MML2 Special Weapon Tiers

[Buster Cannon]

Being a fan of both Megaman Legends and competitive fighting games, the concept of tier lists has always fascinated me. This list ranks how I objectively view the weapons in Megaman Legends 2 in terms of overall usefulness. It is important to note that this is not just a gauge of actual power, as factors such as cost-effectiveness, how early/late a weapon is attained, and usefulness throughout the game all play into this.  So without further ado:

Tier Ranking	Special Weapon(s)
S Tier	Homing Missile  Ground Crawler  Vacuum Arm
A Tier	Buster Cannon  Drill Arm Shining Laser
B Tier	Hyper Shell  Hunter Seeker  Blade Arm  Spread Buster  Crusher
C Tier	Shield Arm  Reflector Arm  Aqua Blaster  Machine Gun Arm

*Weapons are not listed in any particular order within tiers.

Individual notes

S Tier, a.k.a. God Tier

Homing Missile: Simply put, this is the strongest all-around weapon in the game. It's one of the first 2 offensive weapons you get, and right at the Yakuto Krabbe battle begins to prove its usefulness. It only gets better as you can keep upgrading it over time. Assuming that you aren't going for 100% completion, you could leave this thing on your arm for the rest of the game and be completely fine.

Ground Crawler: I'm sure a more than a few people did a double-take when I put this in S-Tier, but make no mistake, this is the single most cost-effective weapon in the Megaman Legends series. The remarkably low upgrade cost combined with the high power of the weapon allows you to run a train through a large chunk of the game. It doesn't really matter that certain enemies/bosses are hard to fight with it (example: Glyde Drache Ace) because you can just switch to something else. As a bit of trivia, while nearly every special weapon in the PSP version got an upgrade price cut, Capcom felt the need to increase the price of the Ground Crawler. Let that sink in...

Vacuum Arm: It literally pays for itself and you get it before you even hit Forbidden Island.

A Tier, a.k.a. Immensely Useful Tier

Buster Cannon: This thing is here for one reason and one reason alone; Nino Island. Assuming that you're on a regular play-through with nothing higher than an A-License, this thing takes care of Glyde's forces completely. What really sells it is that you don't even have to upgrade it! Glyde Draches and Birdbots all go down in one shot, Glyde Drache Ace is easy to hit, and with the fast shot speed you aren't wasting time aiming. Sure, this thing doesn't have too much use afterwards, but the fact that you get these kind of benefits for free means that you can shelf it when Nino Ruins open, and your wallet will thank you.

Drill Arm: While it's only useful in 2 of the major ruins, boy is it useful! Both Manda and Nino ruins fall short to this weapon alone, and this includes every boss that inhabits them. You really don't even need to upgrade it all the way. I'm pretty sure that Klaymoor still has nightmares about this one.

Shining Laser: Assuming that you weren't maxing out the Homing Missile, this is probably the best thing to pick up and fight Sera with. Even with little to no upgrades it still does loads of damage to her, just be sure to bring a Hyper Cartridge just in case.

B Tier, a.k.a. Solid Yet Impractical Tier

Hyper Shell: This thing is a blast to play around with. Somewhat pricey but definitely gets the job done on most enemies and is one of the two weapons that you can fire at the back of the Gemeinschaft.

Hunter Seeker: Interesting in that it's unique but still good at the same time. There's nowhere in the game where you'd go "Gee, I wish I had the Hunter Seeker right now", but at the same time can be really fun to experiment with.

Blade Arm: This thing can be lethal, but it requires so many resources to set it up. Getting the thing requires you to either take a massive quiz or pay a massive sum of money. The upgrades themselves aren't cheap either. Definitely has a lot of fun factor.

Spread Buster: This thing isn't bad, but it isn't great either. The Special upgrade cost is a little high, personally, and its power lacks unless you use it up close.

Crusher: Very powerful weapon, however what holds it back is not only the heavy amount of upgrade money for it, but also the fact that you need to go dark. Like most of the other weapons in this tier, it's very satisfying to play with, but is more out of the way in terms of upgrading it.

C Tier, a.k.a. 'Don't Use That' Tier

Shield Arm: In the rare cases that this thing actually has a use, you'd do better by simply bringing a different weapon.

Reflector Arm: No, just...no.

Aqua Blaster: After you put the fire out on the Flutter, never use this again. On the bright side at least it's free...

Machine Gun Arm: Looks cool, but any machine gun with a recharge time after 5 shots isn't a machine gun.

So with this list in mind, what would your list look like? Do you agree or would you change a few things?

[Mikéy]

The listings look pretty good! I'll admit, the best use of the Ground Crawler that I've seen is being able to blow right through Blitzkrieg with minimal effort outside of finding the right spot on one of the four platforms, with the added benefit of not having the golden statue get damaged. But, I suppose there's other instances where it could come in handy. I haven't played with it in a while.

I'm a bit surprised ol' Shining Laser didn't make it into the S tier, but I suppose the lateness where it becomes available and the sheer amount of Zenny it costs to upgrade to a decent level cuts it down to size pretty well... but maybe not so much in the PSP version...

Crusher kinda falls into the same boat as S.L., but I'll admit that the S.L. is easier in general to get, not requiring the player to do anything too special. Definitely had fun crushing Sera with it though. I agree with its rank.

The Vacuum Arm and the Flame Shield are best friends! I don't think there's much more to be said, really.

I remember going to get the Homing Missile and never taking it off of my arm for the rest of the game for a run. I agree with its rank.

As for the Blade Arm, I'd personally file it under "Too much effort" outright to obtain, whether it's zenny grinding or looking up quiz answers, and probably would've stuck it at the C rank myself. I didn't see much use out of it, and thought the 3 hit combo was a bit stiff. Could just be me though.

I don't have a lot of firsthand experience with the Buster Cannon, but I have seen it in action on multiple occasions, and agree that it deserves an A.

Drill Arm certainly tears through the Manda and Nino ruins and bosses as stated, and even pays for itself along the way, if you find the cracked walls. I think it even helps nab a few extra items, but I can't quite remember what. Good to have, as long as it has a few Energy Upgrades, at the least. A it is.

Hyper Shell, Hunter Seeker, and Spread Buster I don't quite remember at all. Obscure but have uses, I suppose. I won't argue with the B ranking.

The Entire Rank C Tier... Yeah. Aqua Blaster's stupid, since you can't even duel a flame Gorbeshu with it (But man, that'd be cool!), Shield Arm's a nice concept, but it should've allowed movement in some way to have any sort of competition with the other weapons, Reflector Arm, I guess I should be glad that I can't remember, and the Machine Gun Arm is so sad (and obtainable so early), that you should get some kind of reward for playing through the game with it in a serious manner without it ever leaving your arm.

That's what I have, as far as firsthand experiences go. All I really did was derank the Blade Arm. Nice job there, Buster! ((Also, the Shining Laser isn't in your short list at the top in the A-Tier.))

[Dashe]

What, no Lifter? I want my money back!

Lifter aside, the list looks good from here. I'm especially glad you've knocked the Shining Loser down into the A tier. That thing is way overrated. This is, without question, your most entertaining writing yet, Buster. Awesome job!

[Buster Cannon]

Mar 27, 2013 18:14:05 GMT -5 Dashe said:

What, no Lifter? I want my money back!

I thought about it, but decided against it since it's not an attainable weapon.  I definitely would have placed it in S-Tier though.

Mar 27, 2013 17:38:19 GMT -5 Mikéy said:

As for the Blade Arm, I'd personally file it under "Too much effort" outright to obtain, whether it's zenny grinding or looking up quiz answers, and probably would've stuck it at the C rank myself. I didn't see much use out of it, and thought the 3 hit combo was a bit stiff. Could just be me though.

The Blade Arm's pretty nasty when you get it upgraded; does tons of damage, first 2 slashes cover nearly a 360-degree radius around Megaman, and he's completely invincible during the last slash.  Plus you can even upgrade the energy to infinite.  I pretty much made C-Tier for the weapons that legitimately suck beyond repair, and the Blade Arm is certainly viable if you put the time and zenny into it.

I'll admit, the best use of the Ground Crawler that I've seen is being able to blow right through Blitzkrieg with minimal effort outside of finding the right spot on one of the four platforms, with the added benefit of not having the golden statue get damaged. But, I suppose there's other instances where it could come in handy. I haven't played with it in a while.

Ground Crawler effortlessly wrecks like roughly 75% of the game, including but not limited to:

• The entirety of Manda Ruins
• Any of Glyde's forces that can't fly
• The entirety of Nino Ruins
• The entirety of the Bonne's raid on Saul Kada
• The entirety of Saul Kada Ruins save for Waijigairon
• The entirety of Calina Ruins
• Elysium's Defense/Mother Areas

[Anti-Jump Springs]

That's funny; I was going to get all indignant over the fact that Lifter wasn't listed as god tier, but it looks like Dashe has it covered!
I really appreciate this comprehensive list! Last I played, I only ever used the Homing Missile, with a brief switch to the Drill Arm for that fight against Klaymoor. I never did give the Ground Crawler much time, and I'll definitely try it out when I pick up my recent playthrough again.

[Balthazar]

I agree with most of the list except you're really not giving the Machine Gun Arm enough credit; early in the game it's very handy to have,
especially for it's power (you can upgrade it's power a fair bunch beyond your Arm Buster at that point). I would at least put it in B Tier
just for being so nice to you early in the game.

[Buster Cannon]

Jun 1, 2013 7:30:34 GMT -5 Balthazar said:

I agree with most of the list except you're really not giving the Machine Gun Arm enough credit; early in the game it's very handy to have,
especially for it's power (you can upgrade it's power a fair bunch beyond your Arm Buster at that point). I would at least put it in B Tier
just for being so nice to you early in the game.

The thing about the Machine Gun Arm is that there's really no reason to use it...ever.  You've got factors to consider like:

- It forces you to recharge after like 5 shots, which really hurts both the functionality and fun factor of the weapon.  This would have been great in a situation like the Parabola mission where you need to hit multiple targets consecutively, but it can't even do that right.

- You get it at the exact same time you do the Homing Missile.  Un-upgraded, the Homing Missile manages to outclass anything you could ever want to do with the Machine Gun Arm.  Hits harder, breaks armor; it's just an extremely flexible weapon that you'd be blind to ignore at that point in the game.  Choosing the Machine Gun Arm at that point would be like asking for a 5 dollar bill when someone hands you a 50.

- Cost-wise, the Ground Crawler is cheaper and you get it around the same time in the game.  Again, at that point in the game the Ground Crawler does exceedingly well against anything else you face at that time. It'd really makes the Machine Gun Arm look like a waste of time and zenny to put effort into.

I mean, the Machine Gun Arm's fairly powerful, and looking at it now I could see it being at some sort of midpoint between B and C (C+ or B- maybe?).  If they hadn't given you this thing at the same as the 2 other S-Tier weapons in the game and tweaked the recharge time, it would have had a better chance to shine.

[Balthazar]

Well I guess that's where the issue lies; I didn't get the Ground Crawler at all (or I've forgotten) and the Homing Missile a bit later.
Once I got the Homing Missile I must say I never put Machine Gun Arm back on. So yeah if you leave Ground Crawler and Homing Missile out of the equasion,
THEN it should at least score a bit higher

[vexium]

i think you're underestimating hunter seeker and machine gun. i basically strolled through very hard mode with hunter seeker and machine gun and used only buster cannon when i needed to deal with the rest.

fully upgraded hunter seeker is just incredibly strong and unstoppable. machine gun fades out after the first half of the game in usefulness, but it's still a really solid choice for the side dungeons and the Defense Area of Elysium.

[RyanLEO]

Jun 4, 2013 7:13:25 GMT -5 vexium said:

i think you're underestimating hunter seeker and machine gun. i basically strolled through very hard mode with hunter seeker and machine gun and used only buster cannon when i needed to deal with the rest.

fully upgraded hunter seeker is just incredibly strong and unstoppable. machine gun fades out after the first half of the game in usefulness, but it's still a really solid choice for the side dungeons and the Defense Area of Elysium.

I still agree with Buster Cannon, I like the new look of the machine gun arm but it still bugged me that it had to recharge every few shots.  I liked the power, but it was easily replaced with the homing missiles

[Sudo Iwaki X]

I agree with Buster Cannon's List, but I'd put Hyper Shell in A Tier because of its damage, range, and spread.  In addition, a player can make this weapon before entering Nino Ruins.