1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 _______ _______________________ _________________________________ \______/ \______/ ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' M E T R O I D P R I M E 2 E C H O E S ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' S T R A T E G Y G U I D E ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ______ ______ _______/ \_______________________/ \_________________________________ AUTHOR: 3791 EMAIL: sr3791@yahoo.com VERSION: 1.01 LATEST UPDATE: 03/17/2007 Corrected errors pointed out by Preston and Noah, and changed the copyright info: the guide is now released under a Creative Commons license. =============================================================================== Mini Creative Commons Notice =============================================================================== This guide is released under a Creative Commons license. The Creative Commons deed can be viewed here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ In a nutshell, YOU CAN: copy, distribute, print, upload to your website, or do whatever else you want with this guide SO LONG AS: you credit me as the author, you don't sell the guide or use it to make money, and you don't change anything in the guide. You can find a few more details in the Creative Commons Info section at the end of the guide. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ C O N T E N T S ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ To quickly jump to a specific section and not have to scroll through the entire file, copy the tag in brackets that appears to the right of the section you want to go to (including the brackets) and use the Find feature of your browser to jump directly to the section you're interested in. I. INTRODUCTION [I] II. GAME BASICS [II] A. Controls [II.A] B. Main Menu [II.B] C. Pickups [II.C] D. Stations [II.D] E. Doors [II.E] F. Map [II.F] III. WALKTHROUGH [III] A. Temple Grounds [III.A] 1. Story [III.A.1] 2. Splinter Hive [III.A.2] 3. Missile Launcher [III.A.3] 4. Great Temple [III.A.4] B. Agon Wastes [III.B] 1. Morph Ball Bombs [III.B.1] 2. Space Jump Boots [III.B.2] 3. Dark Beam [III.B.3] 4. Light Beam [III.B.4] 5. Expansions [III.B.5] 6. Amorbis [III.B.6] C. Torvus Bog [III.C] 1. Temple Grounds [III.C.1] 2. Super Missile [III.C.2] 3. Boost Ball [III.C.3] 4. Seeker Missile Launcher [III.C.4] 5. Gravity Boost [III.C.5] 6. Grapple Beam [III.C.6] 7. Chykka [III.C.7] D. Sanctuary Fortress [III.D] 1. Temple Grounds [III.D.1] 2. Spider Ball [III.D.2] 3. Power Bomb [III.D.3] 4. Echo Visor [III.D.4] 5. Screw Attack [III.D.5] 6. Quadraxis [III.D.6] E. The Keybearers [III.E] 1. Light Suit [III.E.1] 2. Agon Keys [III.E.2] 3. Torvus Keys [III.E.3] 4. Sanctuary Keys [III.E.4] 5. Temple Grounds Keys [III.E.5] F. Sky Temple [III.F] 1. Emperor Ing [III.F.1] 2. Dark Samus [III.F.2] IV. EXPANSIONS [IV] A. Energy Tanks [IV.A] B. Beam Ammo Expansions [IV.B] C. Missile Expansions [IV.C] D. Power Bomb Expansions [IV.D] V. DATA NETWORK [V] A. Inventory [V.A] 1. Armor [V.A.1] 2. Visors [V.A.2] 3. Weapon Systems [V.A.3] 4. Movement Systems [V.A.4] 5. Morph Ball Systems [V.A.5] 6. Miscellaneous [V.A.6] a. Suit Expansions [V.A.6.a] b. Dark Temple Keys [V.A.6.b] i. Dark Agon Keys [V.A.6.b.i] ii. Dark Torvus Keys [V.A.6.b.ii] iii. Ing Hive Keys [V.A.6.b.iii] iv. Sky Temple Keys [V.A.6.b.iv] B. Logbook [V.B] 1. Lore [V.B.1] a. Trooper Logs [V.B.1.a] b. Space Pirate Logs [V.B.1.b] c. Luminoth Lore [V.B.1.c] i. History [V.B.1.c.i] ii. Conflict [V.B.1.c.ii] iii. A-Kul's Clues [V.B.1.c.iii] iv. Keybearer Lore [V.B.1.c.iv] 2. Creatures [V.B.2] a. Aether [V.B.2.a] i. Ground [V.B.2.a.i] ii. Flying [V.B.2.a.ii] iii. Aquatic [V.B.2.a.iii] iv. Mechanoids [V.B.2.a.iv] b. Dark Aether [V.B.2.b] i. Darklings [V.B.2.b.i] ii. Ing [V.B.2.b.ii] iii. Guardians [V.B.2.b.iii] iv. Emperor Ing [V.B.2.b.iv] c. Offworld [V.B.2.c] i. Pirates [V.B.2.c.i] ii. Metroids [V.B.2.c.ii] iii. Dark Samus [V.B.2.c.iii] 3. Research [V.B.3] C. Options [V.C] VI. NECESSARY ODDS AND ENDS [VI] ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ I. I N T R O D U C T I O N [I] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ Thank you for reaching 3791's Metroid Prime 2: Echoes strategy guide! Your call is important to us; an operator will be with you shortly. (play oldies music) 10 minutes later... Thanks for holding, my name is 3791. How may I help you? So, I wrote a strategy guide for Metroid Prime last spring and have finally gotten around to starting on a guide for the sequel. Actually, as I'm writing this introduction a lot of the basic information has already been written (or copied and pasted from my Metroid Prime 1 guide). I'm really, really slow with my FAQs, so who knows how long it will be before I actually finish this thing? Answer: a really long time. But anyway, here I am, so I'll go ahead and give you a little information about the game, along with my mini-review. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, released in the US in November of 2004, is the sequel to the outstanding and popular game Metroid Prime. (Actually, if you couldn't figure that out on your own, just stop reading now.) Both games were developed by Retro Studios and released on the Nintendo Gamecube. This game is a true sequel: there are no major changes in the controls, gameplay, or interface from MP1 to MP2. I think that's a good thing; as the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Like MP1, the game is played in first-person, although in my opinion it is not a first-person shooter, as it does not really fit the mold of most traditional FPSs. I like to think of the Metroid Prime games as adventure games that just happens to be played in first-person. In terms of gameplay, MP2 follows closely the pattern of MP1, which itself is similar to the structure of the 2D Metroid games: exploring a vast world, defeating enemies, recovering items, then using those items to explore new areas. As always, you control bounty hunter Samus Aran inside her Power Suit as she explores a large world containing a variety of environments; in this case, the planet Aether. Samus has only one life; if her energy meter reaches zero, you will continue from the last save. Saves can only be made at Save Stations that are scattered across Aether, usually in strategic locations. MP2 continues the practice of MP1 of telling the story through recorded messages and log entries that can be scanned and read during gameplay. This makes learning the story mostly optional, but I really enjoy it and I think it adds a great dimension to the gameplay. While MP2 is in most respects very similar to the original Metroid Prime, there are a few changes. One of the most controversial is the change to an ammo-based system: almost all the beams in Metroid Prime 2 require ammo, whereas beams have had unlimited ammo in every other Metroid game. Another new element of MP2 is the existence of a light world and a dark world, very similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Aether has been split into light and dark worlds, with portals used to travel between them. I wouldn't be writing a guide for this game if I didn't really like it. My opinion is that Metroid Prime 2 is almost, but not quite, as good as the original Metroid Prime. I am glad that they did not attempt to change many of the things that worked so well for the original: the level of depth in the story, the simple control scheme, and the feel of exploration and discovery. MP2 also improves on some areas, especially by making some creative and fun uses of the Morph Ball. However, a few areas were not done as well as they were in MP1. For example, the music was extremely well done in MP1 and really helped to set the mood for the various areas of the game. In MP2, some of the music, especially the boss music, is up to that standard, but the rest is not. Also, I felt that some aspects of the story were not developed or explained as well as in MP1. Regarding the additions of the beam ammo and the light/dark worlds, I thought at first that I wouldn't like them, but in the end I didn't really have a problem with them. Having said all that, keep in mind that any game that is almost as good as Metroid Prime is still a very good game. If you liked Metroid Prime, you should definitely get Metroid Prime 2. It is not necessary to have played MP1 in order to understand MP2, but it will help to soften the learning curve and also make some elements of the story clearer. Even if you don't play MP1 before playing MP2, you should definitely do so afterwards, since Metroid Prime is one of the best games ever in my opinion. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes also includes a multiplayer mode, which is decent. As of now, this guide does not contain information or strategies for the multiplayer mode, although that may change in the future. I'm almost done here, I just have a few details about this guide itself to make you aware of. First, this guide is written for Normal difficulty. If you're playing in Hard mode, you can still use this guide, just keep in mind that enemies will be about twice as difficult and deal about twice as much damage as indicated in the guide. Second, this is a 100% guide, meaning that if you follow this walkthrough, you will finish the game with a 100% complete file. I think that's it, so without any further ado, let's get on to the actual game information! ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ II. G A M E B A S I C S [II] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ This section will provide you with all the information you need regarding the mechanics and structure of the game. This section includes subsections for the controls, main menu, pickups, stations, doors, and the map. /============================================================================== A. Controls [II.A] \============================================================================== If you played Metroid Prime, then this will be nothing new. The controls are exactly the same as before. While somewhat unconventional, I find the controls convenient and easy to learn. o CONTROL STICK: Move. Tilt forward on the stick to walk or roll forward. Tilt left or right to turn, and tilt backwards to move backwards. The farther you tilt, the faster you will move. o CONTROL PAD: Select a visor. Each visor is assigned a different direction on the Control Pad, and you can press that direction to select that visor. These are the directions for each visor: up: Combat Visor left: Scan Visor down: Echo Visor right: Dark Visor o A BUTTON: - normal mode: Fire beam weapon. Hold down to use Charge Beam. - Morph Ball mode: Lay a Bomb. o B BUTTON: - normal mode: Jump. With the Space Jump Boots, you can perform a double jump by pressing B again while still in the air. Also, if you push B while holding L and tilting left or right on the Control Stick, you will perform a quick leap to the side, which you can use to dodge enemy attacks. With the Gravity Boost, perform a double jump, then hold down B while underwater to propel yourself up. Finally, after performing a double jump, continue pressing B to use the Screw Attack, once you find it. - Morph Ball mode: With the Boost Ball, hold to charge a boost, then release to boost. o C STICK: Select a beam weapon. Each beam weapon is assigned a different direction on the C Stick, and tilting the C Stick in that direction will set your Arm Cannon to that beam weapon. These are the directions for each beam: up: Power Beam left: Light Beam down: Annihilator Beam right: Dark Beam o X BUTTON: Enter or exit Morph Ball mode. o Y BUTTON: - normal mode: Fire a Missile. With the Seeker Launcher, hold down Y to charge the Seeker Launcher. - Morph Ball mode: Lay a Power Bomb. o Z BUTTON: Pauses the game and displays the map. o L BUTTON: - normal mode: Lock-on. If there is an enemy in Samus's field of view, press and hold L to lock-on to it. Any shots you fire will automatically be aimed at that enemy, and moving left or right will allow you to strafe, moving you in a circle around the enemy. If there are no enemies in sight, you can press L and left or right on the Control Stick to move side to side. Also, once you have the Grapple Beam, hold down the L Button to latch onto a Grapple Point. - Morph Ball mode: Fix the camera behind Samus. o R BUTTON: - normal mode: Aim and look around. Holding R allows you to manually aim and look around using the Control Stick. This is handy if you want to get a better view of your surroundings or you want to fire at something you can't lock-on to (such as a crate). - Morph Ball mode: Latch onto magnetic rail tracks (with the Spider Ball). o START/PAUSE BUTTON: Pauses the game and displays the Pause Menu. /============================================================================== B. Main Menu [II.B] \============================================================================== The Main Menu appears after the title screen, and from it you can open a game file, set options, and view unlocked image galleries. The interface for the Main Menu (and the Data Network) is rather unique, and takes a few seconds to get used to. Items in the menu appear as circles branching off from a point in the center of the screen, and the Control Stick rotates these circles in three dimensions. The item that is "closest" to you will be highlighted, and pressing A will select that item. You can go back one level by pressing B. This section describes all the actions you can take from the Main Menu. o SINGLE PLAYER: Selecting this option will display the three save files, labelled New for empty files, Samus for normal mode files, and Hard for hard mode files, followed by the number 1, 2, or 3. They will also display the region in which the last save was made, the completion percentage, and the elapsed time for the file. Select a file to open it and begin playing. (If you are starting a new game and hard mode has been unlocked, you will be promted to select normal or hard difficulty.) Also, to copy a file to an empty file, press X, select the file you want to copy, select the file you want to copy it to, then confirm. To erase a file, press Z, select the file you want to delete, and confirm. Make sure you really want to delete the file before you do so, because the data cannot be recovered afterwards. o MULTIPLAYER: This option will only appear if there are at least two controllers plugged into the GameCube. Select it to begin setting options for a multiplayer game. This guide does not currently cover the multiplayer mode. If you want help or strategies regarding multiplayer mode, try Neonjohn779's Multiplayer Guide at http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/metroid_prime_2_mp.txt o OPTIONS: This lets you change the options for each game file and for multiplayer mode. The option categories are Display, Sound, Visors, and Controls for the game files; Display and Sound only for multiplayer. These options are exactly the same as the ones you can change in-game from the Data Network (pause screen). You can find out a little more about those options in section V.C. o IMAGE GALLERY: You can unlock image galleries by beating the game, filling your Logbook and getting high percentages. You will be notified whenever you unlock an image gallery, and from then on you can view the unlocked images by selecting this option. The images are of design sketches, production art, and advertising designs. Most of it is pretty neat, because it lets you see how the design of the creatures and levels evolved, and it also lets you see how much detail Retro put into designing Metroid Prime 2. In the image gallery, all the galleries you've unlocked will appear one after another continuously. You can see which gallery you're currently viewing in the top left, and which particular image you're viewing is displayed in the top right. Use the Control Stick to move to the next or previous image, use L and R to zoom out and in, respectively, use the C Stick to pan (move around on the image when you're zoomed in), use Y to turn the key on or off, and press B to quit. /============================================================================== C. Pickups [II.C] \============================================================================== Pickups are small items that are left behind by defeated enemies or are found by destroying crates. Pickups replenish your energy and ammo supplies, and can be drawn towards you with the Charge Beam. This section describes each type of pickup. o ENERGY: These pickups are small colored spheres with a dot in the center. They will replenish your energy meter, and their color indicates the amount of energy they provide. The amounts and names for each color are: - purple: 10 (Small Energy) - red: 30 (Medium Energy) - blue: 50 (Large Energy) - yellow: 100 (Ultra Energy) o MISSILE AMMO: Missile ammo looks like several orange spikes in a pyramidal shape, with a gray point at the top. If the pickup has only one set of spikes, it will refill 5 missiles. If it has two sets of spikes on top of each other, it will refill 10 missiles. o DARK AMMO: Dark ammo looks like a dark purple crystal, and it refills the ammo for your Dark Beam. You can only get dark ammo by destroying creatures or crates with the Light Beam. Dark ammo comes in several varieties which provide different amounts of ammo. If the crystal is small and resembles a simple bar, it will refill 5 dark ammo. If the crystal resembles two bars stuck together, it will refill 10 dark ammo. Finally, it the crystal resembles a number of bars stuck together, it will refill 30 dark ammo. o LIGHT AMMO: Light ammo looks like a bright white crystal, and it refills the ammo for your Light Beam. You can only get light ammo by destroying creatures or crates with the Dark Beam. Light ammo comes in several varieties which provide different amounts of ammo. If the crystal is small and resembles a simple bar, it will refill 5 light ammo. If the crystal resembles two bars stuck together, it will refill 10 light ammo. Finally, it the crystal resembles a number of bars stuck together, it will refill 30 light ammo. o POWER BOMB AMMO: This pickup is a flat, gray and orange disk that radiates white light. It will refill 1 Power Bomb. /============================================================================== D. Stations [II.D] \============================================================================== Stations are special devices that perform important functions such as saving your game, providing a map of the region, or refilling your Ammo. This subsection describes each type of station and what it does. o SAVE STATION: By far the most common station in the game, Save Stations completely refill your energy and allow you to save your game. Save Stations consist of a circular platform on the ground, with another circular apparatus overhead. Step into the station, and you will be asked if you want to save your game. After saving (if you select yes), your energy will be refilled. Save Stations are marked with an S on the map and can be found in both Light and Dark Aether. o MAP STATION: Each region has at least one Map Station, which will provide you with a complete map of all or part of a region. You can view this map at any time by pressing Z; see subsection F for more information on the map. Map Stations look like a floating hologram of a map. Note that Map Stations only provide maps of Light Aether; there are no Map Stations in Dark Aether. o AMMO STATION: Extremely helpful stations, Ammo Stations will completely refill your Dark Ammo, Light Ammo, Missiles, and Power Bombs. These stations look like a floating hologram of a crystal, and once you approach it, your ammo will be refilled. Look for these stations mainly in Dark Aether, especially near bosses. They are marked by an A on the map. /============================================================================== E. Doors [II.E] \============================================================================== As in all other Metroid games, you will encounter a wide variety of doors connecting one room to another on Aether. All doors have a hexagonal shape, but their color indicates the weapon that must be used to open them. Be aware that the game loads the next room while the door is opening, so if it takes a few seconds for a door to open, it just means that it leads to a large room. This subsection lists every variety of door you will encounter and the weapon that must be used to open it. o BLUE DOOR: By far the most common type of door, any weapon (including a Bomb) can be used to open a blue door. o BLACK DOOR: A black door will only open after being hit with a shot from the Dark Beam. o WHITE DOOR: A white door requires a shot from the Light Beam. o GRAY DOOR: Gray doors will only open after being hit with the Annihilator Beam. o RED DOOR: Use a missile to destroy a red blast shield. o GREEN DOOR: Green blash shields can only be broken with a Super Missile. o PURPLE DOOR: To break a purple blast shield, you must use the Seeker Launcher to destroy all five of the small purple pods surrounding the door simultaneously. o YELLOW DOOR: Yellow blast shields can only be destroyed with a Power Bomb. /============================================================================== F. Map [II.F] \============================================================================== The map is a very handy resource, and ocassionally a necessity to keep from getting lost in Aether's sprawling regions. To access the Map, simply press Z. This pauses the game and displays a 3-D map of the current region, with your current room centered and flashing. If you have not downloaded a map of the region from a Map Station, only the rooms you have entered will be displayed. If you have downloaded a map, then rooms you have not yet explored will be displayed dimmer than explored rooms. Also, Light Aether rooms are colored orange, while Dark Aether is purple. At the top of the screen the name of the selected room will be displayed; these are the names used in this guide to identify rooms. Finally, the number of Dark Temple Keys you have collected in each region is indicated in the lower-right corner. Other information displayed on the map includes your current location, indicated by a green triangle, pointing in the direction you are facing. Doors into and out of the selected room are displayed on the map as colored squares, with the color indicating the type of door. Other locations displayed on the map include an E for elevators, T for translator doors, P for portals, S for Save Stations, and A for Ammo Stations. If the hint feature is enabled, a ? will appear at the location you should head for next. There are also a number of controls for the map, so that you can see exactly what you want. If you do not need the legend or list of controls and don't want them in the way, press Y to make them disappear. Use the Control Stick to rotate the map (which can rotate in three dimensions), use L and R to zoom in and out, and use the C Stick to select different rooms to view. Press X to switch between the Light and Dark Aether views of the region. Finally, press the A Button to zoom out and view the map for the entire world, where you can select the map for a different region. Once you're done, press Z or B to return to the game. ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ III. W A L K T H R O U G H [III] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ As stated in the introduction, this is a 100% walkthrough based on Normal difficulty. If you follow this walkthrough, you will complete the game with a 100% complete file. Also, below each section title will be a box containing a list of all the items and expansions you will find in that section. The numbers listed for Missile Expansions, Energy Tanks, etc. correspond to the numbers in the Expansions section (section IV). Whenever an item is collected or a Logbook entry is mentioned for the first time, it will be written in all caps. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to find things, either by scrolling through the walkthrough or by searching for the term in all caps with the "Match case" setting checked. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## A. TEMPLE GROUNDS [III.A] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Mission File 02546 [III.A.1] \============================================================================== |[Story] | --------------------------------------------------------------------- You are Samus Aran, the renowned bounty hunter who offers her services to the Galactic Federation in their fight against the Space Pirates, a race of cruel yet intelligent creatures bent on conquest and destruction. To aid and protect her in her journeys, Samus wears a Power Suit made by the Chozo, the highly-evolved race that raised Samus. In her last mission, Samus disrupted the Space Pirates' operations on the planet Tallon IV, where they had been experimenting with a dangerous substance known as Phazon that seriously harmed the planet when it landed in a meteorite. At the end of her mission, Samus entered the Impact Crater and defeated Metroid Prime, a highly evolved Metroid that was the source of the Phazon. Now Samus has been hired on a new mission. A squad of Federation troopers that was investigating Space Pirate activity in a remote sector of the galaxy has gone missing. Their last known whereabouts are a planet called Aether. Your job is to discover what has happened to the troopers and give them any assistance necessary. As Samus approaches Aether in her gunship, you can see that the planet seems to be unstable. Swirling purple bands or fields surround the planet, and there are strong storms in the atmosphere. As Samus descends, she passes through one of these storms, and is struck by a strong bolt of lightning. This causes damage to her ship, and Samus is barely able to land it safely, crashing through the ground to land in a rocky cavern. Having thus landed, um, gracefully, Samus will emerge from her damaged ship and you will take control. /============================================================================== 2. Go Out Fighting [III.A.2] \============================================================================== |[Temple Grounds South] | --------------------------------------------------------------------- The cavern you've landed in has several ruined pillars made of blocks scattered around, as well as what look like tracks in the floor. There's a door across from your ship, and also a ledge to the left. Unlike other Metroid games, you actually begin the game fairly well equipped: you start off with the Space Jump Boots, Charge Beam, 5 Missiles, Morph Ball, Bombs, and Boost Ball. After you've gotten familiar with your equipment, switch to the Scan Visor (left on the Control Pad). The Scan Visor has been upgraded since the last Metroid Prime, and now scannable objects are shaded blue (normal), red (important or Logbook entry), or green (already scanned). Scan the pillars to learn that they are not functional but were apparently part of some sort of projection system; obviously there is civilization on this planet. One pillar to the left appears to be functional and has a purple crystal on front of it, but you can't get it to operate with your current weaponry. Before leaving, make sure to scan your ship, SAMUS'S GUNSHIP, which will allow you to see that your ship is repairing itself, but it's going to be a while before you'll be able to leave. This will be the first entry downloaded to your Logbook, and you can see how the Scan Visor shows you which categories the entry is being placed in, along with the percentage showing how close those categories are to being full. After reading the information displayed in the HUD, you can press Start to pause the game and read the entry in the Logbook; this will usually, but not always, provide additional details. It's important you scan your ship now if you want to completely fill your Logbook, because later on the message will change and it will no longer count as a Logbook entry. Once you've seen how to use the Scan Visor and downloaded your first Logbook entry, switch back to the Combat Visor and approach the spiderweb-like substance at the other end of the room. Shoot the object in the center to destroy the spiderweb; after shooting several of them you'll reach a blue door. Shoot the door to open it. The door leads into a tunnel filled with strange plants with tentacles that move around, and it will soon fork into two branches. To the left is a large metal wall or gate with a purple grid-like symbol projected in front of it; scan the gate to learn that you cannot get past it right now. That leaves you only one way to go. The other branch of the path is dark and hazy, and leads to a dark pit. There's nowhere else for you to go, so jump down the pit. You'll land in a chamber with several small fires burning and cubical containers of various sizes scattered about. By scanning you'll discover that the boxes are Federation-issue crates; that means you're on the right track to find out what happened to the missing troopers! If you want, you can break open the small crates with a few shots from the Power Beam, but it will take a charged shot (hold down A) or a Missile (Y) to destroy the large ones. If you needed any, the crates would sometimes provide you with energy or ammo, but you should be full right now. There is also some larger equipment in the chamber: scans reveal that it is part of a ventilation system converted into a pesticide dispenser; the corpse of a large insect-like creature called a Splinter nearby was apparently killed by the pesticide. At the back of the chamber is a metal gate blocking access to a tunnel. Scan the GF GATE MK VI for another Logbook entry, then scan the control panel to the left of the gate to remove the armor in front of the two locks above the gate. Lock-on to the locks and fire at them to open the gate. In the tunnel are more dead Splinters, and the exit is blocked by a different type of gate. Look into an alcove to the right to find another control panel; scan it to open the gate. As you can see, scanning is important for progressing through the game, for understanding the story, and for learning details about the various creatures and devices you will encounter. Through the gate you'll reach another chamber filled with several computer terminals. The information on the computers was written by the troopers, and they state that they are under attack from "hostiles," presumably the dead Splinters you've seen. The platform with a hologram of a map on it is a Map Station, and you can step onto it to download a map of the area. The door out of the room is blocked by another web, but as soon as you go through it you'll get a shock: the bodies of several troopers are hanging from the ceiling, and small insect-like creatures are crawling all over them! Make sure to scan one of the creatures, or WORKER SPLINTERS, for a Logbook entry before you shoot them all; you can also scan the troopers to learn how they died. It looks like something very bad has happened to the troopers. In the next room, the Command Chamber, you'll find more computer displays, but this room is also littered with dead troopers and Splinters. In fact, there's one trooper, GSGT C. BENET, near the entrance who died trying to reach for a control panel. Switch to the Scan Visor and you'll see that this trooper is colored red; that means you can scan him to download an entry from his journal to your Logbook. The control panel he was reaching for, however, is unpowered. Switch to the Morph Ball to roll underneath the metal bars blocking your path to the other side of the room, where you'll find another trooper with a Logbook entry. SPC B. REEVS will say what you may have already been realizing: that these tunnels are not manmade, they are part of a hive. The troopers apparently found themselves in the middle of a hive of Splinters, and have been fighting for their lives. You'll see a few Worker Splinters scurry through a hole in the wall; it's just large enough for the Morph Ball. At the end of the tunnel you'll reach a small circular chamber with a Federation device in the center, along with more dead troopers and Splinters. Around the back you'll find a brown circular object. Scan it for a Logbook entry and to learn that it is a BOMB SLOT, commonly used to power and activate devices. To use the Bomb Slot, switch to Morph Ball form and lay a bomb in front of the slot. Let the bomb detonate underneath you so that it bounces you up into the slot. Once you're inside, lay another bomb. Once it goes off, the power device will activate and will turn on the panel near the entrance. But that's not all. All of a sudden, blobs of inky black material will appear and will cover the corpses of some of the troopers! Once the substance is inside the bodies, they will stand up and start walking towards you! The black substance has somehow turned the dead troopers into zombies, and what's worse, they'll start shooting at you! Quickly try to scan one so that the DARK TROOPERS will be recorded in your Logbook, then lock-on to one and start returning fire. You can jump and strafe to make it harder for them to hit you, and one charged shot is all that's needed to stop them. Once you've killed them all... again, I guess... roll back through the tunnel into the main part of the room, where more of the black stuff will promptly appear, bringing more of the troopers back to life. Take them out as fast as you can, grab any energy they leave behind, then head back to where you entered the room and scan the now-activated control panel. It will cause a gate to open, and what else would be behind it then a few more Dark Troopers! Since they're in a tunnel, you can let these come at you one at a time, and once you've gotten rid of them you're done fighting zombified troopers for now. The next room contains nothing but a bunch of crates where you can recover your health, and once you're refilled continue on to the next room. Whatever you were expecting when you entered Hive Chamber B, it probably wasn't what you'll actually see. Inside, you'll see... you! Someone (or something) is wearing a Power Suit that looks very similar to yours except that it is almost completely black. After looking at you for a moment, the "Dark Samus" will create a large spherical cloud of pulsating blackness and disappear into it! First you see what looks like an evil copy of yourself, then it creates what your Scan Visor describes as some sort of "dimensional rift" and disappears into it! Well, there's nothing for it: you've got to find out who or what your clone is, so follow it into the black cloud. You'll emerge on the floor of a bare, rocky area surrounded by high, dark cliffs, with a terrible-looking purple sky above. The spot you landed in is next to a bright crystal on top of a pole, which casts a circle of white light around it. Looking through the sphere of light, you can see the Dark Samus standing in front of the cliffs. The cliff wall is covered in a bright blue material that looks strangely familiar, and Dark Samus is somehow absorbing it into her/his/itself. After a few moments, Dark Samus will notice you and fire a shot at you. The shot will miss you, but it will shatter the light-giving crystal. Dark Samus will then run away, but you'll be too busy realizing that without the light of the crystal protecting you, the atmosphere itself is damaging your Power Suit. At the same time, a number of hideous black creatures with long, insect-like legs and faces consisting of a blotch of yellow and red dots will appear along the edge of the cliff, looking down at you. Then, they will leap down on you, and you will be unable to resist as they attack you. Once the creatures are done with you, you will be thrown back out of the black cloud, which will then disappear. Bruised and battered, your Power Suit will notify you that several important components have been stolen by the creatures. Your missiles, Space Jump Boots, bombs, along with other components you haven't even had a chance to use yet on Aether are all gone. It seems that, in classic Metroid style, you're going to have to set out to recover your stolen items from the disgusting black creatures. What's more, you need to find out more about Dark Samus. It was clear, though, that the material it was absorbing in the parallel universe or wherever you were was Phazon, the radioactive substance that caused the downfall of Tallon IV. On top of all that, Dark Samus's black Power Suit closely resembles the Phazon Suit you wore at the end of your mission on Tallon IV, and which Metroid Prime pulled off of you in its death throes. At least, you thought they were its death throes... the Phazon, the suit, it all seems to indicate that your evil twin is none other than Metroid Prime! What started out as a simple search-and-rescue mission is quickly becoming more and more complicated, and you haven't even reached the first Save Station yet! You almost have, though. Behind where the cloud was is a tunnel, but it is blocked by another gate. There is a Morph Ball-sized pipe nearby, but it is covered with a piece of Talloric Alloy that, since you no longer have bombs, you cannot break. If you shoot the pods next to the pipe, though, you'll uncover another pipe, this one uncovered. Roll through it to emerge on the other side of the gate, although also in the middle of more Dark Troopers. Once you kill them all, take a look around. The map says there are two doors out of this room, but only one is visible. Head to where the map says the other one should be and you'll find a stack of crates against the wall. Shoot them all (you'll need the Charge Beam to destroy the large ones) to uncover a door behind them. Through it is a Save Station; step into it to save your game and refill your energy. /============================================================================== 3. Make Our Stand [III.A.3] \============================================================================== |[Temple Grounds East] | |o Missile Launcher | --------------------------------------------------------------------- After you save, exit out of the other door to reach an elevator platform. Scan the panel, then step into the hologram to activate it. At the top, you'll see that you're on the other side of the large door with the purple hologram you saw before you fell into the hive. At the other end of the tunnel is a door, and it leads out of the Splinter hive. As soon as you enter the Industrial Site, you'll have to scan and shoot the locks on another gate, but once it opens you can step out into the open air. You'll notice while you're outside that the sky will alternate between clear, sunny skies and threatening purple clouds, similar to the ones you saw while in the place where your gear was stolen. It seems that something about Aether is out of the ordinary. The area is littered with Federation crates, and there is also a large crate attached to a crane sitting on the ground. In fact, the crate blocks access to the other side of the room, but scan the control panel to the left and the crane will lift the crate, transporting it out of the room. Once you walk past it, three creatures will pop out of the ground and start trying to attack you! These are SPLINTERS, although they seem smaller than the dead ones you saw in the hive. Make sure to scan one, then fire a few shots at each of them to kill them. There's another door with the same purple hologram in this room, but you can jump onto a ledge to the right that wraps around the edge of the room; there's a harmless GREEN KRALEE on the path that you can scan and kill if you want. (By this point you should be getting in the habit of scanning any time you see a new creature, and I'm going to stop reminding you.) The path ends across from a GF BRIDGE. Scan it for a Logbook entry, then, like with the gates, scan the panel and shoot the locks on top to lower the bridge. There's a door out of the room across the bridge. The door leads into a tunnel where you'll find the body of a trooper crushed in rubble. Scan PFC M. VERONI for his log entry (he thinks one of the other troopers is going crazy), then roll through the Morph Ball tunnel to reach the other side. When you enter the next room, Temple Assembly Site, you'll see the crate you lifted in the Industrial Site will arrive and will attach to another crane. There are more crates and equipment in this room, as well as a platform in front of another hologram door. More Splinters will appear when you approach the platform, and once they're gone you can scan the control panel behind one of the short columns surrounding the platform. The panel will cause the crane to start to lower the crate, but the winch will malfunction, leaving the crate hanging in the air. You'll also see a weak spot in the cable; lock-on and fire at it to snap the cable and drop the crate. Now you can use the crate as a bridge to reach another ledge with a door. Inside the tunnel, you'll have to scan a computer terminal to open another gate, but this is a GF GATE MK VII, so make sure to scan it. Also, when the gate in front of you opens another one behind you will close, and this can't be undone, so backtracking is not an option for you right now. Behind the gate is the Communication Area, where you can see a Federation communications dish built high above, along with a white tower that must have been built by whatever race inhabits this planet, although you haven't seen any of them yet. Follow the path around the high ledges to the left, then around the fence, where you'll find PFC L. BROUDA on the ground in front of a control panel. Scan the panel to activate the dish, but it will be useless since the atmosphere is blocking the distress signal. Continue around the other side of the fence, and in a small chamber in front of the door you'll meet three more Dark Troopers. It's harder to avoid damage here since it's so cramped, but try to take them out as fast as you can. Inside is the Trooper Security Station, which contains not only some Splinters but also a ceiling-mounted automated gun, called a GROWLER CLASS TURRET. Strafe and move around to avoid its shots, and respond with charged shots to destroy it. The way out is blocked by a gate, but the control panel for it behind a fence. Roll through a Morph Ball tunnel to the right of the fence to reach the panel as well as SPC M. ANGSETH. Reading the trooper's log, you'll realize that you are something of a hero for her! While still reveling in your celebrity, roll back to the gate. The gate is malfunctioning, causing it to keep going up and down, so roll through in the Morph Ball to avoid being crushed. As soon as you enter the next room, you'll see a large spaceship ahead, and when you approach and see the dead troopers strewn about, you'll realize that this was the Federation ship. There's a terminal in front of the ship; when you interface with it you'll see the captain's final log entry describing what happened. He'll describe how they chased a Space Pirate frigate that was heading for Aether, but the ship was damaged (like yours) while landing, and so they started to repair the ship and set up a base. Then, creatures that look like Splinters except that they are black started appearing in swarms, and they completely overwhelmed the troopers. It's a sad story, but now you're realizing that the situation on this planet is getting pretty complex: apparently there are Space Pirates on Aether, not to mention Dark Samus, as well as the dark creatures that seem to be attacking from some sort of alternate universe. After you finish watching the log, turn around and you'll see a large yellow crate behind the terminal. Destroy it with the Charge Beam and you'll find the MISSILE LAUNCHER inside! That's one item recovered, but you only have five missiles right now, so you need to conserve them. As soon as you get the Missile Launcher, four creatures will emerge from purple circles that appear out of nowhere and start attacking! These are DARK SPLINTERS, Splinters that have been possessed by another lifeform similar to the Dark Troopers, and these are the same creatures that killed the troopers. They are basically the same as regular Splinters except that they are stronger: it will take about two charged shots to bring one down. Once all the Dark Splinters are gone and you have grabbed any energy or missile ammo left behind, you can begin scanning all the troopers around the ship. You can get all but one entry of the Force 1 category of the Trooper Logs on the ground around the ship, a total of five scans. The troopers are: CAPT A. EXETER, SPC F. TRIPLETTE, PFC G. HALEY, PFC J. BRODE, and PFC S. MILLIGAN. You can also scan the ship, the GFS TYR, for another Logbook entry. Enter the ship, and you can see the empty seats that each represent a lost life. Behind the door in the ship is another Map Station that will provide you with a map of the rest of the Temple Grounds. To leave the room, jump from an opening on the left side of the ship, near a small fire, to a higher ledge. At the end of the ledge you can see the final Force 1 entry above you: you can't reach it, but you can scan it; apparently PFC I. CRANY is more sceptical of your existence. Next, scan the metal circle on the ground for a Logbook entry; you only have a limited number of chances for this one, so go ahead and get it now. Now scan the panel to activate the KINETIC ORB CANNON and roll into it in Morph Ball form to get shot to a ledge across the room. From here you can jump down to another ledge below you with a door on it. The door is protected by a red Blast Shield, which means it can only be opened with a missile. There's also a Morph Ball tunnel next to the door, but it just leads to a yellow door (which you can't open). In the next room you'll find PFC E. DENYS, who should be the last Trooper Log entry. Roll through the tunnel to the right to drop down to a lower level containing WAR WASPS. These can be really annoying, so lock-on to them and try to kill them as fast as possible. To get out of this room, look up and find a control panel on a ledge above you. Scan it to activate a cannon that will shoot you up to the door. As soon as you enter the next room, Sacred Path, you'll be attacked by more War Wasps; once you take them out destroy their WAR WASP HIVE with a missile, but not before you scan it for a Logbook entry. There are several more hives in this room, and if you don't destroy them they'll continually send War Wasps after you. To the left of the door you entered by is a large tower with a weak section of wall. Fire a missile at it to partially damage it, then use the cannon across the room (the control panel is against the wall next to it; it can be easy to miss) to blast through the remains. Roll through a gap in the tower wall to roll along a track that will lead you onto the high ledge at the other side of the room. Next to the door into a giant tube-like structure is a dead alien. You don't recognize this species, but it appears intelligent. Inside the door is a tiny room containing nothing but a control panel and a circular platform. Scan the panel to activate the elevator, step into the hologram in the center to travel high up above the Temple Grounds. /============================================================================== 4. Light of Aether [III.A.4] \============================================================================== |[Great Temple, Temple Grounds East] | |o Energy Transfer Module | |o Energy Tank 01 | |o Missile Expansion 03 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- At the top of the elevator, you'll see more dead aliens on the partially ruined steps, and it appears they died in battle. In the following passage, you'll see cables leading through a crack in the wall to the left; roll through the hole to find a Save Station. Once you've saved and refilled your energy, go through the door at the end of the hallway. The door leads to a large, beautiful room made mostly of glass, and with a circle of pillars surrounding the center of the room. Once you step inside the pillars, a force field will appear behind them and Splinters will start to drop down from a hive in the ceiling above you. Before they begin to attack, though, another cloud of black matter will emerge from the hive and infect the Splinters, turning them all into Dark Splinters. The best way to fight the Dark Splinters is to lock-on to one and continually fire at it while at the same time constantly moving. If you just keep firing at one Dark Splinter while walking around the room, you shouldn't get hit very often. You can also use your radar to help you see if there any Splinters behind you that you need to avoid. Be careful while fighting the Dark Splinters, though; you want to conserve as much damage as possible. Once all the Dark Splinters are gone, a much larger Splinter will drop from the hive: this is an ALPHA SPLINTER, the leader of the hive. It also attacks by jumping at you, but its jumps are much faster and more powerful. When you see it rear back, it's just about to jump. Dash to the side (press B while pushing the Control Stick left or right) to avoid the attack. After jumping at you, the Alpha Splinter will jump back to the other side of the arena. It may take a few tries to get the timing down to avoid the jump attack, but if you can't dodge it, it will be difficult to survive the fight. Throughout the fight, keep firing charged blasts at the Alpha Splinter. After about a minute of this, though, another black cloud will appear and start moving towards the Alpha Splinter. Fire as many shots as you can at the Alpha Splinter before the cloud gets there, because once it does the Alpha Splinter will become the DARK ALPHA SPLINTER. The Dark Alpha Splinter will keep doing the jump attack, but it will also fire bursts of purple energy at you. The shot is fairly easy to avoid by moving around and jumping, and keep dashing the jump attack. Keep a steady stream of charged shots aimed at the Dark Alpha Splinter and you can watch its energy meter gradually drain. If your energy starts to get low, don't forget that you can use your missiles, too. They do about as much damage as a charged shot, but they're faster, so they are good to use if both you and the Dark Splinter are close to death. Once you succeed in killing the Dark Splinter, a glowing blue ball will emerge from its dead body. When you approach it, it will fly around the room before flying right into your chest! Electricity will spark all over your Power Suit, but the unidentified item will not hurt you. Hopefully you can find out what it is soon. After the force field lowers you'll see that there are doors in each side of the room, but three of them (including the one you came in by) are the large metal hologram doors. Scan the walls to learn that behind them are a number of hibernetic stasis chambers - that's interesting. Go through the only door available to you to reach an elevator platform. At the top is a room open to the sky and with a large piece of metal equipment in the center of the room. Above it is a huge container full of bright, yellow light. As you take all this in, you'll see one of the aliens standing to the side, but this one's not dead. It will greet you and tell you its name: U-MOS, Sentinel of the Luminoth. He will tell you some of the story of what has happened on Aether. It began when a meteor crashed on the planet, with an impact so powerful it caused a rift that created two separate versions of Aether, each existing in its own dimension. The first, inhabited by the Luminoth, was full of light and peace. But the new Aether was dark and hostile, inhabited by evil creatures that cared only for destruction. The Luminoth called these new creatures the Ing, and so began a war that lasted for decades. (You will recognize the Ing as the creatures that stole your equipment.) Now the Luminoth have been almost defeated. When Dark Aether was created, the planetary energy of Aether was divided between the light and dark worlds. If one world loses its energy, it will be destroyed. The Ing stole a device designed by the Luminoth to transfer energy, and with it have almost destroyed Light Aether. But you have just recovered that device, the Energy Transfer Module, the blue ball that appeared after you killed the Dark Alpha Splinter. Now only you can save the Luminoth, by transferring the planetary energy from temples on Dark Aether back to Light Aether. If you do not, then after the Ing conquer Light Aether they will move on to other worlds, putting numerous planets, perhaps even your own, at risk. U-Mos will then update your Translator Module so that you can access devices and doors with Violet holograms. He will warn you that since the Ing know you have the Energy Transfer Module, they will do all they can to stop you. Finally, he will conclude his monologue with a blessing, "May the Light of Aether shine upon you!" All you originally came here for was to find the troopers, but your mission has now grown much larger. Now, in order to both avenge the troopers and save the Luminoth, it looks like you must go after the Ing. And don't forget about Dark Samus or the Space Pirates, either. When you finish listening to U-Mos, he will refill your energy, restoring the energy lost from the battle with the Splinters. Scan both U-Mos and the Energy Controller behind him for Logbook entries, then turn to leave. There is a violet hologram next to the door, and since U-Mos upgraded your translator module you can now scan it for a Logbook entry. This is a piece of Luminoth Lore, entitled ORIGINS, describing how the Luminoth originally wandered among the stars, meeting many races (including the Chozo) but having no homeworld. They finally decided that, like other races, they should find a planet to call their own. Return to the Temple Sanctuary, and find the translator door with the violet hologram. Scan it to open it and learn that it is the "Pathway to Agon." In the hallway behind the door are several LIGHTFLYERS, blobs of yellow light that fire streams of light energy at you. Just don't get close and fire a couple charged shots at them to destroy them. At the end of the hall is another elevator chamber leading back down to the Temple Grounds. You'll have to open another translator door when you reach the bottom, and it leads into the Temple Assembly Site, a room you already passed through. You'll have to fight a group of Splinters here, although a cloud will appear that will soon turn them into Dark Splinters. Try to kill as many as possible before they transform. Once they're all dead, look for a door with a red blast shield. You can destroy it with a Missile, and behind it you'll find an ENERGY TANK! This will give you an additional 100 units of energy, meaning you now have 199 units of energy. Head back through Collapsed Tunnel to the Industrial Site, where you'll find another translator door that you can now open. Just behind the door you'll see a dead Luminoth, and make sure to scan it. Its final journal entry will be downloaded to your Logbook as J-FME'S TESTAMENT in a section called "Keybearer Lore". The door leads to a glass walkway over a cliff, and at the end you'll find the elevator to Agon Wastes. Don't step onto the elevator just yet, though. The elevator is located next to a cliff; if you walk to the edge of the cliff and look to the right, you'll see another Luminoth Lore entry, OUR HERITAGE (this one describes how the Luminoth finally find Aether and make it their homeworld). Also, across from the elevator is one of the spiderwebs created by the Splinters. Shoot the sac in the center of it, and behind it you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. This will allow you to carry 5 more Missiles, and is the first of 49 hidden all over Aether. Now, scan the control panel and ride the elevator to Agon Wastes. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## B. AGON WASTES [III.B] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Fertile Plains [III.B.1] \============================================================================== |[Agon Wastes West] | |o Morph Ball Bombs | |o Missile Expansion 11 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- It won't take you long after you step off the elevator to realize that this is a desert environment. In the first couple of rooms, make sure to get the scans for the AGON BEARERPOD, LUMITE, and SANDGRASS. When you reach the end of the straight passage, you'll enter the Mining Plaza, a large room with a large central pillar or tower in the center, ledges and doors around the sides. At the top of the central rock is a sculpture, and there is some industrial equipment in the room. As soon as you step on the lower ground in front of the door, a SANDIGGER, a large worm-like creature, will spring up out of the sand and start slithering rather quickly towards you. Jump out of the way, and fire at whichever end has a bright light showing while you avoid the bursts of acid it will fire at you. Once you destroy both of its heads, it will die in a rather messy explosion. Head around the room to the right and you'll see a ledge with a missile door. Open the door to find a Save Station inside, so make sure to use it. Continuing to the right around Mining Plaza, you'll run into a second Sandigger, and past it a translator door, except the hologram on this one is yellow, so you can't open it. Where the second Sandigger was, there's a ledge that leads up to a ramp up to a cracked Brinstone pillar. Shoot the pillar with a missile and it will fall over, creating a bridge to a ledge partway up the central pillar. You'll see a yellow Lore hologram on the ledge, but since it's yellow it's inaccessible to you. At the end of the ledge is another Brinstone pillar, and once you knock it down a swarm of SANDBATS will start flying in a circle around the pillar. Get rid of them by manually aiming somewhere in their path and firing as fast as you can; you need to kill most of them because they'll knock you off the pillar. The second Brinstone bridge leads up to another ramp where you can reach the top of the central rock. There's a bridge (with more Sandbats around it) that leads to a door. The door leads to a Morph Ball tunnel, and the tunnel goes through an oval-shaped structure. You can see a cannon underneath a block below you and you can hear the characteristic hum of an item, but there's no way for you to destroy that block now, so you'll have to go on. At the other end of the tunnel you'll enter Mining Station A. After rounding a corner surrounded by large machinery, you'll see a room containing several artificial columns and more ledges along the walls. You'll also see Space Pirates! Three PIRATE TROOPERS will appear and will (of course) begin to attack you. Make sure to scan one, but keep moving to avoid their fire, and use the columns for cover if you can. Two charged shots will kill a Pirate Trooper. Don't forget to look up at the ledges and the tops of the pillars if you're being fired on from above. The Federation troopers came here in pursuit of Space Pirates, and now you have found them. Once the Pirate Troopers are dead, head over to the ledge on the right side of the room (with your back to the door you came in by). There's a door there, but don't go through it yet. At the end of the ledge is a BRIZGEE, a mostly harmless creature that just wanders around on ledges. You can kill it with a missile and a few Power Beam shots. From the ledge, jump to the nearest column, then use the columns to reach the door on the other side of the room. This door leads to a decorated, purple-colored hallway. As you walk down the hallway, several flying creatures will let out a high-pitched shriek and start flying towards you. These are SHRIEKBATS, and rapidly lock-on and fire a shot at each of them in turn to kill them all before they slam into you. At the end of the hallway you'll reach the Agon Temple, a giant circular arena. There are paths that curve around to the left and right from the door, but go straight ahead into the center of the arena. When you do, a door will rise out of the ground behind you, locking you in. Then a giant Sandigger will appear! This is the ALPHA SANDIGGER, and make sure to scan it immediately, because this is your only chance and it won't be around long. Even before it really has much chance to attack, an Ing cloud will appear and possess the Sandigger, transforming it into the BOMB GUARDIAN. It still looks like a Sandigger, but it now has the ability to create and throw bombs. This must be one of the Ing that stole your equipment soon after you arrived! This Ing stole your Morph Ball Bombs, and now you'll have to defeat it in order to get them back! As the Bomb Guardian moves around the arena, it will leave a trail of bombs. It will also pause occasionally and fire a few bombs straight at you. Most of the bombs can be avoided by constantly moving and jumping. Lock-on to the guardian's glowing tail and keep a steady stream of fire at it to do a little bit of damage. This isn't the main way to defeat the Bomb Guardian, though, since it will only glow yellow, not red, when it gets hit. What you're waiting for is the Bomb Guardian to stop and for its head to start glowing blue. When it does, fire a charged shot or missile at its head. This will do major damage to the Bomb Guardian, taking about 1/4 of its energy meter. If you don't hit it, though, it will spew a ton of bombs into the air and they will land all over the arena. It's very hard to avoid taking any damage when this happens, so make sure to hit the Bomb Guardian before it unloads the attack. After four of these hits, the Bomb Guardian will die, and the MORPH BALL BOMBS will be yours! Use your newly-regained Bombs to destroy the doors trapping you in the arena (Bombs can destroy material made of Talloric Alloy) and go through the door on the far side of the Agon Temple. Activate the Bomb Slot in the statue in the next room and the walls will rotate, allowing to enter a door on the other side. This door leads to the Agon Energy Controller, and it looks similar to the Energy Controller in the Great Temple, except that this one does not have any light shining out of the giant container; it is empty. Behind the ENERGY CONTROLLER is the body of a dead Luminoth and a yellow projector. Scan the projector to activate a recorded message from the Agon Sentinel, whose body is lying next to you. The Sentinel will tell you that there is a portal to Dark Aether nearby, and that you need to find the temple in Dark Aether, where its Energy Controller is. He'll also explain that the entrance to the temple is locked, and that you will need to find three keys in Dark Aether in order to enter. Next, the Sentinel will warn you that the air of Dark Aether is dangerous, and that you should use Light Crystals placed by the Luminoth for protection. Finally, he will upgrade your translator module so that you can read Amber holograms and refill your energy. Once the message has ended, look for a passage along the side with a Lore hologram in it. Since you can now translate yellow holograms, you can scan this entry, SAVING AETHER, describing how the Luminoth built the Energy Controllers to regulate their supply of planetary energy. Now you can return to the Agon Temple, where you'll find that the central arena is now home to several War Wasp hives. Oh goodie. If you explore the paths around the circumference of the temple, you'll find that there are two doors on either side, one white and other black, and that you can't open either of them. Return to Mining Station A (which has no more Pirates), then go through the door you passed earlier, on the ledge with the Brizgee. Let the cannon shoot you up and over the wall, then drop down to the other side. Before heading on, though, stop and roll behind the metal grating, avoiding the cannon, to get a MISSILE EXPANSION behind the body of a Luminoth. Now go through the door to enter a long room called Portal Terminal. Two Pirate Troopers will be there, and once you kill them two more will appear. These Pirates, however, will be possessed by Ing, and will become DARK PIRATE TROOPERS. Dark Pirate Troopers attack like regular Pirate Troopers, but they take twice as much damage to kill, making them dangerous enemies. Once all the Pirates are gone, a Bomb Slot at the top of the ramp, next to the circular structure, will turn on. Collect any energy the Pirates left, then head down the passage to the left of the ramp to find a Lore entry, LIGHT OF AETHER. Now go up the ramp and investigate. By scanning one of the red circles on the circular device, you'll learn that it can generate a portal to Dark Aether, but it's not powered. This must be the portal that the Sentinel told you about. To get into the Bomb Slot, lay a Bomb underneath you. When it goes off, it will pop you up into the air, and you will get into the Bomb Slot; this is called a bomb jump. When you activate the Bomb Slot, power will start flowing through cables in the floor, and a conveyor belt in the wall to the right will start moving. Roll into the opening and the conveyor belt will carry you up into a Morph Ball tunnel in the wall. Roll along the tunnel, using bomb jumps as necessary, to reach a block at the end. When you bomb it, it will cause a platform to move into place in the air. This will also disturb a War Wasp hive, so roll out of the tunnel, kill the wasps, then use the platform to jump to the other side, where you'll find another Morph Ball tunnel. Follow this tunnel to move a second platform into place, leading to a third tunnel. Before you enter this tunnel, though, scan the black creature you can see rolling around inside it. This is a PILLBUG, a creature found only in Morph Ball tunnels, so this is one of the few places where you can scan it. Inside the tunnel, you can stun the Pillbug with a bomb, and kill it with a couple more. Once you move the third platform into place, sunlight will stream through the lenses in the platforms and focus on the portal, powering it fully. Now return to the portal and scan the red circle next to it. The portal will activate, creating a cloud of pulsating dark purple matter. When you step into the portal, you'll make the interdimensional journey from Light to Dark Aether. /============================================================================== 2. Dimensional Rifts [III.B.2] \============================================================================== |[Dark Agon Wastes West] | |o Space Jump Boots | |o Dark Agon Temple Key 1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- When you complete the journey to Dark Aether, you will find yourself standing in a room that looks very similar to Portal Terminal, and yet different. The basic layout of the room is practically identical to what it was on Light Aether, but the room is much darker now and is dotted with several spheres of bright light, one of which you are standing in. If you step out of the sphere of light you will begin taking damage at a very fast rate. As you had been warned, the very air of Dark Aether is damaging to you, and the only areas of protection are the glowing Safe Zones, which will not only protect you from the atmosphere, they will slowly refill your energy as long as you stand in them. Outside the portal generator you'll see several black, blade-shaped lifeforms. These are BLADEPODS, and they function just like crates in Dark Aether. Step out of the Safe Zone and quickly run to the next one at the bottom of the ramp, which is generated by a LIGHT CRYSTAL. There are no other Safe Zones nearby, but there is a small sparkling ball in the air. This is a LIGHT BEACON, and when you shoot it it will create a temporary Safe Zone. You'll know the Safe Zone is about to disappear when it begins to flash. From there you can reach another Light Crystal (don't forget to scan them for Logbook entries), and then another next to a Bomb Slot on the left side of the room. You may have noticed a half-visible Bomb Slot in this location on Light Aether, but it didn't work because half of it is in both worlds. However, when it is activated here it will also be activated in Light Aether. Do so, and a gate next to it will lower. Keep in mind that the same has probably happened in Light Aether, so be sure to investigate it when you return. Run through the gate, and you'll find a Light Beacon waiting for you just inside the door. Continue to a Light Crystal in the center of the room, where several black puddles are moving around on the floors and walls, occasionally solidifying into stubby creatures that will fire a shot of black matter at you. These are INGLETS, and this is the first time you have encountered Ing in their natural form, not like in Light Aether where they possess other creatures. There's not a whole lot you can do to avoid their shots other than jump around a lot and try to kill them as fast as possible. Note that you can damage them while they are in "puddle" form, although you can't lock-on to them then. Once they're all dead, you can just stand in the Safe Zone for a little bit if you want to recover some energy. In the next room you'll find more Inglets, but past them a Save Station as well as a swarm of NIGHTBARBS, which are very similar to Sandbats. Past the Save Station is a door leading to Duelling Range, the Dark Aether equivalent of Mining Plaza. When you enter the Safe Zone there, a large Ing with long, angular legs, an insect-like body, and a face made up of a blotch of orange and yellow dots will appear and attack. This is a WARRIOR ING, the same type of Ing that stole your equipment in your first, brief visit to Dark Aether. Warrior Ing are very common across all of Dark Aether, so you'd better get good at fighting them, because they are strong opponents. First off, make sure to stay in your Safe Zone; otherwise the atmosphere will kill you faster than the Ing. At close range, the Warrior Ing will attempt to slash you with its legs. When it tries to do this, jump back. Its other attack is to fire several beams of white energy at you. This attack is easier to avoid by jumping and strafing if you see it coming, but if you're not prepared for it you will probably get hurt. And like all Ing, the Warrior Ing can dissolve into a puddle and move over floors and walls. To fight back, just keep pounding at it with charged Power Beam shots or missiles. There are more effective weapons to use against the Ing, but right now these are all you've got. Just attack as hard and as fast as you can while dodging its attacks, and you'll eventually kill it. Once the Warrior Ing is dead, you need to get out of the room. You can easily reach a Safe Zone to the left of the one you fought the Ing from, but once you reach it there appear to be no more nearby, making it deadly to continue without the protection of a Safe Zone. There is, however, a small creature walking back and forth along the path ahead. This creature has several crystals on its back that give out a light similar to that created by Light Crystals. This is a LIGHTBRINGER, and you should scan it now, since it only appears a few times. A Lightbringer is basically a moving Safe Zone. Simply wait for it to approach you, then follow it as it walks up the path until you can reach the next Safe Zone. At the top of the path, you'll see a circle of light greenish light behind bars. You'll need to use another Lightbringer to cross the bridge just before you reach the door out of the room. After rolling through the Morph Ball tunnel in the next room, in which you'll have to pass another Missile Expansion, you'll enter Judgment Pit. When you enter Judgment Pit, you'll meet another Warrior Ing, but this one is special. This is the Ing who stole your Space Jump Boots, making him the JUMP GUARDIAN. Basically, the Jump Guardian has all the abilities of a normal Warrior Ing, but he can also jump extremely high and far, and when he lands he will create damaging shock waves. The strategies for fighting the Jump Guardian are mostly similar to the Warrior Ing, with a few additions due to his jumping ability. First, make sure to jump over the shock waves, since they can definitely hurt you. Next, the Jump Guardian cannot be damaged just before he jumps, while he is in the air, and just after he lands. Other than those times, though, keep firing charged shots or missiles at the Jump Guardian to steadily whittle down his energy meter. When he is near death, the Jump Guardian will start jumping a whole lot more, making him harder to hit. Once this happens, just fire single shots as fast as you can to hit him whenever you get a chance and drain off the rest of his energy. Once you succeed, the SPACE JUMP BOOTS will be yours! Now you can perform a double jump by pressing B again while in the air. You'll need your new Space Jump Boots to jump up the ledges around Judgment Pit. You should head for the red door, which leads to the Dark Agon Temple. You can see that it mostly resembles the temple on Light Agon with its large circular arena, but access to the central arena is blocked by a gate with three oval indentations in it. This is the gate that the three keys will unlock, and you will need to find those three keys before returning here. Before leaving, though, follow the path around to the left, where there are Safe Zones. You'll reach a door, and inside is a tiny chamber containing a red oval inside several black rings. This is a DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY, one of the three keys needed to unlock the gate into the center of Dark Agon Temple, and it will be displayed in the lower-right corner of the map screen to show that you have collected it. Your first sojourn in Dark Aether is almost over now, and all that remains is to return to Portal Site. Start by returning to Dark Judgment, and this time go through the door on the lower level. This leads to Portal Access, and you may be scared when you see that there are no Light Crystals or Light Beacons in this room. There is, however, a Lightflyer. Kill it as fast as you can, and when it dies it will create a temporary Safe Zone. Double jump up to the top of the ledge, stand in the Safe Zone to recover some energy, then head on through the door on the other side to reach Portal Site. Quickly head for the large Safe Zone to regain some energy, then head back to the portal generator and use it to generate a LIGHT PORTAL. You can scan it for a Research entry, then step into it to return to Light Aether. /============================================================================== 3. Stealth Protocols [III.B.3] \============================================================================== |[Agon Wastes East] | |o Dark Beam | |o Energy Tanks 5,7 | |o Missile Expansions 10,13,15,16 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as you return to Light Aether, three Space Pirates will appear in Portal Terminal, so be ready to fight them. After they're dead and you've collected the energy they leave behind, head to the far left side of the room, where the transparent Bomb Slot is. Since you activated the Bomb Slot in Dark Aether, the gate has been lowered, so go through the door behind it. This leads to Transport Center, a room with smooth, curved walls on either side. To get past the room, activate the Bomb Slot in the room to lower the gate; this will also allow you to pick up a MISSILE EXPANSION. (This has got to be the easiest expansion in the game.) Past Transport Center, scan the BLUEROOT TREE for a Research entry, then roll through the fast-moving sand tunnel to reach the Save Station off of Mining Plaza. Once you save and return to Mining Plaza, you can open the translator door in the room now. After the door has been opened, lay a bomb next to the weak spot in the wall to reveal a tunnel that leads to a Map Station, allowing you to download a complete map of Agon Wastes. You can also scan the lore hologram on the central pillar entitled PARADISE, which describes the ideal conditions on Aether prior to the meteor and the Ing. Cross the bridge and enter the Morph Ball tunnel you passed through earlier. Lay a Bomb on the block in the center of the oval to destroy it, causing you to fall into the cannon underneath it. The cannon will shoot you up into a small chamber containing an ENERGY TANK! In the next room, Mining Station A, you can open another translator door on one of the upper ledges to reveal a door to Sand Cache, where you'll find another MISSILE EXPANSION. In order to proceed further in Agon Wastes, you need to reach the areas beyond Mining Station A. To do that, jump onto the orange statue in the middle of the sand stream in front of the gate, then jump onto the ledge on the other side. This ledge will lead you up to an elevated walkway in front of the gate. Here you'll find another Lore entry and a control panel that will open the gate. Beyond the gate is a tunnel, and ahead you'll see several Pirate Troopers standing next to some cylindrical containers full of a bright blue material that looks suspiciously like Phazon. To test your suspicions and take out the Pirates at once, fire a charged shot at one of the canisters (from a distance). They will explode violently, killing the Pirates. At the end of the tunnel, you'll enter another open area with several structures and ledges built on it; this is Central Mining Station. The area has obviously already sustained damage; a large hole has been blown through a wall across the room, with flaming debris still scattered around. This is obviously a major part of the Space Pirates' operations here, and three Pirate Troopers will arrive on a skiff as soon as you arrive (don't forget to scan the PIRATE SKIFF). Use the walls, crates, and windmills for cover as you battle the Pirates, but don't let your guard down. As soon as you kill the first three Pirates, two more will appear to continue the fight. And once those are gone, two Pirates will appear on an upper ledge in order to man two large cannons that will fire powerful green blasts at you. Make sure to scan these VIGILANCE CLASS TURRETS. These turrets fire very strong blasts, so it's important to keep moving and stay under as much cover as you can. It will take three missiles or charged shots to destroy each turret. Once both turrets are destroyed, the battle will finally be over and the lasers blocking a door on the ground level will turn off. Through the door is an empty hallway. Although you can't open the door at the end of the hallway, there are several weak spots in the floor. Bomb one of the weak spots, then drop down in Morph Ball form to roll through a tunnel that appears to be made of organic matter. Roll underneath the door to reach a large room with numerous computer terminals and displays, along with a Dark Portal generator! While you roll through the twisting tunnels underneath the floor, avoiding the electricity that arcs across your path in some spots, the portal will be opened and a group of Space Pirates will go through into Dark Aether! Pay attention when you're in the center of the room near where the Pirates were standing, because there's another tunnel off to the right. Follow this tunnel to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION. Return to the main tunnel, and at the end you'll reach a small alcove in a corner of the room. Once you exit Morph Ball form, you'll see that there are a few Space Pirates left in the room, and one will jump behind a large solid gate that will close in front of him. Kill the two Pirate Troopers in the room, then take a look around. Across from the inactive portal is the door you couldn't open and had to roll underneath, and in front of this door are four computer terminals. Scan these terminals to download Space Pirate Logs to your Logbook, similar to the Trooper Logs you found when you first arrived. There are similar clusters of computers on the left and right sides of the rooms underneath the holographic displays of AETHER and DARK AETHER. All in all, you can download LOG 44681, LOG 48853, LOG 50086, LOG 54421, and LOG 62217 to your Logbook. After reading all this information, you will have a pretty good picture of the Space Pirates' activities on Aether. Apparently they arrived on Aether after detecting Phazon on the planet. They established a base, but came under attack by the Ing. After discovering a portal in their base and opening it using a "Dark Beam" weapon they found, they saw that the Phazon they were looking for was on Dark Aether. They have been attempting to mine the Phazon from Dark Aether, but the atmosphere, the Ing, and the "Dark Hunter" (Dark Samus) have all been hampering their efforts. Some of the displays also make it clear that the Space Pirates have Metroids with them. After you finish absorbing all this, use the elevator to the right of the portal to reach an upper-level walkway. Another trooper will appear on the walkway, and just before you reach the door yet another trooper will fire at you through the broken windows of a detached upper-level chamber. After killing both troopers, go through the door. Inside the tunnel that follows, you'll see Dark Samus appear! She will materialize inside a circular chamber, and a gate will spring up as soon as she appears. After you stare each other in the eyes for a moment, Dark Samus will rapidly float back down the tunnel, leaving you stunned... and nervous. There's no way for you to open the gate, but there is another tunnel to the right. This tunnel leads to the upper-level chamber above Command Center, where one of the computer terminals will open the large gate in this room. You'll have to go back through the tunnel to get back to the main part of Command Center, then go through the door behind the gate. In the hallway you'll encounter two ceiling-mounted turrets, HUMILITY CLASS TURRETS to be specific, that are very similar to the turrets you encountered in the Splinter Hive. Destroy them with a charged shot or missile, then use the Morph Ball to roll past the moving lasers (roll through when they are moving away from you). In the next room, you'll see two Pirates in the room, but they will escape on a skiff as soon as you enter. Look around, and you'll see that there are several Metroids being held in tanks! Ride the elevator to an upper level walkway where you'll encounter a few more Pirates, and at the end of the walkway is a large tank containing several Metroids and a barely-alive Space Pirate who probably wishes he were dead. You'll have to walk around the tank, right past several smaller tanks containing Metroids that will probably ram the walls of their tanks as you go past. It's creepy, but don't worry; they won't break out. On the other side of the large tank is LOG 63622. This one says that "The Hunter", their name for Samus, has arrived, but that she has only been interested in Phazon, and the Pirates have started calling her the "Dark Hunter." Obviously, the Space Pirates are not talking about you, but about Dark Samus. As soon as you go through the next door, a turret will be pointed at your face, so be ready to take it out as soon as you enter. Use the Bomb Slot to rotate the metal bars and allow access to the next room; it's obvious the Space Pirates are taking security very seriously. In the next room, Bioenergy Production, you'll encounter a new threat: PIRATE AEROTROOPERS. These are Space Pirates equipped with jetpacks, and they are dangerous. They can fire regular laser blasts and powerful missiles, and they are faster and more agile than regular Pirates. They're also tougher: it takes three charged shots or missiles to bring one down, and when they do that they will make a suicide dive towards you. Jump around as much as possible to avoid their lasers and missiles, and respond in kind. Don't forget to get out of the way once you kill one. Once both Pirate Aerotroopers are dead, a control panel on a bank of terminals will turn on. Scan this, and three stacks of platforms will raise from the floor. On the other side of the room are three more sets of computer terminals, and there are controls on each terminal for moving the platforms in each stack up or down. You need to manipulate the platforms so that you can climp up them to the upper level, where the door is. At each terminal you will find a vertical display showing the positions of the platforms in that stack. The platforms are marked with a drawing of a Metroid; from what you've learned, the Space Pirates are using the Metroids to generate power somehow. The platforms are empty now, but apparently they are supposed to contain Metroids. At each set of terminals, there are also two small panels sticking out from the sides of the left and right displays. By scanning these panels, you can move the platforms in that stack up or down. The left panel moves whichever platform can move down down, and the right panel moves whichever platfrom can move up up. After a little practice, you should be able to move the platforms into any arrangement you want. There are actually two goals to accomplish with these platforms: at one end of the upper level of the room is a door, and on the other end is an ENERGY TANK. The following diagrams will show the positions needed to reach both. In the diagrams, a # means that a platform should be in that position, while a _ means that spot should be empty. Each stack is labelled A, G, or D, which stand for alpha, gamma, and delta. These are the names of each stack, and you can learn which is which by scanning the controls for each stack. Here are the diagrams: Energy Tank Door # # _ _ # # # _ # # _ # _ # # # # _ # # # # # # G D A G D A Obviously, once you have the platforms in the correct alignment, you need to jump up the platforms. The jumps are long, but they are possible. Make sure to wait until you are at the very edge before jumping, and wait until you are as high and far as possible with your first jump before starting your second jump. Once you have the platforms in the correct position to reach the door, you'll hear the sound that plays when you complete a puzzle. Through the door you'll have to enter a Morph Ball maze guarded by a number of lasers. Make your way through slowly and carefully; the way to take damage in these areas is to rush. Pay attention to the patterns and stay in safe spots until you're sure where to go next. When you reach the end, you will have destroyed the lasers blocking the straight-forward lower path, which will make any future journeys through this room quick and easy. At the end of the Morph Ball tunnel is a Save Station, which you will most likely be very ready for. Don't forget to scan LOG 67135 in front of the Save Station before going on to the next room. Sand Processing consists of a semicircular pit full of sand, with ledges and rooms visible, but inaccessible, above. There are two turrets guarding this room, so destroy both of them, then fire a missile at the far-left section of the sloping wall to expose a narrow pathway. This leads to the Reactor Core, and when you enter you'll start to hear some very ominous music. Look down through the window you can see that there are several tanks of Phazon on the floor below. Follow the hallway to the left, then drop down to the floor. You'll see that Dark Samus is standing next to the central Phazon tank and is drawing Phazon out of it. When you land, Dark Samus will see you and stop draining Phazon from the tank. After a few tense moments in which you stare at each other, attempting to see what is behind that dark visor. Finally, Dark Samus will suddenly spring into action and begin her attack; the battle has begun. By scanning DARK SAMUS 1, you'll see that she/it possesses many weapons similar or superior to yours, including a missile launcher, a scattershot Power Beam, and a Phazon shield. Dark Samus moves not by running but by gliding with her feet just off the ground, but she can also jump and dash sideways very fast; this will break a lock-on. When Dark Samus raises her arm cannon up in the air, she is about to fire a wide swath of small blasts; if she points it straight ahead, she is about to fire a powerful missile. Dash to the side just before she fires either attack to avoid them. An important thing to remember is that Dark Samus's attacks can destroy the Phazon tanks in the room: when this they will leave flames burning at that spot for the remainder of the battle. Until they are destroyed they can be used for cover, but they probably won't last. Only the large central tank cannot be destroyed. At first, attack Dark Samus with charged Power Beam shots and missiles. Remember that when she dashes, it will break your lock-on, so find her and lock-on again. Also, it's important to keep moving and to stay a safe distance away from her, since she is very fast. Once you have knocked off somewhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of Dark Samus's energy, you'll see a brief cutscene and Dark Samus will start using more powerful attacks. She'll begin firing a large red beam that will likely destroy several of the Phazon tanks. For her other new attack, Dark Samus will leap into the air, a sphere of Phazon will condense around her, and she will fly straight at you into the ground at amazing speed. This is a powerful attack, and to avoid it you need to dash just before she charges at you. During this part of the battle, Dark Samus will block your missiles, and possibly charged shots, with her Phazon shield (which appears as a sphere of Phazon around her), so a constant stream of single Power Beam shots is your best attack for this part of the battle. When Dark Samus has about 1/4 energy remaining, she will start using both her old and new attacks. It can be difficult to keep up with Dark Samus during this final stretch, but charged shots and missiles should be effective again, so fire at her with whatever you've got. If you survive the battle, Dark Samus will let out a terrible scream while a rush of Phazon energy passes out of her, shattering all the Phazon tanks around the walls of the room. She will then collapse and dematerialize into a collection of blue dots that will be dispersed throughout the room. Finally, an elevator in one corner of the room will lower. You may have won this round, but it doesn't look like this is the last time you'll see Dark Samus. Scan the PHAZON in the shattered tanks for a Research entry, then take the elevator up to reach the upper hallway. Here you'll find a door leading to a small storage room, and inside is the DARK BEAM. This is the Luminoth-designed weapon the Space Pirates found, and it fires blasts of dark energy. The Dark Beam is more powerful than the Power Beam (especially in Light Aether), but it has a much slower rate of fire. Also, each time you fire a shot of the Dark Beam, one of your 50 shots of ammo will be depleted (a charged shot costs 5 ammo). There's also a Space Pirate Log entry next to the Dark Beam, LOG 69898, which relates an escalation in intensity in the war between the Ing and the Luminoth, in which the Space Pirates have found themselves caught in the middle. Use the Dark Beam to open the door back to Reactor Core, then follow the hallway to reach a gate with a white crystal, similar to the one you saw in the security station off of Command Center. A Dark Beam shot will cause the crystal to turn purple and the gate will open. Go through the black door just past the gate to enter Security Station B from the other side. There are two more gates to open, and one of the computer terminals contains LOG 70136, which describes the arrival of the Federation troopers, much to the Pirates' dismay. Once you've opened both gates you can return to Command Center, where a new breed of Pirates will be waiting for you. There are now two PIRATE GRENADIERS in the room, and they can fire powerful grenades from their arm-mounted cannons. One will hide on the upper level near the elevator, and the other one is on the lower level near where you exited the Morph Ball tunnels. Their grenades are powerful, but they can't fire them if you're too close, so walk right up to the Pirates and blow them away (use the Power Beam; you need to save your Dark Beam ammo). Now you can return to Biostorage Station, although now the TALLON METROIDS will break out of their tanks. To destroy them, fire a charged Dark Beam shot to freeze them in a chunk of purple matter so you can destroy them with a missile. Dash to the side when one charges at you; if it latches on, switch to Morph Ball mode and lay a bomb to knock it loose. Once both Metroids are dead, go through the black door on the upper level to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now return to Command Center, where the inactive DARK PORTAL still is, waiting to be opened. To do so, fire a Dark Beam shot into it. This will cause the portal to open; walk into it to return to Dark Agon Wastes. /============================================================================== 4. Wounded Planet [III.B.4] \============================================================================== |[Dark Agon Wastes East] | |o Light Beam | |o Dark Agon Temple Keys 2,3 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- The dark version of Command Center is called Doomed Entry, and it contains several doors, stone platforms, Dark Splinters, and floating gas-spewing spheres called DARK PREEDS. There are also several Space Pirate bodies lying dead around the room near pools of Phazon. Go to the Light Beacon across the room and look over at the crystal to the right. It looks like a Light Crystal, but the crystal is covered in dark material and it is not emitting a Safe Zone. This is a NULLIFIED CRYSTAL, and you can restore it to normal by firing a few Power Beam shots at it. Now head over to the crystal and look at the Luminoth statue on the base of the ledge nearby. Destroy the statue with a missile to reveal a white crystal. This is a LIGHT LIFT CRYSTAL (Research entry), and when you fire a Dark Beam shot at it the crystal will turn purple and the entire ledge will lower (it's now a DARK LIFT CRYSTAL). Now you can jump on top of the ledge and use it to reach a higher ledge in the center of the room. From here, you can jump to the DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY, the second of three. There's a black door behind the key, but it leads to a dead end so follow the ledges to another black door. The next room is a short passage containing another dead Pirate and a Warrior Ing. Kill the Ing as quickly as possible with missiles and charged Power Beam shots, then continue to another tunnel called Dark Oasis. To the left, the tunnel leads to a white door which you can't open, but to the right is a normal door next to a closed Light Portal. You can't open the portal, so go through the door. In the next room, Dark Aether's equivalent of Sand Processing, the door is on a high ledge. On the back of the central pillar is another lift crystal; lower it with a Dark Beam shot and use the pillar to reach the door. There's a Save Station in the next room along with more dead Pirates; it looks like the Pirates' Phazon mining operation in Dark Aether had a heavy cost. The next room is a Morph Ball tunnel with a pool of Phazon in the middle. Take the upper path, and do a bomb jump to leap over the gap and avoid falling in the Phazon. The tunnel leads to Phazon Site, where Phazon covers a large expanse of the floor and moving platforms float overhead. Drop down onto the side of the ground without Phazon and look around. There's a door out of the room on the ground level, but it is locked and you must scan three control panels in the room to unlock it. For the first, head onto the raised ledge along the side wall of the room. For the second, jump from the side ledge onto the moving platforms. Use the moving platforms to reach an alcove set high in the wall, where you'll find the second panel. To reach the third and final panel, drop down from the ledge onto a "dry" area where several crates are piled against the wall. Destroy the crates and you'll find the final panel behind them, which will unlock the door. In Watering Hole, the next room, you'll find a pool of toxic water with several platforms in them. There are also large creatures on the walls called INGCLAWS; they can't be killed, but they release toxic gas into the air, so you'll take damage if you stand near to it. There are also a large number of Lumites in the room which will be a major pain in the butt. They will stand on the edge of the Safe Zone and fire their blasts at you from all directions. All you can do is find them and kill them as fast as you can. Use the platforms to reach the other side, where a door leads to Feeding Pit, another room with several pillars. This time there are only Nightbarbs in the room, which aren't as annoying as Lumites. You need to find lift crystals on the sides of the pillars. They're located near the top of the pillars, so fire at both of them to lower the platforms. Now you can jump on top of the pillars to reach a door high up in the wall. The door leads to a tiny room containing the LIGHT BEAM, with a dead Luminoth by it. The counterpart to the Dark Beam, the Light Beam also requires ammo, but it fires a stream of pure light energy that is very potent on dark creatures. Also, now that you have the Dark and Light Beams you can recover ammo for both of them: when you destroy crates or enemies with the Dark Beam they will give you Light Ammo, and when you use the Light Beam you will get Dark Ammo. When you return to Feeding Pit, you'll see that it is now filled with Lumites. But don't fear! With the Light Beam, you can soon make short work of them. Here's how: activate a Safe Zone with the Power Beam, then once some Lumites are on it fire a Light Beam shot at the crystal or beacon. The Safe Zone will become extra-bright, and any Lumites on it will be instantly killed. When you fire a Light Beam shot at a Light Crystal/Beacon, it becomes an ENERGIZED CRYSTAL/BEACON, and any creatures that touch it will be killed as soon as it touches the Safe Zone. Make sure to scan these for Research entries, as well as the NULLIFIED CRYSTALS/BEACONS that you can create by firing a Dark Beam shot at them. In the next room the passage will be blocked by several black spiderweb-like creatures with a large eye in the center. You can destroy these WEBLINGS easily by shooting the eye with the Light Beam, but make sure to scan one first, since this is the only time they appear. The passage will return you to Doomed Entry, and now you should go through the door behind where the Dark Temple Key was. This leads to a straight passage containing several Dark Splinters, but at the end it leads to a ledge over a large room called Battleground. The final Dark Temple Key is in the center of the room, but when you drop down to claim it five Warrior Ing will appear and will swallow up the key. You must now defeat all five Warrior Ing in order to earn the key. At some point during the fight, make sure to scan the ING WEBTRAP blocking the door; this is another one-time scan. Five Warrior Ing may seem intimidating, but the fight can be much easier if you use the Light Beam. A single charged Light Beam shot will kill a Warrior Ing, so this fight can actually go rather quickly. If you get low on Light Ammo, switch to the Dark Beam and shoot the Bladepods in the room to get more. Once all the Ing are dead, the DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY will reappear and you can collect it. Exit through the lower door, which leads to a passage full of DARKLING TENTACLES, sharp tentacles that swipe back and forth across the passage. Shoot them with the Power Beam to cause them to temporarily retract into the wall long enough for you to get past. Now you're back in Doomed Entry, and you're ready to leave Dark Aether, but there's no Light Portal where you entered. You'll need to find a different portal in order to leave. To do so, go through the black door at the top of the platforms to reach Dark Oasis. Now, go through the white door to the left to find an Ammo Station, where you can refill your missiles, dark ammo, and light ammo. Once you're refilled, head to the other end of the room. There you'll find an unopened Light Portal, but you can open it with a shot from the Light Beam. Go through the portal to return to Light Aether, in the Reactor Core. Once you're back, head through the nearby door to reach the Save Station. /============================================================================== 5. Thrice-Cursed Ing [III.B.5] \============================================================================== |[Agon Wastes West, Dark Agon Wastes West] | |o Energy Tank 06 | |o Beam Ammo Expansion 2 | |o Missile Expansions 20,21 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- You have now recovered all three Dark Temple Keys and have explored almost all of the Agon Wastes, so all you need to do is pick up a few items hidden here and there and then enter the Dark Agon Temple. Return to the Command Center and leave via the white door on the upper level, not the black door you rolled under the first time you entered the room. The white door, like the lower door, leads to Central Mining Station, but this time you'll enter it on the balcony containing the turrets. The first time you came through here, Space Pirates manned the turrets and used them to fire powerful laser blasts at you. But now you can use the turrets, so go ahead and step into one of the holograms to activate the turret. Now, the only question is what should you fire at? If you use the Scan Visor before you enter the turrets, you'll see that there are a couple of large crates in the room. These are Space Pirate generators, and they can only be destroyed by heavy weapons fire. In the left turret, fire at the crate on the ground next to the wall to blow it up, causing one of the Pirate Skiffs stored on the wall to be knocked loose. Also, there's a generator just to the left of the rectangular shield across the room. Go ahead and fire at it to save yourself a little time later. Now go to the right turret and fire at the generator sitting on a ledge in front of you. This will destroy the rock wall behind it, revealing a small Space Pirate station. There are actually two Pirates inside, and they will attack you. Hit them with fire from the turret before their shots do enough damage to destroy the turret. Now that you've used the turrets to destroy all the generators, it's time to see what your reward is for all your destruction. Jump down and climb on top of the skiff you knocked off the wall. By making a long double jump from the edge of it, you can reach the top of the small pillar nearby. From there, you can easily reach the ledge where the Pirates were and enter the small room, which contains two computer terminals. One of them contains the final Space Pirate Log, LOG 71599, which describes your arrival on Aether. From it, you can sense the Pirates' dread that they now have two Samuses to deal with, plus the Ing, but they also hope to be able to use your antagonism to their own advantage. Out of the room is another tunnel, which leads to a walkway in front of the large rectangular shield; behind it you can see an item. The shield itself is indestructible, but if you already destroyed the generator next to it there will be a Morph Ball tunnel in the wall that leads to the area behind the shield. (If you didn't destroy this generator, you need to return to the balcony to do so. The only way to reach the balcony is by going back to the Command Center and exiting through the white door.) Roll through the tunnel to claim the item, which is a BEAM AMMO EXPANSION. These rare items increase the maximum capacity of both your dark and light ammo by 50, so you can now hold up to 100 dark and light ammo. Also in the area with the expansion is a dead Luminoth; scan him for J-STL'S TESTAMENT, another Logbook entry that goes in the Keybearer Lore section. Once you've gotten the Beam Ammo Expansion, backtrack to Mining Station A. Two Pirate Aerotroopers will be waiting for you when you enter, but after disposing of them take the door that leads to the Agon Temple. (This has nothing to do with the three keys you've collected; you need to return them to the Dark Agon Temple). Head to the left and go through the black door. This leads to Mine Shaft, a Morph Ball tunnel filled with Pillbugs that spirals down the edge of a cylindrical tube. This room is actually a dead end; you can't open the door at the bottom, but there is an Energy Tank here that you can get. You'll see it above and to the right of you when you first enter the shaft. To get it, roll down the tunnel, making sure to roll past the block that will disappear as soon as you touch it. Past it is an area with a Pillbug rolling around a central block. There's an opening in the "ceiling" above the Pillbug's ledge, and to reach it you need to do a double bomb jump. For instructions on how to do this, see section V.A.5.b.i., the Morph Ball Bomb entry in the Inventory section. When you do a successful double bomb jump and reach the upper level, you'll need to let yourself fall through a series of breakable blocks, but make sure to stay as high as possible. When you reach a second set of breakable blocks you have to fall through, hold the Control Stick to the left as you fall, because you need to enter a passage behind the wall that's next to the next-to-last block. Once in the hidden passage, you can tell your position by the blue glow of the Morph Ball through the slits in the rock. These slits also show the path that the tunnel follows, so bomb jump up to follow the secret passage and reach the ENERGY TANK. Now you can exit the Mine Shaft and return to the Agon Temple, and travel to the opposite side of the room, where you'll find a white door. Through this door is a vast chasm, but you can use the cannon and let it fire you across. On the other side is another Morph Ball tunnel, and here you can find another Missile Expansion. Roll to the platform with the second Pillbug, just past the tunnel leading away from you. Kill the Pillbug, then do a double bomb jump to reach the top of the platform. Now do another double bomb jump up the tunnel, and at the top you'll find the MISSILE EXPANSION. Both exits out of this area lead to dead ends (although if you go straight, to the Main Reactor, you can find B-STL'S TESTAMENT, another Keybearer Lore scan), so head back the way you came and return to the Agon Temple. Now you've explored Agon Wastes as thoroughly as you can, so return to the Portal and travel to Dark Agon. Although you could head straight for the temple, you can get one more Missile Expansion by going to Duelling Range, the Dark Agon equivalent of Mining Station A. From there, look for a black door and go through it. It leads to a dead-end passage, but underneath the ledge you enter on is a MISSILE EXPANSION. Jump down into the Safe Zone and turn around to see it. You have now collected all three Dark Agon Temple Keys, as well as all possible items and expansions so far, so it's time to enter the Dark Agon Temple. Make sure to stop by the Save Station located off of Judgment Pit, then go to the temple. /============================================================================== 6. Potent Energy [III.B.6] \============================================================================== |[BOSS: Amorbis] | |o Dark Suit | --------------------------------------------------------------------- There will be a swirling red light in front of the gate into the interior of Dark Agon Temple, and when you step into it the three Dark Temple Keys will fit into depressions on the front of the gate, and it will open. Jump down into the circular arena and you'll see a large solid black sphere in the center, with three monstrous worm-like creatures attached to it. The giant black worms will then leap off of the sphere into the air and dive into the ground (one of them right in front of you). With that, the battle against Amorbis will begin. While you wait for Amorbis to reappear, scan the sphere. You'll learn that it contains dark energy, and while Amorbis is attached to it, it can draw dark energy from it. Shortly, one of the three worms that make up Amorbis will burst out of the ground and dive through the air again before crashing underground again. Scan Amorbis while it's in the air for the first half of its Logbook entry (AMORBIS 1). Amorbis can't attack at this point, beyond crashing into you, but you can use your weapons to destroy its armor. To see where Amorbis is about to reappear, look for a rumbling and shaking on the ground. Also, you will be able to lock-on to Amobris a second or two before it emerges. When it's locked-onto and in range, fire with the Light Beam to damage its black armor plating. If Amorbis is about to emerge or land in your Safe Zone, move out of it for a few seconds until it's gone. And of course, make sure to stay in the Safe Zone the rest of the time so that you don't continually take damage from Dark Aether's atmosphere. As you hit Amorbis, you'll knock off pieces of its black armor, revealing a white body underneath. When all the armor is gone, Amorbis will reattach itself to the dark sphere, which will cause all its armor to regenerate and allow it to launch new attacks at you. Scan Amorbis while it's attached to the sphere to complete the Logbook entries for this boss (AMOBRIS 2). Amorbis will be able to fire dark energy at you, which can hurt you in two ways: the attack can simply hit you, or it can hit the Light Crystal, which will nullify it. You can't un-nullify the crystal with your Light or Power Beams, so use the Morph Ball to quickly roll to another Safe Zone. Watch out while doing this, however, since Amorbis can snap at you while you're rolling. To attack Amorbis, lock-on to its head and fire missiles or the Light Beam at it. After being hit by five missiles, the head will be blown off, leaving a circular opening in its body from which Amorbis will start sucking like a vacuum. This may seem counterintuitive, but now is your chance to damage Amorbis. Switch to the Morph Ball and allow yourself to be sucked up by Amorbis. While inside, lay a bomb. When the bomb detonates, a series of explosions will course through Amorbis, and Amorbis will writhe uncontrollably, causing it to lift the sphere and slam it into the ground. This will cause the sphere to begin to crack, and will take off 1/6 of Arorbis's energy. Now the worm will detach itself from the sphere again, but this time two worms will begin diving through the air. Pick up any needed energy and ammo left by the first worm, then start attacking the two worms with the Light Beam just like the last one. The only difference from before is that now you have to watch out for two worms that could crash into you instead of just one. Once the armor has been destroyed on one worm, it will stay underground until all the armor is destroyed on the second as well. After you destroy the armor from both worms, they will both attach to the sphere and the second phase of the battle will repeat. Both worms can fire dark energy at you, and they can also combine to fire two laser beams that will rotate in a circle around the arena. When one of the beams approaches you, jump back to avoid it. It's best to attack each head separately here in order to lower the number of attacks being fired at you. Focus on destroying whichever head is closer to you, then don't forget to enter the hole and lay a bomb, since that's what's actually does damage. Once both worms have been destroyed, you guessed it, three worms will start diving around the arena. This final phase of the fight will proceed just like the other two, except that there will be three worms to avoid, not just one or two. Once they're attached to the sphere, you may have to move between Safe Zones fairly often, at least until you destroy a worm. The final worm will be especially vicious, and will try to hit you while you move between Safe Zones. As soon as you lay the bomb in the belly of the final worm, you will be rewarded with the sight of Amorbis writhing on the ground one last time, slamming the sphere for the third time. Amorbis will then crumble into dust, and the sphere will explode, leaving behind an icon shaped like the Metroid logo. Step into the logo, and your traditional yellow Varia Suit will be replaced with the brown and antique-looking DARK SUIT. This suit was designed by the Luminoth, and it significantly reduces the effects of Dark Aether's atmosphere. You will still take damage in Dark Aether, but only at the rate of about one unit per second, the same rate that you regain energy while in a Safe Zone. This means that you do not need to worry nearly as much about venturing outside of Safe Zones. Now that you have defeated the guardian of Dark Agon Wastes and received the Dark Suit, enter the door at the opposite end of the temple to reach the Dark Agon Energy Controller. Its collector is currently full of a bright red light, but step up to the interface design in front, and you will insert your Arm Cannon into it, using the Energy Transfer Module to transfer all the energy into yourself. Now you need to return the energy to its rightful home, Light Aether. Unfortuneately, the Ing won't make it easy for you. When you return to the temple, you'll find three Warrior Ing waiting for you. Use the Light Beam to fight them if you can, otherwise just run past them. Also, when you make it back to the portal room, it will contain three Dark Pirate Troopers. However you can, activate the portal and travel to Light Aether. Once there, head for the Agon Temple and return to the Energy Controller. Approach its interface, and this time the energy will flow out of you and into the Agon Energy Controller, causing it to fill with a pure yellow light. When the energy transfer is complete, a beam of energy will be directed to the Great Temple, where U-Mos will see it arrive. Also, the hologram of the Agon guardian will appear once more to thank you for restoring the energy to Agon. Now that you've returned the energy to Agon Wastes, it's time to return to U-Mos in the Great Temple. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## C. TORVUS BOG [III.C] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Path to Torvus [III.C.1] \============================================================================== |[Temple Grounds West, Sky Temple Grounds West] | |o Missile Expansions 1,2,4,49 | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Take the elevator back up to the Temple Grounds, and follow the path back to Industrial Site. Before you head towards the elevator to the Great Temple in Temple Assembly Site, though, you can find several Missile Expansions by making a quick detour. Take the door that leads back towards the Landing Site instead. Pass the elevator that leads up from the end of the Splinter Hive, and by opening several translator doors you will reach the tentacle plant-filled tunnel just off of the Landing Site. At one end of this tunnel is a pit that leads down to the Splinter Hive. Jump down it again, and you'll find a dead trooper on the floor. When you approach it, though, it will be possessed by an Ing, becoming the DARK MISSILE TROOPER. This is the only time it appears, so make sure to scan it. It moves slowly and jerkily, just like the regular troopers, but this one can fire missiles instead of the usual energy shots. The missiles are not hard to dodge, however, so you should be able to avoid them easily while firing back with your own missiles or whatever weapon you choose. When the Dark Missile Trooper is dead, it will leave behind a MISSILE EXPANSION. The only way to get out of the hive is to continue all the way through it again until you reach the elevator. This shouldn't be much of a problem, though, since most of the rooms will be empty. A few will still have one or two Dark Troopers inside, though, so watch out. In Hive Chamber B, the room where you first encountered Dark Samus and the Dark Portal, the room appears to dead-end at an immovable gate. Next to the gate, however, are two Morph Ball tunnels. One is open and leads around the gate, but the other one is covered with a seal of Talloric Alloy. Use a bomb to destroy the seal and roll through the tunnel to find another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now run through the rest of the Splinter Hive, return to the surface, and make your way to Temple Assembly Site. Here, you can find another Missile Expansion before taking the elevator up to the Great Temple. Near the elevator door (to the left as you face the door) is a large block near the wall. You can double jump on top of this block, then use it to reach a nearby ledge with two crates on it. This ledge leads along the edge of the room, and by following it you can reach a Morph Ball tunnel. Roll through this tunnel for yet another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now that you have added 15 missiles to your collection, take the elevator up to the Great Temple. However, there are still more upgrades to be found! First of all, you can kill the Lightflyers in the hallway with a single shot from the Dark Beam. Now, look at the left wall in the hallway (Transport B Access), as you face the Temple Sanctuary. You'll see Morph Ball-sized ledges in the side of the wall. Bomb jump up the ledges to reach a tunnel that leads to, you guessed it, another MISSILE EXPANSION. OK, there will be no more Missile Expansions in this section. Enter the sanctuary and take the elevator up to U-Mos in the Main Energy Controller room. He'll thank you for returning the energy to Agon, then warn you that the Ing will be seeking revenge and guarding their remaining energy more closely. He'll tell you that there is increased Ing activity in the Torvus sector, meaning that it should be your next destination. Now that you know where to go, return to the Temple Sanctuary. Of the four doors leading out of the sanctuary, one leads back towards Agon Wastes, and one you just came out of. Of the remaining two, one is sealed with a green translator door, which you can't open, while the other one is yellow. You can open that door, and when you do it will tell you that it leads to Torvus. In the hallway behind the door you'll encounter a new, yet familiar, creature: HARMONY CLASS DRONES. If you played the first Metroid Prime, you remember these as Pulse Bombus, but on Aether they have a different name. They act exactly the same, however, so fire a charged Power Beam shot at them to destroy them. When you take the elevator back down, you will find yourself in a part of the Temple Grounds you've never been before. In front of you is a large half-pipe with a path behind it, as well as a ton of War Wasps. There's another door through a narrow tunnel off to the left, but it is blocked by a green blast shield, which you can't open right now. Fend off the War Wasps, then follow the path past the half-pipe to reach Hall of Eyes. Here you'll discover that the only door out is blocked by another green blast shield, but there is a Dark Portal in the room. Since that appears to be your only option, activate the portal and enter it. Now that you are in Sky Temple Grounds, the Dark Aether version of Temple Grounds, the rooms have the same basic shape but different doors and enemies. Get rid of the Inglets in the room, then go through the normal blue door in front of you (which in Light Aether was the locked green door). The next room, Abandoned Base, has the shape of a large U, with several circular nodes at points along the way. There are no Safe Zones along the way, but with your new Dark Suit you should have plenty of time to make it to the end before you start to be in serious trouble. You will not encounter many enemies along the way, except that at one node, your path will be blocked by several laser beams sweeping back and forth. These lasers are created by CORRUPTED SENTREYES on the wall, and by shooting them you can turn them off for a few seconds, allowing you to pass. When you reach the end of the room, you'll find a platform hanging in the center of a final circular node and locked in place by four metal arms grasping it from the edges of the node. There is a Safe Zone on the platform, so you can stand there and recover as much energy as you need. Past this node is a dead end, but by scanning the platform you'll learn that you can activate it by activating four Bomb Slots, which will disengage the locks. To reach the Bomb Slots, use the pistons on either side of the ledge at the end of the node. They lead up to a circular track on which the Bomb Slots are evenly spaced. The only problem is that once you activate a Bomb Slot, a wall will slide into place on one side of the slot, which can make it impossible to reach all the other unactivated Bomb Slots. There are multiple ways to solve this puzzle, but here is one simple solution: Go up the right piston (with your back to the platform) and go past the first Bomb Slot. Activate the second one, then continue around the track activating each slot as you come to it. Now take the piston down, then cross to the other piston, ride it back up, and finally activate the last remaining Bomb Slot, the one you passed originally. Once all the locks have been disengaged, jump onto the platform and it will start moving back through the room. Don't get distracted during the trip, though, because several swarms of Nightbarbs will fly at you, so be ready with the Power Beam to fend off as many as you can. When the platform comes to a stop, jump from it to a ledge containing a Light Portal, and go through the portal. You are now in the Light Aether room corresponding to Abandoned Base, and it is much simpler, though not without its challenges. You will soon encounter two Dark Pirate Troopers, and after them you'll fight a Pirate Grenadier. This room also has the U shape and the circular "nodes" and you'll need to fire a Light Beam shot at the dark crystals on the blocks in the nodes to move them into position so you can progress. When you reach the last node, which has a shallow pool of water in it, you'll need to jump onto the platform in the middle of the pool from dry land in order to reach it. The door leads to a path along the side of a cliff with several War Wasp Hives nearby. Take out the wasps and continue to the door at the end, which contains an elevator. /============================================================================== 2. Harsh and Poisonous [III.C.2] \============================================================================== |[Upper Torvus Bog, Upper Dark Torvus Bog] | |o Super Missile | |o Energy Tank 8 | |o Missile Expansions 29,32 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- At the bottom you'll land in a room that seems to be the exact opposite of Agon Wastes: instead of dry sand, here you have wet, green plants everywhere. Behind the elevator when you reach the bottom is a large air purification system; why would the Luminoth have needed that? In the passage beyond the door you'll see several orange sacs hanging from tree branches; these are TORVUS HANGING PODS, and they can contain items. At the end of the passage you'll reach the shore of a small lake, with a variety of plants and creatures on the ground, in the air, and under the water. Not all the creatures are alive, though: there's another dead Luminoth lying to your left, and you can scan him for S-DLY'S TESTAMENT. This room, Torvus Lagoon, is not completely natural, however. There is a metal walkway above the water on the far side of the lake connecting two tunnels, both gated. Before moving on, you're probably ready to use the Save Station through the door on a ledge to the left. When you return to Torvus Lagoon, start examining the several creatures to be found here. The green and red plants are TORVUS BEARERPODS: they contain items, but they release a poisonous cloud when they're destroyed. Several large insect-like creatures with helicopter wings will leap out of the water and start flying towards you; these are SHREDDERS, and you can shoot them to knock them back and prevent them from crashing into you. Since you can't reach the metal platform, the only way to go seems to be into the lake. While underwater, your movement is slowed, jump height is reduced, and visibility is impaired. However, you will be able to maneuver around the branches and reach the black door underwater. You'll encounter a group of shrimp-like creatures called HYDLINGS in the water; they can be easily dispatched with rapid-fire Power Beam shots and shouldn't pose any danger to you. In the next room, walk through the circular structure in the middle of the path, then jump out of the water to reach the door. If you turn around you'll see a green Luminoth lore projector on the wall, but you don't have the ability to translate it yet. Through the door is Great Bridge, and you can see the bridge leading into a large building; there's another door into the building on ground level. There is also a new creature in this room: SHRIEKERS. These are related to Shredders in that they wait just beneath the surface of the water until you approach, but they are much more difficult because they will fire a sonic blast at you (a whirling gust of air that's difficult to see), then disappear only to reappear somewhere else a few seconds later. Shriekers are also remarkably tough, and it will take many hits to kill them all. You have to kill them all, too, because the doors will be locked until you do. Once they're gone, you can scan the red eyes, called SENTINEL CRYSTALS, on the walls, then go through the lower door into the building. It leads to a Morph Ball tunnel, and you can see an Energy Tank in an alcove above you, but you can't reach it. You'll be frustrated again when you reach the end, because the door is locked with a green blast shield, which you can't open. Return to Great Bridge, and there is another way you can go: there's a red door to your left (with your back to the building), so go through it. This leads to another Morph Ball tunnel that goes right past a Dark Portal and a Missile Expansion, but both are on the other side of a wall. At the end of it you'll reach Torvus Lagoon, but you'll be behind the gate. Scan the panel to lower the gates and extend the walkway to connect both doorways. You may want to save again, then go through the door at the other end of the walkway. This door goes to Forgotten Bridge, and as soon as you enter you'll encounter two very dangerous animals that look like crosses between a lizard, a wolf, and a frog: GRENCHLERS. Grenchlers are fast and agile, and they can attack from up close with their teeth or from a distance by firing a bolt of electricity. The only way to defeat one is to destroy the armored shell on its back, then fire at the exposed flesh beneath it. The best strategy is to lock-on to one of the Grenchlers, then jump and strafe to both avoid its attacks and try to get behind it. Once you get a shot, fire as many missiles as you can. It will take five missiles to destroy the shell, but you haven't killed it yet. You still need to get behind it again to fire a few more shots at the exposed flesh to kill it. One thing to avoid while fighting the Grenchlers is getting pushed against the wall. You'll have more success if you can stay in the open, so you're free to run and jump in any direction. Once you survive the fight and kill both Grenchlers, use the ledges against the wall to jump onto the large bridge that spans the room. You can see a Missile Expansion in front of a door on a ledge, but there's no way to reach it now. Follow the bridge to reach a Dark Portal, although there's a transparent Bomb Slot nearby; that means you need to find the corresponding slot in the dark world. Go through the portal to make your first (brief) visit to Dark Torvus Bog. You can find two Research scans here: DARK SENTINEL CRYSTAL (the blue eyes) and INGSPHERE CACHE (the dark blue blobs that contain items), but the main thing to do here is to activate the Bomb Slot. This will cause the bridge to rotate so that it connects to a different doorway, and you know that the bridge has also rotated in Light Aether. You can't go through any of the doors out of this room, so follow the bridge until you can jump off and reach the Light Portal (Make sure not to fall into the water: it's toxic.) As soon as you're back in Torvus Bog, though, several Space Pirates will materialize in the room out of nowhere! It won't take long for you to realize that these are no ordinary Space Pirates, either. These are DARK PIRATE COMMANDOS, the deadliest version of Pirates that you will face. Dark Pirate Commandos have the ability to turn invisible, meaning that they will appear, fire a shot at you, then disappear and move somewhere else. They can fire two different weapons at you: standard shots of dark energy, and new EMP grenades that will not only do damage if they hit you, but will short out your visor for several seconds if they land anywhere near you. All you can do against these enemies is to find one when it appears, lock-on and fire as fast as you can at it until it disappears, all the while watching out for incoming attacks from the others. While you may want to use Missiles and light ammo on the commandos, it's best to just stick to the Power Beam. That's because the Pirates will automatically disappear after a few minutes, so all you have to do is survive against them for that long. Once they're gone, climb back onto the bridge, which has been rotated, and follow it to the door you saw earlier and collect the MISSILE EXPANSION which is just waiting for you. The door leads to Abandoned Worksite, which you need to navigate with the Morph Ball. Before rolling through the tunnel in the wall, though, you need to kill the plant that lives on the opposite wall. This is a SPORB, and it will fire a grappling hook at the Morph Ball if you go near it. Otherwise, it will "spit" toxic acid at you. The Light Beam is especially effective against the Sporb. Now roll through the tunnel (be careful not to fall out). When you reach the other side of the room, jump down and go through the door at the end. This will take you to an upper ledge of Great Bridge. Scan the panel there to open a Kinetic Orb Cannon on a ledge across the room from you, in front of a green translator gate. Jump down, then jump up to the cannon and let it fire you onto the bridge. Cross the bridge (watch out for Shriekbats) and go through the door to reach the upper level of the Morph Ball tunnel you rolled through earlier. There are three circles on the narrow path, and the first one is cracked. Bomb it, and you'll fall through it to grab the ENERGY TANK you saw earlier. Return to the top level and cross it to the door to enter Torvus Temple. You're at the bottom of a bowl-shaped room with high, sloping walls, but what will draw your attention is that a skiff will appear, dropping off a number of Pirate Troopers, along with two Pirate Aerotroopers. You should be able to handle these fairly easily with missiles, Dark Beam, and Light Beam. Just focus on one Pirate at a time, and take out the Aerotroopers as soon as you can. Use the crates around the room for ammo and energy as necessary. Once all the Pirates are dead, the lasers blocking an object that looks like a Missile Expansion on a platform against the wall will disappear. When you get the item, you'll discover that it is actually the SUPER MISSILE, the Charge Combo for the Power Beam and the weapon that can destroy green blast shields. The platform it was on is also an elevator, and it will carry you up to a door which, coincidentally, is green. Use your new weapon to destroy the blast shield and go through to reach the Torvus Energy Controller, which is very similar to its counterpart in Agon Wastes. Step up to the green holographic device to activate a message from the guardian of Torvus Temple. He will tell you that most of the temple is flooded, and you will need to explore the flooded regions to find all the Dark Temple Keys. He will also warn you that the water in Dark Torvus Bog is toxic. Finally, he will give you the ability to translate Emerald (green) holograms, and refill your energy. There is a Lore to be found in the Energy Controller room, titled DARK AETHER; it tells how the Luminoth designed machines to generate Dark Portals and began to prepare for war with the Ing to reclaim their energy. Return to the temple and you'll find that it is now swarming with Shriekers. You can kill them if you want, or you can scan the green hologram on the circular platform in the center of the room. This will cause the platform to lower a few feet, revealing a chamber with several doorways leading in different directions. /============================================================================== 3. Engines of War [III.C.3] \============================================================================== |[Upper Torvus Bog, Upper Dark Torvus Bog] | |o Boost Ball | |o Dark Torvus Temple Key 1 | |o Missile Expansion 30 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- There are four doors out of the lower chamber of Torvus Temple: a purple door that you can't open yet, a green door that leads back to Great Bridge, a translator door that leads to an unexplored area, and a regular blue door at the end of a Morph Ball tunnel that also leads to new areas. If you recall, there was a translator door behind the cannon in Great Bridge, so go through the green door and return there briefly to see what's behind it. There is now a Grenchler patrolling Great Bridge, but you don't have to fight it if you don't want to. Simply jump to the ledge with the cannon, scan the translator door, and go through it to find the Torvus Map Station. With the map, you can see that you have explored most of the surface of Torvus Bog, but that there is a whole lower level that you have yet to enter. Return to the Torvus Temple, and you'll see that the translator door leads to a room that appears to connect with Forgotten Bridge, while the door beyond the tunnel leads to the lower levels. You might as well explore all of the surface before entering the lower section, so open the translator door and go through. The next room is a watery tunnel, and a Grenchler will charge down the tunnel at you. This can be a difficult fight since there's not much room to maneuver, but you'll do a little better if you can fight the Grenchler in the entrance area next to the door rather than in the middle of the tunnel, but it will be difficult in any case. Just try to kill it as fast as possible (try the Dark Beam). When it's dead, you can collect an easy Missile Expansion by rolling underneath the ledge that the door is on. There's a gap that you can roll in next to the wall, and it leads to a MISSILE EXPANSION hidden underneath the metal grating. Now go down the tunnel, and at the other end you'll find two Sporbs. Once they're dead, you can jump onto the ledge with the door. However, turn around before you go through and you'll see a Lore projector: this one, OUR WAR BEGINS, describes the Luminoth's development of Light Crystals. The tunnel leads to Torvus Grove, which contains several mutated trees in the center, with Phazon containers on the ground underneath them. As if that wasn't a tip-off, when you reach the middle of the room two Space Pirates of a new variety will appear by sliding down steep tracks in the room and begin to attack. These are PIRATE COMMANDOS (the non-Ing versions of the ones you fought in Forgotten Bridge), and they have attacks similar to their Ing-possessed companions. The main difference is that they cannot disappear, but they are able to move very swiftly. This can actually be a very simple fight: a charged Dark Beam shot will freeze a Pirate Commando, and then a single missile will kill it. Once both are dead, the lasers blocking the door will turn off. Go through the door to reach a Dark Portal generator. Since there's nowhere else to go in Torvus Grove, go though the portal. The dark version of Torvus Grove is called Polluted Mire, and when you enter it you'll encounter a new enemy: HUNTER ING. These dangerous Ing are made up of a central orange and black ball with several long black tentacles extending from it. Hunter Ing are difficult to defeat because they can attack from a distance with their tentacles, because they rarely stay in the same place long, and because they can desolidify, causing any weaponfire to just go through them. Do your best to avoid the Ing's tentacles, and be ready to attack with a charged Light Beam shot when it is solid. It will take several charged shots to kill it, which is why Hunter Ing are so annoying. Once the Hunter Ing is dead you can climb up the platforms on the trees and the surrounding walls. At the top is a door, and in the next room is a Save Station. The door out of the Save Station room leads to Dark Forgotten Bridge, but you'll be in a metal walkway that is separate from the main part of the room. There are two Lightflyers in the tunnel (use the Dark Beam), as well as a transparent version of a device you haven't seen before, but which the Scan Visor will identify as a "Spinner". At the end of the walkway is a door that leads to a Morph Ball tunnel, and at the end of the tunnel is a large, open room called Dark Torvus Arena. When you first enter the room, you'll see an Ing that resembles a large Warrior Ing below you at the other end of the room. It will immediately transform into a black Morph Ball and shoot through a round tunnel in the wall at high speed! The main part of the room is a giant halfpipe, and you can see a Dark Temple Key high up the side of one, out of reach. It should be obvious that you're going to have to fight the Ing on the other side of the tunnel, so stand in the Safe Zone until your energy is full. When you're ready, roll up the slope and through the tunnel to enter the circular arena where you will battle the BOOST GUARDIAN. The Boost Guardian is quite simply the hardest mini-boss in the game, and ranks near the top of the list when compared with the full-fledged bosses. The Boost Guardian is loathed by almost everyone who plays this game, and this author is no exception. But you've got to fight him, so just grit your teeth and get on with it. The first thing to notice is that there are no Safe Zones of any kind in the arena. This means that you will continually take damage due to the atmosphere, not to mention damage inflicted by the Boost Guardian himself. The only way to regain energy during the fight is by picking up energy that appears either after defeating Inglets that will appear during the battle or if the Boost Guardian destroys any of the four pillars in the arena. At the start of the battle, the Boost Guardian will attack in a manner similar to a Warrior Ing. After scanning him for your Logbook, fire a charged Light Beam shot at him. This will do damage to him, after which he should switch to Morph Ball form. (He is invulnerable while he is transforming). When the Boost Guardian switches forms, so should you. The Boost Guardian will charge up his Boost Ball ability, which will cause him to ricochet around the room at high speed. Unless you have lightning-fast reflexes, you won't be able to avoid him if he is heading towards you, so the best strategy is just to stay in place or to move around randomly while he's doing this. Once he slows to a stop, though, you should approach him and lay bombs near him. Actually, lay bombs as much as possible while the Boost Guardian is in Morph Ball form. If a bomb detonates on or right next to the Morph Ball-Boost Guardian, it will lose its Morph Ball form and simply turn into a black puddle that will move around the room. While in this form, lay as many bombs as you can in his path. These bombs will not actually do damage to the Boost Guardian (i.e. lower his energy bar), but they will cause him to return to his normal, Warrior Ing form once he gets hit enough. This is what you want, because it is only when he is in his solid form that you can damage him. Once he's solid again, go at him with the Light Beam. There are a few other things to keep in mind about the battle: First, when the Boost Guardian changes from "puddle" form back to normal, there will be a short cutscene. Do NOT press X as soon as the cutscene is over; you will automatically exit Morph Ball form. Second, Inglets will appear throughout the battle. Attack these with bombs whenever you have the chance while in the Morph Ball phase of the battle, since they will leave energy behind. However, ignore them while the Boost Guardian is solid unless you are on the brink of death, i.e. on your last Energy Tank. Third, if you run out of Light Ammo, you can get more from the Inglets or, better yet, just switch to Super Missiles. In essence, use whatever you have to attack the Boost Guardian as hard and fast as you can. Fourth, note that if the Boost Guardian collides into one of the pillars while bouncing around the room, the pillar will be destroyed and it will leave an Ultra Energy, which restores a full Energy Tank, or 100 units. You will undoubtedly discover that this is a very difficult battle, and it will most likely take you multiple attempts to defeat the Boost Guardian. It may get frustrating, but with each attempt you will get a little better against him. The most important thing to remember when you have to fight a boss over and over is to not rush. It is easy to get frustrated and just try to do things as frantically and quickly as possible. This will get you killed, merely adding to your frustration. Before you begin the fight, calm yourself, plan out what you're going to do, then go in and do it. If things get crazy and you don't know what to do, remember that you can pause at any time to think things through. Finally, one of the most frustrating things about this battle is that its success is partially dependent on luck. Sometimes the Boost Guardian will hit you every time as he bounces around, sometimes hardly at all. Also, when and if the pillars get destroyed can crucially affect the battle. If several get destroyed early in the battle, they will mostly have been wasted, while if one doesn't get destroyed at the time you really need it, you'll die from the atmosphere. So if things are going your way, it's important to try and make the most of the opportunity. It will take approximately five charged Light Beam shots to kill the Boost Guardian. When you finally succeed, the BOOST BALL will be yours, along with a multitude of energy and ammo pick-ups. The Boost Ball allows you to "charge up" the Morph Ball by holding B, then zoom off at high speed when you release B, just like the Boost Guardian did. Roll out through the tunnel and you can use the Boost Ball to reach the DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY high up the side of the halfpipe. Position yourself underneath the key and boost up one side. As you reach the top of your boost, charge up another boost and release it when you reach the bottom of the halfpipe. The additional boost will send you higher up the side, and you can repeat this until you reach the key. Now, you can backtrack to the portal generator (don't forget to save on the way!) and go through the Light Portal. When you return to Torvus Grove, notice that there's another halfpipe just in front of the door to Underground Tunnel. Boost up to the top of it and you'll discover a ledge that runs along the walls of the room. Follow the ledge around the room and you'll find a door. In the next room are several small, mostly harmless creatures known as KROCUSSES, and past them you'll reach Forgotten Bridge but, like before, you'll be inside the metal tunnel. However, nearby is the solid version of the transparent device you saw here in Dark Aether. This is a SPINNER, and by rolling into it and boosting several times you can open up a gate in the wall, allowing you to travel between the metal walkway and the main part of Forgotten Bridge. In the Morph Ball maze through the door at the end of the walkway, you can find a MISSILE EXPANSION. It's fairly straightforward how you need to progress, but once you activate the second Bomb Slot you can reach the tunnel that leads straight back. At the end of it you'll find a halfpipe, and at the top is the expansion. On the other side of the maze, though, you'll reach Torvus Plaza, the light version of where you just fought the Boost Guardian. This room is full of trees and luscious plants, though, not terrifying Ing. There is a halfpipe here just like in Dark Aether, but unfortunately there's nothing at the top that you can reach right now; you'll have to return here later. You've now explored almost all of the surface of Torvus Bog, but there is still much of Dark Torvus that you have not seen. Since you just used the Spinner to open the gate in Forgotten Bridge, return there and drop onto the ledge underneath the gate. To your right is the Dark Portal you used earlier; go through it again. /============================================================================== 4. Disturbing Anomalies [III.C.4] \============================================================================== |[Upper Dark Torvus Bog, Upper Torvus Bog, Temple Grounds West, Agon| |Wastes, Dark Agon Wastes] | |o Seeker Missile Launcher | |o Darkburst | |o Energy Tank 12 | |o Missile Expansions 18,22,24,27 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you are in Dark Forgotten Bridge, jump back up onto the bridge and follow it to the green door; open it with a Super Missile (which you couldn't do before). In the next room you'll need to shoot the LIFTVINE CRYSTAL with the Light Beam to make the platform rise, then jump up to the upper ledge. Drop down on the other side to reach Venemous Pond, Dark Torvus's Great Bridge. You can clearly see a Dark Temple Key on a ledge above a white door, but there's no way to reach it, not even by jumping from the ledge at the other end of the Morph Ball tunnel. When you drop down to the floor of this room, a Hunter Ing will appear. One way to defeat it is to wait until it is over the liftvine plant in the water, then activate the Liftvine Crystal to create a Safe Zone. There's a Save Station behind the red door, and the white door leads into the lower level of the Dark Torvus Temple. While you can't raise the platform into the main section of the temple because you don't have all three keys yet, there are two other doors here. The blue door leads to an Ammo Station, and at the end of the Morph Ball tunnel is a green door with an ENERGY TANK behind it! Return to Venemous Pond and go through the only other door in this room: the black door on ground level. It leads to Portal Chamber, which is almost identical to the version of the room in Light Aether. Almost: after you roll through the tunnel and reach the other end of the room, look for some platforms in the area containing the door that you can jump up. These platforms lead to another tunnel which will take you to the area with the Light Portal. Go through the portal and you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION waiting right in front of you. Once back in Dark Torvus, you can continue on to the next room, Poisoned Bog, which for now is a dead end. That's all you can do in Dark Torvus right now, so backtrack to Dark Forgotten Bridge and go through the Light Portal. If you attempt to explore the lower levels of Torvus Bog now, you will discover that you need a new item. In order to save some backtracking later on, you should go ahead and get this item now. This will also give you a chance to re-explore old areas with your new abilities and find several useful items. With that in mind, return to the elevator out of Torvus Bog, but be careful, because many of the rooms will now be guarded by Grenchlers. When you reach Temple Grounds, you should head back towards Meeting Grounds. However, you can use a shortcut through Path of Eyes: there's a Morph Ball tunnel located very close to the door you'll enter by. It can be difficult to spot, but once you find it it will take you directly to the other end of the room. At the end of the tunnel you'll find a Luminoth Lore (THE WORLD WARPED) and a platform that you'll need to shoot with the Dark Beam to move out of the way. Now you can open the green doors to easily return to Meeting Grounds. You'll probably want to get rid of the War Wasp Hives in the room, but then notice the large halfpipe in the room. Boost up it and you'll find another Luminoth Lore, AGE OF ANXIETY, with a Morph Ball tunnel nearby. Roll through the tunnel, and when you reach a place where you must roll across a series of collapsable blocks, boost across them to keep from falling. If you do fall, you'll have to backtrack to Meeting Grounds and try again. Once you make it across, you can just follow the track as it leads you through several rooms before finally sending you over a purple door and dropping you out on the other side. The room you'll end up in is the Hall of Honored Dead, and you'll notice from the map that it is directly underneath the Great Temple. Large statues of Luminoth heroes surround the room, but what most attracts your attention is the item that is locked inside a strong cylindrical cage in the center of the room. In order to unlock the cage, you must use the four Spinners around the room to rotate sections of the floor. The floor surrounding the cage is divided into five rings, and each Spinner simultaneously rotates two adjacent rings. When a ring is in the correct position, it will glow yellow. Once all five rings are correctly aligned, the cage will open. This puzzle can be time-consuming if you approach it by rotating rings randomly, but with a little strategy it can be solved quickly. Each Spinner controls two concentric rings, so the key is to figure out which rings each Spinner controls, then work from the inside out. Numbering the rings from the inside out, here are the rings controlled by each Spinner: red: 1 & 2 yellow: 2 & 3 blue: 3 & 4 purple: 4 & 5 To align the rings, use the red Spinner until ring 1 is aligned, then go to the yellow Spinner and use it until ring 2 is aligned. Do the same for ring 3 with the blue Spinner, then finally use the purple Spinner until the last two rings are aligned. Once all five rings are aligned, the outer ring will raise from the floor and the giant statues around the room will focus lasers on the cage, shattering it. Now you can collect the item inside, which is the SEEKER MISSILE LAUNCHER. Now, by holding down the Y button, an orange targeting reticule will appear which you can use to select up to five different targets. When you release Y, Missiles will be fired at every target. Also, if you hold down Y while locked-on, up to five dots will gradually appear inside the orange reticule, indicating how many Missiles will be fired when you release Y. Use the Seeker Launcher to get out of the Hall of Honored Dead by selecting each of the purple balls around the purple door. Now you can head back the way you came, but on the ground and not in the Morph Ball tunnel. In the second room you'll go through, Service Access, you'll see a Morph Ball-sized pipe which leads back to Meeting Grounds, but first go through the door, which leads to Landing Site. You'll be on a ledge you couldn't reach before, and you'll discover another Luminoth with a Keymaker Lore entry, M-DHE'S TESTAMENT, behind some rocks. Jump down to save and refill your ammo, then get back onto the ledge by using a movable platform underneath the ledge. Also, if you haven't scanned your ship for a Logbook entry yet, do it now, because soon you will no longer be able to do so. Now, return to Meeting Grounds and follow the path back to Torvus Bog. Once in Torvus, make your way to the lower level of Torvus Temple. You may be ready to explore the lower levels, but there are still more items to be collected. One of the doors out of this chamber is a purple door, so use the Seeker Launcher to open it. Behind it is an elevator that goes back to Agon Wastes. When you leave the elevator room on Agon, you'll find yourself on a ledge above Transport Center. Below you is a halfpipe, and on the other side of the halfpipe, but higher up, is another ledge with a Dark Portal. You should know what to do: drop down onto the halfpipe and boost up to the portal. When you go through to Dark Aether, you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION waiting for you right in front of the portal. Once you get it, though, drop down and go through the door to the left to reach Portal Site. There are two Dark Pirate Troopers here: you can fight them if you want, but all you need to do is go through the other door out of Portal Site to reach Judgment Pit. After getting rid of the two Warrior Ing here, jump up the platforms until you reach the green door above an orange statue. Open the door with a Super Missile and in the next tunnel, Warrior's Walk, you can bomb part of the floor. Underneath the floor is a pool of Phazon, but at the end of the Phazon is a MISSILE EXPANSION, so drop in and roll as fast as you can to the expansion, then hurry back and jump out. Warrior's Walk connects Judgment Pit and Battlefield, so continue on to Battlefield, then cross it to reach Doomed Entry. Here, jump up the platforms and go through the black door. When you reach Dark Oasis, make your way through the Inglets to the Light Portal, then return to Light Aether. You'll now be in Main Reactor of Agon Wastes. Go through the door immediately to the right to reach Sand Processing. After taking out the turrets, boost up the halfpipe on the half nearest to where you came in and you'll reach a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, scan the computer and activate the Bomb Slot to drain the sand out of the other end of the room. With the sand gone, a MISSILE EXPANSION is revealed. Once you've got the expansion, boost up the halfpipe to reach the door. Once you've saved, you'll discover that there are several Metroids flying around in Bioenergy Production. Kill or run past them to Biostorage Station, where the real fun awaits. There are several dark blue sacs hanging from the ceiling in the room now, and tiny Metroids are issuing from the sacs. Scan the METROID COCOONS and INFANT TALLON METROIDS for your Logbook, then get busy. The Infant Metroids cannot suck your energy, but they can still ram you for minor damage. A charged Power Beam shot or a single light/dark shot will kill them. The only thing to worry about is that if an Infant Metroid reaches one of the Phazon pools, it will transform into a full-grown Metroid. Also, Infant Metroids will keep coming out of the cocoons forever until they are destroyed. You don't have to stay in this room, but if you want to kill the Metroids, destroy all the cocoons, then eliminate all the Infant Metroids. Once you've had your fun, continue on to the Command Center, then head back to the Agon Temple. Go through the black door in Agon Temple to reach Mine Shaft. You already got an Energy Tank here, but this time roll all the way down to the bottom, where there's a purple door you can now open. This leads to Mining Station B, where a large industrial blade is hanging in the center of the room. There are also several KRALEES in the room. They're harmless, but interesting because they will pop in and out of existence every few seconds. There's also a Bomb Slot in this room. When you activate it, the blade will start spinning and a timer will begin ticking. Now go through the passage nearby to reach an area with a large halfpipe. Scan the panel in front of the halfpipe to activate a Kinetic Orb Cannon, which will shoot you up to another ledge. Now, before the timer runs out, activate the Bomb Slot at the end of this ledge to raise the blade. It will hit a rock outcropping and destroy it, revealing a Dark Portal. To reach the Dark Portal, scan the Luminoth Lore (THE STELLAR OBJECT) on the ledge near the second Bomb Slot, then drop down and boost up the halfpipe. The path at the top will drop you down the axle of the blade and leave you standing on top of it. Now you can go through the portal to reach Trial Grounds. Go through a crack in the wall of the main section, then jump from ledge to ledge to reach a Morph Ball tunnel. Roll through the tunnel (avoid the Nightbarbs) and at the end you'll reach a Light Portal that's behind a fence you've seen before in Duelling Range. Once back in Light Aether, roll back through the tunnel, and you'll discover a new item on the ledge. This is the DARKBURST, the Charge Combo for the Dark Beam. It uses 5 missiles and 30 Dark Ammo to create a large cloud that does heavy damage to anything inside it when it detonates. As soon as you claim the Darkburst, two Pirate Aerotroopers will appear. Take them out however you want, then leave Mining Station B and make your way back to Transport Center. Boost up the halfpipe to reach the elevator, and use it to return to Torvus Bog. At long last, it's finally time to explore the lower level. /============================================================================== 5. Craven Savages [III.C.5] \============================================================================== |[Lower Torvus Bog, Lower Dark Torvus Bog] | |o Gravity Boost | |o Dark Torvus Key 2 | |o Missile Expansion 33 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Roll through the Morph Ball-sized tunnel in the lower section of Torvus Temple to reach an elevator, with a Luminoth corpse lying against the wall. At the bottom of the elevator, you'll step into Hydrodynamo Station. This large, cylindrical room is mostly underwater, but you'll enter on a ledge that rings the room and is above the surface. There is a central shaft that runs the entire height of the room, and underwater are several levels of ledges and platforms. Before jumping in the water, though, jump up the rotating platforms that are spinning around the central shaft. (Watch out for PREEDS, though.) At the top you can reach a red door which contains a Save Station. Now jump into the water, but jump towards the central pillar. You'll land on a circular platform attached to the pillar, and you can see three doors on ledges spaced around the room across from your platform. One of them has a Missile Expansion on it, but none of them are reachable. Your only choice is do drop down to the bottom of the room, and it's here that you'll likely encounter BLOGGS for the first time. Bloggs are fast, strong, and dangerous, and quick reflexes are the key to defeating them. The best way to kill one is to lock-on to it and wait until it is charging straight at you with its mouth open, then fire a missile at it before it reaches you. This will kill it immediately. At the bottom of Hydrodynamo Station you'll find a scannable control panel, which will extend the platform in front of the purple door above and release one of the locks securing access to a door at the very bottom of the room. To get back up, roll into the central tube, where a cannon will fire you to the top of the room. Now you can use the extended platform to reach the ledge, get the MISSILE EXPANSION, and use the Seeker Launcher to open the purple door. Through the door is an upward-sloping tunnel, and when you emerge from the water you'll see the air is full of sparkling blue particles, just like when you defeated Dark Samus in the Agon Wastes. When you exit the tunnel and enter the next room, Training Chamber, the blue particles will merge and condense to form Dark Samus! The evil twin of yourself will laugh at you, then explode into blue particles again. Apparently Dark Samus isn't ready to fight you again yet, but he/she/it wants to let you know that he/she/it is still alive and strong. Now for the Training Chamber. You'll be standing on a ledge, but most of the room is filled with water. Across the room is a large Luminoth statue, but it doesn't look like you can do much with it now. Drop into the water, where you'll have to fight two Bloggs. Focus on one at a time, and after you've fired a missile into each one's open mouth, a Spinner in front of the statue will power up. Using the Spinner will rotate a section of the floor containing a Morph Ball track, allowing it to connect to two different tracks. When a track is connected, lights on the sides of the track will glow a specific color. The first track you can connect is the red track, and by following it it will lead underneath a wall and to a dry ledge containing a black door as well as a Luminoth Lore: this one is titled RECOVERING ENERGY, in which the Luminoth discuss their plans to build a device to transfer planetary energy from Dark to Light Aether. This is the Energy Transfer Module, the glowing blue ball which you found early in your journey. Through the black door is Transit Tunnel East. A cannon will fire you (in Morph Ball form) into a series of underwater pipes. Simply roll through it, and at the end is another door leading to the Catacombs. The Catacombs is another room that is flooded, but with a few ledges and structures above the waterline. You can see several damaged and collapsed pillars in the room, evidence that the room was in much better condition prior to being flooded. There's a Dark Portal in this room, but it is behind a cage on a platform. Underwater you'll have to fight two more Bloggs, and there's also a Bomb Slot on an underwater ledge, but it is too high to reach with your limited jumping abilities underwater. You can cross the room to reach the ledge on the other side, though. Here you'll find a gray door (you haven't seen very many of these yet, but you can't open it), as well as a black door. Before you go through the black door, though, scan the Luminoth body for G-SCH'S TESTAMENT, and if you look above the Dark Portal you can scan another Lore: THE NEW TERROR, describing the horror the Luminoth felt when the Ing first began to possess the Luminoth. Now go through the black door, and at the end of a downward-sloping tunnel you'll reenter Hydrodynamo Chamber, this time on a different ledge. There's another control panel in front of you, and by scanning it you'll extend the platform for the ledge you're on and release another lock. Also, the Bloggs in the water are now BLOGGLINGS, small versions that are not nearly as strong. You still can't reach the final ledge (the one with the white door), but you can return to the Training Chamber and use the Spinner to connect the second set of Morph Ball tracks, which are blue and lead to a white door. Through this door is Transit Tunnel West, another set of pipes. Here, fans will create strong currents preventing you from making progress. By using the Bomb Slots, you can turn the currents on or off, allowing you to make it through to the other side. The third and final large room surrounding the central Hydrodynamo Station is Gathering Hall, and like the rest, it too is flooded. Like the others, this room also contains a large Luminoth statue, but the platform on this statue contains a large laser beam which is currently focused on a rock wall. Underwater you'll have to defeat one more Blogg, and you'll also discover a large section of the floor is made of cracked Benzium, which you cannot destroy. In the center of the room underwater is a Dark Portal, but it is behind bars. There's also another Lore entry underwater on the other side; it's titled NEW WEAPONS, and it relates the invention of the Dark and Light Beams. There are also several large spiky objects floating on the surface of the water. By firing the Dark Beam at the crystals on the undersides of these objects, they will flip over and you can use them to reach the ledge on the other side of the room. Along the way you'll jump onto the platform with the laser, and you can see that the laser is controlled by a transparent Spinner. On the other side of the room is another gray door, along with a Bomb Slot. When you activate the Bomb Slot, the bars in front of the Dark Portal will lower, so drop underwater and enter the portal. When you reach the Dark Aether version of this room, called Crypt, you'll see that you are no longer underwater: this room is dry except for a small pool of toxic water in the center of the room. You'll also discover, likely to your dismay, that there are several Dark Pirate Commandos in this room. Like before, these enemies are very strong and resilient. Reach a Safe Zone and try to avoid their attacks as best you can. You may want to occasionally move to a different Safe Zone in order to avoid the EMP grenades. If you want to try to kill the pirates before they disappear, you can, but be aware that it will drain your missile and ammo supplies. Otherwise, you can try to just avoid their attacks until they disappear (which will take several minutes), or you can just try to reach the platform containing the laser and use the Spinner device to move the laser without getting hit. However you do it, all you need to do here is move the laser, which will cause part of the wall to crumble in Light Aether. When you return to Gathering Hall, you'll see that a Missile Expansion is now exposed near the laser, although it is behind a shield. Also, from the ledge with the gray door, you can jump to a cannon underneath the Missile Expansion, which will fire you on to a ledge containing a white door. Through the white door is another watery tunnel, and at the end is the ledge containing the final control panel in Hydrodynamo Station. Once the final platform is extended and the final lock released, the central section of the floor of Hydrodynamo Station will rise, revealing a door underneath. Go through the door in the bottom of Hydrodynamo Station to reach Hydrodynamo Shaft, which s just an underwater spiral staircase that winds around a large cylindrical chamber in which you can see a very large creature swimming. Towards the bottom of the shaft you'll encounter a swarm of Hydlings, which you can use to refill any energy or ammo you need. The door at the bottom of the shaft leads to the Main Hydrochamber, which is directly underneath the cylindrical chamber you spiraled around. Drop down to the bottom of the room, which contains a door on one side and an alcove on the other. The alcove leads to a ledge too high to reach, so go through the door. Here, in a small storage room, you'll find the GRAVITY BOOST. This useful piece of equipment will undo all the handicaps you had to deal with in water. Now your visibility is crystal clear, your movement and jumping abilities are at full strength, and you can even drift upwards for a considerable distance underwater. As soon as you return to Main Hydrochamber, though, the walls will rotate to lock you into the room and a hatch in the ceiling will open, releasing the creature you saw through the bars in Hydrochamber Shaft. This is the ALPHA BLOGG, and it is in essence a very large, very fast, and very strong Blogg. The Alpha Blogg has an additional attack as well: it can fire sonic blasts, which will appear as swirls in the water. These can be easily dodged, but if one hits you it will blur your vision and prevent you from firing for several seconds. The Alpha Blogg's most potent attack, though, is its charge. Just like regular Bloggs, the Alpha Blogg will charge straight at you from across the room, leaving you only a second or two to respond. Unfortunately, this is also the time when the Alpha Blogg is most vulnerable to damage. The best strategy is to keep a powerful attack charged up and ready to fire as soon as the Alpha Blogg begins to charge, then immediately jump or dash out of the way. Super Missiles, Seeker Missiles, and charged Dark Beam shots are all effective against the Alpha Blogg. A hit by any of these attacks will take a significant chunk out of its energy bar, so use whichever you prefer or have ammo for. The most difficult part of the battle is avoiding the charge, but if you can survive long enough to get several strong hits in you will destroy the Alpha Blogg. Once the creature is dead, the walls will unlock and a fan set in the wall will stop turning. In order to leave the room, use your new Gravity Boost to reach the ledge in front of the fan, and from there you can use the Gravity Boost again to drift up and across the room to another ledge. By similarly boosting to several more ledges, you can return to the door leading back to the bottom of Hydrochamber Shaft. In Hydrochamber Shaft, use the school of Hydlings to refill your energy, missiles, and ammo, but wait a moment before you go back up. Just before the short drop where the door to Main Hydrochamber is located, there is a cylindrical platform with a ledge on top. Gravity Boost up to the top of it, and you'll find a Dark Portal! When you go through the portal, you'll discover the second DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY is waiting for you on the ledge! Don't try to explore any more of this part of Dark Torvus now; immediately go back through the portal and return to Hydrodynamo Station. You can no longer use the cannon to reach the top of the room, but you can Gravity Boost up. Now would be a good time to return to the top of the room and use the Save Station there. /============================================================================== 6. Dark Swarms [III.C.6] \============================================================================== |[Torvus Bog, Dark Torvus Bog] | |o Grapple Beam | |o Dark Torvus Key 3 | |o Energy Tank 11 | |o Beam Ammo Expansion 3 | |o Missile Expansions 25,26,28,37 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you have the Gravity Boost, you need to see if there are any other areas in Lower Torvus you can access. From Hydrodynamo Station, take the blue door to Training Chamber. When you enter the water, the two Blogglings in the water will be possessed and transform into DARK BLOGGS. These are tough creatures, because it will take about three missiles in the mouth to kill one. Try to keep both Dark Bloggs in your field of vision, and do your best to dodge out of the way after you fire. When they're both gone, use the Spinner to rotate the floor so that the red track is connected. Use the Morph Ball tunnel to reach Transit Tunnel East. Now that you can bomb jump normally underwater, you can reach and activate the Bomb Slot at the top of a short vertical tube. When you do, currents will begin moving up or down the other vertical pipes in the tunnel. Go to the third tube past the Bomb Slot, where there is an upward current. You need to reach the top of the tube, but it will take some ingenuity. The current increases the height of your bomb jump and lowers the speed at which you fall. You need to do a bomb jump into the tube, then lay another bomb when you are almost at the apex of your jump so that you fall onto the bomb just as it detonates. Try it a few times and you'll soon see what you need to do. You'll have to do this twice to reach the top of the tube, where you'll find a second Bomb Slot. This will reverse the direction of the currents temporarily, creating an upward current in the tube containing the Energy Tank, which you can see is to the left of the second Bomb Slot. If you can reach the top of its tube before time expires, you'll get the ENERGY TANK. Continue on to the Catacombs, which now is home to two Grenchlers. Don't forget that now you can fight them underwater just as well as on land. Once they're dead, return to the Bomb Slot on a high underwater ledge underneath the Dark Portal. You couldn't reach it before, but with the Gravity Boost you can easily activate the Bomb Slot, lowering the bars around the Dark Portal. Jump onto the ledge and go through the portal. The Dark Aether room you'll appear in is called Dungeon, and there are two DARK GRENCHLERS in it. Fight them just like you would fight a regular Grenchler, only use the Light Beam instead of the Dark Beam. Go through the only door out of the room to reach Undertransit Two, where you need to avoid being crushed by the cylinders that move up and down in the tunnel. At the end is Sacrificial Chamber. This room contains two large, bright objects that generate Safe Zones and look like some sort of power generator. There is a Hunter Ing in this room, but it's obvious that it's not the only creature here. There is obviously a large creature walking around just above you. You can see what it is by climbing up the pile of debris on one side of the room, which will let you reach a ledge where you can see, through a metal grate, a large creature with a single rhinoceros horn. However, you can't scan it from here, so you won't be able to find out exactly what it is. Go through the white door at the other end of the room to reach Undertransit One, which is laid out like some pipes you encountered in the NES Metroid game! There are three pipes stacked on top of each other, with invisible gaps in them that will drop you down to the pipe below. Use the windows in the pipe to keep track of your location, and when you can't go forward anymore, do a bomb jump to go through a gap up to the pipe above. There's actually an expansion hidden in these pipes, which you may discover by accident or not even suspect its existence. The expansion is in the top pipe, just left of the central wall. On the left side, head for the right half of the middle pipe and find a gap in the ceiling. If you bomb up and veer left, you'll land on a ledge in the top level from which you can reach the central ring. If you veer right, though, you'll run right into the MISSILE EXPANSION. Once you've got the expansion, continue through the pipes to the other end. At the end of this tunnel, you'll enter Crypt, a room you explored before. However, this time you'll enter on a ledge surrounded by an energy shield. Fire a Dark Beam shot at the crystal to lower the shield and cause several platforms in the walls to begin moving in and out from the wall. Also, two Dark Pirate Troopers (not Commandos!) will teleport in the room, but you can get rid of them easily with the Light Beam. Use the moving platforms to reach the ledge above the laser, which contains a white door. The door leads to a tunnel filled with Darkling Tentacles; the Power Beam gives you the best chance of hitting these fast-moving tentacles. The tunnel leads to the Dark Aether version of Hydrodynamo Station, called Undertemple Shaft. This room is dry, but it still has all the same ledges as the Light Aether room, with the addition of a metal cage in the center of the room on the level of the three doors. The only way for you to go is down, so jump to the bottom of the shaft. You'll find two Hunter Ing down here, which you probably don't want to fight, so use the ledges around the edge to jump to a Kinetic Orb Cannon, which will fire you up to the top of the room. Here you can go through the red door to find a Save Station, then drop down onto a metal floor that covers most of the shaft. There is one opening in it, which will let you drop onto a ledge with a metal path in front of it. This leads into the central cage, where you'll find a Bomb Slot next to the body of a Luminoth. The slot will rotate the cage and the walkway so that it connects to the door to Sacrificial Chamber. In the tunnel you'll find several Ingsphere Caches, so use them to refill as much energy, missiles, and light ammo as you can. Past them is some Venom Weed. Shoot it to make it temporarily withdraw, then cross it quickly. The tunnel leads to the upper half of Sacrificial Chamber, and as soon as you enter you'll meet the large creature you saw and heard earlier, the GRAPPLE GUARDIAN. This sub-guardian resembles a large Grenchler and still has its weakness in its back shell. The Grapple Guardian can still ram and bite like a regular Grenchler, and it is powerful, so you generally want to stay as far away as you can. Its other attack is, of course, its grapple beam, which it fires from its horn. If it hits you it will slowly drag you toward it while draining energy away. Fire at its eye in order to break free. You can also fire at its eye any other time, but you'll notice that doing so will cause it to flash yellow, not red, meaning you're not actually doing damage. If you shoot its eye enough, you will stun the Grapple Guardian momentarily, possibly just long enough for you to get behind it and fire off a missile to do damage. A better strategy is to wait until it uses the grapple beam, then try to get it to grapple one of the power generators. This will cause it to get stuck to the generator, allowing you to get behind it and fire away with the Light Beam. Even if it doesn't get stuck to the generator, your best bet of doing damage is while it's using the grapple beam attack. It will take around four or five solid attacks to drop the Grapple Guardian's energy bar to 1/4, at which point its shell will break. However, now things will work a little differently. The Grapple Guardian will surround its vulnerable back with energy from its grapple beam, meaning you can't attack it directly like normal. Instead, you'll have to fire at its eye (use the Power Beam for this) in order to stun the Grapple Guardian, at which point it will be vulnerable to damage for a few seconds. Fire missiles or whatever you have as fast as you can here, because it won't last long. (Note that you do not have to fire at its back to do damage here.) You'll have to do this about three times to finally kill the Grapple Guardian and claim the GRAPPLE BEAM as your own. Once you get the Grapple Beam, the floor will descend down to the lower level, preventing you from reaching the door back to Undertemple Shaft. Or has it? Climb up the debris pile, and from the ledge there you can lock-on to the GRAPPLE POINT on the ceiling (hold down L) to fire the Grapple Beam. This will cause you to swing out across the room, and when you're over the ledge with the door you can release the Grapple Beam (let go of L) to drop onto the ledge and return to Undertemple Shaft. You've now completed your exploration of lower Torvus Bog (at least for now), but there's no way to go directly from lower to upper Dark Torvus Bog, so you need to find a Light Portal. Use the Grapple Points to reach the white door which leads to Crypt and its Light Portal. Once you're back in Light Aether, you can leave lower Torvus and head to Great Bridge. In Great Bridge, you'll have to fend off two Dark Pirate Commandos for a couple minutes, then you can go through the door to Path of Roots. Here you'll see a Luminoth Lore that you passed up the first time you saw it because you hadn't yet reached the Torvus Energy Controller. Now you can scan it and read THE ING ATTACK and learn about the Luminoth's discovery of the Ing's ability to take control of creatures in Light Aether. What's more, there's a Grapple Point in this room that you can use to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION. Continuing on to Torvus Lagoon, there's an area to the right of the ramp that slopes up to the dry land. This area is home to a patch of Venom Weed, and in an alcove high above the weed is another MISSILE EXPANSION, which you can reach with the Gravity Boost. You can find one more expansion by returning to Great Bridge, then going through the white door on the ledge across from the bridge to reach Abandoned Worksite. Use the Grapple Point here to swing to yet another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now you have only a few tasks remaining before entering the Dark Torvus Temple. Head to Forgotten Bridge and use the portal there, then go through the blue door on the bridge to reach Venemous Pond. Before you get the final key, though, there is one important expansion you should get. Go through the black door and roll through Portal Chamber to reach Poisoned Bog, the dark version of Torvus Lagoon. It is mostly filled with toxic water and is home to a Hunter Ing, but you can reach a ledge with a purple door. Use the Seeker Launcher to open it, and inside you'll find a rare BEAM AMMO EXPANSION, which will increase your light and dark ammo capacity by 50. Now, return to Venemous Pond and reach the ledge with the Light Crystal on it. Roll through the Morph Ball tunnel to the left to reach a ledge across from the key. Now you can use the Grapple Beam to swing across and claim the final DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY. Head over to the nearby Save Station, then enter Dark Torvus Temple. Before you step into the swirling light in the center of the room, though, roll through the branches to the left to reach an Ammo Station. Now that your energy, missiles, and ammo are all full, step into the red light. /============================================================================== 7. True Deathblows [III.C.7] \============================================================================== |[BOSS: Chykka] | |o Dark Visor | --------------------------------------------------------------------- The three Dark Temple Keys will move into place on the three small pillars in front of the platform. Then, toxic water will begin pouring into the room, causing the platform you're standing on to begin rising with the water. You'll emerge in the center of the main Dark Torvus Temple, a large circular room surrounded by high cliff walls. The room is full of toxic water except for your platform in the center. On the wall in front of you is a giant cocoon, held up by four supporting structures. Use the Seeker Launcher to target all four supports at once, and the cocoon will break and fall into the water, releasing the creature inside... That creature is Chykka, a gigantic black and blue monster. Scan it to learn that this is a CHYKKA LARVA, and that its belly is its weak spot. At first, Chykka will just swim in a circle around your platform. As it swims, DARK SHREDDERS will jump out of the water and begin drifting towards you. (Make sure to scan one; this is your only chance!) Shoot the Dark Shredders before they crash into you, then focus your attention on Chykka. It will dive underneath the water, but watch for it to reappear on your HUD radar. When you see the orange dot reappear, turn to face it with a charged Light Beam blast. Chykka will leap out of the water and fire a blast of acid at you. Simultaneously jump and fire to both avoid the acid and do damage to Chykka, then make sure to jump over the splash that will wash over the platform when Chykka lands. Chykka is only in the air for a second, so the Power or Light Beams are the only weapons that have time to hit it; anything else is just too slow. Chykka will leap twice before circling again. Sometimes, instead of leaping, Chykka will simply rise up and "stand" out of the water in front of your platform. When this happens, it is about to try to grab you with its tongue and drag you towards it. You can prevent this by firing at it or jumping out of the way. Whenever Chykka tries this attack, simply pummel it with the Light Beam as much as you can until it resumes circling. When your light ammo gets low, fire the Dark Beam at the Dark Shredders to get more. This battle is actually fairly easy and you shouldn't have too many problems. Once you kill the Chykka Larva, though, is when the fun really starts. The dead larva will sink into the water and the platform you're on will divide into three pieces. Then, out of another cocoon will burst a second, adult Chykka! This CHYKKA (a different scan!) has a long, slender body and two sets of insect-like wings which it uses to hover in the center of the room. Scanning will tell you that the adult Chykka is a light creature, so it is vulnerable to the Dark Beam. The adult Chykka's main attack is to fire a swath of several acid blasts that are very difficult to completely avoid. The best way is to try to jump ahead of the blast until it ends, but this is by no means foolproof. The hardest part of this battle is simply trying to stay on the platforms, since a hit from the acid will usually knock you off, and it can be difficult to make your way back on while you are focusing on Chykka. If you are having trouble, break your lock-on and focus on getting back on the plaform and in the Safe Zone, then return to deal with Chykka. If you see Chykka stay in one place for several seconds, it is about to charge you, so immediately use the Grapple Beam to swing to one of the other platforms. To damage Chykka, the first step is to fire the Power or Dark Beams at it. Make sure that you remain locked-on to it; sometimes it will zip from side to side, which will break your lock-on. These blasts will only cause Chykka to flash yellow, though, meaning they're not actually doing damage. However, once Chykka is hit enough it will be stunned for several seconds. When this happens, it will start slowly rotating and red circles will appear at the bases of each of its wings. Now is your chance to damage Chykka, but you have to be fast. Quickly use the Grapple Beam to swing to the platform so that you are in front of the wings. As soon as you land, charge up the Seeker Launcher and lock-on to all four of the targets on the wings. When you hit all four targets simultaneously, you will take off 1/8 of Chykka's energy meter. Once you've done this twice, Chykka will fall into the toxic water in the center of the temple. When it arises several seconds later, it will be taken over by the Ing and become DARK CHYKKA (new scan). Dark Chykka has a large, swolen eggsac, and this is its weak spot. Lock-on to it and fire at it with the Light Beam as much as you can. Dark Chykka's main attack is also several blasts of acid, although Dark Chykka fires them all in the same place instead of in a wide swath, making it a little easier to dodge. Also, Dark Chykka will periodically release a swarm of small flying cretures called CHYKLINGS from its tail which will head towards you. These can be useful for refilling light and dark ammo, so take advantage of them as necessary. Dark Chykka is much easier than regular Chykka, since you basically just have to fire at it as fast as you can. When you have Dark Chykka down to half energy, it will change back to normal Chykka, and you'll have to do the stun, grapple, missile routine again. If you can do it successfully two more times, though, you're almost there. It will turn into Dark Chykka once more, and now simply pummel it with the Light Beam, missiles, Power Beam, or whatever you have left until it is dead. Once Chykka dies, the three platforms will rejoin into one, the toxic water will drain out of the temple, and a new item will appear in the center of the room. This is the DARK VISOR, which allows you to see objects that are not visible otherwise. You'll need to put it to good use, too. You'll see a series of platforms rise up, but as they do they will turn invisible. Switch to the Dark Visor, though, and they will show up in bright red. Using the visor, jump up the platforms until you reach a door at the top. This leads to the Dark Torvus Energy Controller where, just like in Agon Wastes, you will interface with the Energy Controller and absorb the planetary energy stored there. Once you have transferred the energy, Dark Torvus's sky will change from purple to an eerie red. Now to transfer the energy to the Light Torvus temple. Head for Dark Forgotten Bridge (you may want to stop by the Save Station off of Venemous Pond) and go through the portal there. Now you can easily return to Torvus Temple and refill the Energy Controller there with the energy. Congratulations, you have now restored the planetary energy to two of Aether's regions; only one more to go! All that's left now is to visit U-Mos in the Great Temple again to find out where to go for the final Energy Controller. However, when you reach Great Bridge, you'll be visited by some more Dark Pirate Commandos. This time, though, things will go differently. Before, the hardest part about this fight was that they are constantly turning invisible, making it hard for you to know where to look for them. Now, with the Dark Visor, you can see the pirates lit up bright red all the time, making the fight much easier. You still have to watch out for their attacks, but you're much less likely to be surprised by an attack. Once the Dark Pirate Commandos have gone, return to Torvus Lagoon and take the elevator back up to Temple Grounds. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## D. SANCTUARY FORTRESS [III.D] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Metallic Warriors [III.D.1] \============================================================================== |[Temple Grounds, Sanctuary Fortress Level 1, Ing Hive Level 1] | |o Missile Expansion 48 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Make your way back towards Meeting Grounds, and when you get there you'll be met by three Dark Pirate Commandos. This time, however, you'll have to kill them. Use the Dark Visor to keep track of them and attack with the Light Beam or Super Missiles, and keep in mind that each pirate will have to take a large amount of damage before it dies. Also, the pirates cannot be hurt just before, during, or after they move from one point to another. Once the Dark Pirate Commandos have been dispatched, take the elevator up to the Great Temple and talk to U-Mos in the Main Energy Controller. He'll inform you that there is only one temple remaining to be restored. It is in a fortress built by the Luminoth; this fortress was once guarded by numerous machines they designed, but now the machines have been corrupted by the Ing and will view you as an enemy. After receiving the instructions, return to Temple Sanctuary and open the final translator door in the room, which leads to Transport A Access. There's a Save Station through a hole in the wall here, but before you use it look for a pile of rocks against the wall. Bomb the rocks to discover a path leading underneath the Save Station to a hidden MISSILE EXPANSION. After you take the elevator back down to Temple Grounds you'll be in Sacred Path; this is the part of Temple Grounds you explored at the start of your adventure. Make your way past the swarms of War Wasps in this room to reach Sacred Bridge, which seems at first glance to be a dead end. Scan the raised drawbridge and you will learn that the controls for the bridge are not in the "visible spectrum or current timespace". What item do you have that helps you see objects that aren't normally visible? That's right, the Dark Visor. With the Dark Visor you can see five targets around the bridge; use the Seeker Launcher to hit them and lower the bridge. The next room is GFMC Compound, where the Federation ship landed. There are three Pirate Troopers inspecting things here; if you forgot to scan one earlier, do so now. After you kill the pirates you can open the green translator door to reach Fortress Transport Access. At the beginning of this suspended walkway you'll meet a LUMINOTH TURRET, which is similar to other turrets you've encountered but which takes three missiles to kill. At the end of the walkway is another turret along with a column of bright yellow light and a Lore entry: THE SKY TEMPLE. Here you'll learn that the Ing ruler lives in a place called the Sky Temple, which is locked with ten keys hidden across Dark Aether. Through the door is the elevator to Sanctuary Fortress. The elevator will come to a stop in a room with metal walls, a glass floor, and many indications of a high level of technological sophistication. There are also three dead Luminoth lying on the floor, and it appears they were killed by their own machinery. In the long hallway that follows you'll enounter two more Luminoth Turrets, then have to scan a control panel to rotate a large "security ring" in order to progress. The second half of the hallway contains a group of Serenity Class Drones moving along the side wall, and you'll need to use a Spinner to rotate a second security ring. Through the windows on the left you can catch glimpses of huge machinery. When you go through the door at the end of the hallway, you'll step outside onto a ledge in front of a long bridge leading across a chasm to a huge tower of metal and rock: Sanctuary Fortress. The greenish sky and gray-blue rock gives even the outside a harsh, mechanical feel. As you cross the bridge, you may notice that it is littered with Space Pirate crates and even a few Phazon containers. So you won't be too surprised when about seven Pirate Commandos appear when you're halfway across the bridge. Make sure to scan one if you didn't the first time you fought them, then attack the pirates closest to you. The Dark Beam is especially effective, but any weapon will do; and don't forget about the Phazon canisters! Also, don't forget about any pirates that are behind you, and don't try to attack a pirate that has its shield out. Pirate Commandos are dangerous, and with so many of them this battle can be difficult. By staying on the bridge you can take them one at a time, and use the crates for cover and to get energy or ammo. Once all the pirates are dead the doors will unlock and you can enter the main building of the fortress. In the tunnel the door leads to you'll encounter OCTOPEDES; shoot them a few times to cause their sections to separate, then back away unti they all self-destruct. In the next room you'll see two large and strong-looking humanoid mechanisms. You don't know what they are, but they're turned off right now. There's another drawbridge high up in the wall, and with the Dark Visor you can see the Seeker Launcher targets to open it. Opening the bridge will release a REZBIT, the first of many you'll encounter in Sanctuary Fortress. The Rezbit has a variety of attacks: a sweeping laser blast, a series of rapid-fire blasts, as well as a shield to temporarily deflect attacks. But its most dangerous attack is a virus that it releases into the air. You'll know this attack is coming when you cannot lock-on to the Rezbit and blue swirls appear in front of it. The only way to prevent the attack is to shoot the Rezbit with a charged shot before it launches the attack, which you'll have to do manually. The virus, once released, will infect your Power Suit, preventing you from firing and causing your visor to malfunction. You'll have to press L+R+B to reboot your Power Suit, and you won't be able to fire again until it's completely finished. The Dark Beam is the weapon of choice against the Rezbit, since a charged shot will stun it for a second and two charged shots will kill it. Once the Rezbit is gone, use a platform on the wall to jump to the bridge and enter the Reactor Core. As you enter the room you'll soon see a four-legged robot patrolling the area with a red beam sweeping around. When the beam focuses on you, it has spotted you and will begin attacking. This robot is actually composed to two separate mechanisms, the QUAD CM (the head) and the QUAD MB (the body). The head will fire laser blasts at you while the body will swipe at you when you get close and turn itself into a top that will spin around the room. Whichever part you kill first, the other will continue to fight separately. The easiest way to fight these enemies is to destroy the head first using any weapon. Once the head is destroyed, only the body will be left. Switch to Morph Ball form, and once the Quad MB uses the spinning attack, boost into it. This will stun the Quad, which is your chance to roll underneath it and lay a bomb, which will destroy it. Upon killing the Quad, the door into the central part of the room will open. In front of it, a curved hallway leads to two doors on either side. The left door is a blue translator that you can't open, and the right door leads to a Save Station. The central section contains a tall shaft with a gold sphere and other objects on it; this is the reactor for the fortress. There's a useless (for now) cannon on the ground, as well as a series of ledges leading up to the top of the shaft. You'll encounter three Rezbits on your way up, and at the top is a yellow door (can't open) and a blue door (go through it). This door leads to a small room with a large window in front looking out on several concentric spinning rings. Scan the panel in front of the window to learn the code to turn off the structure: AMBER COBALT CRIMSON EMERALD. To the left is a Morph Ball tunnel that leads to a circular path around the rings. Along the path are four Bomb Slots, each with a different color. All you need to do is to activate the Bomb Slots in the order indicated by the code. In case your vocabulary is especially small, here's what the code means: amber = yellow cobalt = blue crimson = red emerald = green When you activate all the Bomb Slots in the appropriate order, the rings will stop spinning and you can roll across them to the door. This leads to the Hall of Combat Mastery, a large room that is guarded by two Quads. You'll also see that there are Morph Ball mazes inside many of the walls, including a Missile Expansion in one of them, but there's no way for you to enter them. You'll also pass a door that is behind a force field. At the end of the room, you'll go through a short tunnel (with a door visible outside it) then reach a portal generator. Since there's nowhere else for you to go, activate the generator and enter the portal. Once the transport is complete, you'll no longer be in Sanctuary Fortress, but instead in Ing Hive. In this room, Culling Chamber, you'll discover a new form of item storage, the INGWORM CACHE, a black sphere composed of tiny Ing. In the area where the tunnel was, it is now gone and you can go through the door to reach Hazing Cliff. Here, you'll encounter a DARK TALLON METROID, which acts similarly to a regular Metroid, although the Ing possession makes it stronger. Use the Light Beam to kill it, then walk to the far side of the room where you'll find a short tunnel guarded by two DARK DILIGENCE DRONES. Kill them with charged Light Beam shots, and behind them you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, return to Culling Chamber and enter the main part of the room. In the wall to the left, in one of the Morph Ball mazes and over a bed of Phazon, you'll see one of the keys needed to enter the temple, but you can't get it yet. You'll also meet several Warrior Ing in this room; use the Light Beam on them as well, or Super Missiles if you get low on light ammo. The door that was behind a wall is now accessible in Dark Aether: it leads to an elevator. While this is where you want to go, you can explore the rest of this floor if you want. At the end of Culling Chamber is Unseen Way, which appears to be an uncrossable chasm. As its name suggests, though, the Dark Visor will show you a moving platform you can use to cross. This leads to Hive Reactor, which contains more Warrior Ing. This room also has doors on either side of the central shaft: the one on the left leads to an Ammo Station, the one on the right to a Save Station. The door leading out of the hive is yellow and cannot be opened. Having reached a dead end here, your only option is to take the elevator off of Culling Chamber up to the second floor. /============================================================================== 2. Slithering Like Beasts [III.D.2] \============================================================================== |[Ing Hive Level 2, Sanctuary Fortess Level 2] | |o Spider Ball | |o Missile Expansion 42 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- At the top of the elevator is Hive Dynamo Works, a room with two ledges separated by a wide pit. Furthermore, through the metal grating on the left you can see that there is another section of this room which you cannot reach now. A swarm of Nightbarbs surrounds a grapple point in the middle of the point, and once you've cleared out most of them you can grapple to the ledge across the pit. There you'll see a Light Portal behind a force field, as well as a white door. The door leads to a dead end, so you need to find a way to lower the force field. A scan indicates that the controls are not in the visible spectrum or current timespace; again, this is your cue to switch to the Dark Visor. Look across the pit and you'll see five targets on the wall. You may need to clear out some more Nightbarbs so that they don't interfere with your targeting. Once you hit all five targets and lower the force field, open the Light Portal and travel through. Now in simply Dynamo Works, you'll see that the light version of the room does not contain a pit, just a tunnel with a broken Quad MB in the middle. Go through the nearby black door to reach Dynamo Access. Get rid of the DILIGENCE CLASS DRONES in the tunnel with the Dark Beam, then scan the MECHLOPS under the floor. Now use the gap to the right of the door to roll underneath the floor and lay a bomb in the Mechlop's path so that it grabs it and is destroyed, then roll around the wall and exit the floor on the other side. After getting past more Diligence Class Drones, you'll reach a door that leads into the large room known as Main Gyro Chamber. The part of the room you'll enter has a locked semi-circular security door in front of you, and to the right is a large window. Through the window you can see two giant metal rings spinning around a purple electrified sphere. It's a rather impressive sight. There's also a control panel that activates an elevator down to the bottom of the room here, but there's nothing you can do down there now. There's also access to a Morph Ball tunnel in the wall next to the window, so roll through the tunnel to reach a ledge on the side of the room. There's another Morph Ball tunnel on the other side of this ledge, and this tunnel leads to another enclosed area with a large window looking out on the gyro. The red door in this area leads to a Save Station. When you activate the Bomb Slot, a 3 x 3 grid of red, green, and blue circles will appear in front of the window. To the left of each row is a beam of light: from top to bottom the light is red, green, blue. Finally, there are four small gray circles in between the colored circles in the grid. When you fire at one of the gray circles, the four colored circles around it will rotate clockwise. The goal of the puzzle is to get all three red circles in the top row (as indicated by the red beam of light), all the green circles in the middle row, and all the blue circles in the bottom row. It's not really that difficult; the toughest part is realizing that that's how to solve the puzzle. The best way to solve the puzzle is to focus on completing the top row, then solve the bottom two rows. Once you have it, a second Bomb Slot will raise from the floor. This Bomb Slot will cause the outer ring of the gyro to stop spinning, forming a walkway around the room. Go through the Morph Ball tunnel to the side platform, then jump onto the ring and use it to reach a similar ledge on the other side. There, roll through the Morph Ball tunnel to reach the other side of the area where you entered the room. Use the Spinner to open the door connecting the two sides, then activate the elevator on this side and ride it up to a door. This door leads to Temple Access, and when you drop down into the center of the room you'll have to fight a Quad. However, unlike most Quads, if you kill the head first, another one will appear. For this one, you must destroy the body first. Roll underneath it while it is firing the laser beam and lay a bomb to destroy the body, then attack the head using the beam opposite to the color of its shielding (for white shields use the Dark Beam, for purple shields use the Light Beam). Only after the head is destroyed will the door unlock. Sanctuary Temple, like the others, is a large circular arena with high walls. However, this temple is different in that it contains several platforms and large pieces of what must have been a gigantic mechanoid. As soon as you drop down onto the floor of the temple, two Quads in the temple will be possessed, each one becoming a DARK QUAD CM (head) and a DARK QUAD MB (body). They're basically the same as normal; you don't need to change your strategy. Just try to keep in mind where the other one is while you're fighting one. The best way to fight multiple Quads is to destroy all the heads, then take out all the bodies. Once they're both dead, head to the far side of the temple where you'll find a platform that slopes upward. Jump onto this platform and by both jumping and grappling you can reach the topmost platform in the center of the temple. To the left is a blue translator door, to the right is a gray door, and straight ahead are two grapple points. To reach the door on the far side, you have to latch onto the first grapple point, swing across, then let go and immediately press L again to latch onto the second point, from which you can reach the door. This door, of course, leads to the Sanctuary Energy Controller, where just as before you'll find a holographic message left by the last guardian of the fortress. He will tell you that this fortress was a place of refuge for the Luminoth, but the portals here lead to the Ing Hive, the center of their operations. This guardian devised the various mechanisms used to fight the Ing, but eventually they were all corrupted. Finally, the guardian will give you the ability to translate Cobalt holograms and refill your energy. There is a blue Lore entry on the wall next to the Energy Controller; this entry is titled AGON FALLS, and it describes the loss of the first region to the Ing along with the horror the Luminoth felt when they realized the Ing were using the Energy Transfer Module to steal the energy from Luminoth. When you return to Sanctuary Temple, there will be MEKENOBITES hanging from the bottom of the platforms. These mechanoids are very annoying and can only be destroyed by using the Seeker Launcher to fire missiles at each of their legs, but the best strategy is usually just to run past them. Grapple back to the central platform, and now you can grapple to the ledge with the translator door and open it. This leads to an outdoor room called Workers Path. Jump to the third platform, then turn around and scan the panel on the bottom of the second platform to activate a cannon there, and use it to fire you to another set of platforms, which lead to the door. Through the door is the other side of Dynamo Works. You'll be facing a solid wall with a Morph Ball tunnel leading through it. You'll also see a large Pillbug rolling around inside the wall. Scan the Pillbug and you'll realize that it is the SPIDER GUARDIAN! Note that this is the only time you can scan the Spider Guardian; you will not have a chance once the battle starts. Roll into the tunnel and you'll enter a Morph Ball maze that is shared by the Spider Guardian. That's right: this battle will be fought entirely in Morph Ball form. The Spider Guardian will roll along the blue tracks in the middle of the maze, and a circle of blue energy emanates from it. You will take damage if you touch this circle, meaning you cannot be right next to the Spider Guardian. The circle also extends through walls, so even if you and the Spider Guardian are on opposite sides of a wall, you may still take damage. Basically, if there is just a "thin" wall or floor between you, you will be hurt, but not if there is a "thick" wall separating you (this will make sense when you fight him). To damage the Spider Guardian, you must damage it with bombs; this is made difficult because you can't get close to it. After you hit it once, the energy circle around it will turn red and it will start rolling faster. Hit it twice more and several things will happen. The energy circle will turn green, the Spider Guardian will start moving slower than normal, and most importantly a Bomb Slot on the right side of the maze will turn on. To damage the Spider Guardian, you must reach the Bomb Slot before the guardian's circle turns blue again and the Bomb Slot turns off. When you activate the slot, a gate nearby will switch positions, directing the Spider Guardian into a blue electrical cylinder. This will take off 1/6 of the guardian's energy bar, and it will continue on to another section of the room. Follow the Spider Guardian into the next section, which contains a half-pipe. This section is tricky because the guardian's path takes it along the narrow areas on both sides of the half-pipe, so try to avoid boosting when it is in those areas. To bomb the Spider Guardian in this section, the best way is to boost onto the left platform, then drop down laying bombs as you fall. When the energy circle turns green, a platform will extend along with the Bomb Slot powering up. Boost up to the left platform, then roll across the platform to reach the slot. The next section also features a half-pipe, but only leads up to platforms on one side and has a more complicated set of platforms in the center. The best way to bomb the guardian here is either by dropping through the hole in the top platforms and laying them as you fall or by boosting up the right side and laying them at the top there. Several platforms will extend when the energy circle turns green here: boost up the left side, then follow the platforms down to the Bomb Slot. Once you clear this area, you'll reach a passage blocked by several crates. Bomb the crates to regain some energy before dropping into the final section of the maze. This final section is the most difficult, consisting of three levels of platforms with very little space between them. The fact that this section is so cramped is what makes it difficult, since is is hard to avoid being hit by the Spider Guardian's energy circle. However, note that there are several humps in some of the platforms and dips in the floor below, forming a few places where the space between levels is thicker than usual. You are safe from the Spider Guardian if you are on one side of the thick floor and it is on the other. It is also important to watch your health in this area because it is easy to get killed here due to the difficulty in avoiding the guardian. You'll note that this section also has three Bomb Slots and three electrical cylinders that will damage the Spider Guardian. The first time the guardian turns green here, only the slot in the bottom-left will turn on. Activate this slot and the Spider Guardian will run into one of the cylinders and take damage. The next time the guardian turns green, both the first Bomb Slot and the one in the upper-right will turn on. To damage the Spider Guardian this time, you must activate BOTH Bomb Slots while it is green. The best way to do this is to activate the first slot, then bomb the Spider Guardian again, which effectively restarts its clock. Now head for the second Bomb Slot, and hopefully the Spider Guardian will run into the second electric cylinder. Note the word "hopefully": if the guardian runs into a gate from the wrong side, it will push the gate open and undo everything. For the final cylinder, you'll have to activate ALL THREE Bomb Slots: lower-left, upper-right, and upper-left. Just like before, bomb the guardian again in between each Bomb Slot to buy yourself more time. This can be repeated indefinitely, so if you're having trouble making a jump, roll over and bomb it again before you have to restart. Also, the Spider Guardian's position when you activate the final Bomb Slot will determine whether or not it will reach the final cylinder without going through any gates. It's difficult to tell for sure, but in general if the guardian is in the lower-right, center, or upper-right, you should be OK. When the Spider Guardian runs into the final electric cylinder, it will die and a tunnel will be revealed where the cylinder once was. Roll through the tunnel to reach a small chamber containing the SPIDER BALL. Now return to the maze and use the Spider Ball to get out. When you have to go up and need to reach a higher level of track, use a bomb jump while still holding down R. When you go over a large section of wall as you turn the corner, look for a ledge at the top of the track. Bomb jump off of the track here and the ledge will take you to a MISSILE EXPANSION just in front of a tunnel. The tunnel will drop you off on the other side of Dynamo Works; a handy shortcut. Roll up the Spider Ball track on the side of the ledge to reach the door to the elevator down to the first level, but not before scanning the dead Luminoth on the ledge for C-ACH'S TESTAMENT. /============================================================================== 3. Deliverance from Terror [III.D.3] \============================================================================== |[Sanctuary Fortress Level 1, Lower Torvus Bog, Lower Dark Torvus | |Bog] | |o Power Bomb | |o Hive Temple Key 1 | |o Energy Tanks 3,13 | |o Missile Expansions 34,35,40 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- At the bottom of the elevator you'll enter the walled-off section of Hall of Combat Mastery, which contains a Lore projector. THE FINAL CRUSADE tells of the Luminoth's final desparate mission to invade the Sky Temple and retrieve the Energy Transfer Module. Use the SPIDER BALL TRACK (you can scan it for a Logbook entry) to get out of the closed-off section, then roll up the nearby track on the side of the wall to enter the Morph Ball maze inside the walls. To make it through the maze, you'll have to dodge flames, lasers, and Phazon by careful timing, accurate bomb jumping, and riding moving platforms. When you make it to the end you can grab a MISSILE EXPANSION before exiting the maze. Now use the portal generator to travel to Dark Aether. Straight ahead at the end of the first hallway is a Spider Ball track, and riding it will take you inside the wall where you can grab HIVE TEMPLE KEY 1. Once you've got the key, use the portal again to return to Light Aether. Now backtrack to the Reactor Core and make sure to destroy all the Rezbits as you climb down to the bottom. It's time to get some practice with your new Spider Ball technology. Launch yourself from the cannon, but hold down R while doing so; this way, you will latch onto the magnetic surface of the gold sphere you were fired at. Keep holding down R as you roll around the sphere, and when the electricity at the top of the sphere turns off, roll up the blue track there to reach a second sphere. On this sphere, position yourself over the red circle on the sphere, then hold B (while still holding R) to charge up a boost. When you release the boost, you will launch off of the surface of the track and (if you were on the red circle) onto another, smaller sphere. This sphere has another red circle on it, so repeat this procedure, boosting from sphere to sphere, until you finally boost onto another blue Spider Ball track. Now you can follow this track until it leads you to an ENERGY TANK! Once you've got the tank, let go of R to fall to the bottom of the room. Now you can open the translator door at one end of the semicircular hallway, and behind it is a room containing a Map Station. Stop by the nearby Save Station if you need to, then take a look at your map. There's nowhere else in Sanctuary Fortress that you can access right now, and the reason is that you need a new item. However, getting that item is going to require a trip back to Torvus Bog. Head out of Reactor Core back towards the fortress entrance, and in the hallway just before you reach the bridge you'll once again see the glowing blue dots that signal that Dark Samus is nearby. When you step outside into Sanctuary Entrance, Dark Samus will materialize in the middle of the bridge, then let out a blast of energy that will completely destroy the bridge before disappearing once again! You still need to get across to the elevator, but it will be more of a challenge with no bridge to walk across. Turn to your left (as you face the cliff) and you'll see a Spider Ball track against the wall. This track will lead you out across the cliff until it ends halfway across. Here you'll need to boost off the track and onto the track on the other side, then follow the second track to complete the trip. Once you've made it, return to the elevator and take it back to Temple Grounds. To reach the elevator to Torvus Bog, you'll need to go via the Great Temple, so head for the nearest Great Temple elevator. From Great Temple, take Temple Transport C to reach Meeting Grounds and the path to Torvus Bog. Along the way, in Path of Eyes, you'll pass a green door. Open it with a Super Missile, then let the cannon launch you across the gap to the other side, where you can use your Grapple Beam to reach an ENERGY TANK! Unfortunately, you can't open the yellow door here, so return to Path of Eyes and continue on to the Torvus elevator. When you make it back to Torvus Bog, head straight for Torvus Temple and take the elevator down to the lower levels. Drop straight to the bottom of Hydrodynamo Station and go through the door to reach Main Hydrochamber, where you previously fought the Alpha Blogg. There's an alcove in this room that contains a Spider Ball track, and by rolling up it you'll reach a dark portal on a ledge. Go through the portal to enter the Dark Torvus version of this room, Undertemple, and when you step out into the center of the room you'll encounter the final Sub-Guardian. The POWER BOMB GUARDIAN is a gigantic Sporb perched on top of a pillar in the center of the room. This Sporb is even more annoying than most, however, due to its ability to spit not just toxic darts, but Power Bombs. The only way to damage the Power Bomb Guardian is to activate four Bomb Slots located high on the walls around it which are accessible via a maze of Spider Ball tracks on the walls. This is easier said than done, however, because the Power Bomb Guardian will fire bombs at you trying to knock you off. Additionally, Inglets will patrol the walls; they can also knock you off, although you can bomb them to regain energy. The key to staying on the tracks is to keep moving and to head towards the nearest Bomb Slot as fast as possible. Don't be afraid to take shortcuts such as releasing R so that you start falling, then holding R again so that you latch onto a lower track. If a Power Bomb lands close to you, get far away as fast you can, since these bombs have a wide range and will knock you off the wall. When you do activate a Bomb Slot, a surge of electricity will arc into the Power Bomb Guardian, taking away 1/4 of its energy. Once you have used a Bomb Slot, the Safe Zone around it will disappear so you can quickly tell whether or not you have used it. You will automatically fall to the ground after activating a slot, so return to the Spider Ball tracks and head for the next Bomb Slot. Repeat this for all four slots to defeat the Power Bomb Guardian. Near the end it becomes especially difficult to reach the Bomb Slot because it will fire several bombs in succession. The best strategy is to roll around away from the slot until the bombs are launched, then make a break for the Bomb Slot before any more can be fired. Once the final slot is activated, a beam from the ceiling will fall and crush the Power Bomb Guardian. Use the Spider Ball tracks one last time to reach the top of the beam, and in the center of it you'll find the POWER BOMB. Now you can lay Power Bombs while in Morph Ball mode, which are capable of dealing heavy damage to almost any enemy, destroying Denzium materials, and opening yellow doors, which will come in handy in leaving the room. Note that you only have two Power Bombs, so use them only when necessary for now. You will now receive Power Bomb Ammo from crates and enemies, and you can also find Power Bomb Expansions which will increase your capacity by one. The yellow door leads to Undertemple Access. Quickly (since there are no Safe Zones) shoot the Darkling Tentacles to reach the top of the stairs and lay another Power Bomb to open the door. Your new Power Bombs will allow you to collect several expansions, so use the Kinetic Orb Cannon to reach the top of the room, save, then drop down and grapple to the white door to reach Crypt. Go through the light portal here to reach Gathering Hall, where the center of the floor is made of cracked Denzium. Lay a Power Bomb to destroy the floor and reveal a curved area underneath with a yellow plug in the center. Another Power Bomb will destroy this plug, causing the water to drain out of the room. Now you can boost up the curved walls and latch onto Spider Ball tracks in the air on either side. Follow these tracks (you'll have to do some boosting) and you'll reach two Bomb Slots, one on each side. When you activate both slots, the force field surrounding the Missile Expansion in this room will disappear. To reach the expansion, grapple onto the ledge with the laser, then turn around and jump onto the newly-extended platform, from which you can jump to the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now exit through the white door, go through the connecting tunnel, and reach Training Chamber. Jump over the fence into the center of the room, destroy the Dark Bloggs, then roll up the Spider Ball track to the left of the statue. This track will end over a small ledge with a Bomb Slot, and when you activate the slot the statue will slide forward. Look behind the statue and you'll find not only a MISSILE EXPANSION but also a Spider Ball track up to a yellow door. Open the door with a Power Bomb and you'll find a hallway leading to an elevator. This elevator goes to, of all places, Sanctuary Fortress. /============================================================================== 4. Extreme Caution Recommended [III.D.4] \============================================================================== |[Sanctuary Fortress Levels 1,2] | |o Echo Visor | |o Power Bomb Expansions 6,7 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- After stepping off the elevator and passing through a hallway guarded by Octopedes, you'll enter a large room called Main Research that is guarded by two Quads. Once the Quads are gone, scan the lore entry, TORVUS FALLS, by the door to add it to your Logbook. This entry, along with many you've recently discovered, appear to be fairly recent, describing the Luminoth's defeat as the Ing take over more and more of Aether. It's obvious there's much more in this room, but for now all you can do is follow the Spider Ball track across the room up to a door. This door leads to Transit Station, and be ready to take out a Luminoth Turret that will be waiting for you as soon as you enter. There's another turret guarding the door out, but if you want to go on a little adventure for an expansion, destroy the Denzium panel in the middle of the room with a Power Bomb and go through the dark portal behind it. In the dark version of the room, called Hive Portal Chamber, a DARK INGSHASHER will break out of a wall and attack! You've seen these giant robots in several places throughout the fortress, but until now they've all been deactivated. What's more, this one is Ing-possessed, making it even more dangerous. Ironically, these were designed by the Luminoth to fight the Ing, but now this one has been taken over by an Ing. Ingsmashers are very tough and powerful: they can fire missiles from the launcher mounted on their shoulders, they can create shock waves on the floor by smashing it, and they can simply punch with their massive fists. They will also periodically create a sphere of purple or white energy which it will use to deflect all attacks. You can get past this barrier by firing a charged shot of the opposite beam (Light Beam for purple shield and vice versa). Any other time you should attack the Dark Ingsmasher with missiles as fast as you can while avoiding its attacks. Once its dead, walk into the alcove it broke out of and you'll find a light portal. When you go through the portal you'll appear to be trapped in an alcove of Transit Station, but there's actually a Morph Ball tunnel near the grate that leads to another dark portal. Now, back in Hive Portal Chamber, a Spider Ball track leads to another light portal. Transport between worlds one more time, and in Transit Station you'll find another Spider Ball track which leads across the room (don't fall off!) and finally ends at a POWER BOMB EXPANSION, which will allow you to carry one more Power Bomb. When you finally leave Transit Station you'll be back at the top of Main Reactor. Drop down and save, then head for the entrance one more time to make more use of your Power Bombs. You won't get very far, however, before the doors will lock and you'll be forced to fight two INGSMASHERS, one at a time. Use the same strategies against them that you did for the Dark Ingsmashers. Once you've destroyed both of them you can proceed to the entrance. Facing the cliff, turn to the right and you'll find a sheet of Denzium blocking an elevator. Destroy the Denzium and ride the elevator to a control panel, which will activate a cannon in front of the bottom of the elevator. The cannon will fire you onto a platform in the middle of the cliff with a Vigilance Class Turret on it, the kind you can control. Before you enter the turret, though, use the Scan Visor to locate two sections of wall, one on each side, that can be destroyed. Use the turret to destroy both sections of wall, then follow the Spider Ball track to another cannon which will shoot you back. Now head to the other side of the door where there are some ledges you can jump up. They lead to a lore entry, TWILIGHT, which describes the Luminoth's final retreat, and a Spider Ball track. Follow the track up to one of the ledges you exposed by destroying the walls. On this ledge is a dead Luminoth which you can scan for S-JRS'S TESTAMENT and a cannon. This cannon will fire you all the way across the cliff to the other newly-exposed ledge, where you can collect another POWER BOMB EXPANSION. Drop down from the ledge, ride the Spider Ball track back across the abyss, and return to Main Reactor. By studying your map, you'll notice that a yellow door in Main Gyro Chamber leads to a tall, unexplored shaft. Head for that room, and as you pass through Hall of Combat Mastery, some of the Ingsmashers will come to life and attack. You can just run past them if you don't want to fight them, but once you kill them they'll be gone for good, so it's not a bad idea to go ahead and get rid of them (just make sure you've scanned one). If you want, you can use a Power Bomb in the Denzium tunnel just before the portal generator to reach a passage leading to an elevator to Agon Wastes, but there's not much reason to return there now. Reach the elevator to the second level by using the Spider Ball at the end of the walls of the enclosed area. When you reach Main Gyro Chamber, take the elevator down to the bottom just so you can scan the lore entry there, called SHATTERED HOPE. Now take the elevator up to the area with the white door, which leads to the temple. A Power Bomb can destroy the cylinders on the floor there, which will allow a Bomb Slot to rise up from the floor. When you activate it, another colored-circle puzzle will appear in the air. Just like the first one, you must shoot the targets in the center of each cluster of circles to rotate them so that all the circles of each color are in the correct row. When you solve the puzzle, a second Bomb Slot will rise; this slot will cause the inner ring of the gyro to stop rotating, although it will stop at an angle, not horizontally. When you approach the ring, you'll see that a Spider Ball track runs along its edge. Ride the track as far as you can: it ends across from a panel of glass blocking the yellow door. However, part of the glass is cracked and it seems that it wouldn't be hard to break it. Go as far on the Spider Ball track as you can, then boost off of the track and you will shatter the glass, landing on the platform. Now you can Power Bomb the door and go through. As soon as you enter Checkpoint Station, you'll see (through a window) several Space Pirates firing at Dark Samus! Dark Samus will easily defeat them, then start drawing Phazon from several containers in the room. Head to the right to enter a passage full of crates; use these to refill your energy, missiles, and ammo, especially light ammo. When you're ready, go through the gate to enter the other side of the room, but Dark Samus won't be there! As soon as you go through the door out of the room and into Aerie Transport Station, though, you'll find your nemesis drawing more energy from a wall of Phazon on the far side of a large circular platform. When Dark Samus turns and sees you, she will press a button on a control panel nearby, then begin her attack. As the battle begins, the platform will begin to climb up through a tall vertical shaft. That's right, your second battle with Dark Samus will take place on a moving elevator. Let's get going! Make sure to scan DARK SAMUS 2 for a new Logbook entry, then get ready for a long, intense fight. Just like before, Dark Samus is fast-moving, frequently breaking your lock-on with quick dashes and jumps. She is vulnerable to your attacks anytime she isn't surrounded by a blue sphere of Phazon (except for Power Bombs), and the Light Beam is your best weapon. Fire charged shots of it at her as often as possible, but be aware that she may dodge your shot or quickly create a shield of Phazon to block it. The best way to prevent this is to fire two shots in quick succession or to fire just after she has finished an attack. You can also use missiles, especially once your light ammo gets low. Dark Samus retains many of her attacks from your first encounter, such as the scatter shot and missiles. She has also acquired a few new attacks: a charged shot that will temporarily encase you in Phazon and a sweeping beam shot. When the elevator reaches its destination, Aerie, the fight will continue in a slightly larger arena, and Dark Samus will unleash a few additional attacks. She now has the ability to transform into a Boost Ball that bounces crazily around the room at high speed, very similar to the Boost Guardian; she is invulnerable in this form. Additionally, Dark Samus can still use the collision attack in which she fires herself straight at you from the air; she is also invulnerable during this attack and while a sphere of Phazon surrounds her after she lands. This attack is fairly easily to avoid by dodging just before she launches herself; for the Boost Ball attack, just pay close attention and try your best to dodge it. Dark Samus's final trick is the ability to become invisible. When you see her disappear, switch to the Dark Visor and she'll show up as bright red. Dark Samus will continue to fight as normal while invisible, but eventually one hit from you will cause your Dark Visor to overload, completely blacking it out. Once this happens, switch back to the Combat Visor. Know that there is no quick way to defeat Dark Samus, it is simply a matter of gradually whittling down her energy and staying alive longer than her. Note that Dark Samus's attacks will destroy some of the columns and crates in the Aerie, which will provide a little bit of extra ammo and energy, but not much. When you finally deliver the last shot to Dark Samus, she will break one of the walls at the edge of the room, then fall off to the ground an unimaginable distance below. You know enough by now not to believe that Dark Samus is gone for good, but at least you won't be bothered by her again for a while. Now that Dark Samus is gone, you'll realize that the only place for you to go appears to be to jump onto a ledge outside the broken section of wall. Here you'll find a narrow walkway that leads around the edge of Aerie to an alcove containing a Dark Portal. Once in Dark Aether, stay in the Safe Zone around the portal for a while if necessary, so that you have at least one or two full Energy Tanks. Then follow the narrow walkway back, where you'll find some crates full of health and a Spider Ball track that leads over the wall. You'll see that a circular ring of Spider Ball track occupies the center of the room, with a Spinner device in front of it. Use the Spinner to rotate the ring until it locks in position, then ride the Spider Ball track up and around the ring until it ends at a beam angled back and directly in front of a ledge with a light portal. Boost off the track onto the ledge, then go through the portal. Back in Aerie, you'll see an item waiting for you on a platform in the center of the room. Jump to it to earn the ECHO VISOR, the coolest visor in the game. This visor creates an image by sending out sonic pulses which bounce off objects. Drop back down to the floor and switch to your new visor to get a shock: everything will be black, with only the edges of objects visible as gray outlines that periodically brighten as the visor sends out sonic waves. You'll also see several special icons in your visor: there are three closed padlocks over each of the three columns in the elevator platform, as well as three orange icons on the structures around the platform. These orange icons resemble waves spreading out from a source, and you can actually see sound waves travelling from the orange icons to the padlocks. It appears that the orange icons indicate sonic transmitters of some sort, and they appear to be connected to the locks. You can lock-on to the transmitters, and when you shoot one the sound waves will stop traveling from it, and its corresponding padlock icon will open. Shoot all three transmitters and the elevator will unlock, returning you back down to Checkpoint Station. However, as soon as you enter this room you'll realize that all the doors out have locked. Switch to the Echo Visor again to see another transmitter and lock in the room. Turn off this transmitter (it will take more than one shot) to unlock the doors. /============================================================================== 5. Battered Fortress [III.D.5] \============================================================================== |[Sanctuary Fortress Levels 1,2, Ing Hive Levels 1,2] | |o Screw Attack | |o Hive Temple Keys 2,3 | |o Energy Tank 14 | |o Beam Ammo Expansion 4 | |o Missile Expansions 41,43,44,47 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in Main Gyro Chamber, you're probably ready to drop by the nearby Save Station. Once that's done, you can use the Echo Visor to grab an easy Missile Expansion. Go to Temple Access, which is through the white door on the top level. If you haven't already, use the Dark Visor to locate Seeker Missile targets on the wall. When you hit them all, a Morph Ball cannon will open in the center of the room. Use the cannon to return to the upper ledge, then switch to the Echo Visor. You'll see a transmitter on the column in front of you and when you turn it off, a timer will start. Quickly drop down and use the cannon again, but this time you'll end up under the floor, where there's a MISSILE EXPANSION. To get out, use the Spinner under the floor to open up an exit. Now return to Main Gyro Chamber and go through the black door to Dynamo Works. Use the dark portal there and then go through the white door nearby, heading back the way you came. In Hive Dynamo Access, your way will be blocked by a rounded gate with several red circles in it. This gate is receiving sonic signals from several nearby transmitters. Switch to the Echo Visor to see the transmitters, and when you shoot them all the gate will open. Beyond the gate is the door to Hive Gyro Chamber. Unlike in Light Aether, this room does not have several rapidly rotating rings in the center, but instead a large magnetic sphere surrounded by rotating platforms. There is also no glass in front of any of the ledges, allowing you to jump straight onto the ledges. Do so, and use the Spider Ball to roll onto the central sphere. (Use bombs to fend off the Darkling Tentacles.) At the top of the sphere is another Spider Ball track, from the top of it you can boost onto a circular ring of track, and by boosting across this ring you can snag HIVE TEMPLE KEY 2 in the center. Before leaving you can explore where all the doors out of Hive Gyro Chamber lead. Above where you entered is the access to the Hive Temple, which is blocked because you haven't yet found the third key. On the other side, the lower ledge contains a red door that leads to a save station, and the ledge above it leads towards where the Aerie elevator is in Light Aether. The room with the window is home to two Warrior Ing, and in the place of the elevator is an Ammo Station. Once you've investigated all these places, return to Hive Dynamo Works and go back through the light portal. Your next destination is to return to Main Research; you can see on the map that a door there will connect you to some of the last unexplored areas in the fortress. When you make it back to Main Research, kill both of the Quads there, then take a look at the blue wall. It is covered with Spider Ball tracks, but to successfully navigate the tracks you'll have to dodge a variety of mechanical devices that will knock you off if you hit them. If the avoid them all, your reward will be a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now look inside the central walled-off cylinder in the room. A large machine has lowered and is now visible inside; this is the CARETAKER CLASS DRONE, and you need to scan it now. There's also a green gate in the room; scan it to learn that it's receiving sonic transmissions. Switch to the Echo Visor and you'll see three transmitters in the room beaming signals to the gate: the gate will open when you shoot all of them, revealing a dark portal. Go through the portal and you'll have to deal with two Hunter Ing in the dark version of the room. You can fight them or just ignore them as you cross to the other side of the room, where there's another sonic gate. Again use the Echo Visor to turn off four transmitters, and behind this gate is a control panel. The panel will raise up a section of floor surrounding the central shaft. Now you can go underneath the floor into the bottom of the shaft, where there's a light portal. After emerging from the portal you'll be inside the central cylinder in Main Research. The only thing you can do in here is ride the Spider Ball track up to a horizontal track that forms a ring around the wall. When you reach this track, the floor will rise so that it is just underneath the track, and the Caretaker drone will descend so that it is just above you. The Caretaker drone attacks by extending its robot arms and rotating them along the track in an attempt to knock you off. If they hit you, that in itself will do damage, but then you will fall onto the floor, which will have electricity surge through it periodically. If you get knocked off, bomb jump back onto the track as soon as you can. To damage the drone, look for a narrow red pole to extend from its underside. When you see this pole, boost off of the track into it, and it will explode. Boosting across the ring is a very useful move in this battle, since you can also use it to avoid the robot arms and collect energy. Once you hit the red pole three times, then the next time a larger cylinder will extend from the center of the drone, but only for a short time. Have a boost charged up, and boost as soon as you see the cylinder to destroy it. This will cause the drone to climb up to the next level of the cylinder. Use the Spider Ball track that will be revealed to reach another ring and repeat the whole process over again. The only catch is that this time, the track does not form a complete circle around the shaft, but instead is divided into three pieces. This just means that you'll have to boost more often, and that you'll have to watch when you boost to make sure you'll land on a track. Once you've done the same thing on the second level, you'll reach the third level, where you'll have to do it once more, this time on a ring broken into four pieces. After you destroy the cylinder on the third level, however, the Caretaker drone will be destroyed and you can access a Morph Ball tunnel that will drop you off on a high ledge with a door out of Main Research. This door leads to the bottom of a tall shaft with a Kinetic Orb Cannon in front of you. However, a security gate will immediately surround the cannon; this gate is receiving sonic signals. Use the Echo Visor to locate a transmitter that is keeping the gate closed. Once the gate is open, launch yourself out of the cannon. It will fire you across the shaft to a second cannon, which will fire you to a third, and so on until you are finally ejected at the top of the shaft. Before you proceed, though, drop back down into the shaft, where you'll land on a platform before you've fallen very far. In the wall of the shaft you'll see several Morph Ball-size tunnels. Drop into the left tunnel and you'll realize you've fallen into a maze in the side of the shaft. After going down the left tunnel, go right each time you have a choice, and you'll drop into a MISSILE EXPANSION before reaching the bottom of the shaft again. After getting shot back up one more time, go through the door. Now you'll find yourself in Watch Station, an open-air room that consists of platforms built over a tremendous expanse of air. The room is guarded by two Rezbits, and near the white door you'll find the final Luminoth lore hologram: SANCTUARY FALLS. Go through the white door, and you'll find yourself on a ledge next to a hallway with no floor, just a drop. To your left you can easily take an ENERGY TANK, then scan the control panel to lower Grapple Points. You can now cross the gap to the other side, which leads to Main Gyro Chamber. There are two other doors out of Watch Station, but they both lead to dead ends right now. There's also a dark portal behind a gate: that appears to be your best bet. To unlock the gate, look for a Spider Ball track that starts next to the white door. Ride this track halfway, then bomb jump up to a second track that starts above it. This track will drop you into a Morph Ball cannon, which will launch you onto yet another track high on the wall. When you follow this track, you'll have to ride a track that's on the side of a rotating gear. This can be tricky. Bomb jump onto the gear, then let the gear carry you; don't move on your own. When you pass through two narrow red poles above and below you, lay a bomb. The bomb will go off just before you hit the wall and propel you onto the second gear. Do the same thing with the second gear to reach a large rectangle of Spider Ball track. At the bottom-right of this rectangle, a track leads to a Bomb Slot that will open the gate. Drop out of the slot and you'll be right in front of the portal. You can go ahead through the portal now, but if you're up for more Spider Ball antics you can grab a very nice expansion. Repeat everything you just did up until you reach the rectangle of tracks. Now go to the bottom-left of the rectangle and you'll see another Spider Ball track below you. Drop onto it and follow it until you reach two more gears. Once you successfully get past those, you'll reach a Morph Ball tunnel that heads to the right. Follow it until you see another tunnel heading straight back. Go down this tunnel to reach a chamber with a BEAM AMMO EXPANSION, increasing your maximum capacity of dark and light ammo by 50! Return to the main tunnel and keep going right to drop into a pipe that will again deposit you right in front of the portal. Now, go through the portal. The dark version of this room is called Aerial Training Site and you can see a temple key on an inaccessible platform. Fight the Dark Pirate Commandos if you wish, then go through the door to the right of the portal (with your back to the portal) to reach Judgment Drop, basically a huge cliff. Shoot all the Dark Preeds from the ledge, wait for the poison to clear, then use the series of Grapple Points to cross to the other side. There, jump down to a lower ledge to find a light portal. Back in Light Aether, jump back up and go through the door to reach Vault. You'll see how it got its name when you cross the bridge and see the item waiting for you behind indestructible bars. Actually the entire central structure is a vault designed to protect the item. Obviously, you need to get it open. On the back side of the vault you'll discover a Bomb Slot: when activated, laser beams will fire out of four turrets around the vault, but they'll fire into the air, doing nothing. Perhaps those lasers are necessary to unlock the vault. Also on the lower level of the vault you'll find a control panel. This will lower the bridge you just walked across so that stops right in front of you and leads to a dark portal underneath the door. There's nowhere else to go now, so cross the bridge and enter the portal. On the Dark Aether side, there's nothing to do except grapple across the abyss to the far ledge. Make sure to grapple quickly, though, so you don't get attacked by DARK WAR WASPS (notice they're a new scan). On the far ledge is a portal generator, which you can use to return to Vault. You'll now be behind the vault, but there are platforms here that will allow you to reach the platforms with the laser turrets on them. Each laser is guarded by a Rezbit, however, and the jumps are long, so be careful. At each laser platform is a spinner, which you can use to rotate the laser so that it points towards the vault. Once all four lasers have been rotated, all that's left is to get back to the Bomb Slot in the vault. To do that, you'll have to go through the portal generator, grapple to the light portal on the other side, then walk back across the bridge into the vault. When you activate the Bomb Slot this time, the lasers will focus on receptors on top of the vault. The entire top of the vault platform will then lift up, leaving the item exposed and ready to be collected. Jump up to earn the uber-cool SCREW ATTACK! The Screw Attack allows you to continually somersault after performing a double jump. This move is not only damaging to enemies, it allows you to cross gaps of immense distances. Once you start using the Screw Attack, you can continue to press B up to 5 times to keep using it. And it's a good thing, too, because you'll need it to get out of Vault. Since the bridge has lowered, use the Screw Attack from the vault platform to reach the door out. In the next room, Grand Abyss, use the Screw Attack again to quickly and easily cross the huge gap and return to Watch Station, where you'll meet a few Pirate Aerotroopers: enemies you haven't encountered in a while. Now the only task remaining in Sanctuary is to collect the final temple key. You've seen this key sitting inside an enclosed cage in Aerial Training Site, but to reach it you'll have to come at it from a different direction. In fact, you'll need to return to Main Research once more. Go through the dark portal there, then jump onto the platform ringing the central shaft (you raised this platform the last time you were here). Get rid of any Inglets in your way and walk around the platform until you see another ledge on the wall that you can jump to. From this ledge you will be able to jump to a door. The door leads to a vertical shaft, but instead of Kinetic Orb Cannons, this shaft has two tall rectangular surfaces covered in strange purple and gold patterns. You may have seen surfaces like this in a few other places, but now you can scan this WALL JUMP SURFACE for a Logbook entry and learn that these surfaces work with your Screw Attack. To use it, face the lower surface and back up several steps. Now jump towards the surface, timing your jumps so that you are performing the Screw Attack when you hit the surface. You will stick to the surface temporarily, so quickly press B again to Screw Attack up and across to the opposite surface, where you can wall jump again, and so on all the way up to the top of the shaft. When you finally reach the top, walk through the door to find HIVE TEMPLE KEY 3 right in front of you. Scan the control panel inside the cage to lower the walls, then Screw Attack over the gap to the portal. You'll notice there's another wall jump surface in front of the portal, so use it just like the last one to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION. The only thing you have left to do is to reach the Hive Temple: the quickest way is to go through the light portal, then cross Main Gyro Chamber and use the dark portal in Dynamo Works. Now in Ing Hive, return to Hive Gyro Chamber and use first the Ammo Station, then the Save Station located through doors out of this room. Once you're fully armed and ready to go, go through the door on the upper ledge with bright pillars of light on either side to reach Hive Temple Access. /============================================================================== 6. Tactical Control Unit [III.D.6] \============================================================================== |[BOSS: Quadraxis] | |o Annihilator Beam | |o Missile Expansion 45 | |o Power Bomb Expansion 8 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Step into the swirling light, and the three temple keys, just like the two times before, will set themselves in place on the gate in front of you, which will then open. Past the gate is the door to Hive Temple, and as you ride the elevator down to the floor it will be impossible for you to miss that the temple is dominated by a robot that can only be described as massive. This robot has four long jointed legs supporting a central head, very similar to a humongous Quad. As you walk towards the mechanoid, however, all of a sudden a large pool of Ing will appear and begin infiltrating the giant machine. After a few seconds, the robot will be under the control of the Ing, and it will come to life. The name of this gargantuan Guardian is QUADRAXIS, and you can scan it now for the first of five scans that are necessary to complete its Logbook section. From the scan you'll learn that its only weak points are at its feet and knee joints. You can bomb or boost into the glowing red circles in Quadraxis's feet anytime to get a quick Ultra Energy, but you cannot damage Quadraxis by attacking its feet. To hurt Quadraxis, you have to go after its knee joints, but not all of them are vulnerable at any given time. If you look at Quadraxis's knees, you'll see that one or two of them will be flashing blue. These are the only joints that are vulnerable, so lock-on to one, get a clear line of sight to it, and fire at it with the Light Beam. You'll know you've destroyed a knee when you see Quadraxis stumble and temporarily lose its footing. Of course, while you're attacking Quadraxis's knees, it will be attacking you. Quadraxis has a variety of attacks, including powerful blasts of a form of white-and-black energy and rapid-fire laser shots. Quadraxis can also jump (impressive for its size) sending out shock waves from its legs when it lands. Occasionally during the fight, you'll see three red lasers start sweeping the area, then finally converge on you. This means that Quadraxis is locking-on to you in preparation for firing a homing missile, so you need to get away from the lasers. The way to do this is to switch to Morph Ball mode, wait until the three beams converge into one on you, then boost away before the missile is fired. Quadraxis's final attack is to draw its legs close to its body and spin just like a Quad. The only difference is that Quadraxis's spin will generate a powerful wind pulling you towards it. Switch to the Morph Ball when this happens and boost to stay away from Quadraxis. Do your best to avoid Quadraxis's attacks as much as possible while attacking its knees as fast as you can. Once you knock out the first couple knees, it can be hard to get a clear shot at the remaining ones, as Quadraxis will try to keep them far away from you and will use the homing missile and spin attacks more often. Sometimes if the vulnerable knee is on the far side, boosting across the room to it will give you a clear shot. Just work as fast as you can, and remember that you can always bomb or boost the feet to replenish your energy and ammo. When all four knees are destroyed, Quadraxis's body will no longer be able to support itself and it will collapse in the center of the floor. However, you're not done yet. The head will separate itself from the rest of the body and begin flying around the room, where it will continue launching all its projectile attacks. In this second phase of the battle, scan both the body (DAMAGED QUADRAXIS) and the head (SHIELDED HEAD MODULE). You'll learn that the head is receiving signals from a transmitter on the body; knocking out this transmitter will temporarily stun the head. Switch to the Echo Visor to see and lock-on to this transmitter in the center of the body. You'll need 8 missiles to damage it; one Super Missile followed by 3 missiles will also do the trick. However you do it, once the transmitter is destroyed, the shielding around the head will disappear and it will now be STUNNED HEAD MODULE (a separate scan!). Using the Echo Visor again, you can see there are three sonic receptors on the head. Each receptor will take 8 more missiles to destroy; as soon as you destroy one, the head module will reestablish its link with the transmitter on the body, its shielding will return, and a Dark Quad will appear. Take out the Dark Quad first, then repeat the process until you've destroyed all three receptors on the head module. When that happens, the outer covering on the top of the head module will shatter and the head will fall out of control, colliding into all four legs and breaking a covering on the top of them as well. When the head regains control and the battle resumes, scan it once more for the FINAL HEAD MODULE entry, completing the Quadraxis section of your Logbook. In this final stage, Quadraxis will continue to attack just like before, but now you can attack it directly with the Light Beam, missiles, or whatever you have left. Once you hit Quadraxis enough, it will be stunned and will start to slowly drift around the room. Now, watch which direction the head is moving, switch to Morph Ball mode, and head for the next Quadraxis leg that the head will pass. There are now Spider Ball tracks on all four legs, so roll up to the top of the leg, and when the head passes in front of you, boost onto the head (keep holding R to stay latched onto the magnetic surface of the head). Roll into one of the two depressions in the side of the head and lay a bomb to damage Quadraxis. Do this just one more time to bomb the other side and Quadraxis will finally be defeated, crashing to the ground and exploding dramatically. Quadraxis's head will leave behind a powerful new item, the ANNIHILATOR BEAM. This final beam weapon is formed from a mix of light and dark energy, and thus firing the Annihilator Beam costs one dark ammo and one light ammo. Additionally, the Annihilator Beam has certain sonic properties and has the ability to interact with some sonic-based equipment. Since it is formed from a blend of light and dark energy, the Annihilator Beam is effective against both light and dark enemies; other advantages include that shots from the Annihilator Beam will automatically home on the nearest enemy, whether or not it is locked-on, and that it has a very good rate of fire, second only to the Power Beam. Enemies and crates destroyed with the Annihilator Beam will leave behind both dark and light ammo. Once you take the Annihilator Beam, Quadraxis's body will disappear and a large platform with a Spider Ball track up the side will rise in its place. From the top of the platform you can Screw Attack to a gray door across from where you entered the temple; open the door with the Annihilator Beam to reach the Hive Energy Controller. Extract the energy there just like you have for the previous two temples. Now, to return the energy to Sanctuary Fortress where it belongs. The quickest way to go is to Screw Attack back to the central platform in the temple, then turn to the left and Screw Attack to a second gray door there. This leads to a curving hallway that contains two swarms of flying blue dots, these are INGSTORM. They cannot be damaged by your weapons, but they will damage you while you pass through them, so go fast! Once you approach the far door, a gate will spring up behind you, so you won't be going back this way. The door leads to Aerial Training Site. You can use the Annihilator Beam to take out the Dark Pirate Commandos if you want, and also make sure to fire a shot at the beacons and crystals in the room to turn them into SUPER CRYSTALS and SUPER BEACONS. While they probably won't be much use against the pirates, these are very, very handy: any creature that gets close to one is drawn towards it, and is destroyed as soon as it touches the Safe Zone! Use the light portal here to get back to Sanctuary Fortress. Use the Spider Ball track next to the white door to reach the blue door leading to Sentinel's Path, which connects to the temple. There are two Mekenobites in here, which can only be destroyed with two Seeker Missiles. Also, in the center of the curving hallway is another sonic gate, but this one is different than the others you've encountered. Instead of being unlocked by destroying nearby transmitters, this gate must be unlocked by generating a specific sequence of sounds. Switch to the Echo Visor and you'll see an orange icon consisting of three orange waves spreading away from a central dot in the center of the gate, surrounded by four lock icons. Additionally, there are key icons on the three panels on stands in front of the gate. Lock-on to the orange icon and fire a shot from the Annihilator Beam at it. You will hear a sequence of four sounds that will be either high, medium, or low in pitch. Shooting the different key icons with the Annihilator Beam will generate one of those three sounds. To open the gate, you must fire at the keys necessary to recreate the combination without making a mistake. You can fire at the gate to rehear the combination as many times as necessary, and if you mess up, just start over again at the beginning. When you enter the combination correctly, the gate will lower and behind it you will find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Having gotten the expansion, continue to Sanctuary Temple and grapple or "screw" (hee-hee) across the gap to the Energy Controller. Just like before, approach the large device to transfer the energy back into its rightful location. When you're done, you will have almost completed your mission here on Aether: you have restored the energy to all three of Aether's regions! Now it's time to return to U-Mos in the Great Temple, to find out what needs to be done next. When you reach Main Gyro Chamber, drop down to the bottom for one more expansion. At the bottom of the room is another sonic gate that operates just like the one in Sentinel's Path. As before, use the Echo Visor and Annihilator Beam to find out the combination, then recreate it using the keys located in the central area and in the hallway. When the gate opens, launch yourself from the Morph Ball cannon it guarded and you will collide with the glowing purple ball in the center of the room! The force of your impact will destroy the object, revealing a POWER BOMB EXPANSION that you can easily collect! Now you can make your way back to the elevator to Temple Grounds, saying farewell to Sanctuary Fortress, at least for now. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## E. THE KEYBEARERS [III.E] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Beams of Light [III.E.1] \============================================================================== |[Temple Grounds, Great Temple, Sky Temple Grounds] | |o Light Suit | |o Sunburst | |o Energy Tank 3 | | |o Missile Expansion 9 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Obviously, you need to return to the Great Temple to speak with U-Mos, but if you're willing to take a short detour you can find a new charge combo. When you return to GFMC Compound, look for a yellow door and Power Bomb it. Inside is a Morph Ball tunnel which leads to a large open-air room called Grand Windchamber. The room consists of several platforms built over a very tall cliff, with a large cylindrical structure in the center. Two Pirate Aerotroopers will be in the room when you first enter. The only way to reach the other platforms is with the Screw Attack, and on the other side you'll find a dark portal as well as another door out of the room; this door eventually connects to Path of Eyes. A lone platform on the back side of the central structure has a cannon on it, but don't use it. The cannon will shoot you up to the top of the structure, but there's a force field blocking it right now, so you will fall into the abyss. Right now, go through the portal. The dark version of the room is very similar to the original, except that four platforms centered around the structure all have Spinners and cannons on them. Scanning the central structure will reveal that it is locked by four rings that surround it. Each Spinner will rotate one of the four rings, and at two positions a ring will turn either yellow or blue. What you need to do is to travel to each Spinner, rotating each ring until they are all aligned and all the same color (either yellow or blue, it doesn't matter as long as they're all the same). Once all the rings are aligned, head to the platform in front of the targets on the rings and fire seeker missiles at all of them. When all four targets are hit simultaneously, two narrow platforms will extend from two corners of the structure. Now you need to rotate the rings so that they are all the other color and do the same thing. This will cause two more platforms to extend, and then the rings will fall off. From the trailing transparent images, you can tell that the same thing has happened in Light Aether. Now go back through the portal to see what you've done. The four platforms you extended have grapple points on them, although the Screw Attack has rendered them mostly obsolete. Head back to the platform with the cannon, though, and you'll see that the force field has now been lowered, so let the cannon shoot you to the top of the structure. There you'll find the LIGHTBURST, the charge combo for the Light Beam. Like the Darkburst, this uses 5 missiles and 30 light ammo. It creates a large blast of light that damages anything near it. As soon as you get the item, four Dark Pirate Commandos will appear, so switch to the Dark Visor and eliminate them (you can't just run; the doors will lock). There's an Energy Tank to be found nearby: go through the yellow door across the room from where you entered to reach Wind Chamber Gateway, another room consisting mainly of a giant cliff. Near the door you'll find a grapple point which you can use to swing to a lonely ledge bearing an ENERGY TANK. Having added to your weapon and energy repertoire, now its time to return to U-Mos. Backtrack to GFMC Compound, then take the familiar route to the Great Temple. When you reach Main Energy Controller, U-Mos will congratulate you for your work in restoring energy to Aether's three regions. He'll explain that there is a single Energy Controller remaining in Dark Aether. However, it is located in Dark Aether's version of this temple, called the Sky Temple, and it is guarded by the strongest Ing of all. Before you can even access the Sky Temple, you must find nine keys that are scattered across Dark Aether. In order to help you fight this final foe, U-Mos will offer you a new suit of armor energized by the very Light of Aether. At this, the base of the Energy Controller will separate, revealing the familiar Metroid icon, representing a new suit of armor. When you step into the Energy Controller, pure yellow light from the collection chamber above will spiral around and focus on you, culminating in a blinding flash. When the light fades, you will be wearing the LIGHT SUIT. This suit of armor, with its white color and smooth surfaces, is a dramatic change from the angular, brown Dark Suit. The changes are much more than cosmetic, however: the Light Suit is completely unaffected by Dark Aether's atmosphere, meaning you no longer need to worry about staying inside Safe Zones. Additionally, with the Light Suit you can safely enter the toxic water found in Dark Aether. Your HUD will also mention the strange-sounding ability to ride on beams of light. As for what this means, look at the Energy Controller again. There is now an icon of spreading light rays in the center of it, and if you step into the icon you can ride along the light rays to the Energy Controller of each region. This transportation system will come in handy soon, but don't use it just yet. It seems that your mission right now is to locate the nine Sky Temple Keys. However, you currently have no idea where any of them are. Perhaps if you could find the entrance to the Sky Temple where these keys will be used, you could get some clues. As to where that entrance might be, remember that the Sky Temple is the analogue to the Great Temple. The Great Temple is accessed by three elevators around Temple Grounds, but there are no such elevators in Sky Temple Grounds. However, the Hall of Honored Dead, where you found the Seeker Missile Launcher, is directly underneath the Great Temple. It looks like the dark version of that room may be your best shot. To get there, leave the Main Energy Controller and take the door to the left, which leads to Meeting Grounds. Once you've taken the elevator down to Temple Grounds, proceed to Hall of Eyes and use the dark portal there. The first time you used this portal, on your way to Torvus Bog, you went through a blue door out of the room. This time, though, go through the green door on the other side of the room. This leads back to the dark version of Meeting Grounds, called War Ritual Grounds. There are two Hunter Ing here, but there's no need to be worried about them anymore. Fire the Annihilator Beam at one of the Light Beacons to turn it into a Super Beacon. Now just watch as the Hunter Ing are drawn towards the Safe Zone and are killed the moment they touch it. You see that the Annihilator Beam should be your primary weapon in Dark Aether now, and defeating enemies simply becomes a matter of watching them kill themsevles by running into Safe Zones. Before moving on, you'll see that there's a gate in the front of a huge tower of Ingworms located where the elevator to Great Temple should be. Using the Dark Visor and the Seeker Launcher, fire missiles at the targets around the gate to open it and reach the MISSILE EXPANSION inside. A door to the right leads to Shrine Access, where you'll roll through a Morph Ball tunnel before exiting into a room criss-crossed with lasers from Corrupted Sentryeyes. Take a few out quickly so you can stand still without getting hit, then head towards the purple door, avoiding the many pools of Phazon on the ground. Note that there is also a green door in this room, but it will be saved for later. The purple door leads to a hallway full of Darkling Tentacles and Phazon; it's obvious that something important is at the end of this. Indeed, when you do reach the door and enter Sky Temple Gateway you'll see a large circular room with a massive amount of Phazon climbing up the high wall on the far side. There is a circle of pillars in the middle of the room, surrounding what appears to be a large inactive elevator. Slumped against the base of one of the pillars is a dead Luminoth, scan it to read A-KUL'S TESTAMENT. In it she says that her "key is in place", and there are yellow lights on the pillar she lies against. She goes on to say that she knows where the bodies of those bearing the other keys are and will leave this knowledge so that they may be found by future warriors. Well, that warrior is you, and if you scan each of the other pillars you'll find a clue as to the location of a Luminoth warrior. All in all, you'll download the following entries to your Logbook: M-DHE'S KEY, J-FME'S KEY, J-STL'S KEY, B-STL'S KEY, S-DLY'S KEY, G-SCH'S KEY, S-JRS'S KEY, C-RCH'S KEY, and D-ISL'S KEY. Looking at these names, they may sound familiar. They are the same names on the entries for dead Luminoth you've found that were filed under the "Keybearer Lore" section. Obviously these are the Luminoth that A-Kul was referring to. If you look up those entries, you'll see that each one has a single word highlighted, referring to where the Luminoth died. Although it doesn't explicitly give the room name, the highlighted word is usually enough to figure out where the Luminoth is. Since these Luminoth apparently held the Sky Temple Keys, you need to return to the rooms housing their remains and search there for the keys. This will also provide an excellent opportunity to stock up on expansions before heading to the final battle. Since you might as well go in some sort of order, why not start with the first region you explored, Agon Wastes? To get there, you can make use of your Light Suit's new transportation method. Leave the Sky Temple Gateway and head back the way you came to the light portal. Now return to the Great Temple and step into the light rays in the center of the Energy Controller. A map of Aether will appear; select Agon Wastes as your destination and you will ride along with the light rays to the Agon Wastes Energy Controller. /============================================================================== 2. Final Rest [III.E.2] \============================================================================== |[Agon Wastes, Dark Agon Wastes] | |o Sonic Boom | |o Sky Temple Keys 1,2 | |o Energy Tank 4 | |o Missile Expansions 12,17,19,23 | |o Power Bomb Expansions 2,3 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- After you complete your unusual transportation to Agon Wastes, head towards the right side of Agon Temple and go through the black door there. When you reach Mining Station B, where you found the Darkburst, look for a weak section of Denzium wall. Power Bomb it, and behind you'll find a storage chamber holding a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now return to Agon Temple and this time make for Mining Plaza, the first large room you explored in Agon Wastes. You may have noticed that there are three circular lenses at the top of the rocky mound in the center of the room, and the Scan Visor will inform you that they are controlled by sonic emitters. Switch to the Echo Visor and you'll see the three emitters on the cliff walls around the room. Fire a Power Beam shot at each emitter to disable it, and when you do one of the three lenses will move into position so that it focuses the sun's rays towards a circular gate on the cliff wall. Once all three emitters have been destroyed, all three lenses will focus the sunlight, causing the gate to open. The only way to reach the gate is to Screw Attack from the top of the central mound, and inside you'll find an ENERGY TANK! Move on to Mining Station A where you'll find another Denzium wall. This one hides a cannon which will shoot you up to Spider Ball tracks on the rim of the cliff wall. Latch onto the tracks and follow them to snag another MISSILE EXPANSION. If you check the Keybearer Lore entries you've found, you'll see that J-Stl died in a "mining station". However, he is not to be found in Mining Station A or B, so he and his key must be in Central Mining Station. Similarly, B-Stl appears to be in Main Reactor. These are the two Luminoth whose keys you are searching for. Since Central Mining Station is straight ahead, make your way there. When you reach it, the location of J-Stl may not be immediately obvious. If you think back, though, you'll remember that you found J-Stl behind the force field in the cliff wall, along with a Beam Ammo Expansion. To get back there, roll up the Spider Ball tracks onto the ledges with the turrets, then jump across to a cave on the right side. Go out the other end and roll through a Morph Ball tunnel next to the force field to get behind it and find the dead Luminoth. However, there do not seem to be any signs of a Sky Temple Key. This Luminoth held a key, but how are you supposed to get it from him? Perhaps you're not seeing everything here, though: switch to the Dark Visor and you'll see an unusual shape outlined in the air. You don't recognize the shape, and nothing happens when you touch it. The shape looks like it's not an actual item, just some sort of marker. Now think: all the Dark Temple Keys you found were in Dark Aether. Wouldn't it make sense that the Sky Temple Keys are also in Dark Aether? But they're supposed to be near the Keybearers, so the keys must be in the Dark Aether versions of the rooms where the Keybearers are! You could head straight to Command Center and use the portal there to reach the Dark Aether version of Central Mining Station, but if you hold off on that temporarily you can gain a few more expansions. You do need to enter the Space Pirate facility, though, so do so and head to Bioenergy Production. This is the room with the towers of movable platforms. You'll find it home to several Metroids, so take them all out. Now go the side of the room which contains computer terminals to control each tower and look for a Spider Ball track in a corner. This track will go down the length of the room along the ceiling, then you'll have to boost between short curving sections of track. When you see another track directly above you, get underneath it and boost off the track you're on to latch on to the higher track. From here you'll boost to a track on the top of one of the platform towers, and finally you must boost off the far side of the tower track to land on a ledge with a green door. Open the door with a Super Missile, and inside you'll find a storage room with a MISSILE EXPANSION waiting for you amidst several small fires. Now head to Main Reactor, where you first fought Dark Samus. Near the elevator you'll find a Spider Ball track leading up to the body of B-Stl, and just around the corner from that track is another track. From the top of this track you can boost onto a track on a robot that works on the tanks of Phazon below. There are a series of these robots, and you must boost across each of them without falling into the Phazon below. This is complicated by the fact that the robots move up and down and that you must boost through a small gap in the fence, meaning you must wait until both robots are level with the gap. This is not as difficult as it sounds, but you do need to pay attention. If you mess up and fall, you can get out of the Phazon by rolling through a hole in the side of the fence that is closest to you (the player). Of course, this means you'll have to start over. When you make it across all the robots you'll reach a platform with a circular piece of glass covering a shallow depression in the floor. Bomb the glass to break it and get the MISSILE EXPANSION inside. Now go through the white door near the Luminoth body, and at the end of a Morph Ball tunnel you'll reach Sandcanyon. Normally you would use the cannon to reach the other side, but there's a small platform in the middle of the pit. You need to Screw Attack to it; this may take several tries. When you make it, lay a Power Bomb to destroy the weak rock next to the platform. The destruction of this rock will cause the giant metal structure it supported to fall away, revealing a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. You have now found every expansion there is in Agon Wastes, so it's time to find those Sky Temple Keys! Return to Command Center and use the portal there. The first order of business is to find the Sky Temple Key in Battleground, the Dark Aether version of Central Mining Station. There are actually two paths leading from Judgment Pit to Battleground; you want to take the upper path. You'll end up on a ledge looking down at the floor of the room, where two Warrior Ing are. You need to kill the Warrior Ing, but you CANNOT drop down to the floor. Instead, fire an Annihilator Beam shot at the Light Beacon on the ledge. This will draw the Ing towards it, and they will die as soon as they touch it. (Alternatively, one of the Ing may reach the upper ledge and freeze without touching the Safe Zone. In this case you can just shoot it until it dies.) Now that all enemies are out of the way, it's time to have a look around. You still see no sign of the key, but once again switch to the Dark Visor. Your screen will light up with several bright red platforms slowly moving back and forth in the air. Hopefully these platforms will lead you to the key. Be very careful on the platforms. All of them can be reached with single jumps. It's important to take care because if you fall, you'll have to go back to Judgment Pit, then return to the upper ledge of Battleground and kill the Warrior Ing again before you can try again. Not particularly difficult, but really annoying. You can jump to the first platform from the left side of the ledge (with your back to the door). The next two platforms are to your right. Again, don't rush and make sure your jump is lined up before pushing the button. From the third platform, you can jump to a ledge on the side of the cliff; DON'T try to go straight for the final platform. From the ledge, there is one more moving platform to jump to. This is the trickiest jump, and it may require a double jump. Once you reach the last platform, one more jump will land you on another ledge on the far side of the room. Floating in the air above this ledge you'll find what appears to be a living creature. Its top is wide and roundish, while below it tapers to a thin tail. In fact, it has the same shape as the outline you saw in Central Mining Station! This must be the key, or else the key must be inside it! This thing definitely looks like it's alive, so fire a shot at it. When your shot hits the creature, your Dark Visor will be washed-out, so switch to the Combat Visor. The creature is now visible, and you can scan it to learn that it is a FLYING ING CACHE, a creature whose sole job is to guard the Ing's most valuable treasures. A charged Power Beam shot is all that's necessary to destroy it, and when you do SKY TEMPLE KEY 1 will be revealed. That's one down, eight to go! Before you set out for the second Sky Temple Key, head to Junction Site for a quick expansion. Junction Site consists of a Morph Ball tunnel that goes through what looks like a giant stone egg. In the middle of the "egg" is a Spider Ball track that leads up to a Bomb Slot. Activate the Bomb Slot to cause the egg to rotate, revealing a MISSILE EXPANSION at the bottom. Once you've rotated the egg back you can head back the way you came. You know that the second key is located in the Dark Aether version of Main Reactor, which is called Dark Oasis. To get there, return to Judgment Pit and go through the door to the right (with your back to Battleground). This isn't the most direct route, but it will yield some rewards. When you reach Feeding Pit (the room with lots of Lumites), drop into the water. You couldn't do this before, but the Light Suit protects you from its toxic properties. However, your vision in toxic water is similar to your vision in regular water before you got the Gravity Boost. Underwater you'll find an opening in a rock wall which leads into a small alcove containing a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. Now continue to Phazon Site, the large room with a floor covered in Phazon and now home to a number of Dark Tallon Metroids. There is a gray door on a ledge high up the wall of this room, so use the moving platforms to get as close as you can, then Screw Attack to reach the door. Inside you'll find the last remaining charge combo, the SONIC BOOM! This charge combo for the Annihilator Beam is quite powerful and looks really cool when you fire it, but it is the most expensive weapon you have, requiring 5 missiles, 30 dark ammo, and 30 light ammo to use. Now that you've found those expansions, make your way to Dark Oasis in search of the second key. Dark Oasis appears to consist of just a hallway with a portal at one end and an Ammo Station at the other, but the Scan Visor will show that a large part of one wall is composed of Denzium. When you Power Bomb it, the wall will crumble to reveal a lake of toxic water behind it. You won't find any signs of the key above the water, so drop down into the lake. Switch to the Dark Visor again, and this time you'll find another Flying Ing Cache in a corner. Just like before, shoot it once to render it visible through the Combat Visor, then destroy it to get SKY TEMPLE KEY 2. It appears that all of the Sky Temple Keys will be found inside Flying Ing Caches. With that, you have completely explored both Agon Wastes and Dark Agon Wastes, finding every item, expansion, and Sky Temple Key. That means it's time to move onto the next region. You can use the light portal in Dark Oasis to return to Agon, then head straight for the Energy Controller (though you might want to visit a Save Station along the way). Step into the center of the Energy Controller like before, and this time select Torvus Bog as your destination. /============================================================================== 3. Uncommon Valor [III.E.3] \============================================================================== |[Torvus Bog, Dark Torvus Bog] | |o Sky Temple Keys 3,4 | |o Energy Tanks 9,10 | |o Missile Expansions 31,36,38 | |o Power Bomb Expansions 4,5 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- When you arrive in Torvus Bog, make your way out of the temple and into Great Bridge. Two Dark Pirate Commandos will appear when you enter, and the doors will lock so that you have to fight them. Expect this to happen frequently. Once you've either killed them or they've left, head to the end of the bridge across from the temple. You'll find a Denzium rock, and behind it is a Morph Ball tunnel. In the middle of the tunnel is a POWER BOMB EXPANSION, and the tunnel will deposit you in front of the door towards Forgotten Bridge, which you should go through. If you study your Keybearer Lore entries again, you'll see that the Keybearers are to be found in Torvus Lagoon and Catacombs. Torvus Lagoon is in the upper level, while Catacombs is in the lower level. Since the two sections are separated in Dark Aether, it makes sense to explore each level separately. So you could use the dark portal in Forgotten Bridge and head straight for the first key, but like in Agon there are a few expansions to be found. Kill the Grenchlers in Forgotten Bridge if you want, then reach the enclosed walkway along one side of the room. You can reach it by jumping from the center of the bridge to a platform to the right of the portal, then jump up into the walkway. At the end of the walkway is a door that, after a Morph Ball tunnel, leads to Torvus Plaza. This room corresponds to where you fought the Boost Guardian, but thankfully you won't have to relive that experience. Instead, boost up the halfpipe until you can latch onto Spider Ball tracks at the top of one side. On the first section of track you'll be pestered by a Sporb on the opposite wall; you can either ignore it or let it grab you, then bomb it. Soon past the Sporb you'll reach a series of rotating rings with small squares of track on them that you must navigate. It's fairly obvious what to do, but this can be tricky, and a mistake means you have to start all over again. Making it to the end of this Spider Ball track requires lots of carefully timed bomb jumps and drops, but if you study what's going on and figure out what you need to do before you do it, you'll make it through. At the end is a Kinetic Orb Cannon which will shoot you across the room to an ENERGY TANK. Now leave Torvus Plaza and go through the door at the other end of the metal walkway. After crossing an intervening room you'll reach Torvus Grove, where you'll have to fight more Dark Pirate Commandos. Once they're gone scan the large tree in the center. You'll see that several of the roots have been weakened by Phazon and Denzium, so Power Bomb them. This will cause the entire tree to lean over and collide with a rock wall. The wall will crumble, revealing a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now go through one of the doors out of Torvus Grove to Meditation Vista. This room contains little more than a portal generator at the edge of a cliff. Little more, but not nothing more. If you look through the generator you'll see a floating platform moving back and forth amidst the trees. The only way to reach the platform is with a Screw Attack, which must be accurately timed. Start jumping when the platform is farthest away from you, and you should reach it. Once you're on the platform, simply let it carry you into another ENERGY TANK! That's all the expansions you have to collect in upper Torvus, so it's time to get the first Sky Temple Key. Screw Attack back to land and use the portal generator to enter Dark Torvus Bog. Head for Dark Forgotten Bridge (more commandos) and look for a yellow door. Through it you'll find a small room containing a Dark Phlogus. It's easy to simply run through here, but use the Scan Visor to locate a weak section of wall; behind it is a POWER BOMB EXPANSION. Now continue on to Poisoned Bog. This room is the Dark Aether equivalent of Torvus Lagoon, and thus home to the key. After eliminating the Hunter Ing, take a look around with the Dark Visor; you won't see anything. However, you've already found one key underwater, might this one be underwater too? Jump into the water with the Dark Visor and you'll see the Flying Ing Cache at the end of a passage to the right of the ramp up to dry ground. As before, shoot the creature to make it visible, then destroy it to claim SKY TEMPLE KEY 3. The second key is in the lower level of Dark Torvus Bog, which can't be reached directly from the upper level, so you need to return to Light Aether. Head back to Dark Forgotten Bog and use the portal there, then make your way back to the temple and take the elevator down to the lower level. Again, there are a few more expansions you can round up, so start out by dropping all the way to the bottom of Hydrodynamo Station and descending down to Main Hydrochamber, where you fought the Alpha Blogg. Use the dark portal there, then hop off the ledge with the portal. On the walls on either side of you are wall jump surfaces, so Screw Attack up them to reach a ledge with a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now return to Light Aether and climb back up to Hydrodynamo Station. Go through the black door, which leads to Catacombs. Your Keybearer Lore tells you this is where G-Sch is located, and sure enough you'll see him to the right of the door as you enter. With the Dark Visor, you can see the outline of a Flying Ing Cache underwater, so this is definitely the right spot. Before using the portal, though, find a gray door out of the room. You couldn't open it before, but now you have the Annihilator Beam. Through the door is another underwater Morph Ball maze, completing the circle connecting Training Chamber, Catacombs, and Gathering Hall. There's a Bomb Slot near where you enter the tunnels; activate it and water will start flowing up in a nearby vertical shaft. With the water helping to push you up, you can double bomb jump up to a ledge at the top of the shaft. You can now reach a second Bomb Slot, which will allow you to bomb jump up a second shaft, which leads to a third Bomb Slot. When you activate the third slot, it too will cause water to flow up a nearby shaft, but you won't be able to get back to the shaft. You'll have to drop down to the bottom, return to the beginning and make your way back to the shaft. When you return, bomb jump up the shaft to snag one more MISSILE EXPANSION. You've now collected every expansion to be found in Torvus Bog; your only remaining task is to find the second Sky Temple Key. Return to Catacombs and go through the portal there to transport to Dungeon. This room has a metal grate floor and is guarded by two Dark Grenchlers, but there is also a small pool of dark water underneath the portal. Drop into this water and you'll discover a network of underwater hallways beneath the floor. You'll soon be stopped, however, by a small black object which is blocking a gap through one of the walls. This object is a WATCHDRONE, an indestructible creature that can only be made to move by shining "bright, pure light" on it. Luckily, there is a Light Beacon directly overhead. Activate it, and the light of the Safe Zone will cause the mechanism to move out of the way, allowing you to continue. You'll encounter one more Watchdrone as you continue, and after that you should switch to the Dark Visor to see the Flying Ing Cache which contains SKY TEMPLE KEY 4. That's it; you've gotten everything you came for in Torvus Bog. All that's left to do is return to the light portal (you'll have to move the Watchdrones again), save if you want, take the elevator up from the lower level to the temple, enter the Energy Controller and travel to Sanctuary Fortress. /============================================================================== 4. Time Draws Near [III.E.4] \============================================================================== |[Sanctuary Fortress, Ing Hive] | |o Sky Temple Keys 5,6 | |o Missile Expansion 39 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- As before, this is an excellent chance to pick up any expansions that you haven't yet collected. However, if you followed the Sanctuary Fortress section of this walkthrough, you should have collected almost all of the items here. In fact, there is only one left, and to find it you should head to Main Reactor. On your way you'll pass right by one of the Keybearers in Dynamo Works; you can switch to the Dark Visor, but you won't see the outline of a Flying Ing Cache anywhere. You should remember, however, that Dynamo Works has two separate halves; the key must be in the other half. Also, the other Sky Temple Key is located in the Ing Hive version of Sanctuary Entrance, so you're heading in the right direction to collect this expansion. When you reach Main Reactor, follow the outer hallway to the left as you face the central shaft to enter Sanctuary Map Station. Since you already downloaded the map here, there's nothing in this room except for a column of pure yellow light, just like the light that is emitted from the Energy Controllers. Your Light Suit gives you the ability to "ride" light; would it work here? Step into the beam of light and you will be transported to a small chamber above, where you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now that you've got the expansion, you need to reach the dark version of Sanctuary Entrance for a Sky Temple Key. The nearest dark portal is in Hall of Combat Mastery, so use it and then return to Hive Reactor. When you drop down to the floor, a Dark Ingsmasher there will power up and attack. Fight it if you want, or just make for the yellow door leading to the Entrance. Power Bomb it and go through to reach Hive Reactor Access. Here, the tunnel will end in front of a circular pit with a small platform in the center and a swarm of Nightbarbs circling around it. There's a Nullified Beacon on the platform; energize it and most of the Nightbarbs will die as they collide with the Safe Zone. Use the platform to cross the pit and continue down the tunnel. Here you'll run into an ING LARVA SWARM, a large group of small, fast-moving Ing that will collide with you as they move through the tunnel. Try to shoot as many as you can as they come at you, but make sure to scan them if you want a complete Logbook! At the end of the tunnel you'll reach Hive Entrance. Like its Light Aether counterpart, the entrance consists of a huge cliff with ledges on either side. Here, however, there is no bridge of any sort connecting the two sides, and the gap is filled with Dark Preeds. You can see another column of light on the far side, though, so you need to get across. The only way to do so is with a Screw Attack, but it must be properly executed in order to get all the way across. A little to the left of the door, the ledge extends out slightly. Stand on the edge of this ledge and Screw Attack across, stretching out each "pulse" of the attack as long as possible. You only get five "pulses" per jump, and you need to stretch each one as far as you can to get across. When you do make it, enter the light to travel to a higher ledge. Using the Dark Visor here, you can see the Flying Ing Cache on a ledge at the same height as yours, on the other side. This means you have to Screw Attack back across to this new ledge, although this jump is not so bad, since the higher ledge extends farther out over the cliff. When you reach the ledge, destroy the Ing to retrieve SKY TEMPLE KEY 5. In order to get back to the original ledge, you can't just drop down because you'll just fall into the pit. You need to Screw Attack back across, take the light down, then Screw Attack across once more. Once you've made it back, it's time to go after the second key, which you know is located in Hive Dynamo Works. It's not located in the half which connects with the elevator and the Main Gyro Chamber, though, so it must be in the other half, the half containing the Spider Guardian's maze. There's no way to directly access this half of Hive Dynamo Works from Ing Hive, so you'll have to find another way. Return to Hall of Combat Mastery and use the portal to return to Light Aether, then head to the Spider Guardian's maze in Dynamo Works. This involves going to the temple, then taking one of the side doors out of the temple to an open-air room which connects to Dynamo Works. Once there, make your way through the tunnels (which are now occupied by Pillbugs) until you reach the end. There, roll through the tunnel out of the maze into a small chamber where you got the Spider Ball. In this chamber is a yellow door. Open it, and behind it you'll find a dark portal. Go through the portal, then roll through the Morph Ball tunnel leading out. You'll emerge on a ledge over a pit, surrounded by walls on three sides. With the Dark Visor, you can clearly see the Flying Ing Cache floating over a ledge on the far side. To get across, follow a Spider Ball track on the wall until it ends across from a moving magnetically charged sphere. Wait until the sphere is level with you, then boost onto the sphere. Now position yourself over the red dot on the sphere and boost onto a second sphere. From here, again get over the red dot and boost onto another magnetic rail track on the wall. Follow this track to reach the ledge, where you can get SKY TEMPLE KEY 6. Getting back across is much easier, since this ledge is higher up than the one you started on. Simply Screw Attack across and go back through the portal. You have now collected the Sky Temple Keys from all three of Aether's outlying regions; the only region remaining is the Temple Grounds itself. Make your way back to the temple, enter the Energy Controller, and select the Great Temple as your destination. /============================================================================== 5. Champion of Aether [III.E.5] \============================================================================== |[Great Temple, Temple Grounds, Sky Temple Grounds] | |o Sky Temple Keys 7,8,9 | |o Energy Tank 2 | |o Beam Ammo Expansion 1 | |o Missile Expansions 5,6,7,8 | |o Power Bomb Expansion 1 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- When you arrive in Main Energy Controller, check your Keybearer Lore entries one more time to see where to look for the final Sky Temple Keys. You'll see that two of the keys are located in Landing Site and Industrial Site, but you'll also discover that you are apparently missing one entry! Either you've missed a Keybearer somewhere along the way, or the Keybearer is in a room you haven't reached yet. Check your map of Temple Grounds and you'll see one room off of Communications Area that you haven't entered. You should check that room to look for the last Keybearer Lore entry, and you can also collect the final few expansions in Temple Grounds. The quickest way to get to the unexplored room is to take Temple Transport A from the Great Temple, which will deposit you in Sacred Path. Make your way to GFMC Compound, where an expansion is hiding. You can find it by standing on the ledge with the door to Grand Windchamber on it and Screw Attack onto the ship. You'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION on the rear of the ship. You can also find one more easy expansion by making a quick stop in Fortress Transport Access, the hallway leading to the elevator to Sanctuary Fortress. At the end of the tunnel is another pillar of light. Like before, the Light Suit will transport you up the pillar into a small chamber containing the final ENERGY TANK: once you collect this tank, your maximum energy will be as high as it can be: 1499 units. Return to GFMC Compound and go through the door on ground level; the door you came through when you first entered this room. Through the door is Trooper Security Station, where you'll find your way blocked by a Federation gate. This gate closed after you passed through it way back at the beginning of your adventure, meaning the rooms behind it have been inaccessible to you for a long time. Now that you have the Power Bombs, though, you can destroy the gate and reach Communications Area. Again, you haven't been here since you first landed on Aether, when you had very few abilities. Now you can jump off of the path onto a wide ledge on the right. You'll find a round piece of metal fixed to the ground on the ledge: Power Bomb it to expose a MISSILE EXPANSION. To reach the door to the unexplored room, jump from the ledge onto the top of a column, then from there to another ledge where a bridge leads to the door. Inside Storage Cavern A you'll find a path that slopes down to a mostly empty floor. There is a small platform on the ground that indicates that an item once rested there, but you'll see nothing. Nearby you'll also see a dead Luminoth, and scanning him will reveal that you have found D-Isl, your missing Keybearer and holder of D-ISL'S TESTAMENT. Now that you have found where one of the Sky Temple Keys must be, you just need to travel to Dark Aether to get it. With that goal in mind, return to Sacred Path and use the dark portal there. Appropriately, the counterpart to Sacred Path is named Profane Path, and there will be three Dark Pirate Commandos to fight here. After killing them and before leaving the room, check out the massive tower of Ingworms that is in place of the elevator to Great Temple. There's a sonic gate in the tower, so switch to the Echo Visor and use the Annihilator Beam on the gate to get the combination, then fire at the three emitters on the ledge to open the gate. Inside is a valuable prize, the final BEAM AMMO EXPANSION which will bring your dark and light ammo capacities up to their maximum of 250. Now exit Profane Path and enter Phazon Pit. This tunnel contains a pool of Phazon at the bottom of a pit (hence the name), as well as a Dark Tallon Metroid. Kill the Metroid, then grapple over the pit to reach Phazon Grounds. This dark version of GFMC Compound is a wide plain with pools of Phazon and bodies of Space Pirates scattered throughout. Dark Tallon Metroids fly around this area, one of them carrying a dead Pirate Commando (this is your last chance to scan one!). There are also several DORMANT INGCLAWS on the walls: they pose no threat but are necessary for a complete Logbook. You'll probably want to take out most of the Dark Tallon Metroids, then look out over the edge of the cliff. Beyond it you'll see a rocky tower with a small orange glow in it. There are several Metroids between you and the tower, but you can just Screw Attack right through them. When you reach the tower, land in an alcove to find another MISSILE EXPANSION. The door out of Phazon Grounds in on ground level at the end of a short tunnel. In the next room, Reliquary Access, is a cloud of Ingstorm near the bodies of two Luminoth that were killed by them. You can roll around the Ingstorm (or go through them; they're not that thick) to reach Reliquary Grounds, the Sky Temple Grounds version of Communications Area. You'll have to start off by fighting several Warrior Ing, and you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way because there are no Light Beacons in this room. This room is laid out just like Communications Area, so jump up the same ledges to reach the door and enter Ing Reliquary. Just switch to the Dark Visor, find the Flying Ing Cache and kill it to claim SKY TEMPLE KEY 7. You have now found the first of the three keys in Sky Temple Grounds, but unfortunately this room is a dead end, meaning you'll have to backtrack all the way back to the light portal in Profane Path. Back in Light Aether, the next key on your list is located in the dark equivalent of Landing Site. You'll obviously have to use a different portal to reach that section of Sky Temple Grounds, specifically the portal in Hall of Eyes. The quickest way to get there is to take the nearby elevator up to Great Temple, then take Temple Transport C back down to Meeting Grounds. Ignore the Dark Pirate Commandos and go through the door to reach Hall of Eyes and the dark portal. Go the same way you came when you found Sky Temple Gateway, but when you reach Shrine Access (with the Corrupted Sentreyes), look for a green door. Go through this door to reach Defiled Shrine, which in Light Aether is Landing Site. There are several Warrior Ing here, but you can create Super Beacons to quickly dispose of them. You'll find the Flying Ing Cache near where your ship would be; inside the creature is SKY TEMPLE KEY 8. Again, you've reached a dead end so once more return to the light portal. For the final Sky Temple Key, you need to find the dark version of Industrial Site. This will require the use of yet another portal; you can see from the map that the nearest one is in Temple Assembly Site. So once more return to Great Temple and this time use Temple Transport B to quickly reach Temple Transport Site. Before looking for the portal, though, go through the door on a ledge to reach Dynamo Chamber. This hallway is divided into two levels: on top are several SPLINTER COCOONS, and below both ends are blocked by GF Mark VII gates (last chance to scan!). Make sure to scan the cocoons from as far away as you can, because if you get close to them they will burst open, releasing the Splinters inside. What you're interested in is the gates, though. Power Bomb them to open them, and inside you'll find a weakened section of Denzium wall. Another Power Bomb will destroy the wall, revealing the final POWER BOMB EXPANSION, allowing you to carry up to 10 Power Bombs. Now that that's out of the way, return to Temple Assembly Site and head for the door at the far end from the elevator. Near the door is a movable stone with a purple crystal on it. Shoot the crystal with the Light Beam and the stone will move aside, revealing a dark portal. Go through the portal to enter Plain of Dark Worship. If that's not a creepy name for a room, I don't know what is. However, Plain of Dark Worship is basically just a big empty room. There's hardly any enemies in it, and if you walk up to the Ingworm tower, you'll see that there's a MISSILE EXPANSION just sitting behind an open gate. That's right, all you have to do to collect the final expansion of all is just walk into it. Now that you have 14 Energy Tanks, 250 dark and light ammo, 255 missiles, and 10 Power Bombs, go through the door into Lake Access. Shoot the Venom Weed on the floor to lower it so you can reach the door to Accursed Lake, which corresponds to Industrial Site. There is a shallow lake filling much of this room, but there are several ledges and platforms around the side. One ledge on the side contains a Light Beacon, which you can use to help take out the Hunter Ing in the room. Using the Dark Visor, you'll spot the final Flying Ing Cache hovering over a ledge on the far side of the lake. If you haven't scanned one, do so before you kill it or you won't be able to complete your Logbook. When you destroy the Ing, the key will move over the center of the lake. Jump from the ledge with the Light Beacon to claim SKY TEMPLE KEY 9. That's it! You have now collected all nine Sky Temple Keys, along with every item and expansion in the game! You'll receive a message notifying you that you've collected 100% of the items, as well as all the Sky Temple Keys. If you've scanned every Logbook entry so far, you should have 96% of all scans at this point, as well. You can now gain access to the Sky Temple and attempt to destroy Dark Aether once and for all. In order to do that, though, you'll have to leave this section of Sky Temple Grounds, so return to the portal and travel to Light Aether one last time. Since you're likely to face a long, grueling fight, you need to make sure you're in top-notch shape. Luckily, you're near Landing Site, so stop by your ship to both save your game and max out all health, ammo, bombs, and missiles. Once you are fully armed and ready, leave Landing Site via the door on the ledge and head for Meeting Grounds. You want to keep your ammo maxed out, so only use the Power Beam to fight. Don't worry if you take damage, though; there will be another save station before the final fight. As usual, there will be Dark Pirate Commandos in Meeting Grounds, but you'll probably want to run past them to the door at the end of the tunnel and enter Hall of Eyes, where you should use the dark portal to enter Dark Aether for the final time. In Dark Aether, make your way to Sky Temple Gateway, where you'll find a swirling red light in the center of the circular platform. When you step into the light, the nine Sky Temple Keys you collected will move into place on the columns around the platform. Now that all ten keys (your nine plus A-Kul's) are in position, the circle of columns will lower and a beam of light will shoot up from the center of the platform to the base of the Sky Temple directly above. Step into the light to be carried up to the Sky Temple. ##/# ##/### >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ##/--/## F. SKY TEMPLE [III.F] ###/## >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> #/## /============================================================================== 1. Alpha and Omega [III.F.1] \============================================================================== |[BOSS: Emperor Ing] | --------------------------------------------------------------------- As you travel up the beam of light, the Energy Controller in the Sky Temple will open, so that you can exit the light beam and rematerialize in the Sky Temple. As soon as you complete the trip, you will see a giant sphere of energy near the ceiling of the room. The energy will be grabbed by several large, spiky tentacles extending from a mass of liquid Ing material on the ceiling, and the tentacles will pull the energy through the ceiling. That must have been the energy stored in this Energy Controller, which is now all that is holding Dark Aether together. It must have been taken by the Ing in order to prevent you from absorbing it with your Energy Transfer Module. As you look around the room you arrived in, you'll notice that something seems slightly odd. There are circular platforms on one side which you can jump up to reach a Save Station and a walkway around the room which contain a few Ingworm Caches, in case you need to refill any weapons. From this upper level, especially near the door out across from the Save Station, you can see what is wrong with this room: it is upside down. The surface you're walking on is curved like the top of an archway, while the ceiling is flat like a floor. The door out is not level with the ground, but is flush with the ceiling, so you have to jump up to get through the door. This disconcerting fact makes the Sky Temple seem just a little bit creepier, and reinforces the fact that it is a twisted perversion of the Great Temple where U-Mos is awaiting your return. The next room is simply a vertical shaft which you must Wall Jump up, and at the top is the final door. The door leads to Sanctum, a large room in which the walls are lined with Phazon and the energy sphere is resting in the center. When you drop down from the door onto the ground, however, a huge pool of Ing will appear around the energy and more giant tentacles will spring out of the ground, blocking you from approaching the energy. Then the Ing will engulf the energy sphere, forming itself into a giant trunk planted on the ground, with a massive sphere of a head on top and four spiked tentacles extending from the head. This is the ruler and most powerful member of the Ing Horde, the Emperor Ing. There are two separate scans available right now: EMPEROR ING BODY and EMPEROR ING HEAD. They will reveal that the Emperor Ing has been heavily strengthened by Phazon, and has now absorbed the final energy sphere and is drawing from its power. You will also learn that the way to attack the Emperor is to go after its tentacles. The tentacles can be locked-on to, and one Light Beam shot is enough to eliminate one. The tentacles are almost always moving, however, and are the source of all Emperor Ing's attacks, so you should generally avoid whatever attack the tentacles are performing, then fire at them afterwards. The tentacles' attacks are described below. One of the most common attacks is for all the tentacles to lift upwards and group together, forming a blob of dark energy accompanied by a specific noise. After a few seconds, they will fire this energy at you, doing serious damage and possibly knocking you into the Phazon walls. The way to avoid this is to switch to the Morph Ball when you see the tentacles forming the attack and boost towards the nearest circular design in the corners of the room. The idea is to be moving when the attack is launched so that it misses; staying on the circular designs seems to prevent you from running into the Phazon so much. The tentacles can also simply sweep around the room leaving a short purple trail behind them; just take a step or two back to avoid this. Sometimes the tentacles will lower to just a few inches above the ground, then sweep around the room. When this happens, just wait for the tentacles to get to you and jump over them, jump rope style. The tentacles may also slam into the ground in an attempt to hit you; jump or dodge to the side to avoid this. Once all the tentacles are gone, the Emperor Ing's head will fold away, exposing the EMPEROR ING EYE. This is a core of energy surrounded by a shield with only one narrow slit in it. After a few seconds the eye will fire an extremely powerful laser blast at you: not only is the blast itself damaging, it will also push you into the Phazon and prevent you from firing for several seconds. Make sure to dodge to avoid this blast; if you get hit by it every time you have little chance of defeating the Emperor Ing. After the eye fires three laser blasts, the head will return with new tentacles and the first part of the fight will repeat. However, the eye phase is your only chance to actually damage Emperor Ing. You must fire shots through the gap in the shield in order to damage it.While any weapon will do damage, I prefer to use the Super Missile. As soon as you destroy the last tentacle, switch to the Power Beam and charge it up. Now lock-on to the eye and as soon as the laser blast is over, get close to the shield gap and wait for it to move in front of you. When the gap in the shield is straight ahead, fire the Super Missile. This may take several tries to get the timing down (meaning several rounds of tentacle-fighting), but when you do get a hit it is worth it: one hit will knock off almost 25% of Emperor Ing's energy meter. If you can get two hits in one round, this fight can go rather quickly. Once the eye fires three laser blasts, the head will return with fresh tentacles. As the fight progresses and you do more damage to Emperor Ing, the number of tentacles will gradually increase from four at the start up to ten. Also, there will be a few changes in the Emperor's attacks later in the battle: in the "jump rope" attack, the tentacles will sweep around twice, so be ready to jump again if necessary. In addition, the tentacles will start using a new attack once the Emperor Ing reaches about 50%. If colored light surrounds the ends of the tentacles, then they are about to create some sort of wormhole so that the ends of the tentacles will appear in random spots in the air right around you, where they can lash you. The way to avoid this attack is to roll into the Morph Ball when you see it and roll around the room in a zig-zag pattern, so that as each tentacle appears on the ground in front of you, you are rolling past it. Other than these changes, the battle plan stays the same: avoid attacks, destroy tentacles, attack eye. Avoiding the attacks is the most difficult part, and that simply comes with experience. Don't worry about saving missiles here: you won't need them after this. Also, light ammo shouldn't be an issue because the tentacles will leave ammo when they are destroyed. Just make sure to use the Charge Beam periodically to draw in ammo and energy that is out of reach. Once you deplete Emperor Ing's energy meter, its head will rotate upside down and surround the body. It will then harden into a solid shell, and toxic gas will suddenly fill the room. Quickly scan the EMPEROR ING CHRYSALIS to learn that the Emperor Ing is regenerating inside this shell, which is magnetically charged and contains 11 weak spots, which are easily visible as bright yellow spots on the black surface of the shell. Roll onto the chrysalis to get above the toxic fumes, and you'll discover that there are other threats on the shell. Small Ing move across the surface of the chrysalis, and whip-like tentacles will emerge from the weak spots any time you get close to one. However, these are not necessarily bad. Every time you destroy one of these Ing they will leave a Large Energy, which refills 50 energy units. Therefore, don't be in too big a hurry to destroy all the weak spots. Take as much time as you need to just kill Ing and refill your Energy Tanks. When you are ready to destroy the weak spots, you can do so by leaving a couple bombs on one, then rolling out of the way to avoid the tentacle. If the bomb kills the tentacle, then the weak spot will be destroyed (you'll know it's destroyed if you see purple flame coming out of it). The only other thing to note is that every few minutes the level of the gas will rise temporarily, forcing you up to the top of the shell. Just watch out for the Ing while you're up here since you have less maneuvering room. This phase of the battle is not very difficult, so you shouldn't have too much trouble destroying all eleven weak spots. When you do, the chrysalis will explode, revealing a very different Emperor Ing. It now has a body with four jointed legs and a large opening that is sort of like a face with a glowing red light inside. This is the MUTATED EMPEROR ING, its final and most dangerous form. Scans will tell you to fire opposite-polarity weapons at its "heart", but right now its heart is red, which doesn't correspond to any weapon. That means that anything will work; missiles are a good option. You'll notice that when you hit the Emperor now it will flash yellow, not red, meaning you're not actually damaging him. Four or five missiles will cause a noise like a small explosion to occur in the mouth/face of the Mutated Emperor. It will close its mouth (that's what I'm going to call it anyway) and when it reopens, the glowing light inside will be either purple or white. It is during this time that you can damage the Emperor, and now is when you should use opposite-polarity weapons. If it is purple, it is vulnerable to light, so fire as many charged Light Beam shots at it as you can. If its heart is white, that means it is vulnerable to darkness. However, the Dark Beam is too slow to be very effective, so instead fire the Annihilator Beam as fast as you can to do significant damage. Of course, you can only attack the Emperor when you're not busy dodging its attacks. The Mutated Emperor is very fast, powerful, and agile, and possesses several attacks that are very hard to avoid. Perhaps the easiest attack to avoid is when the Emperor generates several energy beams out of the air around him, like a Warrior Ing. Just jump out of the way to avoid being hit by this one, and this is also a good time to attack yourself. The Mutated Emperor's physical attacks, however, can be hard to avoid. If you find yourself too close to the Emperor, it will slash or stomp you with its legs; the Morph Ball is usually the best way to get out from under its legs. If you find yourself on the far side of the room from the Emperor, you can expect either a charge or a jump. The jump is the easier attack to avoid. The Emperor will leap across the room, generating a shock wave on the ground when it lands. If you see the Emperor remain in place and open its mouth very wide, though, it's getting ready to charge. Jump, boost, or do whatever works to get out of its way as soon as possible. Damaging the Mutated Emperor Ing is not too difficult; avoiding its attacks is, and that is what will determine whether or not you win the battle. Attacking the Emperor will use up quite a bit of ammo, and there are no crates or other means to refill your ammo in the room. However, when you get low on ammo the Emperor Ing will release a swarm of small glowing white particles (they are not a Logbook entry), which you can destroy to recover a ton of ammo in a hurry, and hopefully some energy as well. The Emperor also has a specific attack it will only perform while it is dark or light. When the Emperor has a purple heart, it may create a purple cloud which will fire a beam of energy at you. If the beam hits you, you will be encased in dark matter and must press B to free yourself. While the Emperor is white, it may create a white cloud whose energy beam will not freeze you but does do more damage. That's about it to fighting the Mutated Emperor Ing; there aren't many tricks. Basically, don't let it get near you and attack as often as possible. When you finally deliver the fatal blow to the Emperor Ing, it will collapse and explode, leaving behind the final sphere of planetary energy it was collecting. Now you can step up to the sphere and stick your arm cannon inside it to absorb it into your Energy Transfer Module. As soon as the transfer is complete, the ground will start shaking and debris will start falling from the ceiling because Dark Aether has been destabilized. Platforms will rise up in the center of the room, and a message on your HUD will inform you, "Planetary condition critical: escape at once!" With that, a timer will start counting down from 8:00:00. Quickly jump up the platforms and Screw Attack to the door, then drop down the shaft and step into the light to transport out of the Sky Temple. NOTE: Don't try to use the Save Station before you leave the Sky Temple; it won't work and you'll just waste time. If you die before completing the game, you will be asked if you want to restart from the last saved point. If you say yes, you will restart from Sanctum just as the clock begins ticking down. If you say no, you will return to the title screen and the next time you open your file, you will begin at the last Save Station you saved at. Thus you must complete the entire end-game section without quitting your file, but once you've beaten Emperor Ing, you don't have to fight him again until you quit your file. /============================================================================== 2. Disrupted Essence [III.F.2] \============================================================================== |[BOSS: Dark Samus] | --------------------------------------------------------------------- You will arrive in Sky Temple Gateway and will start walking towards the door, but suddenly a large mass of Phazon will appear, completely blocking the door! You will turn and see that Dark Samus is there, although having been defeated twice already, her suit is translucent and her body has been reduced to a skeleton. It's time to put an end to Dark Samus, and you have less than eight minutes to do so. Scan DARK SAMUS 3 for the next-to-last entry in your Logbook, then get ready to fight. This final fight with Dark Samus will be different from the first two in that Dark Samus will use only a small number of attacks, instead of the wide variety she's previously employed. There is also the added pressure of the clock counting down, but try not to look at it too much. Eight minutes sounds short, but it is actually plenty of time to defeat Dark Samus. Dark Samus will alternate between two activities. When she rises into the air, she is preparing to fire a massive amount of Phazon at you. Pay attention and be ready to dodge when she fires, and keep moving because the beam will follow you. Dark Samus is invulnerable during this time, so all you can do is avoid the attack. After firing several Phazon blasts, Dark Samus will drop to the ground and disappear, even from your Dark Visor. The Echo Visor is the only visor that can see Dark Samus now, and it is at this time that she is vulnerable to attack. Lock-on to Dark Samus and fire away with whatever you have left: the Annihilator Beam is best, followed by the Light Beam, missiles, and finally the Power Beam. Pay attention as you fire, though; Dark Samus will often jump quickly to another spot, and this will break your lock-on. If you don't pay attention to this, you can waste ammo firing at nothing. Once your shots start bouncing off of Dark Samus, she has become visible again. Switch back to the Combat Visor and get ready to dodge more Phazon blasts. After a couple minutes of this, in which you may be able to do around 25% damage to Dark Samus, the pattern will change. When you see Dark Samus rise into the air in the center of the room and a sphere of Phazon surround her, get ready for the final portion of the fight. Also, Dark Samus is now DARK SAMUS 4, which will complete your Logbook. The scan will indicate that Dark Samus is now invulnerable to everything except Phazon itself, and it recommends using the Charge Beam to collect Phazon expelled by Dark Samus. In order to do that, however, you need to pay very close attention to Dark Samus while she is in the air. Have a charged Power Beam shot ready, however, throughout this period of the fight. Samus's attack now is a brief but fast-moving blast of Phazon. Normally, you can tell this is coming because Dark Samus will contract her body slightly before releasing the attack. However, if the Phazon sphere around Samus expands briefly before she contracts and fires, get ready. Dodge the attack like normal, but if you are locked-on to Dark Samus, your targeting reticule will move up slightly to lock-on to several small Phazon pellets that were also released. These contain the Phazon energy you need to absorb. If they're not headed straight towards you, line yourself up with the pellets and let them get sucked up by the Charge Beam. Your Charge Beam will now be glowing blue with Phazon energy. Once you have absorbed the pellets, your lock-on will automatically shift back to Dark Samus. As soon as it has, release the Charge Beam to do heavy damage to Dark Samus. After firing several Phazon blasts, usually including two which release Phazon pellets, Dark Samus will drop to the ground and begin hovering around the room, quickly jumping from place to place and generating temporary Phazon barriers to hurt you and block your shots. Dark Samus is vulnerable during this period, so stay locked-on and use up any missiles or ammo you have left. However, don't expect to do very much damage during these segments, just try to avoid getting hit or walking into the Phazon on the walls. When Dark Samus returns to the air in the center of the room, switch to the Power Beam and charge it up. Both avoiding the Phazon blasts and absorbing the Phazon pellets can be difficult, and this simply takes practice and learning to recognize Dark Samus's signals and timing. Another important fact to keep in mind is that if you are locked-on to Dark Samus, the targeting reticule will AUTOMATICALLY move to focus on the Phazon pellets, then back to Dark Samus. At no point do you need to release the L button or use manual aiming. This can be an unnecessary cause for missed pellets and missed shots at Dark Samus. Depending on how much damage you did to Dark Samus in the beginning, it will take around five to seven Phazon shots to kill Dark Samus, and you usually (but not always) get two opportunities per round. When you deliver the final blow to Dark Samus, she will fall to the ground, her body burning with blue flames. Desperately, she will crawl towards Samus and stretch out her hand towards Samus, but she will disintegrate into blue particles before she touches you. Once Dark Samus is gone a number of Warrior Ing will enter the room, surrounding Samus. However, as Dark Aether continues to be destroyed, the tower of Phazon on one wall will explode, revealing a portal generator behind it. Samus will run towards the generator, scanning it to activate it as she runs, so that when she leaps up to the portal she will travel through it into Light Aether, into the Hall of Honored Dead to be specific. Once Samus emerges, you will see the Ing trying to get through the portal as their world collapses, but soon the portal will explode and disappear. Simultaneously, the purple clouds and distortions in Aether's atmosphere will vanish, indicating that Dark Aether has now been destroyed and the planet is whole once more. In the Great Temple, several Luminoth will look up as the sky clears overhead, then turn to the Main Energy Controller. The Energy Controller will close as Samus emerges from it in her Varia Suit, having surrendered the Luminoth power of the Light Suit. The Luminoth will bow to Samus as she walks past them to the exit, giving a brief wave in farewell. As Samus blasts off from Aether, take comfort in knowing that you have restored the planet's divided energy, returning peace and health to Aether and destroying forever the toxic world of Dark Aether. The Luminoth can live once again in peace. This mission, like many others, turned out to be much bigger than Samus originally thought. A simple recon operation to find the Federation Troopers led to the discovery that this world was also home to the Luminoth, an advanced peace-loving race whose home had been ravaged by the impact of an asteroid, just like Tallon IV. The impact of the asteroid divided the planet into two parallel worlds, one of which was home to the aggressive Ing as well as Phazon, which again drew the Space Pirates. Additionally, Metroid Prime, in the form of Dark Samus, seemed to be drawn to Aether because of the Phazon. But is there more? Two worlds, both damaged by an asteroid, both containing the deadly Phazon, and both home to Metroid Prime. Clearly there is more to the story. But what are the answers? Only time (and a sequel) will tell. ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ IV. E X P A N S I O N S [IV] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ This section lists every expansion in the game: Energy Tanks, Beam Ammo Expansions, Missile Expansions, and Power Bomb Expansions. Each type of expansion is numbered, however, this number is meant to serve as a reference only, it does NOT indicate the order in which the items should be collected. Basically, the expansions are listed first by region in the following order: Temple Grounds, Sky Temple Grounds, Agon Wastes, Dark Agon Wastes, Torvus Bog, Dark Torvus Bog, Sanctuary Fortress, Ing Hive, Great Temple, Sky Temple. Within each region, the numbering is based on moving across the region in whatever path seems logical to me, starting from the point where you first enter that region. For each expansion, the name of the room where it is found is listed, followed by a detailed description of how to get it. For the room names, the following abbreviations will be used for the regions: TG: Temple Grounds SG: Sky Temple Grounds AW: Agon Wastes DA: Dark Agon Wastes TB: Torvus Bog DT: Dark Torvus Bog SF: Sanctuary Fortress IH: Ing Hive GT: Great Temple ST: Sky Temple /============================================================================== A. Energy Tanks [IV.A] \============================================================================== 01 TG:STORAGE CAVERN B Return to the Temple Assembly Site once you have the Missile Launcher (the first time you can do this is after talking to U-Mos in the Great Temple). Shoot the red blast shield with a missile to access a small room containing an Energy Tank. 02 TG:FORTRESS TRANSPORT ACCESS There's a column of light at one end of this tunnel leading to the Sanctuary Fortress elevator. With the Light Suit, step into the column to be transported to a small chamber with the Energy Tank. 03 TG:WIND CHAMBER GATEWAY This tank is found in an open-air area connecting Path of Eyes with Grand Windchamber. From the ledge on the Grand Windchamber side, there's a grapple point you can use to reach an Energy Tank on a solitary platform. 04 AW:MINING PLAZA Using the Echo Visor, locate three sonic transmitters on the cliff walls. After you turn each one off with a shot from the Power Beam, one of the solar lenses in the center of the room will move into position, helping to focus the sunlight. When all three transmitters have been turned off, the focused light will cause a gate high on the cliff wall to open. From the central ledge, Screw Attack across the room and through the gate to reach the Energy Tank. 05 AW:MINING STATION ACCESS This room is a Morph Ball tunnel that goes through a large oval-shaped structure. Once you have the Morph Ball Bombs, bomb the block in the center of the oval. You will drop down onto a Kinetic Orb Cannon that will shoot you up to an Energy Tank. 06 AW:MINE SHAFT The Mine Shaft is located through the black door off of Agon Temple. Avoid falling through the first drop covered by a breakable block, then do a double bomb jump to reach the top of the next platform with a Pillbug on it, from which you can reach an upper level. When you reach the second set of crumbling blocks that you have to fall through, hug the left wall to enter a secret tunnel behind the wall. Use the slits in the wall to follow the path up to the Energy Tank. 07 AW:BIOENERGY PRODUCTION This is the room in the Space Pirate base where you have to move the platforms up and down. By putting the platforms in one configuration, you can reach the door to ????. But by moving the platforms into an alternate configuration, you can climb them to reach a ledge containing an Energy Tank. The following diagram shows the correct platform configuration. A # means that a platforms should be located there, and a _ means it that spot should be empty. The letters A, G, and D stand for gamma, delta, and alpha, which are the names of each of the platform stacks. # # _ # _ # _ # # # # # G D A 08 TB:TEMPLE ACCESS This is the two-level Morph Ball passage that connects Great Bridge and Torvus Temple. Enter from the upper door of Great Bridge (the black door at the end of the bridge) and bomb the first red circle on the floor. Fall through the hole to grab the Energy Tank. 09 TB:TORVUS PLAZA This is the room located near Forgotten Bridge which is the Light Aether version of where you fought the Boost Guardian. Luckily there are no super-hard mini-bosses here, just a large halfpipe with a Spider Ball track at the top. This is a long and complicated track, and one mistake will send you down to the bottom where you'll have to start all over again. There's a Sporb that will pester you during the first part of the track: you can either ignore it or let it grab you and then lay bombs to kill it. Past the Sporb is a complicated series of tracks requiring carefully timed jumps and drops, but at the end of it all is a Kinetic Orb Cannon. The cannon will fire you across the room to a ledge containing a well-earned Energy Tank. 10 TB:MEDITATION VISTA This is the room past Torvus Grove which is nothing more than a portal generator on the edge of a cliff. However, if you look behind the generator you can see a floating platform moving back and forth in the air. The only way to reach the platform is with the Screw Attack, which will have to be carefully timed. In order to reach the platform, start jumping towards it when the platform is farthest away from you. The platform will move back as you approach it, and if timed correctly you will land on the platform. Now just stand on the platform as it carries you right into an Energy Tank. 11 TB:TRANSIT TUNNEL EAST Once you have the Gravity Boost, enter this tunnel connecting Training Chamber with Catacombs and bomb jump up to a Bomb Slot. When you activate it, currents will appear moving either up or down underneath the vertical tubes overhead. The third tube past the Bomb Slot contains another Bomb Slot at the top, but to reach it you'll need to do some Morph Ball acrobatics. The current will greatly increase your jump height and slow your descent speed, so the trick is to lay a bomb when you are almost, but not quite, at the top of your jump so that you will fall onto the bomb just as it explodes. You'll need to do this twice to reach the Bomb Slot. When you activate it, the direction of the currents will switch for a short time. Now go to the first tube past the original Bomb Slot and do the same trick before the timer expires to reach the Energy Tank. 12 DT:CACHE B In the lower chamber of Dark Torvus Temple, roll through the tunnel behind the three statues to reach a door. (This corresponds to the tunnel leading to the elevator to the lower levels in Light Aether.) Through the door is a chamber containing the Energy Tank. 13 SF:REACTOR CORE Once you have the Spider Ball, allow yourself to be fired from the cannon on the floor and use the Spider Ball to latch onto the gold sphere. Roll to the top of the sphere, where a magnetic rail track leads up to another sphere, but wait until the electricity surrounding the track subsides. From the second sphere, position yourself over the red circle and boost to reach another, smaller sphere with another red circle. Continue using the red circles to boost from sphere to sphere until you finally reach another magnetic rail track which leads to the Energy Tank. 14 SF:WATCH STATION ACCESS This Energy Tank is easily accessible in the floor-less hallway that connects Main Gyro Chamber and Watch Station. Just enter the room from Watch Station and you'll find the Energy Tank on a ledge to the left. /============================================================================== B. Beam Ammo Expansions [IV.B] \============================================================================== 01 SG:PROFANE PATH Use the dark portal in Sacred Path to reach this room. There's a sonic gate in the base of the tower of Ingworms. Using the Echo Visor and Annihilator Beam, shoot the gate to hear the combination, then fire at the emitters on the ledge to reproduce the combination. When you do, the gate will open and you can take the Beam Ammo Expansion behind it. 02 AW:CENTRAL MINING STATION Reach the balcony of the Central Mining Station by leaving Command Center through the white door on the upper level. Now use the turrets to destroy the three large cubical devices in the room; these are Space Pirate generators. One is on the ground in front of the skiffs stored on the left wall, one is on a ledge on the right side, and the third is to the left of the shield at the far end of the room. Now jump down from the balcony and use the Pirate Skiff that was knocked loose to reach the top of one of the columns. Jump to the Space Pirate room, then follow the tunnel out of it to a walkway in front of the shield. Roll through the Morph Ball tunnel to the left to find the Beam Ammo Expansion behind the shield. 03 DT:CACHE A This expansion is located in a small room off of Poisoned Bog, the Dark Aether version of Torvus Lagoon. You can reach it by going through the black door in Venemous Pond and passing through Portal Chamber. In Poisoned Bog, you can jump onto a circular platform floating in the water and from there to a ledge with a purple door. Use the Seeker Launcher to open the door, and inside is the expansion. 04 SF:WATCH STATION From the platform with the white door is a Spider Ball track. Halfway along this track you'll see another Spider Ball track above you. Bomb jump up to this track, which leads to a cannon. The cannon will fire you onto another set of Spider Ball tracks. As you navigate this track, you'll have to ride on a set of spinning gears. Lay a bomb when you pass through the red poles to get off the gear before you hit the wall. After the two gears you'll reach a rectangle of Spider Ball tracks. Go to the lower-left corner of the rectangle and drop off to reach more tracks below. Follow this track, which includes navigating two more gears, until you reach a tunnel. Roll right through the tunnel until you see another tunnel leading straight back. Roll through this tunnel to reach a tiny chamber containing the Beam Ammo Expansion. /============================================================================== C. Missile Expansions [IV.C] \============================================================================== 01 TG:HIVE CHAMBER A Once you have the Missile Launcher, return to the pit that you dropped down at the very beginning of your adventure; it's located in between the Landing Site and the Industrial Site. At the bottom of the pit is a special trooper known as the Dark Missile Trooper (it only appears here, so make sure to scan it). This trooper has been possessed by the Ing just like the others, but it can fire Missiles at you. Use the weapon of your choice to defeat it while dodging its missiles, and when it dies it will leave behind a Missile Expansion. 02 TG:HIVE CHAMBER B When you explore the hive a second time, you'll find a Morph Ball tunnel blocked by Talloric Alloy in front of the door out of Hive Chamber B. Use a bomb to destroy the covering, and at the end of the tunnel you'll find the expansion. 03 TG:TRANSPORT TO AGON WASTES Across from the elevator to Agon Wastes is one of the spiderwebs like those you encountered at the Landing Site. Shoot the sac in the center to destroy it and reach a Missile Expansion behind it. 04 TG:TEMPLE ASSEMBLY SITE Use the Space Jump Boots to double jump onto a large block to the left of the door to the elevator. From there you can reach a ledge with two crates on it. Follow this ledge to a Morph Ball tunnel, which leads to a Missile Expansion. 05 TG:COMMUNICATION AREA With the Space Jump Boots, jump onto a wide, flat ledge from the main path. Look for a round metal structure on the ground and lay a Power Bomb to destroy it. You'll find an expansion underneath. 06 TG:GFMC COMPOUND Stand on the ledge with a dead trooper and the door leading to Sacred Path. From here, Screw Attack onto the top of the ship. You'll find a Missile Expansion near the rear. 07 SG:PLAIN OF DARK WORSHIP This room corresponds to Temple Assembly Site. Simply walk into the chamber in the base of the tower of Ingworms to find this expansion. 08 SG:PHAZON GROUNDS This room corresponds to GFMC Compound. There's a cliff on one side of the room, and beyond it you can see a tower with something glowing on it. Screw Attack across the abyss to enter an alcove in the tower and find a Missile Expansion. 09 SG:WAR RITUAL GROUNDS This expansion is found in the room that corresponds to Light Aether's Meeting Grounds. In the center of the massive pillar of Ingworms is a gate. Using the Dark Visor, hit the five targets around it using the Seeker Launcher and the gate will open, giving you access to the expansion. 10 AW:TRANSPORT CENTER This expansion is ridiculously easy to get. After you return to Portal Terminal from your first trip into Dark Aether, go through the newly-opened left-hand door to reach Transport Center. Use the Bomb Slot to lower the gate, allowing you to exit the room and giving you a Missile Expansion. 11 AW:PORTAL ACCESS A This room connects Mining Station A with Portal Terminal, and contains a high wall which a series of Kinetic Orb Cannons which shoot you up to the top. On the Portal Terminal side, the Missile Expansion is hidden in plain sight behind the wall (the dead Luminoth may partially block your view of it). Roll around the wall (avoiding the cannon) to get it. 12 AW:MINING STATION A Use a Power Bomb to destroy a section of Denzium wall. The cannon you reveal will fire you onto a Spider Ball track at the top of the wall. Follow the track to reach a Missile Expansion. 13 AW:SAND CACHE Once you have the Amber translator update, return to Mining Station A. Open the translator door there, and in the room behind it you'll find an expansion. 14 AW:STORAGE A In Mining Station B there's a weak section of Denzium wall. Destroy it with a Power Bomb to reveal a door. In the storage room through the door is an expansion. 15 AW:COMMAND CENTER While rolling through the tunnels under the floor, look for a second tunnel that branches off to the right near the center of the room. Follow this tunnel to find a Missile Expansion underneath the floor. 16 AW:STORAGE B After you get the Dark Beam, return to Biostorage Station. After destroying the Metroids that will attack, go through the black door on the upper level. Inside is a Missile Expansion. 17 AW:STORAGE C This expansion is in a storage room off of Bioenergy Production, the room with the three towers of platforms that can be moved. On the side of the room where the controls for each set of platforms is located, there's a Spider Ball track near the corner. Following this track will lead you across the ceiling, then you'll have to boost across several small sections of track. When you see another track above you, boost off the lower track to reach it, then boost onto a track on the top of one of the platform towers. Roll to the other side of the tower, then boost off the track to land on a ledge with a green door. Open it with a Super Missile to enter a storage room containing a Missile Expansion amidst several small fires. 18 AW:SAND PROCESSING Once you have the Boost Ball, you can boost up the halfpipe to reach a pipe that leads to a control area. Scan the computer terminal, then activate the Bomb Slot to drain the sand out of the other end of the room, revealing a Missile Expansion. 19 AW:MAIN REACTOR Along one wall of the room are a series of cylindrical tanks containing Phazon. On the wall next to the end of these tanks is a Spider Ball track. (It's just around the corner from another track that leads to the door to Sandcanyon). From this track you'll have to boost onto a series of robots, each moving up and down and a grate with only one opening separating each. If you miss and fall into Phazon, there's a hole in the wall closest to the screen from which you can escape. If you make it across, bomb the glass to grab a Missile Expansion. 20 AW:VENTILATION AREA A This is the Morph Ball area connecting Sandcanyon with Main Reactor. There's a tunnel leading up from above one of the platforms with a Pillbug on it. Double jump on top of the platform, then do another double jump up the tunnel. This will lead you to the expansion. 21 DA:ING CACHE 4 Once you have the Dark Beam, head to this room which corresponds to the hallway leading to the Temple Grounds elevator. Underneath the ledge you enter the room on is a Morph Ball tunnel with an expansion at the end. 22 DA:CROSSROADS Use the Boost Ball to boost up the halfpipe in Transport Center in Agon Wastes. On top of one side of the halfpipe is a door leading to an elevator to Torvus Bog, while on the other side is a Dark Portal. Go through the portal, and when you emerge in Dark Aether, the expansion will be right in front of you. 23 DA:JUNCTION SITE This is a Morph Ball tunnel that leads through an egg-shaped structure. In the center of the "egg" is a vertical Spider Ball track. Ride the track up to a Bomb Slot, which will rotate the structure to reveal a Missile Expansion. 24 DA:WARRIOR'S WALK You'll need the Super Missile to open the green doors to this room, which connects Judgment Pit and Battleground. You can bomb a weak section of the floor, but there's Phazon underneath. Drop into the Phazon and quickly reach the other side of the Phazon, where you'll find a Missile Expansion. 25 TB:TORVUS LAGOON To the right of the ramp that leads from the bottom of the water up to dry ground is an area covered in Venom Weed. If you have the Gravity Boost, you can reach a Missile Expansion on a ledge above the Venom Weed. 26 TB:PATH OF ROOTS From the ledge with the door to Great Bridge, you can reach a Grapple Point that will let you swing to a platform with the expansion. 27 TB:PORTAL CHAMBER In the Dark Aether version of Portal Chamber, there are platforms that you can jump up near the door to Poisoned Bog. At the top of these platforms is another Morph Ball tunnel that will take you to the Light Portal. When the portal deposits you in the Light Aether side, you can easily collect the expansion. 28 TB:ABANDONED WORKSITE On the Great Bridge side of Abandoned Worksite is a Grapple Point that will let you swing to an expansion on a ledge. 29 TB:FORGOTTEN BRIDGE The first time you reach Forgotten Bridge, cross the bridge to the Dark Portal and enter it. In Dark Aether, activate the Bomb Slot to rotate the bridge in both worlds. Return to Light Aether, and after fighting several Dark Pirate Commandos for a few minutes, you can cross the rotated bridge to reach a Missile Expansion in front of the door to Abandoned Worksite. 30 TB:PLAZA ACCESS This is the Morph Ball passage that connects Forgotten Bridge with Torvus Plaza, the Light Aether equivalent of the room where you fight the Boost Guardian. Make your way through the Morph Ball maze, activating the Bomb Slots to rotate the devices, and once you activate both slots you can enter a tunnel that leads straight back. On the other side is a halfpipe, and by boosting to the top of it you'll find a Missile Expansion. 31 TB:TORVUS GROVE There is a massive tree in the center of Torvus Grove with several massive roots growing out of the ground. Some of these roots have been weakened by nearby Phazon and Denzium, so use a Power Bomb to destroy them. This will cause the entire tree to lean, falling into a rock wall and reducing it to rubble. Behind the wall is a Missile Expansion. 32 TB:UNDERGROUND TUNNEL This is the watery passage that connects Torvus Temple and Torvus Grove. Simply roll underneath the platform with the door to Torvus Temple to find a Missile Expansion. 33 TB:HYDRODYNAMO STATION Drop down to the bottom of Hydrodynamo Station (the main room in the lower level of Torvus) and scan the panel there. This will cause a platform to extend in front of a purple door higher up. Return to the top of the room and use the platform to reach the ledge, which has a Missile Expansion on it as well. 34 TB:TRAINING CHAMBER Roll up the Spider Ball track located to the left of the statue to reach a Bomb Slot on the statue. When the slot is activated, the statue will slide forward, revealing a Missile Expansion in its previous location. 35 TB:GATHERING HALL Use a Power Bomb to destroy the Denzium floor in the middle of the room, then destroy the yellow plug in the bottom of the exposed basin with another Power Bomb. This will drain all the water out of the room, and you can use the curved walls of the basin to boost up to Spider Ball tracks suspended from the ceiling on either side. At the end of each track is a Bomb Slot, and when both slots are activated the force field surrounding the Missile Expansion will lower. Grapple to the ledge with the laser, then turn and jump onto the newly-extended platform to reach the expansion. 36 TB:TRANSIT TUNNEL SOUTH This Morph Ball tunnel connecting Catacombs and Gathering Hall can only be accessed through gray doors, so return here once you have the Annihilator Beam. On the Catacombs side you'll find a Bomb Slot, which will cause one of the water jets to propel water in the opposite direction. Using the lift from the water, you can double bomb jump up a shaft to another series of tunnels, where you'll find another Bomb Slot. This slot will also reverse the flow of water in one shaft, allowing you to bomb jump up it and reach a third Bomb Slot. There's a Missile Expansion at the top of the shaft which this final slot affects, but to reach it you'll have to drop down to the bottom and go through the entire maze again. Once you've reached the bottom of the shaft with the expansion, bomb jump to claim it. 37 DT:UNDERTRANSIT ONE This Morph Ball tunnel connects Crypt and Sacrificial Chamber. It consists of a stack of three pipes which are connected through a number of vertical gaps. However, you can't see through the walls of the pipes, which makes it easy to hide a Missile Expansion in them. The expansion is located in the top pipe, just to the left of the central wall. To get it, head for the spot in the middle pipe just to the left of this, underneath a gap. From here, if you bomb up and to the left, you'll reach a ledge from which you can go through the central ring. However, if you bomb up and to the right, you'll find the Missile Expansion. 38 DT:UNDERTEMPLE Return to the room where you fought the Power Bomb Guardian once you have the Screw Attack. On the walls beside the light portal here are a pair of wall jump surfaces. Use the Screw Attack to ascend the walls, where you'll find a Missile Expansion at the top. 39 SF:SANCTUARY MAP STATION This room is through a door at the left end of the hallway in Main Reactor, as you face the center of the room. Once you have the Light Suit, step into the beam of yellow light and it will transport you to an upper level of the room, where you'll find a Missile Expansion. 40 SF:HALL OF COMBAT MASTERY Use the Spider Ball to climb a magnetic rail track located on the side of a wall near the door to the elevator. This track leads to a long series of Morph Ball tunnels where you will have to dodge flames, lasers, and Phazon through a combination of good timing and accurate bomb jumping. If you make it to the end, you'll receive a Missile Expansion. 41 SF:MAIN RESEARCH One wall of Main Research is colored blue and is covered with several mechanical devices and Spider Ball tracks. As you follow the track, you'll have to constantly avoid devices that will knock you off as well as jumping over gaps in the track and dropping to lower tracks. If you can make it all the way to the end without getting knocked off, you'll earn a Missile Expansion. 42 SF:DYNAMO WORKS After defeating the Spider Guardian, use your new Spider Ball to backtrack through the area in which you fought him. After you pass the passage just before the area where the final phase of the battle takes place, the track will lead up and around a large block at a corner. At the top of this track you can bomb jump off the track onto a ledge, which leads to a Missile Expansion and a tunnel that will drop you off in the other side of Dynamo Works. 43 SF:CENTRAL AREA TRANSPORT WEST After you get shot up to the top of this shaft by the Kinetic Orb Cannons, drop down onto a platform that takes up most of the shaft. Along the wall are three vertical Morph Ball tunnels. Drop down the left tunnel, then go right at the next two intersections. You will fall right into a Missile Expansion before you reach the bottom of the shaft. 44 SF:TEMPLE ACCESS Switch to the Echo Visor while standing on the high ledge with the door from Main Gyro Chamber and you'll see a sonic transmitter on the pillar in front of you. Shoot the transmitter, then quickly drop to the lower level and get fired from the cannon before time runs out. You will fall beneath the floor of the lower section, where a Missile Expansion rests. To get out, use the Spinner also located under the floor. 45 SF:SENTINEL'S PATH After you obtain the Annihilator Beam, you can enter this hallway that connects the temple to Watch Station. In the middle of the hallway is a sonic gate with three sonic key emitters in front of it. Open the gate by entering the correct combination, using the Echo Visor and Annihilator Beam, to access the Missile Expansion behind it. 46 IH:HAZING CLIFF This room is accessed via a door in Culling Chamber near to the portal generator. It contains a Dark Tallon Metroid, and at the far side is a short tunnel guarded by two Dark Diligence Drones. Destroy the drones with the Light Beam, and you can claim the expansion at the end of the tunnel behind them. 47 IH:AERIAL TRAINING SITE There is a Wall Jump Surface right in front of the light portal in this room. Using the Screw Attack, wall jump up the short wall to grab a Missile Expansion on a nearby ledge. 48 GT:TRANSPORT A ACCESS This expansion is located in the hallway connecting the elevator from Sacred Path with the Temple Sanctuary. There is a Save Station accessible through a Morph Ball-sized hole in the wall here, and if you bomb part of the wall of the Save Station chamber, you'll discover a ramp sloping down to a Missile Expansion hidden underneath the Save Station. 49 GT:TRANSPORT B ACCESS This expansion can be found in the hallway connecting the elevator from Temple Assembly Site with the Temple Sanctuary. On the left wall (as you face the sanctuary door), is a vertical Morph Ball passage. Bomb jump up the ledges in the wall to reach a tunnel that zigzags above and around the hallway before leading you to a Missile Expansion. /============================================================================== D. Power Bomb Expansions [IV.D] \============================================================================== 01 TG:DYNAMO CHAMBER This tunnel connects Temple Assembly Site and Communication Area. The lower half of the tunnel is blocked off on both ends by Mark VII gates, which can only be destroyed with a Power Bomb. Destroy the gates, then use another Power Bomb on the section of weak Denzium wall to reveal a Power Bomb Expansion. 02 AW:SANDCANYON This is a large cliff, crossed using Kinetic Orb Cannons, that connects Agon Temple and Main Reactor. There is a small ledge in the center of the canyon, which you can reach using the Screw Attack. Once on the ledge, use a Power Bomb on the Denzium rock there. This will cause the entire metal structure it was supporting to fall into the cliff and will allow you to take a Power Bomb Expansion. 03 DA:FEEDING PIT This room in Dark Agon Wastes contains dark water, several ledges, and lots of Lumites. Once you have the Light Suit, drop into the dark water. You'll find an underwater alcove containing a Power Bomb Expansion. 04 TB:GREAT BRIDGE At the other end of the bridge from the temple entrance is a Denzium rock. Power Bomb it to reveal a Morph Ball tunnel, which has a Power Bomb Expansion hidden inside. 05 DT:PUTRID ALCOVE This small room connects Dark Forgotten Bridge with Poisoned Bog, and is home to a Dark Phlogus. Power Bomb a section of Denzium wall on the side of the room to find a Power Bomb Expansion. 06 SF:SANCTUARY ENTRANCE Use a Power Bomb to destroy the sheet of cracked Denzium in front of the elevator to the left of the door leading deeper into the fortress. At the top of the elevator is a control panel which will activate a cannon located nearby. The cannon will fire you onto a platform with a Vigilance Class Turret. Use the turret to destroy two weakened sections of wall, one on each side of the bridge. (By switching to the Scan Visor, you can see which sections of wall to attack.) Once the walls are destroyed, use the cannon to return to the fortress-side ledge, then jump up the ledges and ride the Spider Ball track to the right of the door to reach one of the newly-exposed ledges. The cannon here will fire you across to the other exposed ledge, where a Power Bomb Expansion awaits. 07 SF:TRANSIT STATION This expansion is found in the room connecting Main Research and Main Reactor. Behind a Denzium plate in the center of the room is a dark portal. Enter the portal, and in the dark version of the room you'll encounter a Dark Ingsmasher. After it's been defeated, go through the light portal behind where it came from. Back in the light world, roll through the Morph Ball tunnel to reach another dark portal, where a Spider Ball track will lead to yet another light portal. Follow the Spider Ball track here to finally claim a Power Bomb Expansion. 08 SF:MAIN GYRO CHAMBER At the bottom of Main Gyro Chamber is a sonic gate. Use the Echo Visor and Annihilator Beam to learn the gate's combination, then enter it using the sonic key emitters on the bottom level. When you enter the combination correctly, the gate will open to reveal a Kinetic Orb Cannon. The cannon will fire you into the purple ball of energy in the center of the room, destroying it and revealing a Power Bomb Expansion. ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ V. D A T A N E T W O R K [V] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ This section lists every Data Network (Pause Menu) entry, arranged just as in the game. It is divided into three main subsections: Inventory, Logbook, and Options. Entries are arranged in various categories and subcategories just as they are in the game. Actual entries appear capitalized to distinguish them from categories. Due to the wide scope of information contained in the Data Network, this section contains a large amount of game information. If what you're looking for isn't anywhere else in this guide, chances are it's in here somewhere. Finally, an important note: all item locations will be given in the following manner: a two-letter abbreviation for the region name, followed by the room name. For example, TG:Landing Site. Room names are displayed on the map, so if you don't recognize a room name, look for it there. These are the region abbreviations that will be used: TG: Temple Grounds SG: Sky Temple Grounds AW: Agon Wastes DA: Dark Agon Wastes TB: Torvus Bog DT: Dark Torvus Bog SF: Sanctuary Fortress IH: Ing Hive GT: Great Temple ST: Sky Temple /============================================================================== A. Inventory [V.A] \============================================================================== This subsection lists the contents of the Inventory section of the Data Network. For each entry, a description of the item is given, along with its location and any other relevant information, such as ammo or vulnerable materials. For the Dark Temple Keys category, a description of how to get the key will be provided. 1. Armor [V.A.1] =============================================================================== a. VARIA SUIT This is Samus's classic orange suit that she wears at the beginning of the game. Since it was not designed with Dark Aether in mind, it is most vulnerable to the atmosphere of Dark Aether. Your energy will deplete rapidly while not inside a Safe Zone, so spend as little time as possible outside them while you have this suit. LOCATION: default b. DARK SUIT This suit has a very different look from the Varia Suit; it looks somewhat antique, and doesn't have the sleek curves of the Varia Suit. However, this is the suit you will wear the majority of the game, and it reduces the effects of Dark Aether's atmosphere. While in Dark Aether with this suit, your energy will deplete at the same rate that it refills while inside a Safe Zone; about 1 energy unit per second. LOCATION: DA:Dark Agon Temple c. LIGHT SUIT This super-cool suit will be given to you by U-Mos after you return the planetary energy to all three regions. With this suit, Dark Aether's atmosphere will not damage you at all, and you will also gain the ability to teleport using beams of yellow light. You can use this ability to instantly travel between regions by using an Energy Controller, and you will also encounter beams of light in some rooms, which you can use to reach different parts of the room. LOCATION: GT:Main Energy Controller 2. Visors [V.A.2] =============================================================================== a. COMBAT VISOR This is the standard visor that displays wavelengths in the visible spectrum and that you will use the majority of the time. It also displays the most information about your surroundings. Your energy meter appears in the top center, with radar and a map of the room to the left and right. Along the left side is the environmental threat meter, which warns you of nearby hazardous substances, and along the right side are gauges which display your current amounts of Missiles and Ammo. Finally, your visors and beams are displayed in the lower left and right corners. LOCATION: default b. SCAN VISOR With this visor, you can scan creatures and objects to learn about them. When you use the visor, scannable objects will appear either blue, red, or green. To scan an object, simply lock-on to it (i.e., hold down L). A meter will appear, and once the object is scanned, the game will pause so you can read the information. Remember to continue holding down L while you read (unless you press Start to enter the Data Network). Creatures and non-essential scans will appear blue, Logbook entries and essential scans will appear red, and objects that have already been scanned will appear green. By scanning, you can learn enemies' weaknesses, operate machinery, and learn about the story. Finally, you cannot fire while using the Scan Visor; if you press A or Y, you will automatically switch to the Combat Visor. LOCATION: default c. DARK VISOR The Dark Visor allows you to see objects that would otherwise be invisible. While using the Dark Visor, the environment will be displayed in shades of blue. Inside the irregular shape in the center of the visor, creatures and hidden objects will appear red. If you can't see something that you know must be there, or if you need to cross a gap with no visible means to do so, take a look through the Dark Visor. Also, if a scan mentions that something does not exist in the "visible spectrum or current timespace", that's a clue to use the Dark Visor. LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Temple d. ECHO VISOR Definitely the coolest visor in the game, the Echo Visor uses sonar, allowing you to see sound. While using this visor, everything will appear black, and you will only be able to see the outlines of objects. However, you will also be able to interact with special sound-based devices, which will be represented by icons in the Echo Visor. LOCATION: SF:Aerie 3. Weapon Systems [V.A.3] =============================================================================== a. Beam Weapons --------------- i. POWER BEAM This is Samus's standard weapon, and it is the only beam you have at the beginning of the game. It fires small energy shots, and has unlimited ammo. It is weakest beam, but also has the fastest rate of fire. LOCATION: default ii. DARK BEAM This beam fires shots of dark energy, and requires Dark Ammo to fire. Shots from the Dark Beam travel slowly, and it also has the second-slowest rate of fire. However, the Dark Beam is stronger than the Power Beam, and a charged shot (called an Entangler) can freeze most enemies for a limited time. Contrary to popular belief, the Dark Beam is not more effective against light creatures than on dark creatures, but it is less effective on dark creatures. If you run out of Dark Ammo, you can continue to use the Dark Beam: charge it up to fire a regular Dark Beam shot. To increase your maximum Dark Ammo capacity, find Beam Ammo Expansions. If you played Metroid Prime, the Dark Beam is analogous to the Ice Beam. AMMO: 1 Dark Ammo/regular shot, 5 Dark Ammo/charged shot LOCATION: AW:Storage D iii. LIGHT BEAM The counterpart to the Dark Beam, the Light Beam fires beams of light energy. This weapon is about as strong as the Dark Beam, and is especially effective against dark creatures. The beam can pierce through multiple enemies, but it has a limited range and the slowest rate of fire. The Light Beam requires Light Ammo, and by charging it up, you can fire a super-powerful Lightblast, which can also set some enemies on fire. If you run out of Light Ammo, you can fire a regular Light Beam shot by charging the beam. To your maximum Light Ammo capacity, find Beam Ammo Expansion. Continuing the comparison to Metroid Prime, this beam is similar to the Plasma Beam. AMMO: 1 Light Ammo/regular shot, 5 Light Ammo/charged shot LOCATION: DA:Ing Cache 1 iv. ANNIHILATOR BEAM The Annihilator Beam mixes light and dark energy, with the result being a sonic blast that is effective against both light and dark enemies. This beam is almost as strong as the Dark or Light Beams, has a rate of fire almost as fast as the Power Beam, and can be used to activate certain sound-based devices. It can also home in on targets, making it most like Metroid Prime's Wave Beam, though overall the Annihilator Beam is very unique. The Annihilator Beam requires both Light and Dark Ammo, and by charging it you can fire a Disruptor blast. If you run out of either Light or Dark Ammo, you can fire a regular Annihilator shot by charging the beam. AMMO: 1 Dark Ammo + 1 Light Ammo/regular shot, 5 Dark Ammo + 5 Light Ammo/charged shot LOCATION: IH:Hive Temple v. CHARGE BEAM The Charge Beam allows you to charge up all of your beam weapons by holding down A. A charged shot will do approximately 5 times as much damage as a regular shot, and will also require 5 Ammo instead of 1. The Charge Beam also has a "tractor beam" ability that allows you to draw pickups to you by holding a charged blast. In addition, you can find items called Charge Combos that combine the power of your beam weapons with Missiles. LOCATION: default b. Missile Systems ------------------ i. MISSILE LAUNCHER The Missile Launcher allows you to fire... missiles (betcha didn't see that coming). Missiles provide a powerful concussive force, and are about as strong as a charged Power Beam blast. When locked-on, Missiles will home in on their target. You must have missile ammo to fire missiles, and they have a slow rate of fire. To increase your maximum missile capacity, you can find Missile Expansions. VULNERABLE MATERIAL: Brinstone AMMO: 1 Missile LOCATION: TG:GFMC Compound ii. SEEKER MISSILE LAUNCHER With the Seeker Missile Launcher, you can fire up to 5 Missiles at once, either at separate targets or at the same target. To use the Seeker Missile Launcher, hold down Y. Your Missile Launcher will charge up, and an orange targeting reticule will appear. If you are not locked-on, use R to move the reticule over targets. An orange circle will appear around each target, and when you release Y, missiles will fly to each target. If you are locked-on, as you hold down Y dots will appear inside the targeting reticule, up to a maximum of 5. The number of dots indicates the number of missiles that will be fired when you release Y. AMMO: 1-5 Missile(s) LOCATION: TG:Hall of Honored Dead c. Charge Combos ---------------- i. CHARGE COMBO Charge combos are items that allow you to combine one of your beam weapons with missiles, creating an extremely powerful attack. None of the charge combos, except the Super Missile, are required to complete the game, so they can be difficult to find. Also, most have a very high cost and can be difficult to use effectively, meaning they may not be very useful other than for increasing your percentage. Regardless, to fire a Charge Combo, charge up the appropriate beam, then press Y while still holding down A. ii. SUPER MISSILE This is the Power Beam's charge combo, and it is the one you will use the most, along with being the only charge combo required to complete the game. The Super Missile is nothing more than a super-powerful missile, and it packs quite a punch. It is very useful both for fighting bosses and for killing regular creatures quickly. AMMO: 5 missiles LOCATION: TB:Torvus Temple iii. DARKBURST This is the Dark Beam's Charge Combo. It creates a huge black sphere that will swallow up anything near it. AMMO: 5 missiles + 30 dark ammo LOCATION: AW:Mining Station B iv. SUNBURST This is the Light Beam's Charge Combo. It creates a large burst of light that will do heavy damage (and set fire) to any enemies nearby, especially dark creatures. AMMO: 5 missiles + 30 light ammo LOCATION: TG:Grand Windchamber v. SONIC BOOM This is the Annihilator Beam's Charge Combo. It generates a loud noise which will do heavy damage to any enemies in the vicinity. Although costly, this charge combo can be quite effective at quickly clearing a room of enemies. AMMO: 5 missiles + 30 dark ammo + 30 light ammo LOCATION: DA:Ing Cache 2 4. Movement Systems [V.A.4] =============================================================================== a. SPACE JUMP BOOTS The Space Jump Boots allow you to perform a double jump, meaning you can jump twice as high and far as you could previously. To do a double jump, press B to jump, then press B again while still in the air. LOCATION: DA:Judgment Pit b. GRAVITY BOOST With the Gravity Boost, you not only receive the ability to see and move underwater just as well as on land, bu you will also be able to propel yourself up through the water. To use the Gravity Boost, press B twice to do a double jump, then press and hold down B again. You will gradually rise through the water for as long as you hold down B, up to a maximum of several seconds. The Gravity Boost also allows the Morph Ball to function normally underwater. LOCATION: TB:Hydrochamber Storage c. GRAPPLE BEAM Once you have the Grapple Beam, you can use special Grapple Points to swing across large gaps. Grapple Points will appear in your visor as a yellow circle with a grapple icon inside. Once the Grapple Point is in range, the icon will turn bright blue. Once this happens, hold down L to latch onto the Grapple Point and swing across the gap. While attached, use the Control Stick to change direction and gain momentum, then release L to let go. By quickly releasing and holding L, you can swing from one Grapple Point to another. Also, you can fire weapons while grappling. LOCATION: DT:Sacrificial Chamber d. SCREW ATTACK One of the coolest items in the game, the Screw Attack allows you to curl up and fly through the air, killing any enemies that get in your way. To use the Screw Attack, do a double jump while moving forward. After pressing B twice, press it a third time to start a Screw Attack. The camera will switch to third-person, and you can keep pressing B to stay in the air. Note that you can only press B five times once the Screw Attack starts, and if you don't press B, you will fall and the Screw Attack will end. You can use the Screw Attack to cross very long gaps, and you can also use it to climb special Wall Jump Surfaces. Screw Attack into one of these walls, and you will attach to the side of it. Quickly press B again to jump to the opposite wall, and continue pressing B until you reach the top of the wall. LOCATION: SF:Vault 5. Morph Ball Systems [V.A.5] =============================================================================== a. Morph Balls -------------- i. MORPH BALL One of Samus's signature items, the Morph Ball allows you to turn into a small ball that can be used to navigate tunnels and operate certain devices. Rolling with the Morph Ball is faster than walking, so you can use it if you need some extra speed. Also, any time a scan mentions "Kinetic Orbs", that means the Morph Ball is involved in some way. LOCATION: default ii. BOOST BALL With the Boost Ball, you can "charge up" the Morph Ball by holding B, then release it to get a temporary speed boost. The primary use of this is to climb halfpipes. When you encounter a halfpipe, roll up one side and charge up a boost as you do so. Release the boost as you start rolling up the opposite side to shoot up higher. Charge another boost as you descend, and release it once you start climbing the other side. Repeat until you reach the top. Also, you can boost into enemies to damage them. LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Arena iii. SPIDER BALL The Spider Ball allows you to latch onto special magnetic tracks, which you can use to climb walls and reach new areas. These magnetic tracks look like blue or red arrows in Sanctuary Fortress, and like gold rails everywhere else. To latch onto a track, roll up to it and hold R. Use the Control Stick while continuing to hold R to move along the track. If you do a bomb jump while on a Spider Ball track, you will disengage from the track, which you can use to jump to new tracks. You can also use the Boost Ball to disengage from a track (you will boost directly away from the track), which you can also use to jump from track to track. LOCATION: SF:Dynamo Works b. Bomb Systems --------------- i. MORPH BALL BOMB These are small explosive devices that have a variety of uses. You have an unlimited supply of these, but you can only lay 3 at a time. Bombs can be used to damage some enemies, and are also necessary to activate Bomb Slots. Another important use of Bombs is to perform bomb jumps. If a Bomb explodes next to the Morph Ball, it will pop the Morph Ball into the air, which you can use to get over small walls and obstacles. If you have good timing and reflexes, it's also possible to perform a double bomb jump, which sends you twice as high as normal. This is not required to complete the game, but is necessary to reach some expansions. Here's how to do a double bomb jump: 1. Lay one Bomb. 2. Lay a second Bomb a moment before the first one detonates. 3. When the first Bomb detonates and sends you into the air, lay a third Bomb at the apex of your jump. 4. The second Bomb should detonate as soon as you reach the ground, sending you up into the third Bomb, which will detonate to send you even higher. VULNERABLE MATERIAL: Talloric Alloy LOCATION: AW:Agon Temple ii. POWER BOMB Power Bombs are very strong explosives that can be used to destroy both obstacles and enemies. You only have a limited number of these, but you can find Power Bomb Expansions that increase your maximum capacity. Note that you cannot perform a bomb jump with a Power Bomb. VULNERABLE MATERIAL: Denzium AMMO: 1 Power Bomb LOCATION: DT:Undertemple 6. Miscellaneous [V.A.6] =============================================================================== a. Suit Expansions [V.A.6.a] ------------------ i. ENERGY TANK Each Energy Tank you find will increase your maximum energy by 100 units, which allows you to take more damage before dying. Energy Tanks look like blue cylinders with gray caps on the end, and there are 14 in all, for a maximum energy of 1499 units. Each Energy Tank you have in reserve will be represented by a square above your energy meter. When the meter (representing the current tank) reaches zero, one square will empty and the meter will refill. You will die only when all the squares are empty and the meter reaches zero. ii. BEAM AMMO EXPANSION These expansions increase the maximum capacity of your Light and Dark Ammo by 50. There are 4 of these in the game, for a maximum of 250 Light and Dark Ammo. They look like flat teardrop-shaped crystals. iii. MISSILE EXPANSION Missile Expansions look like short, stubby, orange and black Missiles, and each one you find will increase your Missile capacity by 5. There are 49 of these in the game, some quite well hidden. Combined with the 5 Missiles you gain automatically when you get the Missile Launcher and the Seeker Launcher, that makes a maximum capacity of 255 Missiles. iv. POWER BOMB EXPANSION These look like large gray and orange disks, and each one increases your Power Bomb capacity by 1. There are 8 of these in the game, and combined with the 2 you start with, makes a maximum total of 10 Power Bombs. v. ENERGY TRANSFER MODULE This object looks very simple: it's simply a glowing, blue sphere. However, it was created by the Luminoth to transfer Dark Aether's planetary energy back to Light Aether. You will find it when you first visit the Great Temple, allowing you to absorb energy from Dark Aether's Energy Controllers and deposit in in Light Aether. LOCATION: GT:Temple Sanctuary b. Dark Temple Keys [V.A.6.b] ------------------- This category lists all the keys needed to open the temples for each region, as well as the Sky Temple keys. For this category, the location of each key is provided along with a description of how to obtain it. i. Dark Agon Keys [V.A.6.b.i] = = = = = = = = = = a) DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 1 Enter the Dark Agon Temple, then follow the path to the left, using the Light Beacons for protection. The key can be found in a tiny chamber through a door on the left. LOCATION: DA:Trial Tunnel b) DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 2 The first time you reach Dark Agon from the Command Center, you'll see the key resting on a high ledge across the room. To reach it, fire a missile at the Luminoth sculpture on the back of the stone platform next to the Nullified Crystal. Fire a Dark Beam shot at the switch behind the statue to lower the platform. Now you can jump on top of the platform and use it to reach the key. LOCATION: DA:Doomed Entry c) DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 3 Once you have the Light Beam, go through the door in Doomed Entry behind where you found the second key to reach Battleground. Here you must defeat a group of Warrior Ing in order to retrieve the key. LOCATION: DA:Battleground ii. Dark Torvus Keys [V.A.6.b.ii] = = = = = = = = = = = a) DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY 1 After defeating the Boost Guardian, return to the main part of the room and boost up the large halfpipe in the center of the room. High up on one side of the wall is an alcove containing the key. LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Arena b) DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY 2 After defeating the Alpha Blogg, use the Gravity Boost to reach the door out of Main Hydrochamber. Just past the door, in front of where the school of Hydlings is, there is a cylindrical ledge. Use the Gravity Boost to reach the top of the ledge, where you'll find a Dark Portal. Go through the portal and collect the key waiting on the ledge. LOCATION: DT:Undertemple Access c) DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY 3 Once you have the Grapple Beam, head to Venemous Pond, the Dark Aether version of Great Bridge. On the ledge with the door towards Dark Forgotten Bridge is a Morph Ball tunnel. It leads to a ledge from which you can grapple to the key, which is above the door to Dark Torvus Temple. LOCATION: DT:Venemous Pond iii. Ing Hive Keys [V.A.6.b.iii] = = = = = = = = = = a) ING HIVE TEMPLE KEY 1 Once you have the Spider Ball, return to the Hall of Combat Mastery and use the portal generator there. In Dark Aether, look for a red Spider Ball track where the hallway bends. This will take you inside the wall, where you can follow the tunnels and Spider Ball tracks over the Phazon to the key. LOCATION: IH:Culling Chamber b) ING HIVE TEMPLE KEY 2 Use the dark portal in Dynamo Works, then use the nearby white door. In the next room, use the Echo Visor to locate and destroy the transmitters for the sonic gate. Once the gate is down, you can proceed to Hive Gyro Chamber. The central sphere is magnetic, so use the Spider Ball to roll up it to the track at the top. At the end of the track, boost onto the circular ring, then boost across the ring to intercept the second key. LOCATION: IH:Hive Gyro Chamber c) ING HIVE TEMPLE KEY 3 After finding the Screw Attack, return to Main Research and use the dark portal there. Jump onto the platform you raised before fighting the Caretaker drone, and from here you can reach a second ledge from which you can jump to a door. In the tall shaft, use the Screw Attack to wall jump all the way to the top. The door at the top leads into the enclosed chamber in Aerial Training Site with the key waiting for you. LOCATION: IH:Aerial Training Site iv. Sky Temple Keys [V.A.6.b.iv] = = = = = = = = = = = a) Keys Dark Agon - - - - - - - - - i) SKY TEMPLE KEY 1 Enter Battleground from the upper (black) door of Judgment Pit. You'll be standing on an upper ledge with two Warrior Ing below you. Kill the Warrior Ing, but do not jump or fall off the ledge. Once they're dead, switch to the Dark Visor and you'll see several invisible platforms in the air. From the left side of the ledge you can easily jump to the first platform, then carefully jump to the next two. You can reach each platform with a single jump, and don't jump unless you're sure you can make it, because if you fall you'll have to go back to Judgment Pit to reach the upper ledge again. Once you reach the third platform, you can jump off onto a ledge in the wall. From there, carefully jump to the last moving platform (this one may require a double jump). From the last platform, jump to the far ledge where the Flying Ing Cache rests. Destroy the cache to reveal the Sky Temple Key. LOCATION: DA:Battleground ii) SKY TEMPLE KEY 2 In the center of Dark Oasis (corresponds to Main Reactor) is a weak Denzium wall. Destroy it with a Power Bomb to reveal a lake of dark water. Drop into the water to find the Flying Ing Cache and the key. LOCATION: DA:Dark Oasis b) Keys Dark Torvus - - - - - - - - - - i) SKY TEMPLE KEY 3 This key is hidden in Poisoned Bog, which corresponds to Torvus Lagoon in Light Aether. Drop into the toxic water here and head down the passage to the right of the ramp leading out of the water. At the end of the passage is a Flying Ing Cache, which as always contains the key. LOCATION: DT:Poisoned Bog ii) SKY TEMPLE KEY 4 This key is found in the lower level of Dark Torvus Bog, in Dungeon, to be precise (corresponds to Catacombs). This room has a metal grate floor, but underneath the portal is a small pool of toxic water. Drop into this water to discover an underwater network of hallways underneath the floor. Activate the Light Beacons to move the Watchdrones blocking the path, and at the end you'll find a Flying Ing Cache. LOCATION: DT:Dungeon c) Keys Hive - - - - - - i) SKY TEMPLE KEY 5 Head to Hive Entrance, the dark version of Sanctuary Entrance. Screw Attack across the huge chasm, making sure to spread your "jumps" as far apart as possible for maximum distance. On the far side is a beam of light, which will transport you up to a higher ledge. Now Screw Attack back across from this height to reach a ledge where you'll find the Flying Ing Cache. LOCATION: IH:Hive Entrance ii) SKY TEMPLE KEY 6 In Sanctuary Fortress (Light Aether), go to the side of Dynamo Works where you fought the Spider Guardian. (This is accessible via Sanctuary Temple.) Roll through the tunnels until you reach the chamber at the end where you got the Spider Ball. Power Bomb the door in this chamber to find a dark portal. Now in Dark Aether, roll through the tunnel to reach a pit. Roll up the Spider Ball track on the wall, then boost onto a moving magnetic sphere. Position yourself on the red circles on the spheres, then time your boosts so that you jump from sphere to sphere and finally onto another track. The track will end on a ledge on the far side, which is home to a Flying Ing Cache containing the Sky Temple Key. LOCATION: IH:Hive Dynamo Works d) Keys Temple Grounds - - - - - - - - - - - i) SKY TEMPLE KEY 7 This key is found in a storage room off of Reliquary Grounds, which corresponds to Communication Area. Use the dark portal in Sacred Path to enter Sky Temple Grounds, then make your way to this room. There are no tricks here; the Flying Ing Cache containing the key is simply waiting for you at the bottom of the ramp. LOCATION: SG:Ing Reliquary ii) SKY TEMPLE KEY 8 This key is located in the Dark Aether room which corresponds to Landing Site. Use the dark portal in Hall of Eyes to reach this section of Sky Temple Grounds, then make your way to this room. You'll find the Flying Ing Cache near where your ship would be. LOCATION: SG:Defiled Shrine iii) SKY TEMPLE KEY 9 This key is found in the room corresponding to Industrial Site. Use the dark portal in Temple Assembly Site to reach the correct section of Sky Temple Grounds, then make your way to this room. The Flying Ing Cache is located on the far side of the lake from the door; kill it to expose the Sky Temple Key. LOCATION: SG:Accursed Lake /============================================================================== B. Logbook [V.B] \============================================================================== For entries that can only be scanned once or a limited number of times, a line of * will appear from the left edge to the entry name, calling your attention to it. If an entire category can only be scanned once, such as for the bosses, then the series of * will appear next to the category name, and the same number of * will appear next to each item in that category. 1. Lore [V.B.1] =============================================================================== For this category, the location where each entry can be found will be listed to the right of the entry name. a. Trooper Logs [V.B.1.a] --------------- i. Force 1 = = = = = = = a) CAPT A. EXETER TG:GFMC Compound b) LCPL J. BRODE TG:GFMC Compound c) PFC G. HALEY TG:GFMC Compound d) PFC I. CRANY TG:GFMC Compound e) PFC S. MILLIGAN TG:GFMC Compound f) SPC F. TRIPLETTE TG:GFMC Compound ii. Force 2 = = = = = = = a) GSGT C. BENET TG:Command Center b) PFC E. DENYS TG:Sacred Bridge c) PFC L. BROUDA TG:Communication Area d) PFC M. VERONI TG:Collapsed Tunnel e) SPC B. REEVS TG:Command Center f) SPC M. ANGSETH TG:Trooper Security Station b. Space Pirate Logs [V.B.1.b] -------------------- i. Cycle 4 = = = = = = = a) LOG 44681 AW:Command Center b) LOG 48853 AW:Command Center ii. Cycle 5 = = = = = = = a) LOG 50086 AW:Command Center b) LOG 54421 AW:Command Center iii. Cycle 6 = = = = = = = a) LOG 62217 AW:Command Center b) LOG 63622 AW:Biostorage Station c) LOG 67135 AW:Save Station C d) LOG 69898 AW:Storage B iv. Cycle 7 = = = = = = = a) LOG 70136 AW:Security Station B b) LOG 71599 AW:Central Mining Station c. Luminoth Lore [V.B.1.c] ---------------- i. History [V.B.1.c.i] = = = = = = = a) Golden Age - - - - - - - i) ORIGINS GT:Main Energy Controller ii) OUR HERITAGE TG:Transport to Agon Wastes iii) PARADISE AW:Mining Plaza iv) LIGHT OF AETHER AW:Portal Terminal v) THE STELLAR OBJECT AW:Mining Station B vi) SAVING AETHER AW:Agon Energy Controller b) Dark Age - - - - - - i) CATACLYSM AW:Mining Station A ii) AGE OF ANXIETY TG:Meeting Grounds iii) THE WORLD WARPED TG:Path of Eyes iv) THE ING ATTACK TB:Path of Roots ii. Conflict [V.B.1.c.ii] = = = = = = = a) First Phase - - - - - - - i) DARK AETHER TB:Torvus Energy Controller ii) OUR WAR BEGINS TB:Underground Tunnel iii) THE NEW TERROR TB:Catacombs iv) NEW WEAPONS TB:Gathering Hall v) RECOVERING ENERGY TB:Training Chamber b) Second Phase - - - - - - - - i) AGON FALLS SF:Sanctuary Energy Controller ii) TORVUS FALLS SF:Main Research iii) THE SKY TEMPLE TG:Fortress Transport Access iv) THE FINAL CRUSADE SF:Hall of Combat Mastery v) SHATTERED HOPE SF:Main Gyro Chamber c) Final Phase - - - - - - - i) SANCTUARY FALLS SF:Watch Station ii) TWILIGHT SF:Sanctuary Entrance ***** iii. A-Kul's Clues [V.B.1.c.iii] ***** = = = = = = = = = = ***** This category provides clues to the locations of the nine ***** Keybearers; each Keybearer is found in Light Aether, and their Sky ***** Temple Key is located in the corresponding Dark Aether room. Since ***** all these entries are located in the same room, their location will ***** only be listed once. However, the text of the clue will be given. ***** To see where a particular Keybearer is located, find their entry in ***** the Keybearer Lore section immediately below this one. Note that ***** you must scan these before returning with their Sky Temple Key in ***** order for the scan to count as a Logbook entry. ***** LOCATION: SG:Sky Temple Gateway ***** ***** a) Cadre 1 Clues ***** - - - - - - - - ***** i) B-STL'S KEY ***** Gallant B-Stl. She lies deep in the fortress of a high ***** land. ***** ***** ii) G-SCH'S KEY ***** Gentle G-Sch. With a Bearerpod he sleeps in a flooded ***** temple. ***** ***** iii) J-STL'S KEY ***** Noble J-Stl. Lost his soul before a fortress of dry land. ***** ***** iv) S-DLY'S KEY ***** Brave S-Dly. Beside the marsh of a raining land she laid ***** her body forever. ***** ***** b) Cadre 2 Clues ***** - - - - - - - - ***** i) C-RCH'S KEY ***** Judicious C-Rch. In a small corridor within the depths of ***** a high fortress, he lies silently. ***** ***** ii) D-ISL'S KEY ***** Steadfast D-Isl. Who shall disturb you among the trees of ***** holy ground? ***** ***** iii) J-FME'S KEY ***** Mighty J-Fme. In the last what did you see? Was it one of ***** our gates closing, sealing the scorched land from our holy ***** ground? ***** ***** iv) M-DHE'S KEY ***** Fearless M-Dhe. The one who shall move the pillar of holy ***** ground will see your soulless body. ***** ***** v) S-JRS'S KEY ***** Loyal S-Jrs. He no longer breathes, looking down at the ***** great bridge of a holy fortress. iv. Keybearer Lore [V.B.1.c.iv] = = = = = = = = = = a) Cadre 1 - - - - - i) A-KUL'S TESTAMENT SG:Sky Temple Gateway ii) B-STL'S TESTAMENT AW:Main Reactor iii) G-SCH'S TESTAMENT TB:Catacombs iv) J-STL'S TESTAMENT AW:Central Mining Station v) S-DLY'S TESTAMENT TB:Torvus Lagoon b) Cadre 2 - - - - - i) C-RCH'S TESTAMENT SF:Dynamo Works ii) D-ISL'S TESTAMENT TG:Storage Cavern A iii) J-FME'S TESTAMENT TG:Industrial Site iv) M-DHE'S TESTAMENT TG:Landing Site v) S-JRS'S TESTAMENT SF:Sanctuary Entrance 2. Creatures [V.B.2] =============================================================================== For this category, a description of each creature along with strategies for defeating it will be given, along with the general locations where the creature can be found. a. Aether [V.B.2.a] --------- i. Ground [V.B.2.a.i] = = = = = = a) Surface Prowlers - - - - - - - - - - i) BRIZGEE Brizgees are scorpion-like creatures that wander around harmlessly on ledges. They have a tough shell that can be destroyed with a missile, after which it will only take a few shots to their vulnerable bodies to kill them. LOCATION: Agon Wastes ii) GREEN KRALEE This is a mostly harmless creature that simply walks around walls and ledges. It can be identified by the green crystal on its back, and a few shots will kill it. LOCATION: Temple Grounds iii) KRALEE These insect-like creatures are not much of a threat, but they are rather interesting. They will just wander around on the ground and walls, but every few seconds they will disappear as the crystal on their back sends them to a different dimension. When they're in your world, a few shots will kill them. LOCATION: AW:Mining Station B iv) KROCUSS These small mollusk-like creatures are mostly harmless. They simply walk around feeding, and their armored shell protects them from damage. To kill one, you'll need to wait until it opens its shell, then fire. LOCATION: TB:Grove Access ************** v) LIGHTBRINGER This is a helpful creature that will only appear in a few rooms of Dark Agon. It simply walks the same path back and forth, but the bright light it generates makes it a moving Safe Zone. By walking along with a Lightbringer, you can use it to cross sections of Dark Aether without Light Crystals or Beacons. LOCATION: DA:Duelling Range vi) SEEDBURSTER These are small swarming creatures that run in large groups along the walls of passages and tunnels. It only takes a single shot to kill one, but be careful because they will fire their sharp seed when they die. LOCATION: Torvus Bog b) Tunnel Prowlers - - - - - - - - - i) PILLBUG Pillbugs are large, well, bugs that roll around inside Morph Ball tunnels all over Aether. They can be dislodged and killed with bombs. Since they are only found in Morph Ball tunnels, they can only be scanned in a few locations. The first such location is Portal Terminal in Agon Wastes. LOCATION: Light Aether ii) WORKER SPLINTER This is a small harmless Splinter. It is the very first enemy you encounter, and can be killed with a single shot. LOCATION: Splinter Hive c) Predators - - - - - - ************** i) ALPHA SANDIGGER This is an extra-large Sandigger that you will encounter when you first enter the Agon Temple. You must scan it as soon as it appears, because approximately 30 seconds after it appears it will be possessed by the Ing and transform into the Bomb Guardian. LOCATION: AW:Agon Temple ************** ii) ALPHA SPLINTER This Splinter is the leader of the hive, and as such is bigger and stronger. Like other Splinters, the Alpha Splinter will attack by jumping at you, but its jump is much faster and stronger. Once you see it rear back, dash to the side to avoid it. Keep sending a steady stream of fire at it to do as much damage as possible. LOCATION: GT:Temple Sanctuary iii) GRENCHLER After your first encounter with a Grenchler, you will develop a deep and passionate loathing for all of them. Grenchlers are strong, fast creatures that will attack you up close with their teeth, and at a distance by firing bolts of electricity at you. Their only weak spot is on their back, so you have to get behind them in order to damage them, which they will try to keep you from doing. It will take five missiles to destroy the shell on their back, and after it will still take several hits to their exposed flesh to kill them. LOCATION: Torvus Bog iv) SANDIGGER The Sandigger is a long, wormlike creature with heads at both ends of its body that lives underground but will appear when you step on its territory. The Sandigger attacks by firing a blast of acid at you, which you can avoid if you just keep moving. To kill the Sandigger, fire at whichever head is facing you; you must kill both heads before it will die. LOCATION: AW:Mining Plaza, AW:Mining Station B v) SPLINTER These are aggressive, predatory insect-like creatures. They will often appear by popping out of the ground and will attempt to attack by jumping at you. Though they are fast and agile, they are weak and it only takes a few shots to kill them. LOCATION: Temple Grounds vi) SPORB This annoying creature can be found attached to walls. If you enter its range while in Morph Ball form, it will fire out a sort of grappling hook and try to grab you. Otherwise, it will shoot acid at you. Sporbs can be quite bothersome, so use the Light Beam to burn them up whenever you meet them. LOCATION: Upper Torvus Bog ii. Flying [V.B.2.a.ii] = = = = = = a) Small Flyers - - - - - - - - i) LIGHTFLYER A Lightflyer is a floating blob of bright yellow circles that will fire bursts of light energy at anything that comes near. It doesn't take too much firepower to destroy it, though: a single Dark Beam shot will do it in. LOCATION: Great Temple ii) LUMITE These are bug-like creatures that can be either very easy to kill or quite annoying, depending on whether they are in light or shadow. In shadow, all they can do is fire low-power blasts at you and can be killed easily. In the light, though, Lumites become invisible and can fire much more powerful shots. LOCATION: Agon Wastes, Dark Agon Wastes iii) SANDBATS These are small creatures that generally fly in fast-moving swarms. They don't much danger unless you walk right in the middle of one, but they can be difficult to scan since they often fly out of scanning range. LOCATION: Agon Wastes iv) WAR WASP War Wasps are large wasps that emerge from a hive then hover around you before ramming you with their stingers or firing bursts of energy at you. They only take a few shots to kill, but they can be a big nuisance. LOCATION: Temple Grounds, Agon Wastes b) Large Flyers - - - - - - - - ************** i) SHREDDER These creatures wait in the water until they sense your approach, then launch into the air and fly toward you with their helicopter wings. If they hit you, they will explode violently, but you can destroy them before then by firing at them, although this will cause them to fire thorns in all directions. LOCATION: TB:Torvus Lagoon ii) SHRIEKBAT These bats will hang silently from the ceiling until you approach, when they will suddenly wake up and fly straight at you with a loud shriek, hence their name. They only take one shot to kill, though. As soon as you see them coming towards you, rapidly lock-on and fire a shot at each bat. Hopefully, you should be able to destroy them all before they crash into you. LOCATION: Agon Wastes, Torvus Bog iii) SHRIEKER Just like Shredders, Shriekers will wait half-hidden underwater until they sense your approach, which will cause them to jump into the air. However, Shriekers fire sonic blasts that are fast and difficult to see. What's more, after they fire they will make themselves invisible for a few seconds, making it impossible to stay locked-on to them. They take a lot of hits to kill, too, which means these enemies can be frustrating to fight. LOCATION: TB:Torvus Temple iii. Aquatic [V.B.2.a.iii] = = = = = = = a) Small Aquatic - - - - - - - - i) BLOGGLING This is a child Blogg. It does not have the size or the teeth of an adult, but it can still ram you. A single Missile or charged shot is enough to take one out. LOCATION: Lower Torvus Bog ii) HYDLINGS These are tiny shrimplike creatures that swim in swarms in several underwater areas. They are mostly harmless (the only way they can hurt you is to run into you), so they are usually a welcome sight, since by shooting them you can get a large amount of energy and ammo. LOCATION: Torvus Bog b) Large Aquatic - - - - - - - - ************** i) ALPHA BLOGG Basically, the Alpha Blogg is an extra-large Blogg. It charges and rams just like a regular Blogg, except it is bigger and stronger. It also has the ability to fire sonic blasts that will blur your vision and disable your weapons for a few seconds. Like a regular Blogg, you must attack it in its mouth while it is charging at you. The more powerful the weapon, the better: Super Missiles, fully charged Seeker Missiles, or charged Dark Beam shots are all effective. LOCATION: TB:Main Hydrochamber ii) BLOGG Bloggs are dangerous underwater predators. They are essentially fish with heads like battering rams and mouths full of sharp teeth. They will swim around an area until they discover you, at which point they will charge at you at high speed with their mouths open. To kill one, wait until it is charging at you, then fire a missile into its mouth. LOCATION: Lower Torvus Bog iv. Mechanoids [V.B.2.a.iv] = = = = = = = = a) Small - - - - i) DILIGENCE CLASS DRONE These floating pink and purple blobs are identical to Scatter Bombus in the original Metroid Prime. They block passages by extending three rotating tendrils of energy, and if you get close to them they will interfere with your visor, causing it to fill with static. They are easy to destroy, however: a single Dark Beam shot will do the trick. LOCATION: SF:Dynamo Access ii) HARMONY CLASS DRONE These bright blue and yellow-green blobs are identical to the Pulse Bombus in Metroid Prime 1. They float around an area releasing energy bombs. A single charged Power Beam shot can destroy them, but be careful: they will be attracted to your Power Beam if you charge it up while you are close to them. LOCATION: Great Temple, Sanctuary Fortress iii) MECHLOPS This is a mechanical version of the Triclops from Tallon IV, and it behaves exactly the same way. It patrols spaces underneath floors and will grab anything, including the Morph Ball, in its powerful jaws and return it to the entrance of the area. The Mechlops can be destroyed by letting it pick up a bomb. LOCATION: SF:Dynamo Access iv) OCTOPEDE An Octopede consists of four circular drones connected together that patrol tunnels and passageways. A few shots will cause the pieces of the Octopede to separate and come to rest, after which they will self-destruct in a small explosion. LOCATION: Sanctuary Fortress v) REZBIT These mechanoids consist of a floating black sphere orbited by two smaller spheres surrounded by a random arrangement of yellow rectangles. Rezbits are very versatile, as they can fire a sweeping laser beam, a series of rapid-fire energy blasts, generate a blue shield that resists all attacks, and release a virus that will infect your Power Suit. The virus is the most dangerous attack since it leaves you vulnerable to attack, although seeing its effects and having to reboot the Power Suit is rather cool. To avoid the virus, you must get a large distance away from the Rezbit or fire at it while it is preparing the attack. (This is when the Rezbit cannot be locked-on to; blue swirls will appear just before the virus is fired.) All weapons work against the Rezbit, but the Dark Beam is usually the most effective. LOCATION: Sanctuary Fortress vi) SERENITY CLASS DRONE A Serenity Class Drone is a tiny, rectangular box that simply moves along a pre-determined path and has no attacks of any kind. They are usually found in large groups and can be shot easily, although there isn't much point since they drop items infrequently. LOCATION: SF:Temple Transport Access b) Large - - - - ************** i) INGSMASHER Ingsmashers are gigantic humanoid robots designed by the Luminoth to combat the Ing that have gone awry and will now attack you. They are very reminiscent of the Elite Pirates encountered in the original Metroid Prime, and are tough opponents. They can attack by firing shoulder-mounted missiles, punching the ground to create shock waves, and simply swiping their enormous fists. Ingsmashers can also deflect attacks while holding up a purple or white energy shield, however, it is vulnerable to the beam of the opposite color while doing so. Attack Ingsmashers with missiles and charged shots of whichever beam it is vulnerable to to bring it down; it will take around 15 to 20 of them. LOCATION: Sanctuary Fortress ii) MEKENOBITE Mekenobites are difficult and annoying machines. They hang from walls and ceilings and fire powerful blasts that will knock you back a short distance. The only way to kill one is to use the Seeker Laucher to fire a missile at each of its legs, but the Mekenobite will probably hit you before you're able to launch the missiles. The best way to deal with these mechanisms is to just run past them. LOCATION: SF:Sanctuary Temple, SF:Sentinel's Path iii) QUAD CM The "head" part of a Quad machine, the "CM" stands for "Command Module". While attached to the body, the CM will fire energy blasts and is vulnerable to any weapons. If the MB (body) is destroyed, the CM will float through the air while continuing to fire and protecting itself with either a white or purple force field. If the force field is white, it can only be penetrated by the Dark Beam; if it is purple, use the Light Beam. Approximately five charged Power Beam shots are necessary to kill a Quad CM. LOCATION: Sanctuary Fortress iv) QUAD MB The "body" parth of a Quad machine, the "MB" stands for "Main Body" and consists mainly of four long, spider-like legs. It will use these legs to swipe at you, but it also has the ability to draw its legs in and spin around like a top. To destroy the MB, boost into it while it is doing the spin attack, which will cause it to stop spinning and stun it. While it is stunned, lay a bomb underneath it to kill it. LOCATION: Sanctuary Fortress v) WATCHDRONE This indestructible mechanoid looks like a black rock with legs. All it does is sit in place, blocking tunnels and entrances. The only way to get a Watchdrone to move is to activate a nearby Light Beacon so that the Watchdrone is inside the Safe Zone. This will cause the Watchdrone to move away while the Safe Zone lasts. LOCATION: DT:Dungeon c) Stationary - - - - - - - ************** i) CARETAKER CLASS DRONE This large drone occupies the central cylinder in Main Research and is fought entirely in Morph Ball mode. For this reason, you must scan the Caretaker Class Drone before you go through the dark portal in Main Research. The Caretaker drone will attempt to knock you off with its robot arms onto the electrified floor, which you can avoid by boosting to another part of the Spider Ball track. To damage the drone, boost into the small red pole that will periodically stick out from the bottom. LOCATION: SF:Main Research ii) GROWLER CLASS TURRET This Federation-made turret hangs from the ceiling and automatically aims and fires whenever you enter the area it protects. Strafe to avoid its rapid-fire bursts, and return fire with a couple charged shots or missiles to put it out of commission. LOCATION: TG:Trooper Security Station iii) HUMILITY CLASS TURRET The Space Pirate version of the Growler Class Turret, this turret also hangs from the ceiling and fires shots at a very fast rate. It is easy to destroy, though; since just one charged shot or missile will destroy it. LOCATION: Agon Wastes iv) LUMINOTH TURRET Very similar to both the Growler and Humility Class Turrets, this Luminoth-designed turret hangs from the ceiling and fires powerful blasts at anything that approaches it. Unlike the other turrets, though, this one is more durable; it will take three missiles or charged Power Beam shots to destroy one. LOCATION: TG:Fortress Transport Access, Sanctuary Fortress ************** v) VIGILANCE CLASS TURRET This is an extremely powerful turret that can be operated by Space Pirates or Samus. It fires powerful blasts (at a fairly slow rate) that can damage or destroy some walls, crates, and other objects, not to mention doing massive damage to enemies. It takes three missiles or charged shots to destroy this turret. To use a turret, step into the turret-shaped hologram. It can only be scanned for a Logbook entry while being manned by a Space Pirate, however. LOCATION: AW:Central Mining Station, SF:Sanctuary Entrance b. Dark Aether [V.B.2.b] -------------- i. Darklings [V.B.2.b.i] = = = = = = a) Darkling Ground - - - - - - - - - ************** i) DARK ALPHA SPLINTER After fighting the Alpha Splinter for a little bit, it will become possessed by the Ing and become the Dark Alpha Splinter. It continues doing the jump attack like the regular Alpha Splinter, but it can also fire purple blasts at you. Keep firing charged shots at it while dodging its attacks to whittle away its energy until it dies. LOCATION: GT:Temple Sanctuary ii) DARK GRENCHLER Dark Grenchlers are very similar to their non-possessed brethren, just a little bit tougher. They're not vulnerable to the Dark Beam, though, so you can't freeze them like you can regular Grenchlers. The Light Beam and missiles will take care of them, though. Remember that their only weak spot is the shell on their back. LOCATION: Dark Torvus Bog iii) DARK SPLINTER The first Ing-possessed creatures you will face, Dark Splinters attack in a similar manner to regular ones. The difference is that they are tougher to defeat: it will take about two charged shots to bring one down. LOCATION: Temple Grounds b) Darkling Flyers - - - - - - - - - ************** i) DARK SHREDDER These creatures only appear during the fight with the Chykka larva. They are almost identical to regular Shredders except that they take more hits to kill. They will appear while Chykka is circling around your platform, and you can use them to refill your ammo. LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Temple ii) DARK WAR WASP Dark War Wasps are just as annoying as the normal ones, they just take more hits to kill. LOCATION: IH:Vault Attack Portal, TG:Service Access iii) NIGHTBARB Similar to Sandbats, Nightbarbs are small, swarming, flying creatures that only take a single shot to kill. LOCATION: Dark Aether c) Darkling Aquatic - - - - - - - - - - i) DARK BLOGG Dark Bloggs are similar to regular Bloggs, but they do not have the sonic blast attack and are tougher to kill. It will take about three missiles in the mouth to kill one, so make sure to get out of the way once you fire at a charging Dark Blogg. LOCATION: TB:Training Chamber ii) DARK PHLOGUS These large creatures resemble giant clams and simply rest in the toxic waters of Dark Aether until you approach. When you're nearby, they will periodically open up their impervious shells to fire acid at you. Fire at their interior when they do this, and the Dark Phlogus will flip over stunned. You can now use it as a platform for a few seconds, and it even creates a Safe Zone. LOCATION: Dark Torvus Bog d) Darkling Mechanoids - - - - - - - - - - - i) CORRUPTED SENTREYE These are Luminoth Sentreyes that have been possessed by the Ing. Now, instead of being harmless, they fire laser beams that sweep from side to side. You can stun them for a few seconds with the Power Beam, but it will take a charged Light Beam shot to destroy them for good. LOCATION: Sky Temple Grounds ii) DARK DILIGENCE DRONE Dark Diligence Drones are somewhat similar to their uncorrupted counterparts in that they guard tunnels with three rotating energy tendrils. However, their tendrils spin so fast that it is impossible to get past them except by destroying the drone; this can be done with a charged Light Beam shot. LOCATION: IH:Hazing Cliff iii) DARK INGSMASHER Dark Ingsmashers are very similar to regular Ingsmashers. They have the same attacks and vulnerabilities, they are just a little bit stronger and tougher. LOCATION: IH:Hive Portal Chamber, IH: Hive Reactor ************** iv) DARK QUAD CM This dark version of the Quad CM is very similar to it, it's just a little bit stronger than usual. This mechanoid only appears the first time you enter Sanctuary Temple and while fighting Quadraxis. LOCATION: SF:Sanctuary Temple, IH:Hive Temple ************** v) DARK QUAD MB This dark version of the Quad MB is very similar to it, it's just a little bit stronger than usual. This mechanoid only appears the first time you enter Sanctuary Temple and while fighting Quadraxis. LOCATION: SF:Sanctuary Temple, IH:Hive Temple e) Darkling Offworld - - - - - - - - - - ************** i) DARK MISSILE TROOPER This is a special Ing-possessed Federation trooper that is only encountered once, when you return to the Splinter Hive after getting the Missile Launcher. This trooper moves and acts like any other Dark Trooper, except that this one can fire missiles instead of the usual laser blasts, and takes a little bit more firepower to stop. You'll get a Missile Expansion from him once he's dead. LOCATION: TG:Hive Chamber A ii) DARK PIRATE COMMANDO Dark Pirate Commandos are one of the toughest enemies you will face. They have two varieties of attacks: shots of dark energy, and EMP grenades that will fill your visor with static for several seconds if you are near where they detonate. What's more, they can disappear and transport to another location, which means they never stay in the same place for more than a few seconds. Dark Pirate Commandos are also very resilient, and it will take many hits to kill them, making heavy weapons like Super Missiles the preferred equipment against them. Luckily, in many places they will simply appear in a room, fight for a few minutes, then leave. LOCATION: Dark Aether iii) DARK PIRATE TROOPER These are Pirate Troopers under Ing possession. They can attack and strafe just like regular Pirate Troopers, but are twice as strong. It will take four missiles or charged shots to bring down a Dark Pirate Trooper. Keep moving, strafing, and jumping to avoid its shots. LOCATION: Agon Wastes iv) DARK PREED Dark Preeds are spiked spheres that float through the air releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere. They can be destroyed with just a few shots, but make sure to do so from a distance; they'll explode violently. LOCATION: Dark Aether v) DARK TALLON METROID Dark Tallon Metroids attack and behave just like regular Metroids, except that the Dark Beam cannot be used to freeze them. Instead, use the Light Beam to kill these Ing-possessed parasites. LOCATION: Sky Temple Grounds vi) DARK TROOPER These are the corpses of Federation troopers that have been possessed by Ing. They can only move slowly and stiffly, but can still fire bursts from their rapid-fire guns. One charged shot will be enough to finish them off. LOCATION: Splinter Hive ii. Ing [V.B.2.b.ii] = = = = = a) DARKLING TENTACLE This bladed tentacle will stick out of holes in the wall and thrash about, trying to slash you as it goes past. If they hit you, they can knock you off your path and are very annoying, so make sure to get rid of them before going past. A few shots from the Power Beam will make a tentacle retreat for a few seconds, but it will take a shot from the Light Beam to truly destroy one. LOCATION: Dark Aether b) HUNTER ING The deadliest variety of Ing, Hunter Ing are difficult and dangerous foes. They consist of a floating black ball with several long, whip-like tentacles extending out from it, and they are found in many areas of Dark Aether. They are dangerous because they can attack both from up close and from a distance with their tentacles and by ramming you. They can also be difficult to damage because they will frequently become parially transparent, during which time they cannot be hurt. It will take several charged Light Beam blasts to bring down a Hunter Ing. LOCATION: Dark Aether c) ING LARVA SWARM These tiny creatures are defenseless Ing that move as a group through tunnels. The only danger they pose to you is of running into you, and they can be easily destroyed with the Power Beam. LOCATION: IH:Entrance Defense Tunnel d) INGLET Inglets are small Ing that, when not merely blobs of black matter, appear as short, thick stalks attached to walls, floors, or ceilings. While solid, they will fire damaging projectiles at you. After firing a shot, they will "liquefy" and move to another spot. Inglets are fairly weak and only take one charged shot to kill, and you should always kill them because they can be very annoying and distracting. LOCATION: Dark Aether e) INGSTORM An Ingstorm is a tiny Ing that floats in the air as part of a large swarm, which appears as a collection of floating purple dots. Ingstorm are so small that they cannot be damaged by your weapons, but they will do significant damage while you are in the midst of them. If you have to go through a cloud of Ingstorm, do so as quickly as possible. LOCATION: Dark Aether f) WARRIOR ING A very common variety of Ing, Warrior Ing have large bodies with long, insect-like legs and a splotch of yellow and orange dots for a face. Don't let them get close to you, because they will slash you with their legs. From longer range, they will fire several white beams of energy at you, which you can avoid by strafing and jumping. The preferred weapon to use against Warrior Ing is the Light Beam, which only takes two charged shots to kill them. It will take around five missiles or charged Power Beam shots to do the job. LOCATION: Dark Aether ***** iii. Guardians [V.B.2.b.iii] ***** = = = = = = = = ***** For this category, strategies for defeating the guardians will not ***** be given. Instead, descriptions of which part of the guardian the ***** scan relates to will be given, and the walkthrough section where ***** strategies for defeating the guardian can be found will be listed. ***** ***** a) Sub Guardians ***** - - - - - - - - ***** i) BOMB GUARDIAN ***** Almost as soon as you encounter the Alpha Sandigger, it ***** will be possessed and transform into the Bomb Guardian, a ***** large, tough Ing-possessed Sandigger that can lay and ***** throw Morph Ball Bombs. For detailed strategies on ***** fighting the Bomb Guardian, see walkthrough section ***** III.B.1. ***** LOCATION: AW:Agon Temple ***** ***** ii) JUMP GUARDIAN ***** The Jump Guardian is a Warrior Ing that has absorbed the ***** power of your Space Jump Boots. It has all the abilities ***** of a regular Warrior Ing, but is much tougher and can make ***** very high and powerful leaps, creating dangerous shock ***** waves when it lands. For detailed strategies on fighting ***** the Jump Guardian, see walkthrough section III.B.2. ***** LOCATION: DA:Judgment Pit ***** ***** iii) BOOST GUARDIAN ***** Without question, the most frustrating and one of the most ***** difficult guardians is the Boost Guardian. It is a large ***** Warrior Ing that will has the ability to transform into a ***** Morph Ball and bounce around the arena at high speeds. For ***** detailed strategies on fighting the Boost Guardian, see ***** walkthrough section III.C.3. ***** LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Arena ***** ***** iv) GRAPPLE GUARDIAN ***** The Grapple Guardian is an Ing-possessed Grenchler with a ***** large eye at the base of a rhinoceros-like horn. It will ***** ram and bite like a regular Grenchler, but it can also ***** fire a grapple beam that will pull you towards it and ***** drain your energy. For detailed strategies on fighting the ***** Grapple Guardian, see walkthrough section III.C.6. ***** LOCATION: DT:Sacrificial Chamber ***** ***** v) SPIDER GUARDIAN ***** The fight with the Spider Guardian is definitely one of ***** the most unique fights in the game, since it takes place ***** entirely in Morph Ball mode. The Spider Guardian is a ***** large darkling Pillbug with the ability to roll along ***** magnetic tracks, and you must fight it in a series of ***** Morph Ball mazes. Make sure to scan the Spider Guardian ***** before you enter the tunnel, because you cannot scan it ***** during the fight. For detailed strategies on fighting the ***** Spider Guardian, see walkthrough section III.D.2. ***** LOCATION: SF:Dynamo Works ***** ***** vi) POWER BOMB GUARDIAN ***** An Ing-possessed Sporb with the ability to fire Power ***** Bombs, the Power Bomb Guardian remains stationary on top ***** of a pillar in the center of the room and fires Power ***** Bombs at you. It can only be damaged by activating the ***** Bomb Slots located on the walls around it. For detailed ***** strategies on fighting the Power Bomb Guardian, see ***** walkthrough section III.D.3. ***** LOCATION: DT:Undertemple ***** ***** b) Amorbis ***** - - - - - ***** Amorbis is the Guardian of Dark Agon Wastes. For strategies on ***** fighting Amorbis, see walkthough section III.B.6. ***** LOCATION: DA:Dark Agon Temple ***** ***** i) AMORBIS 1 ***** Amorbis consists of three huge worm-like creatures with ***** black armor. During the first part of each stage of the ***** battle, one, two, or three of the worms will leap into the ***** air, then dive into the ground and resurface elsewhere. ***** Scan Amorbis while it is diving to get this scan. ***** ***** ii) AMORBIS 2 ***** Once the armor has been destroyed on all the worms, they ***** will attach themselves to the Dark Sphere, which will ***** cause their armor to regenerate and provide them with dark ***** energy attacks. Scan Amorbis while it is attached to the ***** sphere for this scan. ***** ***** c) Chykka ***** - - - - - ***** Chykka is the Guardian of Dark Torvus Bog. For strategies on ***** fighting Chykka, see walkthrough section III.C.7. ***** LOCATION: DT:Dark Torvus Temple ***** ***** i) CHYKKA LARVA ***** This is the first form of Chykka that you will fight. It ***** is a giant black and blue sea monster. It will swim ***** around your platform, periodicallly surfacing to attack. ***** ***** ii) CHYKKA ***** After you defeat the Chykka Larva, an adult Chykka will ***** appear. This mature form has a slender body with four ***** wings. It will hover in the air firing attacks, and will ***** also charge at you. ***** ***** iii) DARK CHYKKA ***** After Chykka has been damaged twice, it will fall into the ***** toxic water. When it emerges, it will transform into Dark ***** Chykka. Dark Chykka looks similar to regular Chykka, ***** except that the eggsac located near its tail has grown ***** much larger. ***** ***** iv) CHYKLINGS ***** These are small creatures that Dark Chykka will eject from ***** its tail. They resemble miniature Chykkas and can be ***** destroyed easily to recover energy and ammo. ***** ***** d) Quadraxis ***** - - - - - - ***** Quadraxis is the Guardian of Ing Hive. For strategies on ***** fighting Quadraxis, see walkthrough section III.D.6. ***** LOCATION: IH:Hive Temple ***** ***** i) QUADRAXIS ***** You can obtain this scan during the first phase of the ***** battle, while Quadraxis is still in one piece. Quadraxis ***** is impossible to miss: it's a mammoth robot with four ***** spider-like legs that tower over you and a head that fires ***** a variety of attacks. ***** ***** ii) DAMAGED QUADRAXIS ***** In the second phase of the battle, scan Quadraxis's ruined ***** body for this scan. In the center of the body is a sonic ***** transmitter which sends commands to the head module. ***** ***** iii) SHIELDED HEAD MODULE ***** In the second phase of the battle, scan the floating head ***** module before you have destroyed the sonic transmitter on ***** the body for this entry. Quadraxis's head will continue to ***** launch attacks while floating around the room, and its ***** energy shield makes it invulnerable to your weapons. ***** ***** iv) STUNNED HEAD MODULE ***** In the second phase of the battle, scan the head module ***** after you have destroyed the sonic transmitter on the body ***** for this entry. With the energy shield temporarily ***** offline, the sonic transmitters on the head module can be ***** attacked at this time. ***** ***** v) FINAL HEAD MODULE ***** Scan the head module once more during the final phase of ***** the battle for this entry. Quadraxis will continue to ***** launch attacks at you in this form, but its outer covering ***** has been destroyed and it is vulnerable. ***** iv. Emperor Ing [V.B.2.b.iv] ***** = = = = = = = = = ***** For this category, strategies for defeating Emperor Ing will not be ***** given. Instead, descriptions of which part of Emperor Ing the scan ***** relates to will be given. Strategies for defeating Emperor Ing can ***** be found in walkthrough section III.F.1. ***** LOCATION: ST:Sanctum ***** ***** a) EMPEROR ING BODY ***** This is the "trunk" of the Emperor Ing on which the head sits ***** during the first phase of the battle. ***** ***** b) EMPEROR ING HEAD ***** This large black sphere sits atop the Emperor Ing's body. It ***** is wrapped around the final planetary energy sphere and ***** generates tentacles to attack. ***** ***** c) EMPEROR ING EYE ***** Only visible once all the tentacles on the head have been ***** destroyed. The eye will then be revealed as a sphere of pure ***** energy protected by a rotating shield. ***** ***** d) EMPEROR ING CRYSALIS ***** This is the Emperor Ing's form in the second phase of the ***** battle. The crysalis consists of a hard black shell which can be ***** latched on to by the Spider Ball. ***** ***** e) MUTATED EMPORER ING ***** When Emperor Ing emerges from the chrsalis in the final phase of ***** the battle, this is its new form. It now has legs, a body, and a ***** head containing a heart of glowing light. c. Offworld [V.B.2.c] ----------- i. Pirates [V.B.2.c.i] = = = = = = = a) PIRATE AEROTROOPER Pirates equipped with jetpacks, Pirate Aerotroopers can be a real pain. They are fast-moving, agile, and can fire powerful missiles along with rapid-fire shots. Keep jumping and moving to avoid the fire. It will take five missiles to bring one down, or you can freeze one with a charged Dark Beam shot then use a single missile to kill it. LOCATION: Light Aether *********** b) PIRATE COMMANDO These are Space Pirate shock troopers that are dedicated to "hunting the Hunter". They can fire the standard Pirate laser blasts, as well as EM grenades that will short out your visor if they detonate near you. They are also able to move with great speed and agility over all types of terrain. Fortunately, they are no match for your weapons: use a charged Dark Beam shot to freeze one, then finish it off with a missile. LOCATION: TB:Torvus Grove, SF:Sanctuary Entrance c) PIRATE GRENADIER These Space Pirates have arm-mounted grenade launchers instead of rifles, making them very dangerous at long range. When you're close to them, all they can do is swipe at you with their arms, and they're weaker than regular Pirates. Get close, then fire a charged Power Beam shot to do these Pirates in. LOCATION: AW:Command Center *********** d) PIRATE TROOPER These are regular Space Pirate soldiers, and can attack both at close and at long range. Not only that, but they are fast and agile. To avoid the shots from a Pirate Trooper's blaster, you need to move at least as much as it does by jumping, strafing, and running. Pirate Troopers are not particularly strong, however, and two charged shots or missiles are all that is necessary to bring one down. LOCATION: Agon Wastes e) PREED These floating spheres slowly patrol areas. They can be easily destroyed, but they will leave behind a cloud of toxic gas. LOCATION: TB:Hydrodynamo Chamber ii. Metroids [V.B.2.b.ii] = = = = = = = a) TALLON METROID Yes, the creatures from which the entire series takes its name make a limited appearance in Metroid Prime 2. As always, Metroids will float through the air looking for an organism (or Phazon) to feed off of. When one notices you, it will give out a screech, then fly straight at your face. If it hits you, it will latch on and begin draining your life. Roll into the Morph Ball and lay a bomb to get it off. To kill Metroids, fire a charged Dark Beam shot to freeze them in midair, then use a missile to destroy them. LOCATION: AW:Biostorage Station, AW:Bioenergy Production b) INFANT METROID These immature Metroids are too small to be able to latch onto you, but they can still ram you. They're not difficult to defeat, but they can evade your fire and large numbers of them can become overwhelming. If an Infant Metroid goes near Phazon, it will transform into a full-grown Metroid. You can kill one with a charged Power Beam shot or a single shot from any other beam. LOCATION: AW:Biostorage Station ***** iii. Dark Samus [V.B.2.b.iii] ***** = = = = = = = = ***** For this category, strategies for defeating Dark Samus will not ***** be given. Instead, a description of the form of Dark Samus will be ***** given, and the walkthrough section where strategies for defeating ***** each form of Dark Samus can be found will be listed. ***** ***** a) DARK SAMUS 1 ***** Dark Samus is the black-suited version of you that has been ***** prowling Aether in search of Phazon, bringing terror and ***** confusion to the Space Pirates, who call her the Dark Hunter. ***** Actually Dark Samus is Metroid Prime, who absorbed your black ***** Phazon Suit at the end of the previous game. However, since she ***** draws her strength from Phazon, Dark Samus possesses many ***** abilities that are similar, but superior, to your own. For ***** strategies on fighting Dark Samus 1, see walkthrough section ***** III.B.3. ***** LOCATION: AW:Main Reactor ***** ***** b) DARK SAMUS 2 ***** The second time you face Dark Samus, in Sanctuary Fortress, ***** she/it has added several new abilities to her/its arsenal, as ***** well as retaining many previous techniques. Your second ***** encounter will play out similarly to the first one, with the two ***** of you locked in fierce battle until one of you succumbs. For ***** strategies on fighting Dark Samus 2, see walkthrough section ***** III.D.4. ***** LOCATION: SF:Aerie Transport Station, SF:Aerie Access, SF:Aerie ***** ***** c) DARK SAMUS 3 ***** This is the form of Dark Samus at the beginning of your final ***** encounter after defeating Emperor Ing. Dark Samus's suit is now ***** transparent and her body is nothing more than a skeleton. You ***** must scan Dark Samus before she begins releasing Phazon pellets ***** for this scan. For strategies on fighting Dark Samus 3, see ***** walkthrough section III.F.2. ***** LOCATION: SG:Sky Temple Gateway ***** ***** d) DARK SAMUS 4 ***** Once Dark Samus rises into the air over the center of the room ***** and is surrounded by a spherical Phazon shield, she is a new ***** scan. In this final form, Dark Samus can only be damaged by ***** Phazon. For strategies on fighting Dark Samus 4, see walkthrough ***** section III.F.2. ***** LOCATION: SG:Sky Temple Gateway 3. Research [V.B.3] =============================================================================== For this category, a description of each item will be given, along with (where applicable) the location where it can be scanned. a. Aether Studies ----------------- i. Aether = = = = = = a) AETHER The planet you're on, duh! This world is the home of the Luminoth and was a virtual paradise until a meteor crashed on it, creating Dark Aether. LOCATION: AW:Command Center b) DARK PORTAL Dark Portals are dimensional rifts that can be found throughout Light Aether; passing through them will transport you to Dark Aether. Some of them can be created by scanning special devices, while other portals can be opened by firing the Dark Beam at partially-open gaps. LOCATION: Light Aether *********** c) ENERGY CONTROLLER Energy Controllers are Luminoth devices that store planetary energy. If an Energy Controller contains energy, the chamber above it will be filled with light. With the Energy Transfer Module, you can transfer planetary energy from Dark Aether to Light Aether. LOCATION: energy controller room in each region d) U-MOS The only conscious Luminoth remaining on Aether, U-Mos guards the final Energy Controller in the Great Temple while the remaining surviving Luminoth sleep in stasis. U-Mos tells you about the war between the Ing and the Luminoth and gives you guidance as you search for the temples. LOCATION: GT:Main Energy Controller ii. Dark Aether = = = = = = = = = a) DARK AETHER The parallel, corrupted version of Aether. This world is occupied by the Ing and has high concentrations of Phazon. Its atmosphere is damaging to Samus and the Luminoth. LOCATION: AW:Command Center b) LIGHT PORTAL Light Portals are found across Dark Aether and will return you to Light Aether. Like Dark Portals, some portals can be opened by scanning an appropriate mechanism, while others must be opened by firing a Light Beam shot. Light Portals appear as bright, green-white spheres. LOCATION: Dark Aether c) PHAZON Still a very mysterious substance, Phazon is extremely radioactive and has the ability to radically mutate lifeforms that are exposed to it. Found primarily on Dark Aether, the Space Pirates have been mining it to use as a power source and in order to develop new and deadlier weapons. Phazon is extremely dangerous, and you will take damage if you touch it. LOCATION: AW:Main Reactor, Dark Aether b. Biology ---------- i. Cocoons = = = = = = = a) METROID COCOON These dark blue sacs are used by the Space Pirates to transport Infant Metroids. Infant Metroids will continually emerge from these cocoons until the cocoons are destroyed. LOCATION: AW:Biostorage Station b) SPLINTER COCOON This small white cocoon can be found attached to a wall. Make sure to scan it from a distance, since a Splinter will burst out and destroy the cocoon when you get too close. LOCATION: TG:Dynamo Chamber c) WAR WASP HIVE These look like a cluster of tan tubes with a light blue glow inside and can be found attached to walls. War Wasps will periodically emerge from them unless you destroy them with a Missile. LOCATION: Temple Grounds, Agon Wastes ii. Darklings = = = = = = = = a) DORMANT INGCLAW These look just like regular Ingclaw. The only difference is that they're hibernating, so they do not release any toxic gas. They pose no threat and cannot be destroyed. LOCATION: Sky Temple Grounds *********** b) ING WEBTRAP These are nothing more than a mass of black tentacles that appear to block the doors while you battle the Warrior Ing for the third Dark Agon Temple key. This is the ONLY time they appear, so don't miss your opportunity to scan them. LOCATION: DA:Battleground c) INGCLAW Large black blobs that you'll find attached to walls, Inclaws are impossible to kill and do nothing but release toxic gas into the air. You might as well scan them, because that's about all you can do to them. LOCATION: Dark Aether *********** d) WEBLING These creatures resemble black spiderwebs with a large eye in the center that will block one of the tunnels in Dark Agon. They are very easy to kill and only appear once, so make sure to scan them as soon as you see them! LOCATION: DA:Feeding Pit Access iii. Ing Storage = = = = = = = = = a) BLADEPOD Bladepods are tall, narrow, black lifeforms that serve as Ing storage units. You will find them across Dark Aether, and they function just like crates: shoot them to recover energy and ammo. *********** b) FLYING ING CACHE These are rather large creatures that float in the air. They have a large body that tapers down to a thin tail. They are found in Dark Aether and guard the Sky Temple keys. They are initially only visible with the Dark Visor. After they are hit once, they become visible in the Combat Visor and a charged Power Beam will kill them. There is one of these guarding each Sky Temple key, so make sure to scan one before you collect all nine keys. c) INGSPHERE CACHE These are organic objects with a dark blue, translucent sphere on top that are found throughout Dark Aether. They act just like crates: shoot them to find energy and ammo. d) INGWORM CACHE These are small black balls formed out of tiny Ing worms. They also serve as crates: shoot them for energy and ammo. iv. Plantforms = = = = = = = = a) AGON BEARERPOD This plant is a light blue sphere surrounded by spikes on top of a short stalk. These plants were genetically engineered by the Luminoth for storage; they are basically living crates, and can be shot to find energy and ammo. LOCATION: Agon Wastes b) BLOATSAC This tough plant has a wide, round base and tapers to a thin point at the top. Its hard outer shell makes it virtually indestructible. LOCATION: Torvus Bog c) BLUEROOT TREE The Blueroot Tree is a small, short tree that glows bright blue and looks as if it is a hologram. LOCATION: Agon Wastes d) SANDGRASS Sandgrass is a Luminoth-designed breed of grass that can survive even in harsh desert environments. LOCATION: Agon Wastes e) TORVUS BEARERPOD These are bulbous green plants that are found throughout Torvus Bog. They were designed by the Luminoth to store items, and function just like crates with one exception: they release a cloud of toxic gas when they are destroyed, so make sure to fire at them from a distance. LOCATION: Torvus Bog f) TORVUS HANGING POD These round objects can be found hanging from trees and platforms in Torvus Bog. These are also item containers, but they are trickier to use. To retrieve the item inside, you must shoot the Hanging Pod to knock it loose. LOCATION: Torvus Bog c. Luminoth Technology ---------------------- i. Lift Crystals = = = = = = = = = = a) DARK LIFT CRYSTAL These are purple crystals that you'll find on the side of platforms that can be raised or lowered. Fire a Light Beam shot at it to move the platform and change it into a Light Lift Crystal. b) LIGHT LIFT CRYSTAL These are white crystals that you'll find on the side of platforms that can be raised or lowered. Fire a Dark Beam shot at it to move the platform and change it into a Dark Lift Crystal. c) LIFTVINE CRYSTAL Liftvine Crystals function similarly to Light and Dark Lift Crystals, and are found on the tops of movable plant platforms. Shoot the crystal with the Light Beam to raise the platform for a few seconds and create a temporary Safe Zone. ii. Light Beacons = = = = = = = = = = a) LIGHT BEACON Light Beacons are translucent, brightly colored spheres that you will find floating in the air throughout Dark Aether. They were placed by the Luminoth, and by shooting one with the Power Beam, it will create a Safe Zone for a limited period of time. b) NULLIFIED BEACON The Dark Beam and some dark creatures can surround a Light Beacon with dark energy, snuffing out its light and rendering the beacon useless. Fire the Power Beam or Light Beam at the beacon to restore it to normal. c) ENERGIZED BEACON When you fire a Light Beam shot at a Light Beacon, the Safe Zone around it will grow brighter and the beacon will become an Energized Beacon. Now for as long as the beacon is active (which is longer than normal), any creature that touches the Safe Zone will be destroyed. d) SUPER BEACON If you fire the Annihilator Beam at a Light Beacon, it will turn into a Super Beacon, the best of all. This beacon, due to the mix of light and dark energy infused into it, not only destroys any creature that touches the Safe Zone, it also draws all nearby creatures toward the Safe Zone, effectively turning the beacon into a death magnet. iii. Light Crystals = = = = = = = = = = a) LIGHT CRYSTAL Throughout Dark Aether you will find bright white crystals on top of poles. These Light Crystals were placed by the Luminoth, and the sphere of light they create is called a Safe Zone. While inside a Safe Zone, your energy will slowly increase and you will be safe from the effects of Dark Aether's atmosphere. Also, Ing will not enter a Safe Zone, although they may still attack you from outside. b) NULLIFIED CRYSTAL A Light Crystal can be nullified by a shot from your Dark Beam as well as by some Ing attacks. When a crystal is nullified, it will be surrounded by a cloud of dark energy and it will not generate a Safe Zone. Use the Power Beam or Light Beam to return a Nullified Crystal to normal. c) ENERGIZED CRYSTAL A Light Crystal that has been shot by the Light Beam, an Energized Crystal creates a brighter, more powerful Safe Zone that will destroy any creature that touches it. d) SUPER CRYSTAL When you fire a shot from the Annihilator Beam at a Light Crystal, you will create the almighty Super Crystal. The Safe Zone generated by a Super Crystal not only destroys any enemies that touch it, it actually draws all nearby enemies toward it. So you can easily clear a room of creatures by simply creating a couple Super Crystals, then watching as all the creatures quickly and obediently kill themselves. iv. Utility Crystals = = = = = = = = = = = a) SENTINEL CRYSTAL These are red eye-shaped objects that can be found attached to walls in several rooms. They were installed by the Luminoth to monitor important locations, and U-Mos in the Great Temple still watches many of them. LOCATION: Torvus Bog b) DARK SENTINEL CRYSTAL Counterparts to the regular variety, Dark Sentinel Crystals are blue and are used by U-Mos to monitor events in Dark Aether. LOCATION: Dark Torvus Bog d. Mechanisms ------------- i. GF Security = = = = = = = = = a) GF BRIDGE This is a fairly simple metal drawbridge. Scan the control panel to expose the locks on the top of the bridge, then shoot the locks to lower the bridge. LOCATION: TG:Industrial Site b) GF GATE MK VI This is a standard security gate. Scan the control panel to expose the locks, then shoot the locks to open the gate. LOCATION: Splinter Hive c) GF GATE MK VII This is a stronger gate than the Mark VI, and is controlled only by a control panel. It is made of Benzium, and can be destroyed by a Power Bomb. LOCATION: TG:Dynamo Chamber ii. Systems = = = = = = = a) BOMB SLOT These slots are designed to hold the Morph Ball. Roll or jump into one, then lay a Bomb in it to activate it. Bomb Slots will usually perform functions like opening doors, activating machinery, etc. b) GRAPPLE POINT These objects can be found attached to the ceiling in many rooms. Once you have the Grapple Beam, a yellow grapple icon will appear on any Grapple Points in the room. When the Grapple Point turns light blue, you can latch on to it by firing the Grapple Beam. This will not count as a Logbook scan until you have the Grapple Beam. c) KINETIC ORB CANNON Once activated via scanning a control panel, you can roll into a cannon's Morph Ball hologram and it will fire you across the sky, allowing you to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. To count as a Logbook entry, you must scan the cannon before you activate it, causing the Morph Ball hologram to appear. What you need to scan is a flat circle on the ground; if you activate all the cannons before scanning one, you will not be able to get this scan. d) SPIDER BALL TRACK These magnetic tracks, which appear as a series of neon blue arrows in Sanctuary Fortress and as golden rails everywhere else, can be latched onto with the Spider Ball. Once you have latched onto a track, you can move along, use a bomb to jump up from the track, or boost to fire yourself perpendicularly away from the track. This will not count as a Logbook scan until you have the Spider Ball. e) SPINNER These devices use the Boost Ball to power other mechanisms. Roll into a Spinner and constantly charge and release boosts as fast as you can. Once the device has been completely charged/powered/ moved, you will be automatically ejected from the Spinner. If you want to leave before you finish powering something up, lay a bomb. This will not count as a Logbook scan until you have the Boost Ball. f) WALL JUMP SURFACE Wall jump surfaces appear as rectangular strips of wall covered with strange purple and gold designs. If you collide with a wall jump surface while in the Screw Attack, you will grab onto the wall temporarily, and by jumping again you will continue to Screw Attack up and away from the wall. These surfaces usually come in pairs, allowing you to bounce from one to the another, which you can use to climb up large vertical distances. This not count as a Logbook scan until you have the Screw Attack. iii. Vehicles = = = = = = = a) GFS TYR This is the Federation starship that the troopers were on. It was damaged while they were landing on Aether, which ultimately led to their deaths. LOCATION: TG:GFMC Compound b) PIRATE SKIFF This flat platform will appear briefly in a few rooms to deliver more Space Pirates to a fight. You will usually have to scan it as soon as you see it, because it will not stick around for long. LOCATION: AW:Central Mining Station, TB:Torvus Temple *********** c) SAMUS'S GUNSHIP Your ship functions as both a Save Station and an Ammo Station. Make sure to scan it early in the game: the message given when you scan it changes as you progress through the game, but only the message at the beginning counts as a Logbook entry. LOCATION: TG:Landing Site /============================================================================== C. Options [V.C] \============================================================================== This section lists the options you can change regarding the display, sound, controls, and gameplay. For each option, the range of possible values will be listed, along with the default value in parentheses. A brief description of what each option affects will also be given. 1. Display =============================================================================== a. BRIGHTNESS: 0-100 (50) adjusts the brightness of the picture b. SCREEN OFFSET X: 0-100 (50) moves the picture to the left (values < 50) or right (values > 50) c. SCREEN OFFSET Y: 0-100 (50) moves the picture up (values < 50) or down ( values > 50) d. SCREEN STRETCH: 0-100 (50) compresses (values < 50) or stretches (values > 50) the picture e. RESTORE DEFAULTS: Yes|No (No) 2. Sound =============================================================================== a. SOUND: Mono|Stereo|Surround (Stereo) selects the format in which the sound is output b. SFX VOLUME: 0-100 (100) adjusts the volume of sound effects c. MUSIC VOLUME: 0-100 (75) adjusts the volume of music d. RESTORE DEFAULTS: Yes|No (No) 3. Visors =============================================================================== a. VISOR OPACITY: 0-100 (100) adjusts the opacity of all HUD elements except the energy meter b. HELMET OPACITY: 0-100 (100) adjusts the opacity of the physical helmet, visible at the edge of the screen c. HUD LAG: Yes|No (Yes) determines whether HUD movement lags behind visor movement d. HINT SYSTEM: Yes|No (Yes) turns the hint system on or off e. RESTORE DEFAULTS: Yes|No (No) 4. Controls =============================================================================== a. RUMBLE: Yes|No (Yes) turns the rumble feature on or off b. INVERT Y-AXIS: Yes|No (No) reverses the orientation of the y-axis on the Control Stick while holding R (for manual targeting), so that pressing down on the Control Stick causes you to look down and vice versa c. RESTORE DEFAULTS: Yes|No (No) 5. QUIT GAME: Yes|No (No) quits the game and returns to the title screen (does NOT save) ____ _______________________________________________________ ____ \______/ \______/ VI. N E C E S S A R Y O D D S A N D E N D S [VI] ______ ______ ____/ \_______________________________________________________/ \____ I know nobody reads this stuff, but I have to put it in here. If you're considering downloading, printing, selling, or posting this guide, though, I *strongly* advise you to read the copyright notice below. /============================================================================== A. Creative Commons Info [VI.A] \============================================================================== (CC) Some rights reserved. This guide is by Steven Reeves. It is released under a Creative Commons license: the Creative Commons deed can be viewed here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ Here's what you can and can't do with my guide (this is taken from the deed linked to above): You are free: * to Share — to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. Under the following conditions: * Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). * Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. * No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. * For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/). * Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. * Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. So basically, feel free to copy, download, print, email, or do whatever you want with this guide, so long as you don't sell it (I didn't get paid anything to write this, so I don't see why you should just for making copies of it), change it, or take my name off of it. If you have any questions about anything here, email me at sr3791@yahoo.com. /============================================================================== B. Credits [VI.B] \============================================================================== o Retro Studios, for making another awesome Metroid game. o All rights, including the copyrights of game, scenario, music and program, reserved by Nintendo. o Dimcity's Beam FAQ, for information about the relative strengths and abilities of each beam. This was especially useful in the Inventory section of the Data Network. http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/metroid_prime_2_beam.txt o Rize's 100% FAQ, which contains a handy checklist of one-time scans and all expansions, which I used while playing my 100% game. http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/metroid_prime_2_100.txt o CyricZ's Walkthrough, for information on the various pickup increments and general reference purposes. http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/metroid_prime_2_c.txt o Deathborn 668's Logbook/Inventory FAQ, for reference on Logbook entries. http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/metroid_prime_2_log.txt o Preston, for informing me that Kinetic Orb Cannons are not limited-time scans (the one in Sacred Path can be scanned anytime) and that you can't save right before you fight the Alpha Blogg. o Noah, for pointing out that I forgot to mention Energy Tank 3 (TG:Wind Chamber Gateway) in the walkthrough. /============================================================================== C. Contact Info [VI.C] \============================================================================== Questions? Comments? Complaints? Call toll-free at sr3791@yahoo.com! Qualified representatives are standing by to take your call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! I am happy to answer all intelligent, legible questions and would be glad to receive comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism. I will not reply to questions or comments that are irrelevant, illegible, or rude. Also, check the guide first before asking gameplay questions. I'm pretty sure I've covered everything gameplay-related somewhere in this guide, so check before you email. If, after checking, you find that I have overlooked something or have not made something clear enough, please email me with your problem and I will be happy to help you and update the appropriate section of the guide. Also, I do not like spam. I have yet to meet one person who does. Do not send any to me. /============================================================================== D. Version History [VI.D] \============================================================================== I don't know why anyone else would be interested in this, so I stuck it at the very bottom where nobody will see it. If you've taken the time to read all the way down to here, way to go. You get a gold star. 0.00 11/21/2005 Wrote the introduction, although most of the Game Basics section, along with the framework for the Data Network section, had been done a few months before this. 1.00 09/28/2006 Finally! After over a year of off-and-on work, version 1.00 is complete! 1.01 03/17/2007 Corrected errors pointed out by Preston and Noah, and changed the copyright info: the guide is now released under a Creative Commons license. =============================================================================== =============================================================================== Congratulations, you've reached the end of the guide. I thought I'd put something educational down here for you people who made it all the way to the very end: it's the Binomial Theorem. Enjoy! If x and y are real numbers and n and k are integers, n >= 0, then __ (x + y)^n = \ n n!/((n - k)!*k!) * x^(n - k) * y^k /__k=0 Explanations of notation: __ \ b f(i) = f(a) + f(a+1) + f(a+2) + ... + f(b-1) + f(b) /__i=a where a and b are integers such that 0 <= a <= b and f(i) is a function defined at a, a+1, ..., b. (read "the sum from i equals a to b of f(i)") a! = a * (a - 1) * (a - 2) * ... * 3 * 2 * 1 for a positive integer a and 0! = 1. (read "a factorial")