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By Rai (Drillman) After beating the game the first time, a Yellow Star should appear next to "Continue" on the opening screen. That's the first of seven Star IDs you are to collect if you're going to master the game completely. When you continue, you'll find yourself at the last spot you saved before going through the last door in the WWW base. Plotwise, it's still that same moment in time, with a few bizarre inconsistent differences. For one thing you'll have all the chips and zenny you collected between that save point and beating Alpha, the clock will also have increased by the amount of time it took to do all that. You can still go and beat Alpha as many times as you want, but technically, four months have passed. Alpha is beaten and Megaman is back and even if most of the world is stuck in some weird time-warp, other parts are ready for the future. As with any chapter, there are new things available to check out before you do anything else. There are new jobs at the SciLab BBS, there are new messages on the message boards, Bowl/Mistman can be fought whenever you want for the rest of his chips, the final Quiz-guy, the Quiz King is available at the top of Hades Isle, and you can get Poltrgst G from a ghost hiding behind the Tree of Life in the Hospital's basement. As promised, Chaud is also waiting for you at Hades Isle in the area where you did the quarter-finals. Yes, Chaud is also still waiting for you at the WWW base. Let's do the time warp again! If you talk to Chaud in the Hades Arena, you'll have the option to battle Protoman for the ProtomanV1 chip. As usual, you won't be able to fight him right away afterwards. As you progress through the Secret Mission, his other versions will become available, so keep coming back, or else just avoid him until you're done with the Secret Mission so you can fight all his versions at once. One thing you should do now if you haven't already is find and defeat Flameman Beta in Yoka1 so you can open his security cube in Undernet6, you may also want to do the same thing to Drillman Beta in Hades Isle so you can open his security Cube in Undernet7, an area you can reach once getting past Flame's cube. In Undernet7, there are two ways to get to the central platform, either by going through Drill's Cube or by giving the hungry Spiky 50 BugFrags. Either way, your target is the blue mystery data at the top which contains the "Hammer", an item that will become important soon. See the strange doors/curtains hanging around this area? You'll have to come back later once you've finished the Secret Mission. *appears from the future* And whatever you do, make sure you have 300 bugfrags handy! Your very convenience depends on it! *diappears again* Now how about that Secret Mission I keep blabbing about? Well, this mission involves the Secret Area. It's an area literally called "Secret". To get there, go to the Undernet Server hidden behind Ura Inn, Jack In, and inspect the big glowing hole. Now that you have a Star Id you'll be teleported into the Secret Area. This Area is all bright and serene with soothing, mysterious music. It's a sharp contrast to the rest of the UnderNet. The strongest viruses in the game reside here and you can't jack out so you have to go all the way back to the entrance if you want to escape. The mission basically entails going through four secret bosses to earn yourself another Star ID, not to mention all the handy treasures you find along the way. Let's get started then. The Secret Mission - Or "Let's show that we're the strongest badass mofos in the Net just 'cause we can!" While exploring Secret1, you'll become aware of two objects of interest barring your way. One is a 2001-esque black stone monolith that you'll need a special item to dispose of, the almighty "Hammer" to be precise. If you have the "Hammer", you can choose to smash the monolith, but before you can move on, you'll have to fight a few rounds of virus battles. The other thing is black and stone and kinda monolith-like, but...uh...chisled. *shrug* Whatever. You'll know it when you see it. When you examine it you'll be given the option of attempting to destory it. It's a security program, similar to the Protectors in BN2, but with a little twist. Here's how they work. When you agree to attempt a "hacking" procedure, you'll enter a battle with a few of these enemies called Numbers. They don't do anything unless you attack a black one. If a black one is hit you'll be countered with "Error&Delete", a powerful attack that will kill you, so don't let that happen. You want to only attack the white ones. Problem is their HP doesn't drop when you attack them. Think of these guys like auras, you have to hit them with an attack that takes out all their HP at once. Also, if there's more than one white Number at a time, they all have to be deleted at once or the remaining one will resurrect the others. The numbers on the Numbers indicate the order in which you have to delete them. When you delete the white "1", the black "2" will become white and you move onto it, and then possibly onto the one labeled "3". When all the Numbers are deleted the pathway it was blocking will be opened to you. You should know what you're getting into with each Number battle. My advice is to save first and if you find you can't take them all out, then fix your folder up so you can. Some tips: Use Copy Damage when you need to take out multiple Numbers that are too far apart, and if you can't delete a white one without hitting a black one, have antidamage set first so the Err&Del attack won't be a problem. By this time you should have a strong enough arsenal to deal with any of them. As for progressing in this area, you don't have to deal with any of that nonsense, though you might as well get it over with now anyway. Other things to take care of in Secret1: The Scuttles for the virus breeder are to the left of the entrance, somewhere in the vicinity of the west corner of the big central platform. Just walk around until you find them. Behind the Numbers to the northwest of the entrance is a Data Crystal with Geddon3 U. Behind the Monolith to the southwest of the entrance (10 round virus battle) is a "?" door that wants you to best the "four questioners" i.e. the quiz guys. Behind that door is a StepCross R. And behind the Numbers toward the end of the area is 50000 Z.
When you're ready, save and check out the "?" door at the end of the area. If you have 140 chips in your library, the door will open and Darkman will introduce himself to you. Apparently he's an assassin, and he's so dedicated to the idea of killing S, he'll obey his wishes and kill 10000 other people that wander up to that spot (if he was a good assassin he wouldn't fall for crap like that). You happen to be lucky #9634, so when you defeat him it'll be extra frustrating for him.
Protoman Alpha is now available, if you're interested. If you leave and return, you can also find Darkman Alpha at the end of the rightmost path past the Virus Monolith. In Secret2, a nearby creepy navi will tell you "That which is real is not only that which you see", and just to make sure you realize it's important, he adds "Do not forget that". The point is this are has hidden pathways, and you won't get very far without a good sense of exploration. Or a walkthrough. The first hidden path can be found right away by hugging the right side edge of the walkway you entered on, it'll only lead to a Green Mystery Data spot though. At the end of the first path is a monolith and a teleporter, take the teleporter first and you can find a Number blocking your way to a NetDealer. When you're through with that, break the monolith and fight a 10 round virus battle to move on. Take the teleporter at the end of the path and you'll be on the upper level again and there are three paths to choose. Left leads to a creepy navi with a cryptic clue, "BugFrag Trader...300...". The right path leads to a "?" door that will open if you've completed all the jobs at the SciLab BBS, your prize upon passing is an HP+500 navicust block. The center path leads to the next teleporter. At the end of this walkay is a 10 round Monolith that seems to be guarding an immediate dead end, but once you get passed you'll find an invisible walkway lading to an AntiNavi M, once you get that, you should be able to do the almighty BodyGuard PA, you may want to fix up your folder for it before the next boss fight. Go back down the path hugging the left edge and you can find another hidden path leading to the next road. Before examining the "?" door at the end here, you can find one more Number if you hug the left edge and keep pressing A. It's guarding an HPMemory. That's it for this area, now you can check the door. You need at least one Giga Chip for it to open. At this point the only Giga Chip you CAN have is NaviRecycle/FolderBack, which can be purchased from the BugFrag Dealer in Undernet2 for 200 frags. Once through you're greeted by Ya-wha? Japanman?! Nuts to that. Any real Megaman fan knows that's Yamatoman. Screw you translators. Samurai Bodyguard Battle:Yamatoman.exe HP=1600 Speed= medium Defense= medium Movement= random teleport Attacks= Rapid Spear(100x3), Yamato Spear(150), Counter Attack(150), Backup(100)
You can now battle Protoman Beta whenever you want, and if you leave and return, Yamatoman Alpha can be found behind the NetDealer in this area, but you're on a roll now, so press onwards. Secret3 is the final area you'll have to deal with, so let's get to know it. Right next to the entrance is the door of love, it'll open if you find all the viruses for the Virus Breeder. When the path beyond that door splits, the upper path leads to the Scutzer and Scuttlest for your Virus Breeder, collect them and you will be nearly done with your mission of "Gotta catch 'em all!". The lower path leads to the BugFrag Trader, a machince that will give you rare chips in exchange for 10 frags. Also on that platform is a SanctuaryC. Feel your way along the northwest edge of this platform until you stumble on an invisible path leading to the ultimate monolith. After a 20 round virus battle you can pick up the HubBatch navicust block. Equip it and you can use HubStyle, meaning you'll get a bunch of different style abilities at the expense of half your HP, or you can cheat and use BugStopper and get all those abilities and keep your HP. All the way back at the entrance to Secret3, take the other path until you reach the Number thing. You'll have to take this one on to proceed. Not far past that is another monolith. Yeah, when I said the one near the BugFrag Trader was the ultimate one, what I meant was it's supposed to be the ultimate one. This one will just give you 10 battles. Once through, you'll have the option of taking out one more Number thingy to get the Dark Hole it protects. These ones have 650 HP each and you have to take them all out at once. You'd better damn well prepare. One thing that works well is a Heat Spread on a grass stage with an Attack+30 added. You could also try Muramasa with CopyDamage, or possibly GaiaBlade with some mines/NOBeams and CopyDamage, and I think that's pretty much it for these guys. At the end of the main road you'll find a big staircase leading to the Door of Honour. It wants you to get the Star of Honour which you get for collecting the fragments of power. Translation, you need the Blue Star ID for getting all 200 Standard chips recorded in your library. It's not too hard to do that any more. The BugFrag trader may even help top you off, it has a tendency to spit out chips you don't yet have. If you still need that star, then go get it now. Once through the door you'll be greeted by Serenade. And this time it's a kind greeting. Lan and Megaman are surprised to see the terrible feared Underking is so girly, but looks can be deceiving. Serenade will agree to duel Megaman for Rank#1 of the Undernet even though Megaman didn't really ask for it, in fact he acts like he's about to piss his spandex upon sensing Serenade's power. Well too bad Mega, what did you expect was waiting for you on the other side of the door? Something not boss fight involved? Get real.
UnderKing Battle:Serenade.exe
So what do Lan and Megaman intend to do about this embodiment of destruction about to wake up? Why, wake him up faster of course! The creepy navi in Secret2 gave you the hint. You gotta put 300 BugFrags into the BugFrag trader. After that, you'll have to jack out again so what you did will take effect...oh wait, it would have been nice to do that before you already left. I didn't mention it, did I? I'll fix that. *travels back in time*...*reappears* There. So Jack back in and head on back to the BugFrag trader. You'll see some new creepy navis along the way to signify something special is about to happen. When Megaman approaches the BFT, a loud growling will be heard, the screen will darken, the ground will tremble, and a bright flash of light will announce the arrival...of...BASS!!...Bass? Megaman: Whew! And here I was worried it was going to be someone I haven't already defeated a billion times! Don't get your hopes up too much Mega, this guy isn't quite the same as before. For starters, he got saved from Alpha by the bugs, and now he's merged with them, and pretty buggy himself. He doesn't even remember his own name or his hatred for humans schtick, now he just believes himself to be the embodiment of destruction, pure and simple. The first thing he wants to destroy is Megaman, so it's time for the final battle of the storyline! Battle Routine Set! Execute!
Embodiment of Destruction Battle:Bass GS
Afterwards, Bass is just bewildered you could defeat him. Remember, he lost his memories, so I guess being defeated by Megaman AGAIN really would come as a shock to him. Megaman reveals that his strength comes from the bond with his operator. Megaman tries again to get through to the good Bass and for a moment, a tiny little moment, Bass starts to remember his feelings of trust for Cossack. This just freaks the poor maniac out and with an enraged roar he creates a blinding explosion and when the light fades, he is gone. Now Megaman and Lan realize they're the strongest duo in the cyberworld, and after considering and rejecting the idea of becoming unstoppable megalomaniacs, they decide to just go home and wait until the next game, when all their chips and power ups will have once again disappeared and they'll have to start from scratch aallll over again. Now you can go back to Undernet7 if you want and open the curtains that needed you to beat Serenade and the buggy doors that needed you to beat BassGS. You can pick up the last HPMemory, The Guardian Mega Chip, and The GigaFolder1 Navicust program. So that's the end of BN3's plot. It's not over yet though. By now you should have at least three Star IDs. The Yellow one for beating the game, the blue one for completing your standard library, and the green one for completing the Secret Mission just now. Four Stars to go, now let's deal with... The Time Trials - Or Serenade's Revenge, his cruel, twisted revenge. You may notice some new Heel Navis loitering around in the Secret Area immediately after finishing off BassGS. Each one will offer a battle against a copy of a V2 level navi using the Extra Folder you're carrying. The object is to defeat them faster than Serenade did. If you get killed, it's not game over, and these good sports will even refill your health after (but not before) each battle. Remember that time is the only issue here, you don't have to go for an S Busting Level. You can be as haphazard as neccessary to beat that clock. Also keep in mind the Extra Folder will be automatically set when you go into the battle and won't be set back afterwards, you'll have to do it yourself. My preference for a folder in this thing is the Famous Folder, acquired from some guy hiding behind the counter at the DNN building. You'll rely mostly on combining panel types with elemental strength from the navi chips and Element+30 chips, but the Boomerangs and Tornados can dish out some quick damage as well, and quickness is pretty important here. Another powerful Extra Folder is N1 Folder C, it requires a lot of luck though. You need to be able to steal a lot of area, make a lot of holes, and then summon a lot of Snakes with Wood+30 and Attack+10 boosting them. The combo does a lot of damage, but it's not very reliable for time trials. Still you're allowed to try as many times as you want with these guys. Here are the times you need to beat for each navi, and where they can be found:
Notice there are some navis missing from that list, namely Punk, Bass, Serenade, and Mistman or Bowlman, whichever one's not in your version. The idea is that you have some experience with these guys. Odds are you'll have a heck of a time with this part of the game either way. Don't get too frustrated, it IS possible to beat all the records. I've found Desertman and Darkman to be the most challenging, mostly because of their high HP and defenses. Good Luck. When you beat the last record, the heel navi will give you Serenade's gift, the Serenade/DarkAura Giga Chip. You'll also get another Star ID, a dark blue one. You can do the Time Trials whenever you want if you want to try and beat your old record, but my guess is you won't want to after what you've been through. Collecting the MegaChips - Or "Damnit Capcom! Quit selling me ONE game for the price of TWO!". You need five stars before you can unlock the mode that lets you get the sixth, and from there the seventh. The only star left is the one for getting all your Mega Chips. The non-navi Mega Chips should all be in your possession by now, they're bought or found at various points in the game. You get your navi chips by fighting the navis, naturally. It's not just three chips per navi any more thoough, now there's a V4 you can only get by beating the navi with a Team Style in under 20 seconds with an S Rank. That can be even more of a challenge than the time trials. Or less, since you'll be able to use your good folders on them. You can take an easy way out by using the BugFrag Trader, that thing has a tendency to spit out chips you don't have yet, and that includes V4 navis! Fighting the navis tends to be a little more satisfying though. There are eight chips the BFT won't give you though, the Mistman/Bowlman chips. Oh crimeny, you know what that means. You HAVE to trade with someone who has the version you don't have to get those four Mega Chips that are exclusive to it. If you have White, offer your Blue buddy your Mistman chips in exchange for his Bowlman chips. If you don't have any friends that play this game, then do what I did. Buy a second GBA, a link cable, and the other version of the game, play all the way through that other version up to this point, and then trade with yourself. Don't have enough money for that? Well, you may be able to rent the other GBA and the Link Cable; my local rental place let me use their's in the store for free. Although you'd still have to get far enough in the other version of the game to do the trade. Don't have the time or money for any of that nonsense? Then cheat. Get a Gameshark or something, that's arguably cheaper than the previous strategies. This way you can also see the Punk and BassGS chips in action. Don't feel too guilty, it's Capcom's fault for screwing you over like this. Okay, maybe you should feel guilty if you use the cheats for infinite HP and weakened enemies. You should also be worried about permanenty screwing up your game as is a common problem with cheating devices. Don't come crying to me if that happens. Don't even want to stoop to cheating? Well, you can use a Rom and at least keep your hard copy safe from harm. Don't even want to stoop to Roms? Then congratulations, you're as far in the game of Megaman Battle Network 3 as you're ever going to get. You can quit now. There, wasn't that fulfilling? No? Kinda cheap and anticlimactic? Yeah, that sounds more like it. But obviously this is what all the kids are going for because as of this writing Capcom's already made two versions for BN4, and are about to release two versions for BN5. This just isn't the series for the lonely gamer like yours truly. -_- Okay, enough whining. Let's assume you got all 85 Mega Chips somehow. You'll have your fifth Star ID, the purple one, now for the part you'd have to be psychic to figure out on your own without any help from a strategy guide. The Omega Navi Challenge - Or Capcom's reward to people who read walkthroughs. Reset your game and highlight continue on the title screen. With five stars you can unlock the next challenge by holding left on the control pad and then pressing RRLRLRLL. The five stars should squish closer together, opening room on the screen for the remaining two. I know, really obvious, right? That code is hinted at endlessly in the game, I'm just being redundant by stating it, sorry. Seriously though, the obscurity is just beginning. Select continue and go on with your game. Nothing seems different at first, that's because the only changes that were made are completely invisible. Hiding throughout the cyberworld are 17 Omega class navis. You encounter them by walking onto a specific spot on the net, just like for Navi Ghosts. First you'll go through a series of three Omega level virus battles, and it'll end off with the Omega Navi fight. Here are all the spots you need to find.
Your prize for defeating each navi is his V5 Giga Chip. Yeah, from three Giga Chips to 18 in just a few hours, hinda unbalanced, eh? There are only fifteen of these chips, when you beat Bass and Serenade you get 10000 Zenny instead. When you beat all of these guys, you'll get the sixth star, the red one. You may find this part of the game kinda fun, but of course you won't be able to fight the Omega Navis or their pet viruses again after you beat them. But hey, you can still do the time trials as many times as you want. *sigh* You can also get the seventh and final star as soon as you beat King, Bowl, or Mist. 30 of the 31 PAs could have been completed long ago, but one of them, GP Power, requires the V5 navi chip from one of those guys. So now you can complete your PA library, earning yourself the orange star. Alpha Omega - Or "Beginning End" Collecting all seven stars triggers the appearance of the ultimate boss in the game, the Omega class version of Alpha. To encounter him, simply go to the WWW base as if you were beating the game normally. When it comes time to fight Alpha, his upgraded version will face you instead.
Super Happy Fun Secret Bonus Final Battle!!!: Alpha
After you beat him, watch the ending and the credits. No, none of it is any different, unfortunately. When you restart again after all of this, check your folder. You will have been granted the last Giga Chip, Alpha Arm. Well, you may still have one Giga Chip left to collect, the one you get from link battling. Get that if you haven't already. There, now you have seven stars, full Standard, Mega, Giga, and PA Libraries, there are no new challenges awaiting you, though you can take on Alpha Omega as many times as you want. You have completed the game! Congratulations! Now if you were playing the Japanese version, you'd be rewarded with a special image at the the end credits, but for some reason or another it's missing from the english version. Just so you don't feel left out, I'll show the image here instead. It also makes for a good way to end the walkthrough...even though it's technically not finished yet, I just skipped to the end with this chapter...oh well, until next time, you know the drill!
Image courtesy of Sprites.Inc |
