Megaman X8 Dr. Light Capsules FAQ By: DarkMonty Version 1.00 ============================================================================= Table of Contents ============================================================================= I. Introduction II. Update History III. The Capsules IV. Upgrade Descriptions V. Closing/Copyright ============================================================================= I. Introduction: ============================================================================= Greetings and welcome to my FAQ about the Dr. Light Capsules in Megaman X8! After the success that my first FAQ was on the Shadow Hearts: Covenant lottery member system, I decided to try my hand at writing a second one. Even though I'm not technically a "newbie" anymore, please bear with me for a bit longer until I fully get the hang of writing successful FAQS :). As before, if you notice anything incorrect, if something is too confusing, or you have info to contribute, please let me know and I'll do my best to correct or update it in a timely fashion. Almost everyone has probably played one of the Megaman X games, or if you're like me then you've played them all from X to X8. If this applies to you, you probably don't need to be reading the introduction to this FAQ :p For those of you who are just tuning in to the X saga with Megaman X8, here's a brief overview of the story behind these capsules. Dr. Light, having foreseen that trouble would one day invariably befall the earth after his passing, developed an AI program to function as X's guardian and spread it around the globe to appear during critical times. Every capsule bestows upon X a different piece of a new set of armor; each piece contributing new attributes, characteristics, etc to X's armoire of capabilities. Irrelevant, but nostalgic nonetheless, hardcore X fans from the beginning probably remember the first Dr. Light capsule in Chill Penguin's stage where it gave him the ability to dash ;) Anyways, let's move on to the real purpose of this guide, and that's the capsules of X8! ============================================================================= II. Update History: ============================================================================= December 14, 2004: Got a couple submissions pertaining to the capsule in Noah's Park, as well as another strategy for obtaining the foot parts in Bamboo Pandamonium's stage. See the appropriate section for specific info. December 17, 2004: Received an additional two strategies for getting the head parts capsule in Gravity Antonion's stage courtesy of another reader and some more information on Noah's Park capsule. Thanks guys! **IMPORTANT:** Please, please, PLEASE do not email me with questions about the game itself. The only thing I took notes about were the locations of and strategies to getting the armor capsules and there's no way I could remember where all the other things such as rare chips are at. I currently do not have a PS2 right now because I sent it into Sony for repairs. If you have a question about rare metals, the forum topic "Rare Metals" is very informative and that's exactly what I followed to find everything I needed. It's not as organized as a FAQ, but it's got a lot of helpful stuff. January 3, 2005: I know a few people have sent things in to be included in the FAQ, and I can't apologize enough for the massive delay! I've been pretty busy trying to get a few more work days in while I can before I go back to college on the 9th so I have some extra money to spend (that and I need to buy books....) So I believe this should be the final update to a pretty good FAQ. Thanks to everyone who submitted information here! I've found that I enjoy FAQ writing and I might do another one somewhere on down the line. ============================================================================= III. The Capsules: ============================================================================= Neutral Armor: X's upgraded armor in this installment is known as the "Neutral Armor." There's not much to say about this in particular, except that as you collect the upgrades from the various capsules in the stages, when you select X in Neutral Armor as one of your duo, you will be able to customize it and select one part from each of the main areas of the body to take into the stage with you. One head, body, buster, and foot upgrade, which allows you some room for mixing and matching. Head Parts H - Avalanche Yeti's Stage This one is a little bit of a pain to get simply because you NEED both X AND Zero, and you HAVE to keep them both ALIVE. This capsule is all the way at the end, after you destroy the second airship and "dismount" from your ride chaser. Right before the path narrows towards the boss gate, jump up on the wall above the opening with Zero, and use his double jump to get onto the side of the ledge sticking out farther to the left. When you're up on that platform facing the stacks of ice, use the Shining Ray weapon to melt the ice and obtain the Head Parts H upgrade from the capsule. Head Parts I - Gravity Antonion's Stage I recommend using Pallette as your navigator, and I brought along X and Zero as my tag team for tackling this stage. It's definitely not easy, I'll say that much. Make your way through the stage and you'll eventually get to the area where Pallette will contact you and bring up the comment that there is an extra teleporter in the area. She'll wonder where it goes, but for all intents and purposes, we already do :D What you want to do is continue rotating the area using the buttons so that one of the steel blocks will fall down the short pit that's lined with spikes on both sides. Be careful not to get crushed yourself! When you get one of the blocks down the pit, fall down yourself, and this is where it gets even trickier. You've got to rotate the area another full rotation to get another block to fall down the pit and stack onto the first one. No easy task since you've got to hang onto the walls as if your life depends on it (and in all honesty, it really does). Once you get a stack of two blocks, use Zero's double jump to get into the alcove with the portal and then switch to X in the new area to activate the Dr. Light Capsule! ** DarkSpirit Comments: I´d like to point out that for getting the head parts I in gravity antonion´s stage you can throw down the second and if you want, even third cube down while using only the two switches in the upper portion of the room, making it much easier to get the upgrade, the only thing is that when you are using the switches on the top on the third or fourth step to throwing down the cubes you must dash to the right or you´ll be squashed under a cube. ** ** Tortured Soul Comments: In Gravity Antonion's stage, theres an easier way to get the capsule and you'll need X and Axl. Earlier on in the stage you'll find Orange Reploids skating on the spikes. Flip the stage, then use the copy shot on one of them. Once you reach the area with the portal to the Dr. Light Capsule, use axl to transform and climb to the area with the portal to go to the capsule to receive the Head Parts I. It's much easier than trying to jump your way and rotate blocks into that little space. ** Buster Parts H - Optic Sunflower's Stage You'll need to finish Gravity Antonion's Stage and get his Squeeze Bomb weapon before you attempt to get this capsule in your possession. That being said, this one doesn't take much to obtain really. Once again, I picked X and Zero (my favorite, but really this time it's up to you if you want to take Axl instead). Fight your way through the various training trials until you get to the trial where you're supposed to kill the little mechaniloids that jump up between the gaps of three large gears as the screen shifts up or down (depending on your prior performances). When you finish this trial, the in-between area should be a wide open space that you'll eventually climb up a wall to get to the gate. Instead of going through the gate, dash jump or do whatever you wish to land on a very narrow platform to the left that's blocked by a crystal barrier. If you use Pallette, she'll say that "only the power of a black hole can put a dent in it," but I'm here to say that you should have gotten Squeeze Bomb from Gravity Antonion before coming here. Bust the barrier down and activate the capsule with X for another part! Buster Parts I - Noah's Park (Intro Stage) This part is probably the easiest to obtain difficulty wise. Proceed through the stage until you get to the point where normally you would have had to use Zero's double jump to get into the facility. Except now, the lock on the lower level should be open. Inside this small room is Dr. Light's capsule with the Buster Parts I! ** According to Sophia Teh and JePoY, once you beat one maverick boss, Noah's Park becomes available again and the door was open for them. Sophia said this was done on easy mode, and JePoY says he was on normal. He also says that a friend of his was also on normal and never beat a maverick boss, but the door was open. If anybody has anything different to report for HARD mode, let me know. If not, consider this case solved! ** Body Parts H - Dark Mantis' Stage This capsule is a little ways into the stage, but it's not too hard to obtain at all. Continue through the stage until you reach the area where you need to navigate the hallway using the little mechaniloid for a light source. When you get through that area, you should come to a vertical shaft that is sending platforms with cargo on it. Instead of following it down towards the end of the stage, dash jump to the right side of the wall and time your jump so you pass the laser and head up. Only a quick few jumps up the wall will take you into an alcove with the Dr. Light capsule. Body Parts I - Earthrock Trilobyte's Stage While doing this stage you probably noticed this capsule buried in a little alcove along the wall as you were fleeing from the giant mechaniloid. Then, as you were chasing it back after beating it for the first time, the rock wall was clear, but a barrier of explosive barrels was still blocking your way. You'll need to obtain Burn Rooster's weapon, Melt Creeper, and use that to blow up the explosive barrels. This capsule contains the Body Parts H upgrade, which will be discussed further in the next section. Foot Parts H - Burn Rooster's Stage This part doesn't take much to get, but it is a little tricky and may cause you to retry the stage a couple of times if you're not careful. Proceed through the stage as normal and you'll eventually see the capsule resting on a ledge on the left side of the screen. Slide down the right side, avoiding the spikes at all points, and when you are able to reach the left wall finally, climb up and continue to zig zag from left to right to avoid the patches of spikes placed conveniently to deter you. Should only take you one or two tries to get up there, but the Foot Parts H await you at the top. Foot Parts I - Bamboo Pandamonium's Stage This part takes a little bit of ingenuity to obtain, but once you get the hang of it, it's not too hard at all. To start things off, you will NEED to keep the riding armor intact and not lose it during the stage by allowing it to fall down a pit or be destroyed. There's little risk in it being destroyed since lesser shots bounce right back, so the major problem is making sure it doesn't fall down a ditch prematurely. Progress through the stage as you would normally, and in the area right after the trap room with all the other enemy riding armors, you'll notice a lift elevator with the switch perched on the wall just below. Send the armor up the lift, then get in and dash-hover across the gap as far as you can until you see the patch of spikes on the wall. When you get close enough, immediately abandon the armor by holding up and pressing the jump button, then air dash above the spikes and onto the small platform where the capsule lies in wait. **whowahkillsound also comments... I had a lot less trouble with the bamboo pandamonium foot piece by using axl. Like, boosting off of the elevator with the mech thing and then using axl's hover to it instead of trying to time the speed dash.** ============================================================================== IV. Upgrade Descriptions: ============================================================================== This section will describe, in as much detail as I can possibly manage, the various functions of the armor upgrades that you obtain from the various capsules scattered throughout the stage. In addition to the basic function, I've given my rating and added my own personal comments about it for each part. If you would like to submit your own rating and/or comments about a particular part, or if you feel that I erred in my judgment on a particular one, submit your comments to me and I'll add them up here along with my own! Head Parts H - This part will increase X's weapons charge speed if you have it equipped. Enough said, really. Rating: * * * * * Comments: After painfully enduring the stages and boss fights with the slower charge shot time while fighting with X, I must say that this particular upgrade is a tremendous relief. It's too bad I didn't obtain this one until last, but if you play your cards right, it could be the first capsule you obtain and will be a major ace up your sleeve when fighting the tougher mavericks. Head Parts I - This particular part will envelop X in a damaging force field while jumping which is harmful to enemies and does inflict damage on them. Rating: * * * * Comments: Very useful part because of the force field that allows you to damage robots by jumping near them. It's really only good for dispatching smaller enemies, or, at best, medium sized ones who are higher up in position than you. In such a case, you can just jump straight up from the lower platform and take care of it easily. Buster Parts H - Equipping this part will allow X to perform a new kind of charge attack. Specifically, a 3-way spread full charge shot takes the place of the large mass of plasma that X fires when fully charged. Rating: * * Comments: This is an average upgrade part. It will take a little bit of getting used to since X has always fired his charged buster shot straight forward, but with the right amount of patience and skill, you can easily dispatch enemies too high or too low to reach without getting up close to do so. Personally, I find myself never using it out of favor for the standard charge shot. According to Rick Petralia: ** One thing I noticed in your FAQ of Mega Man X8 is that for Buster Parts H, all you mention is that it shoots out the triple buster beam. The main part of Buster Part H is that you now can charge up any of your special weapons by holding the circle button to creat some really cool/effective attacks. ** Buster Parts I - Equipping this part will allow X to perform another new kind of charge attack. Specifically, a large laser blast that covers the entire horizontal screen will take the place of the standard charge shot. Rating: * * * Comments: Awesome upgrade! For those of you who played Megaman 8, this part is reminiscent of the laser shot that was purchasable in Dr. Light's lab. The prime difference in this part is that instead of the laser traveling across the screen and penetrating anything it came into contact with, this laser shot covers the entire horizontal screen and stays there for a brief few seconds, dealing damage to anything unfortunate enough to be caught in it. The only downside is that while the beam stays on screen, so too does X stop moving for the time it takes for the laser to disappear. This makes him incredibly vulerable to damage and is therefore not recommended for fighting bosses or stronger enemies that like to move around a lot. Foot Parts H - Equipping this part will enable X to have an increase in overall speed and at the same time invincible dashing. Rating: * * * * Comments: I really like this upgrade! Not only for the increase in speed, but for the invincibility while dashing. There's really not much else to say about this part since there's nothing conceivably wrong with it. Foot Parts I - Equipping this part will allow X to be able to jump higher than he usually could. Rating: * * * Comments: This isn't too bad of an upgrade since X can finally rival the air time of Zero during a double jump. It still isn't Zero's double jump though, but it's definitely an improvement. However, the only problem with this part is that you need to constantly be careful that your life is not compromised by accidentally smashing your head into an inconveniently placed ceiling spike. Body Parts H - With this part equipped, X will become completely invincible to weaker enemy attacks! Rating: * * * * * Comments: This is probably the best upgrade part in the entire game if you were to ask me my opinion. No longer will you have to sweat the little baby robot fire and continue to take minor damage and have it build up into something more devastating. With this part, X will flinch as if he was taking damage normally, but the life bar won't deplete at all. Very, very useful! Body Parts I - Having this part equipped will decrease the damage that X receives by half. At the same time however, the recovery gauge depletes slightly as a result. Rating: * * * * Comments: I like this part, I really do. The reduction in damage by half is a big, big plus for X and will serve to make him a lethal fighting machine (as if he isn't already, haha) if paired with the right upgrade parts and upgraded as much as possible at the R&D laboratory. In addition to the individual upgrade parts, the Neutral Armor comes equipped with two special abilities that are available for use if you equip all of a particular category of upgrades. For example, if you equip all of the I parts or all of the H parts, you receive a different special ability. You CANNOT get a special ability if you mix and match! X-Drive: The armor's abilities are increased greatly as long as there is energy left to spare. You obtain this ability if you equip all of the blue- colored upgrades to the neutral armor, otherwise known as the H parts. Rating: * * * * * Comments: Excellent special ability! All available attributes of the assigned upgrades are greatly powered up for the duration of the weapon energy meter (hence, it's a very good idea to upgrade your weapon bar to the max in the R&D lab). The only downside is you can't cancel this ability once you've activated it, so you have to let it burn itself out before it will stop. According to Owvin and Mitchell Leeper: **There is a way to deactivate the X-drive. Just switch characters and it deactivates the drive.** Giga Crash: Sets off a giant explosion that instantly wipes the screen clear of enemies. Rating: * * * * Comments: Very useful ability, but not as useful when compared with the X-Drive. This is sort of like X's Giga Crush in Mega Man X2, but this time around it's usable an unlimited number of times. **HOWEVER** The amount of damage dealt by this attack is strictly related to the amount of weapon energy that is in the bar. So yes, you can use this an infinite number of times, but the very first time you use it is when it will be the most effective. ============================================================================= V. Closing/Copyright: ============================================================================= The following guide was composed by me, Jordan Montgomery (a.k.a. DarkMonty), and I hold all the rights to it. Currently, GameFAQs, IGN, and Neoseeker have permission to host it, but if you would like to use it for your own guide or website, just ask and I'll more than likely say yes. That being said, if there is an error with anything in this guide, you have a suggestion, or would like to submit something I don't currently have listed, I can be reached via email at LordZophar@gmail.com or AIM at the screen name DarkMonty17. If I miss anybody in future updates, please contact me right away and I'll fix it immediately! **IMPORTANT:** Due to conflicts that unexpectedly arose with my first FAQ, please contact me ONLY if you have information to submit or a question regarding MY FAQ! I appreciate the popularity, haha, but I'm sorry to say that I will not answer general game questions, walk you through the individual stages area by area, or give out boss strategies. Eventually someone else will write a FAQ for that, but it's not going to be me. Sorry! Finally, I would like to thank the following people: -GameFAQs, IGN, and Neoseeker for hosting this guide! -Capcom especially for creating the Megaman [X] series as well as this recent installment! -Sophia Teh for her submission about Noah's Park and the door leading to the capsule. Thanks! -JePoY also for the submission about Noah's Park. Thank you! -Whowahkillsound for making his suggestion about using Axl to get the foot parts in Bamboo Pandamonium's stage. Nice job! -Rick Petralia for his submission on the Buster Parts H. Thanks, I didn't put one and one together to realize it did that! -Tortured Soul for his strategy submission on Gravity Antonion's stage. Thank you! -DarkSpirit for his additional strategy for Gravity Antonion's capsule. Interesting strategy, I never thought about it that way! -Owvin for letting me know about how to deactivate the X-Drive. Sorry for the delay in updating! -Mitchell Leeper for the X-Drive as well. Thanks! -You, the reader, for reading this. Without you, this guide has no purpose! Copyright 2004 Jordan Montgomery All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.