I can’t say it enough. Mega Man 11 is pretty hardcore. It also gives you the tools you need to win thanks to a few innovative additions to the series’ formula.
The Blue Bomber is more versatile than ever, thanks to Dr. Light’s Double Gear system. Mega Man can slow down time, or increase his firepower for a short time. You’ll need the extra power, because these levels don’t mess around.
I’ve been digging into Mega Man 11, and in some ways, it’s a very different experience — even if it is nostalgically familiar. Here are seven quick tips that (might) help you survive these punishing platforming stages and defeat Dr. Wally for the eleventh time.
More Mega Man 11 guides on Gameranx:
- Mega Man 11: How To Easily Beat Every Robot Master | Boss Weakness Order
- Mega Man 11: Easy Bolt Farming Guide | Early & Late Game Quick Cash Methods
- Mega Man 11: How To Beat Every Level | No Weapons / Upgrades Guide [VIDEO]
Every Robot Master Has A Weakness, And Every Weapon Power Has Alternate Uses
Whenever Mega Man defeats a Robot Master, you’ll earn a useful new weapons. These weapons are traditionally used to defeat the other Robot Masters — each Robot Master has a specific weakness you can exploit if you use the right weapon against it. But, you’ll want to use these weapons to clear stages too.
Some of the weapons are just incredibly useful. Acid Man’s weapon gives you an acidic bubble shield that protects you from pellet shots. You’ll want to experiment with every weapon — and check out the boss order in the links above to see what every Robot Master weakness is.
Activate Double Gear Powers For Short Bursts
Mega Man 11 is really, really hard. To soften the difficulty, you’ll want to use your Double Gear abilities constantly. Remember to only use them in short bursts — if you fill the meter, you’ll have to wait for the ability to completely cooldown. Slow-Mo isn’t just easy to use, it makes mini-bosses more manageable.
- Use the Speed Gear to quickly escape scrolling traps, defeat shielded enemies, or grab random power-ups.
- Use the Power Gear to enhance your Weapons. When Power Gear is activated, your Weapons have special, enhanced attacks.
Learning to use Double Gear will make your life much easier in the long-run. For instance, many of the enemies are designed with the slow-mo ability in mind. The rolling wheels or shield enemies are easy to takedown once you learn when to activate (and shoot) with the slow-mo gear.
Use Rush-Coil To Escape Boss Attacks & Reach High Areas
Rush is mapped to a button on your pad for a reason — he’s really useful, and you can use him as much as you want. Many of the minibosses and bosses have attacks that can only be dodged with Rush-Coil, so summoning (and bouncing off) him are important skills. You can also skip sections of levels using the high vertical leap Rush-Coil gives you, or access hidden areas with bonus lives and E-Tanks. It’s easy to forget Rush-Coil, but he’s an integral part of your arsenal.
Buy Spike Protection At Dr. Light’s Lab
At the start of the game, you can purchase up to 3 Spike Protection items. These are used automatically whenever you touch spikes. Instead of dying instantly, you’ll take damage. Each spike you touch removes one of your protective consumable items, but you’ll survive! Just one of these Spike Protection items is incredibly useful on your first visit to a level. They only cost 50 Bolts each, and they’re well-worth the extra protection.
Stuck On A Level? Buy Lots of E-Tanks & Extra Lives
You can carry a ton of extra E-Tanks in Mega Man 11. You get a lot of bolts just for attempting to beat levels, and you can always farm for bolts to stock-up on currency. Between attempts, visit Dr. Light’s Lab and unlock permanent upgrades. When you’re done with those, keep a steady supply of E-Tanks. If you get the capacity upgrade, you can start carrying up to nine E-Tanks in your very first level. That’s crazy!
With enough E-Tanks, even the most unstoppable boss won’t be able to defeat Mega Man. Just heal when you’re low, and keep slugging it out. It’s always wise to find a boss weakness, but E-Tanks can help you in a pinch, and the more you’ve got in your inventory, the better.
Tired Of Replaying Long Sections Of A Level? Turn On Casual Difficulty
Casual Difficulty is a gentler, nicer version of the game that doesn’t throw so many hard punches at Mega Man. In Casual Mode, you’ll get way more checkpoints, so you won’t have to replay huge parts of each individual level. That’s a nice bonus — and consensus opinion online seems to say that Casual Difficulty is a nice “Normal”. It isn’t too hard, and it isn’t too easy. If you’re barreling through the game without a care in the world, you can up the hardness and swap back to Normal.
Lower Your Knockback With Another Permanent Upgrade
Check back at Dr. Light’s Lab as often as you can, because he’s constantly adding new upgrades. One of his upgrades lowers the amount of knockback you experience after taking a hit. This is incredibly useful — you won’t fly off as many ledges that way. You can also grab an upgrade to make Mega Man’s Buster shots bigger, or an auto-charge upgrade. There are tons of handy, permanent upgrades in the lab that should be high priority on your shopping list.
Got your own useful tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments!
