Mega Man X3 FAQ
                               By X

* Updates to this guide can be found at the end.

Neuro Computer he has been able to suppress any abnormal behavior in
advanced reploids have gathered near their mentor and founded "Dopple
world seemed ready to enter a new golden age...
After a few months...
The Mavericks who were supposed to have been neutralized by the Neuro
Computer suddenly appeared and began to riot...
At Maverick Hunter Headquarters, all the intelligence indicated that
Doppler to justice.
Maverick Hunter X and Zero. Dispatch!!
Maverick Hunter.
the Doppler force. All units return to base immediately and return

Mega Man X's and Zero's controls:

A - Dash (In this game you start with the Ground Dash, though your
      Wall Jump (Performed by touching a wall and then pressing the
pressing the button again when you touch the wall again)


(explained below).

previous two Mega Man X games need not read this section)
Buster can reach three levels of power:
1)	No charging. Small yellow sphere fired forward.
shaped shot fired forward (does not stop unless multiple hits are
- The X-Buster specifications above do not apply to Zero. His Z-Buster
fully powered shots, followed by the use of Zero's Z-Sabre. The sabre
is more powerful as well.
get the hang of it, it's not that hard.
can fire your X-Buster or Z-Buster while sliding down as well.
shots. (Thanks to Freespace2dotcom at Freespace2dotcom@yahoo.com for
pointing this out.)
a level in which you have already defeated the Maverick there.
you to the Maverick selection screen.
than small ones.
off-limits to him.
- Bosses will be invincible temporarily after hitting them. You will
shoot at the boss again.

Level 1: Maverick Hunter Headquarters

the level and you will fight yet another boss.


but it doesn't matter.

some things to keep in mind about playing as Zero however.

-	Zero has an improved form of the X-Buster, the Z-Buster, plus the Z-
Sabre, bestowing to him a great advantage over X in the beginning of
the game.
the first one in Maverick Hunter Headquarters, a door in Crush
incredibly powerful upgrade later. Therefore, if you accidentally do
this, simply reload the game from your most previous password.
He can only take energy capsules.
receives all eight Heart Tanks.
the end will be greatly inferior.

The first Maverick's level to visit will be Blizzard Buffalo.



located on the selection screen. This is particularly needed in this
game as the names are not listed, contrary to the previous two titles.)

room. Here you will receive your first enhancement.

AIR DASH - Better in this game than in X2. When you have these on, X
in the air prior to hitting the Dash button).

Tank. Wall Jump over to get your first SUB TANK.

SUB TANK - There are four of these in the game. When you take one, it
is drained out and added to your own life meter.

(below where you got the Air Dash).

Power: 9200 rp  Speed: 3200 rp

release it immediately. Attacks:

safety, or Dash straight up in the air.
become large ice shards.
at all costs.

and you should quickly claim victory. You can try charging while doing
this if it doesn't interfere with your ability to Air Dash.


forms a shield for X which he holds in front of him temporarily. If it
is charged underwater, then it instead becomes a large ice block which
will rise to the surface, providing transportation for you.

The next Maverick to face is Toxic Seahorse.



you were using him.

HEART TANK - There are eight of these in the game. When X takes one
life meter.

just Dash under them.

Continue through the level until you reach the next Maverick.

Power: 5800 rp  Speed: 4300 rp

room with it ready. His attacks:

the room. Just avoid it and attack.
getting hit.
attack until they dissolve.

procedure and you can defeat him in a matter of seconds.


acid balls which bounce around the floor and walls.

Byte, and a Mysterious Maverick (Players familiar with the characters
of the original Mega Man X game should easily recognize this guy, but
for those of you who don't, this is Vile).

Now head over to Tunnel Rhino's stage.



and you will receive your second SUB TANK.

level when you do actually fight Bit.

Power: 9400 rp  Speed: 18000 rp

avoid his attacks:

off to the other side.
until Bit hits you.
Try evading them all around the room.

to Freespace2dotcom (Freespace2dotcom@yahoo.com) for telling me how to
actually destroy Bit and Byte.

Wall Jump immediately when the battle starts to avoid getting hit.

Keep going and soon you'll reach the boss door.

Power: 4200 rp  Speed: 8000 rp

attack. Soon you should win.



Next go over to face Volt Catfish.



you should not fight right now.

walls with electricity running along them come. Soon you should reach
the boss door.

Power: 8200 rp  Speed: 1600 rp

and Dash off to the other side. Attacks:

and wall. Jump over it.
this process.

stop using the lightning drawn attack.


second force field, which then shoot lightning in three directions.
and ceilings.

The next Maverick to face is Crush Crawfish.



There are no enhancements available to you in this level. One
interesting thing to note is that the second enclosed room can be
anyway. Just keep going until you reach the boss.

Power: 4000 rp  Speed: 7600 rp

weapon. Attacks:

off the wall. You can easily get back up though.
the wall, you can avoid it.
crazy to get out of his grip.

the other wall. Soon the Triad Thunder should destroy him.


string around using the directional pad.


chance for an incredible power.

Power: 9200 rp  Speed: 7200 rp

In the beginning, Vile will be in his Robot Walker, a Kangaroo model
(you can check later in this guide for what I mean by that). Fire off
an X-Buster shot, then Wall Jump up as he is about to ram into you.
Dash off to the other side, then fire another shot at him. Repeat this
process until he loses his Walker. Once he does, you will have to fight
him without it. Switch to the Spinning Blade now. When fighting him
alone, he only has two attacks. If he jumps over you, quickly Dash
straight up in the air as fire is about to hit you. Use the Spinning
Blade when he lands. If he just jumps straight up, bullets are headed
for you, but they are easily dodged. Make sure NOT to use up all the
Spinning Blade. When you have about one use left, switch to the X-
Buster. Make sure you inflict his destruction with the Spinning Blade,
otherwise you will need to fight him again later on in Doppler's
Fortress, and you'll still skip the rare power-up.

before the factory explodes. This could take a little practice to

Now head over to Neon Tiger's level.



to take your third SUB TANK.

second enhancement capsule.

X-BUSTER UPGRADE - This upgrade allows you to charge your X-Buster to a

nothing much to it.


Power: 18800 rp  Speed: 8200 rp

Tornado Fang.

for your third HEART TANK.

Now enter the door for the next Maverick.

Power: 3600 rp  Speed: 9900 rp

don't fire whenever he begins. Attacks:

Spinning Blade and he'll stop.
claws. Wall Jump up to avoid him.

to hurt you and you can quickly win. Staying in the center of the room
practically makes you untouchable.



Air Dash over to get your fourth HEART TANK.

find the third enhancement capsule.

SENSOR HELMET - This helmet upgrade gives you a digital map layout of
found on that specific level.

Exit the level and now return to Crush Crawfish's level.

will describe it later).

tell how later).

Exit the level and now go to face Gravity Beetle.



you will be able to soon).

There are no other enhancements available right now, so just continue
through until you reach the next boss door.

Power: 6200 rp  Speed: 3600 rp

Gravity Beetle isn't incredibly hard either. Enter the room with the
starts. Attacks:

unless you're incredibly close to him. Just shoot him.
and Dash off to the other side, then fire.
-	Gravity Beetle will fire a small energy ball which ricochets around
the room getting larger. Avoid it and return fire.
-	After weakening Gravity Beetle to half energy, if you don't hit him
for awhile, he will fire a different form of energy into the air,
creating a vortex in the upper center region of the room. Coming
into contact with it damages you, making it almost impossible to
cross the room with a Wall Jump. Hit him rapidly so he can't recover
and pull off this attack. Thanks go out to Tyrael,
z_master3001@hotmail.com for pointing out I missed this attack in
the FAQ.

ability to jump. You should win this battle quickly.


This weapon fires out a small object into the air, which creates a
field around it, damaging all weak robots on screen. Charged up, all
weak robots are flung off the screen.

last enhancement capsule.

BODY ARMOR - This armor will generate a protective field around you
when you get hit, protecting you further from enemy attacks.




shots constantly, and avoid it by Dashing or Wall Jumping.


then Wall Jump up there to find your fifth HEART TANK.

Soon you should reach the next boss door.

Power: 3400 rp  Speed: 8600 rp

fully charged Gravity Well ready, and release it when the battle
starts. Then learn his attacks:

the entire battle, just dodge by staying in a corner.
destroyed with the Gravity Well.
children will seek you out better.

damaged and thus no threat to you.


and fire Blast Hornet's children at them.

as his plans.

Now return to Blizzard Buffalo's stage. Travel through until you reach
most likely noticed many of these on your trips through this game. You
have already collected the four Robot Walkers. These platforms allow
you to activate them. I will explain them here.

basic yet powerful Robot Walker.

Kangaroo - Marked with a K. This Robot Walker is similar to the Rabbit
model, which was found in Mega Man X2. It can jump, and attacks with
spiked claws on the ends of each arm. These can be charged, which
shoots the arm out connected on a rod. The Robot Walker can also jump
and Dash. It cannot, however, hover like the Rabbit did. Once you have
this kind, the Chimera model is obsolete.

Hawk - Marked with an H. It can jump, Dash, and hover like the Rabbit
did in Mega Man X2. It attacks with twin missiles from each arm.
However, it cannot destroy certain blocks that the Chimera and Kangaroo
can, for example, the icy blocks in Blizzard Buffalo's stage.

Frog - Marked with an F. This is the only Robot Walker that is operable
underwater. All others explode upon entering water. It walks by
hopping, can jump, and attacks with homing torpedoes. It cannot Dash,
but underwater you can use the button to spin the propeller on back for
increased mobility.

Any one of these four Robot Walkers are available upon stepping on the

In Blizzard Buffalo's stage, select either the Chimera or Kangaroo
Robot Walker. Use the attacks of the Walker to destroy the icy blocks
just to the right. In the hidden area below, you will find your sixth
HEART TANK. (Thanks go out to Daniel McGarry, dan-the-man2000@juno.com
for pointing out to me that I missed this Heart Tank.)

return to Gravity Beetle's stage.

return to Crush Crawfish's level.

and final HEART TANK.

levels. These levels contain upgrades to the enhancements you already
four later in the game. Since you can get all four later, there is no
reason to get these, but my guide feels incomplete with them.

Toxic Seahorse's level:

ground. Not the best choice of the four, but useful nonetheless.

Blast Hornet's level:

choice out of the four.

Crush Crawfish's level:

defensive shield is stronger. The most obsolete of the four choices.

Gravity Beetle's level:

Buster shots. One of the better choices of the four.

Remember that skipping these for now allows you to get them all soon.

Now it's time to go to Doppler's Fortress.

help you (if he's still in the game). Just constantly fire at it and it
won't take long. Keep going on. Once you climb up, you will be at the
edge of a ledge. Get as far to the right as you can, then Dash Jump to
the right, and you'll probably hit an enemy. Keep Wall Jumping up to
the Robot Walker platform though. Use a Sub Tank if you don't have full
energy. Choose the Hawk armor, and then drop back down and keep going.
Soon you will see an area with a pit, and to the right are spiked balls
dropping out of the ceiling. Get out of the Hawk and then slide down
the left wall in the pit. You will enter a secret area. This is the
equivalent of the Hadoken Fireball in X1 and the Dragon Punch in X2.
You will see a pink capsule in there. For it to appear, you must have
collected every Heart Tank, Sub Tank, Robot Walker, defeated every
Maverick, every blue capsule enhancement and you must not have any pink
capsule enhancement chips. In other words, when looking at the Maverick
selection screen, every item must be white (thus meaning acquired), and
the four ???? must be pink (thus meaning yet to be taken). When you
come out of the capsule, you will have the Gold Armor, which contains
all four enhancement chips. Scroll up just before this area to read
what each does. Later you'll come to the boss door. If you're not at
full energy, or if your Sub Tanks aren't full, just stand still outside
the boss door and the Energy Chip in the Gold Armor will refill you.

Power: 22900 rp  Speed: 7200 rp

You will fight these two combined if the door is on the bottom of the
room. If either Bit or Byte lived, you will fight this boss. Attacks:

pulls you down into perfect firing position.

If you just constantly use the Ray Splasher while aiming at the head
region, you should easily win.



This boss will be fought if you successfully destroyed both Bit and
Byte, and if the door is on the top of the room at the end. Attacks:

be caught. You can try faking out the arm by staying stationary as
best you can on one section of wall, and then moving quickly when
the arm shoots out.
at you, so constantly move to avoid the shots.
with the Tornado Fang.
-	The boss will fire small projectiles of acidic material, which
resemble miniature Acid Bursts. Avoid them. You can try the fake out
technique with these as well.

whenever possible. If timed correctly, when the boss doesn't move, the
Tornado Fang can continually dig in for extra damage. Climb up the left
wall and hit it when you can. Aim for the eyes, not for the trunk. If
you destroy its trunk, then the eyes are easy to shoot at, but the boss
will leak out acid covering the floor. If this is done, you can't step
on the floor for the rest of the fight without being damaged. This is
one of the first instances I've seen in a fight of common sense in this
game. You see, with the trunk gone and the gaping hole existing the
reploid, then it can no longer contain the acidic liquid it once
launched at you. You may need a Sub Tank for this fight. Another way to
fight him, if you have trouble with the timing on the Tornado Fang, is
to use the Ray Splasher. It seems to also be a weakness, but it can't
do extra damage by continually digging in. Also, you're going to hit
the trunk instead of the eyes about 80% of the time, so that has to be
out of the way before the Ray Splasher is really effective.

the next level.

If you used a Sub Tank, then just stand still until it is refilled. A
thing to note, in the coming areas, there will be walls you must climb
with enemies on them. To combat these annoyances, I suggest you keep
the Parasitic Bomb out and constantly charged to seek out the wall
enemies and clear the path for you. Eventually you will reach a Robot
Walker platform. Don't bother using it if you have already destroyed
Vile in the Maverick stages, as the coming area is filled with water
and the gaps are too large for the Frog armor to cross. However, if you
didn't fight Vile, or let him live, then choose the Hawk Armor. Soon,
you should reach a boss door. It should be noted that this is the last
boss door in the game that Zero can pass through. This room also
contains the second and last boss in the game that Zero can fight. The
boss here will only exist if Vile has been destroyed already. If not,
the room will be empty. However, if you do, Zero will be out of the
game and the ending will change for the worse. However, it will give X
an incredible power. So, choose wisely. If you aren't too good at this
game, I suggest using Zero here. If you are, however, don't waste Zero.


ready. Waste two shots prior to entering so the Z-Sabre is ready. When
you enter, immediately climb up the wall and then jump off to hit the
under it when it dives down, then turn around and strike it with the Z-
Sabre. Then shoot it until it dies, which won't take long (only two or
three shots). Don't worry if it grabs you, only a few shots are needed.
Then, it will land on Zero, almost destroying him. Zero will return to
Dr. Cain's lab, out of the game, but he will give his Z-Sabre to X.
Now, your X-Buster can reach a fifth level, a green level. When you
release two shots, X fires a green beam forward, which removes three-
fifths of any boss's life meter!

Dash away from it when it tries to grab you.

boss door.


Vile will be the boss of this level if you have not destroyed him in
the Maverick stages. Here, he will not have the Kangaroo model of Robot
Walker, however. Instead, he will have a larger more advanced design
called the Goliath. This walker is also capable of ramming into walls,
but also has attacks such as energy blasts. All in all, however, it's
basically the same fight as before. Just get on one wall, jump and Air
Dash over before he knocks you off, turn around, fire the Tornado Fang,
then constantly Dash over to the other side (this room is much larger
than the one for the fight in the Maverick stages), and then repeat the
process. As before, once he is Goliath is destroyed, then you must
fight him again. Use the Spinning Blade. Dash away from his bullets,
and Air Dash up when his fire attack is used. An alternative is to use
the Parasitic Bomb constantly charged, which will do the same damage as
a Tornado Fang. In fact, using the charged Parasitic Bomb will allow
you to do most of the fight only dodging and Dashing, but you won't be
able to let go of the fire button the entire fight, so choose the
strategy that works best for you.


The Sea Reploid will only be here if Vile has already been destroyed.
This boss is not incredibly hard, with or without the Z-Sabre. Wait
you have Zero's Z-Sabre, just use it, a two-hit kill. If not, instead
use the Frost Shield (non-powered, powered up won't damage it) and
constantly jump off the wall and shooting at it's center to kill it.
Dash away from the projectiles and avoid the projectile from its arm.
Thanks go out to Rubyheart (cadieux_philippe@hotmail.com) for pointing
out the Frost Shield as its weakness. Another way to fight it is to
stand directly underneath and constantly use the Triad Thunder,
uncharged. You will take hits, but hopefully yours will be quick enough
to destroy the Sea Reploid before you are destroyed.

Ray Splasher is a good choice to fight him with.


     Blizzard Buffalo   Toxic Seahorse
Blast Hornet                     Neon Tiger
  Volt Catfish              Crush Crawfish
     Gravity Beetle     Tunnel Rhino

more. If you nail it with the Z-Sabre, you get an extra life.

and Dash away if he flies over above you.
run over to the other wall to avoid attacks.
Triad Thunder.

Now enter the door.

Power: 17400 rp  Speed: 18000 rp

him, recharge him. Attacks:

-	Dr. Doppler will activate a green energy field. This only happens if
he just finished an attack and you shoot. Any damage the attack you
did would have done will instead increase his life meter. Hit him
with the Acid Burst when the field disappears. To combat this
situation, fire off a decoy shot away from him, then when the field
disappears, shoot him with a real shot.
jump up and propel himself forward at whatever level you are. If he
three are gone, then do a sucker shot and attack him.

If you have the Z-Sabre, do the same thing, only do two sucker shots
with the Z-Sabre when the green field is up, as it will restore three-
fifths of his life meter.

for the fight.

Power: 19000 rp  Speed: 19000 rp

Charge up the Parasitic Bomb before entering here, if you can. Attacks:
avoid this and shoot him when he is undefended.

The best way to fight this boss is to have the Parasitic Bomb
constantly charged. In the beginning, climb up the left wall, then Air
Dash twice over to the right wall, the side Sigma is on, and constantly
Wall Jump to stay up there. The Parasitic Bomb, constantly charged,
will always seek out Sigma, damaging him 25% of the time they hit.
While this may not seem great, you will destroy Sigma before they run
out. Always Air Dash over to the side that Sigma switches over to.
Using this strategy, Sigma will never jump up and stay in the middle.
And, if done correctly, the only possible way to get hit is if Sigma
throws his shield. The boss once incredibly tough is now easy! This
will certainly help in the coming fight... Many thanks go out to VivoAnt
(vivoant@home.com) for sending me this strategy.

My original strategy to this boss, though inferior to the one above,
If you have the Z-Sabre, use that (best time to hit is when he jumps in
Blade or the Z-Sabre. Once he lands, hit him in the head again, then
repeat the strategy on the other side. If you used the Z-Sabre first,
it might be wise to switch to Spinning Blade now because it's hard to
charge up while constantly moving and Air Dashing. Thanks go to
Freespace2dotcom (Freespace2dotcom@yahoo.com) for giving me the Air
Dash strategy.

Once you defeat this Sigma, however, you will face an even greater foe...

Power: 32000 rp  Speed: 32000 rp

with either charged X-Buster shots, or Zero's Z-Sabre. Immediately
activate the Hyper Cannon right away. Attacks:

then drop. Easily Dashed under.
or Wall Jumping or Air Dashing, whatever it takes.
his projectiles as well.

them. Of course, if you have the Z-Sabre, use it for another two-hit
kill. Though, once you defeat this Sigma, the game isn't over yet...

about to inhabit him when...

the alternate endings, but I myself have too many times accidentally
tell you, just E-mail me.

fighting the Mavericks that was sent to me from Freespace2dotcom
from it, here it is:

1)	Blizzard Buffalo
2)	Crush Crawfish
3)	Neon Tiger
4)	Gravity Beetle
5)	Tunnel Rhino
6)	Blast Hornet
7)	Volt Catfish
8)	Toxic Seahorse

This order is beneficial in the fact that some weapons are acquired

know where to send updates and where it is headed first. Many thanks go
out to Freespace2dotcom for his help in seriously improving this guide.
You can see points I particularly thank him for his help throughout the

time to read it.

Most Recent Update: (This section requested by Rubyheart,

-	Put my E-mail back in the guide. You may mail me again.