Part 80: Checkmate!
Overview: Ah, KingMan. This kind of boss will really challenge your ability to adapt, think on your feet and strategize. With an AI that adapts to your strategies, locks you down, and constantly applies pressure, this could prove to be a small source of frustration. Many a player will have their S-rank ruined by a random Knight attack on their character. To add onto things, KingMan is a boss who is very cowardly, meaning direct or close range attacks are absolutely useless. The only way to beat him effectively is to nullify the chess pieces, or attack around them. He also shares the same AI movement behavior as BubbleMan. Meaning, he will never move into our row should MegaMan theoretically stay in a row.
Field:
[_][_][_]//[P][_][_]
[_][M][_]//[_][K][KM]
[_][_][_]//[P][_][_]
P = Pawn
K = Knight
KM = KingMan
M = MegaMan
Depending on the type of strategy you employ, KingMan will use any of the three follow-up moves.
Plan-B (1)
[M][_]//[P][_][_][_]
[_][_]//[_][_][_][KM]
[K][_]//[P][_][_][_]
P = Pawn
K = Knight
KM = KingMan
M = MegaMan
Should you decide to hide in the back column too much, KingMan will use this variation of Plan-B. Notice how he stole a whole column of area from you and observe how the pieces moved up to get closer! In the Battle Network games, it's not a good idea to hug one column, as you can get easily countered by many bosses. You need to keep moving randomly on the field so KingMan can't lock you down. However, Plan-B1 opens an interesting option for us...
Plan-B(2)
[_][_][_]//[_][R][KM]
[K][M][_]//[_][_][_]
[_][_][K]//[_][_][_]
This formation comes out if you're being really aggressive about destroying his chess pieces. If you do this, KingMan will have had enough of your shit and double the pressure on your field. What this variation does is pretty much prevent you from using most slow breaker type attacks. The Knights will constantly, constantly keep you moving to stop you from attacking, because well, you showed the AI you love to destroy his pieces! The Rook has the most HP of any of his pieces, and will probably take a couple of attacks to destroy. It will also follow KingMan as he moves away from you. Direct attacks are now even more out of the question.
Plan-B(3)
[_][_][_]//[_][_][_]
[K][M][_]//[P][_][KM]
[_][_][K]//[_][_][_]
P = Pawn
K = Knight
KM = KingMan
M = MegaMan
The final formation will come out if you decide to get really cute with dealing with his Knights. If you trick the knight into landing on a broken panel, it will die for the rest of the battle...at least it would, if he didn't use Plan-B3! Triggering this phase is shown towards the end of the video. If you can somehow get this phase to come out, you can nerf its aggressiveness by repeating the process against only one of the two knights. If you permanently kill both knights, he'll just use this move again, wasting your time.
One last thing, it is very possible for KingMan to mix his Plan-B formations. I have seen Plan-B3 come out first, and THEN Plan-B1. So not only was my first column taken, but I had to deal with 2 Knights on the field.
The last of his special moves is called Checkmate -- an execution style attack that will only come out if the player has enough HP to be killed by the move. It looks like so:
[_][K][_]//[_][_][_]
[_][M][P]//[_][_][KM]
[_][P][_]//[_][_][_]
P = Pawn
K = Knight
KM = KingMan
M = MegaMan
KingMan will fly up and slam on the panel MegaMan is on, dealing damage in a + shape around him. If you get targeted on the back-middle square, you're more than likely eating a hit. Little known fact: hitting KingMan before he jumps will cease the attack completely. But if this move comes out at all, either you're running a low HP setup challenge mode, or you already failed to S-rank.
Top Tier
: This chip is appearing a lot, isn't it? Well, with the ability to nuke every single chess piece, cause holes that disrupt his chess after they spawn AND KingMan's movements, plus the damage it deals, it's no wonder this chip is Top Tier for this boss!
: DEATH! DEATH TO ALL CHESS PIECES! You should obviously bring some sort of defense for this, or if you're following the tiers, then you may have AirShoes.
: LIGHT 'EM UP! HAHAHAHAHA!Average-High Tier
: KingMan's difficulty depends on the chess pieces acting as defenses for him. With a chip that goes through his defenses and deals good damage, then it makes sense this is here. Loses to DrillMan only because it can't break through his pieces.
: Goes around the defenses and deals sizable damage. The code is even shared with KillerEye Virus Chip, which is amazing on its own.
: BowlMan's chip is just a boss killer all on its own. It can destroy chess pieces, too! But, with KingMan's AI acting like BubbleMan, getting off the full damage may be harder than you expect.
: Quick damage, and bypasses the defenses.
: Obvious.
: Goes past his defenses to attack. BigWave is notable as its damage is just shy of a whopping 200.
: Deals acceptable damage. It's very easy to lock KingMan into a column, and have this chip hit multiple times.
: Breaks a chess piece, * code, causes the boss to pause when it hits the field and deals good damage. MORE OF THIS!
: Use KingMan's own chess pieces to set these up. If you got the skills and thinking for it, you will love this.
: Check the video for a fun strategy with these chips!
: Forces the knights to disappear completely. Combo with 
to shut down the knights for good.Suck Tier
: By the time this chip activates, MegaMan will get hit by a Knight attack -- guaranteed. I guess if you stand over a broken panel, it's okay to use.
: It can break the chess pieces, but there are so many better ways of doing that.
: Not worth it.
: These don't even BREAK!
: Much like against BubbleMan, getting closer to the boss just makes the fight harder. Yes, one good AreaGrab can lock the pawns down, and while that seems good, you forgot one simple fact: KingMan loves to move away from you. And since you'll only be able to procure one square, you just lost the only real advantage you had. It's far better to stick to ranged attacks.
: Uhh, okay? You can already use the chess pieces for your Bolt/Lightning needs and it isn't as if you need to use the cubes to protect yourself. This won't really do much.Internet White Knight Tier
: If you thought about using this chip, then let me stop and compliment you on doing something very important: observing your chips and playing out scenarios in your head as to how they can be used. Unfortunately, this won't do a damn thing against KingMan. Sorry.
: Please stop what you're doing.
: The risk required to pull this off just isn't worth it.
: BUT I LIEK LIFESWURD PEEGRAM AOODVINCE
: Even a 5 year old is laughing at you.
: We cannot afford chips with huge hang times like these against this Navi.
: With even AreaGrab-like chips being bad options here, it's no wonder something like this is in this tier.
: Same reason as above.
: Okay, so you block the sword that the Pawn uses. Great. You do realize the pawn chips will block the shockwaves, effectively wasting your time, right?
: GAMER GIRL!? OMG, I'M IN LOVE!
: IF I BE NICE TO HER, SHE'LL GO OUT WITH ME! 
: SO WHAT IF IT'S THE INTERNET!? I BELIEVE IN TRUE LOVE!
: SHE RESPONDED TO MY POSTS, SHE MUST LOVE ME!
: WHAT!? SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND? I HATE HER NOW!!
: 
Lan to W3.
This folder was meant to destroy KingMan's pieces as many times as possible. By keeping them down, we can have a much easier time S-ranking. A haphazard of chips were used just for demonstration purposes. The GrabRevenges here are mainly filler.
This folder employs multiple strategies to show off the multiple Plan-Bs and how to deal with them. In here, we have a counter for all 3 of KingMan's Plan-Bs. GrabRevenge is a fun chip to use to completely embarass him. Those can be farmed in Secret Area 3's Green Mystery Datas. Bring Untrap. NoBeams are "trick shots" which turn KingMan's greatest attacks into a liability. PanelOut and AirShoes? An effective trolling mechanism.
I have BreakCharge, BugStop and 3 Custom+1s equipped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Rx2W_tgQ8
King me
