Mega Man Zero 2/Computer Zone: Poler Kamrous

It is good to start the game with this mission, because the boss is quite easy.

Items to collect
As a general rule, ignore all the Cyber Elves and concentrate on clearing the mission with a high score. You can come back later and collect every Cyber-Elf without pressure, as well as upgrade the level of some weapons by using them. Unlike the first installment of the Zero series, the game mechanics have been smoothed out so that if you choose to pass up a Cyber-Elf, you won't half to do another playthrough of the game to re-select a mission you already completed, because the enemies that you have to kill to make the Elves appear are not going to vanish for good after you complete the missions. If the enemies are indeed temporary, they do not cause Elves to spawn if you kill them.

Cyber-Elves (7):
 * [[File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Ishilar
 * [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Stickie
 * [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Fubuffa
 * [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Atti
 * [[File:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Hafmardo
 * [[File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Fuppie
 * [[File:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Acool

Other items:
 * [[File:MMZ1-3 Ice Chip.png]]  Ice Chip 
 * EX Skill: [[File:MMZ2 Triple Shot Icon.png]] Triple Shot (A or S-Rank only)

Mission requirements

 * Mission Notes: destroy the 4 computers (5 pts. each, -5 for each missed)
 * Clear Time Limit: 4:30
 * Enemies Killed: 37

EX Skill walkthrough
In order to get a high score and an EX Skill, don't waste time looking for cyber-elves or hard-to-reach items: you can always come back later. Still, if a defeated enemy drops a cyber-elf, grab it.

Computer Zone Entrance Path
For this mission, Elpizo has his sights set on sabotage. He wants Zero to destroy a boss and a computer room in Antarctica that control the main defense systems of Neo Arcadia. By destroying both, it will weaken their defenses enough to carry out his operation.

This mission is actually the easiest of all four, because the boss is astonishingly easy. The area, on the other hand, can be a rough journey to get through. When Zero transfers to the Computer Zone, one of the operators will tell Zero there are four cooling systems that are linked to the main computer. You must destroy all four. Each one you miss results in a five point penalty at the end of the mission, and the more you destroy, the easier fighting the boss will be.

The start of the path to the Computer Zone isn't very challenging, but it immediately brings you over to the first place with water in the game, and three icebergs are floating on top. More than likely, you'll want to fall into the water.

The water can also prove to be a suprise. As always, water increases your momentum when you jump, but this can be a problem here, because the water is infested with schools of Jangyo. They swim through the water and occassionally leap out to jump over the icebergs in the water. These fish Mechaniloids are very easy to destroy, but the amount of them and their speed can cause some cheap damage to your health that you don't need. Don't make a run for it, because you won't have enough time to react. Destroy them before they can reach you, and climb out of the water on the other side.

Panel Cannons are lined up in a row to fire shots at you as soon as you cross beyond the first water pool. Just stay far enough away to avoid getting shot at and destroy them cautiously.

The next pool of water gets a lot scarier. This time, the danger of two pits of spikes resides on the floor of the pool. You can jump further while submerged in the water, but this makes you an easier target for the Jangyos, and also puts you closer to the spikes. If you feel better in doing so, take the path of four icebergs above, though it means you'll have to worry about the lack of traction and the teeter-tottering ice. Make it to the fourth and final iceberg and you can net a Z-Panel, this game's equivalent of an extra life. If you absolutely must, abuse the invincibility period by taking hits from Jangyos to get past the spikes, but you don't want to do that, do you? It's going to cost you mission points for taking damage!

Now, you have to get past a slew of Panel Cannons that await on the other side, but you have to climb up a large wall to get through the area. Just don't get spotted, and you can wipe them out before they can shoot back.

On the other side of the wall is the Computer Facility, and one more Panel Cannon just to give you ilk.

Computer Zone
Now, you'll enter the main cooling systems of the Computer Zone the water obstacles are replaced with pipes venting off excess blasts of bone-chilling air. Run over a vent at the wrong time, and you'll be frozen in your tracks and lose not health, but precious seconds of time mashing buttons to break free. The cold air has made the pipes freeze over, and that means more trouble getting across them.

Along with the obstacles are the annoying dangers of Ice Lifters, bulldozer Mechaniloids used to clear away ice without slipping on it in the process. They will charge right towards you on sight, and their heavy-duty ice plows act as shields. You'll have to jump behind them or use the Laser Shot to do some damage, but even then, they're clever enough to back up and catch you off guard. Try not to get frozen, since you'll take a bad blow from the Ice Lifters if they ram you.

Ice Lifters up on the higher ledges even have ice blocks guarding them that they push into you. You'll have to break the ice before you can get to them, and they'll try to back away after you break through.

When you get past the first Ice Lifter with ice blocks, you'll find yourself in the crosshairs of Rollin' 22's, enemies reminiscent of Rolling Gabyoalls in the X series, only much more irritating. Rollin' 22's are always attached to pipes, and fire three rounds of shots from their two-sided barrels at you. Even if you're far away, they can flip upside-down and charge down the pipes to smack you as they flip back up. Stun them with Thunder-element attacks, or blast them quickly, since they don't hesitate to fight back.

The next few sections of the cooling room are filled with a mixture of all the aformentioned hazards: freezing pipes, Ice Lifters, and Rollin' 22's are abundant. Just be wary of running blindly through as you get deeper into the Computer Zone...

Cooling Systems n.1 and n.2
As mentioned before, don't be too eager to dash through the hordes of troublemaking hazards. Eventually, you'll come to a dropoff down below the pathway with an Ice Lifter waiting for you, but something more important awaits behind it. Down here is the first cooling reactor. Destroy it immediately.

Further down the room is another dropoff with a pool of water and some Jangyos, along with the second cooling system. Nothing too challenging awaits down here, except the trouble of going back up.

When you reach the end of the hallway, you can swing over a pipe right before a shutter door to get some well-needed Life Energy, if you can. The slick ice on the pipe is too hard to climb.

Sub Boss: Golem Type I
As fate would have it, the Life Energy was there for a reason; you'll encounter another new version of a Golem, Golem Type I (I for Ice). This Golem looks like a hulking ice cube, with supercooled ice blasters for arms. This Golem is a bit more devious when it comes to battle than the other new models, making use of its mobility in a larger, sloped room and, pulling cheap, unavoidable shots when doing so. It attacks by waving its arms around to shoot icicle spears everywhere in sight, and spitting giant snowballs out from its mouth that will roll down toward you. You can slice apart the snowballs before the Golem has a chance to finish making them with a charged Z-Saber strike and then strike it down again with another charged slash and it will die in two hits. Bizarrely, Golem Type I is suprisingly easier to beat than its counterparts. Both of its primary attacks can be countered with Buster shots from the Fire Chip, and you can take down this overpowered refrigerator in two hits with a charged Flame-attack from the Z-Saber, hopefully fast enough to keep it from slamming itself into you with a rocket-propelled tackle.

After beating Golem Type I, you'll get Cyber-Elf Hafmardo.

When you enter the next section of the Computer Zone, you'll find Pantheon Guardians if you haven't gone through the Power Room mission first. This is merely the lesser annoyance. The room's walls, floors, and even ceilings are coated with ice, and it becomes something close to sledding as you try to move around. At first, it's no big deal, but the room's layout will become evil soon enough. There are also a few claw marks on the walls. Perhaps the boss has a bad temper...

Cooling System n.3
Right as you climb the first set of ladders in the room, stop at the small patch of floor before the first downward slope, dash left and jump over to a ledge off to the far left. Hopefully, you'll pick up enough speed to land over on it. If not, resort to the Chain Rod. Destroy the Panel Cannons, and you can easily get over to the third cooling system and destroy it as well.

Icy Spikes and Slippery Floors
The first few inches of this room are nothing compared to the rest, which are covered in very nasty sets of obstacles; spikes aplenty. In fact, they're nearly everywhere as you head further through the sloped halls. You can either run too fast and crash right into them, or have to jump over them and have a very sloppy landing. The presence of Panel Cannons, and perhaps Pantheon Guardians, makes the trip through even more frustrating. Don't worry about E-Crystals; it will be easier to come back to get them later.

When you head down the first slope, there's a Cyber-Elf Box, right above some spikes. However, you are putting yourself at risk getting this Elf during the mission due to the spikes. Although you can still build up speed and jump over to it, come back after beating the boss to easily jump and get it (the spikes and ice will be gone).

When you get to sections of spikes you have to jump over, the risky method is by getting a running start and jumping fast enough to cross them, but there's a less suicidal way to do it. Hook the Chain Rod into the ceiling and use it to carefully swing over them. Pull up on the rod length so you don't clip the spikes upon swinging, and build up enough momentum to clear them. It takes some coordination, but it's a miracle how well it helps in this section of the Computer Zone.

Cooling System n.4
Right as you pass by a ledge to the left while going up a long slope, go all the way to the end of the slope and run back down. The general way to reach the ledge is to jump over, allowing you to reach the last cooling system. Again, the Chain Rod can be used to help give you a lift if you can jump high enough to hook it into the ceiling. Then, it's no problem swinging over to destroy the cooling system. Right next to it is a Z-Panel, but some spikes to keep you from just dashing to grab it; creep up to it instead.

The last few sections of the sloped hallways throw more spikes at you, but nothing too evil to keep from getting across. Eventually, you'll reach the shutter door to the boss. Climb up the wall and jump across the icy platforms above the door to get some health (which may involve fighting a Pantheon Guardian) if you need it.

Boss: Poler Kamrous
Upon reaching the main controls of the Computer Zone, Zero will encounter the gruff, but suprisingly female, Poler Kamrous. Although Poler is a bit slow on the uptake, she has seen the acts of sabotage Zero has been up to. She's quite miffed that he's trying to confuse the Neo Arcadians by disabling their defensive programs. After telling him she won't let him do that with a few angry roars mixed in, she readies herself for battle. Standing twice as tall as Zero, it's bound to a be a nasty brawl...

Although she may look intimidating, Poler Kamrous is almost a pushover. She is very sluggish and has a nefarious habit of stomping across the room without doing anything for long amounts of time. It would be criminal to even let her reach you. She's weak against the Flame Chip, being an Ice-element boss. Poler's claws are quite big, and she swipes them as she moves, so it's best to give yourself some distance from her. If you're skilled enough, you might not need the Sub Tank from the Forest of Dysis at all.

Depending on how many cooling systems you destroyed on the way to Poler Kamrous, the thermometer readout will display a temperature from -15 to 5 degrees Celcius, and a certain amount of ice will be coated along the floors, adding a slight challenge to dashing. If you destroyed all four systems, all of the ice will be melted, and the only problematic gimmick of this fight will be nonexistent.

Poler Kamrous may take some time to attack, but she can still pack a punch. Depending on how the fight starts, she may attack immediately, or not at all. If you get in her way, Poler will slash at you with her ice-tipped claws, or throw a ball of ice that smashes into four smaller fragments you'll have to dodge. When she gets to a wall, she may create a block of ice coated with spikes on the top to stop you from simply going up and over the attack without looking twice. Poler will then send the wall flying toward you until it shatters against one of the walls lining the edge of the room. You'll need to use a wall-jump to clear all the ice safely, then leap off the wall to evade the spikes. Although spikes are the bane of many Mega Men's existence, these particular ones don't kill in one hit, but are duly annoying regardless. You can even destroy either the spikes with several powerful attacks, making it save to stand on top of it to give you a boost and bash Poler Kamrous over the head with your Shield Boomerang, as her huge claws make it unsafe to strike her directly without suffering collision damage. You might even be able to completely demolish the ice wall itself with a gradual stream of attacks. You'll shatter it even faster with the Flame Chip, the perfect defroster.

EX Skill: Wall Crash
The only really threating attack that Poler Kamrous has is her EX Skill. If you face her with at least an A-Rank and up, Poler will hold nothing back and demonstrate her strongest ability: Wall Crash. Although the attack takes time to fully execute, it's a big one. She uses the exhaust vents in her paws to shoot out water, freezes it, and packs it into two walls of ice, both stacked on top of each other to form a massive barricade. Then, she'll use her giant claws to smash through the ice and send fragments tumbling all over the room. She starts with the wall on top, making ice rain downward. Then, she destroys the other wall of ice below, but for this wall, she lobs the chunks of ice upward. To dodge the first wave of ice, hug the very top of a wall until the flying shards pass, then drop back down to the floor to avoid the second. The first wave is a trap to lure you to the top of the wall so she can hit you with the second wave, so you need to be one step ahead of the bear and anticipate her attack.

Although Poler Kamrous may seem tricky, she really isn't a serious challenge. In fact, she's a joke when you use the Flame Chip. You can keep on walloping her health before she can do anything, and soon, you'll have beat her in no time flat.

When Poler Kamrous has taken all the pounding she can handle, she can't believe she was beaten by a "bug thing." Famous last words have never been delivered so poorly. As she dies, she lets out a staggering roar, until her body explodes from all the accumulated damage.

After you defeat Poler Kamrous, you'll get the  Ice Chip . This is just like the now-exhausted Ice Chip obtained from Blizzack Staggroff in the last game. Facing a year's worth of Pantheons was too much for the first Ice Chip and it gave out. Lucky for you, there was another one Poler Kamrous was using that Zero was able to recover from the aftermath of their battle. The Ice Chip allows Zero to perform Ice-element attacks and freeze his enemies on contact again. Furthermore, it can freeze certain obstacles and aid you with getting past troublesome barricades. Now that you've got a replacement for the one that went kaput, it's time to put the it to good use. If you're not familiar with the previous game, simply go to the Weapons Sub-Screen and you can equip from there.

If you've kept your rank at A or S, you'll also get the EX Skill Triple Shot. It is the equivalent of a fully-charged Ice-element attack from the Buster Shot Gun, but with improved range. After hitting a target, it splits into three projectiles that can hit several enemies at once. It's ideal to have when you get cornered- one shot to kill the enemies directly in front of you, and two more to clear off the ones trying to mount an attack from above or below. However, it only works if you specifically use the Ice Chip in tandem with the Buster Shot, and as long as the EX Skill is active, it replaces the normal Ice-element Charge Shot. Keep in mind that you will want to maintain A or S-rank, because this will allow Zero to witness the bosses' EX Skills and later copy them at the end of each mission. If you come into a mission with a B-Rank or below, the boss isn't going to take so seriously and won't be gunning for you with full force, refraining from using their toughest attack, namely, their EX Skill. You must either have at least an A-Rank coming into a mission or forcefully bump your rank to A by using one of four unique Hacker family Cyber-Elves, essentially four freebies if you screw up, though you will incur penalties for using them. There are ten EX Skills in all, and any time you receive a new one, you can activate or deactivate it on the Weapons Sub-Screen.

Cyber-Elves Walkthrough
If you return to the Computer Zone after wiping out all four cooling systems, all of the ice in the main facility will have thawed out from the increase in temperature. The pipes and floors won't be slick anymore, and all of those killer frozen spikes in the sloped hallways will have melted away. With the dangers removed, it's a piece of cake to get the remaining Cyber-Elves.


 * 1) The icebergs on the water tilt back and forth as you move on them, and they seriously impede your movement. You need to build up enough speed to jump across them by dashing without any letup on the D-pad. Get over to the third iceberg to find and break open a Cyber-Elf Box to get [[File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Ishilar. You can always shoot the box from a distance if you can't make it onto the iceberg. If you break the box with gunfire, the Cyber-Elf will be freed and eventually drift over to you.
 * 2) In the water, destroy five Jangyo fish to get [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Stickie.
 * 3) * You can grab some E-Crystals right before entering the Computer Zone itself, right above the entrance on a narrow ledge.
 * 4) Destroy four Ice Lifter bulldozers to get [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Fubuffa, the dog Animal Elf. This Elf eliminates the frustrating knockback effect you suffer every time you get hit, which can keep you from getting shoved into a deathtrap, such as spikes or a pit.
 * 5) Destroy four Rollin' 22's for [[File:MMZ Animal Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Atti, the monkey Animal Elf. This Elf allows you to scale ladders twice as fast. This helps to dodge enemy attacks, or shave a few seconds off the time it takes to get through a mission spent on climbing ladder rungs.
 * 6) After beating Golem Type I, you'll get [[File:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Hafmardo. This Elf can instantly half the HP of any boss in the game. If a particular boss is giving you trouble, you can use the Elf to strip away their vitality and punish them for their misdeeds. There is also another Cyber-Elf like this one you can discover later on, and you can use it in conjunction with this Elf to halve it again. Doing so will take away another half of their already bisected health, leaving them with only one fourth of their full HP.
 * 7) Further down the room Golem Type I was stationed in is a Cyber Elf Box on a narrow ledge above the shutter. Bust it open to get [[File:MMZ Nurse Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Fuppie, one of the four Cyber-Elves that adds four more bars of health to your HP. There are three more Cyber-Elves like her that can enhance your life bar. If you use all four, you will gain 16 bars on top of the 16 you initially have, doubling your maximum HP.
 * 8) When you head down the first slope, there's a Cyber-Elf Box, right above some spikes. However, you are putting yourself at risk getting this Elf during the mission due to the spikes. Although you can still build up speed and jump over to it, come back after beating the boss to easily jump and get it (the spikes and ice will be gone). Inside is [[File:MMZ Hacker Elf Icon.png]] Cyber-Elf Acool inside, one of the four Cyber-Elves that can boost your rank to A. If your ranking dips below A-Rank, summon this Elf to hack the data and force it to go up. You can use this Elf to avoid missing out on valuable EX Skills, but the effects will only linger until you complete a new mission, which causes your ranking to be recalculated. If you already have an A-Rank or just used this kind of Elf to change your rank to A, you won't be able to use another one like it until your rank changes to a different letter. Additionally, if you have S-Rank, don't even bother with these Elves, since their effects will demote your rank.

Afterword
When Zero returns from the mission, Elpizo sees that Zero is as amazing as he was led to think, and says he never doubted him. He is grateful for all the help he's done and how well he's cooperated.