O-------------------------O | | | MIGHTY NO. 9 - Boss FAQ | | Version 1.04 | | Created by Mythril Wyrm | | | O-------------------------O Table of Contents I. Update History II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer III. Foreword IV. Boss Strategies A. Round Digger B. Battalion C. Seismic D. Brandish E. Dynatron F. Countershade G. Helicopter Gunship H. Aviator I. Pyrogen J. Vernier Head & Pliers Head (1) K. Vernier Head & Pliers Head (2) L. Cryosphere M. K9 N. M.O.M O. Round Borer P. Nameless & M.O.M Q. Trinity (Cloud) R. Trinity (Wurm) V. Questions & Answers VI. Special Thanks VII. Contacting Me To skip to a specific section, press Ctrl + F, type in a section name, and press Enter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Update History v1.00 - Completed all sections. v1.01 - Made minor changes to the Boss Strategies and Questions & Answers sections for style, clarity, and accuracy. v1.02 - Revised the strategies for Battalion, Nameless, and Trinity and made minor changes to a couple of other sections. v1.03 - Fixed bosses' names, added a tip for fighting Trinity, and revised or made minor changes to several other boss strategies. v1.04 - Revised the strategies for Brandish, Cryosphere, and Nameless. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Legal Notice/Disclaimer This FAQ is copyright 2016 by Devin McCain. At this time, only the sites on the list below have my permission to host this FAQ: GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) IGN (http://www.ign.com) Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com) Super Cheats (http://www.supercheats.com) Please notify me as soon as possible if you find it posted anywhere else. If you want to post this FAQ on your own website, you may do so only if you obtain my permission in writing and agree to leave the FAQ completely unchanged. If you post it without my permission or change it and try to pass it off as your own, there will be unpleasant consequences when I find out. Feel free to print a copy of this FAQ for personal use, but do not publish or distribute it with intent to turn a profit on it. I'm sharing it free of charge, so please respect that. All other copyrights and trademarks mentioned in this FAQ are the property of their respective owners. I neither claim nor challenge their ownership. This FAQ may contain spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk. I am not responsible for any embarrassment, injuries, or deaths that result from the use of this FAQ or any of the information contained herein. If you're that stupid, it's your own damn fault. Got that? Good. Now, let's move on to the fun stuff... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Foreword Hello, and welcome to my boss FAQ for Mighty No. 9! If you, like me, grew up on NES action games like Mega Man in which passwords were a luxury and replay value came from self-imposed challenges, this game may be right up your alley. Mighty No. 9's boss fights are one of the most exciting parts of the game - there's even a Boss Rush Mode - so it seemed appropriate to tell my fellow gamers what to expect and how to fight the bosses effectively. Whether you can't figure out how to beat a particular boss or are looking for ways to hone your strategies for your next speedrun, I'm hoping that this FAQ will provide you with the information you need to excel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Boss Strategies Most bosses will become destabilized each time they lose 1/6 of their health. When this happens, they change color and their health meter starts flashing. You have a few seconds to AcXelerate (i.e. dash) into them before their health starts regenerating and you have to weaken them again. All bosses have a specific repertoire of attacks (which they sometimes use in sequence), and many have special attacks that they utilize when reduced to 1/2 health, as noted in their descriptions. This FAQ was written while playing through the game on Normal difficulty. If you're playing on a higher difficulty, expect the bosses to use more dangerous and damaging attacks. A. Round Digger Serial Number: CDN. 502 Location: City Best Weapon: Everything Reward: Mission completion If this is your first time through the game, you'll have nothing but your basic shot to use against Round Digger. It will start the battle by tucking in its legs and rolling toward you. Jump and dash over it, then turn and fire at its head. It will fire a laser from its back that causes chunks of debris to fall from the ceiling. Stay close to it and keep firing, then dash away from it as the last chunk falls. It will roll to the other side of the room, then launch three bombs that will hover in the air and make a beeline for you. Stand back and shoot them as they approach, then fire at its head until it gets ready to roll again. Repeat until Round Digger comes back to its senses. B. Battalion Serial Number: Mighty No. 5 Location: Military Base Best Weapon: Frozen Liquid Reward: Remote Cannon On your first time through the game, Battalion should be the first boss you fight. He's pretty easy to defeat with the basic shot, and his weapon is one of the most useful. He'll leap toward you and fire either a spray of bullets in a 90 degree arc, or four missiles from his legs. He may also use his bayonet arm to attach himself to the ceiling and fire bullets downward at an angle. Dash under him when he jumps or attaches to the ceiling, then jump and dash over him when he stops moving and shoot him from behind, AcXelerating into him when he destablizes. If Bat fires missiles in your direction, jump and dash toward him to avoid them. At half health, he'll leap to the side of the room and become temporarily invincible as he starts charging his Remote Cannon. He'll say "Ready..." and "Aim..." as he charges it; jump out of the way when he says "Fire!" or you'll be instantly killed by his cannon shell. Bat can detonate the shell at any time, so if you see him raise his arm, get far away from the wall to which the shell is attached to avoid being caught in the blast radius. Shooting Battalion with the Frozen Liquid will encase him in ice, slowing down his movement and decreasing his jump height. This also makes it easier to AcXelerate into him. C. Seismic Serial Number: Mighty No. 4 Location: Mine Best Weapon: Remote Cannon Reward: Strong Charge Before the battle begins, Seismic will seal off the room with metal pillars. There are handholds on them, so you can use them to stay out of reach of his attacks. He starts his offensive by shielding himself and charging across the room three times. Grab the wall to avoid him, then drop down and shoot his unshielded back. Next, he'll leap into the air and punch the ground, causing crates of ore to fall from above. Dash out from under him, then watch the dust clouds and make sure you aren't standing under one of the falling ore crates. A boulder will fall into Mic's hand, and he'll throw it straight ahead, smashing any crates in its path. Use the crates and the handholds to avoid it. When he turns his arms into drill bits, he'll extend them toward your current position. Climb the wall, then drop down and shoot him while he's attacking empty space. At half health, he'll leap to the center of the room and slap the ground with both hands, causing two more pillars to descend and giving you even less space to maneuver. Be very cautious during this second leg of the battle. The Remote Cannon can blast through Seismic's shield, making it easier to damage him while he's charging. It can also destroy the ore crates and his boulders easily. D. Brandish Serial Number: Mighty No. 7 Location: Highway Best Weapon: Strong Charge Reward: Normal Cut Brandish is a straightforward fighter, but you'll need quick reflexes to defeat him without taking damage. It's safest to keep your distance from him, which will give you more time to avoid his attacks. When he leaps into the air and dives downward at an angle, dash under him and hit him from behind. When he does a somersault slash into the air, stay on the ground and dash to avoid his dive kick or falling slash, then shoot him as he recovers. When he charges toward you, jump and dash over him to avoid his slide kick or spinning slash. If Brand surrounds himself with a purple barrier, he can't be damaged until his feet touch the ground. When he's down to half health, he'll draw two swords and leap offscreen, then fly around and do a series of slashes. Jump over or dash away the blue streaks to avoid getting hit. The Strong Charge will allow you to interrupt some of Brandish's attacks, making the fight easier. You can also use it to protect yourself when he starts flying around and slashing, though you have to be facing him to avoid taking damage. Drive to the far left side of the screen when he flies in from the left and to the far right side of the screen when he flies in from the upper right, and you'll escape unharmed. E. Dynatron Serial Number: Mighty No. 3 Location: Power Plant Best Weapon: Normal Cut Reward: Electric Seed Dynatron can be an annoying one. She'll float around the room and periodically surround herself with Electric Seeds, which she will then launch at you. They may fly in either a spread pattern or converge on your location. They'll stick to the ceiling, floor, walls, and you, so wiggle the left analog stick or jump repeatedly to shake them off if you get hit. You can also shoot the seeds (using the back-jump shot if necessary) to destroy them. After launching two volleys of seeds, Dyna will discharge electricity that will be drawn toward the seeds. Stay away from the ones you weren't able to destroy, and watch for the flashing seeds, which will move around the edges of the room. At half health, she'll surround herself with an electric barrier, but the Remote Cannon can quickly destroy the seeds that power it. The Normal Cut can do serious damage to Dynatron and her seeds, and the Spin Slash (your "charged" attack) will easily slice through her protective barrier. F. Countershade Serial Number: Mighty No. 8 Location: Capitol Building Best Weapon: Electric Seed Reward: Reflect Shoot Considering the trouble you went through to corner Countershade, he's not terribly hard to beat. He'll teleport around the room, appearing behind one of the barricades on the floor, on one of the two ledges, or on either side of the chandelier and remaining there until he fires. He'll either take a few seconds to aim or deploy a series of orbs off of which his bullets will ricochet, so watch the red trail or the glowing red orb to determine where his bullets will fly. Watch out for his purple bullets; if you get hit by them, they'll reverse your directional movement and your shooting and jumping controls for a few seconds. If Shade deploys a red orb in the center of the screen, keep jumping and dodging to avoid the ricocheting bullets until he's done firing. At half health, he'll start creating a hologram of himself each time he prepares to fire. The hologram will always appear in a flash of red and won't fire at you or cause contact damage, so keep your eye on the real Shade and AcXelerate into him each time he destabilizes. The Electric Seed can prevent Countershade from teleporting after he fires. However, it can be hard to hit him with it unless you stand right next to him. G. Helicopter Gunship Serial Number: CDN. 64 Location: Radio Tower Best Weapon: Electric Seed Reward: Mission progression Once you've destroyed its ball turret and missile launchers, the Helicopter Gunship will return for one more round. The screw-like turret on its underside will periodically fire spread shots at you while the gunship flies around in a wave pattern. You can't hit the turret when it retracts, so wait for it to extend and zap it with the Electric Seed while dodging its shots. Unlike most of the other bosses and mini-bosses, you don't have to AcXelerate into this one until you've depleted all of its health. H. Aviator Serial Number: Mighty No. 6 Location: Radio Tower Best Weapon: Reflect Shoot Reward: Gyro Boomeramg The fight with Aviator is a fun one, though it requires good reflexes. You have three platforms to stand on, and if you fall off of them, you can ride the updrafts by dashing. When Avi flies overhead on a bombing run, watch where the bombs fall and jump and dash to a safe spot. When he and his camera descend from one of the top corners of the room, leap to one of the side platforms and shoot him (and the camera) as he swoops down on the center platform. When Avi appears at the top or bottom of the room and hovers there, he'll do a vertical strafing run across the room, then do another run on the opposite side. Cling to the proper side of the center platform to avoid his shots. At half health, he'll fly into the background and unleash a double-barreled barrage on you. Do midair dashes to avoid his shots, riding the updrafts if necessary. The Reflect Shoot can bounce off Aviator's camera to hit him when he's out of reach. When he prepares to do his swooping attack, leap onto the platform closest to his camera and shoot it to get a couple of free hits on him. I. Pyrogen Serial Number: Mighty No. 1 Location: Oil Field Best Weapon: Gyro Boomerang Reward: Fire Explosion Pyrogen isn't an overly difficult boss, but his attacks are very damaging and can be tricky to avoid, so you may take a few hits. Before the fight begins, he'll create pillars of flame on both sides of the room that will damage you on contact, giving you less room to maneuver. When Pyro yells "Crush!", he'll charge toward you and do a belly flop that will create a fiery explosion. Quickly dash under him to avoid it. When he yells "Here it comes!", he'll charge toward you and create a fiery explosion. Dash away from him to avoid it. The rest of the time, he'll charge from one side of the room to the other and leave a trail of flames in his wake. Jump over him and dash in midair until the flames die down to avoid getting burned. After performing any of these three attacks, he'll leap to the opposite side of the room and reignite his body flames before attacking again. When Pyro's at half health, he'll leap into the foreground and engulf himself in red and blue flames, then leap back into the boss room and try to give you a bear hug. You're as good as dead if he catches you, so jump and dash over him to survive. The Gyro Boomerang has no special effects on Pyrogen, but it destabilizes him so quickly that you'll be able to disrupt his attack pattern. It works best at short range, so try to close with him and attack as he ignites his body flames. J. Vernier Head & Pliers Head (1) Serial Number: CDN. 509-V & CDN. 509-P Location: Water Works Bureau Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Electric Seed/Gyro Boomerang Reward: Mission progression Vernier Head is the orange robot; Pliers Head is the green one. They'll both move up and down on the sides of the room, spinning to bounce a piece of metal back and forth between them. It'll bounce off the floor and ceiling, so avoid it as you attack them. Focus on one robot at a time, and try to stay in the air to avoid slipping on the floor. You can AcXelerate into each robot after depleting half its health, and they'll speed up once one of them has been weakened. K. Vernier Head & Pliers Head (2) Serial Number: CDN. 509-V & CDN. 509-P Location: Water Works Bureau Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Electric Seed/Gyro Boomerang Reward: Mission progression Same as the previous fight, but the ceiling is lower and Cryosphere will occasionally leave ice crystals on the floor. Avoid the ice crystals and the robots' metal toy while attacking them, and focus on absorbing one at a time. L. Cryosphere Serial Number: Mighty No. 2 Location: Water Works Bureau Best Weapon: Fire Explosion Reward: Frozen Liquid Cryosphere can be a huge pain if you don't have her weakness. She'll use a stream of water to raise herself to the top of the room and follow you around, but she can't reach you if you hug the walls. When the stream thickens, it's about to freeze, and you don't want to be caught in it when it does. Dash to the side that gives you more maneuvering room and avoid her blasts of Frozen Liquid (and the ice crystals they leave behind) while destroying the ice blocks Cryo's standing on, and unload on her once you've brought her down to your level. At half health, she'll use a stream of water to cross the room while spraying freezing gas at you. Dash under her when she aims up, shooting her whenever you have an opening. If Cryo manages to freeze you, wiggle the left analog stick or jump repeatedly to break free, or she'll encase herself in ice and fall on you for major damage. The Fire Explosion can destroy all of Cryosphere's ice blocks at once and leave her lying helplessly on her back if she's firing right before she falls. Charge it fully, wait for her to fire, and jump into the air to blast through the blocks, then use uncharged bursts to damage her while she's helpless. M. K9 Serial Number: CDN. Err Location: Prison Best Weapon: You only have one, so... Reward: Mission completion You have to fight this mechanical mutt with Call, but it won't be too hard to beat if you follow Avi's advice. Dodge or deflect the bullets from its mouth cannon while shooting out its vision camera, then dash under it as it leaps across the room and collides with the wall. When it turns and starts firing randomly, use your barrier or crouch down under its jaws to avoid getting shot, crawling away when it finishes firing. Afterward, K9 will howl to call in a support robot, which will drop a crate. The crate may contain either a bomb that will damage K9 or a security robot that will restore its vision camera; either way, you should blast the newcomer until K9 eats it. When it gets its vision back, shoot out the camera again and repeat the process above. N. M.O.M Serial Number: M.O.M Location: Robot Factory Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Fire Explosion Reward: Mission progression M.O.M can only be damaged (and AcXelerated into) when its core is exposed. Touching M.O.M's core will damage you, but it has no other means of attacking you - it relies on the robots that fall from the three chutes in the ceiling to do that. M.O.M will expose its core after each wave of robots is destroyed, so use your normal shot or the Remote Cannon to destroy M.O.M's guardians and uncharged bursts of the Fire Explosion to attack the core when it appears. O. Round Borer Serial Number: CDN. 502-0 Location: Robot Factory Best Weapon: Normal Cut Reward: Mission progression Aside from a different paint job, Round Borer is practically identical to Round Digger. It has only one new trick up its sleeve: at half health, it will attach itself to the ceiling and sweep its laser across the room. Dash into the far wall to avoid the first blast, then dash directly under Round Borer to avoid the second one. Use the Normal Cut on its head to slice it into scrap metal. P. Nameless & M.O.M Serial Number: CDN. XXX & M.O.M Location: Robot Factory Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Strong Charge/Frozen Liquid/Gyro Boomerang Reward: Mission completion Nameless is the huge, tank-like robot that you have to destroy before you can attack M.O.M (the computer core). It will change the direction of the conveyor belt on the floor while attacking you with its two claws and occasionally trying to ram you. Use dashes, midair dashes, and crouch dashes to avoid its attacks while firing at its eye with the Remote Cannon. You can also use the Strong Charge to knock Nameless and its claws back when they move toward you. Once Nameless has been destroyed, stand on its frame to reach M.O.M's core and fire away at it with the Frozen Liquid, AcXelerating into it each time it becomes destablized. After a few seconds, M.O.M will build a new Nameless and drop it in from above, and you'll have to destroy that one before you can attack the core again. Make sure you're not standing under Nameless when it falls, or you'll be crushed and killed instantaneously. When M.O.M is reduced to half health or less, the next Nameless it builds will drop a salvo of bombs before beginning its standard attack pattern. Hug the left wall and use the Set Up function of the Gyro Boomerang to protect yourself from the falling bombs, and attack Nameless when it opens its eye. The rest of the battle should proceed normally. Q. Trinity (Cloud) Serial Number: CDN. 1201 Location: Battle Colosseum Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Normal Cut Reward: Another boss fight Dr. White's prototype creation was designed to absorb as much Xel as possible, and she knows how to use it as both a weapon and a shield. Once you know her pattern, however, she's a manageable opponent. She'll start by firing the Xel that surrounds her body at you; let the first two pieces fly over your head and avoid the next two with a timely midair dash. Do the same thing with the second volley, and shoot her with the Remote Cannon when she shrinks and becomes darker in color - this is the only time Trinity is vulnerable. Next, she'll absorb Xel to rebuild her shell; avoid the first two low-flying pieces with a midair dash and let the next three fly over your head, shooting Trinity at every opportunity until her shell reforms. Next, she'll fly to the top of the screen and rain down Xel from her shell as she flies to the opposite side; watch where the floor flashes and climb on top of the highest pillar that rises, from which you can jump and dash over her safely. You'll then have to do the same as she absorbs Xel from below to rebuild her shell. She'll then fly down to ground level and repeat her attack pattern from the beginning until one of you is defeated. At half health, Trinity will rebuild her shell and fly to the middle of the screen, and pillars will rise from the floor in an inverted pyramid shape. Trinity will then begin spraying Xel in a circular pattern, starting directly under herself and moving clockwise if you're on her right, counterclockwise if you're on her left. Run, jump, and dash over her to avoid it, shooting her when she's vulnerable. You can also make great use of Brandish's weapon during this battle: slashing at the Xel Trinity shoots/absorbs and using the Spin Slash when she flies over you will protect you from her attacks. Don't celebrate after absorbing the last of Trinity's health - you still have one more challenge to face! R. Trinity (Wurm) Serial Number: CDN. 1201 Location: Battle Colosseum Best Weapon: Remote Cannon/Frozen Liquid Reward: The ending and credits Trinity returns with a flower-like head atop a body with four segments. She'll move toward you and try to ram you, but each time you destroy or absorb one of her body segments, she'll change direction and increase her movement speed. The Electric Seed can potentially damage and allow you to absorb her entire body at once, but if you're not an expert with it, use the Remote Cannon instead. Once Trinity's head is down on your level, blast it with the Frozen Liquid, which will continue to damage her even when she moves offscreen. She'll return with four new body segments for a second pass, then emerge in the middle of the screen with two body segments as pillars rise from the floor in an inverted pyramid shape. Destroy her body segments to reduce her attack range, then stand in a safe spot and fire at her head with the Remote Cannon or Frozen Liquid, AcXelerating into her each time she becomes destabilized. When the pillars sink back into the floor, Trinity will restart her attack pattern. At half health, Trinity will poke her head through the wall and move around the edge of the room, spitting streams of Xel at you while pillars rise from the floor. Watch for the pause in her attack and climb to safety, jumping and dashing on top of the pillars in the order they appear. You have very little margin for error during this part of the battle, so if you've managed to save an AcXel Boost, this may be a good time to use it. After completing her circuit of the room, Trinity will return to her ramming and spraying routine. Keep firing, dodging, and AcXelerating at the appropriate times until you deplete the last of Trinity's health, then step away from the center of the room and wait for her head to emerge. When her body explodes, AcXelerate into her core, then sit back and savor your hard-fought victory as you watch the ending. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Questions & Answers Q: Why a Mighty No. 9 FAQ? A: It hadn't been done yet, and I enjoyed the game more as I played it more. Besides, I wanted to try my hand at writing a boss FAQ for an action game. Q: I absolutely loved Mega Man/Mega Man X! Will I love Mighty No. 9 just as much? A: It's hard to say, but if you preferred Mega Man to Mega Man X, you'll probably enjoy Mighty No. 9 a lot more. It's more similar to the original 8-bit series than the 16-bit spin-off. Q: What's your favorite weapon? A: The Remote Cannon, easily. It uses very little weapon energy, has a big blast radius, and can be detonated strategically and score multiple hits. Can you see why I suggested beating Battalion first? Q: Are you ever going to add boss strategies for Hard difficulty? A: Possibly, if there's still enough demand for them when I finish replaying the game. Q: Are you ever going to explain how to get the Fine Play bonuses for each boss? A: Possibly, if I can figure out how to get them all. Q: Your FAQ sucks! I've crapped out better FAQs than this! A: As soon as you find a way to upload excrement, you should post your wondrous creation for all to see. Q: I posted my FAQ, and everyone I know thinks it's better than yours! Your FAQ really DOES suck! A: Congratulations! I am in awe of your superior FAQ-writing skills! Now go away. Q: This is the best FAQ I've ever read! You're a genius and a god among men, and I want to know more about you so that I can immortalize you! A: Yeah, I get that a lot. My contact info's listed below. Q: <insert some question that has nothing to do with Mighty No. 9 or the FAQ here> A: See the second sentence of my previous answer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Special Thanks I would like to thank... ...Comcept and Inti Creates, for developing Mighty No. 9. ...Capcom, for developing the Mega Man series that sparked my and many other people's interest in Mighty No. 9. ...the Mighty No. 9 Wiki (http://mightyno9.wikia.com/wiki/Mighty_No._9_Wiki), for being a fine source of information about the game. ...GameFAQs, for posting this FAQ. ...Neoseeker, for posting this FAQ. ...Super Cheats, for posting this FAQ. ...the folks at IGN, for posting this FAQ. ...you, for reading this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Contacting Me If you want to get in touch with me, send an e-mail to the following address: mythrilwyrm[at]gmail[dot]com Be sure to replace [at] and [dot] with the appropriate symbols, and give your e-mail a self-explanatory subject line (e.g. "Mighty No. 9 Boss FAQ") to ensure that it doesn't get mistaken for spam. I check my e-mail daily, so you should receive a reply quickly on most occasions. I gladly accept praise, corrections, and constructive criticism, and will give you credit for any information you share with me that I decide to add to the FAQ. Rude, crass, or unintelligible e-mails will be ignored or mercilessly ridiculed as my mood dictates, so keep your e-mails clear and polite if you want me to respond in kind. I also use Skype and various IM clients occasionally. If you want my contact information, ask for it via e-mail. Happy gaming!