Mega Man Zero 2/Computer Zone: Poler Kamrous

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.

Computer Zone Entrance Path
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 threeicebergs are floating on top. More than likely, you'll want to fall into the water. The icebergs tilt back and forth as you move on them, and they seriously impede your movement. You need to dash hard enough to jump across them. Get over to the third one here to break open a Cyber-Elf Box, or do it the cheap way and shoot it to get Cyber-Elf Ishilar.

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. Destroy 5 for Cyber-Elf Stickie.

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 in the water over them, take the path of four icebergs above which gets you a Z-Panel, or even abuse the invincibility period by taking hits from Jangyos, but you don't want to do that, do you?

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, but you can grab some E-Crystals right before entering the Computer Zone itself, right above the entrance on a narrow ledge.

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 bonechilling 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. Destroy 4 to get Cyber-Elf Fubuffa, the dog Animal Elf. This Elf elimates the knockback effect you suffer ever time you get hit, which can keep you from suffering a fatal mistake in close-knit corners.

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 3 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 try and hit you as they flip back up. Stun them with Thunder-element attacks, or blast them quickly, since they don't hesitate to fight back. Destroy 4 for 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.

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: #1 and #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 the third kind of new Golem, Golem Type I. 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. 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 utilizing its charge attack on you.

After beating Golem Type I, you'll get Cyber-Elf Hafmardo. This Elf can instantly half the HP of any boss in the game.

Further down the room Golem Type I was stationed in is Cyber Elf Box on a narrow ledge above the shutter. Bust it open to get Cyber-Elf Fuppie, one of the four Cyber-Elves that adds four more bars of health to your HP.

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 is coated with ice all over, 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 Systems: #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). Inside is Cyber-Elf Acool inside, one of the four Cyber-Elves that can boost your rank to A.

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 Systems: #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.

Upon reaching the main controls of the Computer Zone, Zero will encounter the gruff, but suprisingly female, Poler Kamrous. She has seen what Zero has been up to, and is miffed that he's trying to confuse the Neo Arcadians. After telling him she won't let him do that with a few angry roars mixed in, she comes after him...

Boss: Poler Kamrous
Although she may look intimidating, Poler Kamrous is almost a pushover. She 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, the ice will be all melted, and the only 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 can slash at you, 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, then send it flying toward you. You need to wall-jump to dodge, then jump off the wall to clear the spikes, even though they don't kill in one hit. You can destroy either the spikes to use the ice to give you a boost, or the ice wall itself with gradual attacks, and do it even faster with the Flame Chip.

EX Skill: Wall Crash
The only real attack that Poler Kamrous has that can be a threat comes at you as her EX Skill. At A-Rank and up, Poler can create a pair of ice walls, both stacked on top of each other. Then, she'll smash through them and send fragments all over. To dodge the first wave, hug the very top of a wall until they pass, then drop completely down to avoid the second.

Although Poler Kamrous may seem tricky, she really isn't. 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 beat her in no time flat.

When Poler Kamrous is beaten, she can't believe she was beaten by a "bug thing," and lets out a staggering roar before she dies.

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. It 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.

If you've kept your rank at A or S, you'll also get the EX Skill Triple Shot. This is the equivalent of a normal Ice-Charge Attack from the Buster Shot Gun, but stronger. 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.

In addition to this, if you return to the Computer Zone after wiping out all four cooling systems, all of the ice in the main facility will be thawed out. The pipes and floors won't be slick anymore, and all of the frozen spikes in the sloped halls will be gone.

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.

Preparations
If you've gone on with the guide in order, or completed all four missions, you'll find that Elpizo finally has everything prepared for "Operation Righteous Strike." Now that you've cleared out the mission areas, go back and get the hidden Sub Tank, whatever Cyber-Elves you haven't obtained, and then go to Ciel and save your data. After you exit the command center, you'll need to be ready for what happens next...