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So, for the uninitiated, the Mega Man titles are predicated upon the classic Rock-Paper-Scissors mentality - that is, that one Robot Master's weapon is the weakness of another Robot Master, so forth, so on. Depending on the game in question, there's generally eight robot masters and usually one "loop" - that is, one specific order to tackle the robot masters and you can break into said "loop" at any point, acquiring weapons and defeating robot masters with the correct weapon. But variety is the spice of life - if you always play Mega Man 4 the same way, taking on, say, Toad Man, then Bright Man, then Pharaoh Man, Ring Man, Dust Man, Skull Man, Dive Man and Drill Man, well, the game gets old.
For absolute newbies, there's nothing wrong with that order. For those of us who have been around the Mega block more than once, you begin craving *variation*. That said, let's talk strategy, just for a sec. Behold my proposed order:
Pharaoh Man
Ring Man
Dust Man
Skull Man
*Toad Man
Dive Man
*Drill Man
Bright Man
Now, the question is "Why?"
Pharaoh Man:
At first glance, Pharaoh Man seems like Quick Man in battle but, you'll see, there's two key differences:
1) He doesn't leap around the room nearly as much or as quick, and
2) He frequently stops leaping to charge up his Pharaoh Shot and throw it at you.
Strategy guides will tell you that Flash Stopper (from Bright Man) is the way to go but rapid fire uncharged Mega Buster (Plasma Cannon) shots will do the same thing. When you catch him standing still, powering up Pharaoh Shot, unload on him until he flashes blue, then leap over the Pharaoh Shot. Otherwise, just keep dodging and weaving.
Don't forget to pick up the Balloon Adaptor (Need Rush Coil to accomplish this) and don't hesitate to use Rain Flush while riding on the platforms over the spikes.
Ring Man:
Some folks will tell you to leap Ring Man's Ring Boomerang and then leap over him. They're almost right - leap over the Ring Boomerang, then leap over it again as it comes back towards Ring Man, then leap over him. If you try it the first way, you'll take a hit but if you leap the Ring Boomerang twice, then leap Ring Man, you'll land unscathed. Having Pharaoh Shot in your inventory almost guarantees you a victory, but if you study the Ring Boomerang jumping pattern, you can easily take him out with uncharged Mega Buster shots.
As for Ring Man's stage, the Pharaoh Shot and Rain Flush are your friends. When you come to one of the progress-halting hippo robots, charge up a Pharaoh Shot and just stand underneath the hippo. He'll continuously launch missiles that'll detonate upon impact with the Pharaoh Shot but leave the Shot intact. Over time, you'll earn weapon and life energy powerups and, occasionally, extra lives. Awesome.
Dust Man:
Poor, pathetic Dust Man. When he launches the Dust Crusher, simply leap straight up before it hits you. It'll explode into four pieces that fly diagonally up / down and away from you as you land. The Ring Boomerang is ideal but, like Ring Man, the uncharged Mega Buster works just as well.
Ring Boomerang is also your friend when dealing with the Shield Chargers (those shield robots that fly left to right and back) as well as clearing out the blocks of, well... Dust? Junk? in the room with the rising and falling pistons.
Skull Man:
Fun note- if you stand perfectly still after his energy is done filling, pre-fight, Skull Man will simply stand still and stare at you. He doesn't move until you do. Awesome.
For this fight, I recommend having both Ring Boomerang and Dust Crusher. Dust Crusher is your primary pain-dealer - when the Skull Barrier is not active, it deals damage. When Skull Man hides behind said Barrier, you can switch to Ring Boomerang; it'll only deal chip damage - 1 bar of Life Energy per hit - but anything to keep the battle moving. Alternatively, just wait for him to drop the Skull Barrier and then tag him with Dust Crusher when he comes running at you.
As for his stage, having the Balloon Adaptor allows for picking up not one but two Energy Tanks (E-Tanks) - the first one, located in an off the beaten path area filled with Shield Chargers, doesn't necessitate the use of items but the second one, located up the ladder and to the right of the first E-Tank, demands having the Balloon Adaptor. And, of course, if you're persistent with FlipTop / Eddie, you may obtain a third.
Toad Man:
Toad Man is, hands-down, the easiest robot master in MM4. If you can't take him out, you may want to reconsidering playing MM4 entirely. Even if you're only using non-charged Mega Buster shots (a.k.a. Plasma Cannon), he's simple- he leaps from left to right / right to left, over you. Just keeping rapid firing at him on either side of you. He'll never be able to launch Rain Flush and, well, yeah.
You may have noticed the Asterisk preceding his name in the order. That's to indicate that Toad Man's order in the list is somewhat a matter of preference. You can take him out first, certainly - there's nothing in his stage that requires the Rush Jet, Balloon or Wire Adaptors. Having said that, there's an argument for taking on Toad Man after defeating Ring Man and before going to Dive Man. Why?
The snails.
Those large Snail robots that, twice, impede your progress. Especially the second one, when you're battling the flow of water which threatens to push you into a bottomless chasm. While true, charged Mega Buster shots deal equivalent damage but then you have to contend with charging while making sure you don't plummet to death in the chasm. Much easier to have Ring Boomerang handy. And why before Dive Man? We'll get to that in a moment.
Dive Man:
Strategy guides will tell you that Skull Barrier (from Skull Man) is Dive Man's weakness. It is. Are we gonna use it? No. Why? Because it dissipates at the slightest touch and while said touch *could* come from contact with Dive Man when he charges at you, it most likely will come from the Dive Missiles that he launches throughout the battle. Not impossible, but infuriating. You *can* take out the Dive Missiles with uncharged shots from the Mega Buster, then switch back to Skull Barrier and try to hit him, but the safe money is on rapid firing uncharged Mega Buster shots - they'll take out the Dive Missiles and deal consistent damage. When he dashes / dives / charges towards you, leap over him and begin the process anew.
So, why Toad Man before Dive Man? The whales. Twice, you'll encounter robotic whales that'll impede your progress and, while Ring Boomerang and Dust Crusher work alright, the quickest way to dispatch of them is with Rush Marine and rapid fire. Fairly useful in the underwater scenes preceding and following those whale encounters but definitely useful on the whales.
Don't forget to grab the Wire Adaptor!
Drill Man:
Yet another fight where it's useful to have a primary and secondary weapon. Drill Man frequently burrows into the ground, requiring you count to three or so and then move to avoid him when he resurfaces. When he's underground, however, you can tag him with chip damage via Rain Flush. Just like using Ring Boomerang on Skull Man when he's hiding inside Skull Barrier, it'll only do one point of damage but, again, anything to keep the fight moving. Your primary weapon is the Dive Missile, but it's not a perfect choice - Drill Man's Drill Bombs can deflect it away and sometimes Dive Missile just doesn't lock on as quickly as you might like it to.
Dive Missile is useful for dealing with the flying / rotating ladybug robots who eject their propellers and then hover around you - fire early, though, because sometimes it'll lock onto their propeller and not them. When you come to the chutes that drop rocks on you, you can simply shoot a rock as it's falling with your Buster and then move forward, but it's easier to equip Skull Barrier and walk right through. Flash Stopper is another nice choice, as it'll halt all activity on the screen for a short while, but there's nothing to indicate when its effects have stopped, apart from enemies beginning to move again. Hardly ideal when you're leaping off a cliff, trying to hit one of those switches that causes the ground to appear and you've got one or two flying enemies heading towards you. Skull Barrier might disappear from hitting one of these minor nuisances but it can be relaunched right away. Oh, and there's an extra life *and* an E-Tank that can picked up - the 1-up can be grabbed with very careful jumping but the Balloon Adaptor can take the edge off that and the E-Tank can be grabbed with Balloon or Wire Adaptor. You could theoretically use Rush Coil but where's the fun in that?
You'll note the asterisk next to Drill Man's name. That's because you could fight him now or after a battle with...
Bright Man:
Lightbulb Boy is a bit of a nuisance himself. Rain Flush brings the pain but, with a full meter, you only have enough to defeat him. Waste a shot - that is, fire when he's still reeling from a previous hit - and you'll have to resort to something else to finish him off. His pattern isn't too bad - when he fires his plasma cannon, he fires three shots at a time:
-One shot flies horizontally, straight at you
-One shot flies diagonally upward and towards you
-One shot flies diagonally downward and towards you
He decides which shot he fires and when but, the important thing to takeaway is that he only fires one of each shot (i.e. one up, one down, one towards you). So if his first shot goes diagonally upwards, the second diagonally downwards, you *know* the third shot will fly horizontal, parallel to the ground, right at you. Knowing this allows for dodging some cheap hits.
It's when he activates the Flash Stopper that things get really cheap. He'll freeze you in place and then do one of two things:
-He'll fire his plasma cannon at you, hoping to hit you (which is likely, unless you're positioned in a place where his shots will go around you), or
-He'll friggin' jump on you. Which hurts. A lot.
Careful use of the Rain Flush and dodging his shots when you're not frozen in place will win the day.
Nothing really to report on his level, other than mentioning that I said you could take on Bright Man before or after Drill Man. Why? Defeating Drill Man yields the Drill Bomb and the Rush Jet Adaptor. The Rush Jet is actually kind of useful in this stage - not only can you use it as an alternative to the grasshopper sections, you could also use it in the final part of the level when you have to hop from platform-on-half-circle-rails to platform-on-half-circle-rails. There's also a hidden cache, located down a ladder, where you can scoop up an Extra Life and an E-Tank, simply by jumping on those platform-on-half-circle-rails. Getting back to the ladder, however, can be a chore if you're using Balloon Adaptor or Rush Coil. Make it slightly easier by using Rush Jet.
However, if you take on Drill Man first, you won't have the Flash Stopper to aid you with the chutes that drop rocks on you. So it's a question of do you think you can get through Drill Man's stage using just Skull Barrier and maybe Rain Flush or would you prefer the relative convenience of Flash Stopper?
*That* is why I love Mega Man games. The thought that doesn't necessarily have to but *can* go into every playthrough. That, and they're just a lot of fun to play. Anyways...
For absolute newbies, there's nothing wrong with that order. For those of us who have been around the Mega block more than once, you begin craving *variation*. That said, let's talk strategy, just for a sec. Behold my proposed order:
Pharaoh Man
Ring Man
Dust Man
Skull Man
*Toad Man
Dive Man
*Drill Man
Bright Man
Now, the question is "Why?"
Pharaoh Man:
At first glance, Pharaoh Man seems like Quick Man in battle but, you'll see, there's two key differences:
1) He doesn't leap around the room nearly as much or as quick, and
2) He frequently stops leaping to charge up his Pharaoh Shot and throw it at you.
Strategy guides will tell you that Flash Stopper (from Bright Man) is the way to go but rapid fire uncharged Mega Buster (Plasma Cannon) shots will do the same thing. When you catch him standing still, powering up Pharaoh Shot, unload on him until he flashes blue, then leap over the Pharaoh Shot. Otherwise, just keep dodging and weaving.
Don't forget to pick up the Balloon Adaptor (Need Rush Coil to accomplish this) and don't hesitate to use Rain Flush while riding on the platforms over the spikes.
Ring Man:
Some folks will tell you to leap Ring Man's Ring Boomerang and then leap over him. They're almost right - leap over the Ring Boomerang, then leap over it again as it comes back towards Ring Man, then leap over him. If you try it the first way, you'll take a hit but if you leap the Ring Boomerang twice, then leap Ring Man, you'll land unscathed. Having Pharaoh Shot in your inventory almost guarantees you a victory, but if you study the Ring Boomerang jumping pattern, you can easily take him out with uncharged Mega Buster shots.
As for Ring Man's stage, the Pharaoh Shot and Rain Flush are your friends. When you come to one of the progress-halting hippo robots, charge up a Pharaoh Shot and just stand underneath the hippo. He'll continuously launch missiles that'll detonate upon impact with the Pharaoh Shot but leave the Shot intact. Over time, you'll earn weapon and life energy powerups and, occasionally, extra lives. Awesome.
Dust Man:
Poor, pathetic Dust Man. When he launches the Dust Crusher, simply leap straight up before it hits you. It'll explode into four pieces that fly diagonally up / down and away from you as you land. The Ring Boomerang is ideal but, like Ring Man, the uncharged Mega Buster works just as well.
Ring Boomerang is also your friend when dealing with the Shield Chargers (those shield robots that fly left to right and back) as well as clearing out the blocks of, well... Dust? Junk? in the room with the rising and falling pistons.
Skull Man:
Fun note- if you stand perfectly still after his energy is done filling, pre-fight, Skull Man will simply stand still and stare at you. He doesn't move until you do. Awesome.
For this fight, I recommend having both Ring Boomerang and Dust Crusher. Dust Crusher is your primary pain-dealer - when the Skull Barrier is not active, it deals damage. When Skull Man hides behind said Barrier, you can switch to Ring Boomerang; it'll only deal chip damage - 1 bar of Life Energy per hit - but anything to keep the battle moving. Alternatively, just wait for him to drop the Skull Barrier and then tag him with Dust Crusher when he comes running at you.
As for his stage, having the Balloon Adaptor allows for picking up not one but two Energy Tanks (E-Tanks) - the first one, located in an off the beaten path area filled with Shield Chargers, doesn't necessitate the use of items but the second one, located up the ladder and to the right of the first E-Tank, demands having the Balloon Adaptor. And, of course, if you're persistent with FlipTop / Eddie, you may obtain a third.
Toad Man:
Toad Man is, hands-down, the easiest robot master in MM4. If you can't take him out, you may want to reconsidering playing MM4 entirely. Even if you're only using non-charged Mega Buster shots (a.k.a. Plasma Cannon), he's simple- he leaps from left to right / right to left, over you. Just keeping rapid firing at him on either side of you. He'll never be able to launch Rain Flush and, well, yeah.
You may have noticed the Asterisk preceding his name in the order. That's to indicate that Toad Man's order in the list is somewhat a matter of preference. You can take him out first, certainly - there's nothing in his stage that requires the Rush Jet, Balloon or Wire Adaptors. Having said that, there's an argument for taking on Toad Man after defeating Ring Man and before going to Dive Man. Why?
The snails.
Those large Snail robots that, twice, impede your progress. Especially the second one, when you're battling the flow of water which threatens to push you into a bottomless chasm. While true, charged Mega Buster shots deal equivalent damage but then you have to contend with charging while making sure you don't plummet to death in the chasm. Much easier to have Ring Boomerang handy. And why before Dive Man? We'll get to that in a moment.
Dive Man:
Strategy guides will tell you that Skull Barrier (from Skull Man) is Dive Man's weakness. It is. Are we gonna use it? No. Why? Because it dissipates at the slightest touch and while said touch *could* come from contact with Dive Man when he charges at you, it most likely will come from the Dive Missiles that he launches throughout the battle. Not impossible, but infuriating. You *can* take out the Dive Missiles with uncharged shots from the Mega Buster, then switch back to Skull Barrier and try to hit him, but the safe money is on rapid firing uncharged Mega Buster shots - they'll take out the Dive Missiles and deal consistent damage. When he dashes / dives / charges towards you, leap over him and begin the process anew.
So, why Toad Man before Dive Man? The whales. Twice, you'll encounter robotic whales that'll impede your progress and, while Ring Boomerang and Dust Crusher work alright, the quickest way to dispatch of them is with Rush Marine and rapid fire. Fairly useful in the underwater scenes preceding and following those whale encounters but definitely useful on the whales.
Don't forget to grab the Wire Adaptor!
Drill Man:
Yet another fight where it's useful to have a primary and secondary weapon. Drill Man frequently burrows into the ground, requiring you count to three or so and then move to avoid him when he resurfaces. When he's underground, however, you can tag him with chip damage via Rain Flush. Just like using Ring Boomerang on Skull Man when he's hiding inside Skull Barrier, it'll only do one point of damage but, again, anything to keep the fight moving. Your primary weapon is the Dive Missile, but it's not a perfect choice - Drill Man's Drill Bombs can deflect it away and sometimes Dive Missile just doesn't lock on as quickly as you might like it to.
Dive Missile is useful for dealing with the flying / rotating ladybug robots who eject their propellers and then hover around you - fire early, though, because sometimes it'll lock onto their propeller and not them. When you come to the chutes that drop rocks on you, you can simply shoot a rock as it's falling with your Buster and then move forward, but it's easier to equip Skull Barrier and walk right through. Flash Stopper is another nice choice, as it'll halt all activity on the screen for a short while, but there's nothing to indicate when its effects have stopped, apart from enemies beginning to move again. Hardly ideal when you're leaping off a cliff, trying to hit one of those switches that causes the ground to appear and you've got one or two flying enemies heading towards you. Skull Barrier might disappear from hitting one of these minor nuisances but it can be relaunched right away. Oh, and there's an extra life *and* an E-Tank that can picked up - the 1-up can be grabbed with very careful jumping but the Balloon Adaptor can take the edge off that and the E-Tank can be grabbed with Balloon or Wire Adaptor. You could theoretically use Rush Coil but where's the fun in that?
You'll note the asterisk next to Drill Man's name. That's because you could fight him now or after a battle with...
Bright Man:
Lightbulb Boy is a bit of a nuisance himself. Rain Flush brings the pain but, with a full meter, you only have enough to defeat him. Waste a shot - that is, fire when he's still reeling from a previous hit - and you'll have to resort to something else to finish him off. His pattern isn't too bad - when he fires his plasma cannon, he fires three shots at a time:
-One shot flies horizontally, straight at you
-One shot flies diagonally upward and towards you
-One shot flies diagonally downward and towards you
He decides which shot he fires and when but, the important thing to takeaway is that he only fires one of each shot (i.e. one up, one down, one towards you). So if his first shot goes diagonally upwards, the second diagonally downwards, you *know* the third shot will fly horizontal, parallel to the ground, right at you. Knowing this allows for dodging some cheap hits.
It's when he activates the Flash Stopper that things get really cheap. He'll freeze you in place and then do one of two things:
-He'll fire his plasma cannon at you, hoping to hit you (which is likely, unless you're positioned in a place where his shots will go around you), or
-He'll friggin' jump on you. Which hurts. A lot.
Careful use of the Rain Flush and dodging his shots when you're not frozen in place will win the day.
Nothing really to report on his level, other than mentioning that I said you could take on Bright Man before or after Drill Man. Why? Defeating Drill Man yields the Drill Bomb and the Rush Jet Adaptor. The Rush Jet is actually kind of useful in this stage - not only can you use it as an alternative to the grasshopper sections, you could also use it in the final part of the level when you have to hop from platform-on-half-circle-rails to platform-on-half-circle-rails. There's also a hidden cache, located down a ladder, where you can scoop up an Extra Life and an E-Tank, simply by jumping on those platform-on-half-circle-rails. Getting back to the ladder, however, can be a chore if you're using Balloon Adaptor or Rush Coil. Make it slightly easier by using Rush Jet.
However, if you take on Drill Man first, you won't have the Flash Stopper to aid you with the chutes that drop rocks on you. So it's a question of do you think you can get through Drill Man's stage using just Skull Barrier and maybe Rain Flush or would you prefer the relative convenience of Flash Stopper?
*That* is why I love Mega Man games. The thought that doesn't necessarily have to but *can* go into every playthrough. That, and they're just a lot of fun to play. Anyways...