Metal Pirates Room
| Metal Pirates Room | |
|---|---|
| Zone | Lower Norfair |
| Subzone | Lower Norfair/East |
| Hazard | Heated |
| Plowerhouse Room | Adjacent rooms | Wasteland |
|---|---|---|
The Metal Pirates will each make themselves vulnerable if Samus is on the set of three square blocks that the pirate centers its movement around. The best way to handle this changes depending on the category.
Although the pirates turn gold when they're vulnerable, the sprite change does not always match up perfectly with the vulnerability. So sometimes a pirate might bounce a shot while it's still gold.
The pirates are also vulnerable for a brief window after they shoot their projectiles, but relying on this is unlikely to be viable for humans.
Contents
Any% KPDR
Two charged Plasma shots will kill the pirates once they become vulnerable, or a single shot each if the shot hits twice.
When you leave the room for the Plowerhouse Room, it's advantageous to have a shot charged in order to freeze the first Holtz in the next room. Angle up if you're on the ground, or shoot it straight if you're airborne.
Beginner
You can take each pirate one at a time, staying on their center of movement. The pirates are also vulnerable to uncharged Plasma shots, so you may find a charged shot plus three uncharged shots to be more convenient for this strat.
Intermediate
You can wait for the first pirate to jump, and then fire a shot that hits twice while manipulating the second pirate into its jump.
With this strat, you don't have enough time to charge the beam to freeze the Holtz in the next room, so one option is to get a kago or downwards dboost to set up for the run through the acid.
Optimal
The fastest method of killing the pirates is to manipulate both pirates into attacking, then use a single charge shot to hit one pirate twice and the other once, then use another charge shot to both finish off the remaining pirate, and open the door.
100%/GT Classic
The optimal KPDR strat is used here, along with a Space Jump into Springball strat through the next two rooms.
Pastebin explaining this video
Any% PRKD
Since this category doesn't have Plasma and wants to preserve Super Missiles for the Ridley fight, the optimal strategy involves a shinespark to kill each pirate.
Low% Ice
This category and others that do not collect Speedbooster use three Super Missiles for each pirate.
Two double hits are possible and at least one can be done consistently, making the ammo required for the room equal to 4 or 5 Supers. This technique also saves time, on average, in pre-Ridley farm, since less Super drops are needed.
Exiting the Room
On the way out of the room, most categories simply run through at least one of the pirates, shooting them as you go through them to avoid damage. This works for these pirates even without using Plasma Beam to "hitbox" them.
If you morph through the transition to Wasteland, this might allow you to go through the door faster by making your hitbox smaller, both because you have less chance of bonking the door before it's fully open, and because you can get more run speed and jump later.
If you're doing the Reverse Plowerhouse, you can Space Jump right before each pirate -- this manipulates them into a pattern that allows the sound queues to be empty when you hit the door. The right side pirate will usually spin jump anyway, but if you can avoid the left side pirate spinning, that can significantly reduce door processing time.
