Item checklist
Most items require other items to be obtained. In the following list every indentation means that the previous item is required to get the more indented ones.
- Free items:
- T. Seahorse's Heart
- T. Rhino's Sub-Tank
- N. Tiger's Sub-Tank
- N. Tiger's Heart
- G. Beetle's Heart (defeat B. Hornet)
- Leg Upgrade:
- B. Buffalo's Sub-Tank
- B. Hornet's Heart
- V. Catfish's Heart
- T. Rhino's weapon:
- Chimera ride armor:
- B. Buffalo's Heart
- V. Catfish's Sub-Tank
- C. Crawfish's Heart
- Chimera ride armor:
- Leg Upgrade & T. Rhino's weapon:
- Leg chip (needs Chimera & Frog ride armors & Leg Upgrade)
- Arm Upgrade:
- Arm chip (need also Chimera ride armor)
- Kangaroo ride armor (need also B. Buffalo's weapon)
- Frog ride armor
- T. Rhino's Heart (need also V. Catfish's weapon)
- Armor Upgrade (need also G. Beetle's weapon):
- Body Chip (need also Chimera ride armor)
- Head Upgrade (need also V. Catfish's weapon)
- Hawk ride armor (need also V. Catfish's weapon):
- Energy chip (need also Head upgrade)
Bit, Byte and Vile
After you defeat the second Maverick, you will soon face Bit, who is weak against B. Buffalo's weapon (the 2nd suggested Maverick here). After you defeat Bit, you will soon face Byte, who is weak against T. Rhino's weapon (the 4th suggested Maverick here). If they're both defeated using the weapons they're weak against, they will not reappear in the final stages of the game.
Before defeating Byte, you can access Vile's stage from capsules hidden in some stages you already cleared: B. Buffalo's, V. Catfish's or C. Crawfish's. Vile is weak against C. Crawfish's and N. Tiger's weapons. If he's defeated using the weapons he's weak against, he will not reappear in the final stages of the game. If you meet Byte before fighting Vile, let Byte defeat you once, and he'll move to another stage.
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 large number of collectible items in Mega Man X3, this method requires to re-enter all of the eight stages (except for the 8th one).
An alternative, faster but harder method is possible; this way, all stages have to be visited just once to collect all items (with just one exception). The drawback is that some boss battles will be more difficult, because the appropriate Special Weapon won't be available yet.
| Normal walkthrough | Speed walkthrough |
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| Criterion: The weapon obtained from each defeated Maverick is the weakness of the subsequent one. Notes:
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Criterion: collect all items and re-enter the minimum possible number of stages (i.e. just one) Notes:
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