The Basics on the Gaea Armor - Mega Man X

[@richieosborn2639]

I think your theory on the Gaea Armor being before the First Armor actually makes sense! It fits perfectly with the armor’s flaws!

[@matthewkuscienko4616]

I also have had that headcanon for awhile now myself, and I think this video does a great job explaining why that is. But I always thought that the Gaea Armor being designed as a prototype armor is the main reason behind why it has as many drawbacks to it as it does. It makes sense to me that an armor that was designed as a prototype would have a good number of kinks to iron out; it could also explain why Dr Light chose to not give X the parts for it sooner than he did, as maybe he thought that the Gaea Armor would be too much of a hindrance to be the most practical thing, especially if it was the only armor X had access to for the game

[@Gingy_2006]

Dr. Light even calls it a prototype in one of the capsules you get it's parts from, so it would make sense that this is one of the first Armors he made

[@barrybend7189]

Gaea the origin of Fafnir's design. Falcon is Harpuia. Shadow is Phantom. We now need an armor to inspire Leviathan.

[@jamiewalsh3349]

Ah yes the backtracking armour as it is actually called.

[@Immunity1080]

One of the best armors there are

[@rafaerudono]

Backtracking/Boss-Killer Armor, I'd say XD

[@JamesTrifolium]

I like to think the Gaea Armour wasn't meant for combat and was instead supposed to turn X into an industrial workhorse, just in case he wanted to take up crane operating instead of sucker-punching Vile.

[@jruler93]

I wouldn't even mind the short range, the lack of special weapons, or the lack of air dash; the killer for me is the slow dash speed and inability to equip the Speedster or Hyper Dash parts to go faster.

[@YiminyCricket]

you're right on the money. personally, i love the design, shame it was kinda poopy in X5, but like you said, X DiVE made it SO much better

[@supersmashbro596]

shadow did everything this one did right without the slowdown. though it cant airdash.

[@KoruKinshi]

Gaea Armor is OP AF. No idea where you get that it's bad. It's a boss melter.

[@bluebearie7230]

I always think of the armor as a gravity manipulation equipment wall cling is just the armor doing that instead of physically lodging on to the wall the charged shot and giga attack also fit the theme imo

[@shrubman3422]

I thought the same thing before I say this comment. Great minds think alike. It doesn't slide because it shifts it gravity to cling to the wall plus uses gravity to push blocks out of the way. Plus explains why it is slow it is very dense.

[@chriss.249]

7:12 Also, imagine being able to slam into bosses and push them back like mattrex could? The gaea armor seems defensive but also strong. Like a hulkbuster suit.

[@wahidpawana424]

This armor could have been really good if it had just this one thing to for the theme of the armor, no knock backs from enemies.

[@anispidey]

Before I ever played X5, I had seen this armor and just assumed it had super armor just from the look of it. The fact it didn't is just mind-boggling to me.

[@milestailsprower4435]

man I think I was the only guy who likes the gaea armor

[@RockmanHQ]

I like it for the last stage. That buster is too good

[@jruler93]

The design is really cool, and the tradeoff of range for power is cool. The slow speed is really just the one thing that kills it for me.

[@Noiwontstealyyourorgans]

Where the same

[@teetea7734]

I always had mixed feelings on the Gaea Armor's performance, but still loved it. One of the best designs, fastest charge shots and great for traversing hazardous areas. I think the only real draw back was the slow dash. The shortened range was off-putting at first, but the damage more than made up for that. Overall a fun armor to play around with.

[@rafaerudono]

Don't worry, I love that armor. I still even have it's Mega Armor kit for 21 years now. 🔥

[@supersmashbro596]

the shadow armor does everything the gaea armor does without the slowdown. you just cant airdash i think. plus it just looks cooler.

[@bardinblue9830]

It is easy to assume that the helmet part of the Gaea Armor does nothing, because Dr. Light's hologram doesn't say anything about it - except that it is the head part... However, the Dr.' Light hologram doesn't always give complete specifications on what each armor part can do. Three cases in point: In Mega Man X 1, the leg parts do give X an "acceleration system" to allow him to dash, but what he doesn't say (until the Mega Man Xtreme games) is that the leg parts of the First Armor also break certain blocks by wall-jumping like in Flame Mammoth's and Sting Chameleon's stages. The blocks hiding the Sub Tank and Heart Tank in those respective stages won't break without the Dash Boots upgrade. In Mega Man X 2, the Dr. Light hologram does not say anything about the Second Armor's ability to reduce special weapon energy consumption by half. He only mentions the I-Tracer for the helmet, and the Giga Attack provided by the body part. However, when X has both the helmet part, and the body part, the Energy Saver effect kicks in. Both parts are required for it. Finally, in Mega Man X3, the Dr. Light hologram does tell about the satellite mapping system that the helmet part has... however does not mention that in this game, the helmet part has a secondary function of reducing special weapon energy consumption by half - all by itself this time! Using the password generator that I found on the Mega Man Home Page website, I have been able to verify the truth of this. Even so, it would have been nice if the hologram could have said SOMETHING more about the helmet part of the Gaea Armor...

[@runman624]

I actually never knew of the the weapon trick in megaman x2, thanks for teaching me this

[@klekman6474]

About it’s ability to be stuck into walls, I always interpreted it as X quite literally holding himself on them, digging his fingers into them, maybe due to the armor extending his physical capabilities

[@RockmanHQ]

that works too!

[@archmagetyler]

best way to save the gaea armor was what x dive did. loved this thing in x dive and for the boss rush stage in x5 (i never used parts so i didn't have problems with no custom parts). however, ifi were to buff it further, i would've gave it a prototype of the ultimate/plasma buster, given that the falcon armor does so much with a multi-hit armor piercing buster despite the damage of it being LOWER than gaeas, but let the plasma balls work on the target during invul frames. that way it's kinda like a shotgun buster. yeah you cover a massive wide range, but you don't get a lot of distance from it. also make it so that the helmet in exchange for sealing your special weapons, allow you to use that weapon energy as healing, or fuel some sort of temporary overdrive state. just uh.... make sure it's only like 4 extra sub tanks instead of 8.

[@Emberson-9000]

Not only did X Dive improved the armor, but so did X6...one of the only improvements that game has. The Shadow Armor is functionally the same thing as the Gaia Armor in many ways, but with a weaker buster, stronger saber, more speed, and a busted giga crash.

[@Chrisezo]

Yeah, I wish that Capcom hadn't rushed X5 out, because the devs had a ton of ideas for the game that could have made it better, but they didn't have long development time for it, which is why it is as flawed as it is, I would have loved to have a character change system like the one X3 tried to implement, or the one that Megaman Xtreme 2 had as that was pretty fun, but Capcoms greed ultimately became the downfall of what could have been a great game, and over the rest of the series squandered pretty much any potential future Megaman games could have had, since in the 2000s they were just trying to squeeze all they could from Megaman fans, and ended up competing with themselves through all the sub series that would actually release games in the same year...

[@Darkaos_5]

Everything would be forgiven if the gaea armor had 2 very specific things, hyper armor, meaning you can't get interrupted from your attacks, and if the giga crash ignored i-frames, making for the armor to be the "bruiser" counter part to the falcon's "speedster"

[@RockmanHQ]

If the Giga did that I would use it all the time. Super Armor would be a nice addition, I can't believe I didn't think of that!

[@Darkaos_5]

@@RockmanHQ that's kind of the idea, since the armour prevents you from using anything else other than the buster and giga crash, taking the fact of how fast you can spam the max charge buster it would be essentially that loop, you charge the giga and then use it in the bigger enemies to dispose of them faster, or to speed through bosses who have lots of I-frames

[@ViewtifulGene]

X5 really should've had a Neutral Armor like X8, where you can mix and match pieces of Falcon and Gaia, and you don't need one set to reach the other. The Gaia Armor should've had resistance to the Quick Man lasers. That would at least make it more fun for the few levels where it's available. It's pretty sad how you need to kill all 8 Mavericks for it, and then the Ultimate Armor is all of 2 boss fights away.

[@JinTekyta]

I actually really like the Gaea Armor. It might be slow, lack special weapons (though in X5 most special weapons are worthless anyway.) and the giga attack is pretty weak. The instant Charge shot basically more than makes up for it. Being able to melt Sigma, one of the hardest X final bosses, with ease. Honestly I appreciate it for the aesthetic and being able to shred the bosses of the Zero and Sigma stages so easily it makes it a no-brainer for me to pick if I didn't just get the ultimate armor.

[@dudenamedzelda3179]

In my opinion the Gaea armor is a clear example on why X5 needs a remake or a revamp rom hack.

[@chanzeyu1]

I absolutely hated fighting the ride armour enemies in zero stage 2 with the Gaea armour (I think it was stage 2, the one where you had to climb up while fighting a ton of ride armour enemies). The lack of an air dash and that pitiful buster range and damage made me hate the armour so much. For an armour that's supposed to the the tankier slower one, it only reduces damage taken by 50%, a standard amount that other armours share. I'd say increase the damage reduction to 65%. Yeah it might be a little too easy if X is just soaking up damage with the Gaea armour, but that's the whole point of it. It's slow, you can't use special weapons. The Giga Attack should really travel the whole screen to allow some flexibility, let it charge faster too. It would be neat if they made the dash of it act like Copen's from iX2, where you can stun or flip enemy shields by dashing into them. If there ever is a X9, I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the specialised armour set with the standard armour.

[@train4292]

The Gaea armor might be debatably useless, but man if I don’t like just for that design alone dude.

[@tendousouji14344]

this is why i favor the quick charge upgrade compared to ultimate buster. you can mimick the speed of the blaster shot by equipping the quick charge

[@cafequente8252]

I hate that the head part of the armor does nothing, is the hardest one to get because of the puzzle and is necessary to use any part of the armor at all. It is a pretty fun armor to use once you get used to the heavyness of it tho

[@kolkagaming1234]

The Gaea Armor does have slow speed and lower jump height, but the Buster Shot & the Giga attack are very strong.

[@DeltaEagle7700]

I actually finished my first time with X5 with the Gaea Armor. Despite the facts it being a heavy armor and no special weapon usage capabilities, at least for me, I was invincible to spikes and I could survive longer in battle due to its high defense. Besides I prefer to defeat final bosses with X’s natural combat capabilities.

[@vxcodm4121]

Yeah, i think the helmet actually help you in pushing the block, since it's almost impossible to explain why X dash with his head ahead, hitting the block with the head and able to move it without using his body The reason why the Falcon can kill the rider enemy in a few shot is because the bullet actually hit more than one time when it hit the target, this will explain why when you hit the target with shield, it will make a lot of blocking effect before it hit the actual target The one way i think that can save the armor is: since it is a prototype, i don't think the ability to damage the enemy with the head part suit this armor, instead, give the body part ability to reduce 75 percent damage and further increase it energy rechange when got hit, also give it ability to withstand lava in X5, like you can survive against the lava but you still take big damage when touching it, of course make the giga attack bigger. About movement speed, give this armor one chip slot is enough

[@HokgiartoSaliem]

Unfortunately GAIA Armor in Dive X still die by spike in experience event. 6:57 ==> I just know that GAIA Armor cannot damage while being pressed.

[@moseslalmuanpuia8988]

Blast. Back when I played x dive I didn't know about the unique features such as those hazard immunities. The only things I bothered to differentiate characters were their skills.

[@tatox666]

i really love gaea armor

[@MarkRivera-p1z]

The gaea armor heavy metal armor that’s why heavy

[@gyppygirl2021]

I absolutely adore the design of the Gaea Armor (I generally think X5 has the best armor designs, with Falcon being my favorite overall). It just makes me really sad that it's so terrible in gameplay. I think being able to upgrade it would have helped a lot, and just... well, what they did with it in X DiVE, making X more durable and more of a general powerhouse when he has it equipped.

[@Xion_Toshiro]

The Gaea Armor - 1 of my personal favorites, in X Dive; especially against Magma Dragoon

[@RockmanHQ]

It was a fun tank in pvp

[@brynshannon6692]

One obvious thing I think the Gaea Armour should have had was just... straight up invincibility and damage as you dash through enemies. Later on in life, I'd've liked the Giga Attack to basically just be DOOM Eternal's BFG. :3 I do love the theory you have on it being pre-Light Armour.

[@CrossKaizer17]

Dr.Light didn't implement the weapon system into the Gaea armor cause he knows that if that thing can use Dark hold, it'd be even more broken than the Ultimate armor

[@juancrossone2404]

Your videos are so cool. Thanks to be a megaman fan.

[@julioflores5433]

Late to the party on this one - I think what really would have helped it out is since you esentially have just one weapon for the Gaia Armor - the rest of the body could've been attacks on its own. The dash could have been an attack, the jump could've been a headbutt - have a stomp and a ground pound to show off just how strong it is.

[@9fmradisapratama]

I actually called this armor as "Sigma armor" since back then I have little to no time memorizing the stage's spikes and this armor is the only armor I dare to use against Sigma final stage.

[@djinsanity3575]

It took some tries but I did master this armor. It took a lot of tries and I mean A LOT

[@alejandrocruzrojano5203]

Well at least now I know the origins of this powerful armor that I have in X DiVE, nice video bro. P.S. Please do a basics video for Star Force Mega Man or Mega Man X.

[@RockmanHQ]

One of them is planned for after October.

[@alejandrocruzrojano5203]

Ok, thanks for letting me know mister, have a nice day

[@JohnLML123]

YEAH BABYYYYY

[@tendousouji14344]

what is the equip parts you can use to strengthen your blaster to the point you can destroy enemy shots better? you can equip that plus the quick charge to mimic the blaster of the gaea armor. you can have 2 charge shots in one screen using the quick charge instead of just one when using the normal charge shot and the ultimate buster

[@Ordnance_T]

The gaea armor makes all the zero stages past 1 easy as hell

[@blackpotatomaster]

It does if u think about it remember light is dead in 21xx time

[@brugermcdonalds3077]

Sinc they'll probably make a X9 sinc the story ended on such a clifhanger, i Hope they revisit the armor and make it complete

[@michaellashley8265]

If you could make the Gaea armor better in any way what changes would you make? EDIT: this is a question for everyone

[@RockmanHQ]

I'm not entierly sure what I would want. I'm not really a game designer. Something akin to the Icarus Armor's jump attack maybe? Perhaps a heavy stomp allowing you to jump and crush enemies with shields?

[@ReaverPrime]

It's such a shame how botched the execution was because I have always loved the look of it. My headcanon has X switching to it to take on massive mavericks, like Tony Stark's Hulk Buster armor. Considering of course that in the opening anime cinematic for PS1 Mega Man X3, he can switch armors on the fly.

[@shinysamurott613]

I was always a fan of the Gaea Armour design wise but it's far too situational in game in large part due to how late you actually get it along with the many nerfs. I did find myself appreciating it more in the X5 Improvement Hack which removes it's speed nerfs and let's you use it's parts individually meaning you aren't waiting til nearly the end of the game to use it, but even then I find it kind of lacking due to the lack of special weapons and how many stages require one to get an item. Out of all the stages (In Improvement Hack anyway) 5 out of 8 either require or have an opportunity to use a special weapon to get a part, meaning if you’re trying to be efficient only 3 stages before the endgame are actually worth using Gaea. And even then, one of them is Rosered who (again, in Improvement Hack) requires you to use Zero if you want to get everything in one visit. X literally can't as one upgrade needs Gaea and one needs Falcon.

[@neaps8418]

I know that Gaea armor was supposed to be something Dr light came up with a long time ago but here's a good question with that. wouldn't Dr light have X use Gaea armor in X1 since the point of the 1st armor was to help X fight sigma when such problems happen?

[@neaps8418]

also wouldn't there be more of a gap between X1-5 since the xtreme games take place between X2-3 and X3-4?

[@RockmanHQ]

Gaea is a prototype. Why give X and beta when he had the final product made?

[@RockmanHQ]

Not really. The timeframe I put there is going off of the various sourcebooks and manuals.

[@neaps8418]

@@RockmanHQ don't know. why is dr light giving X the Gaea armor in X5 to begin with if dr light now has a good idea on how to make better stuff?

[@920316player]

is kinda curious than while Gaea is the least liked for the most (with very reasonable arguments)... Gaea Armor for me it's My Favorite Armor XP I can't explain Why, but Gaea, for me is constantly Share my Top 1&2 with Giga Armor (X2)... I know i know than Gaea Had lot of negative effects, but somehow i really enjoy using it sooooo much... Also... a tip or something, i'm not sure at all, buuuut the normal buster shot of the Gaea, for some reason is better for big normal enemies than the fully charged shot... or this is why i remember... kinda ironic :'v

[@GoldyX]

I like your videos style c:

[@RockmanHQ]

Thank you!

[@Megaman-2407]

I dont really mind the slower speed as i already mastered most of X5 speed based stages already lol and the buster.................you underestimate just HOW fast it could charge

[@PrimarisBlackshieldDeathwatch]

The ultimate armor is offensive the Gaea armor is defensive

[@CharlesAnsel-hk2hh]

I got the gaea armor super late in one of my first successful x5 play throughs (I was like 8 cut me some lack lol) and I hated how it made the second half stages so easy because of all the pit hazards! Why didn't we get gaea before falcon?? That's always been so weird to me!!

[@demi-femme4821]

The Gaea Armour is one of my favourites. Sucks that the devs went out of their way to neuter it in as many ways as possible.

[@tjakes8820]

I think its the best armor in the game

[@empty_melodies]

Capcom, why would you do the Gaea armor so dirty??