The 'Shroom:Issue 231/Strategy Wing
Director's Notes
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all of you readers of The 'Shroom! It's June, a month which is simultaneously dear to my heart and which presents a challenge. On the one hand, June marks the start of our Awards season in earnest, which is thrilling! If you haven't already, you should go vote in the Community Awards! They're in this very issue! You should also vote in the Mario and Fail Awards. What's that? You say you've already voted in them? Well, if it has been a week since you last voted, you can vote a second time! It's the perfect chance for you to make up for the first week if you were torn between two nominees.
With all the excitement, what is there to grumble about? To put it simply - June is hot and busy. I'm writing these notes with twenty minutes to midnight, and I am decidedly an early bird, not a night owl. A few of our regular offerings are taking the month off because of all the hurry-scurry with other work. Don't you worry, because they'll be back, and we still have plenty for you to read!
From receiving an honored guest with information on Hong Nong to planning an offensive, Ancient China is hopping in So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?. We have a bountiful harvest and romance in Rhythm Review, while Koops (talk) keeps the energy flowing and acquires some new employees in The Death of the Player. If only he could see their faces, though... Alas... Finally, in bittersweet news, we have the final edition of Sparks' (talk) Brothership Boss Battle Guide. Yes, we've reached the final boss. This edition is a whopper. I'm sure the bonds of the Strategy Wing team will serve Sparks well in the battle to come! Thanks for your dedication to sorting through Glohm Attacks, Battle Plugs, and Luigi Logics, Sparks!
Wherever there's an ending, there's bound to be new beginnings! If you'd like to join the team to tell us about some of your favorite games, take a look at the red box on the sign-up page for instructions and send an application to MightyMario. Whether you want to focus on boss battle guides like Sparks has provided, level design analyses, tips and tricks like you'll find in Rhythm Review, or playthroughs, you'll fit right in!
Section of the Month
I must be in the Cloudy Court Galaxy, because I sure feel like I'm soaring! In all seriousness, thank you for voting for Four Steps for a 3D World last month! I really enjoyed teasing out details like how the mission accommodated its Checkpoint Flag, so I'm glad you all enjoyed reading. Congratulations as well to Sparks (talk) for taking second as he battled through frozen islands and oil fields. I know you have Awards votes to cast, but please do keep those votes flowing to our writers, as well!
| STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Four Steps for a 3D World | 5 | 27.78% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 2nd | An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 6 | 2 | 22.22% | Sparks (talk) |
| 3rd | The Tattle Log | 3 | 17.67% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
Rhythm Review
Hello and welcome back to Rhythm Review! This is Zange, and I have once again survived the trials and tribulations that make up moving in nearly 90 degree (F) weather. Why does summer have to be moving season when it's so abysmally hot outside… But I am all settled in and ready to tell you all about more silly little rhythm minigames! Last time, we talked about Stage 2 of Rhythm Heaven on the Nintendo DS. So it's only natural that we keep on keeping on by talking about Stage 3 this time! I hope you like lizards, vegetables, racecars, and pop idols~
As a reminder: In most Rhythm Heaven games (including this one!), a stage consists of four rhythm minigames, followed by one remix, in which all the other minigames in the stage are put together in a new way to new music. Let's jump in!
Love Lizards
Kicking off this stage is Love Lizards! You play as a female güiro lizard trying to attract the male lizard across from you. After each cue of both lizards tapping their feet, you'll slide the stylus on the touch screen to copy the rhythm of the male lizard's tail shaking. By the power of percussion, these two lizards will fall in love!
Gimmicks
The rhythm you need to slide the stylus is the same throughout the rhythm minigame. However, there are a few points where it begins on the offbeat, so just make sure you're paying attention!
How to Get That Superb
The criteria for a Superb here are fairly straightforward. You just need to have consistent rhythm throughout, while not sliding the stylus when you're not given a cue. It seems a little silly, but sometimes it really is that simple.
Difficulty Rating
This one is fairly simple, and considering it gives you an opportunity to practice the rhythm before playing the real thing I think this one gets a 1.3/5.
Crop Stomp
Next up, we have Crop Stomp! You control a farmer with a rather unique approach for harvesting his crops. You'll see crops and moles in front of you in various arrangements. You'll touch and hold the stylus as you step right in front of these to launch them in the air, and flick the stylus to either bump the crops into your basket or get the moles out of the way. Stomp your way to a bountiful harvest!!
Gimmicks
There is different timing with which you need to hit the vegetables and the moles. For the vegetables, you need to flick the stylus one beat after you tap it. With the moles, you need to flick the stylus half a beat after you tap it. You do get a chance to practice before playing the real thing, at least.
How to Get That Superb
The criteria for a Superb are fairly straightforward here. You just need to have good timing on the initial stomps, as well as when catching vegetables and batting away moles. Nothing that can't be done with enough practice!
Difficulty Rating
I'll go ahead and give this a 1.4/5, it's fairly simple and straightforward but the moles are enough to offer a bit of a challenge. I didn't realize how few of them were actually here if I'm being honest…
Freeze Frame
Moving on, we have Freeze Frame! You play as a race photographer getting photos of the cars in this race! You'll tap the stylus to take photos of the cars that pass by. After you hear the audio cues for the cars, you'll need to be quick on the draw in order to get your perfect shots!
Gimmicks
There are two types of cars you'll see here: small, slow, yellow cars, and a bigger, faster car that looks like a carrot. The yellow cars will appear in groups of two or three, and you'll see them drive across the screen before you hear the audio cue for them. With the carrot car, you'll only ever see one of those at a time, and you'll see it drive across the screen as the audio cue is playing. No matter which car it is though, you'll only have one beat of nothing after you hear the audio cue before you need to tap the touchscreen to take the photo. Additionally, near the end there will be a crowd of fans blocking the segment of the track that you can see cars racing on before you need to take the photos. You'll also have the occasional passerby walking in front of your view throughout this rhythm minigame. They're really making you pay attention to the audio cues with this one…
How to Get That Superb
Pretty straightforward criteria for a Superb here as well. You just need to have good timing when taking the photos, and not get thrown off by the presence of the crowd near the end. I've noticed a lot of the Superb criteria in this game is a lot simpler in this game compared to Tengoku and part of me wonders if that's because they wanted to make it seem a bit more beginner friendly for the people who just happen to own a DS and randomly decided to play this game.
Difficulty Rating
We'll go ahead and give this one a 1.5/5, it feels warranted with the extra challenge of part of the track being obscured at certain points.
The Dazzles
The last normal rhythm minigame of this set is The Dazzles! You play as an auditioning member of an idol group for a TV performance. You'll tap and hold the touchscreen to crouch according to the audio cue, then when the time comes you'll flick up to pose! Here's to a successful audition!!
Gimmicks
There are a few different patterns in which your groupmates will stop crouching and pose. You'll be the last (or one of the last) to pose for all of them, so all you really need to do is be mindful of the timing!
How to Get That Superb
Some interesting criteria for a Superb on this one. First, you just need to have good timing throughout. Second, there is one instance close to the end where you'll have to flick the touchscreen on the offbeat. You will need to perfectly hit that cue. Finally, there is one posing pattern that isn't in the practice. You will need to have perfect timing on every instance of that pattern in the rhythm minigame. Fortunately, that particular pattern is pretty easy to get a grasp on. Getting a Superb here should only take you a few tries at most.
Difficulty Rating
This is gonna get a 1.4/5 from me, mainly because the pose pattern that doesn't show up in the practice has the potential to throw players off if they aren't expecting it.
Remix 3
At last we've reached the remix for this stage! This time there's a bit of a Japanese attire theme going on. It's considerably longer than the last stage's remix as well. It almost feels like whiplash if I'm being honest… Either way, lock in for this one.
Unrelated to the length of the remix but the cars become boats in Freeze Frame and the yellow boats look like lemons which I just think is ADORABLE. (for additional context, my kitchen decor is all lemon themed so interpret that as you will)
Gimmicks
There are a few new patterns during the Dazzles segments that aren't in the original rhythm minigame, so just be mindful of those. Otherwise if it showed up in one of the other rhythm minigames in this set, it's fair game to show up here as well.
How to Get That Superb
You're all probably sick of hearing me say this by now but I'm gonna keep saying it anyways: This is a remix! Remixes all share the same lines of text for each rating! As a result, it's a lot harder to tell where the line between a Superb and an OK lives for these! The safest thing I can say is that if you can get a Superb on every other rhythm minigame in this set, you shouldn't have much trouble getting a Superb here. As long as the new patterns in The Dazzles don't throw you off too much then you should be okay.
Difficulty Rating
I haven't played this remix in a while and I didn't realize how difficult some of the Freeze Frame segments were. That combined with how long it feels like it goes on for (especially compared to the last remix) makes it worthy of a 2.3/5.
Final Remarks
This set feels just a bit bizarre if I'm being honest. More so than usual, at least. But what is a Rhythm Heaven game without those bizarre rhythm minigames? Anyways Rhythm Heaven Groove drops in less than two weeks and I am getting a bit too far into sentimental reflection land so I'm gonna call it here before I get too weepy. I'll see you here next month for Stage 4!
Brothership Boss Battle Guide
And so it's come to this - the final issue of Brothership Boss Battle Guide.
Ever since March 2025, I've been providing guides on how to beat the big bad bosses of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. I cannot believe that it's been over a year since then! I'm glad to make a recurring section about one of my favorite video games in recent years, and I'm happy to see this end on a high note! A bittersweet moment, really, as only one boss remains - Reclusa!
This is it! Mario, Luigi, Connie, and Snoutlet scale the Soli-Tree to confront Reclusa for the final battle! A long journey is about to reach its conclusion, but Reclusa isn't willing to go down without a fight! Not just any fight, a big, grand, epic one! FOR CONCORDIA!!
Reclusa's battle is split across multiple phases. I will go over every phase before I talk about the recommended gear, Battle Plugs, and hints for the entire battle.
First phase - chasing Reclusa
When Mario and Luigi confront Reclusa at the top of his fortress, he makes a run for the giant tree in the distance. Doom Blooms block the way, so Snoutlet creates a giant plug for the brothers to use so they can chase after him. This part of the fight is very unique because it's not your traditional fight and more of a Luigi Logic, even if it isn't actually one!
Before I get into it, here are Reclusa's stats.
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
45 | Soli-Tree | 4,812 | 250 | 214 | 582 | Flying | 33000 | 0 | None |
Before the chase begins, the text Chase down and defeat Reclusa! appears on the screen, followed by a tutorial:
- Page 1: While moving forward, dodge the Doom Blooms. Tilt
to the left and right to steer. Press 
to throw a fireball. Press 
to throw an ice ball. - Page 2: The Doom Blooms have two types of shots. Cancel out the ice shots with fireballs and the fire shots with ice balls.
- Page 3: Reclusa also has two types of attacks. If he is charging ice, use fireballs continuously, and if he is charging fire, keep throwing ice balls to interrupt his attack.
- Page 4: If you succeed, Reclusa will become vulnerable for a moment. Hold one of
to charge up the bomb. Release the button to launch. If you hit Reclusa, he'll fall down.
After closing the tutorial, there is a countdown of 3, 2, 1, GO! before the chase begins!
As the tutorial states, you must move side to side to avoid the Doom Blooms that pop up out of the ground while you pursue Reclusa. When a Doom Bloom emerges, it will spit out a fire or ice ball directly at Mario and Luigi. The brothers have their Fire and Ice forms, so you can toss a projectile of the opposite element to get rid of it, or you can dodge. The Doom Blooms stick around after attacking, so you have to dodge them too! Fire and ice have no effect on them, only their projectiles.
If you crash because of a Doom Bloom or elemental projectile, you'll be knocked off the plug and find yourself in a battle with a few enemies. Once they're defeated, Snoutlet will provide another plug, allowing you to continue chasing after Reclusa.
Here is a list of every enemy that can be encountered during this phase along with their stats!
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
44 | Soli-Tree | 632 | 270 | 194 | 170 | Normal, flying | 0 | 0 | None |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 433 | 173 | 349 | 206 | Glohm, Bowser's Army | 0 | 0 | Super Syrup Jar (2%) Ultra Syrup Jar (1%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 1038 | 243 | 223 | 255 | Flying | 0 | 0 | Ultra Mushroom (4%) Max Mushroom (1%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 721 | 243 | 291 | 204 | Glohm, Spiked, Zok Troop | 0 | 0 | Super Mushroom (4%) Ultra Mushroom (1%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 1,202 | 208 | 175 | 255 | Glohm, flying, Bowser's Army | 0 | 0 | Refreshing Herb (7%) Max Nut (2%) Glohm Dust (12%) Glohm Fragment (15%) Glohm Crystal (17%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 1,658 | 256 | 223 | 196 | Normal (Zokkarang form), Spiked (Spike form), Flying (Jet form) | 0 | 0 | Ultra Nut (7%) Max Nut (2%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
43 | Soli-Tree | 32 | 231 | 1,746 | 289 | Normal | 0 | 0 | Ultra Syrup Jar (2%) Max Syrup Jar (1%) |
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
44 | Soli-Tree | 3,086 | 265 | 265 | 266 | Normal | 0 | 0 | Ultra Syrup Jar (10%) Max Syrup Jar (3%) |
Depending on Reclusa's current HP, the combination of enemies may change. Reclusiffs and Glohm Koopa Troopas appear when Reclusa is at full or near full HP, and Glohm Spike Zok Troopers, Glohm Magikoopas, and Weeping Troopers show up when Reclusa takes lots of damage. The battles always have at least one Doom Bloom (I'll mention their attacks later as they're weak for now and you can avoid them), but there may be more than one in the battle. I have not seen any Seedlusas in this battle, but the Mario Wiki says they can show up, so be careful if you see one!
After chasing Reclusa for long enough, he will stop fleeing and appear in front of the Mario Bros. with either a fire or ice barrier. You must spam projectiles of the opposite element ( for ice barriers and fire barriers) until the barrier disintegrates. Reclusa will then be vulnerable - charge up a large elemental projectile by holding any of the four main buttons (, ,, or ). When it's ready, release the button to toss it at Reclusa, dealing a good amount of damage and sending him plummeting to the ground. He will then be dazed for a few turns, allowing for you to pummel him!
While he's like this, all damage dealt to Reclusa will be criticals, and he won't be able to fight back. Use this opportunity to deal as much damage to him as possible! After a few turns, Reclusa will snap out of it and flee once more, beginning another chase sequence. There will be more Doom Blooms blocking your way, so stay sharp!
Once Reclusa loses all of his HP, he is defeated! Enjoy that large amount of EXP, because you'll certainly need it for what's to come...
Second phase - Weeping Reclusa
It couldn't have been that easy right? The answer is no, because Reclusa's still full of energy and has now entered the Soli-Tree, becoming Weeping Reclusa!
Being a giant tree, he smacks away Bowser and his airship as if they're flies. He also creates a cloud of Glohm(?) and makes Mario, Luigi, and Snoutlet pass out. Thankfully, Connie arrives and imbues the brothers with the Bond Energy they've gathered, getting them back on their feet and removing the Glohm Cloud. Snoutlet gives the brothers a motivational speech before the true final battle begins!
In this phase of the fight, Mario and Luigi battle against four Doom Blooms at the base of Weeping Reclusa. here are the stats of these Doom Blooms!
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
45 | Soli-Tree | 2,256 | 263 | 203 | 55 | Normal, flying | 0 | 0 | None |
IMPORTANT NOTE: Mario and Luigi's HP and BP fully refill when this phase starts! Same goes with all Battle Plugs - they're fully charged and ready for usage!
Before anything happens, one of the Doom Blooms eats Snoutlet. Your goal here is to defeat the Doom Bloom that has Snoutlet so you can perform a Luigi Logic! Between turns, Snoutlet may get spit out and eaten by another Doom Bloom, so you must keep track of where he is!
The Doom Blooms have some attacks:
Bites: One or two Doom Blooms rise up close to either Mario or Luigi. They will then chirp before lunging at the target in an attempt to bite him. If a low Doom Bloom chirps, then it'll lunge directly at Mario or Luigi. If a high one chirps, it will strike above the target, so don't jump. Sometimes while chirping Doom Blooms look upwards and yellow lines are visible. If this happens, they will do the opposite (low ones strike above the target, and high ones directly bite the target). Landing on a Doom Bloom after a direct bite attempt will damage it. After several bites, the attack ends.
- If there are four Doom Blooms remaining in the battle, two each will appear in front of Mario and Luigi. After one "duo" of Doom Blooms attacks, the camera view will change to show the other character, who must avoid attacks. Only one character gets attacked at a time.
Fire and ice balls: One or two Doom Blooms will spit balls of fire and ice at the Mario Bros. Their projectiles must be countered with hammers. While a Doom Bloom prepares a fire or ice ball, look at it carefully to see who it's aiming for. Fireballs travel faster than ice balls. After multiple projectiles, the attack ends. Fireballs can inflict the Burn status effect while ice balls can Freeze.
- If two Doom Blooms attack together, interesting things can happen. If both of them attack one character with opposite elements, the projectiles with cancel out each other before any damage can be done. If they attack Mario or Luigi with only one element, the projectiles will combine to form a bigger fire or ice ball. When this is countered, a small piece of it will fly towards the other character, which must be countered as well.
Weeping Reclusa doesn't just watch Mario and Luigi battle the Doom Blooms. He has some attacks of his own:
- Arm swipe: Weeping Reclusa sweeps the ground with one of his arms. Mario and Luigi must jump over it to avoid harm. If Reclusa uses his right arm, Luigi must jump before Mario. If he uses his left, then Mario is first. If a character gets hit by this attack, they'll fly towards the screen. Oof! If both brothers avoid the sweep, the boss may perform another one.
- If a character lands directly on the hand (not the empty space between fingers) of Weeping Reclusa, he'll grab on. After the sweep, the boss will then fling that character towards the ground. If the other brother is available, he must catch his sibling by holding down the correct button ( if Mario is available and if Luigi is available) right before impact. If both characters are stuck to Weeping Reclusa's hand, they'll both be flung to the ground, resulting in unavoidable damage.
- If a character lands directly on the hand (not the empty space between fingers) of Weeping Reclusa, he'll grab on. After the sweep, the boss will then fling that character towards the ground. If the other brother is available, he must catch his sibling by holding down the correct button (
- Giant seeds: Weeping Reclusa tosses giant seeds at Mario and Luigi. While a seed is in the air, look closely at the direction it's spinning. If it spins left, it's going for Luigi. Spinning right means Mario is the target. Mario and Luigi must deflect the seeds with their hammers to avoid damage. Deflecting a seed will cause the character to shudder for a second or two, but this doesn't mean anything. If Mario or Luigi get hit by a seed, he'll be launched off the screen. A small rock from the impact will then land on the other character, which must be repelled. Getting hit by the rock may result in the character becoming Dizzy. If Weeping Reclusa tosses a seed that isn't spinning, both brothers must strike it at the same time to send it to Weeping Reclusa, stunning him for a few turns. If only one character hits it, it will simply be deflected. Non-spinning seeds are always the last ones to be thrown.
- Elemental fury: Weeping Reclusa creates either 4 or 6 ice crystals before sending them to Mario and Luigi. Pay attention to the order they appear, because it'll be the same for when they're sent out. Icd crystals on the left of Reclusa go for Luigi, while right ones fly at Mario. Counter the ice crystals with the hammers to shatter them. Getting hit by one may result in the victim being frozen!
- After all ice crystals are sent out, Weeping Reclusa prepares a giant fireball to send at the brothers. Mario and Luigi join together to strike it with both hammers. You must mash to repel it back at Weeping Reclusa, stunning him for a few turns if successful. If only one character is active, they will run around in panic, resulting in an unavoidable attack that deals big damage and possibly the Burn status effect.
- After all ice crystals are sent out, Weeping Reclusa prepares a giant fireball to send at the brothers. Mario and Luigi join together to strike it with both hammers. You must mash
Stunning Weeping Reclusa is great because he won't be able to interfere for a few turns, allowing you to focus on the Doom Blooms. There is no way to stun the boss from his arm swipe attack. Additionally, if a character is frozen before Weeping Reclusa attacks, he'll instantly break free. That's good!
If a Doom Bloom that doesn't contain Snoutlet is defeated, Snoutlet will remind you to save him. Once Snoutlet is free, Luigi will have an idea for a Luigi Logic opportunity when it's his turn. If all four Doom Blooms are vanquished, four more will instantly spawn. Basically, there's an endless amount of them.
Luigi Logic
For this Luigi Logic, Snoutlet creates another giant plug for the brothers to use to get the top of Weeping Reclusa. The text Rush over to Weeping Reclusa! appears on the screen, followed by another tutorial:
- Page 1: Keep moving while dodging obstacles. Tilt to the left and right to move. Press to throw a fireball. Press to throw an ice ball.
- Page 2: There are two types of shots that will rain down. Cancel out the ice shots with fireballs and fire shots with ice balls.
- Page 3: At the end, Weeping Reclusa will attack. Hold one of to charge up the bomb, and release it to launch! This will cancel out the foe's attacks.
3, 2, 1, GO!
The Bros. scale Weeping Reclusa with the giant plug. They must dodge spiky vines in the way by moving left and right. Additionally, Weeping Reclusa attacks with fire and ice projectiles. If they hit the "ground", they'll leave behind fire or ice, which must also be avoided. Fireballs and ice balls will be thrown directly at the boss's projectiles, so you don't have to worry about aiming. It's best to get rid of them so you can only focus on dodging the vines.
After a little bit, Weeping Reclusa will charge up for a strong blast. You must prepare the Bro Bomb by holding down either , , , or and then fire it at the blast to destroy it! Afterwards, Mario and Luigi will successfully enter Weeping Reclusa, continuing the fight. Be careful! If you crash into any obstacle or fail to counter the blast, Mario and Luigi will fall back down to the base of Weeping Reclusa. Snoutlet will get eaten again, and you must save him - again! Try not to fail.
Third phase - Weeping Core
Now inside the giant tree, Mario and Luigi confront Reclusa! The boss protects himself in a spiky, sturdy exterior, becoming Weeping Core! Here are the stats of it:
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
46 | Soli-Tree | 5,100 | 285 | 397 | 620 | Spiked | 0 | 0 | None |
Another important note: Mario and Luigi's HP and BP are fully restored upon entering this phase! Battle Plugs are unaffected though.
Weeping Core has two attacks:
- Spiny spin: Weeping Core extends four of its spikes and spins in place. Mario and Luigi must jump over the spikes to avoid damage - landing on them hurts! While Spinning, Weeping Core may stop and begin rotating the opposite direction. Furthermore, the boss fluctuates in speed; it can randomly speed up or slow down, so you gotta pay attention and not get hurt! This attack lasts for a while, but the Weeping Core will end the attack after four total spins, so the boss changes directions three times during the attack's duration. This attack may inflict the Trip status effect.
- Spiky roll: Weeping Core moves to an optimal spot before rolling at Mario. This boss must be repelled with a well-timed hammer strike, which will knock back and damage Weeping Core. After a successful counter, Mario's hammer will fly out of his hands, prompting Mario to run and grab it. Weeping Core will then charge at Luigi, who must do the same. After Luigi counters the boss, his hammer flies out of his hands, causing him to run and retrieve it. This gives Mario enough time to reclaim his hammer before Weeping Core strikes again. This is a process that continues a few more times, with Weeping Core getting knocked back further and it charging faster with each successful counter, making it harder to repel the boss the longer the attack goes on. If Mario or Luigi get hit by Weeping Core, they'll take high damage and possibly have their DEF lowered by 30%. They'll also get launched far away themselves. This means if the other brother counters Weeping Core, the boss will charge while he retrieves his hammer. Because there's nobody to repel it, Weeping Core charges straight ahead, ending the attack.
- If Mario and Luigi counterattack enough times, Weeping Core will jump at the brothers. The brothers must then use their hammers to launch Weeping Core back one last time, damaging it and ending the attack. You must mash to repel Weeping Core for good.
- If Mario and Luigi counterattack enough times, Weeping Core will jump at the brothers. The brothers must then use their hammers to launch Weeping Core back one last time, damaging it and ending the attack. You must mash
Weeping Core has the ability to analyze attacks you do. After performing a normal or Bros. Attack, Weeping Core will say "Analyzing (attack name)..." If you use the same attack twice during this phase, Weeping Core will fully analyze it, drastically reducing its effectiveness for the rest of the fight. This carries on to the final phase as well, so watch out! Thus, I encourage you to use a diverse array of Bros. Attacks so you can defeat the Weeping Core before it fully analyzes one of them! If the basic hammer attack is analyzed, counterattacks during the boss's charge attack won't be affected.
Once the Weeping Core is dealt with it explodes, revealing Reclusa. It's now time to take him down once and for all!
Final phase - Reclusa
Reclusa's much more dangerous than he was at the first phase of this fight! Here are his stats:
| Image | Level | Location | HP | POW | DEF | SPD | Type | EXP | Coins | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
46 | Soli-Tree | 10,000 | 290 | 250 | 602 | Flying | 0 | 0 | None |
He's no longer dizzy, so now Reclusa has actual attacks!
- Petrifying onslaught: Reclusa points at Mario or Luigi before doing... something to them. It looks like they're petrified, but they can still barely move... hmm. Anyway, that character will be unable to move, so the other character runs over and carries his brother like he's KO'd. Reclusa then flies over and lets loose with a barrage of attacks: He can imbue his "hair" with fire or ice before swiping at Mario or Luigi, dealing damage and possibly burning or freezing depending on the element. Reclusa may also use his actual arms to shoot energy orbs directly at the free character. These orbs can inflict the Trip status effect. Reclusa can swap between his elemental attacks or energy orbs during the duration of this attack, and they each have different timings - elemental swipes are slower-paced, while the orbs are faster. Because the free character is carrying his brother during this attack, your jumps are delayed a little! Think of this attack like one when a brother is KO'd, except they're not actually KO'd. Any damage taken will only be dealt to the free character. But wait, because it's not over yet:
- Giant orb: After Reclusa attacks enough times, he will prepare a giant orb that he intends to slam down on Mario and Luigi. Now, the free brother must use his hammer to counter the orb before it's too late. Successfully repelling the orb will cause it to fall on Reclusa, damaging him. After this orb, the incapacitated brother will regain his senses and the attack will end. NOTE: If the free brother gets KO'd during Reclusa's onslaught, the attack will immediately end and the "petrified" brother reverts back to normal.
- Reclusa clones: Reclusa creates six duplicates of himself, and all of them group together. Then, all of their screen faces turn to static, and three of the seven Reclusas show either an "M" or "L". Afterwards, The Reclusas regain their normal faces and they begin charging up energy to shoot energy projectiles one-by-one, but not all of them charge up. If a Reclusa that showed "M" charges up, he will shoot at Mario. Ones that show "L" go for Luigi. Clones that didn't show a letter will miss. The Bros. must counterattack the shots to send them back, destroying the clones and dealing damage to Reclusa. After most Reclusas attack, every remaining one shows an eye on their screens and charges up at the same time before firing at once. Thankfully, Mario and Luigi can counter multiple projectiles at once. Destroyed clones will not partake in the final attack. After all Reclusas attack at once, the remaining clones all combine to form Reclusa and the attack ends. This attack can inflict the Glohm status effect.
Like I said earlier; if Weeping Core fully analyzes an attack, its effectiveness will also be reduced in this phase of the battle. Don't forget that!
When Reclusa is at half HP or less, he will become unhinged and much more threatening. His existing attacks become tougher to dodge and he gains a brand new one! He also talks during all of his attacks now, but don't attempt to read what he says because you'll be distracted and get hurt. First, let me analyze the changes in the attacks he already had:
- Petrifying onslaught: Reclusa attacks more than he did before at a faster speed.
- Powerful orb: After the onslaught, Reclusa charges up a giant orb like before. However, he flies up into the air and speaks one of three lines before throwing it. If he says "Burn!" the orb will become fiery and grow in size as it flies towards the brothers. If Reclusa says "Give up!" the orb will shrink as it gets closer to the Bros. Reclusa can also say "Disappear!" If this happens, the orb will turn invisible right before it hits Mario and Luigi, so you must keep track of it. Regardless of what happens, if you successfully counter the orb, it will be sent back to Reclusa, damaging him. If you fail, BOTH Mario and Luigi will take massive damage. The fire orb can burn Mario and Luigi!
- Reclusa clones: Reclusa creates seven clones instead, making for a total of eight Reclusas. Only three of them directly attack Mario and Luigi, but you have less time to see which ones will. All Reclusas attack faster and more of them attack individually before they all fire at once.
Now for Reclusa's new attack:
- Explosions: Before attacking, Reclusa shows either four or six letters (either "M" or "L") on his screen face. Both letters appear the same amount of times - two of each if there's a total of four, and three each if there are six total letters. Reclusa then flies up and points at the ground beneath Mario and Luigi in the same order, creating explosions beneath them. Remember that order so you know who he's going for! The brothers must jump over the explosions to avoid taking damage. The explosions can cause the Trip status effect. For the last letter however, Reclusa doesn't create an explosion. Instead, he fires an orb that lands in front of his target, creating a shockwave that both Mario and Luigi must jump over. Whoever is targeted last by Reclusa must jump first. The shockwave is stronger than the explosions, and it can inflict the Glohm status effect.
When Reclusa loses all of his HP, he's defeated for good! As he disintegrates away, he apologizes for his actions... NOT! In a last-ditch effort, Reclusa breaks the floor and sends him and the brothers plummeting. As they all fall, Mario and Luigi prepare to put an end to Reclusa once and for all.
In this sequence, you must press when Mario and Luigi's bond power is fully charged to attack Reclusa. If you press at the wrong time, the damage will be weak. As the brothers continue striking Reclusa, their bond energy charges up faster and the damage gets stronger and stronger. If you pay close attention to Reclusa, his expression changes from maniacal to sad and his screen face shorts out more and more. Eventually, the brothers slowly charge up energy for their final attack - they both smash Reclusa's head, shattering his screen!
In Reclusa's final moments, he questions why bonds make everyone stronger. Connie gives him a stern talking to before Reclusa disintegrates for real, saving Concordia and all of its inhabitants. Awesome!
Tips and tricks
Recommended gear
Woo! This is the final time I have to present an extremely long gear list. All gear since the Extension Corps battle is still viable here, but we do have some new additions. As always, the Great Conductor gear is still the best stuff available in the shop! Be sure to visit Conductor Island to get them!
Boots: Great Conductor Boots (also increases SPEED by 8 points and STACHE by 5 points)
Hammer: Great Conductor Hammer (also increases DEF by 7 points and STACHE by 5 points)
Wear: Great Conductor Wear (also increases STACHE by 12)
Astonishing gear pieces are still good, but for the "gear that isn't found at shops" list, I'm only mentioning gear stronger than the Great Conductor stuff:
Boots
- Forge Boots DX: Awarded for clearing the Jellyfish Pizza minigame on hard mode. It is 7 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots, and also has the passive ability of increasing damage dealt by 30% when the wearer's HP is low. If you take a risk, you may get rewarded well...
- Crowd Control Boots DX: Found in a ? Block in the lower level of the Soli-Tree. These are 7 points stronger than the Great Conductor Boots and have the ability of dealing higher damage if there are many enemies. That could be useful during the Weeping Reclusa phase of the fight.
- Accel Boots DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Snaptors in the endgame. 3 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots (with a 4 point increase to SPEED) and increases SPEED by 30% whenever an enemy is defeated. If you accidentally defeat the wrong Doom Bloom during the Weeping Reclusa phase, at least you'll get a boost.
- En Garde Boots DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Curlups in the endgame. Same stats as Accel Boots DX, but their ability allows you to deal 30% more damage to an undamaged enemy, making them useful here. Start out with a strong attack!
- Adaphnikki Boots and Adaphne Boots: They have the same POW as Great Conductor Boots, but both have unique properties. Adaphnikki Boots increases damage dealt with Jump-attack combos by 30%, while Adaphne Boots increases the strength of single Jump attacks by 30%. You can only get one of these Boots, and they're both from the Dueling Geniuses side quest. If you let both Adaphne and Technikki work together, you'll get the Adaphnikki Boots. If Adaphne worked on her own, then you'll receive Adaphne Boots instead.
- Pipegunk Boots DX: 11 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots, with a bonus if 4 points to DEF. They also allow you to deal 30% more damage to foes suffering from status effects. Reclusa isn't affected by any, but his minions could be, but still - these are strong! You gotta beat Glohm Pipegunk to get 'em though.
- Master Boots: The strongest Boots there are (15 points stronger than Great Conductor Boots)! Jump attacks are 20% stronger and faster, making normal attacks a bit tougher to perform. The damage bonus is worth it however! To get these, you must get 30 EXCELLENTS with the Conductor Connector Bros. Attack (Conductor Connector Expert Challenge).
Hammers
- Knockout Hammer DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Drillbies. It is three points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer (with four points in DEF too) and increases POW by 20% whenever an enemy is defeated. Can help if you defeat the wrong Doom Bloom in the Weeping Reclusa phase.
- Whittledown Hammer DX: Found in a Hidden Block in the lower level of the Soli-Tree. 7 points stronger than the Great Conductor Hammer, and allows for more damage to be dealt if there are few enemies. This could help against the Weeping Core, but you won't be able to perform many Hammer attacks because it'll analyze them.
- Glohm Hammer: Rarely dropped by Weeping Troopers. 11 points stronger than the Great Conductor Hammer (with a 4 point bonus to SPEED) and increases the damage of solo Hammer attacks by 30%. The strength of the hammer makes it worth equipping, but you should prioritize reviving if someone goes down.
- Gamble Hammer DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Milltons. Is 7 points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer (with 5 points to STACHE). Whenever an enemy is defeated, a random stat increases. Like the other gear pieces that have effects from defeating foes, this can help if you defeat the wrong Doom Bloom by mistake.
- Master Hammer: Earned by clearing the Max-Mix Vortex Expert Challenge. It's the strongest hammer in the game (15 points stronger than Great Conductor Hammer) and increases the damage and speed of hammer attacks by 20%. Normal attacks will be tougher to perform, but the strength makes it worth it!
Wear
- Whittledown Wear DX: Earned by completing the Last Groove Dance. It is 12 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear and has the nice bonus of reducing additional damage if there are fewer enemies. Great against the Weeping Core and Reclusa!
- Repel Wear DX: Found after clearing a puzzle on Morsel Islet. It's 12 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear. Its bonus of reducing additional damage if lots of enemies are present helps against the Doom Blooms in the Weeping Reclusa phase.
- Full-Belly Wear DX: Rarely dropped by Seedlusas. This is 17 points stronger than Great Conductor Wear and decreased damage taken by 30% if you're at full health. Awesome!
- Blocky Hammer Wear DX: Found inside a ? Block on Dropplet Islet, but you'll have to take down three Glohm Shower Fish to get it. It's the same strength as Great Conductor Wear (with a bonus of 4 points to SPEED), but it also decreases damage taken by 20% if you miss countering an attack.
- Zokket Wear: Found inside a Hidden ? Block at Fortress Zokket. It is the same strength as Great Conductor Wear and also increases SPEED by 4. Furthermore, it reduces damage taken by 30% when the other brother is absent or KO'd, allowing for a less stressful revival when fighting as a duo.
- Liberation Wear DX: Rarely dropped by Glohm Palookas in the endgame. It has four more points in DEF and POW than Great Conductor Wear, and it increases SPEED by 30% whenever you take damage.
Use whatever gloves and accessories you wish! Bring ones that fit your playstyle.
Recommended Battle Plugs
I really want to say "All Battle Plugs are useful in their own right" but that's not only lazy writing, but it also isn't true. Coinpiler is useless for example! Here are A LOT of Battle Plugs I recommend for this epic fight, all sorted into Offense, Defense, and Other categories!
Offense
Anti-Flying Specialist: Not only does this help against high Doom Blooms, but it's also fantastic in the final phase, as Reclusa is flying! Remember that only normal attacks and counterattacks cause criticals while this is equipped.
Anti-Flying Specialist: Very useful during the Weeping Core phase of the fight, especially if you counter the boss's rolling attack well. Be sure to remove it when the final phase starts. as it'll no longer be of use.
Empower Counters: So many great counterattack opportunities in the entire battle (except the first phase)! Take advantage of that with Empower Counters!
Bros. Boost and Performance Bonus: Do I even need to explain this combo anymore? Power up your Bros. Attacks and only use the normal amount of BP! Make sure you get EXCELLENTS or you won't get a refund...
Waitaminnit: Attacking twice in one turn allows for more damage and less turns for the foes. It's even better if both attacks are Bros. Attacks powered up with the two aforementioned Plugs! You can unleash your full strength whenever you want, but I'd save Waitaminnit for the last phase, as it's the most difficult.
Auto EXCELLENT: This takes off lots of pressure during the Weeping Core phase because you'll get through it quicker without the worry of messing up. Can also be great for Conductor Connector due to how difficult it is to get EXCELLENTS on.
Defense
Surefooted Guard: Lots of Tripping going on here, especially in the last two phases. Prevent tripping with this Plug! Dizzy is also present, albeit it isn't as common.
Temperature Guard: There's lots of fire and ice throughout this entire battle, so have this equipped if you hate getting burned and frozen!
Auto Herb: Auto Herb works for any harmful status effect, but it only has a 50% chance to cure Glohm. Nevertheless, this is nice to have if you want a Battle Plug that can cure many different status effects, but take note that it only happens when it's a character's turn.
Glohm Guard: Reclusa can inflict Glohm in the final phase of the fight. Have it on if you don't wanna get Glohmed!
Auto Ampberry: If Glohm Guard is recharging, this'll be a nice substitute, assuming you have Ampberries on you.
Easy-Peasy Counters: Every phase has at least one incredibly difficult attack to avoid (except the first phase obviously), so it's always nice to have this equipped.
Notdroppin: The majority of Reclusa's attacks hit multiple times, but being able to take an extra hit may come in handy in a pinch. One last reminder that Notdroppin only activates once per attack, so you'll get KO'd if you get hit after it activates.
Protectus: Has only 3 uses before it has to recharge, but completely nullifies all damage taken, no matter how many hits there are in a single attack! Only one charge goes down per enemy turn (if you get hit). Note that this won't save you from status effects like Glohm.
Other
Boomerang Items: Nothin' like using a Max Nut or Max Candy and getting it back for free. Recover with your best items without losing them!
Item Share: Allows both Mario and Luigi to receive the effects on an item. A Max Candy fully restores the HP and BP of both brothers, allowing for a swift recovery!
Auto Mushroom, Auto Syrup Jar, and Deluxe Auto: Any of the first two combined with Deluxe Auto ensures top notch recovery while not using up turns!
Auto 1-Up: Get a KO'd brother back on his feet without using a turn!
Charge Bank: This Battle Plug is very unique because it increases the amount of times you can use other Battle Plugs. It's more effective when paired with strong, low-charge Battle Plugs, such as Protectus and Waitaminnit. However, you may waste this one's charges if you have high-charge Plugs with common effects. Therefore, it's recommended to only use this with the most important Plugs to have them around longer before they need to recharge.
Other things
I will be providing helpful info based on each phase for easier reading!
General
It goes without saying, but make sure you're prepared for this! Get to at least level 46 and bring plenty of items.
Reclusa is a flying enemy, which means hammer attacks, Green Shell and Clockout Blow won't reach him. If you miss, Reclusa's expression changes to taunt you.
Despite causing Glohm, Reclusa IS NOT a Glohm Enemy. The Anti-Glohm Specialist Battle Plug does not work against him.
Chasing Reclusa
Mario and Luigi throw fire and ice balls straight ahead. Sometimes it may be better to dodge the Doom Bloom's attacks rather than get rid of their elemental projectiles.
Mash fireballs if Reclusa has an ice shield, and mash ice balls if he has a fire barrier instead. You can hold down any of the four buttons () to charge the Bro Bomb.
Go all out against Reclusa while he's stunned! Everything replenishes when the Weeping Reclusa phase starts.
Weeping Reclusa
Conductor Connector and Max-Mix Vortex help greatly when dealing with the Doom Blooms, as they deal massive damage. Jump Helmet also helps if you know where Snoutlet is. Speaking of...
Keep track of where Snoutlet is! One way is to number the Doom Blooms and repeatedly say (or think) the numbered Doom Bloom that has Snoutlet. He can get spit out multiple times during the battle. You only need to free Snoutlet to initiate the Luigi Logic!
Jump over Weeping Reclusa's arm to fully avoid his attack! If a brother gets caught, hold down the button of the free character to catch them, although timing is needed.
You can tell Doom Blooms will bite in the opposite direction when you see yellow lines close to them before they attack.
You don't have to stun Weeping Reclusa to perform a Luigi Logic.
During the Luigi Logic, Mario and Logic throw fire and ice balls directly at incoming projectiles, so you don't have to worry about aiming. I mash both and constantly so I don't have to deal with any elemental attacks. Be sure to watch put for vines!
Mario and Luigi's HP and BP will fully restore upon reaching Weeping Core. Battle Plugs won't be recharged, however.
Weeping Core
To prevent the boss from fully analyzing an attack, use every Bros. Attack at least once before using them again! Start out with your stronger ones (for example, Conductor Connector, Max-Mix Vortex, and Clockout Blow) to make the phase go by quicker. Yes, even Jump Helmet works here. It doesn't make sense, I know.
if the Weeping Core fully analyzes basic hammer attacks, counterattacks won't have their damage reduced.
The spin attack is one of the hardest attacks to avoid in the entire game. Watch for speed changes and don't jump too early or too late. The Easy-Peasy Counters Battle Plug makes this much easier to dodge.
Fully analyzed attacks will be weakened even in the final phase of the fight! DO NOT let Weeping Core fully analyze your strongest moves!
Reclusa's final phase
When this phase starts, you don't have to worry about the boss analyzing moves anymore. Take Reclusa down with your strongest attacks!
Reclusa becomes stronger when he's at half HP or less.
Whenever Reclusa "petrifies" a brother, the other character's dodges will be delayed a little because he's carrying him.
Destroyed clones won't participate in the final all-out projectile attack.
Only press when Mario and Luigi's Bond power is fully charged in the final sequence.
Wrapping things up!
And so, after 16 sections of fun boss fights, Brothership Boss Battle Guide comes to a close. It's been a fun journey, but unfortunately it must end. It's a bittersweet moment for me; on one hand, that's one less section for me to write each month, but we lose a Strategy Wing section... Hey, maybe YOU could write the next boss battle section! It doesn't have to be Mario-related; you could write about your favorite video game!
As for me, it'll be a while before I write another section like this (if I ever decide to). Thanks for sticking around this long to read these goofy guides! I'm glad I could entertain you, even if Mario & Luigi: Brothership isn't as prominent as it once was.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rest. So... goodbye!
So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?
Welcome back to So You Want to Romance the Three Kingdoms?, The 'Shroom's most informative and only strategy guide on Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Last month, despite me writing like 3,500 words, almost nothing happened in those words! Wait, no! Where are you going!? Come back, I promise this month will be more interesting!
Step 24: Turns Out Being Broke Kind of Sucks
We start in the month of August 192 and we're, quite frankly, flat broke! Between the five cities under Lord Kong Rong's command, we have a combined 660 gold! Though this doesn't count the gold spread out between our various infrastructure projects. So, what does that mean? It means we're about to do fuck all between now and the next tax time! Without money, we can't conscript more troops, we can't reward our loyal officers, and we can't purchase necessary war needs like horses! In addition, if one of our infrastructure projects runs out of money, that's it! It's just finished until January!
One cool thing is that, unlike in Nobunaga's Ambition, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire you can actually declare war without money! The soldiers under Lord Kong Rong don't require gold; they fight only to unify China. In fact, not only do they not want gold, but there isn't even a mechanic for me to give them gold! While we could declare war, we're not going to because we're still trying to raise our army's training stat to match Liu Bei's army.
Now, running out of gold is very common, especially in the early game when you're trying to build up your city and army. Most of your gold during these lean times should be allocated to improving the economy or to farming. What I usually do at this point is put between 1,000 and 2,000 gold (depending on how much I get from a city at tax time) into both "Economy" and "Agriculture". It's an amount of money that should get them through the year. Then I keep the rest either for the raising of more soldiers or for buying provisions. Though later on, once we've really got a few cities up and going, we'll be getting so much money and provisions that both will be meaningless!
Until then, we're going to ship the money Gao Lan has into the hands of Lord Kong Rong in Bei Hai. The reason we're doing this is because all the officers under Gao Lan have 100 in their loyalty stat while a number of officers in Bei Hai still have loyalty in the 70s. Since we aren't going to be recruiting any troops and we only have enough money to buy like twenty horses max, we just don't need money in Nan Pi.
I don't want to send an officer to Bei Hai, so we're going to be using the Send option, which makes this the perfect time to discuss the differences between the Move and Send options. Both options allow you to move material between cities, be they gold, provisions, etc. - you get the drift. There are three main differences between the two, though. The first is that the Move option requires you to send an officer to the target city while Send allows you to keep the officer in their current city. Secondly, the Move option only allows you to send stuff to cities which directly border the city attempting to transfer goods. In contrast, Send allows you to send material to any city you control regardless of how far away it is! You're probably asking why we would ever use the Move option if Send sounds so much better. That's because of the third difference, which is that Send has an actual risk of failure! If you use Send, bandits can attack and steal part of the shipment! Hell, they can even steal all of the shipment!
Using Send can end up with you losing everything you're trying to transfer between cities! Send is really best for when you have a lot of cities under your control and you really don't care about what you're trying to transfer. When you're trying to move all the gold from faraway feeder cities up to the front, it really doesn't matter if some or it gets stolen. If a few cities wind up having all their tax revenue stolen, it doesn't really matter because you're still bound to come out ahead just through sheer numbers. In those cases, use the Send option and avoid slowly moving stuff one city at a time!
We probably could have just used Move, but since we were dealing with such a small amount of gold, it really doesn't matter if we lose some.
After received a shipment of gold from Gao Lan, Lord Kong Rong sends the bean counters out to assess the damage. It looks like about 200 gold. If 200 gold is the difference between unifying China and getting beaten by, like, Yuan Shu in Xin Ye, then I guess it just wasn't meant to be!
Step 25: A Long Five Months
As August goes into September, two very important things happen! First, we get a visit from the esteemed Guan Lu. This is a thing that can happen from time to time. Wandering figures (who I don't believe can be recruited) will just show up and tell you stuff. They might give you information on a city or tell you about items. It's mostly worthless, and it happens very randomly. The most annoying thing by far is when you have an item like the Hereditary Seal and one of them goes "I THINK THE HEREDITARY SEAL IS FAKE!!!", because I'm like "thanks game, what am I supposed to do about this?". And the game goes "idk, figure it out, idiot!". It's a cute little feature, but it doesn't really do much. You can also visit these people yourself if they're in the area by using the Visit command in the Advice box. Anyways, the esteemed Guan Lu has important information to give us!
Thank you Guan Lu for your vital information on Hong Nong! With this information, we now know that Hong Nong (which is currently controlled by Dong Zhuo) has a troop strength of 62,000 and is governed by a single officer named Guo Jia! Now, you might be saying "hey, Shoey, isn't this information actually super useless since Hong Nong is smack in the middle of Dong Zhuo's territory and isn't even the concept of something we're even close to taking?". Dear reader, that might be true, but shut up! I'm trying to please our esteemed guest Guan Lu!
The other thing that happens is Jia Xue arriving on behalf of Dong Zhuo with a gift AGAIN. This time, he offers 1,400 barrels of provisions. Thanks, idiot! I will take your food and, no, before you ask, we are no closer to being allies!
Outside of that, we're basically in what I like to call "simulation mode". Since we don't have money, there's very little we can do. The training ended in Dia Xian with the soldiers at 95 Train. We're going to start another training session for four months (set to end in January) to try to get that up to 100. This time training will be led by new general Dong Heng. Meanwhile in Bei Hai, Lord Kong Rong, noting that Nan Pi only has a civilian spirit of 71, orders 6,000 of the 8,000 barrels of provisions in Bei Hai sent to Nan Pi. This is wise for two reasons. First, this will hopefully get Nan Pi up to 80 Spirit in time for tax season. Second, since we'll be invading from Nan Pi when we declare war on Ping Yuan, we might as well have the food already there. Lord Kong Rong entrusts Wu Anguo with this important task… and Wu completely lunks it up, with almost all the provisions being stolen by bandits! I knew we should have trusted Yuan Shang!!! Fortunately, we do get enough sent to Nan Pi to reach 80 Spirit, which is nice!
Unfortunately, that 80 Spirit is very short lived… As winter begins in October (there's snow on the ground - don't @ me!), the plague breaks out in both Nan Pi and Bei Hat! Was this a punishment for my hubris? It wasn't very Confucianist of me to celebrate the plague befalling our enemies… Uh, actually it appears this is not targeted, because the plague hit like half the map. Suspiciously, it's infecting places right by us, too… Hmm… Maybe plagues aren't punishments from heaven but are instead something else… I don't know what, though. But let me be clear; it's NOT because we don't wash our hands! That's just stupid.
Anyways, we lose 15,000 soldiers in Nan Pi and 9,000 in Bei Hai, so it could have been worse. We also took a Spirit hit in both places. Turns out people don't like their friends and family dying horribly? And they blame Lord Kong Rong for upsetting the gods and bringing such destruction? I don't know – it sounds like stupid peasant problems to me! Also, we run out of money to strengthen the economy in Xiang Ping, but we all saw that coming! Going back to the plague thing, one thing I think is kind of fun is that, if you check your reports and select the economy one after the plague, the plague will actually be mentioned as affecting the economy! There are a lot of really fun small details in this game!
In order to get back to 80 Spirit in Nan Pi, Lord Kong Rong orders 3,000 barrels of provisions to be sent from Xiang Ping to Nan Pi. An argument between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Du breaks out, each wanting to send them. Naturally, we trust our old friend Gongsun Du. Our trust is rewarded, as all the barrels arrive safely!
Skipping ahead to November, another fire breaks out in another armory. Man, I wonder who could have done that! Who do you think it could be, Liu Bei? With the soldiers in Dai Xian having reached 100 Train, Lord Kong Rong and I decide it's time to start making moves! As part of this, we order Taishi Ci to bring 110,000 soldiers from Dai Xian into the forces of Nan Pi. Hopefully the more professional troops under Taishi Ci's control will be a good influence on Gao Lan's forces!
Dong Zhuo also tries to give us a gift of twelve horses, but that's not enough horses for me to care!
In the month of December, with the invasion tentatively planned for January, Lord Kong Rong and I decide to make a change. Originally we planned to have Taishi Ci lead the charge against Liu Bei and his man Guan Yu, but while Taishi Ci is a skilled warrior and more-than-able general, his specialty is horses, not infantry. There's no guarantee that horses will be of any use in a siege, so it's decided that Zhao Yun, an equally-skilled warrior and general who specializes in all manner of warfare, shall instead move from Dai Xian to Nan Pi to lead the charge against Liu Bei. Meanwhile, Taishi Ci will return to Dai Xian with the remainder of Nan Pi's horses to assume the Governorship of Dai Xian and be in charge of leading the defenses of Dai Xian against a potential Dong Zhuo invasion!
Step 26: Shu Han? Not in My China!
With that, this long year is over. Year 192 ends and 193 begins. Reports of revolts all throughout China come in, peasants attempting to overthrow cruel and greedy lords. Of course, none of that applies to the cities guided by the wise and generous Lord Kong Rong! With our coffers overflowing, it's time to begin making moves! For starters, every place gets a fresh round of infrastructure budget. I won't go over everything. Just know I stuck with my earlier mentioned 1,000-2000 gold rule depending on what I had available. Next, every officer whose loyalty isn't already at 100 gets a fresh 100 gold reward because we're flush with cash!
Wu Anguo is tasked with bringing 60,000 of Bei Hai's finest troops to Nan Pi to bolster the already swelling forces! With them, he brings 1,000 barrels of provisions for the army. Now, since we're moving Wu Anguo (with the Move command specifically), we have no risk of failure! After that, both Bei Hai and Dai Xian begin a fresh round of conscription to bolster their forces against their neighbors. This brings Dai Xian and Bei Hai to 68,000 troops and 88,000 troops, respectively. Since Dai Xian borders Dong Zhuo, tentative plans are drawn up to conscript another fresh set of recruits once the harvest comes in. Finally for January, Bei Ping Governor Guo Tu is ordered to send excess gold to both Bei Hai and Dai Xian to bolster the defenses of the frontier cities, with both cities receiving 2,000 gold.
You might be saying "I thought war was on the agenda for January," and, well, it was, but there's a slight snag. Turns out I actually set Nan Pi's training to end in February and not January, so we have to wait a month! The wait is worth it in the end, though! Thanks to the training, the soldiers of Nan Pi, 310,000 strong, are among the strongest in all of China.
Now it is time for war! Leading the charge will be Zhao Yun along with Zhang He and Yan Liang, three of the finest generals in all of China. As the commander of the forces, Zhao Yun shall be in charge of 125,000 troops, while Zhang He will lead 100,000 troops and Yan Liang will lead 80,000 troops. With these numbers, we cannot fail! Hell, Yan Liang's 80,000 troops nearly equal the entirety of Liu Bei's army! With the order of operations set, it's time for war.
Just as I thought, Liu Bei, in an attempt to prove his worth, falls right into the jaws of my trap. Rather than defend his position from the high ground of his castle, Liu Bei decides to fight us from the field like a fool. Not only that, but he splits his forces, giving himself command of 70,000 troops and giving the much more intimidating Guan Yu command of only 30,000 troops. The absolute arrogant moron, refusing to take advantage of his most valuable piece! Attempting to take the initiative, Liu Bei charges his unit ay Zhao Yun, somehow doing 3 damage to Zhao Yun's 2 damage because the combat in this game doesn't make sense! The battle goes extremely poorly for the arrogant fool Liu Bei. For the most part, Zhang He and Zhao Yun avoid taking on Guan Yu, instead leaving Yan Liang to play keep cat-and-mouse with the small force and significantly limiting any damage Guan Yu could do.
Let me make just a quick note about the strategy of that. Basically, what I placed Yan Liang's unit in front of Guan Yu's unit. Then, on the enemy's turn, Guan Yu kept using the normal infantry attack on Yan Liang, which hit for 1 damage unit. Since I didn't need to defeat Guan Yu, on Yan Liang's turn, I generally didn't have him attack at all. If I did have him attack, I used the regular attack and not the charge attack. A charge attack does more damage, but you also take more damage in return while doing it. While the charge attack would destroy Guan Yu's unit quickly, he's not the commanding officer, so that wouldn't really do anything but cause me to lose troops unnecessarily. Charge attacks are best reserved for battles that you want to end quickly and in which you have so many soldiers that you can tank some losses or for when you're attacking either the commanding unit or something blocking the commanding unit!
While Yan Liang's unit keeps Guan Yu busy, Zhao Yun keeps up intense pressure on Liu Bei. Liu Bei quickly realizes he is in over his head and attempts to flee, but that simply allows Zhao Yun to box in Liu Bei, who finds himself trapped. The trapped Liu Bei is forced to fight Zhao Yun's overwhelming force (important note: an enemy can't flee unless he has another city under his control to which he can retreat) while Zhang He sits in the back to make sure Liu Bei can't flee.
I also set it up the way I did because of one of the plots an enemy can use. See, one thing they can do is try to trick your units into attacking each other for massive damage. While I still would have won if it happened, it just would have majorly annoyed me had it happened and I didn't need to be super aggressive anyways.
With Yan Liang's forces keeping Guan Yu preoccupied, Liu Bei stands no chance. After his last-ditch effort to set the ground ablaze fails, one final thrust from Zhao Yun's forces shatters Liu Bei's army! With that, Liu Bei is captured. Seeing Liu Bei defeated, Guan Yu lays down his legendary sword and surrenders. Ping Yuan is ours, with little in the way of casualties on our front!
Not only did we capture Liu Bei and Guan Yu, but we captured five other officers in the process! Their statuses are as follows:
Han Sui: A relatively minor official currently sitting in a jail cell until he comes to his senses.
Zhang Fei: The drunken brawler. While not a great strategist, his Power (104) makes him a top-notch duelist. He briefly managed to break free of his chains and beat three guards half to death before being subdued by Zhao Yun and Yan Liang. Rotting in a cell under the heaviest chains we could find, defiantly demanding we kill him. He is also the former holder of the Cobra, which gives +5 to Power.
Zhang Hong: The current Civilian Official of Ping Yuan. He is a young-but-skilled politician capable of spying and recruiting. He proves the first of Liu Bei's generals to bend the knee, so to speak, to Lord Kong Rong.
Jian Yong: Another politician with little skill for fighting but a talent for bureaucracy. He is also capable of negotiating on his lord's behalf, recruitment, and whatever the hell "repair" means. He was led to the dungeons of Ping Yuan while begging for release.
Guan Yu: Nicknamed the God of War. One of the most skilled generals and warriors in all of China, his talent was utterly wasted as he commanded a meager 30,000 troops under the orders of Liu Bei. Despite this, he proves to remain extremely loyal to Liu Bei. He nearly broke free of his binds attempting to acquire a sword, but is now safely locked up and will remain so until he comes to his senses. Wielder of the Black Dragon… or, well, former wielder. A blade of this caliber should be in the hands of a warrior loyal to Lord Kong Rong, not someone who still clutches to Liu Bei.
Liu Bei: The one who caused all this trouble. The one who has spread lies and vandalism all throughout Nan Pi. The one who has attempted to cause both subjects and officers to forget their loyalties to Lord Kong Rong. There is only one fate for one such as him – death! Not only for the traitor, but, sadly, for the entire family line as the law requires!
The end of Liu Bei
Good riddance to his treacherous line
Not to break the mood or anything, but let me make one quick note. Whenever you execute a ruler, you get a little line about his family line being destroyed even if it doesn't make sense. On one playthrough, I executed Cao Cao but spared his son Cao Ang after capturing him in a much earlier battle, and the game still went "The Cao line has been exterminated". I was like "what are you talking about, game? Cao Ang is right here!".
So after a fairly easy war where I DEFINITELY didn't reload my save state after accidentally losing Zhao Yun to a duel against Zhang Fei (which would have cost me the whole unit because he was the sole commander of those troops) and also didn't have Zhang He and Yan Liang's units fall for that stupid "actually, you're the enemy" trap (where they could have killed a combined 24,000 troops for nothing), Ping Yuan has been taken! Perhaps more importantly, Liu Bei is dead, and with him gone, the dreams of a potential Shu Han are just ashes in the wind.
To celebrate a crushing victory where fewer than 100,000 soldiers died (probably a record for least deaths in a Chinese battle), Lord Kong Rong has announced a banquet to celebrate. I must go now, for there I will present him with Liu Bei's Sword of Fate to remind him of the fate of those who will oppose him and continue to bring China into chaos. After the banquet, we can turn our attention to divvying up the spoils of war, but for now I really must go!
An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 6
Played by Sparks through the Mega Man Legacy Collection for the Nintendo Switch. Why not the Nintendo Switch 2? That's because I have to figure out how to transfer my data safely... nothing wrong with the first Nintendo Switch, right?
I'm glad you could be here for part 2 of An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 6! Lots of stuff happened last month, as I took down the first four Robot Masters and acquired both Rush Adaptors and the Energy Equalizer! These four remaining bosses (Yamato Man, Knight Man, Centaur Man and Wind Man) are what we'll take on in this issue.
First up is Yamato Man!
Yamato Man stage
Yamato Man's stage takes place at an impregnable fortress.
We start outside the fortress, but immediately enter it. So much for being impregnable! This first section features a brand new enemy, and there are three of them total - yellow bears that stay in place and launch out yellow bouncing orbs that can be destroyed. Their speed varies, but they shouldn't be a threat. A few shots will get the bears! One shot will destroy the projectile. Anyways, we have a few gaps to jump across, and a ladder at the end takes us upwards, but... there's a destructible block leading to a secret path! We'll need Rush Power Adaptor to get rid of it. I'm taking this secret path!
Inside this passage is a small room with another now enemy. This one is a tall warrior who also stays in place. He spins spears so fast they act as shields that protect him. After a few second, he sends a spear (still spinning) straight ahead of him. He will then grab another spear and begin spinning that one. We can damage him in the brief time we have when he's getting a new spear. He's got lots of health too, so he won't go down easily! Because he's on a ledge, we can just wait until he launches a spear, then jump up and shoot him a bunch before retreating. A pit behind another destructible blocks leads further downward.
After falling, we come across a small room with a large health powerup. After proceeding to the right, we encounter a miniboss! There's a giant frog with a samurai guy on top of it. This miniboss stays in place, but it has two attacks at its disposal: it can either fire a laser from its mouth (which can be easily jumped over or slid under) or the samurai can throw two bombs at once in a curved trajectory, exploding when they hit the ground.
This isn't that hard. The frog's eyes and the samurai are the weak points, but I recommend attacking the eyes because they're lower to the ground. The miniboss has invincibility frames when attacked, so I recommend charged Mega Buster shots to speed up the battle. After enough damage is dealt, it'll be defeated! Now we can move on. The room afterwards is also small, but there's an E Tank behind a destructible box! Oh yeah!
After climbing up, we come across another small room where we can only go right. Past that is a short corridor with a few spike jumps and two bear enemies from before. We have two ways to go: a ladder high up takes us up, and there's one on the ground that leads downward. The secret boss gate is up, so we'll use Rush Jet Adaptor and fly up there!
After climbing up this ladder, we enter a small room where we must fly over spikes to reach another ladder while a ground enemy (the one that moves side to side) inhabits the ceiling. No big deal. Climbing even higher takes us to yet another small room where a spear samurai is. We'll use the same tactic as the previous one for him too! Get him and retreat!
Last room before the secret boss gate! We enter a short hallway where we must fly up over a ledge to get where we need to go. There's a pit that'll take us to the main path, but you don't want that! This top path has wheels that entirely make up the ground; they keep rotating, so you'll be always moving. There are also three of these spring enemies that jump forward. After taking a few shots, their head will detach from their body and fly at you in a last-ditch effort to hurt ya. Their head explodes upon hitting a terrain. Try running under them after you destroy their bodies.
Alright! Ready for Yamato Man?
Yamato Man fight
Yamato Man can be tricky to battle against. He has two attacks, but both are so fast you'll have to react fast as well:
- Yamato Man jumps up high up and tries to land in Mega Man. While he's in the air, he spins his spear to shoot out three spikes in a spread formation directly at Mega Man. I just move under him and then go slightly further to dodge both him and the spikes.
- Yamato Man spins his spear, launching the tip of it straight at Mega Man. The distance it travels varies, but walls will always stop it. Afterwards, Yamato Man runs to pick up the spear tip, so you'll have to jump over him as well.
Silver Tomahawk shreds this guy. 7 shots will finish him off! He's not too difficult with his weakness but could be tough without it. What attack he does is unpredictable, so I recommend getting a good distance away from Yamato Man and jump just in case he tosses the spear tip. If he jumps, get back on the ground and avoid him and the spikes. You can do it!
Defeating Yamato Man gives us Y. Spear (Yamato Spear) and Beat E-Parts! Yamato Spear is basically a stronger Mega Buster with lots of ammo. Nothing very special sadly. When equipped, Mega Man becomes pink/white.
Up next is Knight Man!
Knight Man stage
Knight Man is at the Capital of Science.
We start outside of the Capital, and the only way to enter is by descending into it! After falling, we land in a small room where a charging enemy from Tomahawk Man's stage awaits us. Shoot it down before it reaches you! There's also a 1-Up behind a destructible block. That'll help! After falling even more, we enter a small room with an annoying new foe. This enemies constantly lobs projectiles towards Mega Man, although they don't go too far. If attacked, it will stoop shooting and a small creature will poke its head out of the "pot" for a few moments before hiding. You must shoot this creature to defeat the enemy! Approach carefully then draw it out before finishing off this nuisance!
The next room is a stressful one. There are ceiling spikes that slowly descend, but quickly ascend once they reach a low enough height. There are also a few drill enemies from Tomahawk Man's stage here, so you'll have to blast them before they get ha, because you sure don't wanna jump over them with spikes hovering above you! There are "rest spots" (lower terrain" that'll protect you from the spikes, so hide in them until the spikes rise up, then continue pressing on! Beware of a spike jump along the way - jump high over to get across but don't go too high!
Now we enter a small room with another new enemy. This is a cannon that's protected by a shield. The cannon shoots a bullet that travels in an arc before raising its shield to fire a straight shot. It's vulnerable while its shield is raised, so get it in that time! A ladder takes us up. We arrive at another small room with wheels covering the ground, kinda like that one section in Yamato Man's stage. A skull on multiple legs is here too, and it attacks by rushing and jumping forwards a short distance, but unfortunately for the skull, it's in a terrible location. Fire at it while on the ladder before getting to the next one! Climbing up some more, we get to another small room with spikes on the ground. We'll have to jump on floating rotating wheels to get to the next ladder, or we could cheat and use Rush Jet Adaptor... yeah that's what I'm doing.
This ladder takes us to a hallway with many gaps to leap across to avoid the harmful spikes. Multiple of those pot enemies are here to block our way, but they stand no chance! Take your time with this part, friend. If you need it, there are two small health powerups on a small platform. A ladder takes us to higher to a room with Eddie! He gave me a large health powerup, even though I was already at full HP. Moving on! Another ladder gets us ever higher.
Now for another short hallway with a few spike jumps, as well as two of a new foe! This enemy looks to be wearing glasses, like it's smart. It walks from side to side and turns around if it comes across an edge. If shot at, its glasses will fall off and the enemy becomes ANGRY! He'll move much faster and jump towards you, eager to take you down. Shooting him again will take him out. Try to get them before they cause too much trouble, alright? A pit leads down to the next area, but there's an E Tank in a high ledge - fly to it! The next room is once again, a small one, and yes, there's a new enemy too. Remember those enemies that fall from ceilings and explode from Mega Man 5? This enemy is similar to them, although it moves much slower and explodes after a short time has passed, rather than hitting a wall. One shot will destroy it. Time to go further down!
Almost there! We enter a hallway where the majority of the ground and ceiling is composed of these circles that bounce Mega Man whenever he touches one, making this a chaotic room. If that wasn't enough, more of those ground and ceiling enemies are here acting as obstacles. Try to time your movements so you bounce safely and not touch them. The end of this hallway has the normal boss gate, but there's a destructible block in the way of a secret path. Let's destroy it! Oh, and if you're wondering, these ground and ceiling enemies can be destroyed with a fully charged Power Adaptor attack. Nice!
The room with the secret boss gate is a small one with two destructible blocks and a ground enemy. One of the blocks is above spikes. Destroy them and get to Knight Man!
Knight Man fight
Knight Man has two three abilities:
- He can run forward.
- He can jump high into the air, usually trying to land on Mega Man.
- And his most notable attack: Knight Man throws forward his Mace Ball. It travels a specific distance forward (usually reaching Mega Man) before it returns to him. He can aim it diagonally if Mega Man is in the air as he throws it.
Doesn't sound so hard, right? Well, Knight Man has a shield that protects him from a majority of attacks. You can attack him from behind as he's landing from a jump, but he'll also let his guard down when he throws his Mace Ball. Fortunately, Yamato Spear completely ignores his shield, making him a piece of cake. You will not struggle at all if you have Yamato Spear. Just keep your distance, slide under him when he jumps, and jump over the Mace Ball.
With Knight Man defeated, we get Knight C. (Don't know what the "C" stands for, sorry...) and BEAT A-Parts! It allows Mega Man to fire Mace Balls that travel a short distance before returning to him in an arc. When equipped, Mega Man becomes dark blue/gray.
One more letter for BEAT, and that's in the next stage - Centaur Man!
Centaur Man stage
Centaur Man is found in the Ancient City. Maybe it's Atlantis?
This first section is a pretty action-packed "hallway"! The path ahead is somewhat submerged in water, but most of the platforming is on dry land. We must make jumps across gaps, but don't go too fast because of a surprising new enemy - a three-legged glass lid that falls from the sky. Upon landing in water, it'll start flashing and after a few seconds, explode, sending out three pieces of debris in a spread formation upward. There are many of them here, and they may ruin your jumps. Take your time with this section! We also have a pelican enemy that drops fish that flop around upon landing on solid ground. They'll disappear after a second or two, but they will immediately vanish upon touching water. If the pelican is defeated, the fish will disappear as well. The fish can be destroyed with one shot. With the combination of these new foes here, you best pay attention! At the end of this hallway, we enter a structure and dive underwater.
We land in a small room with two purple piranhas swimming left and right. They can be defeated in one shot. We must jump to descend further, but don't land in spikes! Remember that being underwater makes Mega Man jump high and fall slower.
Are you prepare for another stressful section? We land in a hallway with plenty of spikes everywhere and a few piranhas and wall turrets from Flame Man's stage. Defeat the enemies before continuing, and if you're not comfortable with jumping across spikes normally, I recommend equipping the Rush Jet Adaptor. It'll make platforming a little easier! Past this hallway is a small room with two more piranhas and a wall turret. Upon falling down another pit, we encounter something so cool...
Check this out! This next hallway has a cool gimmick of the water being on the ceiling, moving up and down at a steady pace. This means that the lower the water is, the better your jumps will be! If you have Rush Jet Adaptor, then you don't need the water. You can just fly over the rows of spikes here. We do however have a new enemy, and there's three of them - a foe that attacks by shooting bullets at Mega Man's general location, and hopping forward whenever you shoot. With the unique ceiling water gimmick here, you can get them to jump so high and far they'll no longer be an issue as they'll be behind you. Or you could get rid of them normally. Your call. At the end of the room, the water disappears.
The room after this one is small. Remember those enemies in Flame Man's stage that helped you get across the oil and fire? They're back here, but unfortunately there is no oil or fire in sight, so they're useless. Use fully charged Mega Buster shots to dispatch them, then climb the ladder! If you need it, there's also a large health powerup too... but hey the name room has Eddie! He gives me another large health powerup even though I was at full HP. Again. Oh well. Time to climb some more!
Now we're back on the surface, and we have another hallway to get through! Thankfully, there are no sudden falling enemies or pelicans, but instead a new enemy, and lots of them. Throughout this section, there are clouds carrying submarines. After they take enough damage or if you're on the same Y-axis as them (up and down; vertically), the cloud will disappear and the submarines become active. They'll float on the water and constantly pursue Mega Man, lobbing short-ranged bullets with not much height. This part can be crazy, and it's much easier with the Rush Jet Adaptor. Fly above the chaos so you won't fall! A ladder at the end of the hallway takes us higher.
We must jump across more gaps in another short room, but this one has surprising falling enemies. Wait in the edge of platforms so they fall, and then jump across! A ladder takes us to another short room, but this one has a large green ice/missile enemy from Blizzard Man's stage. Past it is the boss gate! Well, two of them actually. The "secret" one is across large gap only Rush Jet Adaptor can reach, while the main boss gate is below. If you fail, there's a ladder so you can try again! Jump across the gap for the BEAT letter!
Centaur Man fight
Centaur Man has four abilities:
- He can run forward, kinda like Knight Man. Jump over him!
- Centaur Man can vanish, and then reappear suddenly. Try jumping or sliding to dodge him when he reappears. Good timing is needed, however.
- Centaur Man fires a bullet straight ahead. You don't even have to jump or slide to dodge it. When the bullet makes impact with a wall, it'll explode into a burst of bullets. If you're far enough away, you can still stay, heh, still!
- The boss uses Centaur Flash, freezing Mega Man for a short time. This attack cannot be avoided, and deals no damage. He usually does this before shooting a bullet.
Centaur Man's running and teleporting abilities are the biggest issues in this fight because the former is sudden and the latter is unexpected. When he fires a bullet, he remains still for quite a while, allowing for serious damage to be dealt to him. Use Knight C. to defeat Centaur Man! Try not to be too close to a wall because Centaur Man may freeze you, making yourself vulnerable to a projectile attack.
Defeating Centaur Man gives us C. Flash (Centaur Flash) and BEAT T-Parts! Centaur Flash is a screen-wide attack that drains several bars of weapon energy but damages all enemies. Cool! When equipped, Mega Man becomes dark green/white.
With all the letters for BEAT collected, we have BEAT now! He functions identically to Mega Man 5 - flying at enemies to damage them, although he uses much more energy than before. I don't know if he's still effective against the final boss. I'll have to try that out!
One last Robot Master to go - Wind Man!
Wind Man stage
Wind Man is found at the Mechanical Tower.
In this first section, we enter the mechanical tower in a short hallway! On the way to the first ladder are two pandas. These pandas don't move, but instead attack from afar with two kinds of projectiles: ones that are lobbed, and ines that go straight ahead. After climbing we enter a small room with another one of those weird charging enemies. Defeat it and get to the next ladder! Past it is another small room with a panda and a destructible block leading to a large health powerup. The lands gave me a 1-Up! Nice.
After climbing up more, we enter a room with two fans on the ground. These fans propel Mega Man into the air and keep him afloat as long as you're above one. They can help with reaching high places if you don't have Rush Jet Adaptor. We also find a new enemy here, and it looks like a hair dryer to me! This hair dryer flies above the ground and shoots out bombs that explode upon hitting anything. They also curve down slight as they're launched, and can be destroyed. Use the fans or Rush Jet Adaptor to defeat this thing. Afterwards, continue climbing up!
After reaching the top, we're no longer inside the tower. This next section is a hallway filled with danger; pits, spikes, ground enemies, and hair dryers! Plus there are fans to help or hinder you depending on how you use them. I recommend sticking with Rush Jet Adaptor because this section (and level in general) is pretty tough without it. Dodge the hazards and defeat the hair dryers before moving on!
After this treacherous hallway is a shorter and easier one. There's a new mechanic here in the form of a two-way platform. If stepped on, it'll flip to the other side pretty quickly, so jump to make sure you don't fall! There are multiple of them in this part, as well as a high path (use Rush Jet Adaptor!) containing four small health powerups and an E Tank! It'll also help you avoid some platforming. The ladder at the end leads to a small room with two choices to proceed: jumping across spikes with a low ceiling or sliding under a ceiling enemy. The choice is yours, but the spikes are easier if you have Rush Jet Adaptor. Get the 1-Up and large health powerup at the top!
With the help of a ladder, we reach a somewhat cramped hallway with more pandas. Nothing we can't handle! Past that is a small room with a large dropping enemy from Plant Man and Tomahawk Man's stages. There is an exploit we can use for this one - we're protected by a wall, so this thing can't reach us! Just blast away at this spot until it's gone. A pit lets us descend to the next room, which is another small one but two of those charging enemies are here. Still pretty easy. Time to descend further!
Now for the final challenge of the level before the boss! We must get through another hallway with spikes, pits and fans, but now the enemies are only pandas. They can easily ruin your jumps with their shots, and the fans aren't the most fun to use, resulting in another stressful section, even with Rush Jet Adaptor equipped. Try to defeat the pandas before continuing, including the one by the ladder! That one can knock you off it - trust me, I got knocked off twice, but thankfully I didn't fall to my doom. The final room before the boss gate has a large health powerup and weapon energy capsule that you can obtain... if you have Rush Jet Adaptor. Bring it, Wind Man!
Wind Man fight
Wind Man has three attacks:
- He can fly up into the air and try to land on Mega Man. Slide under him if he does this!
- Wind Man can use his fans to pull you in. The winds are strong, so keep sliding away from him until he gives up!
- The boss can also fire two fans straight ahead that move in zig-zag patterns. Jump over them at the right time! Oddly enough, he didn't use this attack when I fought him.
Wind Man is easier than his stage, honestly. You need to focus on avoiding him when he attacks and strike him after he finishes. Centaur Flash's range is the entire screen, so you don't even have to aim this weapon to attack Wind Man! Make sure that you din't accidentally attack while the boss has invincibility frames, otherwise you won't have enough weapon energy to finish him off. I think he's easy.
With Wind Man defeated, we get W. Storm (Wind Storm)! It allows Mega Man to shoot tornadoes that travel along the ground. When one comes across a ledge, it will fall down in an arc. If there's a platform below, it'll continue traveling. While this weapon is equipped, Mega Man becomes gray/white.
And that's the last one! Now that every Robot Master is dealt with, it's time to begin the infiltration of Mr. X's fortress. I wish I could do it now, but alas, it'll have to wait until July. Be sure to come back for some cool stuff! Sayonara!
The Death of the Player
In which the fool once again punches up and pays the price for it.
We got ourselves another merry band of creatures to welcome into our facility so let's go over them real quick!
Old Lady
Classification Code: O-01-12
Risk Level: Teth
E.G.O: Solirude
Preferred work type: Attachment
Work Result range: 0-5 / 6-10 / 11-14
Much like our awesome christian skeleton, Old lady is a mostly harmless abnormality, never breaching and never really causing any problems for you in the long run. She yields a decent amount of boxes for earlygame standards at a respectable 14, courtesy of being a Teth risk level, and her white damage is negligible at 1-3 per negative box. On top of that, her EGO weapon, Solitude, is basically a must have. It is by far the most accessible source of long range white damage as thus the safest way to deal with insane nuggets, neutralizing them from a distance at a fairly consistent rate. Honestly, it might be a bit lame to do so given the lack of anything flashy, but absolutely do welcome this nice old lady into your facility the first chance you get. Be a good youngster and listen to her tale. She might just surprise you. :3
Today's Shy Look
Classification Code: O-01-92
Risk Level: Teth
E.G.O: Today's Expression
Preferred work type: None
Work Result range: 0-6 / 7-9 / 10-12
Today's Shy Look is a bit of an oddball. On one hand, its EGO gear is nice to have and it has no preferred work type, making it flexible to train certain stats on. On the other hand, its expression gimmick can definitely be a problem. The abnormality will periodically shift between its 5 expressions and will stop when a nugget enters its room. Only 2 out of these 5 expressions are actually harmful, so the odds aren't exactly stacked against you, but the downsides are significant enough to warrant being mindful. Below is a list of the myriad effects each face will grant you:
1. Smile: +30% Success rate, Work damage x0.5, Heal 20% of Max HP and SP upon work completion.
2. Happy: +10% Success rate, Heal 20% of Max HP and SP upon work completion.
3. Neutral: No effect.
4. Sad: -30% Success rate, Work damage x1.5.
5. Angry: -50% Success rate, Work damage x2.
It is worth noting that at best, the default success rate on any work type is 50%, making that "Angry" debuff quite severe, especially with that work damage being doubled, boosting it from 2-3 Black Damage to a whopping 4-6. Is the EGO gear worth it? Absolutely! A gun (we've established those are incredible) that deals 2-3 black damage at a very fast rate, and a suit that can resist Red and White damage fairly well, with the downside of being weak to Black. This is overall a pretty good abnormality to have, just make sure not to work with it at the wrong time. Outside of that, it does not breach and does not cause problems when unattended, so it only takes those few seconds of making sure your nugget walks in at the right time. Do your job and manage your abnormalities, Manager.
The Funeral of the Dead Butterflies
Classification Code: T-01-68
Risk Level: He
E.G.O: Solemn Lament
Preferred work type: Repression
Resistances:
Red - 0.5
White - 1.5
Black - 1.0
Pale - 2.0
Work Result range: 0-6 / 7-10 / 11-16
Accidentally followed a little pattern here. We got two relatively harmless abnormalities vs one breacher. And this one's a bit fickle too. Funeral of the Dead Butterflies is our first HE class abnormality, and quite the formidable force for those who aren't prepared. His Qliphoth counter sits at a seemingly comfortable 2, but unlike Forsaken Murderer, this guy has multiple conditions for lowering his coutner.
1. A nugget enters the room with a Justive level below 3.
2. A nugget enters the room with a Fortitude level above 3.
3. Bad work result.
That's right. These conditions can stack. Sending the wrong employee may result in an instantaneous breach. But having the right stats isn't quite enough, you also need to be able to resist his onslaught of White work damage (4-6), since, as demonstrated by yours truly, having insufficiant resistances can easily lead one to lose their mind mid-work, which does also often lead to a normal or bad result. That being said, he is deceptively kinda easy to suppress. White Damage and resistance to it should be able to put up a decent fight, and having multiple employees who can satisfy both will often be enough, and this will only get easier as time goes on. Nevertheless, it is still unadvisable to let your guard down, as he still does deal a respectable amount of damage when breaching (10-15 White one the single hit, 3-4 White per second on the multi-hit). It is also worth noting that hitting 0 SP due to one of Funeral's attack will kill you regardless of remaining HP.
EGO gear? Solemn Lament is pretty good. The weapon is a gun that deals 2 White or Black damage interchangeably at a very fast rate, making it a very potent offensive option, that can still double as a way to bring back an insane nugget (though be careful as the black damage still does result in loss of HP). The suit boasts an incredible 0.5 resistance to Black damage and 0.8 resistance to White damage, and combined with a maximum output of 16 Boxes, Funeral is well worth the addition to your facility provided you have an employee who can handle him, which, oftentimes, you do! Just make sure to cherish their lives while they last. There is nothing sadder than dying on the job.
Another month, another successful harvest. Let us pray the next one is just as bountiful. See ya!
Also here's a little piece I made a while ago since it's relevant now.
| The 'Shroom: Issue 231 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | Community Awards Dossier |
