Mega Man Battle Network/Gameplay

PET
The PET (PErsonal Terminal) is the first item you obtain and can be accessed by pressing. You will be presented with the following options:
 * Folder : Contains the 30 chips you can use in NetBattles. You can organize which chips you will use by moving them between the sack and folder. You can also sort them for quicker look up.
 * Library : Complete list of all chips you have found.
 * MegaMan : Displays the current status of MegaMan.
 * Email : Lists all the emails you have received from various NPCs.
 * Items : Lists all the items you have obtained either in the real world or cyber world.
 * Network : Allows you to trade or battle other players.
 * Save : Saves the game.
 * Return : Returns you back to control of either Lan or MegaMan.

Real World/Cyber World
You will be constantly switching between Lan in the real world and MegaMan in the cyber world to do various tasks. As Lan you will encounter many items that have a jack-in port. By pressing, you can "jack-in" to the item and play as MegaMan. As MegaMan, you will randomly encounter viruses that you will have to battle to continue. To jack out and return as Lan, press again. The controls are essentially the same in both worlds and only change when you engage in NetBattles.

NetBattles
NetBattles are real time battles that take place in the Cyber World, but there are turns where you select battle chips and plan your strategy. Combat takes place on a 3x6 grid where the left half is MegaMan's area and the right half is the enemy's area. MegaMan can freely move up, down, left, or right into any panel in his area and he can use his Mega Blaster by pressing. The closer he is to an enemy, the more rapidly he can fire.

Before the battle begins, you select which battle chips you will send to MegaMan. A pool of 5 chips will be randomly selected from your folder. Normally, you can select only 1 chip, however, if 2 or more chips have the same name or same code you can select some or all of them. You can also choose to not send any chips to MegaMan by selecting the ADD option. After a turn is up, you can then choose from 10 chips. You can repeat the ADD option one more time to select from up to 15 chips. After a battle chip is selected, the pool will go back to 5.

At the top of the screen is the custom gauge, which automatically fills up. When the custom gauge is full, press or  to pause the battle and return to the chip select screen. Any unused chips that MegaMan still had will be removed.

When the battle is over, the delete time and busting level will be displayed. The busting level ranges from 1 - 10, S with S as the highest level. It depends on a number of factors including, how long the battle lasted, how much damage MegaMan received, how much movement took place, and whether multiple enemies were defeated with one attack. Depending on the busting level, you will receive either a battle chip or zennys. A high busting level results in a higher chance of a battle chip or a larger amount of zennys. MegaMan will automatically have full health for the next battle.

Battle Chips
For a detailed listing of all battle chips, see Battle Chips

Battle Chips are bits of data sent to MegaMan that either give him an attack, provide support, or summon a Navi. When a battle chip is sent to MegaMan, press to use it. Battle chips can be obtained as a reward from NetBattles or bought from merchants. Some NPCs may want to trade for specific chips. Other NPCs may offer short tasks that reward a battle chip. All battle chips are stored in the sack and up to 30 can be moved to the folder. The only restriction on the folder is a maximum limit of 5 Navi chips.

Program Advances
For a detailed listing of all program advances, see Program Advances

When certain sequences of battle chips are sent to MegaMan, they will upgrade to what is called a program advance. For example, Cannon A, Cannon B, and Cannon C will upgrade to Z-Canon1. The order the chips are sent matters. No chips are lost during the process; they simple revert back after the advance is used. Program advances are activated the same way as battle chips by pressing.

Elements
Certain battle chips and enemies have one element type of either electricity, fire, water, or wood. Each element type has an advantage over one type and disadvantage over another. For instance, a fire attack against a wood type enemy would do double damage, but a fire type enemy would receive double damage from a water attack. An elemental attack against any other element besides the disadvantaged element deals normal damage.

Power Ups
Throughout the game, you will find two types of power ups: HPmemory and PowerUP. They can be purchased from merchants, found in mystery data, or are hidden in various objects.

HPmemory raises MegaMan's maximum HP by 20. MegaMan starts off with 100 HP and can raise it to a maximum of 1000 HP. Once acquired, they are automatically applied to MegaMan and raises his level by 1.

PowerUP allows you to boost either attack, rapid, or charge by one point up to a maximum of five. You get to pick which feature to boost. Attack determines how much HP of damage MegaMan's blaster does. One point in attack does 1 HP of damage and five points in attack does 5 HP of damage. Rapid determines how quickly you can fire MegaMan's blaster. Charge allows MegaMan to charge up his blaster and do extra damage after getting at least two points. There are two stages in the charge: yellow and purple. Each PowerUP raises MegaMan's level by 3.