The 'Shroom:Issue 211/Strategy Wing
Director's Notes
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Do you hear that fluttering, readers of The 'Shroom? Did something dart through your vision? Ohoho, prepare yourselves, for you need no flame to draw this moth!
As you may well know, this month, we're celebrating Anton's big 100-issue milestone, and as part of the festivities, the staff is throwing a costume party. Naturally, I decided I would don an outfit patterned after moths, cuties that they are. My thanks go to TPG (talk) for weaving me such a wonderful costume! Now if I can just convince LTQ to cut power to the lights and to switch on the Awards lamp when I go to make my entrance, I'll be set...
Enough about me, though, let's talk the primo pumpking of this Halloween, Anton himself! From his days entertaining us with Dear Anton to, well, even now with the unrivaled-in-quality Half-Baked Reviews, Anton has graced this paper with some of its most well-constructed sections for almost a decade. His use of headers, horizontal rules, photographs, and illustrations have given his sections great visual appeal and divided them into manageable, appealing portions of text - text that is well worth a read with all the research and detail behind it. His work has inspired me to improve the layout of some of my own sections over the years, even. Of course, he hasn't only written! As Critic Corner Director, he has helped dozens of writers polish and present their work in this paper, even collecting numerous one-off submissions. That's not even to mention his extensive legacy as Awards Director, turning our annual celebrations into a well-oiled machine, or all the work he has done informally to protect and foster this community. Thank you, Anton, and may you treat yourself to some cozy sweetness as you hit triple digits!
So then, as we celebrate Anton and the cozy treats that come with spooky season, what does Strategy Wing have for you this month? Well, we have cheese and we have sweets, and not just in the lovely banner by BBQ Turtle (talk) or the background by Ninja Squid (talk)! You'll find that Waluigi Time (talk) is squeezing out a bit more of his patented Luigi cheese in Shine Get this month as he takes to the skies, and Four Steps for a 3D World bounds across a rocky road in the Sweet Sweet Galaxy.
We don't have Another Ogre Battle Section this month (I blame the UK government), unfortunately, but we do have the final edition of the Mega Man 2 walkthrough by Sparks (talk)! We had to send MegaMario (talk) on a run for more candy, sorry about that, but Sparks is still here to take the fight to Dr. Wily! Don't miss the end of this one, because that wily doc has some tricks up his sleeves you'll want to know for your own adventures.
Finally, in celebration of Anton, I'm taking a look at Politoed this month! I've talked your ear off already, though, and I need to either get LTQ on the phone or find the breaker box myself, so let me get into Section of the Month and turn all of you loose to read!
Section of the Month
Congratulations go out to the dynamic duo of Sparks (talk) and MegaMario (talk) for guiding us through the void of space and hottest flames alike to secure weapons like the Crash Bomber and clear the path to Dr. Wily! They certainly have made an entertaining walkthrough, haven't they? Be sure to read its conclusion this month! Additionally, I extend my thanks to those of you who enjoyed that little breakdown of "Mirror Madness! Tilt, Slam, Bam!" and the first campaign of Shoey (talk) enough to cast votes for them. It may be Halloween, but we're the ones getting treats from visitors like you! Thank you so much, and keep on voting for your favorites at the bottom of the page.
| STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 2 | 5 | 38.46% | Sparks (talk) and MightyMario (talk) |
| 2nd | Setting The Stage | 3 | 23.08% | Hooded Pitohui (talk) |
| 3rd | Another Ogre Battle Section | 2 | 15.38% | Shoey (talk) |
Four Steps for a 3D World
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all you readers of The 'Shroom, and welcome back to Four Steps for a 3D World, a section in which we look at levels from a selection of 3D Super Mario titles through the lens of a design philosophy Koichi Hayashida discussed in an interview.
In brief, 3D Mario game levels in certain titles are designed around an introduction that lets a player learn a mechanic in a safe environment, further development that builds on what the player is learning and introduces more complicated aspects of a mechanic, a twist that adds some kind of significant wrinkle or challenge to force players to consider the mechanic from a new angle, and a conclusion which gives players one final satisfying chance to show they've mastered the mechanic. We look at 3D Mario levels and see if they conform to this model while trying to get some insight on how a good level is constructed.
You're in for a treat this month, readers, for we're zooming off into the Sweet Sweet Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy! Now, the first Galaxy game was made before Hayashida was handed the reins, but it was where we began to see a transition from sandbox-style 3D Mario to more linear 3D games with tighter mission structures. As that style came to be, was this broad four-step design philosophy already beginning to coalesce? I think the Sweet Sweet Galaxy will be a good case study for that question, because it's a pretty pure platforming level. That's right, there won't be any tricks with gravity or Bob-ombs or anything like that, just sweet treats and bounding leaps, so let's see what there is to see!
| Step | Notes |
|---|---|
Introduction  
|
The mission wastes no time when it comes to presenting its core concept, immediately confronting players with a moving walkway with cookie cutout-style holes in it. Players have to make their way down this road, fighting against its movement towards them while avoiding falling into the holes and occasionally hopping a short electric barrier. It's a tad more dangerous than our usual Introduction step, especially for players who don't have a grasp on precise platforming, but the path is wide, lessening the need to worry about soaring off the edge, and jumping as a necessity is minimized. While maybe tedious and requiring care, a player could complete this stretch almost exclusively with running, only making short, cautious hops over the electric barriers. Upon reaching the end of the first road, the level turns a corner, and tasks the player with completing another moving road with holes cut into it, with this road moving perpendicularly to the player's direction of travel. While I could entertain an argument that this represents a shift to the Development step, I would contend that sideways motion isn't actually that much more complicated than the road coming directly at the player. Taking a broader view of things, this section still has wide platforms (and walls, even) which minimize the need for precise jumps, and there aren't even electric barriers stretched across the road, making this stretch even easier to complete without jumping. I'd say this is still part of acclimating the player to the moving roads and setting the expectations of platforming in this level. |
Development 
|
After the second moving road comes a third, but this time the level tasks the player with navigating a weaving path while a disk spins beneath them! Things become narrower here, forcing players to contend with the holes in the floor a bit more, but walls still ensure players won't go off the path entirely. I'd say, with the more complex motions of the holes, with the narrowness of the path leaving players with less time to react to a hole appearing, and with the added task of going around turns, this is a classic Development step, taking the core level concept and adding a little more complexity to it. |
Twist 
|
After making it out of the narrow path, players face one final series of platforms to make it across. Like the first walkway, it moves towards the player, but unlike that path or any to come before it, it also includes isolated floating platforms. In addition to the "cookie sheet", wide platforms with holes in them, the cut-outs themselves become platforms, appearing as trios of small, circular platforms. While a player could have theoretically made it all the way here with minimal jumps, making only short hops in the first stretch, now players must jump to reach the goal. The much-smaller platforms and the lack of walls mean they must jump precisely, too, or they risk leaping off the path and into the void altogether. A good Twist section, this stretch maintains the core concept of platforming across moving path while adding a new wrinkle which adds an entire additional layer of challenge. |
Conclusion 
|
Finally, players are rewarded by reaching a stable, unmoving platform made out of a three-layer cake. Up its delicious looking layers they jump, collecting some Star Bit decorations, and then the star is theirs! It may connect to the core idea of the level only loosely, but it does make for a satisfying way to cap off a level. |
Would you look at that? Though we're looking back before this design philosophy was fully crystalized, we can still see our four steps in full. They don't quite correspond to the four main sections of the level though, do they? I mean, you might argue that the path moving sideways is the Development step, but, again, I don't know if I buy that. It's just not all that different from the first stretch of the level. Perhaps, though, I'm too old and too experienced with these games. Maybe it is a considerable leap up for players without that same experience, especially young kids. It's hard to say. I'm sticking with my analysis, though, and if you think I'm wrong, I strongly encourage you to write up your own analysis and send it in!
For now, though, with four stretches of moving candy, three layers on that cake at the level's end, two flavors of ice cream swirled on the cone decorating the level, and one-hundred issues with Anton as Critic Corner, this has been a treat-filled Four Steps for a 3D World! Happy Halloween!
Pitohui's Pokémon Academy
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Welcome, welcome. Welcome back, class. Now, I know we typically limit ourselves to the topic of raising Pokémon, but today I ask you to broaden your horizons slightly. The gastronomical sciences may be out of the scope of our curriculum, but, well-rounded and inquisitive scholars that you are, you should be aware of a leading chef and food critic just as you would be any popular culture celebrity. Yes, for those of you who are not already in the know, the famed critic Anton is celebrating a milestone achievement this month. In recognition of his accomplishments, I thought we might examine a Pokémon he has singled out as being cute in previous public statements. Today, we raise a favorite of Anton's, the frog Pokémon Politoed.
As always, for those of you just joining us, you can find our course policies and aims in the first box below and a refresher on frequently-used terms in the second box. By all means, skip them if you're already familiar, especially you poor mobile users (surely there will be a way to collapse boxes on mobile someday)!
First, a Smogon University course, this course is not. No, this academy's lessons are designed to get trainers of any stripe thinking about how they can raise their Pokémon, and, as a result, aren't designed to keep up with the widely-accepted metagame for the series. In some cases, the way I've raised my Pokémon may even flies in the face of conventional wisdom. If you're looking for top-tier strategies, do check out Smogon, but if you merely want to get a little deeper into raising Pokémon while still doing things your own way, feel free to use this section as a reference.
Since we all know the importance of citing our sources, I also need to credit the design of some of the tables used in these lectures to Crocodile Dippy, author of the Pocket Handbook which can be found in early editions of Strategy Wing.Base Stats: Base stats are the values associated with a particular Pokémon species, and are the same across every individual Pokémon of a given species. You have no influence on them. You can think of them as traits tied to a species. A chimp isn't ever going to be able to get as good as digging as a mole will be, and, likewise, an Abra is never going to have the defensive prowess a Shuckle has.
Individual Values (IVs): Individual values, as their name implies, are associated with individual Pokémon. They range from 0 to 31 in each stat, with 31 being considered a "perfect" IV and higher numbers corresponding to different stats. Magikarp A and Magikarp B will have the same base stats, but they may very well have different IVs. To stick with the animal analogy, one mole may be born with larger claws than another mole, and that first mole is probably going to have an easier time digging through dirt than the latter. Individual values are set in stone, strictly speaking, but you can use Hyper Training (from Generation VII onwards) to functionally get a perfect IV in a stat.
Effort Values (EVs): Effort values are the one thing you can easily change. A Pokémon can earn, primarily through battling, but also through means like the use of certain items or mechanics like Super Training, up to a total of 510 effort values, with up to 252 in any given stat. To finish off the animal analogy, no matter what kind of claws a mole is born with, moles who have more experience digging are probably going to be better at digging than moles which have never dug.
Nature: A Pokémon's nature is, more or a less, a stat modifier with a name meant to make it sound like a Pokémon has some personality. Natures will raise one stat by ten percent and lower another stat by ten percent. Some natures raise and lower the same stat, canceling out the effect and leaving stats unchanged. Natures can be functionally changed with the use of special mint items from Generation VIII onwards.
STAB: STAB stands for Same-Type Attack Bonus, and refers to the boosted power of moves that match the type of the move's user. To illustrate this, consider the case of a Lombre, a dual-type Pokémon which is both a Water-type and a Grass-type. Any Water-type moves Lombre uses will have their power boosted by 1.5x, and any Grass-type moves Lombre uses will, likewise, have their power boosted by 1.5x. (There are circumstances where this does not apply, and, while the 1.5x multiplier is typical, some games use other multipliers.)
We will begin, as always, with a treatment of Politoed's base stats. What we observe is poor speed, physical stats which are just in the realm of being passable, and reasonably strong special stats and HP. In a situation like this, I find it most helpful to begin by asking which stat we can discard, and in this case that is attack. Politoed isn't so slow that it can take advantage of Trick Room, and it has no hidden tools such as Swift Swim to boost its speed, so we can neither discard it nor rely upon it. Attack, though, we can disregard altogether, because that high special attack will take care of any of Politoed's offensive needs.
At this point, you might suggest that we, as we have done in the past, focus on Politoed's special stats, perhaps with some leftover EV investment in HP, planning to keep it away from physically-oriented opponents. We could try that, certainly, and it would take advantage of Politoed's greatest natural strengths. There is, however, an alternative approach which I would like to pursue. Look closely at Politoed's bulk. With naturally high special defense and HP, the only area in which it needs shoring up is defense. With full EV investment and a perfect IV in defense, we can raise that high enough such that Politoed has reliable bulk across the board, turning it into a sturdy frog which can still dish out reasonable damage on the strength of its naturally-high special attack.
Two options are before us, so how do we proceed? How do we chose one, aside from me declaring arbitrarily that we're taking the defensive option? Well, my decision is not as arbitrary as it seems. I'm basing that decision upon Politoed's abilities, so let's move into discussing them before we proceed.
Politoed has three abilities, and immediately we can dismiss one of them. Damp, which only disables a selection of explosive moves and the ability Aftermath, is too niche to be useful. That leaves us with Water Absorb, which grants Politoed an effective immunity (and, thus, a means of switching into Water-type attacks safely), or with Drizzle, which summons rain. These are both useful abilities, and Water Absorb may be especially useful if you plan to have Politoed on a singles-focused team that isn't taking advantage of the rain. Water Absorb can further bolster Politoed in hunkering down as a defensive Pokémon, but if we already have strong defenses, we don't exactly need it. Drizzle, meanwhile, is useful on doubles teams and rain-focused singles teams, can weaken Fire-type moves, and, most importantly of all, strengthens Politoed's Water-type moves.
Taking all that into consideration, what I recommend (and what we'll be doing today) is running Drizzle so we can focus EV investment on creating sturdy defenses while letting the rain turn Politoed into a fairly effective attacker. We get to build Politoed up as defensively-oriented, but can still take advantage of its high special attack, and all without using a move slot for Rain Dance!
|
Name: | Politoed | Base HP: | 90 | |
| Category: | Frog | Base Attack: | 75 | ||
| Type: | Water | Base Defense: | 75 | ||
| Abilities: | Water Absorb | Base Special Attack: | 90 | ||
| Damp | Base Special Defense: | 100 | |||
|
Drizzle | Base Speed: | 70 | ||
We have our plan in place, so let's cover IVs and EVs quickly. We're making attack our dump stat, so it doesn't matter what it is, but we don't want to settle for less than 31 anywhere else if we can avoid it. If you can't spend the time getting those IVs, you're probably safe to settle for something lower in speed. It's not ideal, but it won't make or break this approach. For EVs, shore up Politoed's weaker defense and HP stats with maximum investment, then put the remainder into stretching special defense just a bit further.
As for Nature, you want one which will decrease attack and raise a defensive stat. Either Bold (raises defense) or Calm (raises attack) are fine, but I went with Calm to boost special defense further since it received fewer EVs.
| Level: 54 | HP IV | 31 | HP EVs: | 252 | HP: | 211 | ||
|
Attack IV | 21 | Attack EVs: | 0 | Attack: | 87 | ||
| Defense IV | 31 | Defense EVs: | 252 | Defense: | 136 | |||
| Special Attack IV | 31 | Special Attack EVs: | 0 | Special Attack: | 118 | |||
| Special Defense IV | 31 | Special Defense EVs: | 6 | Special Defense: | 143 | |||
| Nature: Calm | Speed IV | 31 | Speed EVs: | 0 | Speed: | 97 | ||
With EVs decided, we can curate a moveset, and first and foremost, we're going to want a powerful and reliable special Water-type move to take advantage of both STAB and the rain. Luckily, Water-type Pokémon have always had the perfect move for the job in the form of Surf, and it's here for us even now. While Hydro Pump is more powerful, it is also considerably less accurate, and Surf has a more-than-respectable 90 base power even before the two boosts, so we will stick with Surf.
Next, we should look for coverage moves. Water is a great type defensively, being weak to only Grass and Electric, both of which Politoed can cover, Grass through Ice-type moves and Electric through Ground-type moves. In fact, Politoed has a move of each type that is special, has 90 base power, and reliable accuracy. Both Ice Beam and Earth Power offer great coverage, so which should you choose? Well, looking at what other types these moves are effective against is little help, since they're both super effective against four types and those types are all fairly common. Let's return to thinking about what coverage we want, then. We know Politoed is slow, so factor in that most Electric-types tend to be speedy, and I'd say there's a slight tilt of the scales in favor of Ice Beam. At least Politoed has some chance of outspeeding Grass-types. All of that said, either move is a reasonable option, and you may even consider running Ice Beam and Earth Power.
| Surf | 
|
The user attacks everything around it by swamping its surroundings with a giant wave. |
| Ice Beam |
|
The target is struck with an icy-cold beam of energy. This may also leave the target frozen. |
| Chilling Water |
|
The user attacks the target by showering it with water that's so cold it saps the target's power. This also lowers the target's Attack stat. |
| Encore | 
|
The user compels the target to keep using the move it encored for three turns. |
If you aren't going to use Earth Power in a third slot, Politoed has a number of moves you can play around with as part of more mischievous strategies. You can have some fun with Perish Song possibly forcing switchouts, or you can use Haze to disrupt your opponent's stat changes. I opted to try out a move that can deal some damage while further bolstering Politoed's physical defense. Chilling Water lets Politoed drop an opponent's attack without having to forego dealing damage for a turn, which I'd say is a pretty good deal. Yes, it has low base power, but at least it is getting a boost from STAB and the rain. You might be able to catch an opponent by surprise with it, softening their attack to make Politoed last longer or to disrupt a power-boosting strategy.
For a final move, I drew upon Politoed's reservoir of disruptive tricks and selected Encore. Let Politoed get into battle, and I can throw an opponent's strategy out of whack entirely with the right timing of an Encore. An opponent might be tempted to set up some buffs or long-term strategy while Politoed is on the field, thinking it doesn't have KO power and they can hit it hard when they finish, and you can use Encore to trap them into those set-up moves, possibly forcing a switchout. It isn't always easy to pull off, but it's amusing when it works out!
Ah, that's a fitting point to end on, isn't it? Politoed is an amusing little entertainer of a Pokémon. It's cute, it's charming, it knows how to entertain, it possesses a signature curl in its hair... Why, the more you inspect it, the more you begin to see a resemblance to Anton, hm? Well, I hope you all have learned something from this look at a Pokémon he has talked up. Go forth, broaden your horizons by reading his reviews, and I will see you at our next session!
Shine Get
Written by: Waluigi Time (talk)
Hello there, 'Shroom readers! The apocalypse is now half a year behind schedule, which is good because I haven't finished writing Shine Get yet. We're getting very close to the end of Super Mario 63, and there's only one level to go before we confront Bowser for the last time! It's time to tackle Rainbow Ride!
Mission 1: Cruiser Crossin' the Rainbow
The level starts off with a magic carpet ride that's pretty simple, just jump a few times to avoid the blocks in the way. I tried to cheese this with Luigi and it's almost possible to use the platforms around to skip the entire carpet ride, except for the last jump. Maybe you could do it if you get lucky and a Goonie flies by, I don't know. At the end of the carpet ride there's several paths to choose from, along with a Hover Nozzle. For this mission, I went straight up and took another carpet. Unfortunately, I got knocked off almost immediately by a rude Fly Guy, and I didn't really want to wait for the carpet to respawn because it was already taking too long, so I thought maybe you can cheese this section with Luigi now that F.L.U.D.D. is here to help. Doesn't look like you can cheese this section either, unfortunately. Once again, you can almost get to the end but the last jump is just out of reach. I guess I'll do it the boring normal way... (I died and can confirm that you can skip the first carpet once you have F.L.U.D.D., though!) There's a section where you have to get off briefly and hop across some falling logs, but other than that, it's mostly just making sure enemies don't knock you off. Also, there's a set of Bill Blasters to jump on for a Star Coin!
Riding the carpet to the end leads to the next screen with another fork in the road. Thankfully, this one is actually labeled so I don't just have to guess which way to go. The Cruising Ship is to the right, so that's where I'm headed! There's another carpet ride though, and I tried to cheese it again because I'm stubborn. I just want to break the game, is that so much to ask? There's a Star Coin next to some breakable crates on the way, which you really can't miss. I accidentally died grabbing this one, which I probably wouldn't have if I was playing normally, but eh, scientific pursuits and all that. And good news, my persistence paid off! They put enough obstacles in your path on this one that you can Luigi cheese it all the way to the end without using the carpet. Otherwise, if you want to be normal, it's more of the same riding the carpet and not getting knocked off by things. Anyway, first Shine get!
Mission 2: Tricky Triangles
This is a mission that I remember being a lot harder than it actually was. Is the description deceptively written? Had I not mastered the art of Luigi + Hover F.L.U.D.D. yet? Or was I just bad at games as a kid? Who knows! Possibly all three! I don't even have much to say about this one. Cheese the carpet at the start, and head to the right this time. On the next screen, there's a downward elevator where you have to deal with Bullet Bills getting shot at you from below as you descend. These can be easily dealt with by jumping, spinning, or just getting out of the way. Eventually, you get to the platforming section, which is all pretty standard stuff by this point. Some platforms spin, some fall, some swing, yadda yadda you get the idea, it's nothing I haven't already talked about in the past year and a half-ish of writing this section. The "twist" this time is that a lot of the platforms are triangles. At one point there's a ? Switch you have to push which flips some of them upside down on a timer so that you can stand on them. The time limit is pretty generous and didn't wear off until I was already at the end of the level next to the Shine Sprite. You can probably cheese that with Luigi and F.L.U.D.D. if you're good enough, but I kept sliding off the triangles when I went back a second time to try it. It seems possible, though.
Mission 3: The Floating Mansion in the Sky
For this one, it's back to the fork in the road from the first mission, but head left this time. On the next screen it's time for another carpet ride (yaaay) that you're pretty much meant to cheese because half of the time the carpet is behind obstacles and you have to keep up with it. I didn't actually cheese it but you better believe I'm replaying this mission to see if it's possible. Towards the end of the ride just before reaching the mansion, there's another Star Coin. According to the mission description, the mansion is owned by an "old, cranky rich geezer" and I guess he's not here because there's no hesitation for breaking in and stealing his stuff. The "door" is a set of breakable boxes, so I smashed through those and found the Turbo Nozzle inside! Even better, at the other side there's the Rocket Nozzle! I'm gonna cheese so much stuff with this! Anyway, the Rocket Nozzle is very important here because the Shine Sprite is on the roof. Follow the vertical trail of coins and just keep going up until you get to the hole in the roof. Another Shine down!
Oh yeah, I went back (and I am very upset because the second carpet ride still can't be reliably cheesed, even with Rocket F.L.U.D.D.) and you can 100% cheese the carpet ride before the mansion with Hover F.L.U.D.D. alone. There was one vertical part where it got dicey but thankfully some Goonies showed up to be platforms for me.
Mission 4: The Maze of Red Coins
This is it, we're finally heading to the left at the first junction! There's a Star Coin under a platform here that you can get by dropping down onto a small platform that moves back and forth. On the next screen, we find the titular maze, which isn't so much a maze as it is a concrete cube with slightly complicated pathing. The Hover Nozzle makes navigation pretty easy, but even better if you have the Rocket Nozzle by this point! My best advice without making this a painfully dry read is to wander around until you find them. The "maze" isn't very big or very complicated, for that matter. There's two Red Coins as far left as you can go, three on the left side of the middle, one on the right side of the middle, and two on the far right side. There's also a Star Coin that you can't really miss near one of the Red Coins in the middle, but you'll need the Rocket Nozzle to reach it. As long as you keep exploring, it's easy to find everything, and you probably won't get lost. With all eight Star Coins, the Shine Sprite spawns down near the entrance.
Mission 5: The Secret of the Triangle Tower
Oh, maybe this is why I thought Tricky Triangles was hard? Well, only one way to find out. Head to the Tricky Triangles entrance again (very easy with Rocket F.L.U.D.D.!) but instead of taking the elevator downward, rocket upward into an alcove with a pipe. This leads to a Shadow Mario-style secret area where F.L.U.D.D. gets taken away! The horror! But who needs that overrated water pump anyway? We have the man in green, Luigi! Cheese is thicker than water, as they say. And yeah, this is definitely what I was misremembering Tricky Triangles as. They're throwing all the usual platforming tricks around here, and not having F.L.U.D.D. to course correct makes it a bit difficult. Also, there's an evilly placed Star Coin! There's a vertical elevator that moves to the left, and as you ride, you'll see a spinning triangle above you. If you look close enough, you can see the glow effect from the Star Coin above it. So you have to manage a jump off of a moving platform onto a spinning platform that can't even hold you all the time, you don't have F.L.U.D.D., and there's a Bill Blaster nearby shooting Bullet Bills that chase you! I had some difficulty grabbing this as Luigi, so I don't even want to know what happens if you're playing as Mario. The final section is probably the easiest part, there's just a bunch of spinning triangles you have to platform across to reach the Shine Sprite. It's not that bad because there's clouds underneath them if you fall. But hey, at least it provides a good send-off as the last regular mission in the game! It's a fairly short segment but it was legitimately challenging for me, and not in an annoying way or a "I died 5 times because I was trying to get screenshots for my 'Shroom section" way.
So with Rainbow Ride completed, I now have 61 Shine Sprites and 60 Star Coins! It's a safe bet that Bowser's hoarding most of the remaining ones, so next time on Shine Get, I'm finally going to be stopping the off-schedule apocalypse and tossing the so-called Koopa King into a mine. See you then!
An Overly Detailed and Funny Walkthrough of Mega Man 2
This is it - the final part of the Mega Man 2 walkthrough! Today I will do the entirety of Dr. Wily's fortress and watch the game's ending and credits!
Dr. Wily stage 1
Infiltrating the fortress
We start off in a field outside of Wily's fortress. After some progress, those bird enemies return and drop more eggs, releasing more baby birds to attack. Try shooting the eggs before they reach the ground. Eventually the birds stop spawning, and we come across a structure.
With the help of Item-3, we're able to climb this building and move on! Beyond the structure are more of those noodle enemies. Take the time to recharge your energy! Another structure is beyond them, and we can use the same methods to get past it.
Eventually, we come across a wall. There is a thin gap that we can get through with the help of Item-3! There's also a 1-UP, but the menu lists that I have 7 (which is actually 8 because "0" counts as a life), so I think I'm good. Now to climb!
This next room has a Sniper Joe guarding a large weapon capsule. The perfect opportunity to recharge Item-3, I say! As you can see from the image, you can attack the Sniper Joe while avoiding his attacks at the same time! If you're at the right distance on the ladder, you can do this. The next room is basically the same thing, just without a power-up. Afterwards is an area where a ground enemy is. Just avoid it and keep climbing.
This next section is quite an annoying one. We must use Item-1 to its full potential so that we can grab a far-off ladder. Item-2 won't work because it doesn't go high enough. Stand on the edge of the ladders and on each platform when using Item-1 so you can get as far as possible. What follows is a short climbing area where Tellies are. You can get past them without having to attack them.
A dragon?
Upon reaching the peak, we seem to enter the fortress. There's platforming across many small blocks however, and after reaching a specific point, the screen starts autoscrolling, and then something appears…
The Mech Dragon! It chases Mega Man across the platforms, so you can't get past this section at your own pace anymore. The end of the block path are three blocks spread out from each other, serving as the "battlefield" against the dragon itself, who stops to fight you.
The Mech Dragon only has one attack - breathing fire at Mega Man's location. The fire isn't powerful but it causes a large knockback that can make Mega Man fall off the stage and lose! It can also move around if Mega Man moves to another block. Touching the Mech Dragon will instantly KO Mega Man, so don't get near it. If Mega Man stays on one block for a long time, the dragon will "spam" the fire attack until Mega Man moves to another block. It also takes more damage than usual from the Quick Boomerang, but I prefer to just use the Mega Buster because I want to attack at long range and to save weapon energy. Whenever the boss attacks, move to another block so that it won't spam. When defeated, it will have many explosions that make the screen flash brightly, so beware, people with seizures/epilepsy! Onwards to stage 2!
Dr. Wily stage 2
I chose the good path!
Now for stage 2! Based on the environment, I assume we are now inside the fortress, so that means we're making good progress! We're greeted with a large weapon energy capsule as well as those big green stomping enemies from Heat Man's stage. After Metal-Blading through them, we come across a wide area with spikes. This is where we must use Item-2! Ride it across the spikes and there will be two ladders later on. I highly recommend jumping off at the second ladder because it leads to a better path than the other. It has an E Tank while the other path has three thick walls that must be destroyed with the Crash Bomber.
The good path leads to a 1-UP and lots of small energy capsules! The other path leads to nothing. The perfect opportunity to recharge Item-2!
The next area has enemies - if you chose the other path! The enemies are 2 of those shooting enemies from Flash Man's stage. One of them fires in the direction of the path, so you may get attacked if you aren't careful. There are two walls we can destroy to get another E Tank and 1-UP, but I have a high enough an amount of E Tanks (4) and 8 lives (technically 9) that I don't need them.
We descend to an area where spikes are, but there is a gap where we have to enter to access a new area. This new area is a tight corridor where those drill enemies from Metal Man's stage are. The good news is that you can recharge your life and weapon energy easily from them! I took it slow through this area, moving slowly and using the Mega Buster. I recharged everything AND got a 1-UP from the enemies! Nice!
We come across a spiky crushing machine from Metal Man's stage, as well as another tight wall. Item-3 is needed again to get past this. At the top of the wall are more crushing machines - just do your best to avoid them. Two of them are right next to each other with a "safe spot" in the middle, so don't overshoot it! We then descend down two more spike rooms (with the second one having a large health power-up) and find ourselves in the boss room!
This "boss fight" is a unique one; 14 sets of blocks that fly off from the ground, ceiling, and walls, combining and attacking you by homing in. They can hurt Mega Man while they form, so don't get too comfy! Because of the various places they form, Metal Blade is a good weapon to fight them with. They can only be attacked when they combine, too. The blocks always move at the same pattern, so if you memorize the pattern this battle becomes easy. You can also stand on blocks that have already been used so that you won't have to worry as much about surprise attacks. The boss loses HP whenever a pair is destroyed, and the battle is won when all of its HP is depleted.
Ready for stage 3?
Dr. Wily stage 3
Probably a sewer
In stage 3 of Dr. Wily's fortress, we descend down a few screens. One section has power-ups behind two thick walls each. In my opinion, they're not worth it. The room after this has two large weapon energy capsules along with a hermit crab enemy from Bubble Man's stage. Past this area is water! Disgusting brown sewer water.
In this water, we must perform several jumps over spikes and bottomless pits. Sometimes giant grey fish can rise up out of the pits before disappearing! I believe they only rise up when the pit is jumped over, so you don't have to worry about timing.
Afterwards, we come across an area where spikes are everywhere. The only way to go is down, where we must quickly dodge spikes while we fall for several rooms. I wouldn't say this is trial and error because of how short it is, but it may take a few tries to get past. There are two rooms after the spike fall that have more spikes, and then we can exit the water and enter solid ground.
The only thing standing between us and the boss are more of those shooting enemies. Because the path is straight, you may get hurt by them. It's not that bad; it's just kinda annoying.
The return of Guts Man (kinda)
The boss of this stage is the Gutsdozer, a vehicle that greatly resembles Guts Man! It moves left and right and stops at regular intervals. It has two attacks: Launching Mettaurs that bounce and run to the left whenever Mega Man is on the ground and "spitting" out bullets that go in an arc if Mega Man is on the vehicle. It's weak to the Quick Boomerang, but I decided to use the Mega Buster for this boss as well. My strategy is to jump away from the boss whenever it fires a bullet, and quickly turn around and fire at the boss. By the way, you have to attack the face, and if the hand is covering it (it lowers the fist whenever it spits bullets and raises it to cover the face whenever it attacks with Mettaurs), the boss can't be attacked. Honestly, this battle is easy.
Now onto the most difficult stage of the fortress levels!
Dr. Wily stage 4
Illusions…
Ah, the fourth Dr. Wily stage. Widely considered to be the most difficult stage in the game. Anyways, we're now deeper in the fortress, where everything is purple (my favorite color)! We must climb up many rooms while dealing with Mettaurs. The first room had 2 large weapon energy capsules, and second area had a 1-UP, but I was at max lives, so I don't need it.
Here's the thing though - not everything is as it seems! Some of the terrain is fake; Mega Man will simply pass through this terrain instead! There is also no way to tell if something is fake or not - it comes down to memorizing where the traps are.
One area has spikes below a line of blocks, so obviously some blocks are fake! There is a fake block - 3rd block from the left - that we can discover by using Bubble Lead. Because the weapon travels along the ground, it will fall once it reaches an edge, making it the best way to reveal the fake terrain! The room after it has an E Tank another the highest of three block paths… do you want it? I don't.
Treacherous tracks
We climb to the highest point of the stage before descending down 4 screens that have those tracks from Crash Man's stage. All 4 of them also have spikes, and the paths the platforms travel on are complicated. The first and third rooms have Tellies that spawn from the openings in the walls, so once again Metal Blade proves to be very effective. The second and fourth rooms have slight platforming involved (the second room has Mega Man jump to a ledge and waiting for the platform to come back while the fourth room has Mega Man jump on the platform as it comes back to get to solid ground). We then climb down another ladder to descend even more.
It leads us to a hallway filled with Sniper Mechs and tight spaces that have Sniper Joes. Air Shooter will get rid of the Mechs easily. Be very careful here! The boss is at the end of the path!
The boss everybody hates!
This is definitely the most infamous boss in the game: the Boobeam Trap. It consists of five "alarms" scattered throughout the room that attack by shooting Rainbow Dash-fast (pony references!) bullets at Mega Man's location. It happens so quick that the attack is almost unavoidable. Almost! They blink rapidly before firing, and they do so all at the same time, so this is predictable, but still very difficult to avoid. The worst part about them is that they can only be destroyed with the Crash Bomber. All other weapons don't do anything to them. If you want to beat this boss in one try, make sure your Crash Bomber is fully charged.
There are also five thick walls that are in the room, which can only be destroyed with the Crash Bomber as well. This is important: if a gate is destroyed, it will not respawn until the player gets a game over. One strategy is to destroy the gates so that navigation is made easier, but you still have to use items to reach to high places. Only two gates need to be destroyed, and the Crash Bomber has 7 shots at full ammo, so like I said earlier, a full Crash Bomber is needed to win in one try. Don't be afraid to use E Tanks if you're about to lose. The more alarms that are destroyed, the easier the attack is to dodge. If you were to lose, try to defeat the Tellies in the previous rooms to recharge the Crash Bomber. It may take a while, but you'll eventually recharge it.
Despite entering the battle with a little over half my life energy left, I managed to win without the use of an E Tank! Only one more stage to go!
Dr. Wily stage 5
Robot Masters rematches
This stage is very short, but it involves rematches against all Robot Masters! Each of the eight teleporters lead to a specific Robot Master:
- Top-left leads to Heat Man
- Middle-left leads to Air Man
- Bottom-left leads to Wood Man
- Middle-bottom-left leads to Bubble Man
- Middle-bottom-right leads to Quick Man
- Bottom-right leads to Crash Man
- Middle-right leads to Metal Man
- Top-right leads to Flash Man
After a Robot Master is defeated, it leaves behind a large health power-up. The teleporters must be reached to to return to the main area.
After all Robot Masters have been defeated again, a new teleporter in the upper-middle appears. This one leads to Dr. Wily!
Dr. Wily's new machine!
Upon entering the new teleporter, we find ourselves in a boss fight against Dr. Wily's new flying machine! It moves left and right and attacks by shooting bullets that swoop down before curving upward. I did pretty bad in this section. You can either use the Mega Buster or Metal Blade. You must also attack the "window" to deal damage to the boss. I went with the Metal Blade, and I wish I used the Mega Buster because…
…the boss has a second phase! With part of the machine destroyed, Dr. Wily is now seen piloting it. The attack pattern is now different; the machine now fires bouncing projectiles that are kinda difficult to dodge. I ran out of Metal Blade energy here, so I had to resort to the Mega Buster to finish the boss. I also had to use my first E Tank. Anyways, we destroy the machine for good, but Dr. Wily escapes in his UFO, and the ground breaks, so Mega Man falls. We're not done yet!
Dr. Wily stage 6
It's quiet, too quiet
After the ground broke in the Dr. Wily fight, we find ourselves in an underground cavern. We fall down several screens before landing. Interestingly, this stage has no music.
There are no enemies here; but there are lava drops we must avoid on the way to the boss. Touching lava drops do very high damage, so do your best not to get hit.
The final battle!
Upon entering the boss room, we see Dr, Wily jump out of his UFO. Right afterwards, he transforms into an alien! And suddenly we find ourselves in outer space? What is this battle?
Dr. Wily attacks by moving along a set path (in the shape of a sideways "8", so ∞) and fires bullets at regular intervals. The bullets don't do that much damage, but touching Wily will deal A LOT of damage to you. I think it's 20 bars of damage! The only weapon that can damage him is the Bubble Lead, so make sure it has high energy before battling alien Wily! All other weapons will heal the boss. Using the power of bubbles, we defeat the boss!
It is then revealed that the "Dr. Wily" we defeated was a fake - only a robot. The real Dr. Wily was controlling it by using a machine. We also weren't in outer space - it was a simulation room. The machine malfunctions and Dr. Wily surrenders again! Surely he won't be bad anymore right? Right?
Ending
Fall (Autumn)
Winter
Spring
Summer
What does Mega Man see?
What could this ending mean?
An Octet Gazette
Written by: Museful Traveler (talk)
My journeys through this new land have carried me far, and long have I scoured the continents which stretch before me... Though I grow weary, it is time that I begin in earnest my search. Throughout this land must hide great secrets, and if they resemble in any way the secrets of home, undoubtedly I must make inquiry with the church. I must admit, however, the gaze of the clerics in this land cause me to hesitate. They are so steely-eyed as they hold their staves, not at all like the clerics from my home...
Welcome back to An Octet Gazette, readers of The 'Shroom! We're at our eighth edition, which means there's only one default job class left to cover! This job class was one of the later classes I picked up all the way back in the first game, and, whew, let me tell you, the early game was a doozy for that. By the second game, lacking in this class in the early game wasn't as detrimental, and, regardless, this is the job class I began with that time around. That's right, it's time to talk about the Cleric job!
Heal and Shield
Well, this is a bit of a damp squib to end off on, no? Clerics have access to only one weapon type, getting solely staves.
Now, overall, the Cleric job is the bog-standard White Mage RPG class, emphasizing healing while offering some access to holy - or, rather, light - magic attacks and a couple of defensive buffs. You might be thinking to yourself "but doesn't healing overlap with the Apothecary job class?", and, well, yes, to some extent. That question actually builds a strong starting point for understanding the first game's approach to the job, because I would argue that drawing a line between the two jobs to delineate different healing niches informs much about the class' design!
| Name | Description | Type | SP Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heal Wounds | Restore HP for all allies | 
|
8 |
| Holy Light | Inflict light-elemental damage on a single foe | 
|
6 |
| Sheltering Veil | Raise the elemental defense of an ally for two turns |
|
6 |
| Luminescence | Hit all foes with light-elemental damage |
|
9 |
| Heal More | Restore a large amount of HP to all allies |
|
25 |
| Reflective Veil | Grant an ally the ability to reflect one elemental attack |
|
22 |
| Revive | Restore the HP of all KO'd allies |
|
50 |
| Aelfric's Auspices | Grant a single ally the ability to get a free, immediate second use of any non-divine skill |
|
30 |
Looking at the skills the job possesses in the first game, we can immediately see the emphasis on healing through the presence of three moves related to healing or revival. It's arguable we're even seeing a struggle on the developers' part to come up with much aside from healing, given that Heal Wounds and Heal More have the most direct overlap between skills we have seen for any job. Usually "the same move, but stronger" in this series is handled by Boosting and expended BP, not through increased SP costs and a separate skill altogether. Speaking of SP, you'll notice that all of these healing moves are costly, but, at the same time, they affect the whole party at once. That is the crux of the Cleric job in Octopath 1. While the Apothecary job offers cheaper healing, the job is limited to single-target healing; clerics require more SP, but in exchange exclusively focus on all-party healing. It's an... alright way, I suppose, of creating some distinction between two healing-focused classes. I think the sequel improves this by generally diversifying apothecaries so it's not quite this simple and apparent binary of single-target vs multi-target, but it gets the job done as a baseline.
As a quick note, because I did not actually become aware of this until after I had played through the first game, healing spells run on elemental defense in the Octopath titles! Luckily, clerics do get a slight boost to both elemental stats (as well as a decent boost to SP), but, yeah, if you're expecting healing to run on elemental attack, flip your thinking around!
Outside of those healing moves, you have two standard magic attacks with the usual "single-target for lower cost" versus "multi-target for higher cost" decision to make. Even these follow the White Mage template pretty closely, being those light (holy) attacks that give an otherwise healing-oriented class some offensive utility. Sticking to the template and complementing healing by ensuring replenished HP lasts longer, we have two shielding moves with rather different approaches. Sheltering Veil gets a much lower cost by being a simple elemental defense buff, while Reflective Veil takes the more interesting but costlier route of bouncing back elemental attacks. They're fine, sensible for a White Mage, but they're also straightforward, leaving me without a lot to say here.
What Aelfric's Auspices is doing here, I'm not sure, honestly. Don't get me wrong. It is a great skill, allowing for some useful long-term buffs or a double dose of a powerful strike. You can certainly incorporate it into devastating strategies. It just doesn't mesh with the template White Mage as clearly as the other skills.
Regardless, we can see pretty well that this job class is, in the first game at least, pretty much a White Mage by a different name, and an emphasis was placed on distinguishing it from the Apothecary job by creating a single/multi-target divide between them. We've seen that the Apothecary job receive some adjustments in the second game, so, given a little more wriggle room in its niche, did this job get similar treatment?
Minor Scriptural Revisons
| Name | Description | Type | SP Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heal Wounds | Restore HP for all allies |
|
15 |
| Holy Light | Inflict ice damage on a single foe |
|
6 |
| Prayer to the Flame | Raise the physical and elemental defense of a selected ally for two turns. |
|
8 |
| Mystical Staff | Strike a single foe twice with a staff, and claim 10% of the damage dealt as SP | 
|
6 |
| Luminescence | Hit all foes with light-elemental damage |
|
14 |
| Sacred Shield | Provide a shield to a single ally which will reduce the damage by the next hit they take by 50% |
|
10 |
| Revive | Restore the HP of all KO'd allies |
|
40 |
| Aelfric's Blessing | For three turns, a single selected ally will be able to take an additional action at the end of the term |
|
30 |
These may be the smallest of tweaks we have seen yet. This job changed only in subtle ways and kept its overall layout of skills with one exception. Smartly and rightly, "Heal More", with all its overlap with "Heal Wounds" has been eliminated. This has resulted in the cost of Heal Wounds rising a bit, but it more properly allows for Boosting to offer a more powerful version of the move rather than taking up a second skill slot.
With that open skill slot, we get something entirely new, something which moves away from the White Mage template while still befitting this job class. Clerics are SP hogs, burning through great amounts of the stuff for their healing, shields, and Luminescence. Their SP focus is also apparent in their stat bonuses, with clerics getting a modest increase to SP. All of this is to say, giving them an SP-restoring skill is a very fitting and sensible addition to their repertoire which also allows them to take advantage of their weapon. While it's but one addition, Mystical Staff is neat move, making the Cleric job feel a little more all its own and less-template bound without being out of place.
On the more subtle tweaks, the defense-augmenting skill of clerics has been buffed to include physical defense on top of elemental defense. That's not a bad deal at all! Reflective Veil has been swapped out for Sacred Shield, which is arguably a nerf since the former could block all damage and dish it back to an enemy while the latter merely reduces some damage. On the other hand, Sacred Shield is more reliable and takes less guesswork, since it works against all attacks over exclusively blocking elemental attacks. This was a good trade for the shielding move, really. If I might analogize to Pokémon, I would much rather take a Reflect + Light Screen combo than Mirror Coat! This may be a nerf on paper, but it is much more reliable in practice.
Finally, in another subtle tweak, Aelfric's Blessing has added a little more precision and control to the "act twice" concept of Aelfric's Auspices. No longer are you bound to repeating a particular move twice. Instead, you get a full second action, allowing you to, say, set up a buff with the first action and to unleash a powerful attack with the second. While you don't get the lack of BP and SP cost with the previous version, the extra precision is worthwhile, to me. It adds more flexibility, allows the receiving character to set strategies up rather than being exclusively being set up for a double attack.
That wraps up our look at the skills of the Cleric job, so let's get right into Support Skills and see what passive abilities Octopath gave to its White Mages.
Support Skills
| Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Persistence | Buffs last one turn longer on the equipping character |
| Inner Strength | Increases the equipping character's max SP by 50 |
| Evil Ward | If the equipping character is in the party, have a higher chance to flee from battle successfully |
| Saving Grace | The equipping character is able to be healed to above their maximum HP |
The first game's Support Skills hit the three core competencies of the class pretty well, huh? Persistence boosts the defense buff Sheltering Veil provides, Inner Strength meshes well with the large SP pool of clerics (and the high costs of their spells), and Saving Grace relates directly to healing. As an aside, Saving Grace may well be the best Support Skill in the game. Having the ability to overheal a traveler is game-changing, allowing for more complicated set-ups and tanking of a number of attacks. You will want it, especially at the tail end of the game.
Outside of those three, we also have Evil Ward, which doesn't connect well mechanically. I suppose you could argue it makes sense thematically, since clerics would be exactly the kind of people who would have means of warding off hostile forces, but if that's what they were going for, you'd think it would reduce encounter rates in the first place. It's really just one of those broad game mechanics stuffed into one of these slots, though, so instead of overthinking it, let's see if they changed this arrangement in the second game!
| Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Resilience | The equipping character has more HP restored when healed |
| Inner Strength | Increases the equipping character's max SP by 50 |
| Evil Ward | If the equipping character is in the party, have a higher chance to flee from battle successfully |
| Rise Again | Once per battle, the equipping character will revive after being KO'd, regaining 25% of their HP. |
Well, immediately we can see half of this list has been kept the same, with Inner Strength returning to correspond to the SP emphasis of the job and Evil Ward returning because, I mean, where else is it going to go, hm? We have dropped the defense buff booster, though, for a passive which focuses on HP restoration. It's a bit of an odd change, since it leaves one of the aspects of the Cleric job unrepresented in this list, but it's useful for the early game and it still relates to the core aspect of the job, so I wouldn't call it a bad change by any stretch.
You may note, on account of me highlighting it earlier, that we have lost Saving Grace, though in this case its replacement still relates to health restoration. Now, you might think this is a poor change after I had called Saving Grace such a great Support Skill, but, honestly, this works out fine. Rise Again is useful in its own way, especially on a squishy cleric who might get swiped by a powerful attack and need to rise immediately to heal the rest of the party, and Saving Grace's effect isn't exactly eliminated from the game altogether...
Where did it go, you ask? Well, we'll get to that when we get into character-specific abilities. When we discuss characters like Anton, who... Ah, whoops, not Anton. Serendipitous that he is a mage cloaked in white and I cover the "White Mage by another name" job in his 100th issue as Critic Corner Director, no? Anyhow, we'll talk about those abilities when we discuss characters such as Ophilia Clement, starting cleric in the first game, and Temenos Mistral, the starting cleric in the second game.
They'll be coming up soon... but not next month, or even before this year ends. You see, we've covered the eight default jobs, but now we're going to go over the secret jobs! See you next month to start that task!
| The 'Shroom: Issue 211 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | The 'Shroom Staff-Baked Reviews |
