History GameBreaker / MegaManBattleNetwork

** The first is Area Grab, which steals an entire row from your opponent, giving you more space and restricting enemy movement. It also lets you make better use of short-range attacks. Such is its utility that Area Grab * is perceived as one of the best chips in the entire series.

* Anti-damage. There are several chips of this type, but each are specific counters to types of chips (Anti-fire, anti-wood, even Anti-navi and Anti-recover), but as the name implies, Anti-damage will counter ANY source of damage. By which we mean it negates the attack and fires back with a near instantaneous barrage of nigh-undodgeable shurikens. [=BN3=]'s Anti-damage fired off three shurikens for 100 damage each, and these chips were UNLIMITED. It was nerfed in later games to only throw one, and made so some attacks could bypass it, but still a respectable chip in its own right.

** Gater is a Program Advance that deals 900 damage[[note]] ''Before'' boosting, this Program Advance hits all hostile targets nine times each for 100 damage a hit, and Attack Plus chips raise the damage of each individual hit, so Attack Plus 10 boosts it to 990 damage, Plus 20 to 1080, and Plus 30 to 1170[[/note]], freezes time, and hits everywhere. Two components of the PA (Wind and Fan) can be obtained in the * code from a merchant in Netopia; while the final piece (any of the [=GateMan's=] Navi Chips) can be acquired by battling Mr. Famous. You can first assemble this shortly after defeating [=ThunderMan=], and this can make mincemeat of almost everything up till the endgame once you draw the right chips.
** Bodyguard distributes eighteen 100-damage hits, which can single-handedly destroy most bosses. However, the components are not easy to assemble, as one of the pieces is a notoriously rare [=DropDown=] chip.
** The [=LifeSword=] Program Advance has three variations, the third doing 600 damage. The component chips [=(FireBlade, AquaBlade, and ElecBlade)=] are all obtained from merchants scattered across the net, removing the need to grind, but what really sells this is that they can be obtained in *-code from the BonusDungeon [=GMDs=].

* The Air Hockey series of battle chips takes advantage of this perk the most. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a965t3iHCvE You know it's broken when even the Bonus Boss easily falls to this]]. That's 3000+ damage in under 11 seconds with no Program Advance in sight. Even [=BassXX=] (the STRONGEST form of Bass, only accessible via e-reader, hacking or playing the Wii U re-release which allows you to bring him out without any of the previous 2 methods) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsU4qvb4mU8 can be defeated in less than 10 seconds with this trick, all with just 4 Air Hockey chips and Area Grab.]]
* With the introduction of the Emotion Window comes the Humour bug. By bugging the Humour program, Megaman constantly shifts between moods every couple seconds. While tired and normal are the most common, he enters Angry and Full Synchro fairly often, allowing a player to exclusively use chips at double strength if they're patient and have good aligning/spacing for chips that require it.

* In general, there are 2 chips that are agreed to be the most game-changing chips in the series:

** Full Custom instantly fills the Custom Gauge, letting you immediately access new chips after expending what you've loaded. It always comes in *-code so it goes into any folder. In multiplayer, it forces an opponent with unexpended chips to consider discarding them for a new hand. This chip was an even bigger problem in the second game where it debuted, as the player could put ''five'' of them in their folder, allowing the player to demolish bosses by unloading Program Advances in quick succession. Its MB requirement was also very low, allowing anyone to use it as a Regular Chip without needing to search for many [=RegUp=] items. Later games rebalanced it by both increasing the MB requirement and allowing the player to only run 1 copy of it in any folder.

* Certain attacks are considered game-breaking and thus frowned upon in one-on-one [=NetBattles=].

** Battle Network 2 other has several powerful Program Advances. Life Sword 3's components are all easily obtainable in *-code so it can be used anywhere (although these only appear in the BonusDungeon). Bodyguard deals eighteen 100-damage hits (before boosting), allowing it to singlehandedly destroy most bosses at once. [=UltraBomb=] ([=LilBomb+CrossBomb+BigBomb=]) hits a 3x3 area for 400 damage, cracks all panels within, and ''pierces armor'', meaning that not even Dominerds were safe.

* Folder Back from ''Battle Network 3 Blue'' returns every chip to your folder, including ''itself''. It also functions as a Full Custom, restoring the turn gauge so you can instantly pick your freshly recycled chips and continue your assault. And it's got the * code, which means it goes in ''everything''. Folder Back becomes available as soon as the player gets free access to Hades Isle, which requires clearing the Desertman scenario, and can be purchased for 200 Bugfrags -- which are easy to farm in this game.

** Gater is a Program Advance that deals 900 damage[[note]] ''Before'' boosting, this Program Advance hits all hostile targets nine times each for 100 damage a hit, and Attack Plus chips raise the damage of each individual hit, so Attack Plus 10 boosts it to 990 damage, Plus 20 to 1080, and Plus 30 to 1170[[/note]], freezes time, and hits everywhere. Two components of the PA (Wind and Fan) can be obtained in the * code from a merchant in Netopia; while the final piece (any of the [=Gateman.EXE's=] Navi Chips) can be acquired by battling Mr. Famous.
** Battle Network 2 has several powerful Program Advances. Life Sword 3's components are all easily obtainable in *-code so it can be used anywhere (although these only appear in the BonusDungeon). Bodyguard deals eighteen 100-damage hits (before boosting), allowing it to singlehandedly destroy most bosses at once. [=UltraBomb=] ([=LilBomb+CrossBomb+BigBomb=]) hits a 3x3 area for 400 damage, cracks all panels within, and ''pierces armor'', meaning that not even Dominerds were safe.

* [=SnakeMan=] is easy to set up (some Area Grabbing, Geddon for holes), deals massive damage especially after boosting, and doesn't give MercyInvincibility upon hitting. It is, alongside Gater, considered the easiest and cheapest folder to pick up and kill bosses.

* While ''Falzar'' is generally seen as having a stronger set of [=GigaChips=], ''Gregar'' makes up for it by having quite possibly the single best (non-promotional) chip in the game with [=ColonelForce=]. The chip spawns, column-by-column for every open panel the player has, a Colonel soldier that shoots forward with 3x30-damage, nearly-instant ''paralyzing'' shots. The chip effectively covers the entire field, locks the opponent into eating the rest of the attack as soon as a single shot hits, and most of the damage-boosting strategies for multi-hitting chips work here. But perhaps the most shocking aspect of [=ColonelForce=] is that it is ''not'' a time-freezing chip, meaning that Beast Out not only adds its usual +30 attack but can gleefully pelt the opponent with the rapid-firing Gregar Buster while the chip plays out. It is so oppressive that it almost single-handedly forces an emphasis on field control against Gregar players to mitigate its damage.

*** In [=BN2=] this combo existed in the form of the Program Advance, Arrows [[note]]Double Needle + Triple Needle + Quadruple Needle C or I[[/note]], which fires 10 arrows each doing 100 damage per hit before damage modifications were factored. It is technically the true origin of the silver bullet combo. A notable thing to mention is that [=BN2=] is the only game that allowed you to use more than one [=Atk+30=] chip in their folder (all sequential entries made [=Atk+30=] a Mega chip -- preventing you from having more than one of them in your folder), meaning that two of these added to the [=PA=] increases the individual damage to 160 per arrow, or 1600 total damage. Most bosses in [=BN2=], even most [=V3=] bosses, rarely had more than 2000 health, so getting off two of these effectively ends the fight.

** Darkness is also an extremely strong PA (hits every panel of the enemy area for 3,000 piercing damage), but since it's formed by Bass v3 + [=AntiNavi=] + Any of the Gospel Breath chips, all in X code, it couldn't be performed outside of Japan before the [=WiiU=] and Legacy Collection versions. Furthermore, by the time you can acquire Bass v3 in the BonusDungeon, it is essentially a BraggingRightsReward.

* While ''Falzar'' is generally seen as having a stronger set of [=GigaChips=], ''Gregar'' makes up for it for having quite possibly the single best (non-promotional) chip in the game with [=ColonelForce=]. The chip spawns, column-by-column for every open panel the player has, a Colonel soldier that shoots forward with 3x30-damage, nearly-instant ''paralyzing'' shots. The chip effectively covers the entire field, locks the opponent into eating the rest of the attack as soon as a single shot hits, and most of the damage-boosting strategies for multi-hitting chips work here. But perhaps the most shocking aspect of [=ColonelForce=] is that it is ''not'' a time-freezing chip, meaning that Beast Out not only adds its usual +30 attack but can gleefully pelt the opponent with the rapid-firing Gregar Buster while the chip plays out. It is so oppressive that it almost single-handedly forces an emphasis on field control against Gregar players to mitigate its damage.

* Three Navi chips in this series become quick competitive staples, mainly because the player can obtain them in *-code to throw them into any folder they desire.

* Three of the [[BoringButPractical most basic and common chips]] in the game and a couple of attack enhancers are pretty much all you need to steamroll through it: Reflector blocks most attacks while instantly hitting the entire row with a beam (and can deliver some easy counter hits). Mach Gun sets a crosshair that moves up and down from the bottom of the column with the nearest enemy and hits viruses 3 or more times, which tends to outclass Vulcan chips in performance. Train Arrow creates a line of arrows between you and the enemy. Its power can be doubled by Spout Cross. Both their first and second versions share a code, maintaining their relevance by the end of the game. Even the third version of each can be set together, though it is unfortunately a lot more tricky to collect those. Even in [=PvP=], Reflector and Mach Gun are considered viable chips respectively for avoiding damage + counterattacking, and removing any Anti- chip effects the opponent might have + forcing a Falzar player out of Ground Cross or Dust Cross.

* Three of the [[BoringButPractical most basic and common chips]] in the game and a couple of attack enhancers are pretty much all you need to steamroll through it: Reflector blocks most attacks while instantly hitting the entire row with a beam (and can deliver some easy counter hits). Mach Gun sets a crosshair that moves up and down from the bottom of the column with the nearest enemy and hits viruses 3 or more times, which tends to outclass Vulcan chips in performance. Arrow Train creates a line of arrows between you and the enemy. Its power can be doubled by Spout Cross. Both their first and second versions share a code, maintaining their relevance by the end of the game. Even the third version of each can be set together, though it is unfortunately a lot more tricky to collect those. Even in [=PvP=], Reflector and Mach Gun are considered viable chips respectively for avoiding damage + counterattacking, and removing any Anti- chip effects the opponent might have + forcing a Falzar player out of Ground Cross or Dust Cross.

* [=MegaMan=] can enter Chaos Unison by sacrificing Dark Chips for a [[PowerOfFriendship Soul Unison]]. The transformation causes [=MegaMan=]'s Charge Shot to rapidly cycle between purple and green states. Releasing the charge when it's green cancels the Chaos Unison and spawns an invincible [=DarkMega=] on the opponent's side of the field, but releasing the charge while it's purple activates the Dark Chip's effect with no ill consequences. Though this mechanic is meant to encourage high-risk/high-reward gameplay, the beneficial outcome can be reliably achieved through PauseScumming.

** Numberball is particularly ridiculous in Wii U version since the communication option let you get a single copy of every secret chip in every code from the get go. That means 3 copies of Numberball 3, 2, and 1 right from the start of the game. With the Chip Order system, you can streamline them into 4 copy of a single code.

** Numberball is particularly ridiculous in Wii U version since the communication option let you get a single copy of every secret chip in every code from the get go. That means 3 copy of Numberball 3, 2, and 1 right from the start of the game. With the Chip Order system, you can streamline them into 4 copy of a single code.

* Number Ball stands out as one of the most ridiculous Secret Chip from the free tournament. It’s a dimming chip that sends out Numberball in a straight line, doing damage to the first enemy it hit equal to the last 2 digits of Megaman's HP, and since you can simply take damage to control the amount of damage it does, its fairly simple to do 90 damage per hit and in some cases you can reach 95 or 99 on the last 2 digits. Version 1 does 3 hits, version 2 does 4 hits, and version 3 does 5 hits for a chip that does 270 damage to 450 damage. While the chip existed in Battle Network 5 and 6 and is still quite good, it’s ridiculous in ''4'' due to being a Standard class chip allowing you to run 4 copies of it in a single folder instead of Mega in ''5'' and single copy restricted in ''6''. The only weakness of the chip was its reliant of HP count can potentially be annoying with your HP memory acquirance and taking hits during the fight, but outside of Tournament scenario that force you to be at Max HP, you can simply control your HP count for a ridiculously overpowered damage output.

* Number Ball stands out as one of the most ridiculous Secret Chip from the free tournament. It’s a dimming chip that sends out Numberball in a straight line, doing damage to the first enemy it hit equal to the last 2 digits of Megaman's HP, and since you can simply take damage to control the amount of damage it does, its fairly simple to do 90 damage per hit and in some cases you can reach 95 or 99 on the last 2 digits. Version 1 does 3 hits, version 2 does 4 hits, and version 3 does 5 hits for a chip that does 270 damage to 450 damage. While the chip existed in Battle Network 5 and 6 and is still quite good, it’s ridiculous in ''4'' due to being a Standard class chip allowing you to run 4 copy of in a single folder instead of Mega in ''5'' and single copy restricted in ''6''. The only weakness of the chip was its reliant of HP count can potentially be annoying with your HP memory acquirance and taking hits during the fight, but outside of Tournament scenario that force you to be at Max HP, you can simply control your HP count for a ridiculously overpowered damage output.

* Number Ball stands out as one of the most ridiculous Secret Chip from the free tournament. It’s a dimming chip that sends out Numberball in a straight line, doing damage to the first enemy it hit equal to the last 2 digits of Megaman's HP, and since you can simply take damage to control the amount of damage it does, its fairly simple to do 90 damage per hit and in some cases you can reach 95 or 99 on the last 2 digits. Version 1 does 3 hits, version 2 does 4 hits, and version 3 does 5 hits for a chip that does 270 damage to 450 damage. While the chip existed in Battle Network 5 and 6 and is still quite good, its ridiculous in ''4'' due to being a Standard class chip alowing you to run 4 copy of in a single folder instead of Mega in ''5'' and single copy restricted in ''6''. The only weakness of the chip was its reliant of HP count can potentially be annoying with your HP memory acquirance and taking hits during the fight, but outside of Tournament scenario that force you to be at Max HP, you can simply control your HP count for a ridiculously overpowered damage output.

* Number Ball stands out as one of the most ridiculous Secret Chip from the free tournament. Its a dimming chip that sends out Numberball in a straight line, doing damage to the first enemy it hit equal to the last 2 digits of Megaman's HP, and since you can simply take damage to control the amount of damage it does, its fairly simple to do 90 damage per hit and in some cases you can reach 95 or 99 on the last 2 digits. Version 1 does 3 hits, version 2 does 4 hits, and version 3 does 5 hits for a chip that does 270 damage to 450 damage. While the chip existed in Battle Network 5 and 6 and is still quite good, its ridiculous in ''4'' due to being a Standard class chip alowing you to run 4 copy of in a single folder instead of Mega in ''5'' and single copy restricted in ''6''. The only weakness of the chip was its reliant of HP count can potentially be annoying with your HP memory acquirance and taking hits during the fight, but outside of Tournament scenario that force you to be at Max HP, you can simply control your HP count for a ridiculously overpowered damage output.

* Guts Soul is quite a doozy for a soul that is guaranteed as the very first soul in the Red Sun version. It requires panel breaking chip which is pretty easy to include in a folder due to the Crack series being commonly available even in Asterisk code. During the duration of Guts Soul, it gives you Guts Style's Buster Machine Gun that renders you invincible, and 60 damage Guts Punch as a charge shot. What makes the soul ridiculous is its battle chip damage bonus, as it give +30 damage for every non-elemental chip. Already ridiculously sizable in its own right with the Vulcan series of chips, the boost affects dimming chips such as Navi and even Giga chips. In particular, Videoman, Kendoman, Numberball, Holy Dream, and Bass are all dimming multi hitting chips. This passive effect is so powerful, that for the remainder of the series, passive damage boost no longer affects dimming chip outside of Numberman's Soul which boosts damage by 10, and when its reintroduced in Battle Network 6, it become a part of the PurposefullyOverpowered Beast Out, and no longer boosts dimming chips.

* Guts Soul is quite a doozy for a soul that is guaranteed as the very first soul in the Red Sun version. It requires panel breaking chip which is pretty easy to include in a folder due to the Crack series being commonly alvailable even in Asterisk code. During the duration of Guts Soul, it gives you Guts Style's Buster Machine Gun that renders you invincible, and 60 damage Guts Punch as a charge shot. What makes the soul ridiculous is its battle chip damage bonus, as it give +30 damage for every non-elemental chip. Already ridiculously sizable in its own right with the Vulcan series of chips, the boost affects dimming chips such as Navi and even Giga chips. In particular, Videoman, Kendoman, Numberball, Holy Dream, and Bass are all dimming multi hitting chips. This passive effect is so powerful, that for the remainder of the series, passive damage boost no longer affects dimming chip outside of Numberman's Soul which boosts damage by 10, and when its reintroduced in Battle Network 6, it become a part of the PurposefullyOverpowered Beast Out, and no longer boosts dimming chips.

* The Meteor chip causes 30 meteors to rain down the enemy area, dealing 40 damage per hit. If the opponent is locked to a single panel, they will be hit by all 30 meteors, for a total 1200 damage. By stacking attack-boosting chips, Meteor can instantly kill even the {{Bonus Boss}}es.

*** [=BN3=] has the Bubbleman [=NaviChip=], which had the benefit of doing Aqua damage, benefiting from Navi AND Aqua boosting chips, and to top it all off freezes time, ensuring that all the hits land at once. Many folders have been built around stacking as much damage into a Bubbleman chip, then unleashing it to shred the target's health.

** The key to the strategy are damage plus chips. In earlier games, there exists variation for every element, and Navi Chip adding +20 to +40 damage. The basic Attack Plus chips exist in +10, +20, and +30 variations. Eventually the entire elemental variations of these chips are removed, leaving Attack +10 and +30, Navi +20, and the Colorpoint series. Of these, ATK+30 and Double Point stand out as the GameBreaker due to the sizable boost they offer that can be applied on every chip. Fittingly they are some of the latest chip that can be acquired in the games, notably being locked to the NewGamePlus for both in ''4'', and Program Advance completion door in the post game for Double Point in ''5''.

** The key to the strategy are damage plus chips. In earlier games, there exists variation for every element, and Navi Chip adding +20 to +40 damage. The basic Attack Plus chips exist in +10, +20, and +30 variations. Eventually the entire elemental variations of these chips are removed, leaving Attack +10 and +30, Navi +20, and the Colorpoint series. Of these ATK+30 and Double Point stands out as the GameBreaker due to the sizable boost they offers that can be applied on every chip. Fittingly they are some of the latest chip that can be acquired in the games, notably being locked to the NewGamePlus for both in ''4'', and Program Advance completion door in the post game for Double Point in ''5''.

** The key to the strategy are damage plus chips. In earlier games, there exists variation for every element, and Navi Chip adding +20 to +40 damage. The basic Attack Plus chips exist in +10, +20, and +30 variations. Eventually the entire elemental variations of these chips are removed, leaving Attack +10 and +30, Navi +20, and and the Colorpoint series. Of these ATK+30 and Double Point stands out as the GameBreaker due to the sizable boost they offers that can be applied on every chip. Fittingly they are some of the latest chip that can be acquired in the games, notably being locked to the NewGamePlus for both in ''4'', and Program Advance completion door in the post game for Double Point in ''5''.

** The key to the strategy are damage plus chips. In earlier games, there exists variation for every element, and Navi Chip adding +20 to +40 damage. The basic Attack Plus chips exists in +10, +20, and +30 variations. Eventually the entire elemental variations of these chips are removed, leaving Attack +10 and +30, Navi +20, and and the Colorpoint series. Of these ATK+30 and Double Point stands out as the GameBreaker due to the sizable boost they offers that can be applied on every chip. Fittingly they are some of the latest chip that can be acquired in the games, notably being locked to the NewGamePlus for both in ''4'', and Program Advance completion door in the post game for Double Point in ''5''.