The Mega(man) Battle Network LP!

...random...chip code...for after beating game twice? "Who ordered that?"

Sanctuary can either be A, C, E, L, or S. Which one I get is, as I said, completely random. Also, I can only get one.

It's complete BS, but Sanctuary isn't really that good anyways.

Thought I was slacking off again, didn't you? Well, you thought WRONG![/lexluthor]

I was beating up Gutsman. Gutsman Omega, that is. Also my save got corrupted so I had to resort to an old savestate from the Tetsu scenario but EH DETAILS.

Gutsman Alpha is found here:



He's not very different from normal Gutsman.


But that's not what we're here for. Gustman Omega is now a random encounter in ACDC 2!


Click the image for the video and strategy.

Current Folder:
Cannon A x1
Cannon B x1
Cannon * x1
Airshot A x2
Airshot * x1
Guard1 A x3
Guard1 * x1
Heatshot C x4
WideSht1 C x3
Vulcan1 S x1
Sword S x1
WideSwrd S x1
LongSwrd S x1
Areagrab S x3 (REG)
DublCrak * x1
Invis * x3
Atk+10 * x1
Gutsman G x1

Many changes here, most involving GMDs (two areagrabs and some apostrophe chips). I got the S-code vulcan from the chip trader, and didn't get a fourth WideShot1 C just yet after restarting (I'm right after the tournament). Gutsman is still good (80 damage to the enemy field is worth an extra code) and DublCrak is DublSoul fodder.

Also: DURR HURR I HAVE THREE AREAGRABS AGAIN *ahem* found both of the extras near the ACDC2 merchant, who seems to spawn good GMDs by simply existing there.

Couple things before we go:
-I said I looked for Gutsman for a while, but how long is a while? Well, when I started looking I had one or two Guard1 A's. When I finished, I had 66. Although, fourty of these were from right after beating Gutsman Alpha; I forgot I had to jack out first in order for Gustman Omega to show up.
-You guys have no idea how hard it was to resist saying that we kicked Gutsman's Ass

DUN DUUUUUUUUUN

My battles with Gutsman Omega usually have him spam his hammer attack, thus leaving with no space at all to dodge his attacks. Add that to the fact that if you want to 100% complete BN4 in anything resembling a reasonable time you'll need to play with low HP and the fact I usually end up fighting him every time I go through ACDC 2 and...

Well, you can see why I thought he was so hard.

He does that more often on mid-low health, which you could see in the fight a couple of time, and when he's areagrabbed. There's a reason I made sure to counter-Lifesword him - low health Gutsman Omega is basically praying he won't start doing that.

Sorry for the late update, but Ar Tonelico turned out to be more fun than I expected. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it, but as far as standard JRPGs go it’s a decent one.

By the way, Incident is playing throughout pretty much the entirety of this update (Count: 7).




I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but unlike all of the other main games in the Battle Network series BN4 doesn’t really have that many “dungeons“. By that, I mean there are only three unique computer systems that are filled with puzzles and end with a boss. Instead, BN4 moved the vast majority of scenarios onto the Net. Whether or not this was a good thing is debatable.





Presumably this ride is so Navis can have some fun too. But since that raft could probably fit three people (including the driver) at maximum, I don’t really think it would work too well.




Well if they’re malfunctioning, I’d assume something bad.




The navi muses that the stop switch should have flipped itself, so the fact that it hasn’t must mean that something has gone very wrong. He then asks if Megaman is sure he wants to go.






The raft only moves in unskippable cutscenes. This is very annoying.

Megaman notes a piece is missing while the guide has an “Aha!” moment.




Megaman asks what he should do.





Let’s not ask why there would even be incorrect story data at all.





If you don’t remember how the story goes, you can always jack out and check the summary. I’m sure all of the people in mortal danger can wait.



The other choice was Comb.



The game proceeds to scroll through the story again.





So yeah, that’s pretty much this dungeon’s puzzle. Get on the raft, watch unskippable cutscene, read the story, find the appropriate data, and return to the raft. Rinse, wash, and repeat until you reach the stop switch, which usually takes three or four stops.



The other choice was Statue.

The reason why I took the time to screen capture all four stories last update is so I don’t have to do it here. You guys should be able to figure out approximately where the story is just by looking at what data I picked up.

The other choices were Lecture and Storm Kiss.






That’s what happens if you mess up.

Toy Robo 1’s BMDs held 1400 Z, a HP +50 program, and a RegUp 1.




Wait, so this ride ends at the stop switch? Shouldn’t it, you know, loop?




“Viruses started”?

You look like you’re standing to me.



Do halberds count as axes?




First off, according to the story Wizard Dog is a unique individual, so “a” Wizard Dog makes no sense. Second, Wizard Dog is, well, a wizard, so it seems kind of odd to have him physically threatening people. Maybe the robot is based off the midpoint of the story?



The other choices were Wizard Cat and Wizard Dragon.



The other choices were Bad Joke and Vio(lent?) Dance.




The stakes have been raised. Amusingly, before this if Megaman tried to pick up more than one piece of story data he’d say he didn’t have enough room.




The other choices were Good Eyes and Plunge.

Once the raft sets off again, something odd happens.



The raft stops.



At this point I wonder if English was the translators’ second language. If so, than this translation is actually pretty good. If not…



The guide assures Megaman that he needn’t be worried.



Toy Robo 2’s BMDs held a Rock Cube *, a HP Memory, and a Vulcan 2 B.

Yay for inconsistent translation.






I’d like to point out that all of the NPCs are screaming for someone, anyone to save them, completely ignoring the fact that Lan just stopped Wizard Dog right in front of their eyes.



What.



Having a rapidly spinning head at full power seems like a very impractical thing to deal with in a battle. I bring this up because supposedly Tinman was made for war.



As soon as the raft sets off, one of the most confusing cutscenes in the game starts.

First, the raft stops.




The guide starts to look around in confusion.




With that, the raft starts again.

This may not seem that confusing right now, since obviously it just means that the guide is evil. However, and just trust me on this, he’s not. There are really only two explanations.

1) The translation really screwed up here.

2) The wrong mugshot appeared twice in a row.



Toy Robo Computer 3 brings back Metal panels and Metal Gears. Note that now if a Metal Gear comes in contact with something, it will be destroyed.




The other choices were Comedy and Pride.

The other choices were Zombie and Dresser.

Once the raft takes off another cutscene plays.




The guide screams.






I have a feeling this game would make a very good English class punishment. Any unruly students would have to play through and rewrite the script into something legible.




Shouldn’t that be “continue on our way”?



The other choices were Politician, Farm Robot, and Dancer.



Finally encountered a Mag Tect. These guys rapidly move up and down two panels for a bit before going their front column and sticking out a magnet. If Megaman is in the same row as them, he’ll get pulled in and punched with the other magnet. They drop Mag Shock chips, which do the same thing they do, just with only one magnet.

Toy Robo 3’s BMDs held a Charge +1 program and a RegUp 2.



Megaman asks Lan about the situation.



Lan gets a phone call.

This conversation would probably mean more if Mayl wasn’t literally about sixty feet behind Lan.



If you were wondering, nobody ever thanks Lan besides the two kids with Mayl back at the beginning.








To get past this you just have to move between all of the props. Some guesswork is also involved, but it’s really not too hard. I’d compare it to the dark sections of Quickman’s stage in MM2.



I don’t know how this thing just standing here turns off the lights.




That “to” should be “from”.





You were the one who brought the subject up.



Megaman agrees then screams.

I wonder what that guide over there thinks of this.




Shortly after the raft sets off it starts to shake.







The other choices were Red Underwear and Walsh P37.



The other choice was Miss Sun.



The other choice was Moonlight.

The guide shouts in surprise.









The correct answer is actually Banana.







The other choices were Man Head (I have no clue why) and “Mo-o-m!”.

It seems someone has edited the story to make it more pro-vampire. I wonder who the culprit could be.





Toy Robo 4’s BMDs hold a HP Memory and a Recover 80 J.



Lan’s confused.



The guide navi walks over.






Megaman recognizes the verbal tic.

Okay, so he just recognized the voice, but still.



Shademan asks how Megaman liked his edited version of Django the Solar Boy.

The background goes black.









Shademan confirms.





So why did you just carry it around? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to store it somewhere safe?

Shademan swoops forward, but Megaman quickly sidesteps him.




Er, no, he didn’t. You did that to yourself you idiot.




Shademan, according to the prologue Megaman is capable of kicking you around without much effort. If anyone’s life will be spared by not battling, it’s yours.

Shademan demands that Megaman hand over the chip. Megaman replies that he wants time to think.



Shademan backs away.













Seems impressive aim runs in the family.

If shooting it was all that it took to destroy the thing, was what was the point of all of that worrying earlier?



Improper use of articles and demonstrative pronouns… check.









The battle with Shademan is the exact same as it was as the tutorial, only instead of the battle ending after a while…



These two chips show up.




Say hello to the very first Dark Chip you will ever encounter, Dark Sword. This thing is basically a purple Life Sword. Using it will also give Megaman a bug where he is forced to move right. Also, while I hover over it the Custom Screen goes dark and a weird sound plays.






Megaman is silent.

Sorry, but Megaman’s Dark Soul isn’t the reason I’m going to be remembering you. BN4 Shademan Omega is hands down the most annoying boss in the entire series.




By the way, Shademan’s been saying his verbal tic after every line of his death speech.








Shademan’s the only navi in the series to use this destruction animation, which was presumably modeled after the anime’s permanent deletion animation. It’s kind of odd since Shademan’s far from being deleted.




Meh, Air Hockey is more impressive.




Incident finally stops.

Why is Mayl being thanked? She literally did nothing but stand there, and if we’re supposed to believe she was protecting those two boys then that scientist NPC should be here too.




Mayl agrees.



ARGH.

Mayl asks if the man contacted the Officials.




I think you can guess who’s coming.



As always, Chaud is late.

Lan decides to cut to the chase.







I think you can guess what that “it” was supposed to be.




After this scene Gospel will only be mentioned two more times in the entire series (maybe only once, can’t remember if BN6 was referring to the organization or the final boss or both). Poor Sean.



Chaud just said they’re all over the world.

There’s actual authoritative laws on the Internet? What is this I don’t even




WWW tried to destroy the world. Twice.




That’s an oddly specific question.





This is a message from Capcom to 100% completionists: “Screw you“.




Lan is silent. Chaud walks over to the man in charge.






I think this "date" could be considered a total failure.



And this is why proofreading is important.

Next time: Point collecting!

Current Folder

Cannon * x2
Heat Shot C x4
Wide Shot 1 C x4
Sword S
Wide Sword S x2
Long Sword S
Air Hockey 1 F x4
Air Hockey 3 V
Area Grab S
Blinder *
Invisible * x4
Attack +10 * x4
Gun Del Sol EX G

Total codes (not counting * code): 5

Alright, we’ve finally unlocked Dark Chips. Now it’s time to explain the Karma System.

To put it very simply, the Karma system is a Light Side/Dark Side system. Megaman gains Karma every time you finish a fight without Dark Chips, and loses Karma for each Dark Chip you use. I’m not sure where Megaman starts, but I do know the max amount of Karma is 1000 and the lowest is 1.

Now then, what does having high/low Karma mean? Well, I’ll go over what having high Karma does first since I’m doing that.

1) Having high Karma makes Megaman’s battle sprite appear brighter. At/around max, he’ll turn as bright as he is in Full Synchro.

2) High Karma allows Megaman to use certain light aligned chips such as the Navi SP chips. Basically, if you S Rank an Omega Navi you’ll get their SP chip. This chip does more damage the faster you deleted said navi, maxing out at a deletion time under 10 seconds. Other light aligned chips include Holy Panel, Sanctuary, and the Red Sun exclusive Holy Dream Giga chip. Oddly enough, the Gun Del Sol series do not count as light chips.

3) Having high Karma gives Megaman access to Random Full Synchro and Multiple Delete Full Synchro, those two ridiculously broken things I talked about earlier.

4) High Karma naturally means you have higher HP, so you’ll never really need HP+ programs.

5) Having base to high Karma allows Megaman to use Soul Unisons.

6) It’s ridiculously easy to raise Karma since it means just not using Dark Chips.

Now for low Karma. Get ready, since this isn’t going to be pretty.

1) Having low Karma makes Megaman sprite appear darker. At the lowest, you can barely even see blue anymore.

2) Low Karma allows Megaman to use certain dark aligned chips such as the Navi DS chips. Navi DS chips can be obtained by either defeating an Omega Navi while Megaman has low Karma or waiting until the very, very, VERY end. More specifically, until you have all six souls and complete the Standard library. In other words, playthrough 3. By the way, you’ll have to wait the same amount of time for the rest of the dark aligned chips but two: Static, which appears relatively frequently as Undernet Battle GMD, and the Bug Giga chip, which is a pain in the ass to get until you reach the point where you can get the other dark aligned chips.

3) Having low Karma makes Megaman start in Anxious.



This is important because you can only use Dark Chips in Anxious. Anyways, you’ve probably noticed that the two Dark Chips there are not Dark Sword. In fact, there’s a total of 8 Dark Chips.

Most of them suck.

Okay, I’ll list them off. General things you should note are that most Dark Chips have variable damage and that all Dark Chips give you a bug.



As I stated earlier, Dark Sword has the range of a Life Sword. It’s damage is equal to the highest HP total on the enemy field with a maximum of 500 damage. Its bug forces Megaman to move right.



Dark Spreader is a 400 damage Spreader. Its bug turns every panel Megaman walks over into a poison panel.



Dark Lance is a Lance chip that’s damage is half the highest HP total on the enemy field, maxing out at 999. Its bug causes Megaman‘s HP to drain while at the Custom Screen.



Dark Bomb is a 200 damage Big Bomb. Its bug forces Megaman to move left.



Dark Stage fills the enemy field with poison panels and your field with Holes. In BN4, having a Hole on your side of the field both slowly heals you (not sure about this) and powers up Navi DS chips.

Oh, I don’t think I mentioned that earlier. While Navi SP chips are powered up by how fast you delete the Omega navi, Navi DS chips gain power the more Holes there are on the field. So if you don’t get Dark Stage often, Navi DS chips suck.

Anyways, Dark Stage’s bug removes 5 random chips from your folder. Better hope one of them wasn’t your Navi DS!

The last three Dark Chips don’t appear unless Megaman‘s taken a significant chunk of damage. At least, I think.



Dark Recover heals 1000 HP. Also note that its bug makes Megaman’s HP plummet non-stop, even on the Custom Screen.



Dark Cannon is Muramasa, just with the range of a normal Cannon. It’s pretty worthless, especially considering your HP drops as you use Dark Chips. Its bug drops Megaman’s buster stats down to 1.



Dark Vulcan is a 24 hit Vulcan that does 20 damage per hit. Its bug basically puts Megaman in permanent Confusion (his controls are flipped).

Dark Vulcan sounds cool, but it’s actually completely worthless. Why?



Because Dark Chips can only be selected with other Dark Chips.

The main trait of the Vulcan series is that they only achieve their true potential with a bunch of boosts. Dark Vulcan tops off at double the damage of a base Full Synchro Super Vulcan. That’s not very impressive.

Two side notes: the Dark Chips you can select change every turn and even sending a Dark Chip to Megaman gives him whatever bugs the sent Dark Chips had, even if you didn't use the chips.



Anyways, using a Dark Chip turns Megaman’s emotion to Evil. In this state, he can not activate Full Synchro or Soul Unison. Also, when he dies…




It’s really hard to see, especially with the game’s black background, but Megaman just went through Soul Unison with his Dark Soul.



While in this state, Megaman is invincible to everything but super-piercing attacks and time freezing multi-hit attacks. He will warp around the field extremely rapidly, randomly using any of the chips and Program Advances you’ve ever used (though he prefers stuff you’ve used often) as well as the buster. You can also still make him use Chips, though it’s not very reliable.

While this seems cool, let’s try it out on something that might actually make me want to use a Dark Chip.



My high HP is from an HP+ 500 program. I need it to survive long enough to make Megaman get Anxious.

*Evil laughter*



Wait, why is Megaman glowing blu-




NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyways, as you can see the Dark Soul Berserker mode is not permanent. Against viruses it’s excellent, but against Omega bosses it can be a recipe for disaster, especially if Megaman has poison panel movement, as it’ll kill him as soon as he returns to normal.

Now then, back to the list.

4) Having really low Karma makes Megaman start off in Evil. If this is the case, he’s permanently blocked from Soul Unison, which isn’t much of a loss in Blue Moon but is absolutely devastating in Red Sun. More importantly, he's blocked off from Full Synchro. That's really, really bad.

5) There are two Program Advances only for low Karma Megaman: Poison Pharoah and Dark Messiah. Both are honestly not that good.

6) To actually get to a low Karma state, you’d need to use Dark Chips very often. This requires dragging battles out until Megaman goes Anxious. Things will speed up once Megaman enters that state at the beginning of the battle though.

7) You can’t use Dark Chips against the final boss.

So as you can tell from these two lists, a low Karma route is much worse than a high Karma route. I personally think this error could have been resolved if you only got the Full Synchro bonuses at very high Karma, but eh.

Also, the two chip slots Dark Chips take up are why Megaman's max Custom was reduced to 8. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea.

*checks* I thought so.

Unforgiveable.

e:...wait, the game, after you destroy that Darkchip, in fact gives you a Darkchip? argh, game...

He didn't delete them - Percy.EXE dropped them. boss

Wow... This game sure loves to waste your time, doesn't it? This demonstrates the nice thing about Let's Plays - someone else can put up with all of the crap (and all of the talking!) that a game forces you to endure. So thanks for doing this LP guys.

The worst part is that if you pick up the wrong piece of data, you can't exchange it. You have to run back to the story, insert the data, scroll through the text, and be told that you're wrong.

As for the Dark Chip, it's stated that the Dark Chip Shademan dropped was really special in that it creates Dark Souls without even being used (though in reality it probably didn't do anything since as a human soul Hub already has a Dark Soul). Even though Megaman destroyed it, its influence was still there.

The description of every Dark Chip is DARK CHIP CREATED BY DESIRE. Presumably, if Megaman desires victory hard enough (like in his battle with Shademan), a Dark Chip will pop up.

Of course BN5 completely ignored all of this, but to be honest BN5 pretty much ignored all of BN4.

So are Poison Pharoah and Dark Messiah the only PA's that can be used by low karma Megaman or are those are the only 2 PA's that Low Karma can use.
You made it sound like it's impossible to get all the PA's without going dark.

Nah, Capcom isn't that mean. Megaman can assemble both Poison Pharoah and Dark Messiah at any Karma, but only low Karma Megaman can activate them.

Incidentally, I think low Karma Megaman can't use the special Boktai Program Advance, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong.

You say that after posting a long ass list of how difficult it is to full clear the game without grinding endlessly for the low-karma stuff. :P