Mega Man Battle Network 3: Blue Part #57

Part 57: BugFrags? Seriously?

Double Update Bonus!

Oh shit!

Umm...

Look, man, just go on the Patch or something.

Oh, this dude is rusty and needs someone good to spark his love for NetBattling again. He came to the right person!

Oh. Um.

This is a 4-round virus battle.

Cool, we get an Omega-level virus. But why is it by itself? That's basically pointless.

The thing about Omega viruses is that they're stronger than you expect, but... it's still just one virus. They aren't threatening.

Viney Omegas can re-plant their vines so fast after they connect with you that it's almost an infinite combo. But still, it's a solitary virus. Not a problem.

Really?

Okay, I guess this virus is annoying on its own. But if you have Jealousy, then this thing is DEAD.

You're just jealous of its kick-ass mask.

Terrible. Give me something better.

I guess that's... better?

Oh, hey! We finally got the Humor program for real. I no longer have to input an EX code to mimic it. When you press the "I Need Help" button, MegaMan will tell a funny joke that varies by location. We'll be looking at all the jokes later.

...shit.

It's Christmas!

BEST REQUEST. Well, second to the Dating Sim request.

What this lets us do is open up those purple skull doors that you will definitely have seen while playing this game.

Time to open them all.

Oooh, Panic!

There are two kinds of NetBattlers: Ones that know how to use Panic and ones that don't. We'll be seeing this chip's potential later on.

Hooray for grinding.

Jesus, man. Stop grinding. It's not healthy.

DarkLicense is the final program we get from BugStyle. What it does is let us use something called "Dark Chips." There are extremely rare and powerful BattleChips in this game that can't be used normally. So, we either need this program or another super-special-BattleChip that we haven't gotten to use DarkChips.

Basically, BugStyle? Broken as hell. The things you get from levelling BugStyle? Useless.

SciLab's has CustSword Z. Not that great. Consider that in White Version, this would be one of the first times you could acquire CustSword. In Blue Version, you're lucky enough to find this chip in certain shops.

UnderNet 1 has HP+200. Boo.

For such a good place to play around in, the rewards kinda suck.

Beach Area's just gives us a shortcut between the first and second area. So that's nice.

THIS is the reason why I do this request as soon as it opens up.

And Yoka's gives the fantastic chip Prism. That's all of the gates.

This chick picked up a weird virus and she wants us to meet in SciLab 2.

She isn't willing to take care of her cute bunny friends, so she's giving them away.

Yes yes YES

She wants to make sure that the new owner can take care of them, and so, she wants 50 BugFrags as proof.

...You bitch.

BugFrag tolls.

I guess I have to talk about this now.

So, when you score a virus like this or by finding them in weird places on the Net, you'll want to go here.

All these warp points house different types of viruses. So, depending on the virus you pick up, you'll need to visit it in its local habitat.

Some viruses we get by doing stuff like this request. Others, well... We get them in other ways.

There are signs telling you where your new Pokemon are found. "Axes and Helmets" changes to "Mettaur" when you find the actual virus.

And here are the bunny viruses we just picked up! Each one has a food bowl in front of them which lets us...

...feed them BugFrags. Every BugFrag we feed them increases their attack power.

Every virus is a little different here. For Bunny, giving him BugFrags raises its attack power by 5. Now, each virus in a family has its own limits as to how far it can up its attack power. For example, Bunny may only go up to, say, 110. Whereas TuffBunny can go up to 150. These aren't actual numbers but keep in mind that each virus family may only have 100 BugFrags allotted to it!! So, if I need 80 BugFrags to reach Bunny's maximum attack power, I only have 20 left over for TuffBunny and 0 for MegaBunny. Not to worry though, you can always decrease their BugFrag feed.

A good strategy is to just put all the BugFrags on the virus with the highest base power to maximize chip damage.

You talk to this guy to call the Bunnys to battle. Their attack power is completely dependent on how many BugFrags you gave them earlier.

Basically, when you use the chip, time stops and a roulette starts. Hit A, and the roulette stops on one of the three monsters. That monster then attacks - and so the damage the chip will do varies. There's actually something interesting about the roulette; if you let it just run out the clock, it'll ALWAYS stop on the first bunny. So basically, one way to get guaranteed (relatively) large amounts of damage is to just shove all of the BugFrags down the gullet of the first virus and then never press A.

Let's see that Bunny chip

If you can time the strongest variant of the virus, you'll be better off putting all your BugFrags on that one, meaning your damage output skyrockets.

However, if you're like me, and have terrible timing, you can just do the trick I mentioned.

Moving on to the rest of these quests.

This dude was presumably thrown away from his old master.

...That's actuallly... Huh. Y'know, I never thought about that.

I'm sad, Yeti.

He's upgraded to bigger and better models. I mean, this one's just a generic Navi.

Right-o.

You might have done better going to ACDC Area and asking around, rather than hoping someone from ACDC would have taken your request.

What a shitty ass dream.

Better than the usual cliche answer of 'Become a bride'. Still, though, can you imagine some kid saying 'I wanna work a minimum wage job where I don't get any respect!'? Kinda bizarre. Still, it's good enough for us to know how to find her.

PLOT TWIST! The Navi was stolen!

He wasn't thrown away after all! So the Navi suffered for years thinking he was abandoned, only to learn that he was just stolen.

...Heh. That's kinda funny, actually.

Well, damn. Now this changes everything. The Navi was stolen, so now you have an obligation to report this, Lan.

LAN! I know its what the client wants, but he was KIDNAPPED! She has every right to get her Navi back!

What the fuck! Did you file a police report!?

Police are useless, second verse same as the first

Are Navis not allowed to leave their current Operator even if they were stolen? Come ON!!!

We're just gonna leave it at that? Really?

This is bringing up a whole civil rights discussion that I'm sure this game isn't ready for.

Just gonna say, in my mind MegaMan is the only Navi that is people because his code is based off of DNA. The rest are all just really, really advanced computer programs.

Whatever, I'm buying another copy of this. GrabRevenge deals 80 damage per square that the enemy stolen from you. If FlashMan Beta uses AreaGrab and successfully takes 3 squares, he just ate 240 damage.

Can't you get some schmuck from your school to play this?

But this basically means free BattleChips, yaaay!

I find it funny how he's next to a tank.

'Hey Lan we're gonna play hide and seek! Just hide in front of this cannon and then we'll try to find the pieces of your body! Fun for the whole family!'

So we basically need to find 4 Navis that are hiding in the ZooComps. Each one will give us a BattleChip.

Lame.

As you might expect, there is one Navi hiding per area. With this WideSword E, you can now make LifeSword in E code.

You can get these for free in Yoka Area 1's Green Mystery Data with Untraps.

It's almost like this game is trying to tell us that E code is one of the most powerful codes in the game. It is.

Would you say this was too... E-sy?

I'm not sorry.

And we get another code of Bruce Lee as our final reward.

NetBattler Giver is still a thing.

This is not a trap.

Definitely not a trap.

Oh, this dude wants to teach me a lesson. Apparently, he doesn't approve of my behaviour.

Hahahahaha, you think you're gonna teach me a lesson with this trash?

Punk ass bitch.

The only way to fight someone like me is to not show any emotion, otherwise I will use them against you.

I find it hard to reconcile the Navi's avatar with the phrase 'Tee-hee!'. Just... I can't.

Good reward. Although I think the HelpBBS needs some better monitoring. This is the second time we've been bamboozled.

Eh, so long as he gives us a good prize like that he can try to kill us as many times as he wants.

You live for now.

We're almost done with the requests guys, I swear.

There's no escape from requests. Never escape.

"Mighty virus busters?" SAY NO MORE!

I'M IN HEAVEN

Always ready. This will be an 8-round virus battle.

That might sound like a bit extended, but... this is Giver. He'll sail through it.

The Mettaur here can really disrupt your movement. Without realizing it, you'll move right into the Elesphere's attack, taking increased damage from it because of the Ice Panel.

Areagrabs galore. The Doomer can use PanelGrab and the Swordy can use a couple of Areagrabs. Let either of those two viruses live for more than a few seconds and you're going to have some serious problems. You know what one-shots this encounter? Jealousy.

The actual problem is that fucking Ratty. Die, you freaking rat robot! Die!

Damn. That Pengon there makes this complicated. Recall that it carries IceStage chips on its person. Everytime Pengon steps on an Ice Panel it becomes impervious to all but Breaking attacks. Knock it out FAST

Those Lava Panels are mirrored on my field, pretty much stopping you from using the middle row. You also don't want to use the back column as the LowBlow will perform a low blow (har, har, har) and suck you into them. The Yort should die first, but given it spawns on your row, it will be firing the second you exit the screen.

If you've got a Fire style (and survived the last wave, holy crap) the Fire panels really aren't that bad.

HELLO! This encounter will have you trapped in no time. With AreaGrabs going down, vines all over your field and a flamethrower locking down an entire row and Poison panels, you will most likely eat some kind of damage here. Don't forget that the Totem-family of viruses can heal HP if you don't one-shot them. I'd say you should knock out the Vinert since it provides the most damage potential as it can hold you, meaning you'll eat another hit from another virus.

LifeSword is actually really good in this fight. Like, I know Giver hates it because it's such a crutch, but still. The vine shows up in the first row, you back up and then boom there goes the Totem and the Vinert. The last problem is the Goofball, but by itself it's really not that scary.

Man, this round sucks. You were doing so well, game. Fishy2s are trash.

Scuttle/Scutz/Scuttler/Scuttzer/Scuttlest: HELL SPAWN! They are back from Battle Network 2 once again, but this time with yet another buff! The first four variants are listed here and are Ice, Fire, Electric and Wood. What you see is the Normal variant. While the other variants have a 300 HP and 100 Aura, this one has 200 HP and a 200 Aura. The White Scuttlest will shoot a giant-ass laser down the whole row and pursue you endlessly. If you don't have anything to deal with the Aura, you are screwed, period.

Your first priority should be that damn Elehornet. That thing is invisible and invincible when it's moving, and you don't need that headache in your life. Your next priority should be knocking out that Aura. Don't have anything to deal with it? Restart and change your folder. I have RockArm3 in this draw, so his Aura is gone from the getgo.

Laser-element Scutties are the worst. I hate that stupid family of viruses, if only because a lot of my chips when I played the game were low damage, high-hit-number type chips. It made things a bit harder because a lot of my playstyle was based around that. Made it easy to deal with the rest, but those stupid Auras made it impossible.

Our reward for all this?

30 BUGFRAGS!

Kinda useful? Maybe? If we couldn't get THAT MANY FROM FIGHTING GUTSMAN THREE TIMES. Christ.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!? That is SHIT! You have to pay 50 BugFrags to get the Bunny chip! This doesn't even make up for that! Who on the development team thought that this was a satisfying award for a semi-challenging virus round!?

*grumble, grumble*

Even in the Cyberfuture, stamp collecting is still a thing. Argh.

Man, that was disappointing.

All aboard the stamp train! Woo woo!

You have to talk to the Progs to get the stamps.

Why are we holding a stamp contest when the Net is dying

'Nah man the gray color is a special STAMP EXCLUSIVE EVENT honest'

Snore.

Amidoneyet

I ask myself this every time you send me a new update.

Not bad. You need one of these to make the StepCross PA.

Two more requests. Bare with me.

I was gonna fix your typo, but I think it's a funnier mental image this way .

Right, her father passed away and left his daughter the will. His father just so happened to be a professional NetBattler and it was his wish for his daughter to decipher it.

Hence, why she was happy a NetBattler got involved.

Okay, this will is shit. How does he expect NetBattlers to figure this out? This has nothing to do with any of that!

You must read the will up and down. So by doing that, we can spell out: squirrel-armor-waterheater-devilpillars

I forget, did we get a hint to this or was it just 'Try to figure it out? Hah, nerd!'?

...Oh. Guess that answers that question.

So long as you can figure out the first word, the locations will direct you to the next one.

Okay, did the father seriously rig these locations with ridiculous viruses? What if your daughter didn't hire a great NetBattler to figure this out and tried it herself? She would have gotten her Navi deleted! Dick move.

Don't forget, most Navis have backups. So even if her Navi did get deleted, she could just come back and try again.

This one is easy. Just knock out the Mushy and go at your own pace.

This encounter is cute. The VolcanoOmega's HP will constantly heal back to maximum when it touches a lava panel. If you can knock it out quick, I suggest you do so.

No it fucking isn't! This is the water heater! Damn translation errors!

FUCK! Pengi Omega! Same deal. Knock it out first, or have some stage changers. You are screwed otherwise.

Breaking chips, like MetalMan, are fantastic in this fight. Just wait until he's in his ice form, then smash it to bits.

This indicates that huge pillar in Undernet 4.

This one always confused me. Mainly because I didn't explore the Undernet very much as a kid.

Damn. This is one annoying fight. The Elebee is still Priority #1. You can stay in the back and the other two viruses will never touch you.

This is where you need to go. In order to access this spot, you need to kill BeastMan Beta. Lucky I did that a loooong time ago.

Kind of a dick move, but hey, it's the postgame. Suck it up and put on your bigboy pants.

Is this what we were supposed to find?

Better question is, how did the guy place the Photo data here when the Undernet a) is reserved for Navis only, and b) changes every three months or so?

Of course.

Hohohoho.

This encounter is definitely a candidate for the hardest virus fight in the game. If you don't kill the TwinnerOmegas at the same time, they'll just come back with full HP. And if you use a frontal attack, then the Dominerd will block that and retailiate. And Duo help you if it pulls off Geddon. Of course, if you're playing Blue version, you have Folderbak to infinitely retry.

Once again, kill the Twinners. The Dominerd will really only use Geddon if you're hitting him too much and if he is the last virus left alive. It really isn't a threat. Use 2 TimeBomb chips to nuke the Twinners. The Dominerd is easily dealt with after.

Protip:

Man, I hate Dominerds. Fuck Dominerds.

What we just got.

Well shit.

...Whoops? We're really good at this whole 'accidentally ruining people's hopes and dreams' thing, aren't we?

I have ruined another family.

Yeah, she's gonna need some time alone.

And maybe some therapy.

And with this chip, we can make the BigHeartPA: HolyPanel R, Recov300R, Roll R/V2 R/ V3 R

You will never be grammar.

Straightforward.

GO AWAY.

And that fight gave me the last battle I needed to acquire ElectricCustom Style. This is a good thing since now I can start grinding for Custom Style rewards. And you need a few to complete your library

Heh. Custom Style is the best style.

This quest is infamous in the community. Fitting that it's the last one I'm doing.

Oh FUCK I remember this one now. Yeah, it's actually a pretty good reward.

Remember this line! The treasure inside the tomes is OPTIONAL. If you don't get the treasure, then tough luck.

This right here is why it's infamous. It's because your reward is missable (well, the good reward is missable)

Undernet Square has one of the Tomes we need: LandTome

Take my 7,000.

Land, Sea, and Sky is a pretty common trio. This, the Pokemons, Behemoth/Leviathan/Ziz, etc. etc.

Well, there's your hint for the treasure.

Undernet 6 has the SeaTome.

Because it's UNDER the UnderSquare, get it? Hah. Hahahah. Hhhh....

Buddy, what did you get yourself into?

And with this, we've seen every variant of the Twin virus.

From 880 health...

Undernet 3 has our precious SkyTome.

...to 130. Someone had a little bit of an issue getting here.

I look like...something?

Also, I think my HP was low because I was grinding for low HP-exclusive BattleChip codes.

Oh sure, it was totally intentional to have low health. Uh-huh. Sure.

Except there ARE viruses which drop different codes at low HP.

RockArm3 C: Custom Style Rank drop
RockArm3 I: Rank 9-S drop (Blue Version Only)
RockArm3 L: Rank 9-S drop (MegaMan's HP must be at 37.5% or less -- Blue Version Only)
RockArm3 T: Rank 9-S drop (MegaMan's HP must be at 37.5% or less -- White Version Only)
RockArm3 Z: Rank 9-S drop (White Version Only)

Suck it.

NOOOO! I only have 43 of those things!

Magnum1 A: Rank 5-S drop
Magnum1 C: Custom Style S-rank drop
Magnum1 H: Rank 4-5 drop (Blue Version Only)
Magnum1 T: Rank 4-5 drop (White Version only)
Magnum1 V: Wily's Keyboard; Chip Trader for the other copies

At least the game was kind enough to ask for Magnum1 A.

Now I have to grind to make up for this!

Okay, let's use the hint we just got to get the treasure.

When you put the three tomes together, you get:

__l_l____ll__llll
_l___l_______l__l
l_____l_lll___l_

No, I don't get it.

11101110122002212? I dunno. Gimme a sec...

Nope, converting them as binary strings doesn't work either.

Look, just go here. I don't know how you're supposed to derive the location from the clue.

Maybe if we chatted with the thing before we got the tomes, it would give us a hint? I don't know.

Actually, according to the thread, this was something lost in translation. Going by the hint you're given, this is what you're supposed to see: