Metroid Prime/Varia Suit

Chozo Ruins

The hint system points to a new upgrade and the path to get there goes through the Arboretum. There is a major boss battle this time and nearest save point is the one near the Gathering Hall some distance away.

Arboretum

Log Book

Creatures: Venom Weed

Return to the Arboretum. You need to get to the top of the room, but the door there is locked by four runic symbols as in the Watery Hall. So you might as well scan the symbols to unlock it as you make your way up.

First go to the bridge that connects the tree to the ledges on the perimeter. The first symbol is right where the bridge connects to the tree. Drop down to the ledge next to this and look across the water to a ledge under the bridge with what looks like red Tangle Weed. (You'll be able to identify this in a bit.) Shoot at the weeds to make them retract and reveal the second symbol. Go back and cross the bridge and start scaling the ledges right, but locate and destroy a wasp nest on the tree before you get too close and the wasps attack.

There is a channel in the wall, so switch to Morph Ball and follow it, clearing the stone blocks with bombs as you go. Switch back when you exit the channel and find the third symbol next to a step. Before going farther, locate a second wasp nest on the tree up ahead and take it out before it makes any trouble.

Hop up the next step to another channel in the wall. This times it's blocked by the red weeds; scan them to learn that they're called Venom Weed. They look and act much like Tangle Weed except they're toxic. Shoot them to make them retract, then switch to Morph Ball and get through the channel before they reappear.

Go up a couple more steps, then turn turn around and follow the wall to the left instead of to the right, and soon after you land on the ledge with the gate. The final symbol is on the tree across from this.

The open gate reveals a blocked tunnel, so drop a bomb to open it and go through. The fire a missile to unblock the door and go through.

Sunchamber Lobby

This passage is guarded by Venom Weed and Reaper Vines. Lay down some fire to clear a path in the weeds before shooting a vine to make it retract, then step forward to next patch of weeds to do the same.

Sunchamber Access

More Venom Weed and Reaper Vines are here. Be sure to get the boxes near the end to top off you health and/or missile supply.

Sunchamber

Log Book

Creatures: Flaaghra (only chance)

Creatures: Flaaghra Tentacle (only chance)

When you enter the room a giant carnivorous plant appears in the middle of the room. Vines grow in front of the door preventing your escape and a battle begins.

Flaahgra

Flaahgra requires constant sunlight to remain active and there are four mirror dishes evenly spaced about the room to keep it fed. At the start only one dish is active. Flaagra also has a tentacle extending through a channel connecting the base of the plant to the outer ledge. Get scans of both of them now since things get more hectic later; remember that there are two scans you need to get in this battle. The scans also give you a big hint for what you need to do to defeat the monster.

If you shoot at the monster it flashes yellow, which means that you might stun it if you keep it up but you're not doing any permanent damage. What you need to do is cut off its light supply. Avoiding the monster's attack as well as you can, get behind the active dish; one way to get around quickly here is to switch to Morph Ball mode. Shoot the red light on the dish to tilt it away from Flaagra. A Missile or Charge Beam shot will do it in one hit, but rapid fire using the Power Beam will also do the trick. With no light the plant will faint and retract its tentacle. The game magically transports you to the channel where you need to go, so switch to Morph Ball, follow the channel to the base of the plant, and drop a bomb there to do it some real damage. The tentacle drops some health and missile refills, but they can be difficult to reach before they disappear.

Two of the mirrors fall back into place and Flaagra recovers. Shoot one as before, but if you leave it at that then Flaagra will knock it back before you can get to the other one. So you need to keep it busy by shooting at it directly, or better, stun it with missiles or Charge Beam blasts. You can tell when it's stunned because it goes all woozy, you then have a few seconds before it recovers. When both dishes are tilted away, Flaagra will faint again, but now you need to locate the channel yourself. Switch to Morph Ball and take the shortest route to the channel, go in and drop a bomb as before.

Now round three starts with three mirrors this time. You know the drill by now but it will help if you plan ahead a bit. Do the mirrors in either clockwise or counterclockwise order and so that the last mirror is near the tentacle.

In the fourth and final round there are four mirrors and it becomes very important to plan ahead. You don't want to do the last mirror only to run out of time before you can reach the channel. So start with a mirror next to the tentacle and work your way around so the last mirror is the one on the other side. The fourth bomb blast at the base will defeat the monster for good.

Flaagra was the source for the toxins in the water, so you can now safely take a dip anywhere in the the Chozo Ruins. The vines that grew around the door where you came in are still there, so you can't get back that way. There is another door here though; collect the Varia Suit to unlock it. With this suit you're starting to look a lot like you did at the start of the game.

The Varia Suit doesn't unlock any new exploration in the areas you been to so far; the one additional room in the Chozo Ruins that you can enter now is still a dead end. It does allow you to reach two new areas though so start heading for them now.