****************************************************************************** _________ _ ,-´\_______ `-,-´/ _____ _____ __________ ___,´___;\ _____`;´ ,`. ______ ______ ________ `. `. ,´ .´ `. ____ || __ __ |\ __ `.´ \´ __ `. `. .´ `. _ `. | . ` . | | |____`''´/ | | `'| | ) | | / \ | | | | | \ | | |`. ,´| | | ____| | | |,-´¯| |,´ ,| | | | | | | | | | | | | ` | | | | | | |`-. | |`. `| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | '----´| \ | |_,´ | |,´`. `.\ `--´ / | | | '-´ / ´----` ´----` ´---------' ´.--;´ _;---` ´-,---``------´ ´----` ´-------´ _}´ _,-´\____,\´ ,´ /_,-´-._________\-´ P R I M E 2 _____ _____ _ _ ______ _____ _____ | ___/ / ___\ | | | | / __ \ | ___/ / ___/ | |_ | | | |__| | | | | | | |_ | |___ | _/ | | | __ | | | | | | _/ \___ \ | |___ | |___ | | | | | |__| | | |___ ___| | |_____/ \_____/ |_| |_| \______/ |_____/ /_____/ Title Art by: bananagirl and CyricZ ****************************************************************************** A FAQ/Walkthrough by CyricZ Version 1.2 E-mail: cyricz42@yahoo.com ****************************************************************************** Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. FAQ 3. Basics 3A. Controls 3B. Menus/Displays 4. The World of Samus 4A. Weapons and Items 4B. Surviving Dark Aether 4C. Tips/Tricks 5. Walkthrough 5A. The Few, The Proud, The Dead (Temple Grounds) 5B. Plight of the Luminoth (Agon Wastes) 5C. A Walk in the Dark 5D. Bloody Pirates!! 5E. No Dune References, Please (Agon Boss) 5F. Grounds Interlude 5G. Bogged Down (Torvus Bog) 5H. Out of Your Depth 5I. Not-So-Beautiful Butterfly (Torvus Boss) 5J. Grounds Interlude 2 5K. I, Possessed Robot (Sanctuary Fortress) 5L. Power and Pickups 5M. A Dimension of Sight and Sound, but Mostly Sound 5N. A Bigger Mousetrap (Sanctuary Boss) 5O. Keyed Up 5P. Rematch in "Prime" Time (Final Bosses) 6. Game Collectibles 6A. Missile Expansions 6B. Energy Tanks 6C. Power Bomb Expansions 6D. Beam Ammo Expansions 6E. Sky Temple Keys 6F. Quick Checklist 7. Logbook Entries 7A. Logbook Tree 7B. Creatures 7C. Research 7D. Lore 7E. Boss Strategies 7F. The "One-Shot" List 8. Extras 8A. Unlockables 8B. Endings 9. Multiplayer COMING SOON 10. Standard Guide Stuff 10A. Legal 10B. E-mail Guidelines 10C. Credits 10D. Version Updates 10E. The Final Word ****************************************************************************** 1. INTRODUCTION ****************************************************************************** Heyo, and welcome to my guide on Nintendo and Retro Studios newest game: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Following up on the success of the original first- person installment, Echoes takes the same approach and brings Samus to a new planet, helping a civilization fight against their polar opposite, all while being dogged by an old enemy. Read on for info on how to beat the game, as well as finding all those elusive items and scans. ****************************************************************************** 2. FAQ ****************************************************************************** Q: Just what is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes? A: The sequel to Metroid Prime, an action first-person game from Nintendo by Retro Studios. Q: Where does it take place in the Metroid timeline? A: Metroid Prime 2 occurs soon after Metroid Prime, which still takes place before Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy. The series progresses chronologically as follows: - Metroid (NES) or Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA) - Metroid Prime (GCN) - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN) - Metroid II: Return of Samus (GB) - Super Metroid (Metroid 3) (SNES) - Metroid Fusion (Metroid 4) (GBA) I'm not yet sure where Metroid Prime: Hunters (for the Nintendo DS) takes place, if anywhere. I'll update this when I know for sure. Q: What has been changed in this game? A: Conceptually, very little. The game is still in first-person with the exact same control scheme. You'll have to hunt around for items and blow up bad guys like you've always had to. There have been a few additions to items (including the long-awaited return of the Screw Attack). The greatest change has come to the beam system. Instead of the traditional beams, a Dark Beam and a Light Beam (as well as one other) have been added to your arsenal. These beams have their own ammo, which will need to be replenished throughout the game. Q: How do I save the game? A: You need to find Save Stations scattered about Aether, or return to your Gunship. Q: Can I die from falling? A: No. If you fall into a "bottomless" pit, you'll merely lose ten energy and be returned to the last ground you touched. Q: What's an easy way to fill Light or Dark Ammo? A: There are two normal ways (there are others that apply to bosses only). The first way is to simply go back to your ship or find an Ammo Station. These will refill both beams to the max. The second, and far more convenient way, is to destroy enemies or containers with the Light or Dark Beam. When you do this, you'll more than likely get the opposing type of ammo. For instance, if you destroy a container with the Dark Beam, you may get ammo for the Light Beam. Now, this will mean you can't max out one or the other, but being one or two shots short of full really doesn't matter in the galactic sense. Q: How do I do a Double Bomb Jump? A: The gist of it is that you lay a Bomb, and right before that Bomb explodes, set a second one, then set a third just before you reach the very top of the jump. You should fall and land on the second Bomb, then ride up to the third. An easier way, I feel, is to count out to four at a medium pace: "1, 2, 3, 4". Lay Bombs on counts 1, 3, and 4. Just keep practicing and you should get it down. Q: Where is (insert random item)? Is it hidden well? A: No. None of the major items are hidden all that well in this game. The Missile Expansions, Energy Tanks, Power Bomb Expansions, and Beam Combos are hidden pretty well, but you really shouldn't be asking me about any of the other items. If you have no idea which item to find next, turn on the Hints. Follow where the hint points you and you'll find the next item. Q: I've got a new item, where do I go next? A: Type the name of the item in all caps in the Find function in your browser (ask it to Match Case). I capped every major item in the game when you get it (for example, *** CYRICZ'S FAQ ACQUIRED ***). Start there and follow the walkthrough. Q: How do I get the third Torvus Key? A: This seems to trip up a lot of people. You need the Grapple Beam and all other previous items to get it. Go to the Torvus Grove. It may seem impossible to get to the top with the weirdly-placed ramps, but there's a second set of ramps right by the entrance to the room that's easily missed. Boost up those. The rest should be obvious. Q: How do I get the different endings? A: Like Metroid Prime, it's not the time that determines the ending, but percentage of items collected. Scans in the Log Book don't count towards that percentage, so you'll still get that good ending even if you missed a scan. Q: What do I need to have for 100%? A: You need to find: The other three beams: Dark, Light, and Annihilator The other two suits: Dark and Light The four Morph Ball upgrades: Bombs, Spider Ball, Boost Ball, and Power Bombs The two additional visors: Dark and Echo The Grapple Beam The Space Jump Boots The Screw Attack The Gravity Boost 255 Missiles (The Missile Launcher, Seeker Launcher, and 49 Expansions) 14 Energy Tanks (They will complete the line across the bar) 10 Power Bombs (The original two and 8 Expansions) 4 Beam Ammo Expansions (giving you a total of 250 of each ammo) 4 Beam Combos (Super Missile, Darkburst, Sunburst, Sonic Boom) ****************************************************************************** 3. BASICS ****************************************************************************** Most of this stuff is available from your manual, but we all know how much some people hang onto those, much less read them, these days... ============== 3A. Controls = ============== Control Stick: Move Samus around. Up moves her forward, Down backward. Left and Right turn her in those directions. A Button: Fires Samus' Beam Weapon. If you're in Morph Ball mode, this will drop Bombs (once you get them). To use the Charge Beam, hold down the A Button to charge it up, then release. B Button: Make Samus jump. If Samus has Space Jump, press again in mid-air to double jump. If Samus has the Screw Attack, continue pressing after the second jump to engage it. If Samus is in water and has the Gravity Boost, jumping a third time will boost her up through the water. If Samus is in Morph Ball mode, then this will activate Boost Ball if she has it. Also, if locked-on to an enemy, pressing B will cause Samus to make a quick dodge to the side. X Button: Switches between Morph Ball mode and standard walking mode. Y Button: Fires a Missile, once Samus finds them. There's a small amount of downtime between firing Missiles. If in Morph Ball mode, this will cause Samus to drop a Power Bomb (if she has them). L Button: If an enemy is near Samus' crosshair, holding down L will lock onto it. While locked-on, Left and Right on the Control Stick will allow her to strafe around the enemy. If no enemy is targeted, then holding down L and moving Left or Right will be a standard strafe. If Samus has the Scan Visor up, holding down L will allow her to analyze scannable objects. If Samus has the Grappling Beam, hold down L while pointed at an appropriate object to fire it. Release to drop. R Button: While holding this button, the Control Stick will have Samus look around as opposed to move. If in Morph Ball mode, this will activate the Spider Ball function, if Samus has it. Z Button: Brings up the Map Screen. START Button: Brings up the Pause Menus. Control Pad: Allows Samus to switch visors. See the Visors section under Items for more info. C-Stick: Allows Samus to switch beam weapons. See the Weapons section for more info. ==================== 3B. Menus/Displays = ==================== Main Menu: Pressing START on the Title Screen will bring you to the Main Menu. Single Player: Select this to access the three game files. Press A on a file to play it. Press Z on a file to erase it. Press X on a file to copy it to another. Multiplayer: Select this to access the multiplayer portion of the game. You must have at least two controllers plugged in for this option to be selectable. Options: You will be prompted to select a file or Multiplayer after selecting this, where you can adjust the game's options for any of them. Image Gallery: Once you unlock one of these, they will be viewable from the Main Menu. Check the Extras section to see how to unlock the different galleries. --- Options Menu: Controls (SP only): Invert Y-Axis: If turned on, then the Y-axis will be flipped when you look around using the R Button. Rumble: With this on, the controller will rumble. Display (SP and MP): Screen Offset X/Y: Adjust these to center your screen on the TV. Screen Stretch: Use this to match your TV. Brightness: Adjust the game's brightness. It's recommended that you adjust your TV before adjusting this. Sound (SP and MP): Music Volume: Adjust the background music's volume. SFX Volume: Adjust the volume of the sound effects. Sound: Set whether the sound is Mono, Stereo, or Surround. Visors (SP only): Helmet Opacity: This determines how much Samus' physical helmet appears on screen. Visor Opacity: This determines how much Samus' visor appears on screen. HUD Lag: With this turned on, Samus' helmet hangs back ever so slightly as she turns her head. Hint System: With this turned on, the game will give you hints on where to go next if you're really lost (it does this if you aren't on track for your next objective after about fifteen minutes). --- Main Visor Display: Across the top of Samus' display is her Energy Reserve Meter. The long lower bar is the remaining energy in your active Energy Tank, and any squares above that bar are how many reserve Energy Tanks you have. The top left corner of the display is a mini-radar. Orange dots represent enemies, and the cone at the top indicates Samus' forward field of vision. The top right corner has a small, current section of the level map. The left side of the display is the Threat Assessment. As you get near dangerous areas (lava, acid, what have you), the meter will increase. The right side of the display has a count displaying the Missile Reserves. Below that are the meters for Light and Dark Ammo. The lower left corner of the display shows your visors. Use the Control Pad to switch. The lower right corner of the display shows your Beam Weapons. Use the C-Stick to switch. The very center has the Targeting Reticle. It's pretty much where you shoot. --- Pause Menu: There are three main screens on the Pause Menu. Inventory: Use this to get a look at items and weapons you've collected. Logbook: Analyzing certain stuff in the game will put entries in your Logbook. Access the entries here. Options: Pretty much the same options menu available on the main menu, with the added "Quit Game" option. ****************************************************************************** 4. THE WORLD OF SAMUS ****************************************************************************** Samus "Lady" Aran has been in the hearts and minds of gamers much over these last couple of decades. For all the action and adventure Nintendo has given us over the years, little has intrigued us more than this secretive huntress. Not a comic hero like Mario, nor a historical reocurrence like Link, this orphan, raised by the Chozo, has almost selflessly established herself as the protector of the galaxy. Perhaps one day we'll see something besides the "business" side of her, to the human behind the armor. As in past Metroid games, Samus uses her modular Chozo battle suit to its full effect. She's always ready to accept any help her current situation can offer her, for every item she collects makes her that much more likely to stand a chance against the darkness arrayed against her. ======================= 4A. Weapons and Items = ======================= Weapons Systems - Power Beam: - Samus always has this weapon. It fires a small, straight shot of energy. Not all that special, but it still kills the bad guys. - One big advantage this beam has over others is that it has the highest rate of fire. - The disadvantage would be the relative lack of stopping power. - Charging the beam merely increases its damaging power. The first stage occurs when light appears on the cannon's aperture. The second appears when a small burst of energy issues from the cannon. Charge Beam: - In this game, the Charge Beam always remains with you. Holding down the A button will charge up your cannon. Release to fire an amplified shot. - There are two stages to "charging" for each weapon, which I describe in their respective sections. - Charging your weapon activates a slight tractor system that can be used to draw free-floating powerups towards you. Dark Beam: - This weapon is found in Storage D in the Agon Wastes, following your defeating Dark Samus. - Firing this weapon will cost 1 Dark Ammo. - This beam is powered by the shadow of Dark Aether. Fire it to damage your enemies with darkness, slowing them down. - The weapon works far better on beings on the light side of Aether than on the Ing. - The shot travels rather slow, and cannot be fired rapidly. - The Dark Beam can also open black doors and can be used to dim objects that are lit up. - Charging this weapon will allow you to fire an "Entangler" blast, which can prevent enemies from moving or firing, and costs 5 Dark Ammo. The first stage of charging occurs when darkness appears at the cannon's aperture. The second stage occurs when dark tendrils leak out from the gun to your arm. - If out of Dark Ammo, you must charge the beam to fire a normal shot. Light Beam: - This weapon is found in Ing Cache 1 in the Dark Agon Wastes, soon after your second extended trip to Dark Aether. - Firing this weapon will cost 1 Light Ammo. - This beam is a shining beam of light devised by the Luminoth for quickly dispatching the Ing and their minions. - The shot travels relatively quickly, but has a limited range. - Sometimes enemies shot by this beam will catch fire, steadily damaging them. - The beam is not halted by coming into contact with an enemy. You always get the full range of the shot, regardless of how many enemies you hit. - The Light Beam can also open white doors and can be used to light up objects that are extinguished. - Charging this weapon will allow you to fire a "Lightblast", which is a multi-shot of Light Beams that home in on your target, and costs 5 Light Ammo. The first stage of charging occurs when light leaks from the sides of your system, and fires five shots of light. The seconed stage occurs when light shines from the cannon's aperture, and fires ten shots of light. - If out of Light Ammo, you must charge the beam to fire a normal shot. Annihilator Beam: - This weapon is found in the Hive Temple, in the Ing Hive. You earn it from destroying the Guardian, Quadraxis. - Firing this weapon will cost 1 Light and 1 Dark Ammo. - This beam fires a combination of light and dark energy. It works very well against enemies of all types. - If you're locked-on to an enemy, then a shot fired will home in on it. - The Annihilator Beam can be used to open gray doors. Additionally, it has a sonic aspect that can be used to alter specific objects attuned to sound. - Charging this weapon will allow you to fire a "Disruptor" blast, which a wide cut of sonic energy. The first stage occurs when energy begins flowing out of the side of the cannon to the front, and the second stage occurs once energy is constantly circulating. - If out of Light or Dark Ammo, you must charge the beam to fire a normal shot. Missile Launcher: - You begin the game with this weapon, then lose it. You will rediscover it in the GFMC Compound, in the Temple Grounds. It is found in a large crate near the ship. - Firing this weapon costs you 1 Missile. Press Y to fire. Press A to close the missile tube and return to the beam weapon. - This weapon fires a destructive energy missile which can cause ballistic damage. It packs a greater punch than your basic beam, and some enemies can only be harmed by them. - If you're locked-on to an enemy, then a missile fired will home in on it. - Missiles can be used to destroy objects made of Brinstone, and can also remove RED blast shields on doors. Seeker Launcher: - This modification is found in the Hall of Honored Dead, in the Temple Grounds. It is earned by solving the Spinner puzzle in the room. - Hold down Y to charge up your Missile Launcher. An orange reticle will appear before you. Either by moving or using the R button, pass this reticle over enemies to lock-on to them. You can lock-on a maximum of five times. Release Y to fire. - You can use this item to lock-on to a group of enemies, or one enemy multiple times, delivering an added punch of multiple missile attacks. - This item can be used to remove PURPLE blast shields on doors by targeting the five locks for the shield all at once. It can also be used for any other object that requires multiple simultaneous contact. - As a note, if you wish to fire your Seeker Launcher without shooting a Missile with your first press of Y, you can jump right to it by firing a charged shot just before holding down Y. (Thanks, Tardis) - This item also increases your Missile stock by 5. Super Missile: - This Charge Combo is found in the Torvus Temple in the Torvus Bog. - When the Power Beam is active, hold down A to charge the beam, then while holding A, press Y to fire a powerful missile shot. - Firing this weapon will cost 5 Missiles. - Use this weapon to cause great damage to most any kind of enemy. Pound for pound, few weapons cause as much damage for so little a cost. - This weapon can remove GREEN blast shields on doors. Darkburst: - This Charge Combo is found in Mining Station B, in the Agon Wastes. You need the Seeker Launcher to reach it. First, use the Bomb Slots in the area to set the drill near a portal, then use the Boost Ball to reach the top of the drill. Travel through Dark Aether, then to the Dueling Range to the portal there, which will allow you to backtrack to reach the item. - When the Dark Beam is active, hold down A to charge the beam, then while holding A, press Y to fire a giant ball of darkness. - Firing this weapon will cost 5 Missiles and 30 Dark Ammo. - Lesser enemies are absorbed by this dark vortex and destroyed. Greater enemies are severely damaged (less if they're dark enemies). - This item is not required to complete the game. Sunburst: - This Charge Combo is found in the Windchamber, in the Temple Grounds. You need Power Bombs to access this room by the Hall of Eyes. Once there, travel to Dark Aether and use the Spinners and Orb Cannons to align the rings so they're all lined up and lit up either facing the portal or facing away. At that point, fire a Seeker volley at the four points. You must do this on both sides. After that, you can return to Aether and use the Grapple Points to reach the Orb Cannon that will fire you to the item. - When the Light Beam is active, hold down A to charge the beam, then while holding A, press Y to fire a large stream of slow-moving light. - Firing this weapon will cost 5 Missiles and 30 Light Ammo. - Like the normal Light Beam, nothing stops this gigantic beam of light. It plows through enemies, igniting them on contact. - This item is not required to complete the game. Sonic Boom: - This Charge Combo is found in Ing Cache 2, in the Dark Agon Wastes. You need the Screw Attack to reach this from the nearby Phazon Site, and the Annihilator Beam to open the door. - When the Annihilator Beam is active, hold down A to charge the beam, then while holding A, press Y to fire a massive wall of sonic energy. - Firing this weapon will cost 5 Missiles, 30 Light Ammo, and 30 Dark Ammo. - It may not look like much, but this costly weapon can easily put the hurt on a large group of enemies. - This item is not required to complete the game. --- Movement Systems - Space Jump Boots: - You begin the game with these boots, then lose them. They can be found by defeating the Jump Guardian in the Judgment Pit in the Dark Agon Wastes. - Press B to jump in the air, then press B again to get an extra boost in midair. - Timing is important when using this. Jump again at the top of your jump to get the maximum height, or jump again once you've complete the jump arc to get the maximum distance. Gravity Boost: - This module is found in the Hydrochamber Storage room in the Torvus Bog. Descend through the lower Torvus Bog area to reach it. - With this on, you can jump a third time underwater. Hold down B as your third jump and you'll rise within the water. This can be used for extra height underwater, although it is limited. - This item replaces the old Gravity Suit upgrade, in that it allows you to move through water unhindered and gives you better visibility underwater. Grapple Beam: - While you don't begin the game with this, it is "stolen". It can be found by defeating the Grapple Guardian in the Sacrificial Chamber in the Dark Torvus Bog. You need the Gravity Boost to be able to face this bad guy. - When this is attached, Grapple Points in the environment will show up as a yellow hook diagram in your HUD. As you approach them, they turn white. When that happens, holding down L will allow you to shoot your Grapple to the hook. You'll swing back and forth on the hook as long as L is held down. Use the Control Stick to turn yourself while swinging. Release L to let go. - You can fire while attached, but can't lock-on. - If you bump into a solid object while swinging, the grapple will immediately disengage. Screw Attack: - This weapon can be found at the Vault in the Sanctuary. You need the Echo Visor to access this area, a trip which starts all the way back at Main Research. - When this is installed, you'll be able to greatly extend your horizontal jump distance. - After pressing B twice to Space Jump, press B once more while pushing forward on the Control Stick to initiate the Screw Attack. After that, you can continue pressing B up to five more times to continue the Screw Attack. It's a little tricky at first, as there's a special timing to it. You don't want to press B again until you've at least passed the apex of your last jump. To get the most out of your jump series, press B again once you reach the end of your jump's arc. - I'm sure it goes without saying, but anything caught in your whirling dervish of death will be at least heavily damaged. - Use the Screw Attack in conjunction with special walls and you'll be able to Wall Jump off them. Once again, this is a game of tough timing. You'll have about a second after you touch the wall to press B again to leap off. --- Morph Ball Systems - Morph Ball: - This device is with you from the beginning of the game. - Press X and you can roll up into a ball about 1 meter in diameter. - Use this form to fit in small spaces and move slightly faster than running. Morph Ball Bomb: - You have this weapon at the start of the game, but you lose it. You can find it again in Agon Temple, in the Agon Wastes, by defeating the Bomb Guardian. - Press A in Morph Ball form to release these unstable energy packets. You can lay up to three at a time. - Some enemies can only be defeated by Bombs, and they can break apart objects made of Talloric Alloy. - If you sit on top of a Bomb when it blows, you'll be propelled into the air. - You can effect a "Double Bomb Jump" if you time it properly. The most effective way is to count out loud at about a medium pace "1, 2, 3, 4". Lay bombs on counts 1, 3, and 4, and you should get a double boost. Boost Ball: - You begin the game with this item, but lose it. You can find it again in the Dark Torvus Arena in Dark Torvus Bog by defeating the Boost Guardian. - While in Morph Ball form, hold B to charge the boost, then release to get a burst of speed. - Some enemies can only be damaged when hit with a boost. - This is primarily used for rolling up half-pipes scattered around Aether. The best way to get enough speed to crest these pipes is to roll back and forth and release a boost as you start to lose momentum going up the other side. Spider Ball: - You begin the game with this item, but lose it. You can find it again in the Dyanmo Works in Sanctuary by defeating the Spider Guardian. - When in Morph Ball form, hold R and you'll attach yourself to magnetic tracks in the area, allowing you to crawl around places you couldn't before. - Setting a bomb will jump you up from the track slightly. - Activating the Boost while on a track will propel you directly away from the track. Power Bombs: - This weapon can be found in the Undertemple in the Dark Torvus Bog and is earned by defeating the Power Bomb Guardian. - When in Morph Ball Form, press Y to detonate a huge blast. - This blast causes serious damage to many kinds of enemies. - The blast can break YELLOW blast shields off doors, and can vaporize objects made of Denzium. - You start with only two Power Bombs. Collect Power Bomb Expansions to carry more. --- Armor - Varia Suit: - This is your starting suit of armor. The armor can withstand extremes of temperature, but, unfortunately, the opportunity to test that doesn't arise on Aether. - While on Dark Aether, the poisonous atmosphere will cause you to lose approximately five energy units per second exposed. Dark Suit: - This armor is earned from defeating Amorbis, the Guardian who resides in the Dark Agon Temple in Dark Agon Wastes. - This armor reduces the amount of damage taken from enemy fire. - While on Dark Aether, the poisonous atmosphere will cause you to lose approximately one energy unit per second exposed. Light Suit: - This armor is given to you by U-Mos upon returning to the Main Energy Controller in the Great Temple after restoring all three temples. - This armor reduces the amount of damage taken from enemy fire. - While on Dark Aether, you will not be damaged at all by the poisonous atmosphere, nor can you be harmed by swarming Ingstorm. - With this suit, you can freely navigate dark water on Dark Aether. - If you find beams of yellow light, you can step in them to travel great heights. --- Visors - Combat Visor: - Always with Samus, this is her basic visor for fighting in. Nothing really special about it. Scan Visor: - Samus always has this visor. - With the visor up, some objects will be lit up in colors. Blue means the object hasn't been scanned, yet. Red means the object is important. Green means you've already scanned it. - Hold L to scan the object in view and you'll get a little description. - If percentages appear on the sides of the scan, it's a Logbook scan an will be put there for future reference. - You cannot fire with this visor up. Pressing the A button will put you back in the Combat Visor. Dark Visor: - This visor is earned by beating the Guardian, Chykka, who resides in the Dark Torvus Temple in Dark Torvus Bog. - This is sort of a combination of the Thermal and X-Ray Visors. The background will appear black and white, and any enemies or small pickups will appear as red when in the main reticle. - Also, this visor can see objects not visible in the space and timeframe. Watch for the game to describe stuff in that manner. Echo Visor: - This visor is found in the Aerie in Sanctuary. You need Power Bombs to break down the yellow blast shield in the Main Gyro Chamber to reach it. - This visor seems to reduce visibility drastically. Most everything appears black except for outlines. Every couple of seconds, you'll emit a sonar ping. Enemies and other interactive items will be illuminated by this ping. - You may also see little icons pop up while viewing under this visor. Some of these icons can be shot at to disrupt the sonic pulse they emit, others mark items that need to be hit with the Annihilator Beam. --- Miscellaneous - Energy Transfer Module: - This module is recovered early on, right after defeating the Dark Alpha Splinter. - This is more of a story item than anything else. It allows you to draw energy from Energy Controllers on Dark Aether and deposit it in matching Energy Controllers on Aether. Energy Tank: - This item increases your energy reserve by 100 for each one you find. - There are 14 of these scattered throughout Aether. Missile Expansion: - This item increases your missile stock by 5 for each one you find. - There are 49 of these scattered throughout Aether, plus the five for finding the Missile Launcher and five for finding the Seeker Launcher gives you a total of 255. Beam Ammo Expansion: - This item increases your Light and Dark Ammo each by 50 for each one you find. - There are 4 of these scattered throughout Aether, plus the fifty ammo you get for finding each beam gives you a total of 250 for each ammo. Power Bomb Expansion: - This item increases your Power Bomb stock by 1 for each one you find. - There are 8 of these scattered throughout Aether, plus the two you receive in the original pickup gives you a total of 10. Dark Temple Keys: - These story items are used to access Dark Temples throughout Dark Aether. - You need three keys each to enter the Dark Temples on Dark Agon Wastes, Dark Torvus Bog, and Ing Hive. You need nine keys to enter the Dark Sky Temple. --- Pickups - These are the small floating items you get for defeating enemies. As a general rule, the more you need of something, the more likely you are to get it. For example, you'll find better energy pickups when you're down to 20 energy, as opposed to when you're only missing 20. Small Energy Unit: - This unit is a purple ball. - It will restore 10 Energy. Medium Energy Unit: - This unit is a red ball. - It will restore 30 Energy. Large Energy Unit: - This unit is a blue ball. - It will restore 50 Energy. Ultra Energy Unit: - This unit is a gold ball. - It will restore 100 Energy. Missile Ammo-5: - This unit is an orange spike. - It will restore 5 Missiles. Missile Ammo-10: - This unit is a double-stacked orange spike. - It will restore 10 Missiles. Dark Ammo-5: - This unit is a purple chevron. - It will restore 5 Dark Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Light Beam. Dark Ammo-10: - This unit is a double purple chevron. - It will restore 10 Dark Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Light Beam. Dark Ammo-30: - This unit is a complicated purple chevron. - It will restore 30 Dark Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Light Beam. Light Ammo-5: - This unit is a white chevron. - It will restore 5 Light Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Dark Beam. Light Ammo-10: - This unit is a double white chevron. - It will restore 10 Light Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Dark Beam. Light Ammo-30: - This unit is a complicated white chevron. - It will restore 30 Light Ammo. - It will only appear when you destroy something with the Dark Beam. Power Bomb Ammo: - This unit is a gray module. - It will restore 1 Power Bomb Ammo. =========================== 4B. Surviving Dark Aether = =========================== Unlike most environments Samus has been to in her past (and future), Dark Aether is quite dangerous. The very atmosphere is corrosive to Samus' suit. Fortunately, Luminoth scout forces have made it possible to get around. Portals: - These swirling circles of dimensional rift are used to travel between Aether and Dark Aether. - Some portals are powered by a portal machine. Simply scan the machine and the portal will be activated. - Most portals are free-floating, and you must shoot them to activate them. If on Aether, you'll need to use the Dark Beam. If on Dark Aether, you'll need to use the Light Beam. Light Crystals: - When these pylons are planted, they create a shell of illumination which will keep the bad air out and damage most any dark enemy who enters. Also, standing within them will slowly restore your energy. - If they're struck with dark energy, either by you or enemies, they'll be snuffed out, and can only be restored with light energy. - If, while in normal state, they're hit with the Light Beam, they'll become energized, and will cause more damage to bad guys that end up in the field. - If a crystal is struck with the Annihilator Beam, they'll become "super", and will cause a lot of damage to dark enemies in addition to drawing them towards the crystal. Light Beacons: - Unlike Light Crystals, Light Beacons begin as small balls of light. They must be shot with the Power Beam to create a shell of illumination. They will reduce back to a small ball of light after about fifteen seconds. - If they're struck with dark energy, either by you or enemies, they'll be nullified, and can only be restored with light energy. - If, while in normal state, they're hit with the Light Beam, they'll become energized, and will cause more damage to bad guys that end up in the field. - If a beacon is struck with the Annihilator Beam, they'll become "super", and will cause a lot of damage to dark enemies in addition to drawing them towards the beacon. ================= 4C. Tips/Tricks = ================= There are rooms in the game that can help you out. The biggest help is the Save Station rooms. Enter one and you can save your progress and restore your energy. There are also some places with Map Stations, where you can download a map of your current area. There are a few stations that can refill your Missiles, too. If you go to your Gunship, you'll save, restore energy, and all ammo. Whenever entering a new room, it's advisable to bring up your Scan Visor and poke around the room. Sure, you may be chomping at the bit for action, but you can miss very important stuff by not taking a breather and scanning (don't worry about the excessive volume of stuff to scan at the beginning, there's a lot less later on). Combat can become hectic and complicated at first, but it's basically a matter of remembering all your abilities. When fighting a bunch of small, fast enemies (such as War Wasps), hold down the R button to try some manual shots, but keep tapping the L button to lock onto the nearest one. When facing a large or slow enemy, remember your strafing and dodging, because many of the slowest ones can shoot fast and quite straight. You'll have to be the quick, annoying one. Oh, and don't forget your Missiles. ****************************************************************************** 5. WALKTHROUGH ****************************************************************************** NOTE: The game provides you a compass with your map (in the lower right corner) so I WILL be referring to compass directions throughout the game. ================================== 5A. The Few, The Proud, The Dead = ================================== After receiving mission orders, Samus makes planetfall on the oddly fluctuating planet of Aether. After passing through the atmosphere, her ship is struck by lightning, damaging it, yet she's able to touch down in a small cave without further incident. You begin the game with your Varia Suit, the Power Beam, the Charge beam, the Missile Launcher, the Morph Ball, the Boost Ball, the Spider Ball, Morph Ball Bombs, the Space Jump Boots, the Combat Visor, and the Scan Visor. Landing Site - New Scans: Samus's Gunship After exiting your ship, you can scan around with your Scan Visor to take in the local flavor, but only your Gunship will be recorded. Head east. Target and shoot down the odd webbing in your way, then shoot open the door and proceed. Hive Access Tunnel - Don't mind these plants, they're harmless. The door to the east is inaccessible to you at the moment, so bear south and drop down the shaft here, despite the odd stench coming from it. Hive Chamber A - New Scans: Gate Mark VI You can shoot up the crates in this area, but odds are you're not short on supplies, yet. In addition to scanning the gate, scan the small console next to it (it appears red in the Scan Visor) to activate the locks. Shoot out the two locks that appear to open the gate. Further ahead will be another, more primitive gate. Follow the wires to a slightly hidden console, and scan it to open the gate to the next area. You can scan consoles in this next room for info on the situation, or just step into the Map Station, which will give you all the map data the GFMC have amassed while here. Your destination is the GFMC Compound at the end. Now, shoot out the webbing on the east wall and proceed through the door. Hive Tunnel - New Scans: Worker Splinter Spooky, eh? Mind the Worker Splinters in the area (just don't step on them) and make your way past these hanging bodies. Use the R Button to aim to the high pod on the web and shoot it to open the way to the next room. Command Chamber - New Scans: GSGT C. Benet, SPC B. Reevs, Bomb Slot, Dark Trooper You can't scan open the console here, so curl up into your Morph Ball (press X) and roll under the gate. The nearby Workers will take off, so follow them through the small passage. At the end of this passage, press A to lay a Bomb to blow away the gate. Once in the next room, walk around the console, roll into a ball, and lay a Bomb to hop yourself into the nearby Bomb Slot. Lay a Bomb in the slot and you'll restore power to the terminal in the other room. Once you start heading back, the Troopers on the ground will rise up amidst a purple haze. Concentrated fire is enough to kill them. Once all four are down, roll back to the other room and take out the three Dark Troopers that are here. If you're hurt, break open the nearby crates for powerups. Once they're all down, roll back under the gate and scan the console to activate it. With the gate open, you'll face another four Dark Troopers. Destroy them and pass by to the door. Hive Storage - If you're low on energy, bust open these crates with your Charge Beam for powerups, otherwise continue to the next door. Hive Chamber B - Well, now, who's that? Follow the oddly-familiar figure through the portal he/she just created. You'll find you've bit off more than you can chew. Heading back through the portal, you'll find your suit damaged. You've lost your Missile Launcher, Morph Ball Bombs, Boost Ball, Spider Ball, Space Jump Boots, as well as the Grapple Beam and Power Bombs you didn't know you had (?). You still have your Charge Beam and Morph Ball, though. Head past where the portal was and you'll find a deactivated gate. Shoot the green pods to your right to uncover an open tunnel. Roll through it. Hive Chamber C - Jump up as soon as you enter the room to engage four more Dark Troopers. Once they're toast, bust up the crates on the northeast wall to uncover a door to a Save Station. Use it if you wish, then head through the west door. Hive Transport Area - Scan the terminal to activate the elevator, then step into the hologram to ride back up to the surface. To the right is another odd door you can't open yet, so to the left we go, through the door. Industrial Site - New Scans: GF Bridge, Green Kralee, Splinter Cocoon, Splinter First, open the gate like the other one and drop down. Scan the console on the far side to raise the crate. Next, hop up the ledges on the south side of the room. Watch the Splinter Cocoons, because Splinters will pop out. Climb the ledges up to a spot opposite the bridge. Scan the nearby console to reveal the locks on the bridge. Destroy those to lower it. Continue on through the door. Collapsed Tunnel - New Scans: PFC M. Veroni After scanning the nearby dead guy, roll through the tunnel. Watch the Green Kralees and pass through the door. Temple Assembly Site - The dark crystal to your right can't be activated at the moment, so continue on to the main area. Watch for Splinters in the area. The door on the south end needs a Missile to open, which you don't have, so scan the console near the big door with purple writing, which will lower the crate enough so you can shoot the wire connecting it to the winch. Cross the fallen crate and open the door here. Dynamo Chamber - New Scans: Gate Mark VII Pass through the open gates in this area and proceed to the closed gate. Scan the console to your left to open the gate, but close the two behind you. The opening will disturb a Splinter Cocoon, so shoot the Splinters down. Pass through the door. Communication Area - New Scans: PFC L. Brouda There's little to do in this area but walk through the small gulley you're stuck in, shooting Splinters. Scanning the nearby terminal will attempt a distress signal, although it will fail, so just proceed to the next room, where you'll fight three Dark Troopers before progressing through the door. Trooper Security Station - New Scans: Growler Class Turret, SPC M. Angseth In this area's main room are two Splinters and a Turret. Take them all out and then roll through the hole in the wall to the actual security station. Scan the console to open the gate ahead. Roll through the hole, and then time your roll under the gate to avoid getting squashed. Move on to the next door. GFMC Compound - New Scans: GFS Tyr, CAPT A. Exeter, LCPL J. Brode, PFC G. Haley, PFC I. Crany, PFC S. Millian, SPC F. Triplette, Dark Splinter, Kinetic Orb Cannon. Enter this area, and you'll discover what happened to the Marines. After watching the cutscene, use a charged blast to destroy the nearby large crate to find your Missile Launcher. Now that you're armed, it's a perfect time for the Dark Splinters to attack. Take out the four that appear. Now, enter the ship and scan the doors at the stern to access a new Map Station, which gives you info on the entire area. Now, hop out the gaping hole in the ship's side to get to higher ground. Walk around the ledge and scan the console to activate the Kinetic Orb Cannon. Roll into it to be fired up to a high ledge. Hop over to the red door and break it down with a Missile. *** MISSILE LAUNCHER ACQUIRED *** Sacred Bridge - New Scans: PFC E. Denys, War Wasp You can't do anything to the door, so roll down the right-hand tunnel to roll down to the lower floor. Take out the War Wasps in the area, then look up to the ledge and scan the console to activate the Orb Cannon. Roll in to be fired up to the door. Sacred Path - New Scan: War Wasp Hive You can use Missiles to take out the Hives, here, but you should save one for firing on the wall in the northeast corner (scan around to find it). After weakening the wall, head over to the Orb Cannon (the console is nearby, hidden just out of sight) and get fired through the wall. Proceed through this new tunnel and you'll be able to roll through and reach the door on the top ledge. Head up the Transport in here. ============================ 4B. Plight of the Luminoth = ============================ ==Great Temple== Temple Transport A - Head on through the door. Transport A Access - New Scan: Sandbats There will be a flock of little bats coming out the nearby hole. Don't worry if you miss the scan, there are plenty later. Follow the wires and roll through to the Save Station if you wish to use it. Then, roll back out and head through the door at the south end. Temple Sanctuary - New Scans: (see below) Head to the center of the room to face your first major fight. The central area will be cordoned off and you'll be attacked by five Dark Splinters. Once they're defeated, the large cocoon on the ceiling will burst open: MINI-BOSS: ALPHA SPLINTER and DARK ALPHA SPLINTER - The standard Alpha Splinter has one attack, where it will leap forward and then back. Lock-on and dash to the side when he does this. You don't need to use Missiles, yet. Your Power Beam's more than enough. Once you cause him enough damage, he'll be possessed by that weird purple cloud and become the Dark Alpha Splinter. Now, he has two attacks: first he will fire a purple ball of phlegm at you, then he'll charge at you, but he won't jump back. Just continue to nail him with what little you have and he'll die soon enough. Following this battle, you'll get a strange item. Grab it and leave this room by the only door open to you (the way you came is now sealed off). Controller Transport - Hop in, ride up, and go through the next door. Main Energy Controller - New Scans: U-Mos, Energy Controller, Origins Walk towards the center of this room and you'll meet U-Mos, the Luminoth Sentinel who tells you of Dark Aether, the Ing, the Energy Transfer Module you just picked up, and how you can help. He also gives you info on how to read VIOLET Luminoth script. There's a Lore on the wall behind you to read. Once you're all done here, head back down the Transport. Temple Sanctuary - Scan the Violet scripted door to your right, and head on through the far door. Transport B Access - New Scan: Lightflyer Take out the Lightfliers in this room (they're pretty easy) and head through the far door. Temple Transport B - Scan and drop. ==Temple Grounds== Temple Assembly Site - You oughtta recognize this place. Scan the door away. As you exit this area, you'll find several Splinters being possessed. Take them out, then knock down the Red Blast Shield on the nearby door with a Missile. Storage Cavern B - Take the ENERGY TANK here. Now, head back to the Assembly Site, then southeast, past the odd purple crystal structure, through the Collapsed Tunnel to... Industrial Site - New Scan: J-Fme's Testament Drop off the bridge and scan the Violet scripted door here to find the remains of another Luminoth (who has a log entry). Enter the door beyond. Agon Transport Access - Mind the Green Kralee and continue on. Transport to Agon Wastes - New Scan: Our Heritage Before heading down the elevator, turn left and shoot up the web to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. There's also a Lore around the outside of the cliff. Now, scan and hop in the elevator. == Agon Wastes == Transport to Temple Grounds - New Scan: Agon Bearerpod You can use the plants in this room and in other rooms for items. Head out the nearby door. Plaza Access - New Scans: Lumite, Sandgrass Take out the bugs in this room as you proceed to the opposite door. Mining Plaza - New Scan: Sandigger Watch the Sandiggers as you enter this area on the ground. Shoot the glowing eyes on each of their heads to kill them. Hop onto the far platform and bust down the Red Blast Shield to enter the next room. Save Station A - New Scan: Blueroot Tree There's really not much here besides some Sandbats and the Save Station. I just pointed this out because if you go through the Morph Ball tunnel behind the station, you'll lead to the Blueroot Tree. Going through the other door in this room leads to a dead end (for now). Mining Plaza - Again, Sandiggers in the ground floor. Hop up the ledge on the east side of the room, then work your way south and west around the perimeter of the room. Once you reach a cracked pillar, target and fire a Missile at its weak point at the base so it falls over. Shoot the Sandbats out of your way and proceed across the plateau (past the Lore you can't scan). Missile the next pillar to reach the north side, and a gate you can't get through. Do an about face from that gate and hop back across to the center plateau, on the higher ground. Hop over to that fancy-looking gate thing (which you ALSO can't do anything with) and cross the bridge to the eastern door. Mining Station Access - Roll on through, 'cause there's nothin' to do (yet). Mining Station A - New Scans: Pirate Trooper, Brizgee Head on into the main area to find the other group of bad guys you were looking for. Three Pirate Troopers will attack you here. A couple of charged shots are enough for each of them. Once they're all toast, start climbing the ledges in the south (minding the Brizgees), then hop across the platforms in the middle of the room when you're high enough. Jump across to the translator door, then make your way around the sand falls to the east side, where there's a pillar to knock over, which will bridge the gap to a Red Blast Shield door. Temple Access - New Scan: Shriekbat Proceed through this tunnel, watching out for the Shriekbats on the ceiling. Agon Temple - New Scans: (see below) Drop down into the main, very obviously arena-looking, pit. BOSS: ALPHA SANDIGGER and BOMB GUARDIAN - The Alpha Sandigger is fought just like a normal one, and it's down pretty quickly. Shoot out one head and dark Ing possession force will swiftly jump on it to make it the Bomb Guardian. Basically, this creature now has one head. It crawls around and lays Bombs with its tail. Its tail is the only vulnerable spot on its body, so hammer it with the Power Beam (or even with Missiles, as the homing can zero in on this fast moving target) and it will be stunned, causing its head to glow. Nail it with a fully- charged shot to hurt it. Four of these will do the trick. Watch after you damage it, because it may use an attack where it spits multiple Bombs out its mouth. Once you defeat it, you'll earn the Morph Ball Bombs. *** MORPH BALL BOMBS ACQUIRED *** Now, bomb down the north wall and head through the north door. Controller Access - Roll up to the statue and bomb yourself into the slot. Bomb it to activate it. Now, the camera shift is kinda odd, but you are on the other side, so head on through the door. Agon Energy Controller - New Scan: Saving Aether Hop up behind the Controller to find what's left of the Temple's guardian. Scan the holoprojector behind him (it's red in the visor) to learn about the three keys needed to access the Dark Agon Temple, where all the energy is. You will also have the ability to read AMBER translators now. So, read the Lore just around the corner. Now, head all the way back south to... Mining Station A - Scan open the Amber door on the upper floor to find a new door. Sand Cache - Grab the MISSILE EXPANSION here. Mining Station A - Now, head down to the ground floor and out the south door. Portal Access A - Roll into the hologram to get shot twice (out of the cannon). Roll around the tunnel down to the ground floor. Carefully roll around behind the dead Luminoth (avoiding the other cannon holo) to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Portal Terminal - New Scans: Dark Pirate Trooper, Light of Aether, Pillbug Upon entering this area, you'll battle two Pirate Troopers and two new Dark Pirate Troopers (basically more durable and stronger). Once they're down, you can find a Bomb Slot on the far corner near the portal device. Activate it and you'll start up a conveyor right next to it. Roll in, then up to the barrier, which you can bomb. Roll out into the alcove and take out the War Wasps, then hop onto the new platform you made over to the other side and do the same thing with a second conveyor. After that part's done, hop over back to the other side. This time, you'll need to navigate around some Pillbugs, but the end is the same. Once the final solar lens is in place, the Portal Machine will be working again. Scan its console to activate a portal to Dark Aether, which you will automatically step through. ======================== 5C. A Walk in the Dark = ======================== ==Dark Agon Wastes== Portal Site - New Scans: Bladepod, Light Crystal, Light Beacon, Light Portal Hop from Safe Zone to Safe Zone to stay alive in this twilight world. Shoot the small ball of light to make another Safe Zone, then head for the Bomb Slot in the far corner. Use it to open the door both here and on Aether. You can't go back now, though, because the ledge to get there is too high, so just head through the door you revealed now. Crossroads - New Scan: Inglet In the middle of this room are several Inglets, who can be destroyed with several normal shots. Bust down the Red Blast Shield at the far end to get to the next room. Save Station 2 - New Scan: Nightbarb Take out the Inglets here, then proceed down the tunnel to the Save Station. Save if you wish, then head out the other door. Dueling Range - New Scans: Warrior Ing, Lightbringer Hop down to the nearest Light Crystal to your left to face your first Warrior Ing. It'll take some time, since you don't have much in the way of weaponry, but just keep hammering him and avoid his attacks. You can even use the crystal as something to stand behind. Once he's down, head west along the Safe Zone paths, then climb the ledges to the Lightbringer wandering around. Hop from him to the next Safe Zone, then to the central plateau, and head east along the bridge to the next door. Junction Site - Roll on through and out the other side. Judgment Pit - New Scan: (see below) Enter the main area for your next boss battle: BOSS: JUMP GUARDIAN - Like other Warrior Ing, this one can shoot transdimensional beams at you, but unlike the others, this one can also leap across the field (instead of using the puddle-travel system). If it lands on your ground floor, it will generate a shockwave that will need to be jumped over. It's invincible when it has a purple shield up (which it puts up right before it jumps). There's no trick to beating him. Just shoot him with whatever you have and try to avoid his attacks. This battle has to be won by outlasting him. Once you defeat him, take the Space Jump Boots. Now, jump up on the south side of the room (boy, isn't it nice to have THIS ability back?) and jump to the west ledges, then turn around and circle around the room counter- clock-wise to reach the Red Blast Shield door. Bust it down and move on. *** SPACE JUMP BOOTS ACQUIRED *** Dark Agon Temple Access - Head straight on through. Nothing special to see, here. Dark Agon Temple - You'll notice the rather intricate lock on the door in front of you. That's what you need the three Dark Keys for. Circle around to your left to find another door. Trial Tunnel - Well, that was easy. The first Dark Key is yours. *** DARK AGON KEY 1 ACQUIRED *** Now, head back to the Judgment Pit. From here, you can either retrace your steps all the way back to the Portal Chamber the way you came, or you can take a slightly more dangerous, yet shorter, road through the south door... Portal Access - Take out the Lightflyer to create a temporary Safe Zone, then pass on through to... Portal Chamber - Now that you have the Jump Boots, you can hop up the tall ledge, activate the portal machine, and hop back to a place that WON'T kill you just for hanging out. ==Agon Wastes== Portal Terminal - New Scan: Dark Portal Three Pirate Troopers are waiting to attack you out here. Deal with them. Now, to move ahead in the game, your destination is Mining Station A, but let's take the less-direct route there to pick up some stuff, shall we? Remember that Bomb Slot that half-existed? Well, you opened that door, so let's go that way (west). Transport Center - Use the Bomb Slot in this room to lower the way to the MISSILE EXPANSION. Pass on through to the Save Station room. Roll through the tunnel to get back to... Mining Plaza - New Scan: Paradise Now that you're back here, getting around is much simpler. Scan the Lore that you couldn't before, and the Translator Door to get to the map station. Head out using the upper east door. Mining Station Access - Use a Bomb in the center of the tunnel to fall into the Cannon, which will shoot you up to the ENERGY TANK in the upper alcove. Leave by the east door. Mining Station A - New Scan: Cataclysm Climb the perimeter to reach the statue just before the door to the Temple. Hop onto the statue, then to the opening beyond. At the end of the tunnel, scan the Lore and the console to open the gate to the next area. Central Station Access - Oh, lookie. Two Pirates who don't know you're here, yet. Fire a charged shot or a Missile at the Phazon tanks they're standing over to blow them away in a rather spectacular fashion, the move on to the real fight. ====================== 5D. Bloody Pirates!! = ====================== Central Mining Station - New Scan: Pirate Skiff, Vigilance Class Turret Enter the center of this area to be attacked by three Pirate Troopers, then another two, then two Pirates manning the Turrets above. Blow them all away. After the carnage, head through the east door. Command Center Access - You can't open the black door, yet, so set a Bomb at one of the weak spots in the floor grating to open the way for a rolling with the Morph Ball straight into the base. Command Center - New Scans: Aether, Dark Aether, Log 44681, Log 48853, Log 50086, Log 54421, Log 62217 Try not to announce your arrival, here. Maintain a low profile as the Pirates below you take off into the portal. Avoid the electrical stuff. At the junction in this little tunnel, take a right to eventually reach a MISSILE EXPANSION, then roll to the other end. As you exit, the main blast door closes. Take out the two Pirate Troopers here, then go on a scan-fest. Note that you can't open the portal, yet. Once you find the elevator, ride it up to the second floor. Take out another Pirate Trooper, then yet another through the glass in the command module. Head out the nearby door. Security Station B - New Scan: Log 70136 Your dark self will appear and shut the gates in front of you, but you can still access the consoles beyond for info. Turn right around the corner to get to the next door. Command Center - Scan the red console here to open the blast door, then backtrack through the Security Station to the main area. Head through the now open door. Biostorage Access - New Scan: Humility Class Turret Take out the two Turrets here, then time your movement past the laser defense system to the far door. Biostorage Station - New Scans: Tallon Metroid, Log 63622 You'll face off against one, then two Pirates here. The scannable Metroids are the ones in the big tank. Continue on to the next room. Security Station A - Take out the Turret, then enter the station and use the Bomb Slot to rotate the gates. Exit by the other door. Bioenergy Production - New Scan: Pirate Aerotrooper Take out the two Aerotroopers in this room with heavy fire, then head over to the east side of the room and scan the red console to activate the processing racks. Now, what you need to do here is to create steps you can climb, so head over to the other side of the room. Use the down arrow on the north rack once, then on the center rack twice, then on the south rack three times to be able to climb up to the ENERGY TANK. Then, set the south rack up twice and the north rack down twice to be able to climb to the door out of here. Ventilation Area B - Roll in and you'll find two energy conduits blocking your way. You need to bomb into the upper area to make your way around. Avoid the red lasers, and once you reach the other side, you'll have bombed out the conduits, making for an easy way back. Save Station C - New Scan: Log 67135 Save, if you wish, then move on. Sand Processing - Hop down into the pit and take out the two Turrets. Fire a Missile at the back end of the pipe (it's red under the Scan Visor) and proceed to the next room. Main Reactor - New Scan: (see below), Phazon Follow this corridor until you reach an opening in the wall and hop down into the reactor room. Time to get freaky with your alter ego: BOSS: DARK SAMUS - Your enemy floats around as opposed to running, and has several attacks to use against you. From the beginning, she has a scattershot Phazon blast attack, a long-range Missile attack, and a close-range Phazon shield blast. Once you get her health down by half, she'll also start using a jumping boost attack which propels her forwards, and she'll have a Super Missile attack, all of which can be avoided by dodging or taking cover. Just keep pounding her with either charged shots or Missiles as long as she isn't sheathed in blue (not blue light, as you can shoot her then, but blue metallic stuff). Once you deplete her health, she'll explode into tiny Phazon particles. A nearby lift will lower. Hop on and ride it up to a new door. Storage D - New Scan: Log 69898 Grab that floaty thingy and you now have the Dark Beam. Use it to open the door leading back out. *** DARK BEAM ACQUIRED *** Main Reactor - Target and fire the Dark Beam at the white crystal on the gate to open it, then open the nearby black door and move on. Security Station B - Knock down the two gates with your new beam and move through the door on the right. Command Center - New Scan: Pirate Grenadier Finally, you have something to open that portal with, but first, deal with the new Pirates here, if you wish, and head south through the next room to... Biostorage Station - Watch out for the Metroids. One charged Dark blast followed by a Missile is the easiest way to take them out. Ride the elevator up and blast open the black door. Storage B - Grab the MISSILE EXPANSION here. Now, head back to... Command Chamber - Fire a Dark shot into the portal to activate and step on through. ==Dark Agon Wastes== Doomed Entry - New Scans: Nullified Crystal, Nullified Beacon, Dark Preed, Light Lift Crystal Head to the far side of the room, turn around, and fire a Missile at the white statuary on the platform (it's red in the Scan Visor). Fire a Dark shot at the Lift Crystal to lower the platform. Hop on, then to the next highest platform, then over to the next Dark Key. Now, there's no need to yet to go through the door in front of you just yet. Head through the other black door on the north side of the room. *** DARK AGON KEY 2 ACQUIRED *** Oasis Access - Once you reach the second Light Crystal, a Warrior Ing will attack. To kill him quickly, let him get close to the Phazon crates, then blow those to kingdom come to knock him down, then head on to the next room. Dark Oasis - To the left is a white door, so that's no good. Head to the right, taking out the Inglets here and pass through the next door. Hall of Stairs - New Scan: Dark Lift Crystal Walk around the far side of this red-lined platform, look up, and fire a Dark shot at the crystal to lower the platform. Hop up to the next room. Save Station 3 - Use, if desired, and move on. Bitter Well - Roll through the tunnel. You can bomb the rocks away and roll the lower route, if you like Phazon burns. Instead, hop to the top of the rock, then use a Bomb to propel yourself over the gap (holding to the right once it blows) to avoid the worst of it, and move on. Phazon Site - Now, in order to bypass this room, you'll need to scan three consoles. It can be tough to get to them, what with all the Phazon lying around and the atmosphere slowly killing you. The first is on the west side (to your right) pretty much in plain sight. The second is on the far east side slightly obscured behind some crates. The third is atop the chain of moving platforms in the center of the room. Once all three are scanned, the south door will be open. Watering Hole - New Scan: Ingclaw There are some invisible bad guys here (which you can't scan) firing small dark shots at you, which can disable nearby crystals if you're unlucky enough. Quickly make your way through this room and to the other side. Feeding Pit - Head down to the left. Take out all the Nightbarbs you feel like killing, then cross over to the northwest side of the room and fire at both the Light Lift Crystals to lower the platforms. Hop across them to the door. Ing Cache 1 - Grab the Light Beam here and leave by shooting the door open with it. *** LIGHT BEAM ACQUIRED *** Feeding Pit - New Scans: Energized Crystal, Energized Beacon There are now a bunch of Lumites in the room. They sometimes attach to the fields on Light Crystals, so shoot the Crystal with the Light Beam to energize it and kill the Lumites instantly. You can now use the Light and Dark beams in alternation, so fire at the nearby Bladepods with whichever you have more of to get ammo of the opposite kind. Use the Light Beam on the door to head to the next area. Feeding Pit Access - New Scan: Webling Use the Light Beam to shoot down the Weblings in your way and move on. Doomed Entry - Hey! I remember this place! Right, so now that you have the Light Beam, head over to the west doors. I suggest taking the upper one (the black one). Double Path - New Scan: Darkling Tentacle Shoot the Dark Splinters out of your way and press on. Battleground - New Scan: Ing Webtrap Hey, Key #3. I'm sure there's no REAL reason they named this place the "Battleground", right? As soon as you walk up to the Key, it'll be engulfed by an Ing. You now have to face down six Warrior Ing total. Use the Light Beam (charged, if you can get a shot) to take down these guys quickly. If you run out, switch to your Dark Beam and start shooting the Bladepods in the area to get more Light Ammo. Once all six are dead, they'll surrender the Dark Key. Take it and head back to the Doomed Entry. And uh, just in case you're wondering, the Webtrap is that barrier that pops up on the doors when the Warriors attack. This is your only chance to scan it, so take it now. *** DARK AGON KEY 3 ACQUIRED *** Doomed Entry - Well, you need to go to the Dark Temple now, but you can't reach it from this point in Dark Aether, so it's time to head back to Aether, but the portal's not accessible from this side, so you need to find another. From here, go north to the Dark Oasis. Dark Oasis - You can now go to the left to find an Ammo Station if you need it. Otherwise, go to the right and shoot a Light shot at the portal to energize it, and head back to Aether. ================================ 5E. No Dune References, Please = ================================ ==Agon Wastes== Main Reactor - If you're going for scans, take a slight detour back to the Biostorage Station. Biostorage Station - New Scans: Metroid Cocoon, Infant Tallon Metroid Yeah, it's a little nastier in this room, now. The infants quickly pop out of the cocoons to attack. Get what you need here and return to the Command Chamber. Command Chamber - From here, climb up to the second floor (if not already there) and head out the white door, through the tunnel to... Central Mining Station - New Scans: Log 71599, J-Stl's Testament Ah, note the holograms showing Turrets. Hop into one and get ready for fun. There are two power generators in the area to take out. The first is almost below you on the left side, and the second is mid-way out on the right side. Once you blow them both, you'll be attacked by a couple of Troopers, but killing them is a snap with this. Once done, press B to hop out. Drop down to your first explosion, which lowered a skiff rack into a platform to hop to the upper middle catwalks. Cross over to the hole you created with your second explosion. Get the Pirate Log here, then walk around to the impervious screen. Go past it to find a hole you can fit into and find a Keybearer and a BEAM AMMO EXPANSION. Now that that's done, drop down to the floor and leave. Now, you can head straight for the other portal to Dark Aether, but let's get beefed up a bit first, eh? Head to the Agon Temple. Agon Temple - Take the west black door. Mine Shaft - We won't go far, here. Roll into the tunnel and head left. At your first Pillbug, kill it, then use a Double Bomb Jump to hop onto its platform. From there, bomb to the tunnel above. Hold to the left as you go across the disappearing blocks. Once you reach your second stack of four, keep holding left to go into the wall, but don't go too far or you'll hit another drop block. Hang at about the middle of the wall and bomb up to the next level, then roll over to the ENERGY TANK. Now, leave by rolling and bombing back to the right and head back to the Temple. Now, take the east white door. Sandcanyon - Hop into the cannon here to get fired to the other side, then enter the next door. Ventilation Area A - Enter the tunnel and roll to the right towards the second Pillbug. Kill him, then Double Bomb Jump onto his platform, then Double Bomb Jump again up the shaft there, then bomb and roll over to a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, head back to the Temple, and now go all the way to the... Portal Terminal - Activate the terminal to head back to Dark Aether. ==Dark Agon Wastes== Portal Chamber - From here, head back to the Dueling Range through the Save Station. Dueling Range - Go through the black door on the west side. Ing Cache 4 - Dispose of the Inglets in the area, then roll into a hole by the floor on the east side to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, head back to the Dueling Range, and then on to the Judgment Pit. Judgment Pit - From here, you can enter the black door and access a new Save Station. Use it, because it's almost time for a boss fight. Head to the Dark Agon Temple from here. Dark Agon Temple - New Scans: (see below) Step into the light to use your three keys, then hop down to the arena below: BIG BOSS: AMORBIS - Amorbis is actually several entities. They're all sand worms, and they mainly attack by ramming you as they hop around and burrow through the sand. While in this first form, you need to repeatedly hit them with weapon fire of any kind, which will bust off their armor. Once that's off, they will attach themselves to the nearby Dark Sphere for their second form (scan again). Here, they can fire dark energy at you, either in a single shot aimed at a nearby Crystal, in multiple shots, or in a constant beam which you'll have to use acrobatics to avoid. In this form, repeatedly shoot at its head with whatever (Light Beam works best) to bust off its head carapace. After that, it'll try to suck you into it, so roll up into ball form and oblige it. Once inside, lay Bombs to destroy the creature. Like I said, there are multiple creatures. You'll first face one, then two, then three for the finale. Once all the Amorbis are toast, the Dark Sphere will burst open, and you can take the Dark Suit. You're now slightly less vulnerable to Dark Aether's atmosphere. From here, head north through the door. *** DARK SUIT ACQUIRED *** Dark Controller Access - Just as before in the corresponding temple on Aether, use the Bomb Slot here to access the controller. Dark Agon Energy Controller - Step up to the controller to absorb the energy in it. The Ing will be understandably ticked that you took their stuff, so on the way back to the Portal Chamber, you'll find a lot more Ing to tango with. Fight them or just run past them (they don't really move or attack very quickly) and head back to Agon. Head all the way to the Agon Energy Controller. ==Agon Wastes== Agon Energy Controller - Walk up to the controller to deposit the energy you have into it. One temple down, two to go. Return to the Transport to Temple Grounds. ======================= 5F. Grounds Interlude = ======================= ==Temple Grounds== Transport to Agon Wastes - Okay, now that we're back at the "hub" of the world, it's time to pick up some more junk before we move on to the next place. First, head back to the Landing Site. Landing Site - New Scan: M-Dhe's Testament You can use the Light Beam on the monument here to turn it into a step, whereby you can reach the body of another Keybearer. You can move on from here, but there's no point, right now, so just head back to the Hive Access Tunnel. Hive Access Tunnel - Hop down the shaft you hopped down at the veeeeery beginning of the game. Hive Chamber A - New Scan: (see below) Stepping forward will trigger this fight: MINI-BOSS: DARK MISSILE TROOPER This boss is pretty easy, actually. Just dodge and avoid his missile fire and retaliate in kind. Destroying him will give up a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, leave by the gate and retrace your steps through the Hive all the way to... Hive Chamber B - Head over to the ball tunnels and use a Bomb to blast the cap off the closed one. Roll in to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, exit this area, and head all the way over to: Temple Assembly Site - Using the pillars in the middle of the room, hop up to the high ledge on the south side of the room, then make your way around the room clockwise to find a tunnel, where you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, drop down and use the Light Beam on the monument by the entrance of the room to reveal a portal. Use it. ==Sky Temple Grounds== Plain of Dark Worship - Walk up to where the elevator was in the same place on Aether to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Leave and return to Aether. ==Temple Grounds== Temple Assembly Site - From here, head to the north door. Dynamo Chamber - At this point, you'll need to use the Space Jump to get over the gates, then proceed. Communications Area - Jump up to the middle level here to find a glass shell. Blow it apart with a Bomb to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. From here, jump onto a higher pillar, then to the top of the room to the other door. Storage Cavern A - New Scan: D-Isl's Testament Hmm... Should there be something here? There's another Keybearer. Once done here, head back to the Temple Assembly Site. Temple Assembly Site - Head to the elevator, then up it to the Great Temple. ==Great Temple== Temple Transport B - Head to the next room. Transport B Access - Roll up and enter a small side tunnel in your ball form. Use Bombs to elevate yourself along the path. At the end, you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, head up to the Main Energy Controller. Main Energy Controller - Speak with U-Mos. He'll tell you that now is the time to head to Torvus Bog. Go back downstairs. Temple Sanctuary - Scan open the Amber door to your left and head on through. Transport C Access - New Scan: Harmony Class Drone Use the Light Beam to move the monolith out of your way, then proceed, past the drones, to the far door. Temple Transport C - Head on down the elevator and out. ==Temple Grounds== Meeting Grounds - New Scan: Age of Anxiety Take out the War Wasps buzzing around and proceed down the pipe. The Lore is high and to your left, if you're looking. At the far end of this canyon is the next door. Hall of Eyes - Only thing you can do here is activate the portal. ==Sky Temple Grounds== Base Access - Take out the Inglets and head through the only openable door, here. Abandoned Base - New Scan: Corrupted Sentryeye This area is the real reason you didn't leave Agon right after you got the Light Beam. You definitely need the Dark Suit to survive this long walk around this area. At the end, you'll find a suspended trolley. To get it moving, you need to release the locks, which you do by energizing four Bomb Slots, but there's a specific order you need to do them in. Start by rolling into the west side conveyor, then blasting the first Bomb Slot there, which will block your way forward, but that's okay. Now, head up the east side conveyor and roll all the way to the third Bomb Slot, blast it, then back to the second, then back to the first. You can now hop into the trolley and ride it. As you'll probably expect, you'll be attacked on this slow ride. Three flocks of Nightbarbs will try to swoop in and tear you up. Once you reach the end, activate and enter the portal. ==Temple Grounds== Path of Eyes - New Scan: The World Warped Hop down and take out the two Dark Pirate Troopers. After that, Light Beam the monolith to move it. Hop over the next monolith and take out the Pirate Grenadier, then Light Beam the two monoliths down here. One only opens a way to a Green Blast Shield, but the other will move into position so you can hop onto it and to higher ground. In the next place you'll find water and another monolith to shoot. Hop onto it from solid ground to get to the Translator Door. Scan it to open it. Now, before heading in there, head into the small ball tunnel to your left, which leads to a monolith you can blast to create an easier pathway back, as well as a Lore. Now, head back and through the new door. Torvus Transport Access - Pass by the War Wasps and through the Red Blast Shield. Transport to Torvus Bog - Activate the elevator and step in. Leave once at the bottom floor. ================= 5G. Bogged Down = ================= ==Torvus Bog== Transport to Temple Grounds - New Scan: Torvus Bearerpod Head out the door, here. Temple Transport Access - New Scan: Torvus Hanging Pod Take out the Shriekbats here and press on. Torvus Lagoon - New Scans: S-Dly's Testament, Shredder, Hydlings The first proper room in the bog. Watch out for the Shredder plants popping out of the water in front of you. The door to your left is a Save Station, if you wish to use it. To move ahead, drop into the water, clear away the Hydlings, and slowly manuever your way around the roots to the black door. Path of Roots - Shoot the Hydlings out of your way and proceed through the water, roll under the structure, then up and out to the next door. Great Bridge - New Scans: Shrieker, Sentinel Crystal Take out the Shriekers here through conventional means (as long as they're visible) and cross over to the Red Blast Shield door. Portal Chamber - Simply roll through the tunnel in this area. Ignore the portal, as you can't get to it from here. Head out the opposite door. Torvus Lagoon - Back here again. Scan the console to activate the bridge. You can now access all the doors in this room, so head for the white door. Ruined Alcove - Take out the several Shredders in this room and press on. Forgotten Bridge - New Scans: Grenchler, Bloatsac There are two mean Grenchlers in this room. Take them out by pounding their backside with heavy fire. Once they're both history, hop up onto the platforms to get higher up. The controls for the bridge are on Dark Aether, so all you can do is head for the portal. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Dark Forgotten Bridge - New Scans: Dark Sentinel Crystal, Ingsphere Cache Stay out of the dark water. It hurts quite a bit. All you need to do here is energize the Bomb Slot, then jump back up to the portal using nearby platforms (since the bridge moved). ==Torvus Bog== Forgotten Bridge - New Scan: Dark Pirate Commando Hope you've saved energy, because two Dark Pirate Commandoes are attacking. This isn't a fight to the death, though, as they'll leave after a couple of minutes of fighting, but you must fight, since the doors are locked. If you can, try to hit them with a charged Dark blast, then use a Missile to shatter them. Once they're dead or they've taken off, climb up to the bridge, grab the MISSILE EXPANSION, and head through the door. Abandoned Worksite - New Scan: Sporb Your main objective is to enter the ball tunnel nearby and cross over the wall to the other side (the tunnel is slightly tucked away just before the ledge drops off). The Sporb makes this tough, though, so you can either try to avoid its tongue as you progress, or roll up, get close enough for it to unfold, then bail, unroll and shoot it dead. Either way, use Bombs to move yourself along the side tunnel. Once you exit that, roll through the red gross-looking tunnel to reach the other side. Drop down and exit through the door. Great Bridge - From this point, you can scan the console in front of you which will activate an Orb Cannon near the Translator Door. Hop in there from near the blue door to get shot up to the bridge, then proceed through the black door up here. Temple Access - Bring up your Scan Visor and look for a plate in the floor that's weak. Bomb it open to find an ENERGY TANK. This will roll you to the bottom, so return to the door, back to the Great Bridge, then enter this room again and take the other black door through. Torvus Temple - Entering this room will trigger a battle with Pirates. First, you face two Pirate Troopers, then two Pirate Aerotroopers, then four Pirate Troopers. Once they're all kaput, you get the Super Missile Charge Combo for your efforts. Ride up the elevator and blast open the Green Blast Shield with your new Super Missile to move on. *** SUPER MISSILE ACQUIRED *** Controller Access - You know what to do here. Torvus Energy Controller - New Scan: Dark Aether Scan the holoprojector to get the new EMERALD Translator files. Now, you can read green Lores. Head back out of the Temple and back to... Torvus Temple - Scan the green text to get access to the elevator, then ride down to the lower level. Scan open the Emerald door, here, and press on to the next room. Underground Tunnel - New Scan: Our War Begins Roll into a ball and under the grating you're standing on to find a MISSILE EXPANSION. There's a Grenchler at the far corner of this room, but he's tough to fight in such close quarters, so I suggest suffering a bit of damage, running past him, and rolling under the overhang to get to the Lore and the next door. Torvus Grove - New Scan: Pirate Commando Now for some fun. The REAL Pirate Commandoes are here to attack, now. There are two to fight, so Super Missile them into oblivion to be able to move on to the next room. Meditation Vista - Scan the portal device to activate it and step through. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Gloom Vista - Proceed through the door back to the other room. Polluted Mire - New Scan: Hunter Ing You'll face the deadly Hunters in this room. Two of them. Use the Light Beam to shoot them down only when they're tangible, or energize the Beacon and try to lure them into it. Once they're dead, you can use the platforms and ledges around the tree to climb up to the top and proceed through the black door. Dark Falls - Use the Save Station here. Definitely use it. Leave this area by the other door in the room. Dark Forgotten Bridge - Watch out for the Lightfliers and proceed to the next door. Dark Arena Tunnel - Proceed through this tunnel. When you fall, just bomb your way out to the left, and exit through the door. Dark Torvus Arena - New Scan: (see below) Watch out for the Dark Preeds and hop down into the tunnel. Roll through to follow the Warrior Ing who just took off: BOSS: BOOST GUARDIAN - This guy is a big pain in the butt. You can only really damage him in his solid Ing form. When he's there, just hit him with charge Light Beams to cause serious damage. The real trick is getting him into that form, because after causing damage, he'll enter "boost" form. In this form, he'll boost around the arena, causing major damage to you. Inglets will also spawn at that point, as well. As far as I can tell, you can't touch him when he's in boost form, so get into Morph Ball mode so you can see where he is at all times and try to avoid him, which is tough, since he's faster than you. If possible, try to lure him near the four pylons in the room. If he crashes into one of those, not only will an Ultra Energy Unit be released, but he'll go into puddle form. In this form, he can be shot, but not damaged, so lay Bombs behind you as the puddle trails you around the room. Avoid the puddle, by the way, because it causes the most damage of any of his attacks. He'll alternate between boost and puddle form until you hit him enough times to bring him out of it and back to solid form, where you can further batter him with Light energy. Oh, and there are plenty of Inglets thrown around in the area, too, but those don't cause nearly as much damage as the Guardian, so consider them secondary. Once you drain his life, he'll croak, surrendering the Boost Ball. *** BOOST BALL ACQUIRED *** Now, leave by the way you came in. In this half-pipe, get up some steam with the boost and roll up the left side to find your first Dark Key, here. Leave by the door. *** DARK TORVUS KEY 1 ACQUIRED *** Dark Arena Tunnel - To get out of here, boost over the drop blocks. You're done in this part of Dark Aether, so head all the way back to the portal. ==Torvus Bog== Meditation Vista - Head out to the Great Bridge room. Great Bridge - Now that you have Emerald files, you can scan the Translator Door here to get to the Map Station for this area. Head back to the Great Bridge room and continue to the... Path of Roots - New Scan: The Ing Attack Scan the new Lore and proceed out to the Lagoon. Save here, then head back to the Transport to Temple Grounds. We need to take a little back detour to get suited up for what lies ahead in this area. ==Temple Grounds== Transport to Torvus Bog - All right. From here, go to the Meeting Grounds. The trip around here is easy, now that you have the Super Missile and can remove Green Blast Shields. Meeting Grounds - All right. That big old halfpipe in the middle looks prime to be boosted up, so, boost up the left side and you'll find a ball tunnel. Roll through this lengthy tunnel. Service Access - Be careful after the second rocky portion, as you'll find a string of blocks you need to boost over. Continue along the tunnel. Path of Honor - You're still in the tunnel, so just keep on rolling. Hall of Honored Dead - New Scan: Spinner Here's a new spot. You'll roll out of the tunnel, finally emerging in a large plaza. In the center of the room is your next item, protected by an energy field. To remove this field, you need to use the four Spinners in the room to rotate the rings surrounding it. Start by using the purple Spinner (in front of the first Sentinel's statue). Rotate it so that the outer ring lights up. Then, use A to remove yourself from the Spinner. Next, go to the blue Spinner across the room and do the same. The outer ring must light up. Third, go to the yellow Spinner to its right. Finally, use the red Spinner at the opposite end. Once all rings are lined up, the field will be gone, and you can take the Seeker Launcher and head to the Purple Blast Shield. Hold down Y to charge, and use R to aim at the five purple dots surrounding the door. Let go once all five are targeted to unleash the volley and open the door. *** SEEKER LAUNCHER ACQUIRED *** Path of Honor - Head through this tunnel and to the far door. Service Access - Use a Bomb Jump to enter a nearby pipe on the north side. This will bring you back to the Meeting Grounds. From there, head back to the Torvus Transport and down. ======================= 5H. Out of Your Depth = ======================= ==Torvus Bog== Transport to Temple Grounds - Armed with the Seeker Launcher, it's time to go to the lower portions of Torvus. From here, make your way to the Torvus Temple. Torvus Temple - Enter the lower section (down the elevator) if you haven't already, then head straight west to a ball tunnel, which leads to a Green Blast Shield. Underground Transport - Hop onto the elevator here to be carried down to the depths of Torvus. Hydrodynamo Station - New Scans: Preed, Blogg Music sound familiar? It should. This is from Super Metroid, a combo Brinstar/Maridia theme. But, I digress. At the top of this room is a Red Blast Shield leading to a Save Station (the only one down here), so use it. The only way out of here is in the stupid slog-your-movements water, so drop down. Watch out for the Bloggs down here. If you ever drop to the very bottom of this water, there are jets that will push you up a level. From there, you can hop over to the middle module, which has an Orb Cannon to shoot you to the very top. So, your objective here is to raise the large cover, here. To do that, you need to scan three locks, all from their respective ledges. You can reach only one right now. Sink down to the middle level grating, near the three doors. Face the Purple Blast Shield door and jump to the ledge several feet underneath it. Scan the console here to open the first lock. Now, jump to the center and get cannon-shot up the shaft, then drop back down to the door level, grab the MISSLE EXPANSION, shoot down the blast shield, and enter the purple door. Training Access - Pass through this tunnel and out the water. Oooo, what's that? Training Chamber - New Scan: Recovering Energy Well, looks like she's still alive. Don't worry. She's just here to laugh at you. Drop down into the water. You need to get rid of the two Bloggs down here to advance. To get rid of them, fire a charged blast to tick them off, then fire a Missile into their mouths as they charge you. Once they're history, the Spinner will activate. The idea of using the Spinner here is to line up the path with one of the openings, either red or blue. I suggest going to blue first, since it's harder, and you'll want to save the easy one for later. Trust me on this one. So, roll through the path to the other side and open the door. Transit Tunnel West - Hop into the Orb Cannon to be shot into the transit. There's a fan pushing you back here, so bomb the blue block to be lowered down to the Bomb Slot. Activate it and one fan should stop, starting the other. Floats will guide you along, so just head over to the left side of the room and out. Gathering Hall - New Scan: New Weapons Drop into the water, kill the Blogg, and shoot Dark shots at each of the bottoms of the spiky platforms to flip them over. Climb back up and cross the platforms to the opposite side of the room, then use the Bomb Slot to open a grating down in the water. Hop down and activate the Portal. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Crypt - Well, there are two Dark Pirate Commandoes here. Either give them the charged Dark blast plus Missile or just hope they don't shoot you much, because you don't intend on being here long. Hop up to the platform with the Spinner and use it to realign the laser in both dimensions. Jump back through the portal. ==Torvus Bog== Gathering Hall - Your actions in Dark Aether have extended a platform here which allows you to reach a Kinetic Orb Cannon. Jump over to it and get shot up to the door. Leave this place. Gathering Access - Don't shoot the Preeds here, because there's no room to dodge the gas. Just roll past them through the far door. Hydrodynamo Chamber - New Scan: Bloggling Scan the lock in front of you to disengage it. That's two down, so hop into the cannon to get sent back up to where the Save Station is and use it. Now, head back into the water and take the door you used before (it doesn't have a scanner in front of it). Training Access - New Scan: Seedburster There are a bunch of new baddies in this tunnel, now, but they're not a big problem. Training Chamber - Now, adjust the Spinner and take the red tunnel. Transit Tunnel East - Hop into the Orb Cannon to get sent into the works. Simply roll all the way to the right to get carried up the pipe, then back to the left to get carried some more, then to the right and out. Catacombs - New Scans: The New Terror, G-Sch's Testament Hop into the water, kill the Bloggs, then climb out using the steps on the opposite side. Enter the black door, here. Catacombs Access - Head through this tunnel, avoiding or killing the Grizbees. Hydrodynamo Chamber - After scanning this, the third lock, you will no longer be able to access the Save Station. If you haven't done it in a while, go to the Save Station now and make the circuit again. Scanning the console will raise the heavy weight in the center, opening the door to the area below. Drop all the way down and enter the door. Hydrodynamo Shaft - New Scan: Alpha Blogg Drop down the "stairs" here. There are Hydlings down near the end. A lot of Hydlings. Use them to restore any energy or weapons you're missing, and continue along the path to the far door. Main Hydrochamber - Not much to do here, but drop off and land at the bottom. Turn around to find the door to the... Hydrochamber Storage - Take the Gravity Boost here and leave. You're now able to move through water without being hindered, as well as get an extra boost while in it. *** GRAVITY BOOST ACQUIRED *** Main Hydrochamber - Yes, you had a feeling you'd face him before leaving: BOSS: ALPHA BLOGG - This guy isn't extremely difficult to hurt, but he probably will cause a lot of damage to you before the end. I say, take the damage, because trying to do this guy perfectly just isn't worth it. He's fought just like other Bloggs, wait until he charges and unload into his mouth. The only difference is that he can fire sonic blasts which can disrupt your visor. These can be pretty easily dodged. Five Super Missiles will do the job nicely. If you're really low on energy or didn't have many Tanks to begin with, I guess you'll have to do it the chicken way. Fire a Missile as he makes his approach and quickly dodge to the side or Gravity Boost up. Once he's dead, you'll need to leave this area. Fortunately, now that you can move around in water, it's easy. Use your triple jump and boost to carry yourself to the ledge with the fan, then jump off to the nearest platform. Lastly, boost over to the platform near the door to leave. Hydrodynamo Shaft - Now, look above and behind you as you enter the main shaft. There's a portal up there. You can now reach it, so head on through. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Undertemple Access - Take the Dark Key here and leave. *** DARK TORVUS KEY 2 ACQUIRED *** ==Torvus Bog== Hydrodynamo Shaft - Now, make your way back up to the surface. Hydrodynamo Chamber - Go back and save, then head to the Training Chamber. Training Chamber - New Scan: Dark Blogg As you can see, you'll be facing Dark Bloggs here. Their main claim to fame is their hardiness. Two Missiles instead of one. Head right to... Transit Tunnel East - Enter the tunnels, then Double Bomb Jump up the first vertical shaft to reach a Bomb Slot. It will activate jets in the shafts. Using the fourth shaft from the left, bomb your way up to the top. With the extra boost, you don't need a Double Bomb Jump, but you need to time it properly, so lay a Bomb just before you reach the crest of your jump to get extra boost. Once you reach the top, activate the Bomb Slot to start a timed jet in the second tube. Bomb your way up the same way to reach an ENERGY TANK. Then, leave by going to the right. Catacombs - There are now two Grenchlers in the water. Personally, I find that, once you have the Gravity Boost, you gain an edge on the Grenchlers in water, if you have enough room to move, so take them out, then jump up to the Bomb Slot on the southeast wall. Activating it will remove the barriers surrounding the portal in this room, so use it. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Dungeon - New Scan: Dark Grenchler Take out nasties in this room, or just run and jump to the only door. Undertransit Two - Enter the tunnel. Avoid the pistons and roll across to the left side. Sacrficial Chamber - Watch out for the Hunter down here. Hear that roaring? That's your next target. You can't reach him from where you are, though, so there's really no recourse but to go to the other door. Undertransit One - This is set up like the fan area on the light side, only the fans aren't working. The puzzle here is that you need to work your way across the pipes, only there are holes in several places. It's not too hard to navigate. On the right side, you drop two levels, then bomb up three levels, all while moving left. On the left side is roughly the same thing, only stop when you've dropped to the bottom. At that point you dropped, lay a Bomb right there and hold left as you jump to get into another pipe in the middle. Bomb up to a MISSILE EXPANSION, then head back down to the bottom, go all the way to the left, and bomb up to the exit. Crypt - This place looks familiar. Shoot out the crystal with a Dark Beam to remove the shell and extend some moving platforms. There are two Dark Pirate Troopers here, so take them out so they don't knock you off the ledge, then cross the room counter-clockwise to reach the top white door. Crypt Tunnel - Proceed through this tunnel, shooting Tentacles all the way. Undertemple Shaft - Drop down to the lower floor and enter the Kinetic Orb Cannon to be shot to the top. From here, you can access a Save Station. Once done there, drop to the floor, then through the hole in the grating. This leads to the entrance of a small carraige. Activate the Bomb Slot in the carraige to spin it in the direction you want to go. Enter the new door. Sacrificial Chamber Tunnel - In this tunnel, shoot away the Ingspheres with Dark blasts to get Light Ammo, then use the Power Beam near the Venom Weed to clear it away. Proceed to the next room. Sacrificial Chamber - New Scans: (see below), Grapple Point Step in to face your next enemy. BOSS: GRAPPLE GUARDIAN - This Grenchler has your Grapple Beam. Actually, for all the pain a Grenchler causes, this guy isn't too hard. In normal circumstances, he'll march around the room, trying to ram you or bite you. What you have to do is shoot him in the eye repeatedly to get him angry. Once he does that, he'll try to use the Grapple on you. What you need to do is make sure one of the electrified beams in the room is between him and you so he attaches to that. Once he does that, unload on his hinder. Use a Super Missile to deplete his energy quickly. After you remove about two-thirds of his health, his shell will be busted off. He'll move faster, and you won't be able to use the beams to get him to attach to. Instead, switch to the Light Beam and use it to stun him, then quickly run behind him and shoot him in the back with quick Light Beam shots. This will finish him off quickly. Take the Grapple Beam he leaves behind and watch as the room orients itself so you can leave using the Grapple. Climb up the north side ledges, then hold L facing the Grapple Point to swing across. *** GRAPPLE BEAM ACQUIRED *** Sacrificial Chamber Tunnel - From here, it's time to make your way back to the Crypt. Take the portal in that room to return to Aether. ================================ 5I. Not-So-Beautiful Butterfly = ================================ ==Torvus Bog== Gathering Hall - From here, it's time to get back to the upper level, so return to the Underground Transport and ride up. Now that we have a couple new items, let's do some collecting in this area, shall we? Head to the Great Bridge, then to the Abandonded Worksite (by use of the Orb Cannon and hopping off the bridge). Abandoned Worksite - There's a Grapple Point above you in this room. Look up and you can jump and attach to it from the ground floor. Swing over to the MISSILE EXPANSION here, then leave by the way you came in and go to the Path of Roots. Path of Roots - Swing over the Grapple Point to grab another MISSILE EXPANSION, then continue on to the Torvus Lagoon. Torvus Lagoon - Stay under the water, here. Make your way to the east corner (to the right of the ramp to the surface) and boost your way over the Venom Weed to another MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, retrace your steps back to the Great Bridge, then to the Torvus Temple, then through to the Torvus Grove. Torvus Grove - Boost up the ramps, here. No, not the off-center ramps in the center of the room, but the halfpipe right next to the room's entrance. At the top, work counter-clockwise around the ledges to the black door. Grove Access - New Scan: Krocuss Pass through this room. The new creature really isn't worth your time to try to kill, and it's not a big threat, either. Forgotten Bridge - Ignore the Spinner for the moment and head to the next room. Plaza Access - In this tunnel, you need to rotate the two objects in the middle. It's a pretty simple puzzle. Just bomb yourself to where you need to go and hit the Bomb Slots. Once that's done, bomb yourself to the top of the left object to a little tunnel which leads to a side chamber. Boost up the large slope in this chamber and you'll find a MISSILE EXPANSION on the right side. Return to the first tunnel and leave the way you came in, as there's nothing in the next room that you can get yet, anyway. Forgotten Bridge - Now, use the Spinner. This not only opens the door here and on Dark Aether, but it also once again gives you access to the portal in this room. Use it. ==Dark Torvus Bog== Dark Forgotten Bridge - Now, jump over to the bridge and blast down the Green Blast Shield door. Brooding Ground - New Scan: Liftvine Crystal Drop down and use the Light Beam to power the liftvine here. Don't shoot the Preeds, because the gas will get in your way. At the top of the liftvine, jump to the ball tunnel. Once through, just drop down and head to the far door. Venomous Pond - Well, before doing anything else, I suggest rolling through the nearby ball tunnel. Once out, you'll have a clear Grapple swing over to the Dark Key. Once you get that, mind the Hunter, drop down to the lower level, and head through the black door down here. The Red Blast Shield door leads to a Save Station, if you need it. *** DARK TORVUS KEY 3 ACQUIRED *** Portal Chamber (Dark and Light) - Roll through this tunnel to the other side. Don't go through the door, though. Jump your way up two ledges on this side to find another ball tunnel, this one leading down to the portal. Quickly jump through to the light side to find that elusive MISSILE EXPANSION, then jump back to the dark side. Exit by the east door. Poisoned Bog - Take out the Hunter in this room, then blast open the Purple Blast Shield door. Cache A - Take the BEAM AMMO EXPANSION here and head all the way back to the Venomous Pond. Venomous Pond - Use the Save Station if you wish, then head through the white door. Dark Torvus Temple Access - Roll through the tunnel. Dark Torvus Temple - The room to your left is an Ammo Station, so use it. Also, head west, through the Green Blast Shield. Cache B - Take the ENERGY TANK here and head back. Dark Torvus Temple - New Scans: Dark Shredder, (see below) Unlock the Temple using your three keys and ride the dark water up to your next challenge. BIG BOSS: CHYKKA - First of all, you need to remove this guy's cocoon, so just shoot at its four supports. Once the cocoon falls in, the Chykka Larva will attack. Scan it to learn of its weak point on the underbelly. The Larva will start by swimming around your platform. During this time, Dark Shredders will be released, so focus on destroying them if you like keeping energy. Once the Larva roars and dives, it will jump out of the water twice to shoot you with a dark blast, and slam back into the water, releasing a wave you'll need to jump over. While it's out, hit its belly with Light Beam shots or Power Beam shots. It's really out of the water too little time to hit with anything else. This will be a long fight, and it really helps to watch your radar, to quickly get the drop on the Dark Shredders and watch for where the Larva pops up. After damaging it a bit, it may also choose to jump onto the platform and try to eat you by snaring you with its tongue. That's the time to repeatedly hammer it with Light Beam shots. If stunned while hitting it, it will expose its belly, which will receive much more damage than the rest of him. Once you drain its health, it will go back to a cocoon, after which you'll face the adult form of Chykka (scan again). This form will fire blasts of dark water at you, so try to dodge while returning normal Power Beam fire. When you hit it enough, you'll stun it, and four weak points on the back of its wings will light up. Use the Grapple Beam to swing over to another platform to get a good shot, then fire up the Seeker Launcher (thanks to MBG for this tip), lock on to all four spots and fire. Repeat this until they're destroyed and the Chykka will fall into the water, which will turn it into Dark Chykka (scan again). In this form, its eggsac will bloat, and it will produce Chyklings (scan those, too). Normal fire will destroy Chyklings, and they will give up useful Light Ammo, because the eggsac can only be damaged by Light shots. It will fire heavy blasts of dark water, now, but keep up the attack. Eventually, it will go back to regular Chykka, and you'll again have to try to stun it with normal shots, then hit the backs of its wings. It gained a new attack, as well. If it waggles its wings from left to right, jump to another platform, because it'll charge. So take out its four weak spots again and it will go back to Dark Chykka once more. Hammer its eggsac with charged Light shots and it will, finally, croak. Take the Dark Visor the beast left behind. Now, platforms will rise and disappear. Naturally, you'll need to use the Dark Visor to see them, so hop up them to the door up here. *** DARK VISOR ACQUIRED *** Dark Controller Access - If I need to explain it to you... Dark Torvus Energy Controller - ...you really have no business playing this game. Head back to the light side (I suggest the portal at Forgotten Bridge) and to... Torvus Energy Controller - Deposit the energy. Oh, and if you're ever attacked by Dark Pirate Commandoes again, let me point out that the Dark Visor can see them perfectly, so it's far easier to lay in a charged Dark blast and a Missile to finish them quickly. All right. Now's the time to head back to the Temple Grounds, so shuck your hinder back to the Transport. ========================= 5J. Grounds Interlude 2 = ========================= ==Temple Grounds== Transport to Torvus Bog - From here, head to the Path of Eyes, then shoot out the Green Blast Shield on the north door. Windchamber Access - Use the Orb Cannon to get shot across, then grapple across the smaller gap to grab the ENERGY TANK. Now, head back to the Hall of Eyes, the room with the portal, and use it. ==Sky Temple Grounds== Base Access - Drop down and take the south Green Blast Shield door. War Ritual Grounds - Head to the main area here and take out the two Hunter Ing. After that, use the Dark Visor to see the five red locks on the door in the east wall. Seeker blast them away to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now, head through the southeast door. Shrine Access - Roll through the tunnel and out the other side. Take out the Sentryeyes in the room and blast through the Purple Blast Shield door. Gateway Access - Proceed through this passage, watching out for the Tentacles and Phazon in the area. Sky Temple Gateway - New Scans: A-Kul's Testament, B-Stl's Key, G-Sch's Key, J-Stl's Key, S-Dly's Key, C-Rch's Key, D-Isl's Key, J-Fme's Key, M-Dhe's Key, S-Jrs's Key Here's the gateway to the last area in the game. Scan each of the pillars to learn the location of the nine remaining keys to access the Sky Temple. Let's get a key right now, shall we? Head back to the Shrine Access room. Shrine Access - Take the south door here. Defiled Shrine - New Scan: Flying Ing Cache Take out the Warriors in this room. So, anyway, the trick behind the Sky Temple Keys is that in Aether, you'll find the dead bodies of nine other Keybearers (we've already found a few). The Key they protected is now in the possession of the Ing, but it only went to that corresponding room in Dark Aether. For instance, we found a body in the Landing Site, and here we are in that corresponding room. Pull up your Dark Visor and you'll see a Flying Ing Cache. Shoot it once to make it visible (and scan it), then finish it off with regular fire to reveal the key. One down, eight to go. Head back to the portal in the Base Access. *** SKY TEMPLE KEY 8 ACQUIRED *** ==Temple Grounds== Path of Eyes - Head back to the Great Temple Transport. ==Great Temple== Temple Transport C - Go back and talk to U-Mos, then head back to the Temple Sanctuary, scan away the Emerald Translator Door and enter... Transport A Access - Ah, been a while since you've been in this place. Head over to the Save Station. Even if you don't need to save, use a Bomb on the rocks near the Save Station to uncover a path to a MISSILE EXPANSION. Head to the Transport and down to... ==Temple Grounds== Sacred Path - Yeah, you can reach the portal now, but there's no reason yet to enter the ol' Dark Aether from here, so go straight ahead. Sacred Bridge - Pull out the Dark Visor to see five red dots on the door before you. Use a Seeker Blast on the five to remove the door, then proceed. GFMC Compound - Hop up to the ledge with the Yellow Blast Shield door, then take a flying horizontal jump onto the nose of the GFS Tyr. There's a MISSILE EXPANSION at its stern. After that, scan the Translator Door to be on your way. Fortress Transport Access - New Scans: Luminoth Turret, The Sky Temple Take out the two hardier Turrets here and make your way to the other door. Transport to Sanctuary Fortress - Use the elevator to enter the third temple area. ======================== 5K. I, Possessed Robot = ======================== ==Sanctuary Fortress== Transport to Temple Grounds - Step into the next room. Temple Transport Access - New Scan: Serenity Class Drone Take out the Turrets ahead of you and scan the console to rotate the ring. Note the cute little worker bots and head to the next ring, where you'll need to open it with a Spinner. Exit the room. Sanctuary Entrance - Fancy, eh? Cross the bridge and you'll find yourself attacked by a grand total of six Pirate Commandoes. Take them out, Broadway-style, then open the white door to proceed. Power Junction - New Scan: Octopede Take out the Octopedes in your way and push on to the next room. Reactor Access - New Scan: Rezbit Pull out your Dark Visor and scan for red locks on the door opposite you. Fire a Seeker Blast at all five to open the door and release the Rezbit. You can fight this guy or just climb up the ledges to the door to the next room. Reactor Core - New Scans: Quad MB, Quad CM You have a small fight against your first Quad drone. Use a Super Missile to take out its head, then roll up into a ball and wait for the body to start spinning. At that point, Boost Ball into it to stop it, then lay some Bombs under it as it tries to recover to finish it. Once you're done messing around, you can go around the main room to the right to find a Save Station, or to the left to find a Translator Door you can't open, yet. To move ahead, you need to enter the middle of the room, and I suggest taking out at least one or two of the Rezbits in this room as you climb the ledges leading around this chamber. Once you reach the top, head out by the blue door. Minigyro Chamber - Small puzzle time. Scan the red console nearby to learn the code to shut off the gyros in the middle of the room. The code given to you is the order in which you need to activate the Bomb Slots once you roll out there. For those of you with a thin grasp of the English language: Amber = Orange, Crimson = Red, Cobalt = Blue, and Emerald = Green. I'm not sure, but I think the order you need to set them off in may change with each game. Once you set off all four, you can pass over the gyros and into the next room. Hall of Combat Mastery - Take out the two Quads in this room, then jump on through the Portal at the end of the room. ==Ing Hive== Culling Chamber - New Scan: Ingworm Cache Take the east door just to your right. Hazing Cliff - New Scans: Dark Tallon Metroid, Dark Diligence Drone Take out the Dark Metroid here with Light Beams, then fire charged Light shots at the Dark Diligence Drones to clear the way to the MISSILE EXPANSION. Head back to the first room. Culling Chamber - Now, head north and through the black door to the northeast. Central Hive East Transport - Hop into the elevator and ride up to the next floor. Hive Dynamo Works - Clear away as many Nightbarbs as you can, here, and Grapple over to the other side. To uncover the portal, you need to turn around and look back across the gap with the Dark Visor to find the five red locks. Seeker Blast them all to gain access to the portal. Step on through. ==Sanctuary Fortress== Dynamo Works - New Scan: C-Rch's Testament Well, back isn't really an option, so go forward through the black door. Dynamo Access - New Scans: Diligence Class Drone, Mechlops Use a Dark shot on the Diligence Drone then move on to the room itself. Roll underneath the glass and either use a Bomb on the Mechlopses or avoid them. At the far end, take out the other Diligence Drone the same way. Main Gyro Chamber - New Scan: Shattered Hope Take the nearby ball tunnel to the other side of the dynamo. In this room is a Red Blast Shield leading to a Save Station, but what's really important is the Bomb Slot. Activate it to bring up a puzzle. What you need to do with this puzzle is shoot the gray dots to rotate those colored dots around them in order to line up the colors with the lines on the left. The proper order to shoot in is: upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right. This will raise another Bomb Slot. Using it will stop the rotation on one of the dynamo rings. You can now walk across this ring without damage, so roll back out into the main dynamo room and walk across the ring to the other side. Roll out the ball tunnel to be on the other side of the circular door. Use the Spinner to open the door for easy passage for later, then step into the elevator here to ride to the top, then leave by the door up here. Temple Access - Hop down and take out the Quad here. This one you need to take out the MB first, because it will keep calling new CMs in otherwise. Head through the other door. Sanctuary Temple - New Scans: Dark Quad MB, Dark Quad CM Drop down to the floor here and take out the two new Dark Quads the same way you take out normal Quads. Then, hop up the scaffolding in the southeast corner and climb and grapple along until you can reach the south door. Controller Access - While you're waiting for this thing to rotate, might I interest you in some of my other FAQs? I'm particularly proud of my FAQs for certain Star Wars and Dance Dance Revolution games. Sanctuary Energy Controller - New Scan: Agon Falls Talk to the hologram, get the Cobalt Translator Files. Good for you. Back to the... Sanctuary Temple - New Scan: Mekenobite From here, head east through the Cobalt Translator Door. Worker's Path - Hop across these platforms. At the third platform, turn around and scan a module on the second one to activate the Orb Cannon to be shot across to the other side. Head through the other door. Dynamo Works - New Scan: (see below), Spider Ball Track Well, scan that thing right now, because you won't get another chance. Roll into the tunnel. BOSS: SPIDER GUARDIAN - This is more of a puzzle boss than a flat-out fight boss, and it's fought entirely in Morph Ball form. So, this Pillbug has your Spider Ball, and it will use it to roll around on Spider Tracks. It can only harm you by making contact with you, but its entire colored halo is considered "contact", and it can hit you through walls if you're close enough. What you have to do is to bomb it so that it turns from blue to red to green. Once it turns green, a Bomb Slot will be open to you. Activate the Bomb Slot to open a path to an energy conduit, which will damage the Spider Guardian. That's it, really, but it does get pretty complicated. The first area is a simple rectangle with branching passages. Try to stay near the top so that you're close enough to the Bomb Slot to get there in enough time. Once that's done, you'll move on to a Boost half-pipe. I suggest staying on the upper right side and wait until it gets close and dropping down the halfpipe, laying Bombs in your wake, OR getting on top by going up the left side and falling down the middle hole dropping Bombs in its path. Once it turns green, a small platform will extend below the Bomb Slot so you can get there from the top. The third area is slightly more complicated, but mostly in the path the Guardian travels. You can still Boost to the top and drop Bombs on his path, then, once again, turning him green creates paths for you to travel on to get to the Bomb Slot. Get him here and you'll move on, get to some supply crates for the hurting you're probably feeling, and you move on to the final area. This area has three energy conduits, and he'll have to hit all three. This area's tough, because there are few places to hide, so you're gonna take lots of damage, here. I suggest sitting near the opening in the middle of his path, then laying a few Bombs as he draws close, with enough time for you to get away, but also leaving space for the Bombs to hit him. You need to sit above the recessed spots in his path to avoid damage entirely. Anyway, when you get him green, use the Bomb Slot on your left on the second level, but only when he's to the right of the moving panel so he rolls up instead of into the panel. Once you hit the first one, you'll need to get him green, then bomb two Bomb Slots, one in the upper right corner of the area, then the one in the lower left. Use the Boost to carry yourself across small gaps to save time. Once he hits the second conduit, you need to get him to the third and most difficult conduit. You positively must turn him green as he's travelling to the right about midway through the tunnel, or this won't work. You need to move fast and energize three Bomb Slots, one new one in the upper left corner of the room, then the other two in order down. If you pull it off, the Guardian should just be in position to roll right to its doom. Alan MacDougall has dropped me a good hint for fighting him. Once you bomb it, his force field will disappear for a moment, so you can use that to roll right by him if you need to avoid some damage. The destruction of this pain in the butt earns you the Spider Ball. Use it to climb to the top of this part, but don't retrace your steps completely. After passing the area where the crates were, Bomb yourself to a path above to roll over to a MISSILE EXPANSION and a quick exit from this place, which drops you on the other side of the Dynamo Works. From here, Spider Ball up the wall and to the door. *** SPIDER BALL ACQUIRED *** Central Area Transport East - Hop into this elevator and ride down. Hall of Combat Mastery - New Scans: The Final Crusade, Ingsmasher You can roll out of this enclosed area using the Spider Ball. Watch out, because two Ingsmashers are now active in this room, and ready to slap you. Remove their shields with opposite polarity attacks and hammer them with whatever you have when the shields are down, because they take a lot of hits. Anyway, in the northwest corner of this room is a Spider Ball Track. Roll up it to enter a rather complicated section. Activate the Bomb Slot first to reverse the conveyor belt, then time your movements past the flame jets, then time your bomb jumps to ascend the next passage without getting zapped by the beams, then roll over to the other side, where you'll have to jump onto platforms without being hit by timed beams. After that, you'll have to use moving platforms and moving tracks to avoid a pit of Phazon. After that, it's clear sailing across another Spider Track to the final part where you bomb the block below a MISSILE EXPANSION to get it. Phew. Okay, jump back through the portal, because it's time to do what we just did again! ==Ing Hive== Culling Chamber - Now, roll over to a Spider Ball Track somewhat in the northeast area to reach a much smaller course where you only have to bomb away some blocks to get to the Dark Key, but back off when you set them, because you don't want to go flying off the track into the Phazon. Leave the same way you came in, then head back to the Portal. *** ING HIVE KEY 1 ACQUIRED *** ==Sanctuary Fortress== Hall of Combat Mastery - Now, it's time to do some backtracking. We're going back to Torvus, now (Hey! No groaning!), so head to the... Minigyro Chamber - Only thing to note here is that the place is now occupied by Pulse Bombus. Sorry, I meant Harmony Class Drones, of course... Reactor Core - Destroy all the Rezbits in this room, because it's time for some delicate work. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon on the bottom of the room, while in air, hold down R and you'll stick to the large ball in the center of the room. Roll up it, then wait for the connecting track to power down before rolling to the next big ball. Now, roll over to a red dot on the ball and hold down B to charge a Boost. Release to toss yourself over to another ball, so keep R held down. You have to do this for five balls (counting the one you should be on). The second and fourth balls have timed electrical charges, so wait for those to come down before you boost. At the fifth ball, you boost to a track, then at that track's end, you boost to another track, which leads to an ENERGY TANK. Now, drop down to the bottom floor. You can now access the Cobalt Translator Door here, which leads to the Map Station for this area. Once done, leave by the south door. Reactor Core Access - No surprises in this room. Power Junction - Uh, what's with all the blue sparklies? Sanctuary Entrance - Oh, it's you. Jerkette. She blew up the bridge. Fortunately, you're prepared for this situation. To the right of the door is a Spider Ball Track. Roll up and halfway across the bridge, then drop down to the connector and use a Boost to propel yourself over to the other connector, then roll the rest of the way across the bridge. From here, head back to the Transport to the Temple Grounds. ======================= 5L. Power and Pickups = ======================= ==Temple Grounds== Transport to Sanctuary Fortress - From here, go straight to the Torvus Transport. I shouldn't need to spell it out. Head back to the Great Temple and take the proper elevator down to that area. ==Torvus Bog== Transport to Temple Grounds - Okay, now to confirm your worst fears: we're going back into the lower areas of Torvus, so head over to the Underground Transport, then allll the way down to the Main Hydrochamber. Main Hydrochamber - Drop down to the bottom and walk straight ahead to find a Spider Ball Track. Roll up it