Скачать или смотреть Mega Man ZX - All Biometals vs. Lava Demon

Given that the Lava Demon usually falls to Model HX with a mere few slashes, you may be surprised to learn that not only does it have an actual attack pattern, but there are also interesting ways to approach the fight when using the other Biometals as well. Here’s a showcase of each Biometal taking on the Lava Demon.

Model X: As usual, Model X’s relatively simple offense provides a chance to highlight some fancy evasion. In this case, I wait for the Lava Demon to rain lava from above, then weave between the blobs. With that said, there is an important aspect of Model X’s charged shots to consider. With proper positioning, the pink swirls from the second shot can deal extra damage to the Lava Demon, hastening the fight. Generally, being point-blank while dashing will do the trick, but that’s not always possible, so experimenting with spacing is necessary. Keep in mind that any swirls that fly off into a wall will influence RNG.

Model ZX: Thanks to the ZX-Saber’s beautiful but prolonged slash animations, this fight ends up playing out a bit like a Dark Souls boss. Carefully measuring your opportunities to strike before escaping is key. An understated aspect of the fight to be cognizant of is that any slashes that clash with the invulnerable part of the Lava Demon’s body will cycle RNG. This is pertinent while jumping around and luring its fists away; they count as tangible objects, so if you happen to hit a fist while happily slashing at the Lava Demon’s face, it can change how many times it punches.

Model HX: The standard method. Observe how, if you pop Overdrive after the second slash hits, you can send the Lava Demon back to hell while expending only 1 unit of weapon energy. Efficient.

Model FX: This double Ground Breaker method can only be used after beating Flammole, so it’s irrelevant during proper runs, but I figured that it’d still be more entertaining than spamming regular shots. Stand almost directly over the Lava Demon after it recedes into the lava for both the downward punch and fire wave to hit. The hitbox of its face is quite small, so there’s little risk of contact damage. Just ensure that you wait for its body to fully dematerialize; that hitbox lingers for a bit.

Model LX: Amusingly enough, LX is a more competent slashing attacker than ZX. Its lack of combos is irrelevant, and the vertical reach of its aerial slash enables you to strike the Lava Demon while jumping over it. However, the Halberd’s slashes are more challenging to space properly for the purpose of regulating RNG. With good timing, you can land two hits with one air slash as the Lava Demon’s face plummets. To finish, I exploit the reach of the ground slash to deliver a nice helm splitter while facing away.

Model PX: An unlikely candidate for a single-cycle win, but here’s how to pull it off. For horizontal positioning, move forward and stand behind the red marking on the floor that’s 3 spaces in front of you. For timing, jump up and release the Shuriken right when the fourth thumping beat of the miniboss song plays. Vertical positioning is the wildcard here; it’s difficult to throw the Shuriken at the same height consistently. Done properly, you’ll have an opportunity to Shadow Dash through the Lava Demon and rapid-fire 5 volleys of Kunai by alternating attack buttons at a specific pace. Any errant Kunai that hit walls do change RNG, so be consistent with your shots. The Shuriken should dissipate after 2 cycles, at which point you can dash away from a punch and finish with another Kunai barrage.

Model OX: These combos demonstrate an odd technique. When in Overdrive, Model OX gains attacks activated via directional commands, just like Zero’s EX Skills. On the ground, holding up or down before attacking results in Ryuenjin and Shinkujin, respectively. These attacks can be spliced into any point of the triple slash, resembling a fully realized version of Z2’s combat system. However, the way ZX’s input buffer handles player actions can result in a useful irregularity. If you input and release a directional command during highly specific points of each slash animation, you can fool the game into looping back to the beginning of the triple slash. Presumably, the game thinks that you want to use one of OX’s skills, but the command being released before the skill gets a chance to be buffered muddles something within the game’s logic. Looping the double slash more than once is exceptionally challenging, whereas looping the triple slash is slightly more reliable.

To my knowledge, this technique was first demonstrated by ‪@MagnusZero‬ in the video below, while ‪@LightningEdge‬ informed me of the technique’s existence and helped me research it. Big thanks to both.

   • Greatest of Magnus Zero ~ 2018-2020 Showcase  

Timestamps:

00:00 - Model X
00:24 - Model ZX
00:51 - Model HX
00:58 - Model FX
01:06 - Model LX
01:28 - Model PX
01:37 - Model OX - Double Slash Loop
01:47 - Model OX - Triple Slash Loop

Thanks for watching!