Part 60: Why Would Your Name Your Boss That?

Time to go deeper.

Hey! Major apologies about last time, but I swear I'm sober now. Giver, you're a jerk.



Welcome to Secret Area 2. We must keep in mind that like the WWW Area in the last game, we can't jack out of here. While it makes little difference in Area 1, it will start to become an issue the further in we go. I hope you brought some FullEnergy SubChips, because if you die, I will make fun of you.

He'll do it, too. Also of note - not being able to jack out is super annoying, since it's my 'OH FUCK' panic button. At least we can finally accept MegaMan walking through everything instead of just going straight to the boss room like every other Navi in the game.



He's saying that there are secret pathways we can't see.



Like so. It's great that there was so much effort put into creating a fantastic postgame. Even though these were low-budget games, a lot of love and care went into Battle Network 3. It's just so rewarding to play through it.

While the postgame itself is amazing and fantastic and any other number of praising comments, this is rather annoying - the only sign that there's an invisible path in the first place is that there's another path over to the right there.











Utilizing more of my precious Untraps, we can see that 6,600Z is the highest Zenny amount you're awarded in this area. Not as much as the previous area's 8,000 Zenny, but still. Rook * is fantastic as a defensive wall. CannBall * is, well, CannBall. However, we finally have a place where we can gain infinite Lance's if we wanted. And CrsShield 1* is a Rank S++ reward from Dominerds.

Like all rewards from postgame stuff, these are (mostly) pretty useful. While they aren't fantastic chips, everything except the Lance is * code so can be used in any folder.



Annnd, it's viruses busting time. We finally found the Level 2 variant of the bees. The bees move randomly, so finding out 100% reliable ways of ending their existence proves to be quite the challenge.

Solution:

OldWood, unlike GodStone, will hit every square on the field.



You don't even need to power it up.



Sweet, we found the Level 2 variants of the Basher and Volcano family. Keep in mind that even though we can easily get a Rank S++ here, the Volcaner will drop a DIFFERENT chip than a normal Rank S. I suggest you throw a NaviChip into the mix so you can obtain LavaCan2 and whatever code the Volcano BattleChip comes in at a Rank S++ rank.

Solution:

Funny thing about the Magnum2 chip? It hits horizontally, whereas Magnum1 and Magnum3 hit vertically. A weird shift, but it's weird in a good way since the chip series is even more versatile.



Easy peasy.



The Basher virus is hiding a LavaPanel just above it. I find that hilarious. I think you know what's next.

Solution:



Did you see it?

A lot of the fields here have fire panels, so BlkBmb is pretty fantastic in this part of the game. Other places, it's kinda situational unless you build your folder around it.



We have plenty of cracked panels on our side of the field, but I won't be using GodStone or OldWood here.

Solution: And

Yes, the Magnum chips counts as Fire in Battle Network 3 in case you didn't know. This is changed in subsequent games as a means of nerfing it.



All you need to do is Mash A. Magnum2 starts tracking from the bottom, so you'll get a pretty quick Double Delete.



Wow, this is a hard one. Keeping in mind that my requirements are getting a Rank S++ using less than 3 BattleChips, all while providing something 100% repeatable. Since the bees move randomly, and because the MoBlow is on a Holy Panel, we don't have the right chips to satisfy all my conditions.

Solution (Temporary): Then

We don't have the requisite chips to make a 100% reliable method. Unfortunately, the answer to this encounter is rare. The only other way that's absolutely reliable is to use IceStage* and then follow up with ZeusHammer. Unfortunately, I prefer not to take damage if I don't have to.

Basically, BigWave breaks the HolyPanel before dealing damage - this kills the MoBlow in one hit, and then (if we're lucky) kills one or both of the Elewasps. If we aren't lucky, the TimeBomb will kill them for us - again, unless we're unlucky and one of the Elewasps is on the top HolyPanel. Fortunately for us, though, we've only got a... 1/6 chance (I think, I did the math in my head, it could be 2/7 depending on how the game chooses positions) of one of the Elewasps being on the HolyPanel when the bomb goes off.



You can use the GIF's timing to see exactly how it's done. The timing is a bit complicated. I'll be revisiting this encounter later.



A tad annoying since the Geetle is parked over a Holy Panel. But that's fine.

Solution: Then

You don't want to be too aggressive with using your second BigWave. More than likely, the Geetle on the top will move out of the way before you get it off. That's because there's a HUGE cooldown that MegaMan has once he uses a pickaxe. We're talking a solid 2 seconds, people.

Rrr, sprite cooldown times



And if you time it right, you'll get a free BugFrag.



I'm replacing Condor S in my main folder with this chip right here. NoBeam and Sensors work extremely well together, creating a high-damaging paralysis chain. You'll see this in one of the upcoming videos. And I believe I showed this off during the BowlMan Alpha and Beta fights.

I'm still not clear on how the NoBeam series of chips works. I know it has something to do with obstacles, but I can never remember.



You shouldn't need help with this one. Hopefully.



You're probably thinking that a simple Jealousy with Attack+30 would one-shot this encounter. You wouldn't be wrong, but I prefer Blackbomb in this case.

Solution: And

We can carry 4 of each of those chips, raising our chances of drawing them much easier.

Remember, raw power is always useful, but being able to draw the chip you need is just as important. Having a super great combo doesn't always work if you can't use it reliably - which is why the MasterStyle PA isn't all that great.





I was about to suggest another Magnum2 with Attack+30 again, but we have an easier method than that.

Solution:

Remember why?


Oh look, it came in handy! It's almost like this was planned.



Hooray for poor coding!

While I'm not complaining, it feels a bit... weird that we're exploiting bugs in this game. It's usually so good about not having glitches (poor type-checking notwithstanding).



You're probably thinking that one Jealousy would work, right? Metrodo has been established to carry 2 chips, Doomer has 2 as well. That's 400 damage to everything. You'd be right...if I didn't inaccurately give the description for Jealousy.

Solution: Then

You see, Jealousy only adds up the damage for all chips in Battle Network 2. When Jealousy was changed to be a MegaChip, they buffed its damage from 50 to 100, but made it so Jealousy only picks the virus with the highest amount of chips and deals damage based on that. So, we're only gonna get 200 damage with Jealousy. Hence, we need the Attack+30.

C'mon, Giver, at least be factual about the chips. Be a troll all you want about being a robot and frame-perfect strats, but give them a fair chance to figure things out themselves.



These changes, man. I'm gonna assume this change is prevalent across the rest of the games due to Jealousy still being a MegaChip.



Well, well, well.

Hrk. Memories. Not good ones.

Shadow/RedDevil/BlueDevil: Largely unchanged from Battle Network 2, these viruses are still immune to all but Sword-type weapons. They can turn into axes or swords and attack your field either left/right of your position, or above/below it. Slasher will completely shut them down. The latter two variants only appear in Monolith Virus Rounds, so make sure you always have some sword type chips in your folder. You don't want to get far in the endurance rounds, only to lose because you didn't have any sword chips. CopyDamage and Jealousy does not work on these guys!! If you use CopyDamage on them, it will hit nothing but air. NOOOOO! MY PRECIOUS COPYDAMAGE!

Solution:

Pretty straightforward.



While they aren't threatening now (because of StepCross, StepSword, etc. etc.) these guys were the bane of my existence in BN2 when I first played through it. I wasn't a huge user of swords because I hadn't figured out the majestic beauty of LifeSword, so when I first encountered them my reaction was more or less



Our final encounter in this area. Props to Capcom for making a semi-difficult encounter involving Mettaurs. I'll actually have to bust out the more powerful options.

Solution: Then

Half the solutions in this place is 'Just throw some meteors at them'.



Just mash dat A. Also, apparently using Meteors slowed down the Gif!



We need to acquire Shadow J in order to complete a trade. Here's the code breakdown:

Shadow Q: Blue Version exclusive, Rank 7-10
Shadow N: Blue Version exclusive, Rank S+
Shadow U: White Version exclusive, Rank 7-10
Shadow H: White Version exclusive, Rank S+; Higsby's Chip Order
Shadow J: Rank 9-S
Shadow *: Rank S++

Weird that there's 6 codes instead of the usual 5. I must also point out that the Shadow chip does not grant you a StepSword charge shot like in Battle Network 2. You will just keep whatever charge shot you have equipped.

wait wait wait WHAT that's a thing? Holy shit.

Leaving Secret Area 2...





This is the only place to get AntiSword reliably. It remains unchanged from Battle Network 2, giving us a free 300 damage to the person who hit us with a sword.



As such, you should Chip Order a second copy. That was the final NPC trader in the game.

I'm not a huge fan of the NPC trades in this series, to be honest. I just don't find it easy to remember where the guys are, what they want, all that jazz.



Now that we killed DarkMan, ProtoMan Alpha is now open to fight us. Inb4 Yeti complains that Chaud is being a douchebag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67_2x5J10Tw

Nah I'll just complain that you're being a douchebag.



Sub-6, bitches.

Wow. That's surprisingly quick.



It's nice that we get the Version 2 of the ProtoMan series for free. See what I mean about how this postgame keeps feeding you, yet teasing you?



We don't get to fight ProtoMan Beta until we kill another boss. Backtracking



I'll Chip Order Geddon3 C, since it's a far superior code than U.



It's time to show off a strategy that only professional players tend to use in PvP. Ghost Alert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO2ig1L8oao

Shadow protects you from all but Sword-type attacks like ProtoMan and AntiDamage. The free Reflector will protect you from all but Breaking-type moves, like FlashMan or PlantMan. When combined, they create an impenetrable wall. Any attack that can break Shadow cannot break the shield. And any attack that can break the shield cannot break Shadow. What you have is a defensive state that's immune to all tactics except the use of Poison. If you check out any Battle Network tournament videos, you'll see that professional players use this tactic to stop noob Program Advances like Gater, Darkness and HeavyStamp. It's equally applicable in 3 when you want to stop FlashMan or PlantMan spam. Even better, if you chuck down a Barrier or Aura, you'll have extra protection should the enemy get in a hit inbetween your shielding. Say it with me now:

B+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFTB+LEFT

... Y'know, this would have been useful to see before I fought the boss in this area...

You must learn the AI first. Bad Yeti!



DarkMan's chip is wonderful. It spawns 3 BatCaves on the opponent's side of the field and distributes 10/12/14/16/18 bats across those 3 depending on the version. And just like the Meteors chip, if you Arealock your opponents, the damage potential skyrockets. There's also a weird purple...thing on the floor. We can't actually utilize it, so I'll talk about it later.

It's actually easier to get max damage from DarkMan than it is for Meteors - since it only requires that they be in the back row, rather than locked to one square. Also, since BlacknessMan is a NaviChip, we can use the Navi+ series of chips (as shown in the GIF) to boost damage. (For those not counting, Meteors does 30 meteors, so more hits than DarkMan).



Finally going back to Secret Area 2, we are quickly faced with a crossroad. The monolith blocking the path is what will lead us deeper into the area, so I'll take the warp point first.

Oh right, progress, that's a thing.



Oh boy, you better save before this one.



Jesus. We need to deal 400 damage on 3 separate occasions. Keep in mind that while a Number system is black, it is unaffected by the likes of CopyDamage. If you have all the Ratton chips in the same code, you can make the HyperRatton Program Advance (Ratton1-Ratton2-Ratton3) which deals 500 damage. LifeSword also works well here. No doubt you'll have to start using GrassStage coupled with a huge Fire Attack to deal 400 damage in one shot.

I don't like this formation of jerks - because they're all in a line, none of the more powerful (and wider) attacks will work unless you do what Giver's about to do.



I like being silly, however. With my Barrier up, I can safely tank a hit from Err&Del.



And just like that, the second one is alive.



I'm gonna Barrier then Magnum3 with some attack bonuses to kill the second one.





With the second GrassStage R, the Blackbomb and the HeatShot, I think you know how this ends. And I'm almost out of chips.



FIREWORKS!

So basically you ignored half of the gimmicks in the fight and blew through it with sheer brute force. That's actually impressive, in a 'Wow that's determination' kind of way.



He was trapped, guys. And I freed him! I WANT A DISCOUNT!



Sadly, I don't really like his selection all that much.

BigWave J is an exclusive code, but he only sells one copy, so you can't get 4. AirStorm3 is a shitty chip series. You need to grab the GutsImpact G for the PA and NorthWind C is a chip we don't have yet, so that's much appreciated. What it does is remove all Auras and Barriers that the opponent holds. It's really good so you don't have to waste an attacking BattleChip. And before you say anything, no, it doesn't work on the unwinnable Bass fight in FlamMan's scenario. Capcom covered their bases pretty well.



MINE! ALL MINE! I AM THE TRUE ALPHA!

Down, boy. At least keep the god complex in lower-case.



For those of you who are curious, here is the White Version of this shop. It sports far better gear, netting us an Attack+30 and Meteors R. White Version gets the better shops.







Hopefully this time around I get a reason not to use a starter folder. And yes, keeping these gifs "fucked" because of loading concerns.



Yeti, wanna take any bets if I'll switch my folder? If I get any halfway decent formations, I'll switch, I promise!

This is written before viewing the rest of the update: Nah, probably not. You're too much of a determined prick to switch. (Also, was Boomer * in the original folder?)





This encounter is a literal copy and paste from a mid-game Comp area.



In The Demon Statue comp.



The Stormbox is attempting to push you back into the corners of your field so that you are trapped just long enough for the Fishy3 to hit you. See those permanent holes on the enemy field? They're mirrored on my side. Too bad Fishy3 only does 80 damage! Why not Fishy Omega? Those guys zip across the screen 5 times. That might be fun!

It might be threatening if it were a Fishy2 - just becuase of the fire trail they leave behind - but with just a Fishy3? Pfft. If you take damage I'm going to be disappointed, much less Giver.



These encounters suck harder than GeneralYeti does at this game.

Fuckin' bite me, asshole



They're trying? Finally, we see some RockCubes come out. But there isn't any field fuckery to accompany it. It's real easy to nuke the Totam down, too.



And to think I looked forward to this.





Finally, a small step up. With all the grass panels in your field and the way they're placed, the Mushys have a lot of mobility and if you don't have any Fire Chips, they will chip you down pretty quick.



The Mushys are sorta unpredictable, but with quick reflexes, they aren't mush (har, har, har) of an issue.

One: Fuck you, that pun was terrible. Two: For those with crappier reflexes like myself, fire chips are a godsend. Remember, Mushys can only move to grass panels, so destroying all of them on their side will make them stand still.



So if the Smasher targets any row besides the bottom one, you might be in trouble because the Fishy will just fly at you. Common sense says to just nuke the Smasher down quickly. And 200 HP is trivial at this point.



Or you could even be funny and put down a RockCube to pretty much stall the Fishy.

I think if this encounter had a Trumpy to hold you in place, I might have respected it enough to switch my folder.



This is actually a pretty stupid encounter. The JokerEye can't move, so it won't be able to use the HolyPanels that the BrushMan paints. Plus, Dominerd2 uses Geddon, which actually REMOVES all of the hard work the BrushMan did in setting up the field and messing up yours. These viruses don't gel well.

Dominerds - jerks to both you and their allies.



And that was the last encounter.

I believe I called it.



Following the path, we catch another warp point, and we're taken to a 3-way path.



Man, you NPCs are just full of hints today, aren't you? But we haven't seen any "BugFrag Trader" yet. And I guess we need to throw in 300 BugFrags?

...Heh. Heheheheheh.



This door only opens up once you did all the BBS Requests. Good thing I took care of that before coming in.



Noooot baaaad.

Still not good enough to justify helping all those jerks



And now, we're at the final stretch of the area. One of the pathways leads to the boss, and the other one leads to a Blue Mystery Data. Which do you think I'm going for first?



Wait, what? A monolith blocking...nothing? I know your tricks! There's an invisible path there!

Or a Navi ghost. Or maybe Capcom is just messing with us again.



Right out of the gate we see a Shadow. This is only the first of 10 rounds, so the game is subtlety hinting you to bring Sword chips.



Just gonna point out that in White Version, there is an encounter with infinite combo potential before even fighting DrillMan.



JUST SAYIN'.



Look guys, it's the New York Mets!



They're still terrible!

I would make a joke combining the Mets' record and the fact that Mettaurs suck, but I don't know anything about baseball so



Holy shit Level 2 viruses. I'M FUCKED I'M FUCKED I'M FUCKED



THE GREEN! THE GREEN! THE GREEN IS ALL OVER MY SCREEN!



Ratty2 now? We were fighting Ratty3s! At least make one of them an Omega, Christ.



If you're quick about it, the cracked panels can mess with their rat bombs, but really it's not that big a deal with Reflector.

Oh, and sorry for all the GIFs. There's a reason we're trying to spread out the updates now that we've beaten the rest of the game.

I'm not sorry for the GIFs.









I haven't seen one Scuttle family virus YET. Just a few of those might make me switch. Please, game?



The Sand Panels are there to reduce your movement speed. Which sorta works well here because the bees are just as fast and unpredictable as they ever are.

Wasps are jerks. Just terrible hellspawn of hate and evil.



Okay, that MiniBomb was luck.

That's bullshit. It shouldn't have worked.



Last one. And we finally see a Red Devil. This almost convinced me to switch because of the Holy Panel placement and the damn virus.

Too bad the other viruses are too weak to really do much. And I carry 3 swords in this folder, so this one is still cake.

Wait, what? Oh, right, they move off the HolyPanel. With the three swords, you can do 240 damage, which is enough to kill it. Even if one hits it on the HolyPanel, you can do enough damage - just make sure you don't miss.



Our reward is AntiNavi M. When your PvP opponent uses a NaviChip, if you played this trap earlier, then the NaviChip gets nullified and used by you instead. You NEED this reward if not only for your library, but for a Program Advance. Do NOT Chip Trade this.

It's pretty neat that you steal the NaviChip instead of just cancelling. An interesting twist.



The boss is right beyond there, but there's another hidden pathway.



Invisible security systems!



This one is pretty easy! Dealing 400 damage all at once is trivial when compared to doing it one at a time.

Especially with the BlkBmb in the center, there. They're making it pretty easy.









Sweet! I only need one more HP Memory before I'm maxed out at 1,000! ONE MORE TO GO! ONE MORE TO GO!



This door only opens up if we possess at least 1 GigaChip. The only way to get that is to either buy the one in Undernet 2 for 200 BugFrags, or S-rank your friend in PvP, but we'll cover that later. IT'S BOSS TIME!

Oh boy. Maybe he'll be less disappointing than his buddy.



Hey, you're blue too.



You and I shall do battle, for I am but a pre-adolescent boy between the ages of 10 and 12. They will write tall tales of our battle and inscribe it in RockCubes for all eternity.



WHAT?

......
...

...what.

: And I shall shish-kebab you if you try to go any further!



: He's got a shitty ass name is the problem.





: Are you ready to meet your maker!? I usually don't like to take on kids, but orders are orders... En garde!

Okay, okay, okay, what the fuck. Seriously? JapanMan? C'mon, translators, you were doing so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=830KmTKO99k

: I cannot believe I was defeated by such a little whelp! Serenade...! Please forgive me...!



No, he sucked.

While DarkMan was very cool in how his AI was about countering the player: nullifying Invis, Shadow, defensive obstacles and elemental Styles, BadTranslationMan exhibits none of that. To his credit, he does like to attack your obstacles if you stand behind them and he will counter projectile attacks with by spinning his spear, sending a fast shockwave down your row. The problem is his main attack leaves him too open. It's way too easy to hit when he should be attacking. You couldn't do that against DarkMan because he controlled the field.

He's got a very predictable movement pattern - 4 steps, then attack. When he attacks, he always comes to your row and pauses before actually attacking, leaving him wide open for being countered. He's only got two attacks right now - one a single spear thrust with HeroSword range (three columns) and one a repeated strike with LifeSword range (two columns, three rows). Both can be dangerous if they hit, but it's easy enough to counter when he's the only one you have to worry about. Thing is, he's not always alone.

When JapanMan reaches half HP or less, he uses a move called Backup, which sends soldiers out of his back column to steal bits of your area. Little by little you will lose sections of your area, making his main attack easier to land. It's a very, very good attack and creative at that. The problem is by the time it sets up JapanMan enough, the fight is nearly over, making it a non-issue. I think he should first bring out that move at 2/3rd HP rather than 1/2.

The attack itself is creative and enough of an annoyance in restricting space to maybe make it worth it to figure out a counter (holes or RockCubes, maybe) for first-time fighters. Thing is, they move pretty slowly and die to one hit, so... kill him faster? It's not like it's hard to counter his moves. (that being said, I suck at countering his moves. My fight against him is a trainwreck )



Actually, he was Serenade's right-hand man.





Apparently, his Japanese name is YamatoMan, which means Japan.

The name change was likely to save space, since kanji/romanji/whatever they used is fewer characters occasionally than English. To be fair, they did keep the same meaning, if only a little more blatant.



We must go deeper. DEEPERRRR

Maybe this one you'll actually use a real folder.