Mega Man Maverick Hunter X

The Rolling Cutter under a different name, although this one can also snatch items and return them to the user. Since it can grab through walls, this is useful to get those hard-to-reach power-ups. If you catch a Boomerang Cutter that you’d fired (it does not strike any enemies), you regain the energy you’d spent in firing. Charging up fires multiple cutters at once rapidly around X.

Shoots a three-way spread of green lasers. You can angle the lasers slightly by pressing up or down while firing. Charging up this weapon makes you invulnerable for a good 10 seconds or so. You can switch weapons while this is in effect; so, for example, you can shoot other Master Weapons, or switch to the X-Buster to toss off a fireball...all while you are invincible.

Fires a sphere of energy forward that flies straight horizontally. When this strikes a wall or other object, it splits into two spheres that move upward and downward. When charged, this produces a sphere of electricity with X in the center that damages enemies around him.

A stream of fire jets from the user’s arm cannon. This has very short range and consumes energy to sustain the blast. Charging the Fire Wave can be difficult since you waste weapon energy while charging. Try charging another weapon first, then switching to the Fire Wave right before firing. When charged, this creates a wave of fire that travels along the ground.

Bring in another homing missile! But I won’t begrudge having one because they’re handy; you can cling to walls and fire away at someone running around below you! When charged, you get multiple fish-like missiles that move outward in a fan-shaped formation.

In its normal form, the Rolling Shield is just that: it fires blue spheres that roll along the floor. However, its charged state is where the shielding comes into effect—this places a blue sphere shield around the user that makes him more or less invulnerable to attacks. The shield remains until it takes a hit that it can’t sustain. Basically the rule is: if the shield can destroy the enemy with one hit, then the shield won’t disappear; otherwise, it vanishes and you take damage. Note that you can switch weapons while the shield is up and use other weapons without losing your shield.

Shoots a shard of ice forward that will freeze specific objects. Charging up the Shotgun Ice will give you a platform which you can ride.

Creates a cylindrical-shaped, horizontal tornado that travels the width of the screen. Alternately, charge up to create a vertical maelstrom.

Shoots a winged missile forward. Range is at least a full screen width. You can rapid-fire this to have as many on the screen as you have weapon energy for. Even the wings on the missile can strike enemies, so the missile is really easy to hit things with. Unfortunately it’s also very easy to accidentally hit a ledge or something instead of your real target, since the missile cannot go through objects.

This has about the same range, damage rating, and weapon energy use as the Zip Zapper, except this fires in a fan-shaped spread in front of Vile.

Fires a stream of little bullets; hold down the button to rapid-fire. This uses weapon energy only slightly more quickly than the meter refills. Therefore you have to hold down the button for a while before you run out of energy. And even when the meter does run out, Vile will still continue to fire, it’s just his rate of fire will be slightly less than normal. This weapon has a maximum range; it does not go all the way across the screen. Also, it does very little damage, of course, to compensate for its rapid fire.

Fires slower than the Cherry Blast, and uses more weapon energy. However, its range is at least the edge of the screen, perhaps more. Goes through enemies, even if it doesn’t defeat them. This means you can damage things like shielded Joes from the front, because your shots go through the shield.

This one has almost a full screen of range. It flies out and then returns, and you can only have one on the screen at once, which limits its rate of fire. This goes straight through enemies, walls, you name it, until it reaches its peak range and returns. Medium damage.

This is basically the Mega Arm except the fist doesn’t hurt things on the coming back, only the going out. Has only about a half-screen range. You can only have one fist on the screen at once, so you can’t rapid-fire this. It does pretty good damage however.

Almost no range and it uses a huge amount of weapon energy. Relatively strong, but not ridiculously so. This will defeat many minor enemies with one hit, but other foes will require more than that.

Ordinary missiles that shoot straight forward. Half-screen range. Damage is medium. Pretty rapid-fire and relatively low weapon energy requirement. Missile weapons have cute animations: Vile takes off his arm using his other hand, holding it while he shoots the missile out of the remaining stump of his arm. Gotta give this guy credit for packing weapons into every nook and cranny of his body.

This one has nearly a full screen range and uses a lot of weapon energy. When fired when there’s an enemy near, it circles around the enemy, zipping in and out, hitting the enemy multiple times. If there’s more than one enemy on the screen it’ll attack one, and then when that one’s destroyed, the fist will go after another one if it still has time left (it stays out for a preset amount of time, unless there are no enemies left in which case it comes back early). Vile can move while this is going on and he can use other weapons. Does decent damage. The damage and the homing capabilities make this weapon a good one. The fist can sometimes get distracted by going after enemy shots and missiles, however. Also, it can’t go through walls and floors, so you have to sometimes be creative with how you fire it so that the fist can get around the walls and such and reach your target. (It goes after the enemy or object nearest to you first, in the direction you are facing when you fire it, so keep this in mind when aiming it.)

A relatively slow-moving missile that randomly angles itself up and down as it moves through the air. You can have as many of these on the screen at once as you have weapon energy to fire them. They have a limited range and will blow up after they reach that range, but it’s a good 3/4 of the screen or more. Relatively good damage.

This produces a missile which fires two other missiles diagonally up and down from itself after it travels a short distance. Like all missiles, you can rapid-fire this one. This means you can literally have missiles all over the place, since the extra two missiles that the first one splits into don’t cost you anything.

Shoots missiles which pause in place for a second or two before they begin moving forward. Like other missiles, you can have as many of these on the screen as you have energy for. Medium damage. One technique you can use with these is to set them up while you are running, and let them catch up to you and hit enemies while you are busy dodging other things.

So fast it’s practically a vulcan, although it does not rapid-fire for you if you hold down the button, which means you have to keep tapping the button to get a rapid-fire effect. This uses weapon energy just slightly faster than it refills. About half a screen of range. Relatively decent damage, mostly because you can pump enemies so quickly with its rapid-fire shot. Unlike many of the other Rocket Punches, you do not need to wait for this one to return to you before you can fire again.

Shoots at various angles in a rapid-fire spread. Eats weapon energy like nobody’s business, which means you will run out quickly. The damage is slight, but the range is good: at least a full screen width.

Fires extremely rapid shots forward. Uses up weapon energy quickly. Less than a screen’s width in range. Relatively weak.

This looks and acts very much like a yellow Chameleon Sting. It fires a spread of three lasers and you can angle it more upward or forward by pressing up and down while firing. Moderate energy use. Moderate damage.

Produces a large pinkish-purple super-shot. It has at least a full screen width of range. Pretty decent damage. Uses a good chunk of weapon energy.

This is a blue shot that goes only a short distance and explodes into a sphere of blue light. Uses a good chunk of weapon energy and has limited range.

Shoots up at an angle by default. You can press down on the control pad to have it shoot straight forward. Pressing up has it shoot slightly more upward than normal, but this difference is very slight.

This shoots a stream of five super-shot shaped shots with slightly randomized trajectories. About a screen’s width of range. Not bad damage, but Vile’s feet are nailed to the ground for all five shots, so it’s tough to use without him getting plastered by some enemy or weapon shot.

This cutter goes out but never comes back. It flies about halfway to the edge of the screen from Vile’s position, then just stays still in midair and rotates. It vanishes after a few seconds. Uses a good chunk of weapon energy. Not a bad weapon for enemies that don’t move.

Shoots three cutters in preset patterns: one high over Vile’s head, one diagonally upward, and one more forward. Whether you are pressing up, down, or have the control pad neutral when you fire determines what order Vile shoots the three cutters. Vile’s feet are nailed to the ground until he fires all three cutters (or gets interrupted by getting hit).

This isn’t really a laser; instead, it produces a sphere of light centered at Vile’s location that covers the screen. You can basically damage enemies anywhere on the screen with this. It uses all of your weapon energy, which also means it requires your meter to be full in order to use it at all. Pretty high damage, naturally, considering its energy cost. This will wipe out most minor enemies visible on the screen at the time that you use it. The Necro Burst can inflict multiple hits, so even if the enemy isn’t defeated immediately, it still takes damage for a second or two and might die after the fact.

Shoots a relatively thin green laser similar to the Rising Specter. However, unlike the Rising Specter, you can aim this one in the same way you can aim Vile’s other shoulder weapons. Pretty low damage; moderate energy use.

Fires a huge lilac purple cutter that only gets bigger the further it goes. you can angle its trajectory by pressing up and down on the control pad while firing. Does only mild damage.

Tosses a green, boomeranging cutter. If you press down on the control pad, the arc is lower. If you press up, the arc is about the same as when you fire it normally, except that it arcs in the opposite direction. Can go through walls. Moderately powerful, but the main reason you would want to take this with you is because it can grab items like the Boomerang Cutter.

This always fires up at a diagonal; you can’t aim it like you can most other shoulder weapons. It shoots a nice looking, solid purple laser that lasts for a second or two, then goes away. Uses a good chunk of weapon energy. The damage doesn’t seem to be that great considering its limitations, although you can inflict multiple hits with this.

Fires a laser of circles straight forward. You can’t aim it. Its range is at least the width of the screen. This one isn’t stopped by walls or enemies or anything.

This is identical to the Metal Crescent weapon except this fires super-shot shaped energy blasts instead of cutters. Press up while firing, and Vile shoots from forward to upward; press down while firing and Vile starts high and goes to forward. Otherwise he starts diagonal, then goes forward and high.

Shoots two cutters in straight lines in a V-shaped formation at slightly different trajectories from each other, so that they are close together when they are first fired, but they get farther apart as they go outward. Relatively slow firing, but the cutters have at least a full screen width of range.

Relatively quick recovery time, considering the duration of the shot. Vile shoots a stream of rapid-burst, cloudy blue spheres that travel forward. Has a lot of range, probably two screens worth or so. You can start running long before the shot is finished, and run along with it, using it as protection.

This is a grenade basically. Vile shoots it out of his knee (no joke), it rolls along the ground and explodes after it goes a preset distance. He can shoot them from the air as well (but they explode at a preset distance, not necessarily when they hit the ground). Cannot be used while moving. You can use this while on a ladder, but Vile will fall off the ladder as a result.

Vile engulfs himself in a large, blazing blue flame. Relatively high power of course because it has almost no range to speak of.

This is the Rolling Shield under a different name. Seriously, it looks just like the normal (uncharged) Rolling Shield. It will roll along the floor; seems to have infinite range. It goes away when it hits something. The damage is only moderate.

Similar to the Wild Horse Kick except the flames arc and they are green. About 3/4 screen range. When used in the air, the arc moves down and forward. Can’t be used in water.

Despite its name, the flames this throws are reddish-pink, not green. This causes a plume of fire to come from Vile’s knee. Almost no range horizontally, but it’s taller than Vile vertically.

This shoots a burst of blue fire that travels upward, not down. If it hits a ceiling, bursts of flame travel along the ceiling. If you shoot this while you’re in the air, the blue flame drops downward slightly, then arcs up to the ceiling.

This is effectively the Electric Spark. It produces a yellow sphere which splits when it hits the ground and travels left and right horizontally. If it strikes a wall before it splits, it will travel up and down vertically.

Similar to the Bumpity Boom, except when it explodes it creates a wide swath of green fire. Seems to do little damage, but it covers a pretty wide range horizontally.

Lots of angry dragons around here. Anyway, this shoots a blue flamethrower attack straight forward, or straight down if used in the air. Very good range. Can be used underwater.

Shoots a grenade that bounces like normal, but when it blows, it produces a whirlwind like a charged Storm Tornado. The tornado lasts for a good while even after Vile recovers from the attack and can move again. You can pile a whole bunch of these on the screen at once, limited only by your weapon energy.

Shoots a sparking ball of lightning that travels along the ground and up and down walls. Follows terrain, but does not go along ceilings. It seems to have a pretty good range, and fairly good damage. Uses a medium chunk of energy. This can destroy Mets with their hats down.

Tosses out a purple flame which, when it hits the ground, it makes a wave of purple fire that travels along the ground rapidly. As far as I can see this has infinite range—it’ll keep going until it hits an obstruction it can’t pass or it goes off the screen.

This grenade produces three blue energy spheres placed very close to each other. The spheres will stop most enemy shots, including ones you can’t destroy normally. Has an extremely short range, even shorter than the default grenades.

Vile shoots a stream of fire from his knee. Lasts for a preset amount of time, during which you can’t move or perform other actions. Drains weapon energy as it executes.

The white-yellow containers that drop from enemies, or that you find lying around in stages, refill your life meter when you touch them. They will also fill your Sub-Tanks if your life meter is full.

The larger energy containers restore more health than the smaller ones.

The colored containers are weapon energy. They refill your current weapon when picked up. If you aren’t equipped with a weapon or your weapon is full, the energy goes to another weapon that needs it.

These are the same as weapon energy pellets except that more energy is refilled.

Extra lives. If you have one of these when you bite the dust, you’ll be given another chance at the stage. You can carry up to 9 at a time.

This adds two units to your energy meter. That’s two units to your maximum health—you can literally increase the total size of your energy bar with these.

These are permanent containers that can be used to store spare life energy and carry it around until it is needed. They are reusable and can be refilled as often as necessary. To fill a Sub-Tank, acquire energy when your energy meter is full, and the energy will go to your tank instead.

This is a robot walker than you can get into and maneuver around. Most of the controls are the same while in the Ride Armor (jump, attack, dash, and so forth) but you cannot use your special weapons. When you are in a Ride Armor and get hit, the armor takes the damage, rather than your character, but after the armor suffers too much damage, it will be destroyed. To hop out of a Ride Armor, press up + jump. Note that Vile has only a limited amount of time in his Ride Armors, and if you jump out early, you can’t get back in. (You can, however, usually go back and get another one.)

The boots power-up is likely the first enhancement you will obtain. In fact, you need the boots to get all of the other enhancements. This is likely due to the fact that Dr. Light’s speech when you obtain the boots is supposed to be the first that you see. Anyway, the boots allow X to dash (press the dash button, or tap twice quickly either left or right).

The helmet upgrade allows X to shake off blows to the head that would have injured him without it. Rocks falling from the ceiling? Not a problem! Just let them bounce off the helmet! Note that this only applies to specific situations; if X is shot in the head, it’s still likely to hurt. Also, the helmet enhancement gives X the ability to smash through blocks with...his head!

The armor enhancement is just that: it increases protection to X and decreases damage inflicted onto him.

The X-Buster enhancement allows X to charge up special weapons and also to reach a fourth level charge on his native buster. Note that the fourth level shot (I call it the “pink” level) differs depending on whether you got the X-Buster upgrade from Zero or from Dr. Light’s capsule. The capsule’s version of the super-shot consists of two streams of spheres that travel in a spiral. Zero’s is just a reddish-pink version of X’s normal super-shots.

This is an armor upgrade for Vile, and it’s always in effect after you earn it. This reduces damage to Vile by half.

This is a speed upgrade for Vile, and it’s always in effect after you earn it. With this Vile runs faster, which somewhat compensates for his lack of a dash. This also by extension lengthens his jumps ever so slightly.

A joke Capcom threw in that allows X to chuck fireballs ala Street Fighter. Press down, down-forward, forward and the fire button to execute it; you must be standing on the ground and have a full life bar to pull it off. The fireball will destroy nearly any enemy with one strike, provided you can hit with it.

Commonly called simply “X,” this robot was built by Dr. Light for reasons unknown. He fights Mavericks to aid both humans and Reploids, but an inner hatred for violence prevents him from being as good of a Hunter as he could be.

A skilled Maverick Hunter who lets nothing hold him back. Zero is in the same Hunter unit as X. Most of Zero’s past is a mystery.

Sigma is one of the Reploids Dr. Cain built from information gleamed from X himself. By going Maverick, Sigma has apparently determined that the human race is inferior to Reploids and must either be enslaved or killed.

A reclusive Reploid that probably through no mistake looks like Boba Fett from Star Wars. Vile harbors a deep hatred for X (and, by extension, Zero) and is driven to destroy them and prove himself to be the greatest of the Reploids.

This is the man who uncovered Dr. Light’s laboratory during a dig. He released X and built the Reploids, which were robots built with the help of X’s design.

The creator of X who manifests only as holograms in capsules. His capsules give X upgrades for his struggles ahead.

This guy rolls himself into a ball and ricochets around the room. His energy shots are far less dangerous, although when he charges up, he’s about to fire a spread of them, so be on a lookout for it. Hit him with an Electric Spark or Peace Out Roller to knock off his armor, and you will have a much easier time at damaging him. Otherwise, you can only harm him when he’s not spinning and he’s not defending. Try hanging out in the corners of the room while he’s doing his normal bouncing around the room to avoid it; for his circular fast version, you’ll need to stay in the center and jump (or hover)

Kuwanger is fast, almost to a fault; he can also teleport around the room. However, he cannot escape the tracking of the Homing Torpedo, so if you want to make your life easier, stay on a wall and fire torpedoes at him. The Infinity Gig is likewise good here as well.

He creates ice blocks and then blows them toward you by hanging on the chain on the ceiling. Knock him off by climbing the wall and firing at him. He can also toss ice shards at you, and do a dash attack. You can dodge most everything he does by staying on a wall, except for his ultimate attack in which he jumps and fires several Shotgun Ice shots rapidly. Just like when you use the weapon yourself, the shards will split on impact, so be watchful. If you feel like a barbecue, toast Chill Penguin with the Fire Wave or the Wild Horse Kick.

He tosses globs of oil at you, and also sprays out bursts of fire. Depending on what mode you’re playing on, the flames might be tall and blue. If his fire strikes the oil, it will catch on fire and burn. He can also jump, and when he lands, he shakes the screen and knocks you off your feet, so try to be on a wall when he touches down. Flame Mammoth is technically weak against the Storm Tornado, but if you hit him with the Boomerang Cutter or the Quick Homesick enough times, you will chop off his nose, and he won’t be able to use all of his attacks.

This is one of the more busy battles; you can’t stay in one place for long, and fish and homing torpedoes get sprayed everywhere. Whatever you do, don’t let this guy get his arms on you! He’s capable of siphoning off energy for his own use, and often he takes more than he needs. If you get into his clutches, you’ll have a hard time getting out. So either run/dash away when he spins, or chop off his arms with the Boomerang Cutter or Quick Homesick. The Rolling Shield / Deadstar Hug is good for damage.

This hulking robot would love to climb along the ceiling, drop down on you, and pound you into dust, but you can freeze him into place with the Shotgun Ice—even in the middle of his dash! When he breaks free, just hit him again. This is one of the most pathetically easy battles in existence if you have this weapon. Otherwise, you’re going to have to dodge. When Spark Mandrill charges up, he’s about to use a drill-arm charge into the wall, so get out of the way.

This guy likes to climb the back wall of his chamber and blend himself into his surroundings, making him almost invisible. I say “almost” because you can see some distortion if you look hard, especially when he moves. Try the Boomerang Cutter or the Quick Homesick, or some Homing Torpedoes on him.

A birdman with impressive wing strength, Storm Eagle can blow you for a loop. Honestly, the wind he creates with his wings is more dangerous than his Storm Tornado, particularly in conjunction with the daggers Eagle sometimes tosses. Be sure to take the boots to this battle if you can. Storm Eagle likes to dive on his opponents, but if you are fast enough, you can dodge him and get a shot in at the same time. For an easier fight, use the Chameleon Sting or the Cerberus Phantom.