Frost Shield

Frost Shield (フロストシールド) is the Special Weapon that X obtains from defeating Blizzard Buffalo in Mega Man X3. Despite its name, Frost Shield's uncharged form is actually an icicle-like missile that delays before firing. When the shot hits an enemy or obstacle, it ricochets to the ground, forming a three-pronged ice spike that stays on-screen for a few moments before disappearing. If used underwater, the ice missile becomes a little larger and the three-pronged ice spike doubles in size. Up to two Frost Shield ice missiles can be on the screen at a time.

When fully charged, a spiked ice mass forms on X's arm cannon which will damage anything it touches. As its name implies, a charged Frost Shield can also protect X from harm by blocking some projectiles fired at him. If it isn't destroyed after 9 seconds from the time it was created, the shield will dislodge itself on its own, sliding across the terrain until it breaks or disappears. If X air-dashes with the ice mass formed on his arm cannon, it will instantly shatter to pieces. X is unable to fire a charged Frost Shield while any ice spikes from previous shots are still on the screen. When charged underwater, the Frost Shield becomes an ice boulder that floats to the top of the water's surface where it can be used as a platform before shattering to pieces.

Frost Shield also has a secret beneficial effect, like another Special Weapon, Acid Burst: if certain enemies are destroyed by the Frost Shield -- the Tomborts in Neon Tiger's stage, for example -- they will drop health energy capsules, large or small, every single time. This makes it very useful for filling up Sub Tanks when the player does not have the Head Parts chip from the pink capsule in Blast Hornet's stage equipped.

This weapon is very effective against Toxic Seahorse, Bit, Volt Kurageil and Sigma's standard form.

Damage Data Chart
Damage values in units in Mega Man X3.


 * For Frost Shield, the first value is damage done in its normal state; for the second set of values, the first number is damage done with the spiked Frost Shield in X's buster, and the second number is damage done when it's dislodged. 

Trivia

 * A glitch can occur when using a charged Frost Shield that can cause enemy projectiles to be inexplicably blocked in the air. For this to happen, Mega Man X must be near an enemy that can fire projectiles (such as a Notor Banger or a Head Gunner). The player must first create the ice barrier by charging up Frost Shield, and then air dashing horizontally or vertically (using the Foot Parts) with the Frost Shield still attached to X's buster. This will cause the Frost Shield to shatter to pieces. If done correctly within the trajectories of the enemy's shots, the projectiles will disappear in mid air, sometimes leaving several ice shards behind. This effect will last forever, as long as X doesn't leave the portion of the screen where it happened, or the player doesn't bring up the Weapons screen. This glitch only occurs with projectiles from minor enemies and not from bosses.


 * In the official art of Mega Man X using Frost Shield, his armor is depicted as being navy blue-and-white; in Mega Man X3 however, the color scheme for his sprite is aqua blue-and-magenta, possibly to differentiate itself from X's standard color scheme.