Ranger X/Walkthrough

Part 1
Total targets: 6

New enemies: Mini-bomber Small planes that come infrequently, and are easy to kill. Just sit inside your Ex-up Indra and let the auto-targeting kill them for you. Just remember to move out of the way of their bombs.

Missile probe Gray floating objects that occasionally shoot missiles at you. Either dodge them or let your Indra's auto-target destroy them. If you have trouble hitting the probe itself from the Indra, fly up and attack them from the side instead.

Mech Shoot at them constantly, and bump into them with your own vehicle to jam their firing.

Mission targets Large green structures that periodically shoot fireballs at you. How often depends on how high you set the difficulty. Ride on top of your Indra to double your firepower, and throw some flame unit or seeker mines at it if you wish. Every time it starts to charge one of its fireballs, quickly duck into your vehicle. After it passes, come back out. If you set the difficulty very high, it will fire so often that it might be better to just sit there, take the hits, and hope to destroy it quickly.

When the mission starts, you be immediately attacks by some mini-bombers. Get into your exp-up right away, and start returning fire while moving forward to evade their bombs. Alternatively, fly upwards and destroy them head on. The second option isn't as safe, but it's probably the better one.

Keep moving through the area, following the tips above for specific enemies. Don't go too fast - you don't want to attract the attention of too many enemies at once. There is a power converter conveniently located right at your starting point, so you can go back and heal whenever you need to. Since the entire mission is above ground under (mostly) clear skies, you will have no problems with power. The whole mission is just a straight path, so finding the targets should not be a problem, either.

Part 2: Stage boss The boss's arrival is announced by several loud explosions rocking the hangar. Take the time before it shows up to make sure your special weapon is set to flame unit. Once it enters, fly up and blast its front (above where the legs connect with the body) with your rifle and the flamer. Keep shooting until you stop meeting resistance (or when things stop blowing up). This is where most of the boss's weapons are, and it's important that you take them out.

Now, get inside your vehicle and move underneath the boss. Shoot, and the auto-targeting will aim for the legs. The small laser gun that the boss has in front will be unable to reach you. Once both legs go, get out, before the boss falls on you. From this point, simply hold the C button and everything should be fine. The Indra will pick off any missiles that the blasted machine tries to throw while aiming for your last target, the cockpit. Once that goes, the scenario ends.

Stage 2: Underground installation

Part 1 Total targets: 5

New enemies:

Power generator Not really an enemy, just something you want to destroy. They have no attack, but provide power to the guns. Somewhat durable.

Wall gun Not hard to kill, but their fast attack means that you will end up taking a lot of hits too. Best to destroy their power source first.

Flying tadpole These are annoying. Small, tough, and painful. The one silver lining is that they are vulnerable to light. (More on that later) They come out of the little stalactites/mites that explode and eventually crumble under your rifle fire. Of course, you will want to leave those intact whenever possible, to keep these monsters inside and away from you.

Tank They fire about as fast as a wall gun, and are slightly more durable. After they die, its turret will stay around for a while longer and spin, spraying the entire area. Just use hit and run to keep its shots from hitting, and stay away while the turret goes into its death throes.

Mini-mech Similar to the mechs in last mission, except they move by jumping. As a result, they are slightly faster. Ramming them still stops their firing, though.

Rock They block passage and damage you if they fall on you. They can be destroyed, but sometimes they contain flying tadpoles.

Mission targets Constantly vibrating machines. Every few hits they take, they will release a flurry of charges. The charges move slowly and can be destroyed with a single pulse rifle shot, but there are a lot of them. Destroy them using a few powerful hits, instead of a lot of weak ones. Seeker mines combined with rifle fire are good.

This mission is inside a cave, so your ability to recharge power is limited. There are certain areas where the ceiling is weak - attacking it will open up a hole to the surface, allowing you to get precious solar energy. One such area is directly above your starting position. Backtrack here whenever that green bar runs low. The light is also very useful against the flying tadpoles - they will be unable to move into the light, and get damaged every time they try.

Start off by flying to the ledge up and to the right. Destroy the thing sitting on it - it will take a lot of hits, but there's nothing that can reach you while you're firing. Once you take it out, the power to the gun below will be cut off. Searching out and destroying generators before you go for guns will save you a lot of shields in this mission.

Make sure the Indra is facing left, then fall to the bottom. There will be the first of the targets to the right of you. Destroy it, then turn right. Put the ranger on top of the Indra (NOT inside) and ride across the acid pool. The Indra's shields are only vulnerable when you are in it - convenient, isn't it?

Destroy the power generator you find on the other side, then fly the ranger up, past the now-disabled guns. You will find a tank and a power converter at the top, as well as a new weapon, the seeker charge. You can destroy the tank by moving next to it and hitting it with everything you have. Alternatively, throw seeker mines from above, so that they land on the ledge and trickle down. Doing this blocks the tank's fire.

Cherish this power converter, because it's the last full sized one you will ever see. Whenever your shields start getting low, come back here, then go under the light to recharge your power.

For now, keep going right. Destroy the wall gun and tank, then go for the generator. I know I said it's usually better to take out generators first, but here the wall gun is closer and there's really no way to go around it. Make sure you are not below or to the right of the power cable when it goes, or else you will be crushed by rocks. Once they stop rolling, blow them up with your rifle for points and easier traveling. Don't worry, none of them contain monsters.

Bypass the first ceiling opening. Go through the narrow tunnel instead, then fly up through the smaller hole. You will find another target on the right. Destroy it, then fly all the way up, and then to the left. You will find another opening to the ceiling, and a barrier containing tadpoles. Whenever you release one, just stay behind the light shaft and let them float to their deaths. Once you've cleared a path, follow it through and destroy the generator. After that, destroy the target below and its unpowered gun.

Go up and to the right. You will find a corridor filled with tanks. Position yourself below the area where the rocks are trapped, and let them fire at you. Dodge their shots, and they will cut through the weak ceiling, releasing the rocks. Getting the rocks to destroy the tanks requires persistance and a bit of luck. Keep moving back and forth along the corridor, and there is a random chance one of the rocks will decide to slide. Alternatively, you can use seeker charges to take out the tanks. Any other weapon will not work - the acid will stop seeker mines and keep you from getting on level ground with the tanks. Once the chamber falls quiet, destroy the two generators at the end. This part is optional and tough, but recommended.

Once you're done, return to your Indra at the bottom and keep heading right. Eventually, you will come across a set of guns in a narrow passage with acid at the bottom. If you took out the two generators, you won't have any problems. If you didn't, use hit and run, and don't try to charge through. The final gun will always be powered, but it's only one, so you should be able to handle it.

Keep moving, destroying the mechs, until you come to another stalactite formation. Cut through the ceiling first, then blast away. Watch out for rocks - be prepared to fly up to avoid them when they start rolling. These particular rocks have monsters inside them, so just stay inside the light. The target itself, at the very end, should fall relatively easy. Since it is in such a confined space, its weapons will lose much of their effectiveness.

Go back to the area where all the guns were. The ceiling was originally blocked off by a power cable, but destroying the target has cut off the power. You can now go through. If you wish to get your Indra up there, hold down, then release to make it jump.

Fly upwards until you find another power generator (don't worry, this is the last). Destroy it, but be ready to fly up afterwards, since the power cable is what provides you with the ground to shoot it with in the first place.

Once that's done, fly up, and just go all the way through to the right. Don't bother trying to shoot any mechs, just bump them out of the way. At the end, you will find the last target. Blast it with seeker mines and pulse fire, and hopefully it will die before the mechs arrive. Once it is destroyed (since it is the last target) you will be invincible, and free to take out the remaining mechs.

Part 2 Total targets: 7

Targets 1-6: They will fly in towards you from the background, sometimes giving you warning, sometimes not. Stay inside the Indra, stay to their rear, and keep shooting. As long as you are hitting it, it will be unable to fire back.

Make sure your weapon is set to seeker charge. You'll need it for the boss.

Boss: This giant mechanical worm will charge you at first, but for most of the rest of the battle, it will only mimic your movements. Charging it is still not a good idea, since you will be moving closer to its weapons, if not the creature itself. It's best to stay in one place until it fires, so you can figure out where to dodge.

This thing is divided into four segments, each with a different attack. The first is a series of missiles that fall in random locations. There is usually only one or two places that are safe from them at any given time. They're hard to dodge, so just concentrate on destroying this segment quickly using pulse fire and seeker charge (tapping B, not holding it).

The next segment throws bombs. Their movement is a bit more predictable, and you will be able to destroy most of them using your own weapons. Just keep shooting.

The third segment charges up for a large fire beam that is as wide as its eye. Stay inside your ex-up Indra while it passes by, then pop out to get a few quick hits before it shoots again. If the beam is hitting you while inside the Indra, move forward or backward slightly to make the boss readjust its legs.

The fourth and last segment will charge you. It does so at a regular pattern, so once you figure it out you should be able to dodge it every time. Attack it a few times, then fly back and up to avoid its charge. Don't come down again until it passes you going back to its starting point. Repeat until it is destroyed.

Stage 3: Jungle

Part 1 Total targets: 11

New enemies: Armored car Slow firing, weak attack. Easy to take out, even if your Eos doesn't get it first.

Jumper Somewhat faster and tougher than the armored car, but still not too difficult.

Missile Periodically spawned by the targets once they've landed. These things are painful. Large and fast, they will seek you out no matter where you are. In addition to exploding on impact, these missiles also have projectiles of their own that they will shoot as they pass by. Fortunately, they die in only one shot. If you have trouble hitting them with your normal gun, just use the seeker falcon. Keep your pulse rifle shooting even when there is nothing in sight, because these things can close fast. Since only a few can be in the air at a time, if a set of them passes you, turn around because that's the only direction they will come from.

Mission targets Some of them will start on the ground, others will start offscreen and slowly be air-dropped in. Their only attack is the missiles, but they are plenty enough to keep you occupied. Use seeker falcon to take them out quickly.

This is the first mission where you get to use the Ex-up Eos. It will provide powerful support fire as you make your way through the jungle. You won't be able to do much while inside it, though, so only enter it when you want to change weapons.

The thick canopy of trees blocks out sunlight. You will only be able to recharge energy while in the sky. Spend most of your time in this mission flying, rather than walking, to recharge lost power as fast as possible.

Start off by dropping onto the jungle floor and moving to the right. You can destroy the small mechs if you want, but you can get around them just as easily by flying over. Just keep the jungle floor within sight until you find the falcon. Pick it up, then head back to the Eos to equip it.

From here on, just follow your radar to find the targets. If the ones you come to are still too high in the air to hit, just skip them and go on to others. If you ever run very low on power, you can get inside the Eos and it will pick off most missiles while you recharge. It's still best not to risk it unless you have to, though.

Part 2 Stage boss: Make sure your special weapon is set to flame unit or seeker charge before you move forward. This boss's only vulnerable point is its eye, which closes at periodic intervals. Damaging it takes a bit of time. Fortunately, its main attack is very predictable. Whenever the bubbles start getting too close, just walk or fly over to the other side of the head. While on the right side, make sure you directly behind the eye. Otherwise, your shots will just bounce off the side. It will occasionally throw a laser beam low, but this is very rare.

Once you damage it to about half life, it will sink into the water. The disembodied brain will rise again, protected by giant bubbles. Stay away from the bubbles, and shoot at it with both your rifle and special weapon. Try to time it so that your shots hit when the bubbles are in the background, so that they don't end up blocked. Like before, once they get too close, move to the other side of the screen and re-commence firing.

Stage 4: Skyscraper Part 1 Targets: 7

New enemies:

Wall flamer Attempts to overheat your thruster pack. If it catches you while you are flying, your heat gauge will jump by a considerable amount.

Sky trooper They fly up and down beside the structure. Hard to hit, even with a seeker falcon. To take them out, fly in the same direction they do to keep them on screen, and let the falcon do the work.

Mission targets: They sit on the side of buildings and deploy bombs that explode if fly near them. Since the bombs don't move once set in place, they are easy to avoid. Just use seeker falcon to take these out.

First things first, switch back to seeker falcon. It will be effective against pretty much all enemies in this mission. Just keep flying up, using the ledges to rest when your thrusters start overheating. You will also have to use the little platforms floating beside the building. They are not designed to support your weight, but they will give you the crucial time needed to cool your thrusters down. I do not know how to beat this level in hard/heavy mode, when there are no platforms at all.

The proton cannon special weapon is located inside one of the glass windows in this mission. Which one it's in is random, so you will have to shoot up the building pane by pane to get it.

Part 2 Pick whatever weapon you wish, you will mainly be using your rifle in this area. The cannons have a long range, but their shot does not travel very quickly, so you can move out of the way well before it lands. Go through the area and destroy all the cannons.

Return to the central area. There will be an energy ball and a mechanical object resembling a circuit board circling around inside of it. You're trying to destroy the board. Whenever you hit the ball, it will lash out at you. Whenever you hit the board, the two will tighten their circle. This means that you end up hitting the energy ball eventually whether you like it or not. Watch your shots, and when you are about to hit the energy ball (or even if you think you are) fly up and out of the way. Now, the ball will be locked in position, and you will be free to wander over to the other side of the thing and start firing again. You can use the proton cannon if you wish to speed things up.

Stage 5: Night raid

Part 1 Targets: 8

New enemies:

Guardsmen Tough, mobile enemies. They crouch when they fire. Fly up to dodge their shots, and get it a few shots before they fire again. Alternatively, just keep dodging and let the Eos do the work for you.

Fly drone Many of them just lie around and take a long time to become activated. They will also be activated if you ever get caught in a searchlight while near them. They are easily destroyed. The ones that are actually mobile will shoot at you, but they still fall in a few hits. They fly, but are not very fast.

Hunter drone They show up in pairs whenever you get caught in a searchlight. Thankfully, that is the only time you have to face them. They will always be at your back, so either use seeker weapons or wait for your Eos to take them. Extremely fast, they will follow you anywhere.

Mission targets Large fliers that throw fireballs at you. The fire comes in bursts, so it is somewhat hard to avoid, especially if you're close up. It's your call whether to use plasma or falcon to destroy these. Plasma's long range and wide target area allows you to dodge the targets' attacks at a safe distance while hitting home with your own. Falcon is a much more efficient killer, but it requires getting somewhat closer.

The plasma blast weapon is located at the bottom of a pit a small distance ahead of your starting position. You have to crouch in order to get it.

The large numbers of searchlights in this mission may seem intimidating, but rest assured that almost all of them are avoidable. Keep an eye out for anything that might block them, even if it's only for a second.

The path for this mission is pretty straightforward. There are some dead ends, but they all contain power converters (mini ones, of course) so it's well worth it.

Part 2 Stage boss: This stage takes place in a long corridor. The boss has two parts. The main one starts on the other side, the other part begins in the background near where you start. You cannot damage it until it has attached to the main vehicle, though. It is possible to get at the second part while the first one is still trying to unite with it, but you won't get in very many hits before they come together.

Damaging the first part is a major pain. Your shots have a tendency to ricochet off in random directions, and while you frantically try to penetrate its defenses, it will be throwing its own attacks at you. Its attacks are annoyingly unpredictable - you never know when they will decide to turn. Try to stay in front of them until they start moving up or down, then fly past them. The fireballs never try to move back to the right.

This is one of the best times to use the mighty proton cannon. Start charging it up as soon as you see the boss, and after around a second fly up so that the boss's center is directly across from you. If you are lucky, you will end up swallowing up half the boss's health in one hit. Retreat afterwards to recharge energy, then switch to plasma blasts or seeker charges to finish the thing off. If you don't have the cannon, just keep shooting in the general direction of the boss. before you do.
 * Some* of your shots will have to hit home. Just hope that it dies

Stage 6: Final base

Part 1 Targets: 12

New enemies:

Shield bearer Their shields deflect your attacks. Bump into them to make them drop them, then shoot. Keep bumping them to disrupt their firing. (Sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

Line blaster Easy to avoid, since their movement and attacks move only on a straight horizontal line. Use your Indra's autotargeting to kill them as they pass by.

Flame barrier These generally seal off an entire area, and cause extreme pain to anything that tries to get past them. (Actually, it only causes pain to you, but it sounds a lot cooler with anything =P) There is sometimes a black power box that you can destroy to turn off the barrier.

Fire phantom Annoying mech that flies in the background and throws fireballs at you continuously. He shows up about halfway through the mission, and will not go away until you reach the boss. He can't hit you while you're in the dark, but that is small consolation since you'll want to have time to recharge in the light. He doesn't let you have that time easy. There isn't anything you can do about him except keep moving.

Exploder They send attacks in several directions when hit, but their presence causes your Indra to shoot at them. Since oftentimes the only way to disable a flame barrier is by shooting upward, this is a good thing.

Flame traps Metal objects that lie inside of flame barriers. When the barrier is deactivated, they will send energy shots at you. They are very hard to dodge, and usually you have to destroy the barrier in question to continue, so there isn't much you can do about it. If your Indra is less damaged than the Ranger, have it take the hits instead.

Splitter Has one core area and 4 'arms' that it detaches and sends in different directions. They will fire at you continuously until they or the core is destroyed. Best to use special weapons to take them down quickly using special weapons. They look similar to the mission targets when all four parts are combined.

Mission targets They have four arms, and all must be destroyed for the target to go down. This makes seeker weapons and the Indra less effective, since they will aim for the center area even though it cannot be damaged. Use a wide-hitting attack like plasma blast, or move around to the other sides so that you can destroy the arms you couldn't reach before.

There are several areas on this level that are darkened. You won't be able to recharge power while inside them, but none of these areas is large enough to give you serious power shortages.

The flame barriers are your biggest enemies in this mission. Never try to move through them, there are way too many powerful enemies around here for you to be throwing away shields. Look for a way to move around it or disable it, because chances are, there is one. The levitators on this mission allow you move up and reach areas your Indra couldn't normally access, but they also take you there whether you like it or not. Sometimes, it will plow you into a flame barrier. Always inspect everything carefully, and don't try to move onto a levitator until you've exhausted all other options, or if it's absolutely clear that the act won't hurt you.

In areas where there are several are flame barriers on the floor and ceiling and metal objects moving in between, have the ranger ride above (not inside) the Indra, and inch your way forward. The metal follows a set pattern, so it is possible to move under it or fly over it without getting hurt.

Stage boss: It is possible to get your Indra over to the last area by resting it on top of the block right next to the wall and then jumping. It isn't absolutely necessary, but it comes in handy.

Start off by attacking the gun mounted on top of the thing. Plasma blast works well, since you don't have to be directly in its line of fire to hit it. Quickly destroy any weapons it sends out. The missiles are easy if you have the Indra, just let the auto-targeting take them. If you don't have it, just dodge them as they come. The homing balls are a bit harder to hit, since they move around so much, but plasma blast should be sufficient. While you're not taking out weapons, aim for underneath the cockpit, at the orange thing that periodically juts out. Proton cannon can destroy it quickly if you're impatient.

Part 2 This area is just one long fall. Whenever the small ship shoots something at you, briefly ignite your thrusters to fly over it. Watch the shots carefully, though, because it will sometimes aim above you instead of directly at you. In these cases, it's better to just stay put. Don't bother trying to attack it, you're just trying to reach the bottom. Final boss: Again, destroy any weapons that the boss sends out. Plasma blast is good at destroying large clusters. Aim for the giant's head. Don't let anything that it shoots stay around for long. They will all find ways of bringing you a world of pain if not destroyed quickly. After you reduce its health by about 1/4, it will set up a shield in front of itself that follows your motions. The idea here is not to attack the giant, but to move yourself so that the fireballs it shoots out end up getting bounced back by the shield. Start off either on the top or bottom, then fly/fall to make the shield collide with one of the fireballs. Use plasma to stop any fireballs that come too close to you.

Once the giant starts weakening, he will throw streams of energy at you. Stay on the far left side of the screen so you get plenty of time to see where they're going and where to put yourself in order to dodge them. Aim for the giant's head. Proton cannon speeds things up.

Congratulations, you have completed Ranger X. If you are playing in normal mode or harder, you will get the ending--if you're playing it easy, you'll get a message telling you to try normal mode.