Inner Sanctum

Wily Stage 4: Inner Sanctum Make a Good Mega Man Level 2

The calm before the storm

Overview Creator(s): Garirry Artist(s): MiniMacro/M-Jacq Composer(s): IntiCreates/MiniMacro Statistics Rank: Wily Stage 4 Elements: 1 Collectables: Enemies: Batton Colton Crazy Cannon Dachone Docron Electric Gabyoall Fan Fiend Garyoby Giree Hammer Joe Jamacy Jet Bomb Komasaburo Lyric Petit Devil (green) Pole Rembakun Rider Joe Ring Ring Sea Mine Shield Attacker Skeleton Joe Sniper Joe Spring Head Taketento Tatepakkan Telly Gimmicks: Acid Drop Concrete Platform Destroyable Blocks (Jewel Satellite, Grab Buster, Triple Blade) Dustman Block Gravity Flip Guts Lift Key Barrier Wave Man Jetski Sub-Bosses: Gamarn and Gamadayu Gravity Man Bosses: Autobounce

Theme Music Azure Striker Gunvolt - Pharmaceutical Lab Boss: MaGMML2 - Wily Star II Boss Stage Order Location: Wily Star II Previous: Lever Oriental Enchanted Next: Unobtainium Mine

Inner Sanctum is the fourth Wily stage in Make a Good Mega Man Level 2. The main gimmick of the level is the presence of certain power ups, which must be picked up and cannot be avoided. Picking up these power ups gives Mega Man infinite use of one weapon while disabling all of the others. Challenges around using each weapon form a large part of the stage; particularly mobility weapons like the Sakugarne and Super Arrow, which often take place around either lethal spikes or electric tiles that deal 7 points of damage on contact. Towards the end of the stage, the weapon lock restriction is removed, giving Mega Man access to all his weapons with infinite energy. Even after being nerfed in subsequent versions, Inner Sanctum has acquired a reputation as the hardest Wily Star II stage, and one of the hardest stages in MaGMML2 as a whole.

Strategy

Heading to the left at the start, Hornet Chaser can be used to clear the path for one of the easier Noble Nickels in the game. Head back to the start and drop down the hole on the right to continue the main path. This segment limits you to only the Mega Buster, so make good use of your Charge Shots and proceed up the platforms with caution, as most of them are very small and the enemies in the way can easily knock you down if you're not careful.

The next section is a ride on the Sakugarne. Assess it slowly and carefully, and think twice before every jump whether you need to jump high or low. Some jumps require a rather precise low hop to get over them. Do also keep in mind that a mistake is not fatal, the electric blocks only deal a quarter of your health of damage.

In the next section, you will find three branching paths, all of which you have to complete for a Noble Nickel. Heading down-left, there is a short trial with Rush Jet. Make sure to keep firing to keep the occasional Tellies away, and react quickly to the arrows in the background. It is advised to position yourself at the front of the Rush Jet, so knockback isn't as fatal. Once you've collected the first Key Coin, take the teleporter and head for the other sections.

The second trial, heading down-right, forces heavy usage of the Wheel Cutter. Once again, take this portion very slowly and carefully, and remember that when going downwards, using Wheel Cutter can actually deccelerate you for safety. Also, if you're stuck on a wall with not not enough momentum to ride it up, face away from it for a brief moment, fall, and turn towards it again. It is risky, but can get you just the right amount of momentum to clear the wall. Once again, take the Teleporter once you've collected the Key Coin.

The final trial is a section of forces Slash Claw usage. It mostly revolves around killing enemies fatally weak to the Slash Claw, such as members of the Joe family, Shield attackers and other shielded enemies. Be patient and wait for the enemies on the ladders, and this section should not cause much trouble. With all the Key Coins in hand, grab yourself the Noble Nickel and move on to the right.

The Super Arrow section is deemed the hardest one in this level, due to its nature of being performed over a bottomless pit and the finicky nature of the Super Arrow. In reality it actually isn't that bad, though. Take the challenges one at a time and remember you can only have a maximum of three Super Arrows on screen at once, then it should not be a very hard challenge after you memorize its layout.

Next up is the midboss of this Stage, Gravity Man. Gravity Man is, by all means, not a very difficult fight. His pattern is simple, and the boss fight will be the same every time. Do use an E-Tank here if you are at low health and do not want to repeat the Super Arrow section. Gravity Man also has a weakness in Super Arrow, and since it lingers a little before being launched, one should be able to get hits in fairly easily. Depending on whether you end this fight at the floor or the ceiling of the room, you will have to do a different section next.

Defeating Gravity Man on the floor forces you into a section with the Wire Adaptor. This one is very finicky due to the behaviour of the Wire Adapter, and it's advised to make advantage of the invincibility frames the Spines can give you to effectively use the Wire quicker. In addition, using the Quick Swap buttons to cancel the Wire can gain you slightly more height than any other method.

Conversely, defeating Gravity Man while on the ceiling forces you into a section with Jewel Satellite. You will be falling upside-down for most of this section, with Tellies following your every movement. You cannot always see the spikes coming, but when falling off a ledge, most often turning around and falling towards the direction of the ledge again will save you. Occasionally, the Tellies can also hit you while shielded, which you can use the invincibility frames of to scout ahead.

Clearing either of these sections will enable all your weapons again and lead you to a central room. Heading down the ladders here will lead you to short puzzle with the Grab Buster. Shoot only the green, not the gray blocks to make your way through this and claim another Noble Nickel. Different special weapons may be used to scale the blocks as well. Heading the path on the left will lead you to a puzzle with Triple Blade. Once again, do not hit the gray blocks make use of the different firing patterns of Triple Blade to grab a Noble Nickel. Using the pause menu to get rid of any blades currently on the screen is a good option for this as well. Finally, heading upwards using the Super Arrow will lead you to the last section of the level, a Wave Man Jetski ride.

Once in the Wave Bike, you can only use the uncharged Mega Buster, so fire away at everything you see. Halfway through the ride, scale a few platforms and don't get knocked off by the Lyrics to receive this level's final Noble Nickel. Precarious jumps over tiny platforms must be made towards the end, so a good strategy is to actually pull the Wave Bike back and forth for every individual jump. Finally, the boss awaits.

Autobounce will always start off in its Wheel Cutter form. After a hit, it takes two units of damage and changes form, choosing randomly from Hornet Chaser, Jewel Satellite, Grab Buster, Triple Blade, Slash Claw, Wheel Cutter, Sakugarne and Super Arrow, though it can't select the same form twice in a row. Master the fight, and the Energy Element is yours!

Trivia

• Early in development, Inner Sanctum was known as "Throne Gate".
• Because the level is heavily focused and reliant on the default weaponset, it is impossible to switch to the Contest Weapon Data while playing it; a trait shared with Escape Sequence, Identity Crisis, and Hardcore Parkour.
• Inner Sanctum is the only Wily stage in MaGMML2 to use a devkit boss; a pink Toad Man who was only vulnerable to the Wheel Cutter was also intended to appear, but was cut from the level (it can, however, still appear through the Surprise Bosses cheat).
• In Version 1.3.0, the level received a number of nerfs: all spikes in the Sakugarne and Super Arrow sections were changed to electric tiles, and a few spikes in the Jewel Satellite section were removed altogether. Additionally, Autobounce's Grab Buster form shoots one projectile less and heals it by only two HP rather than three upon a hit. After completing the game, a ladder will appear at the beginning of the stage, bringing the player to a teleporter that will let them play through the original, pre-nerf version of Inner Sanctum. All of the Noble Nickels in this variation of the level are replaced with giant bolts (also seen in Joe Man).
• A recreation of the Super Arrow segment from this level was used in a GIF by WreckingPrograms to showcase the Super Arrow in Mega Man Maker.
• Inner Sanctum is also the name of a mini-stage in The Pit of Pits, which was made and submitted three weeks before the Wily Star II stages were made. During that time, however, they had no idea that a stage already had the name until much later after the release of the full game.