Chapter 17: Phazon Mutants
Don't forget to pick up the Flamethrower near the entrance of the mines.
We'll now be going deep down into the third level of the mines where the Phazon concentration is highest. On the way we'll pick up a few more items. Save your game off the Main Quarry then head over to the Security Access A room, inside you can find Missile PM.02 behind a damaged wall. Next go through to the Mine Security Station and clear out all the enemies.
Blow open the wall up near the door in the ceiling with a Power Bomb. Scan the console concealed there to deactivate the force field down below. Go through the red door behind the force field to find the Flamethrower item in the room beyond. This devastator is the Plasma Beam/Missile combo attack, when active you'll unleash a barrage of continuous fire, the ultimate corridor-clearer.
With this gem in hand, you'll now be heading down to the Metroid Quarantine A room on the second level of the mines. On the way you'll pass through the Elite Research room. Now that you've got a whole stash of Power Bombs, lay one near the cryotube to blow the tank open, releasing the Phzon Elite inside.
Scan the creature, and for tips on defeating it refer to the bosses guide. Defeat the creature to earn the Artifact of Warrior, now there's only one artifact left to find. Keep going on to the Metroid Quarantine A room on the second level.
Watch out when you reach the Dynamo Access room, an Elite Pirate will break out and confront you. Defeat it and continue on. Once you reach Metroid Quarantine A the power will go out and you'll be plunged into darkness. Use the Thermal Visor to track the Metroids flying around to take them down easily. Use the X-Ray Visor to see the moving platforms out in the cavernous Phazon-filled area.
Most rooms in the mines contain deadly Phazon deposits.
Jump onto the giant fungi on the left to reach the platforms, then cross the canyon. Before going through the door way up in the corner you can find Missile PM.06. After grabbing the missile use the sloping Spider Ball tracks on the walls to reach the door. Watch out for the three Burrowers in the next room, then head through the red door at the end. Inside you'll find an elevator leading down to level three, so ride it down.
This level of the mines is the weirdest part of the planet you'll be visiting (apart from the Impact Crater). Go through to the adjacent shaft and watch out for the Space Pirate below. Drop down to the door below, just don't fall into the Phazon below. There's a missile hiding under one of the giant mushrooms below, but you'll take heavy damage if you try to reach it now.
The next cave contains Hunter Metroids - scan one and watch out as they'll often try to whip you with their tentacles. Treat them as you would an ordinary Metroid to take them down. Climb across the giant mushrooms scattered about, around the corner you'll spot a Glider - these guys must somehow be immune to the effects of Phazon. Use the Glider to swing across to the next group of mushrooms, you'll then be able to reach the next door.
Blow open the boulder in the next tunnel and roll into the opening. Go through the winding tunnel while avoiding the Phazon along the ground (use the Boost Ball to get past the disappearing blocks). At the bottom of the tunnel is the final artifact's resting place, but you can't reach it yet due to the Phazon along the ground. The next fungal hall is almost pitch-black, so use the Thermal Visor to see.
Defeat all the Metroids in the room, from here you can reach the Missile Reload Station up halfway through the tunnel (use the Glider to reach it). You'll also find Missile PM.08 near the end of the tunnel. The next small room houses invisible Pulse Bombus, use the X-Ray Visor to see them. In the following room - Metroid Quarantine B - you'll be attacked by red Space Pirates, scan one to reveal them as Plasma Troopers, so use the Plasma Beam to defeat them.
The deepest region of the mines house plenty of Plasma Troopers.
Cross the large canyon filled with Phazon via the Spider Ball track and the Grapple Point on the roof. Once on the other side, shut down the force field by scanning the console on the left. Defeat the Plasma Trooper and the two Wave Troopers in the area beyond. In this area you'll find the final Pirate Data entry, Special Forces. You can also find Missile PM.09 in here.
Go through the red door at the end of the room to save your game, and at this point make sure you have eight Power Bombs available. Once your game's saved, climb up the metal ramp and go around to the next red door. Inside you'll find a room with a Plasma Trooper guarding, defeat it then look up at the large pylons blocking the next door.
Scanning the blockage reveals that the pylons may open if the overhead locking mechanism is thawed out - it's covered in ice. Shoot the ice with the Plasma Beam to melt it, then you'll be able to access the red door.
You'll now be in the mammoth Elite Quarters room, and there's a very nasty sight in the center of the room. You may remember reading some Pirate info earlier that mentioned something about a highly advanced creature excelling in Phazon application - the creature in the cryotube ahead is the most advanced Pirate infused with Phazon - the Omega Pirate.
This gargantuan creature will take a massive pummeling before going down, and there's a few tricky strategies you can use to defeat it. Walk forward to give it a rude awakening, once it smashes its way out of the tank it'll attack. Refer to the bosses guide for some juicy tips on defeating this monstrous mutation.
Upon defeating this hideous Pirate creation, the monster will leer at Samus before full-on falling over and flattening her. No, this isn't the end of our favorite heroine, once the Omega Pirate explodes after massive amounts of Phazon seep out of it, Samus will emerge with her Power Suit changed to a jet-black color. This part of the game is a little strange.
The X-Ray Visor will help in the Omega Pirate boss fight.
You'll now have the Phazon Suit, in which pure Phazon has become infused into Samus' Power Suit. The way this suit works is a little weird. Firstly, the game tells you that the corruption caused by the Phazon renders you immune to the Phazon pools scattered around the mines, so you can walk around on them without taking damage.
Secondly, you'll also have the Phazon Beam - a high-powered Beam Weapon that only works when you're standing on pure Phazon pools, but that only comes into play at the end of the game. Finally, somehow (thank God), Samus herself is protected from the Phazon in her suit so her actual body isn't affected by it.
The info you'll find on the Pause Screen talks about her suit becoming corrupted by Phazon, but normally when something's corrupted by something else there's a load of bad things eventuating, but there's absolutely no "bad" side-effects of having the Phazon Suit/Beam, in fact you'll need them both to complete the game.