General tips

• Dash Jumping is always faster than dashing on the ground.
• As Zero: Avoid killing enemies and causing overall hitlag in general.
• Getting hit to pass through big enemies is always faster. Also, some big enemies can be cleared with a dash jump.

Enigma Shot & Shuttle

Two major turning points in the game are the Enigma Shot and the Shuttle. It is ideal to let the Enigma Shot succeed, but if that fails, the player still has the option to use the Shuttle (there is more dialogue if enigma shot misses). However, if the shuttle doesn't succeed, then the player permanently loses Zero and the run is literally over.

You can increase the chances of either by collecting their respective parts. However, the chances will never be 100%, even with all four parts of the enigma / shuttle. On the other hand, the chances are also never 0%, meaning the enigma shot and/or the shuttle can succeed without defeating a single maverick; however, these chances are microscopically low and should not be relied on in a single-segment run.

Boss Ranking

Boss Ranking is significant in routing out Mega Man X5. Each maverick boss has a level, which only affects its health (does not affects its patterns nor its damage output), and it can be shown right below the boss's health bar.

Boss level goes up by one for each maverick defeated.

The current player's hunter rank is also involved with the Boss level as such:

• E-A: +0
• SA: +2
• GA: +4
• PA: +8

The number of hours remaining factors into the boss level, with the less time left leading to higher boss rank. Finally, if the virus stages are present, then the boss level goes up by one for each game over AND returning to the stage select you do.

This is only significant for being able to obtain the maverick part, which is available only if the maverick is defeated at level 8 or higher.

Maverick Parts

After defeating a maverick, if it is at least level 4, then the player has a choice to obtain life or energy. If it is at least level 8, however, there will be a plus sign, meaning the player can obtain the boss's corresponding part. The part becomes available two stages after defeating the maverick; for example, if Zero defeats Grizzly Slash at level 8, and chooses energy+, and Zero defeats Axle then Duff afterwards, then Hyper Dash becomes available at the end of Duff's stage. Note that fighting Dynamo counts as a stage, as does entering a level and returning to stage select via escape or game over.

On a standard single-segment speedrun, where Zero stays SA rank for the beginning parts of the game, and does not enigma shot first, you cannot obtain the part from the first two mavericks fight without death abuse. You will obtain parts from all the mavericks beginning from the third maverick and on.

The route partly revolves around which parts become available; it is ideal to get Hyper Dash as early as possible, as it is the most significant part that speeds up your character's movement significantly.

Notable Parts

• Hyper Dash - Grizzly Slash (Energy). This is the number 1 part to get.
• W-Energy Saver - Duff Mcwhalen (Energy). This is primarily useful for being able to use giga attack more often.
• Z-Saber Plus - Axle the Red (Energy). This lets Zero do more damage with SDC, speeding up boss fights a bit.
• Quick Charge - Squid Adler (Life). The only use for this is for X to be able to more quickly defeat Zero in Virus 3 Stage. Still, one of the more important parts.

Tricks and Glitches

Saber Dash Cancel (SDC)

As Zero: This move consist on using the first slash and dash alternately on bosses or enemies (This can also be done in X4 and X6).

The game doesn't lag when doing it and most bosses don't have invincibility frames when you hit them with it.