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Guard Shell generates a small energy shield to protect X and Zero. When a projectile hits the shield, the shield flashes for a moment before it deflects the projectile back at the source. Note that erecting the shield does not consume Weapon Energy - only when a projectile is blocked and deflected from the shield (except for Zero, as Weapon Energy is used for erecting the shield and deflecting shots). Some projectiles however may not be blocked at all, by going through the shield and actually harming X or Zero instead.
While the functions for Guard Shell are essentially the same for both Maverick Hunters, there are some technical differences. For X, this shield can be set to any position - in front, above or below X - by pressing the Weapon Button while holding nothing or forward, UP or DOWN on the D-pad, respectively. X can deactivate the Guard Shell at any time by pressing the Weapon Button again without consuming any Weapon Energy. The player can also move the position of X's shield by deactivating it and switching it to any position the player sees fit. When charged, X generates four scallop shells that stay on all four corners of the screen and fire buster shots at enemies.
For Zero, however, the player cannot change the position of his shield nor can it be deactivated at will (unless switching to Yammar Option or by choosing another technique on the menu screen). To compensate for this, Zero can still use his Z-Saber and his Z-Buster in conjunction with the shield. With the exception of Yammar Option, Zero can also use his special techniques while still having the shield activated.
To note, Guard Shell actually has a glitch causes your other attacks to multi-hit every frame while your shield is in contact with an enemy. This glitch applies to Zero's Z-Saber, Z-Buster, Blade Armor X's Charge Shot, Charge Saber, Mach Dash, and Ultimate Armor X's Charge Shot. Along with the Dash-Saber trick, this is ultimately the most destructive weapon in the game.
This weapon is Infinity Mijinion's primary weakness, inflicting 8 units of damage against him if one of his sphere projectiles are deflected back at him. The charged version of X's Guard Shell, however, only does 2 units of damage, but can still stun and slam Mijinion against a wall.
In the Rockman X6 Beta, the charged version of Guard Shell was a lot different. In the beta, the attack instead shoots the shell like a ping-pong ball for it to bounce around and hit enemies. There's also a bug where the shell is black, which is fixed with an air dash.[1]
Guard Shell (X)
Guard Shell (Zero)
.gif "X6 GuardShell(X).gif (113 KB)")
2.gif "X6 GuardShell(X)2.gif (1.82 MB)")
.gif "X6 GuardShell(Z).gif (125 KB)")
