Mega Man Zero 2 Notes

Mega Man Zero 2 Notes

Fastest Any% Time in 54:47 (24:28): http://www.twitch.tv/kuribonkb/c/4479048
Theory TAS in 52:17 (22:10) (Outdated): http://www.twitch.tv/kuribonkb/c/4479182
S-Rank Theory TAS in 51:24 (21:22): http://www.twitch.tv/kuribonkb/c/6281922

Mechanics

All Memory Addresses are 2 bytes in Data Size (except for the GT addresses) and are Signed

Buster EXP Values:
Pea Shot = 1 (Also adds exp when hits a boss with I-frames)
Half Charge Shot = 2
Charge Shot = 4

Saber EXP Values:
Any slash not the below 3 = 1
Double Slash = 2
Triple Slash = 4
Charge Slash = 8

Chain Rod EXP Values:
Uncharged Chain Rod = 1
Charged Chain Rod = 2 (per hit)

Shield Boomerang EXP Values:
Charge Attack = 1
Charge Attack (Point blank infront of an enemy/boss) = 2-3

Buster Level Ups (Address 02037F0A):
(Intro EXP doesn't count)
Charge Shot = 200
Quick Charge = 600

Saber Level Ups (Address 02037F0C):
(Intro EXP doesn't count)
Double Slash = 30
Triple Slash = 90
Charge Slash = 290
Quick Charge = 850

Chain Rod Level Ups (Address 02037F0E):
Charge = 50
Quick Charge = 210

Shield Boomerang Level Ups (Address 02037F10):
Mid Range = 30
Long Range = 80

Combo Levels
Level 1: Single slash (standing and moving), Charged slash, Jump slash, Dash slash, All Saber EX Skills, Pea Shot, Half Charged Buster, Charged Buster, All Buster EX Skills, Uncharged Chain Rod, Charged S.Boomerang, 1st hit with Charged Chain Rod
Level 2: Double slash, 2nd hit with Charged Chain Rod
Level 3: Triple slash, 3rd hit with Charged Chain Rod
Level 4: 4th hit with Charged Chain Rod

Damage Values
Pea Shot = 1
Half Charged Shot = 3
Charged Shot = 6
Charged Shot (Weakness) = 9
Single Slash = 4
Double Slash = 4
Triple Slash = 5
Jump Slash = 4
Extended Jump Slash = 5
Dash Slash = 5
Tenshouzan = 7
Tenshouzan (Weakness) = 10
Rakuretsuzan = 8
Rakuretsuzan (Weakness) = 12
Kougenjin = 5
Kougenjin (Projectile) = 3
Sengatotsu = 6
Sengatotsu (Weakness) = 9
Charge Slash = 8
Charge Slash (Weakness) = 12
Chain Rod = 2
Charged Chain Rod = 2 (per hit)
Charged Chain Rod (Elemental) = 3 (per hit)
Charged Shield Boomerang = 6
Charged Shield Boomerang (Elemental) = 9

Energy Form changes nothing
X Form increases all buster values by 1
Defense Form decreases all saber values except for charge attacks and EX Skills by 2. Increases all S.Boomerang values by 1
Erase Form changes nothing
Active Form gives a spin slash that does 2 damage and a rolling slash that does 3. Besides that, changes nothing
Power Form increases both Jump Slashes and Dash Slash by 1
Rise Form increases Triple Slash by 1
Proto Form increases all usable attack values by 1
Ultimate Form increases Double Slash by 1

Form Properties:
Normal Form: Standard form
Energy Form: Increases chance of getting a health drop. Changes appearance of triple slash to double -> double -> single (still does same damage as normal form). Can only shoot 2 pea shots
X Form: Increases strength of buster. Can shoot 4 pea shots. Can only double slash
Defense Form: Doubles defense. Removes knockback. Cuts attack for some saber attacks. Increases strength of S.Boomerang
Erase Form: Erase bullets with S.Boomerang and Saber slash. Can only double slash
Active Form: Increases running speed and enables spin and rolling slashes. Can only single slash
Power Form: Increases strength of jump slashes and dash slash. Can only triple slash
Rise Form: Increases strength of triple slash. Triple slash now goes upward
Proto Form: Increases strength of all attacks. Halves defense. Disables saber combos and charge attacks for all weapons except S.Boomerang
Ultimate Form: Lets you do charge attacks with button combos. Increases strength of double slash

Zipping:
Right wall zip: Be beneath a ceiling and chain rod upwards. Does not work on very thick ceilings
Left wall zip: Same as above except move Zero around to get him to zip. When doing a left wall zip, Zero swings wildly enough to go into some walls and ceilings
-Zero can only zip upwards
-Zipping only works on JPN-GBA. Patched in all other versions

Random Memory Addresses
Boss HP (Primary): 0203BBF4
Boss HP (Game sometimes uses these values for HP during boss rush. Most likely Phoenix's dash attack messing something up): 0203BB10, 0203B864, 0203B948, 0203BA2C
Game Time: 02036BC0 (4 bytes in Data Size)
Stage Time: 0202EBF8 (2 bytes works, but 4 bytes is needed if you stay in a stage for a really, really long time)
Zero's HP: 02037D94 and 02037E6E
RNG Value: 0x0202E188 (4 bytes in Data Size)

Boss Order
First Set: Panter -> Phoenix -> Poler -> Ourobockle
-Order is based on getting alot of saber exp early + weakness order
Second Set: Harpuia -> Burble -> Leviathan -> Fefnir
-Order doesn't matter that much here. Basically the best order when going for least amount of pauses

Stages

Intro:
-Manipulate Golem and health drop rng by doing certain actions (section below)
-Intro boss: Do a minimum of 4 extended jump slashes so it dies in 7 hits instead of 8
-Exit stage with B-Rank. A-Rank wastes time for Panter

Panter:
-Have 30 exp before protecting the cargo (top route provides just enough exp to reach 30)
-Double slash all the enemies that try to steal the cargo to immediately get triple slash (perfect scenario would be having 94 exp coming out of this part)
-Triple slash boss to milk exp and deal more damage. Staying near him will never cause him to jump kick or do the purple crescent projectiles. Tank hits if needed
-Only enemy in the stage that affects rng are the Yadokroids (hopper enemy with a shell that shoots bullets). Panter manipulation is possible, but not completely necessary

Phoenix:
-Switch to S.Boomerang and Thunder chip
-One shot the generator things with Charged S.Boomerang by moving towards the generator and releasing it right before Zero touches the ground
-Dumb boss that deserves its own section (section below)
-Since A-rank is unavoidable for this stage. Tenshouzan is obtained

Poler:
-Switch to Chain Rod and Fire Chip. Equip Rise Form and Tenshouzan
-For golem, do Tenshouzan –> Triple Slash
-For boss, do Tenshouzan –> Triple Slash combos until boss is dead. Can spam just Tenshouzan to be safe, but you get hardly any exp from this
-Frame Timing Stuff: http://i.imgur.com/XVZhuy2.png
-Rank drops to B after this stage. For the rest of the game, you want to keep it here

Ourobockle:
-Playing the stage perfectly means you can make the earliest crusher cycle at the end
-Grind off the bomb bees if low on exp
-For the second pit with the chain grapple above it, it's safer just to ignore it and grapple the wall across the pit
	-You can grab the chain grapple as shown in the theory TAS, but this strat is very risky and saves little time
-Miniboss, pull out platform with chain rod and do Tenshouzan –> Triple Slash
-Ignore saving the soldiers in the last part of the stage
-For boss, do Tenshouzan –> Triple Slash three times and one triple slash

Golem Men:
-Charge Slash -> triple slash twice for the first two golems
-Charge slash, then do Tenshouzan twice for last golem
-Switch to ice at the end of the stage and either buster or s.boomerang (depending on miniboss strat in next stage)

Ships:
-Mash fast at the start of the stage so the ships are in a good position
-For miniboss, either charged s.boomerang -> jump slash or wiggletron with charged saber. This thing has no I-frames
-Grind for Chain exp while protecting Ciel. Should have charged chain around the time the timer reaches 45 seconds
-For boss, do Charge Slash -> Charge Chain Rod twice. Finish off boss with Charge Slash -> Triple Slash (doing this kills every boss with an elemental weakness that has 2 health bars)

Harpuia:
-Switch to buster to kill pinwheels quickly and speed up last part of the stage. Switch back to Chain before boss
-First invisible section has 3 spike pits that can be distinguished by the spikes being higher than the others
-Second invisible section has a lot more spike pits. Just like the above section, real spike pits are higher than others
-No penalty for killing the soldiers at the end of the stage since rank means nothing

Burble:
-Charge Slash -> Charge Chain for miniboss
-Equip buster and Flame chip sometime after miniboss and before Burble
-For boss, try to land a Charge slash -> triple slash combo at the start (does not work if he jumps onto wall). Tenshouzan Burble when he jumps onto the wall. The combo used for Ourobockle combo does work on him, but it’s hard to pull off consistently due to RNG. Safer to just triple slash him whenever he’s vulnerable. Extended jump slash him when he does the hand attack from the center of the room

Leviathan:
-Dogs at the start can be manipulated. Avoiding all bombs, doing no wall jumps, doing no unnecessary buster shots and killing the three pinwheel carriers guarantees the best pattern. First dog jumps, second jumps when you shoot it, third jumps, fourth walks.
	-The dogs themselves can change RNG. Keep that in mind
-Switch to Chain sometime after the last snowball enemy and before boss
-Leviathan always gives the same pattern regardless of what you do in the stage to affect RNG
-When landing the last combo on Leviathan, tank a hit, then be below her to manipulate her to downstab

Fernir:
-If you're optimal enough, you can sneak under the first lava platform as shown in the theory TAS (not recommended, saves hardly any time)
-Since this stage runs on cycles, it's important to learn where the lava platforms will be
-Switch to Thunder chip before boss
-Grab safety 1-up/health after the three spikey ceiling enemies if needed

Rainbow Devil:
-Rainbow devil can be manipulated (section below)
-Should have quick charge slash by now
-Attacking any part of Rainbow Devil's body gives exp regardless of if he takes damage

Fefnir AP:
-Skip the first section by zipping
-Do charge slash -> charge chain at start of boss. After his 4 cannons are destroyed, just do charge slashes and sneak in charge chains when safe
-Dumb strat I’ll never do in a run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcvoD0RaTQQ

Leviathan AP:
-Skip the first section by zipping
-Either abuse chain invincibility or I-frames off a damage boost to skip the last part of the elevator
-Switch to Fire chip before boss
-Leviathan always opens with a dash attack. Charge slash her immediately and then charge slash when she does the dash. Standard charge slash/chain combo everything else
-Should have quick charge chain by now

Harpuia AP:
-Skip the first section by zipping
-Platform section after the first temple starts moving when Zero reaches around this point: http://i.imgur.com/hSyasd7.png
-Switch to Ice chip before boss
-If you feel confident enough, zip into the boss room as shown in the theory TAS
-Standard charge/chain combo. Do charge slash for attacks where it would be bad to chain (tornado attack and the purple wrecking balls)

Final Stage:
-Same Ourobockle strat from before
-Phoenix, fake him out with uncharged chain, then charge slash him
-Poler, hit with uncharged chain, then standard charge slash/chain combo
-Same strat for Poler works on Panter
-Burble fight basically the same as before
-Beetle Bros strat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tVek3sVLeo
 -Extended jump slash at the start to deal a little more damage
 -Possible to double hit with the charge slash before they dash at Zero and kill them faster
-Risky strat that only works when spider is in correct spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5M9Lt18fu4
-Triple slash Elpizo’s first form. Start charging if he either blocks or dashes
-Zipping into boss room can cause some odd things
 -Softlock by standing on the glitched door after zipping into the boss room and killing Elpizo’s first form
 -If luck is good, Elpizo can get stuck on door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCi3Vr9ctoQ
-For Elpizo’s final form, do a normal jump slash at the start, then charge slash –> charge chain rod. Timing for chain rod is awkward. If he does a gold platform, it’s possible to kill him before the platform disappears if all attacks hit. Worst things he can do are either green energy balls or gold energy balls. Play defensive when he does these


Other Stuff

RNG Manipulation

RNG in the Zero series is reset at the start of every stage and not affected by things in previous stages. RNG is also affected by external factors such as the following:
-Killing enemies
	-How the enemy dies (if you used buster, saber, charge slash, ect)
 -Wall sliding (Wall jumping is fine, just don't create dust frames)
 -Certain AI decisions/actions from enemies/bosses
 -Firing buster shots at a wall
-Bosses can react differently based on your position from them
-Cyber elf being onscreen
-Certain effects like screen shake and death explosion from bosses/minibosses
-What form Zero has equipped? (not fully tested)

Due to how Z2's stages are designed with more things that are capable of affecting RNG along with the fact that some stages aren't very RNG manipulation friendly to begin with (ex: phoenix magnion changing RNG every frame he's onscreen), consistent manipulations are sometimes not possible. Fortunately in most situations, lack of RNG manipulation isn't an issue as learning to react to certain boss attacks is easier than trying to manipulate a set pattern (Ex: You can kill Fefnir fast regardless of what he does). For some bosses, this isn't the case (Phoenix, Burble, Rainbow Devil, Harpuia AP and both of Elpizo's forms). Fortunately, a manipulation for Rainbow Devil exists (more on that below).

Intro Stage Manipulations

-Fire a pea shot at the ledge and start charging buster. Slash the first pantheon. Ignore the second pantheon. Kill the two robot cactus enemies. Jump slash the first tumbleweed robot and ignore the rest until the first golem
-Golem will fire two right shots. Do not let the golem shoot a third time
-After the first golem, slash the first pantheon. Charge buster the second one.
-The second golem will do two left shots. The first two jump slashes you can do without getting hit. For the last two slashes, tank two hits. Like before, do not let the golem shoot a third time
-Get the cyber elf ofscreen asap. Jump slash the first bird and the junk pile. Slash the second bird while ignoring the junk pile and kill the first cactus robot. Extended jump slash the third bird and junk pile and shoot the first tumbleweed robot (this enemy gives you a health drop)
-Buster all the enemies before the last cactus robot. Kill the last cactus robot
	-A cyber elf will drop during this section. As before, don't let it be onscreen for too long
	-The falling platforms in the last part of the stage do not affect rng
-If you did everything correct, the intro boss will do the following attacks
	-Shoot grey metal thing at you, shoot 3 bullets, then defend itself with grey metal thing
-With the way the intro boss works, you can make most patterns it gives work, so getting a consistent pattern on it isn't necessary. Just a convenience
-Some things about intro RNG
	-If you are planning on doing full rng manipulation in this stage, don't let the tumbleweed robots stay onscreen for too long. They generate rng
	-The birds eating the dead pantheons causes rng, but them flying and attacking does not

Phoenix Magnion

Phoenix is the 2nd most random boss in the entire series (Dr. Weil being the first). A fight with Phoenix will last as long as he feels like (he can waste up to 25 seconds if he really decides to spam his EX skill or his mirage attack). If you're just starting off, fighting him with just shield boomerang is fine (you'll need to get some extra saber exp either in Panter or Ourobockle's stage though). If you want to do some more advanced stuff, you'll need to learn how to sneak in triple slashes when you can.

The best way to deal with Phoenix is to stay in one spot and learn to react to what he does based on the spot you're in. This spot is my preferred spot for being in the center of the room: http://i.imgur.com/FSB8340.png

RNG manipulation on Phoenix isn't possible due to the boss itself generating rng every frame.

-Two of phoenix's attacks can be simply canceled out with a jump slash or a charged shield boomerang. These attacks are hardly a threat and only waste a little time if he decides to spam them alot.

-His Mirage attack is his second worst attack. You have a 50% chance of hitting him with a charge shield boomerang. If you do guess wrong, you can either play it safe and flee before he attacks (contact damage with the fakes won't hurt you) or try to dodge his attack from the center and sneak in an attack before he disappears. The jump in the center is fairly precise, so it's risky to do.

-His fireball dash attack is the best way to both deal damage and milk alot of exp on him, but it's tricky to pull off. It's also his only attack that you can reliably triple slash. You want to do a well timed jump to make him dash over you so you can triple slash. From the position I use, I jump about half a second after he leaves the screen (it's kinda hard to explain. It's something you kinda have to develop through practice)

-His EX Skill is the worst thing he can do. He basically gets free I-Frames while you have no choice but to flee. He can dash at you 2-5 times before he decides to do something else. If you're bad at doing shield boomerang dash jumps (jumping and dashing on the same frame), stop your charge asap so you can dash away from him. If you can react to it, you can fake him out by jumping at the right time.

-If the battle lasts for too long, fire pillars will appear from the bottom. From the spot I use, you can dodge the pillars just fine by standing in the middle of one of the gray areas. But if he decides to use his EX skill at the same time pillars happen, you end up in a situation that is very hard to avoid damage in. You pretty much have to fake him out with jumping while being in a safespot from the pillars.

Rainbow Devil

Fortunately, Rainbow Devil's stage, while it does have things in it affecting RNG, doesn't have too many things affecting it where it's still possible to get a consistent boss manipulation. This guide will explain what you need to do during the stage and boss fight to achieve a consistent manipulation. Watching the theory TAS is also helpful for understanding what to do during the stage and boss fight.

Stage:
-Before the first drop, there are 6 pantheons. Kill the first 3, ignore the 4th, and kill the last two
-During the drop, kill the bat on the ceiling
-After the bat and before the first cannon pantheon, there are two normal pantheons and a few bats. Kill the two pantheons. Ignore the bats and the first cannon pantheon
	-The cannon pantheons affect rng when they charge their cannons. Keep that in mind
-Between the first two cannon pantheons is another normal pantheon. Kill the normal pantheon and start charging
-Ignore the second cannon pantheon and the pantheon right after it. Charge slash the third cannon pantheon
-Ignore the 4th cannon pantheon and the Signaloid that shoots electricity.
	-Signaloids that shoot electricity do not affect RNG
-Ignore the bat after the part with the spikes and before a drop. Ignore the last two Signaloids. Kill the pantheon between the two Signaloids
	-Fire Signaloids don't change RNG, but ice ones do. Avoid keeping the ice Signaloid onscreen for a long period of time
-During the climb to the boss door, kill both pantheons on the right side of the wall. Ignore the pantheon on the left wall.
-During the stage, avoid doing any unnecessary wall sliding or killing the wrong enemies. This risks messing up the manipulation
-You can make a small amount of mistakes and still get the manipulation. Just be careful going into the boss fight if you did mess something up

Boss:
-The safe way to fight Rainbow Devil is fight him with just triple slashes. Since your first slash won't hit him when he's standing up, you will need to jump slash him before doing the triple slash in those cases. A slightly faster strat sneaks in a few Tenshouzans as shown in the theory TAS. This strat is only about a second or so faster and you take more damage, so it's riskier. This will be explaining the slightly slower, but safer method of fighting him
-Do not attack the boss immediately. Wait a bit, then attack. This manipulates him to do his spinny attack where he shoots goo everywhere. If you attack him to early, he punches you
	-Open with a Charge Slash -> Triple Slash
-After doing the first combo, tank a hit and do another triple slash. Before he does his next attack, sneak in another triple slash
-He will then slide to the other side of the room. Avoid it and when he's vulnerable, triple slash him
-He will then do his exploding head attack. Lure it slightly away from the wall so you have a safe spot to dash inplace near the left wall. When the three pieces of goo are out of harms way, do two triple slashes before his next attack
-His next attack is a punch. Simply avoid it and do one more triple slash to finish him off
-Make sure your position near him is correct and avoid doing any unneeded wall sliding. This can mess up the manipulation. Watch the theory TAS if you're unsure about your position
-Also learn to fight Rainbow Devil without RNG manipulation. You never know if you will mess something up and need to react on the spot