(Spoiler) Last Boss Help

[jamie.osborne1981]

I'm trying to do the Kane vs. Jason fight as Kane, and I've had some success in the first part. I find that spamming homing missiles will take care of half of his energy and then you have to dodge the rest of his attacks.
* Vs. spark drop - if he drops the spark on the left, go to the right side of the screen until it explodes. If he drops it on the right, do the opposite. You have a few seconds before the spark explodes, but remember you need to jump over the moving sparklettes (new word) as they run across the ground.
* Vs. Missiles. Go head to head and shoot the missiles. They will drop health and energy. It's even better if you use your triple missile as they'll cancel out into power ups that only you can pick up.
* Vs. Floating Force field - He starts on one side of the screen and slowly passes to the other. His field will drop for a second in the middle, pass under him then. You can shoot him as he lands.
* Vs. Primary blaster - Jump the first two shots and go under the third, try to go behind him as he jumps as he won't turn around.
* Vs. Tank shells - I haven't figured out the gimmick to it yet as he has only used it once. But they are very strong, so I would fly over it if possible.

When he gets to the last half of his final health bar, Eve will interrupt the fight and pull him into another dimension. He'll then be able to hurt you but not vice-versa, so sprint towards the crack and transfer.

In the new area he'll be surrounded with a red glow, start regenerating health, and use some of the same patterns, but eventually get to his ultimate attack which hits more than half the screen. You'll have to run to the extreme edges for this. I haven't found a good strategy past this though, so if anyone knows, I'd be grateful. Does thunder break have any use for this fight?

[TouyaShiro]

I'm not sure how much my tips will help, but here I go anyway!

• My first tip for you is that SOPHIA-J1 will always begin with the weapon on the left before using the J-Crusher Shot, and then using another weapon in a repeating pattern. Pay attention to SOPHIA-J1's life bar and see what it selects first so you know what's coming for the first attack, and continue to do so each time it finishes using J-Crusher Shot. (Late edit: On occasion while trying to research these boss patterns, I've found that SOPHIA-J1 won't ALWAYS stick to this pattern - sometimes it'll do another main or sub weapon instead of J-Crusher Shot before proceeding with the latter on the next pattern, but it's rare.)
  
• Ignition Spark - This pattern lasts a while, but it actually leaves SOPHIA-J1 pretty vulnerable to Warhead Missiles and Homing Missiles both, if you can hover up to it and point-blank. If you wish to play it safe, you can always fire diagonally from the middle, dodging the sparks that travel on the ground whenever it drops one. Just be wary that the Ignition Spark will also blow up and deal more damage after the first one if the sparks from another end up colliding with them, especially the last one which is given greater range via using the Gaia System (just as it acts in-game).
  
• Warhead Missiles - You already seem to have this one down pat, but I'll write down my own tips anyway. These missiles can be destroyed by the Metal Attacker's Crusher Shot and any of its special weapons (yes, if you're willing to risk it, you CAN use the Thunder Break on them). I recommend keeping the MA's own Warhead Missiles equipped so you can maintain distance from SOPHIA-J1, just constantly firing the Crusher Shot and then using Warhead Missiles whenever it fires at you. This pattern is also your life & SP recovery, so destroy as many of the missiles as you can for recovery! Homing missiles may not be the best to use here, but they are also an option - their speed will not outdo that of the enemy's projectiles, however.
  
• Homing Laser - Moving away from SOPHIA-J1 is key during this quick pattern. If you enter the targeting range, it'll immediately release the Homing Laser on you. You already seem to have this one figured out, too.
  
• Anti-SF Ammo - This one always trips people up, but it's actually surprisingly easy once you know what's going on. The first shot will always be done upon landing, and after that, it's a simple matter of jumping every second shot after it fires one in the air. If you maintain your distance, you may not necessarily get a lot of damage in, but you can easily dodge this pattern and you won't risk having the cannon be aimed diagonally or straight above (where he'll almost certainly hit you) - important since all hits from these things are 2 damage each.
  
• Rain Cluster - Probably the easiest pattern to dodge. Simply jump over the cluster and stay close to SOPHIA-J1, and repeat this pattern each time it changes direction. This pattern presents you a huge opportunity to clock in damage by shotgunning your Warhead Missiles from up close.
  
• J-Crusher Shot - As mentioned prior, it'll (almost) always use this weapon after using one of the others listed above. There are two patterns, both of which aren't actually that hard to dodge - it simply requires you to jump at the right moment, or hover above the first volley ahead of time and then get on the other side, allowing you a few moments to get some big damage in with Crusher and the two Missile types. (On a side note, very rarely, he'll change to the J-Crusher Shot+ instead at the beginning of the fight, using it instead of the regular version. I've never gotten this to trigger myself.)
  
• Dealing damage quickly to SOPHIA-J1 - My personal recommendation is to ensure you have Warhead Missiles and Homing Missiles bound to your shortcuts so you may use them at any time in the fight without needing to swap them out, as they will be your big damage dealers. If you're fast enough and can land your hits, even while playing for minimal or no damage you might be able to 2 or 3 cycle this boss prior to the totally-not-Lumen-Anthem from Eve. If you're willing to constantly hover and mash two shortcuts and the Crusher, the Ignition Spark pattern is your best chance to clock major damage from up close, as it lasts a long time and leaves SOPHIA-J1 wide open to damage. If that's too much for you, the Rain Cluster pattern provides a great opportunity to shotgun your Warhead Missiles that's easier on your fingers and thumbs.
  
• Accel Blast - Have you found this weapon in the ??? Area? If not, I suggest you do. The path to it is located within that dungeon labyrinth in the middle of the map in super-dimensional space. Following the path in question grants you access to the room where Jason fought the Skeleton Boss in BMZ1, in it a lone mutant at the end of the room guarding the chip which holds the data for Accel Blast (which is now a sub weapon for some reason instead of being an alternate main cannon). Picking up this weapon will allow you to finish the fight quickly after SOPHIA-J1 drains its resources using Final Accel Blast itself and you chase Jason back into super-dimensional space, as to my knowledge it is the only fight in the entire game which allows you a large enough window of time to unleash it without being hit during the charge period - specifically, at the moment where SOPHIA-J1 is forced to recharge the J-Gaia System to get back online. You will have to start charging immediately after travelling back through, though - it's pretty tight and you will miss your chance for the rest of the fight if you fail to release it in time.

Hope you find these tips useful! Now go get yourself the Warrior of Sophia achievement! (You can probably tell I've practised this fight a ton at this point.)

[buddy]

I beat jason by getting up real close and spamming fire real fast during the beginning of the fight, and saving my homing missiles for later when I was low on health and needed to dodge. I couldn't find a good opportunity to use the accel blast so I didn't use it

[TouyaShiro]

Originally posted by buddy:

I beat jason by getting up real close and spamming fire real fast during the beginning of the fight, and saving my homing missiles for later when I was low on health and needed to dodge. I couldn't find a good opportunity to use the accel blast so I didn't use it

Unlike SOPHIA-J1, the Metal Attacker (Original) doesn't really need to hold back on these - there's more than enough ammo when you're topped off to deal significant damage to SOPHIA-J1 with them alone.

As for Accel Blast, refer to my tip above about the moment where you briefly leave super-dimensional space and SOPHIA-J1 uses the Final Accel Blast. Right after that sequence is your one and only chance to charge it.

[jamie.osborne1981]

I did pick up the Accel Blast, ironically as I went back exploring to top off my ammo, which got me the collector achievement. Wait, so you can use the gaia system to power up the weapons? How?

[jamie.osborne1981]

Originally posted by TouyaShiro:

Originally posted by buddy:

<stuff>

Many thanks! I finished the achievement. I had gotten to where I had survived the blast a few times after studying your notes, but for some reason I couldn't fire my blast. I was using hover to avoid the blast, and I realized I had to position myself central to run to the first side that was safe, then sprint to the other side and climb up the wall to avoid the other two. Once I did this, I warped back, charged up... and history.

[jesse.viviano]

Punishing the Sophia-J1's rain cluster pattern was the easiest for me. When it charges you while firing straight ahead, jump over Sophia-J1 and start spamming the crusher shot against Sophia-J1's back while you chase it to maintain minimal distance between the Metal Attacker and Sophia-J1 to avoid the upcoming attack pattern and minimize the number of your crusher shots on screen, allowing you to maximize the amount of times that you can fire the crusher shot due to the limit of 3 crusher shots that you can have on screen. Then when Sophia-J1 starts firing the rain cluster while aiming diagonally, you are already too close for it to hit you. Continue spamming the crusher shot while it fires. When Sophia-J1 stops firing, jump behind it since it will start firing the rain cluster straight ahead at you and charge you again, repeating the pattern.

[TouyaShiro]

Originally posted by jesse.viviano:

Punishing the Sophia-J1's rain cluster pattern was the easiest for me. When it charges you while firing straight ahead, jump over Sophia-J1 and start spamming the crusher shot against Sophia-J1's back while you chase it to maintain minimal distance between the Metal Attacker and Sophia-J1 to avoid the upcoming attack pattern and minimize the number of your crusher shots on screen, allowing you to maximize the amount of times that you can fire the crusher shot due to the limit of 3 crusher shots that you can have on screen. Then when Sophia-J1 starts firing the rain cluster while aiming diagonally, you are already too close for it to hit you. Continue spamming the crusher shot while it fires. When Sophia-J1 stops firing, jump behind it since it will start firing the rain cluster straight ahead at you and charge you again, repeating the pattern.

During my testing, I've found that this is indeed the most consistent pattern to clock big damage in since you can simply stay grounded while shotgunning the Warhead Missiles, so it's FAR easier than the rather risky Ignition Spark strat I've been pushing above as a matter of fact. You won't get as much opportunity to do damage since it will not last as long, but if you read the subsequent pattern right, you should be able to finish that phase of the fight extremely quickly, perhaps even quicker than what I was able to while doing my no damage run.

If you guys are curious about that Ignition Spark strat, by the way, I recorded it here, alongside a bonus where I set out to find if it was possible to fire the Accel Blast outside of the intended weak point.
https://youtu.be/_SGqqWYeeAM
Edit: Also, thanks for reminding me about Rain Cluster. That one's an easy pattern indeed, but I completely forgot to include it above! It's been edited in now.

Originally posted by jamie.osborne1981:

Many thanks! I finished the achievement. I had gotten to where I had survived the blast a few times after studying your notes, but for some reason I couldn't fire my blast. I was using hover to avoid the blast, and I realized I had to position myself central to run to the first side that was safe, then sprint to the other side and climb up the wall to avoid the other two. Once I did this, I warped back, charged up... and history.

Glad you were able to do it! You don't actually need to climb up for the second use of Final Accel Blast, only the third and last one - you just need to be alert to start moving as soon as the first one ends or you won't make it.

I wonder how many people forget about Recoil Jump/Wall Drive during this fight... lol.

Originally posted by jamie.osborne1981:

Wait, so you can use the gaia system to power up the weapons? How?

You might have misread my point above; when I was talking about the J-Gaia System, I was talking about the boss SOPHIA-J1 using it to recharge and not that the Metal Attacker had any access to it.

[jamie.osborne1981]

Originally posted by TouyaShiro:

You might have misread my point above; when I was talking about the J-Gaia System, I was talking about the boss SOPHIA-J1 using it to recharge and not that the Metal Attacker had any access to it.

No, I meant that he was using the Gaia system to power up Ignition Spark. (Last one given greater range as it uses the Gaia System, as you said above.)

How do you do this?

[TouyaShiro]

Originally posted by jamie.osborne1981:

No, I meant that he was using the Gaia system to power up Ignition Spark. (Last one given greater range as it uses the Gaia System, as you said above.)

How do you do this?

Oh, you're basically supposed to do it exactly as Jason does here - if you use Ignition Spark when you activate the Gaia System via landing on the ground, Ignition Spark will have a greater radius, and the ground sparks will travel faster along surfaces. This only activates upon hitting the ground, if I'm not mistaken, so I believe you cannot use Aqua Shift hitting a wall to activate it, nor impacts from taking damage.

[Too lazy to choose a name]

I don't know that I can do Kane vs. Jason and fight as Kane !

[jamie.osborne1981]

It's a matter of learning Jason's patterns. The guy above stated them best. Use your missiles generously to deal damage. At a certain point, Jason will warp. You must get to the warp as fast as possible, otherwise Jason can hurt you, but not vice-versa. In the other round Jason does one of his combo, then he does his ultimate on one side, then the other, then the middle.

You can dodge the first two by being on the other side of the screen, height doesn't matter. But the last you must hover above the blast in the upper corner (either).

Following this, Jason will be out of weapon energy, and he'll warp again, then try using the Gaia system to recharge by bouncing off the wall and landing. As soon as you cross over, attempt to use the Accel blast as fast as possible. It's charge up time is faster than it takes Jason to recharge his full weapon energy.

[TouyaShiro]

Oh god.

So, a DENGEKI Online interview with Satoru Nishizawa just came out... https://dengekionline.com/articles/93156/

This article reveals a bunch of stuff about the production of BMZ3, and goes into spoilers in its latter half. And according to that latter half, it reveals something that honestly kinda scares me a bit - apparently, if you choose to play as the Metal Attacker for the final boss fight, SOPHIA-J1's attack probability is affected by the player's usage of those exact weapons throughout the game prior. So, for example, if you've been abusing the Anti-SF Ammo against bosses you'll have to prepare to see this a lot when you fight it.

This also explains why the J-Crusher Shot+ is pulled out over the regular J-Crusher Shot sometimes - it's entirely dependent on whether or not you used it more!