It’s not a valid experiment if there’s only one sample.





Yup, looks like I’m ready.

A quick code later and:



Time to get to work on those V4 chips.

In my quest for Desertman V4, the RNG spat in my face for about half an hour.



*sigh* Only one left.



The thing about getting Bubbleman V4 is that there is no skill involved. It is all luck. Either you start off with the Flashman series and destroy him, or you’re forced to reset. Hyper Ratton isn’t much help because of all the bubbles blocking its path.

Okay, back to Secret 1.



The same way Ratton 3 basically revolutionized my Flashman folder, Plasma 3 makes my Plantman folder about a thousand times more deadly.



As the name implies, Plasma 3 is a stronger, faster Plasma. Recall that Plasma sets up an obstacle in front of Megaman that hits everything around it repeatedly for non-flinching damage. Also recall that its main problem was actually making sure the enemy gets hit by every blow (which isn‘t actually that hard, as long as the enemy doesn‘t have Super Armor).

Then remember what Plantman does.



Then note that the Order System converts the code to P.

Even without ice, Plasma 3 does a ridiculous amount of damage. But if you do add ice, the opponent might as well not even bother trying. White version has it even better though: they can get Plasma 3 in F, so they can tack it on to their Flashman folders and rape everything ever. Including Alpha. Especially Alpha, actually (non time-freezing multi-hit attacks slaughter Alpha).

Alright, I have two ridiculously powerful folders. Let’s actually get through Secret Area.



First thing of note is actually very close to the entrance.



The Scuttlest viruses are back.



And this time they‘re tamable.



The next noteworthy thing is this monolith. Remember that Hammer we picked up in Under 7? Megaman is given the option of using it.



Obviously, I picked yes. The monolith actually cracks before it shatters, but I missed it.

Cue 10 round virus battle that might have been difficult if I weren’t (ab)using Flashman.



Behind the monolith is a gate that requires one to have beaten the Quiz King to open. The BMD inside holds a Step Cross R.



Finally, there’s these things.






Numbers are puzzles disguised as battles. Obviously you’re supposed to destroy these. But if you attack them out of order,




You get slammed for a large chunk of damage. Note that barriers will protect you from one hit.

These guys do not attack you themselves, so you’re free to blow through your folder until you get the chips you need. Beating them awards you with nothing other than a cleared path. Behind these Numbers was a Geddon 3 U.



Yay. Not using this.




This one was slightly more difficult. Number 1 went down to a Hyper Ratton and the two Number 2s went down to a boosted Flashman V4. Behind them was 50,000 Z.



This gate requires you to have at least 140 Standard chips. Note that as soon as you open the gate, a cutscene starts, so you should save before examining it.

The screen goes blue. Megaman starts looking around.




Megaman demands the voice to show himself.

Wait, so 9633 other people have gotten in here? This place doesn’t seem to be much of a secret then.








Darkman is really easy. Note that he has Super Armor.





His main gimmick is that every time he moves, he switches colors (but not elements; he‘s always Null). When he lines up with you, he’ll either send a Fire Tower at you, an Ice Wave, or a Sensor beam. More importantly, after his second attack he’ll open up some holes at the top of your area and send bats down your columns.

With Darkman, your goal is to shut him down before he can summon the bats.



This isn’t particularly difficult, especially with a Flashman folder.

With a final groan, Darkman explodes and the area returns to normal.







And with that, we can enter Secret 2.

But I’m not going to, because after I jack in and out




I can face Darkman Alpha.






Surprisingly enough, Darkman Beta is also fought in Secret 1.

Moving on, Secret 2 has a lot of invisible paths.



Yay, I got it this time. Behind the monolith was a warp to the upper area of Secret 2.



Shadows appear here. Unfortunately for them, I’ve switched to my Plantman folder. Even my Flashman folder has Variable Sword and Gaia Blade though.

I don’t think Bug Frag traders can play movies.



Finish every single job to open this door. Behind is a HP +500 program.



Yay for invisible Numbers.



Ice Stage Flashman V4 +100 (I had to add Navi +40 to my folder) did the trick. Behind these guys was a HP Memory.



Behind this monolith was an invisible path to a BMD with an Anti Navi M.

Time to backtrack. Remember that warp next to the first monolith in this area? It leads to another upper section.




And another Number battle. My solution for this one was to Hyper Ratton each of them one by one.




Now I only have two HP Memories left to find.

Okay, back to the exit.



You need at least one Giga chip to open this gate.

Once again, the screen goes blue. And once again, Megaman starts to look around.






For some reason, Yamatoman’s name change to Japanman caused a lot of controversy. I don’t really understand why, considering the following:

1) Yamatoman is too long.
2) Most people would look at Yamatoman and go “What the heck is a Yamato?”
3) Yamato was an ancient name for Japan, so the “name change” is really just a translation.

Megaman already ha- wait, I did this joke already.






Japanman can be very hard. He has three attacks.




Two are just him using his spear, with the first essentially a Fighter Sword and the second a long range Wide Sword.



At low HP though, he plays his trump.





Backup summons six soldiers who will appear one at a time and slowly steal Megaman’s area one panel at a time. They’ll always leave Megaman with at least one column, but with only that Japanman can hit you at his leisure.



Aside from that, trying to shoot Japanman with the buster just has him reflect it back at you.

With Japanman, you want to beat him as fast as possible.



That’s not very hard with my folder.

With a final groan, Japanman explodes and the area returns to normal.



Megaman notes Japanman was another one of Serenade’s followers. Lan wonders how powerful Serenade is.

Secret 3 is pretty straightforward. There’s a clear path to where Serenade is, but it’s blocked by two levels of security. There are also two side paths, also blocked.



To open this gate you need to have every single virus that you can tame at this point, excluding the Omegas.



*sigh*





You’d think Megaman would be used to this by now.

At the end of the Press path is a BMD with a Sanctuary C and



The reason I hacked in 9999 Bug Frags at the beginning of the game.






In exchange for 10 Bug Frags, this trader can give you some very rare/powerful chips.



Most notably, however, is its tendency to give Element +30 chips. Excuse me while I turn on Autofire and go do something else for a while.

*some time later*

Okay, I’m back. Let’s see what’s happened.



Huh, I’ve burned through 5000 Bug Frags.



I now only have six standard chips left to find,




I have all of the Navi chips besides Mistman,



I have a ridiculously large amount of Element + chips,



And I’ve even gotten the Special Custom Drop Only chips.

Time to restructure my folders. Actually, I could probably make a Double Hero/Bubbleman folder with all of the chips I’ve got, but I want to stick with what I have.







Man, whatever’s behind all of this security better be worth it.



This Number battle is special in that you need to specifically structure your folder around beating it. There are a lot of ways you can do this, but the easiest is to set up a Grass Stage,



Throw a Prism in the center panel of the nearest column and use Copy Damage on the farthest Number G1,




Then Heat Spread the bottom two Number G1s.

How it works is simple: Heat Spread does 300 damage. On Grass it does 600. Since it has a spreader effect, it hits the Prism, causing it to essentially hit twice, dealing 1200 damage overall. With Copy Damage, the far away Number G1 is also hit.

The massive damage I just did is the basis for the infamous Disco Inferno folder.

Alright, what was so rare that it required three layers of security?



That’s it?

Hole, as the name implies, opens a hole in front of Megaman. Or rather, it eventually opens a hole in front of Megaman. You need to wait a bit for the hole to fully form. Once it has, though, you can use special Dark chips, which are almost always ridiculously strong.



Alternatively, you could just install Dark License and use the Dark chips without a Hole.



This is probably the most amusing random battlefield I’ve ever seen.

Alright, it’s time to face Serenade.





Oh so you won’t open for me, huh? Fine.



I’ll just head back to Bug Frag trader and take this invisible path under the door.



Karma works fast.



Huh, this one is white. Oh well, I’m sure it’s the same as all of the rest.



Cue twenty round virus battle.



So worth it.



Hub Batch is a program that requires a lot of effort to even install. As you might note, it’s orange. There is no style in the game that accepts Orange.



So no matter what you’ll get an error. But look at the error’s identification: where have I seen S2S before?



Alright, let’s install this thing! Megaman, how do you feel?

Hub Batch has an auto bug. As you might have guessed,



It’s half HP.

On to the plus side: Hub Batch gives the effects of the following programs: Super Armor, Break Buster, Break Charge, Custom 1, Mega Folder 1, Shield, Under Shirt, Air Shoes, Float Shoes, and Shadow Shoes.

Not only that, but if you compress Hub Batch,



You get something that fits together with a compressed Buster MAX.



And Bug Stop too.






This right here is pretty much the best all-purpose Navi Customizer set-up in the game.

Anyways, time to get out of here. I need to fill up my library.



I ended up getting 4 of the chips I needed just by dumping all of my extra chips at the 10 Chip Trader.





Alright, just one more. But first, I should get Scuttlest Omega.





It would have been cool if the “boss” of the Scuttlests was the Life Virus.



Conveniently, the chip I need is in WWW Comp.



I now have all 200 Standard chips.

So I get another star.

Japanman Alpha is right behind the Chip Dealer.




Japanman’s chip is actually really awesome. It’s his rapid thrust technique, followed by his forward thrust for a total of four hits. And like all multi-hit Navi chips, Attack +’s can severely boost its damage (though since it’s non-elemental it has to settle for Navi +20).

Even better, as a Y coded chip it can be used with Life Sword and Area Grab Y.



Like Darkman, Japanman Beta is found in the same area as his Alpha. I’ve already gotten all of his chips though, so no point in battling him.



Lke before, screen goes blue, Megaman looks around.

As a complete side note, despite the facts that Lan uses masculine pronouns and that Serenade’s title is Under King (and that’s not a translation error), officially Serenade does not have a gender. But because I’m biased, I’m going to refer to Serenade with feminine pronouns because seriously just look at her.



Sorry for the large image, but I had to do that so I could show Serenade’s icon. Anyways, compare it to



The icon on Mamoru’s wheelchair.

Yup, Serenade is Mamoru’s navi (or at least the navi of his family). Lan’s getting his promised Net Battle.






Serenade compliments Megaman for noticing her power before they even begin battling.




What.




…I don’t get it.

Serenade is a gimmick boss.



If you attack her, she’ll spin and reflect the attack back at you.




She does this with everything.



Her main attack is this ball of light (I think it was called Saint’s Light?). It slowly moves across the field, hitting every panel. It can be blocked, but it pierces Invisible.



Her last attack, Holy Burst(?) has her both blow you back and blast random panels on your side of the field, cracking whatever she hits. While she’s doing this, though, you can attack her.



A warning: that green force field isn’t for show. In that image it just destroyed my Hyper Ratton.

Anyways, theoretically you’re supposed to approach this fight very carefully, only damaging Serenade with counter attacks. However, there’s one very easy way to get around Serenade’s defense. See, in order to reflect things she needs space to move. So if you Area Lock her…




You can damage her. Note that she can still hit you with Saint’s Light.

Normally, after Area Locking her I’d use the Mom Quake Program Advance and completely destroy her, but I don’t have the necessary components (Rock Cube - Rock Cube - God Stone). So instead, I need to rely on a different Program Advance







At 700 damage each use (and that‘s unboosted), Double Hero quickly rips through Serenade’s HP.

God?

Megaman asks who “He” is.



That’s about as specific as not at all.






Okay, so this guy is really strong and lurks around the Undernet. That narrows it down to… oh who am I kidding, she’s talking about Bass.

No you don’t because BN4 *slapped*.



Serenade fades away.



Lan notes she’s gone.








Now that I’m Rank 1, the curtains at Under 7 will open for me.

Behind this curtain was a HP Memory.



And behind this one was a Guardian O.

Next time: Bug Frag Trader… 300...

Current Folder

Air Shot 3 * x2
Variable Sword F
Ratton 1 F x4
Ratton 2 F x4
Ratton 3 F x4
Fast Gauge *
Invisible * x2
Ice Stage * - REGULAR
Elec +30 * x4
Gaia Blade *
Full Custom *
Navi +40 *
Flashman V2 F
Flashman V3 F
Flashman V4 F
Folder Back *

Total codes (not counting * code): 1

What're the one-panel textured programs you have there?

I'm still trying to remember how I beat Serenade my first time. I know I didn't have any navi chips. I think I must have just been packing the most powerful chips I had and just hitting her. Although I probably had 2 lifeswords in that folder. Bass I was packing Grass stages plus fire chips so he went down easy. I hate what happens after that. Finally did that this year.

Speed +1 (Yellow) and Charge +1 (White). I don't need them, but I don't like having holes in my Navi Customizer.

Okay, I have to admit, Bulk Uploader is pretty awesome, even if it totally screws up my picture order.

Before I advance in the game, I should get all of the Regular Ups I missed..








Amusingly, the last Standard chip I needed was also the one for this trade.




Also in Room 5-B is the start of this game’s trading chain.




And that’s it. Maybe.



I get the feeling this is supposed to be the end of the chain, but for the life of me I can’t find the NPC who trades Grab Back K.

Now then, some miscellaneous stuff.






I don’t remember giving Ms. Mari data.



Turns out there was a Rock Cube * inside of this thing.

No holding back my rear end.




I love how a point blank Hyper Ratton makes it look like Megaman just slugged the guy in front of him. Too bad the barrier gets in the way.






Another talk with Chaud reveals I’ve already unlocked Protoman Beta. Maybe his version is linked to the Secret Area?