Story
Irregulars and Strategies
Vajurila FF, Mandarela BB and Vava mk.2
Point "D"
Items and Special Upgrades

Since the second defeat of Sigma and the revival of Zero, life has settled down for X. One fo Dr. Cain's best friends--a repliroid nammed Dr. Doppler--has even found a way to neutralize the Irregular Virus.
Using a new experimental neuro-computer, Dr. Doppler has devised an anti-virus for Irregulars, and has founded a utopia called "Doppler Town," where humans and repliroids lve in harmony.
However, just as things look their best, Dr. Doppler himself becomes infected with the virus, and soon the whole of Doppler Town is afire with riots and Irregular violence. Once again, X and Zero must reprise their roles as defenders of humanity.

Irregulars and Strategies

This game has the basic structure of Irregulars being weaker against certain weapons, but you will find that it is less difficult to beat several of the Irregualrs with just hte X-Buster than in previous games.
However, going by the order of which weapons work best, the order is as follows:

Right. There's that. Before I go on to strategies, here's a quick note. I, like Ms. Paugh, have received numerous questions about how one plays as Zero in the game, despite the fact that it tells how to do so in the instruction manual. So here it is:
On the pause screen, hit the L or R button on top of the controller. Zero will come into view on the communicator, and offer to help. You can only play as Zero once during the stage, and if he dies, you can never play with him for the rest of the game, so be careful.
Now for the strategies:

Frozen Buffalo
Frozen Metropolis
Frozen Buffalo's stage is a good one to start on; there are enough spikes and pits to make it a challenge, but it's not so hard as to discourage you. Keep a healthy line of fire in front of X, and be wary of careless jumping.
Frozen Buffalo can either be easy or difficult, depending on how he is fought. The best idea is to hit him with powered-up X-Buster shots, and then jump to teh top corner of the nearest wall. Get out of his way when he charges, and be careful of his ice shards. Listen for when he grunts and gathers power, and get high up on a wall to avoid his arctic blast. Victory will bring X the Frost Shield.

Acid Seahorse
Toxic Waste Recycling Plant
The rule of thumb for this level is to stick to the walls and do a lot of shooting. All in all, the most difficult part is the underwater bit; be careful not to jump to high and hit the spike-lined ceiling. As for the 2/3 point guardian, it's hardly worth mentioning. Blast the glass braincase, and stay away from the missiles.
Acid Seahorse has a fairly simple pattern. Use the Frost Shield when he jumps towards you, and then dash out of the way. He should land on the icicle, and then turn to jump at you again. Repeat the process until he's history. When he perishes, X will gain the Acid Burst.

Screw Masaider
Quarry
The first thing you must do in this stage is keep alert for attacks from above. After that, concentrate your efforts on avoiding the spikes, boulders and renegade robots that populate the stage so that you have enough energy to fight the 2/3 point guardian. It's a large robot carrier with claws like the "Kangaroo" armor. Keep to the walls when it rushes X with its spiked front, and do some fancy jumping to avoid its claws when it separates and hangs from the ceiling. Only the top half is vulnerable to attacks.
Screw Masaider--who has an unfortunante name for all of us English-speakers--can be easily dispatched using the Acid Burst. Keep to the walls when he cahrges, and remember that he's invincible when he flashes in the spectrum. Keep nailing him, and you'll recieve the Tornado Fang.

Electro Namazarus
Power Plant
The biggest gripe I have about this stage is that no matter what you touch, it shocks you. Be extra-careful when negotiating this stage, and keep an eye out for spike-lined passages, ceilings and floors. If you've already beaten Explose Horneck, the enemies in the stage will be much weaker.
Electro Namzarus is nothing more than a slight annoyance if you time your atacks right. Keep hitting him with the Tornado Fang when he lands in the center of the screen, and he won't evenbe able to pull off a single attack before X sends him to the scrapyards. The Triad Thunder is X's if he wins the fight.

Scissors Shrimper
Sea Port
The trick to keep in mind here is to power up all your shots first. Most of the enemies here require at least one fully-charged shot to dispense. The spiked floor of the large room near the end of the stage can make things difficult, but if you stay as far up as you can, X has nothing to fear.
To defeat Scissors Shrimper keep two rules in mind. 1: stay on the walls when he turns backwards and rushes you with his spiked tail. 2: Don't get caught in the small boomerangs he tosses out to grab X. If he grabs you in his massive scissors-claws, use the Triad Thunder to give him a nasty shock and escape. The Spinning Blade is X's after this battle.

Shining Tigerd
Geodeisic Dome
This stage is replete with spiked pits, so watch where you jump. Also, the first part of the stage is less linear than most Rockman stages. If you follow the obvious path, it will take X to the next screen, but it's quicker to head straight up. The mid-point (actually 2/3-point) guardian is a large caterpillar mechaniroid who launches small bouncing bombs at X. Shoot the head repeatedly with chaged shots to end this fight quickly.

When battling Shining Tigerd, remember this--don't use charged X-Buster shots. At the first sign of a charged shot, Tigerd will hide behind his Sonic Claws and the shot will bounce harlmessly off of them. Use the Spinning Blades to cut this overgrown cat down to size. Victory brings X the Ray Splasher.

Gravity Beetbood
Doppler Town Airport
Once you've defeated Explose Horneck, the large crates will disappear, opening up a few new paths to X. Besides that, there's nothing extraordinary about this stage. Watch your jumping near the end of the stage, and you'll have no problem getting to the end.
Gravity Beetbood is best described as "insanely easy" if you use the Ray Splasher. Keep firing away at him and jump his gravity-spheres. If you're just using the X-Buster, things will be more difficult, but not impossible. Dash under Beetbood when he's about leap on X, and keep hitting him. Do so, and the Gravity Well will be yours.

Explose Horneck
Military Base
The military base is just full of surprises--not the least of which is the Chimera Ride Armor mech. It's also the only stage in which X has the opportunity to fight four large enemies. The first--depending on whether you've beaten Gravity Beetbood or not--is a large hover-tank carrier which drops flying robots and crates. Keep blowing up the crates (it's easier if you have the mech at this point), and you won't have anything to worry about. The second enemy is a large wire-frame star made by a laser projector. Its pattern is easy to discern, and it is easily dispatched with X-Buster shots. The third enemy--depending on when you come to the stage--can either be Vajurila FF or Mandarela BB. The fourth, of course, is Explose Horneck.

Fighting Explose Horneck can be a breeze with the Gravity Well. Simply fire it anywhere, and it does damage to him. otherwise, the battle becomes a game of jumping and dashing to avoid the heat-seeking target and robot wasps cast by Explose Horneck. Defeat him, and the Parasitic Mine is yours.

Mandarela BB, Vajurila FF and Vava mk.2

Strategies
After two Irregulars have been defeated, there will be a small cut scene in which Dr. Doppler muses about X's victories, past and present. Vajurila FF and Mandarela BB are both called to do battle with X. Afterwards, a dark, "mysterious" Irregular appears and scoffs that he can take care of X on his own.
Throughout the game, X will need to fight Vajurila FF and Mandarela BB. Each will be at the 1/3 points of certain stages. Vajurila will appear in the stage selected immediately after the cut scene, so it's a good idea to go around and find lots of heart tanks before defeating the first two Irregulars.
Mandarela BB will need to be fought on the 7th Irregular's stage. As for Vava mk.2, there are hidden entrances to his special mini-stage throughout the game. If X does not go to any of these, then he will have to fight Vava at the end of the game anyway.

Vajurila FF: Vajurila is a bird-like golden repliroid about Zero's size who is one of Dr. Doppler's top henchmen. His mode of attack is to throw a tracking ball of fire at X,and then air-dash across the screen at the level where X is. A basic tip is to dodge the fireball, and then jump out of Vajurila's way before he dashes into you.
While he is dashing, he is invulnerable in front because of his crimson energy shield, so try to jump over him when he dashes and shoot him in the back.
Depending on which weapons X uses, there are two ways he can win. If he just uses the normal X-Buster, then Vajurila will retreat and threaten to kill X next time they meet. However, if you use the Frost Shield, Vajurila FF will be gone for good, and you won't have to fight him later in the game.

Mandarela BB: Mandarela BB is a large repliroid with a huge lower torso and tiny head. If you look closely, his armor is built in mockery of samurai armor. His mode of attack is to fire a magnetic mine-fist into the wall, then dash towards it. If you're quick, you can air dash straight up to avoid him when he dashes towards X. Otherwise, he'll catch X with a brutal uppercut that sends the android flying against the wall.
If you defeat Mandarela BB with the normal X-Buster, then the result will be the same as when you defeat Vajurila with the X-Buster. If you use the Tornado Fang, then things are much easier, and you never have to fight Mandarela again.

Vava mk.2: Vava is no less of a pain than he was in the first Rockman X game. Keep hitting his modified Kangaroo mech with charged X-Buster shots, and stay on teh wall until just before he punches, then air dash to the other wall.
Once you have destroyed Vava's carrier, then the fight will begin in earnest. Jump his flaming walls and stay out of the way when he fires off a round of plasma bursts.
As with Vajurila and Mandarela, you can avoid having to fight Vava again by using the right weapon. If you destroy Vava with the Spinning Blades, he will die. Otherwise, he'll teleport away, leaving X to escape from the building, which is set to explode in less than a minutes.

Locations of Vava
There are three different locations you can find Vava in, but in order to do so, you must not have defeated all of the Irregulars yet. These locations only contain a teleport capsule to Vava after the cut scene in which he is introduced.

Frozen Metropolis: In the last third of the stage, there will be a long corridor with falling robots that use replenishing ice-shields. Past them is a long drop down, above which is a ladder headed up. Slide down the left side of the chasm, and the teleporter will be obvious.

Doppler Town Sea Port: Near the middle of the stage, there will be an undercut section of the floor where X can run in order to get an energy pellet. If the teleport chamber is there, X will fall through the floor into a chamber with Vava's teleport cyllinder.

Power Plant: At the beginning of the stage, there is a shaft leading downward and covered with spikes on either side. If X jumps onto the elevator on top, it should take him straight down to where the teleport cyllinder is.

Point "D"--Dr. Doppler's Hidden Lab

Stage 1
Outer Limits
The first stage of Dr. Doppler's lab is difficult. X will have to do a lot of dashing and quick thinking to survive here. About halfway through, there will be a junk robot guarding a long passageway with a spiked ceiling that falls. If Zero is still operational, then he'll "take care" of the ceiling. Otherwise, X has to do all the work.
Once X has reached the end of the stage, the door will be in one of two places. If it is at the bottom of the screen, that means that X either left Vajurila FF or Mandarela BB (or both) alive, and that he must fight them again.
If that's the case, they will either fuse into the Godkarmachine O Inary, or the surviving one will morph into it. Either way, here's the strategy: Keep out of the way of the first fist (the one that grabs you) by keeping to the wall and jump-dashing over it. The second fist moves in a straight line and is easily avoided. Only the top half of the mechis vulnerable.
If the door was at the top of the screen, that means that Both Vajurila and Mandarela perished, and X must fight a large mechanical head which spews acid.
The best bet for this guy is to shoot the top of its forehead. Try to avoid shooting the nozzle that sticks out from the face. If you destroy the nozzle, then it will spew acid out onto the floor.

Stage 2
The Main Fortress
Like many other things in this game, there can be two ways this stage appears. If it is neat and shiny, then that means you killed Vava earilier. If, however, it is bashed up and all the windows are broken, that means that good ol' Vava awaits and the end of the stage. Either way, this stage will seem easier than the last, with the exception of the bloody escanails that carry X up the spike-lined shaft near the 2/3 point.
If Vava is dead, then at the 2/3 point, X (or Zero) will have to fight the large mosquito mechaniroid. The rule for this guy is dash out of his way when he's about to lunge.
At the end of the stage, if Vava is dead, then X will have to fight a large aquatic mech. It's easy to defeat; just fire charged X-Buster shots at the top part, and dash when it launches a volley of missles.
If Vava is alive, then the chamber where the aquatic mech should be will be empty--even of water, and there will be a door on the far right. Take that to the long room in which Vava resides. This time, he will be in the Goliath Ride Armor, which sounds impressive, but is really just slow and clunky (even though it looks cool). Watch out for it when it dashes, and X should be fine. As for Vava, his strategy will be the same as when he was un-meched earlier.

Stage 3
Heart of the Lab
This stage isn't any great challenge. However, it does contain the ever-present Teleport Chamber, which I will detail for you now:

Items and Special Upgrades

Heart Tanks

Frozen Metrolpolis: Near the beginning of the stage, right after the Ride Armor pad, is a shaft blocked off by stacked ice blocks. Get on the pad and select the Chimera or Kangaroo mech so X can bash apart the blocks. At the bottom of the shaft and to the right is the heart tank.

Toxic Waste Recycling Plant: Near the beginning of the stage, there will be a long shaft that moves straight up. Follow it, and instead of getting off and continuing on when there's a break, keep following it until X is at the very top. The heart tank is on the right.

Quarry: At the beginning of the stage, there will be a passageway that goes to the right while the rest of the stage moves to teh left. Go right and use the powered up Triad Thunder to punch the ground and knock loose the boulder that blocks off the heart tank.

Power Plant: Near the beginning of the stage, there will be a long shaft headed up, lined with spikes. Ride the elevator up, and instead of getting off on the left, ride it to the top and go right. The room you enter will be lined with spikes on the top and bottom. Slide down the left wall, then air dash to the right wall and slide down unil X can grab the heart container.

Doppler Town Sea Port: At the beginning of the stage, head down and to the left. Get onto the armored mech pad and choose a ride armor. Then head right. When the large, spike-ball robot falls down and crushes the floor for several stories, leap into the chasm and keep to the right. On section of the wall will be cracked, and can be destroyed with a ride armor. Go into the secret room for the heart tank.

Geodeisic Dome: At the end of the stage, just before entering the passageway to Shining Tigerd's lair, jump onto the wall on the right. Keep jumping up until you get to the top of the wall, and the heart tank will be in plain sight.

Doppler Town Airport: This can only be gotten after Explose Horneck is defeated and all the crates are gone. The heart tank is easily visible once you enter the main building and head to the top left corner.

Military Base: Just after the area where the large air carrier descends (after the dome-roofed hangars), climb the far right wall to the top, and the heart tank will be all the way to the right.

Sub Tanks

Frozen Metropolis: In the last third of the stage (in the area where snow begins to fall), use the air-dash boots to dash vertically from the first ledge on the right to the high platform on the left. The Sub Tank is easily visible.

Quarry: In the first third of the stage, just before entering the place where Vajurila or Mandarela can be, there is a shaft in which two wall-crawling crabs are opposite one another and shooting large electrical balls. Instead of dropping down, head up and to the right.

Power Plant: In the last third of the stage, just after exiting the dividing room, X can see a ride armor pad above him. Continue to the end of the corridor and jump up instead of going down. Go left to the ride armor pad and get into any mech. Then fall down the shaft to the right. The armor will break the floor, and X can continue down and to the left. On the far left is the Sub Tank.

Geodesic Dome: In the first section of the stage, head all the way to the right, and then up to the upper right corner. Jumping right from one of the dragonfly-carriers will get X to the last Sub Tank.

Dr. Right's Upgrade Capsules:

There are two types of upgrade capsules available to X, the blue and the pink. Blue capsules are hardware capsules that upgrade X's exterior. Pink capsules are software capsules. X can only acquire one of these capsules, so be careful what you choose.
Blue Capsules

Frozen Metropolis: At the end of the stage, just before entering the passageway that leads to frozen buffalo, do a jump-dash from the edge of the ledge to the right. It's a tricky jump, and it may take a couple of tries, but if it's done right, X will end up above the corridor that leads to Frozen Buffalo. There he will acquire the Boot upgrade.

Geodeisic Dome: Just before descending the ladder that leads to the room where the large caterpillar mechaniroid is, use the Tornado Fang to destroy the cracked wall to the right. From there, a secret chamber will open up. Careful--the floor is lined with spikes. The capsule is on the far right, and contains the X-Buster enhancement.

Quarry: Past the conveyer belts carrying sand near the midpoint of the stage, there is a large boulder hanging by ropes over a row of spikes on the left of the screen. Stand on the small spar of rock near that and use the powered-up Triad Thunder; the rock will fall, allowing X safe passage across. Follow the small shaft to the left up, and the helmet upgrade capsule is there. It can show a detailed map of the stage, with orange glowing tiles indicating special secrets not yet found.

Power Plant: On the second elevator that moves up a vertical shaft (the one without spiked walls), stay on and take it to the top. Head left, and you will find a strange device sitting at the bottom of a spike-lined shaft. Use the powered-up Gravity Well while standing on the device to raise it to the top of the shaft. From there, quickly get off and move right. The armor upgrade capsule is immediately in front of you.

Pink Capsules

Toxic Waste Recycling Plant: Get into the Frog Ride Armor and destroy the two fans that push X towards the back of the water tank. Once they're destroyed, jump out of the Frog mech and leap up the wall on the right. Continue to the top, and on the far right will be a capsule that gives X the ability to dash twice in the air!

Doppler Town Sea Port: Right after the area where the large spiked-ball robot crushes the floor, there will be a series of pits. Keep the ride armor and drop down the first one. Instead of falling to X's death, you will discover a wall that must be punched down by the mech. Inside is a capsule that gives X armor that is twice as strong as his normal upgraded armor.

Doppler Town Airport: Near the end of the stage, there's a section where X can acquire teh ride armor. Right after that is a section where the floor falls out from under X if he stays too long. Keep heading left, and then up a shaft--all still in the ride armor--until you reach a wall that can be punched down. Follow the secret passage to the left, and you will find a capsule that gives X the power to hyper-charge his buster constantly!

Military Base: Right after the place where X can get onto the ride armor pad (choose the Hawk) is a long room with conveyer belts. Super-jump and fly with the Hawk armor to make it to teh other side of the chasm. On the far right is a capsule that allows X to regain energy by standing still!

Locations of Ride Armor Modifications:

Chimera Mech: You must have this before any of the other will work. This is basically a spiffed-up version of the ride armor X can use in RMX1. You can find this easily in Explose Horneck's stage. Use the tornado fang at teh base of one of the dome-roofed hangars about 2/3 of the way through the stage, and you'll open up a secret passageway down to the place where the Chimera Mech is being stored.

Hawk Mech: In Scissors Shimper's stage, just before the part where the large robot crushes the floor, use the powered Triad Thunder, and it will open up a passageway down to where the "H" modifier is stored.

Kangaroo Mech: At the point in Acid Seahorse's stage where you used the Frog armor to destroy the fans, get out of the water and then jump on top of it. With careful jumping, you can get the hang of it and make your way all the way across the water tank. The "K" adaptor is on a ledge to the far left.

Frog Mech: In Gravity Beetbood's stage, directly after climbing up a ladder out of the building and up into the open air, there is a scaffolding tower to the left. Jump up that, and you can see the "F" modifier. Jump out to the right and then do a straight-up air dash to catch the rim of the ledge where the adaptor is waiting.

Super-Capsule and Zero's Saber:

Super Capsule: To find this, X must have all of the hardware enhancements, however, he can not have installed any of the chips from the pink capsules. X must also have all the heart tanks and sub tanks.
In Dr. Doppler's first stage, right at the place where there is a large pit next to a slanted platform with huge, spiked spheres dropping, slide slowly to down the left side. There should be a capsule there.
Once you step into it, X's armor becomes gold, and he gains the power of all four pink capsule chips. Cool!

Zero's Sabre: In order to obtain this, Vava must have been killed before you proceed to Dr. Doppler's lab. Once you're in the second stage of Dr. Doppler's lab, make sure that Zero is still alive. Then, just before entering the room with the huge mosquito mechaniroid, switch to Zero. Defeat the bug with Zero, and he will be crushed under its corpse. At this point, he will hand over the saber to X. X uses the saber like Zero and Agile do in X2; he throws the blade. It's quite useful, since it can destroy even Sigma in 2 hits!

That about wraps it up for Rockman X3 hints. Knock yourself out.

Return to Zero's Rockman X Museum
Return to Rockman's World Gate