Head down past the Caterkillers and Wall Cancers and you'll reach a room full of teleporters. You'll have to fight all of the Mavericks again by using these teleporters. The object in the middle of the room drops health and weapon energy when you damage it, and it reforms between bosses, so don't hesitate to go to town on it between battles. However, if you have the head chip or gold chip, you won't need health from it at all. If you hit it with Zero's Beam Saber, you'll get a 1up. The Mavericks all have the same weaknesses that they did the first time. You can do massive damage to all of them by hitting them with the Beam Saber. Starting with the upper right teleporter (to the right of the health device) and going clockwise, they are:
- Toxic Seahorse – Weak to Frost Shield
- Neon Tiger – Weak to Spinning Blade
- Crush Crawfish – Weak to Triad Thunder
- Tunnel Rhino – Weak to Acid Burst (Best to save it for this level's boss, though)
- Gravity Beetle – Weak to Ray Splasher
- Volt Catfish – Weak to Tornado Fang
- Blast Hornet – Weak to Gravity Well
- Blizzard Buffalo – Weak to Parasitic Bomb
Once they're all down, the door on the right will unlock. Head down and right past some Trappers, then up. There's a large health pickup and an enemy you can farm for health right before the boss door.
Dr. Doppler
Doppler's main two attacks are to shoot large-but-infrequent energy balls, or engulf himself in fire (making him invincible), rise into the air, and (slowly) charge across the room when he's on the same plane as X. His flame moves to the front of him when he charges, so you can shoot him from behind. The tricky part of this battle is that he frequently raises a forcefield that not only negates damage but also absorbs it as health. His weakness is the Acid Burst and everyone's biggest weakness is the Beam Saber. Be careful, though. The Acid Burst travels slowly so it's possible it won't reach him before his forcefield goes up. If he raises his forcefield while the Beam Saber is still damaging him, he'll absorb it for health. It's best to hit him with it as soon as he dashes past you.
Nine bosses later, you're finished with this level.
What's Next?
Only one more stage left! The final boss is no cakewalk, so make sure your sub tanks are full and get going.
NEXT: Doppler Stage 4