AM2R/Hydro Station

Reaching the station
After defeating the Ancient Guardian, exit the room to the left. Drop down to the bottom of room A, and run left back to room B. Due to the earthquake, the lava which once floated near the surface of room B has receded, allowing you to explore further below ground. You'll need a bomb to blast through the hardened rock that blocks you from dropping into the lower passage.

After dropping down and running to the right a bit, you must drop down again. You may notice a narrow passage exiting to the right. If you bomb the rock in the way, you can gain access to the passage, but inside room C you'll find it difficult to climb to the top in your current state. You'll need to return here with more power if you wish to investigate the top. There is, however, one item you can grab now. See the section below.

Continue to follow the passage through room B as it zig zags back and forth. Eventually you will reach what appears to be the bottom, although you will notice a narrow passage below the ground. Head right into room D. On the far right side, you may notice another narrow passage into a room on the right. However, that room is even less forgiving than room C above, and there's nothing you can obtain from it at this time.

The lava along the bottom of room D prevents you from going any further below, but there are enough rocks to use as platforms and travel back to the left. Return to room B through that narrow passage below the ground. Keep going left until you reach the entrance to room E. As you run to the left through the next room, you will notice a rocky outcropping. When you get close to it, an Alpha Metroid will burst from the rock and attack you. Defeat it just as you have with the previous Alphas, and then enter the Hydro Station through the door on the left.

Item Gathering

 * Missile Tank A (room C):While you may be distracted trying to figure out a way to reach higher ground in this room, the Missile Tank is hiding low in the ground on the right. Use Bombs to access it.

Goals
Before you attempt to take out the remaining Metroids in this area, and trigger the next earthquake, there are several opportunities to boost Samus' power, both offensively and defensively. You can accomplish these in any order you wish. The order below is just one example.
 * Boost your defense (A → F)

Like room C of the, room A that you arrive in is actually a large cavern surrounding the Hydro Station. Many doors lead to and from this area. For now, head to the left across the bridge and enter through the door. You'll arrive in a room with what appears to be a busted save station. Continue left into room B. As you run to the left, after being forced to use the Morph Ball to squeeze through a narrow passage, you will encounter a set of three security robots. Due to the way they're positioned, it takes a little work to kneel down and defeat them, so you might be better off just leaping over them and the lasers they fire. To room to the left beyond room B features a functioning save station.

Beyond the save station to the left, you have a couple of options. You could try to climb up the wall above you, attempt to traverse the broken bridge to the left, or drop down into the water. If you want to increase Samus' defense first, drop down into the water. Samus' movement is significantly hampered by the water, so be prepared to move quite a bit slowly. If you investigate the right side under water, below the save station, you will see what looks like a door with a large machine blocking the way. You can remove the machine with three missiles, or a number of Bombs. When you do, some of the water will drain into the passage, and the water level will decrease. Head right into room C.

In room C, you will see a turbines in the floor which suck water into them. As Samus gets closer to them, she will also start to get sucked in. The turbines don't do a lot of damage, but you will need to remove them in order to proceed. Missiles or Bombs can remove them. As you destroy each one, the water level will drain further down until you can access the floor. Head right into room D.

You must slowly wade throug the waist-high water until you reach the right side, where an Alpha Metroid will be waiting to attack. Destroy it before attempting to explore the rest of the room. With the Metroid cleared away, jump up to the large machine above the floor. This is a water compressor that will spray water at a very high pressure. If you shrink down into a Morph Ball while standing on the center, the machine will activate, and send you blasting through an upward pipe. You will climb three levels and arrive in room E.

Climb up out of the small chamber, through the pipe between the wall. Watch out for the enemies in the room and head to the door on the left. You will arrive in room F, with what appears to be an inert Chozo statue. Interacting with the statue does nothing. But if you bomb around the room, particularly behind the statue, you will discover a hidden passage to the room behind the statue. Roll into the small back room to find a large number of rocks. Bomb your way to the rock in the center of the floor, and shoot it to discover the Varia Suit. Collect this suit to reduce the amount of damage that Samus takes by 50%, effectively doubling her energy.

After grabbing the suit, return the way you came to get back to the save station to the left of room B. When you are back in the section that was once underwater, you can climb up to the top using some debris from the destroyed bridge.


 * Boost your offense (B → H)
 * Boost your jump height (H → J)
 * Better maneuverability for the Morph Ball (I → N)
 * A lone Metroid (N → O):
 * Clearing the next (O → S):

Item Gathering

 * Missile Tank A (room A):At any time, you can Spider Ball up the right side of the cavern wall above the entrance to the Hydro Station, and navigate the wall until you collect the Missile Tank waiting for you on the ledge.


 * Missile Tank B (room C):On the right side of the top of the room, there is one brick which you can bomb to reveal a passage into the ceiling, where the Missile Tank can be found.


 * Missile Tank C (room D):The tank is visible in the upper left corner of the room. Figuring out how to reach it isn't as obvious.  The easiest way to access it is to connect to the left portion of the ceiling above the water compressor, and make your way left across the ceiling until you begin to access a hidden passage in the ceiling.  Continue rolling all the way to the left to collect the tank.


 * Missile Tank D (room E):You can see this tank when you're blasting through certain pipes, but accessing it takes some work. To reach it, you must be in room E, on the way to the Varia Suit.  In this room, there is a brick in the upper right corner of the main room which can be bombed.  Once open, you can access a small hidden pipe that connects to the right side of room E.  From here, you must bomb your way into a series of pipes which circulate water around.  Keep bombing until you can access the bottom portion of the pipe.  Dropping in as a Morph Ball will get you swept up in the current and send you around in a loop.  Once you return to the top, you can bomb to regain access to the pipe below.  Along the trip, you get close to the tank, but to access it, you must drop a bomb at the correct time to blast the wall open.  After setting the bomb correctly, you can enter the pipe again, and hold left to make your way out of the current and collect the tank.  Then reenter the current and make your way back to the left.