Mega Man X2/Walkthrough

Stage selection

In Mega Man X2 you can select any Maverick's stage to play, but two different routes are suggested below for quick reference. Stages consist of a mostly linear level that contains a mini-boss door containing an X Hunter optional boss and a boss door at the end where you face the main Maverick of the stage.

X Hunters

After you beat any two Mavericks, the three X-Hunters will occupy random stages. You can see which stages they're in on the stage select as the ones they occupy will have a Sigma symbol on the map. In an occupied stage, you can find them in a hidden boss door (these doors will be noted in the walkthrough).

Defeating them will net you one of three Zero parts which, when all are collected, will change the ending fight. Try and find them as late as possible, as the longer you wait the stronger you'll be. But be careful, because if they run out of stages to occupy you'll lose your chance to fight them. For tips on fighting Violen, Agile, and Serges, check out the Bosses page.

The X-Hunters secret

During the final stage, Sigma will summon Zero to fight you. However, if you defeated all three X-hunters in the Maverick stages, the Zero will be a fake. The real Zero will bust in and destroy him, meaning you don't have to fight him. This makes the final battle a lot easier.

Suggested order

The eight main Mavericks can be defeated in order. The traditional, Normal order used in almost every Mega Man game is to choose the next stage so that its boss is weak against the Special Weapon obtained from the previous boss. Because of the requirements to collect all the items in Mega Man X2, this method requires to re-enter many of the eight stages (except for the last one).

An alternative, faster but harder order is possible. With this route, all stages only have to be visited just once to collect all items (with just one mandatory exception). The drawback is that some boss battles will be more difficult, because the appropriate Special Weapon won't be available yet. In addition, some tricks are available to make things easier and allow for less revisits. Note, that most of the time, Sonic Slicer is a good replacement for the X-Buster.

It is advised to fight the X-Hunters late, so that Mega Man X has more energy and weapons. In order to move the X-Hunters where you want them, enter and re-exit an already completed stage. Every time you do this, the locations of the X-Hunters will be reshuffled. If you defeat five Mavericks, though, the X-Hunters will start to go away.

Normal walkthrough	Speed walkthrough
Criterion: The weapon obtained from each defeated Maverick is the weakness of the subsequent one. Notes: You have to re-visit half of the stages in order to collect all items. You will fight the last X-Hunter with just the X-Buster.	Criterion: 100% item collection and no stage re-entry. Notes: You have to fight two Mavericks (after the first one) with just the X-Buster (O. Ostrich and C. Snail). Pixel-perfect jumps are required to get two items. You will fight the last X-Hunter with just the X-Buster.
Overdrive Ostrich (get Heart) Wire Sponge (get Heart and Sub-Tank) Wheel Gator Re-visit Desert Base for Legs Upgrade Bubble Crab (get Heart) Flame Stag & Serges (get Heart, Sub-Tank, Zero part) Re-visit Dinosaur Tank for Arms Upgrade and Heart Re-visit Deep-Sea Base for Sub-Tank Morph Moth & Violen (get Body Upgrade, Zero part) Magna Centipede & Agile (get Heart, Sub-Tank, Zero part) Crystal Snail (get Heart and Head Upgrade) Re-visit Robot Junkyard for Heart	Wire Sponge (get Heart and Sub-Tank) Wheel Gator (get Arms Upgrade and Heart) Overdrive Ostrich (get Heart and Leg Upgrade) Bubble Crab (get Heart and Sub-Tank) Flame Stag & Serges (get Heart, Sub-Tank, Zero part) Crystal Snail & Violen (get Heart, Head Upgrade, Zero part) Morph Moth & Agile (get Heart, Body Upgrade, Zero part) Magna Centipede (get Heart and Sub-Tank)
Silk Shot walkthrough	Beginners walkthrough
Criteria: (1) fight all X-Hunters with stage-specific Silk Shot; (2) get the four upgrades as early as possible. Notes: Fight two Mavericks (after the first one) with just the X-Buster (O. Ostrich and M. Moth). Re-visit four stages, one of them twice, to collect all items. You can (and should) use the Crystal Hunter in the Weather Control stage. Sub-Tanks are obtained very late.	Criteria: get as many upgrades as possible before fighting any Maverick. Notes: Do many Game Over in order to exit stages without defeating their Maverick. You will have 4 Hearts and 2 Sub-Tanks before defeating the first Maverick. Fight all X-Hunters with effective weapons (use X-Buster or Silk Shot on Sagesse/Serges)
Wheel Gator Overdrive Ostrich (get Legs upgrade & Heart) Re-visit Dinosaur Tank for the Arms upgrade Morph Moth (get Body upgrade) Magnet Centipede (get Heart) Crystal Snail & Serges (get Head upgrade, Heart, Zero part) Re-visit Robot Junkyard for the Heart Wire Sponge & Violen (get Heart, Sub-Tank, Zero part) Bubble Crab & Agile (get Heart & Zero part) Re-visit Deep-Sea Base for the Sub-Tank Flame Stag (get Heart & Sub-Tank) Re-visit Central Computer for the Sub-Tank Re-re-visit Dinosaur Tank for the Heart	Get the items without defeating the Mavericks: Visit Energen Crystal for the Head upgrade. Visit Weather Control for the Heart and the Sub-Tank. Visit Volcanic Zone for the Heart and the Sub-Tank. Visit Deep-Sea Base for the Heart. Visit Desert Base for the Heart. Wheel Gator Re-enter Desert Base for the Legs upgrade. Re-enter Dinosaur Tank for the Arms upgrade. Bubble Crab Re-enter Deep-Sea Base for the Sub-Tank Flame Stag Re-re-enter Dinosaur Tank for the Heart Morph Moth (get Body upgrade) Magnet Centipede & Violen (get Heart & Zero part) Crystal Snail & Serges (get Heart & Zero part) Re-enter Robot Junkyard for the Heart Overdrive Ostrich & Agile (get Zero part) Wire Sponge

Item checklist

Maverick	Upgrade Part or Sub Tanks	Heart Tank
Overdrive Ostrich	Leg Upgrade: requires Spin Wheel	: (no item required).
Wire Sponge	: (no item required).	: (no item required).
Wheel Gator	Arm Upgrade: Leg Upgrade required (or Strike Chain and pixel-perfect jump).	: Speed Burner, Leg and Arm Upgrades required (or damage and pixel-perfect jump).
Bubble Crab	: Arm Upgrade and Bubble Splash required.	: (no item required).
Flame Stag	: (no item required).	: (no item required).
Morph Moth	Body Upgrade: Spin Wheel required.	: Crystal Hunter required.
Magna Centipede	: Speed Burner, Leg and Arm Upgrades required.	: Leg Upgrade required.
Crystal Snail	Head Upgrade: (no item required).	: Leg Upgrade required.