Noise Change

Noise Change (ノイズチェンジ) is a new transformation system introduced in Mega Man Star Force 3. These are similar to Style Changes, where Mega Man is only able to keep one at a time, but enters battle in his equipped Noise Change; and DoubleSoul and the Cross System, where the forms and their abilities are based off other characters, usually former bosses. Each noise has its own special attributes, along with a special Noise Force Big Bang (NFB) that is gained through countering enemies, just like its predecessors the Link Force Big Bang and Star Force Big Bang from the previous two games.

Earning a Noise Change


Noise Changes largely depend on the Noise Gauge, and undergo some changes as the Noise Gauge reaches different levels. The player gains their first Noise Change after a certain point in the plot. After which, when they finish a battle with Giant viruses, they stand a chance to get a different Noise Change. If it is a new Noise Change that they have not used before, they will be able to see some of the new Noise's abilities before confirming if they wish to switch to the new Noise Change. Afterwards, a mail is sent to the player detailing all the Noise Change's abilities.

Black Ace and Red Joker each have their exclusive Noise Changes, but in a rare occurrence the player may get a Noise Change from the opposing version, i.e. if there is a noise form that has a 15% chance of occurring in Red Joker, it will only have a 3% chance of occurring in Black Ace. However, Rogue has a 10% chance of occurring in both versions. Additionally, in National Astro Wave 1 there is a Noism that can revert the player to their previously equipped Noise Change. This does not apply to Rogue Noise, however.

Noise Change Basics

 * See also: Noise Gauge

The Noise Gauge appears on the top-right corner of the top screen by equipping the Ace/Joker Program, an Ability Wave that has no cost. Doing so will also allow them to begin their battles in their selected Noise Change instead of the standard-form MegaMan. Starting at 0% noise, the player increases their Noise level largely by doing damage. In single player, exceeding 100% noise will generate several effects. All attacks will pierce invisible, and some panels may seem to disappear or "glitch". In PvP, this only happens upon exceeding 200% noise, along with the player's HP count turning red to signal this to the opponent.

While equipped with a certain Noise Change, after fighting through several battles, the player will receive a special Ability Wave alongside any rewards reaped from the last battle. These Ability Waves require less Link Power to equip compared to other Ability Waves obtained through other means, and the player can only obtain one copy of each special Ability Wave. About 100 battles are required for the first Ability Wave, and 250 for the second one. Noise Changes that award only one Ability Wave award it at around 200 battles or so.

Noise Form and Vibrant Noise
Between 0% to 50% noise, the Noise Change starts at its Noise Form (Form Out) stage, where the player has access only to some of its innate abilities. Once the gauge exceeds 50%, the equipped Noise Change will enter Vibrant Noise Form (Color Out), where the player has access to all of its abilities, including its element, Charge Shot, and NFB. Each Noise Change has a weakness to a certain type of attack, and when hit by its weakness, it will revert to the Form Out stage at 0% noise. The gauge will also decrease steadily down to 50%. If the player finishes a battle at over 100% noise, Mega Man starts his next battle at 50% noise, in the Vibrant Noise form of his selected Noise Change.

Multi-Noise
Brother Cards and Opponent Noise can be used to initiate Multi-Noise Form (Merge Out), which combines the abilities of both Noise Changes, and changes the player's element, Charge Shot and NFB to match the latter Noise Change. Using Multi-Noise force the meter to 50%, which also sets the Multi-Noise to its Vibrant Noise stage. Performing another Multi-Noise while already under the effects of one will override the previous one, without changing the player's base Noise. (e.g. Merging with Wolf Noise while using Virgo x Taurus will result in Virgo x Wolf) Getting hit by the Multi-Noise's new weakness will revert the player to his base Noise Form stage of his initial Noise, at 0%.

The player must not have any other real-life Brothers to get Rogue Noise, and so Rogue Noise cannot perform Multi-Noise. Rogue Noise also cannot be held by the Noism as a reserve Noise Change.

Finalized Noise


At noise levels of 200% or higher, the player can initiate Finalized Noise through the Custom Screen. This is when the screen prompts the player whether they want to initiate Finalized Noise by accessing the Meteor Server by showing a button saying "Meteor Server Access".

Initiating Finalized Noise will transform Mega Man to either Black Ace or Red Joker, depending on the version that is being played. Doing so will also cause his noise level to drop to 0%. Additionally, when the Meteor Server is accessed, the player switches to a Meteor Server folder which contains several powerful Battle Cards, inclusive of the NFBs from the other Noises and their exclusive NFB. Finalized Noises have no element or weakness, but expire after three turns, causing the player to revert to the Noise Form stage of his equipped Noise Change at 0% noise.

The Meteor Server folder has different levels, going higher as the player reaches higher noise levels above 200%. Higher levels contain more powerful Battle Cards, starting from LV1 at 200% noise and ending at LV11 at 999.9% noise. (A code exists to raise the Finalize Level by 1, giving the player a secret LV12 Folder if they use it and Finalize at max noise. Use multiple of Purpose Card 'Ultimate Finalize' by brother band, but the maximum level is 12.) They also tend to be unrestricted by the usual rules of folder building and support, and can contain multiple Giga Cards (inclusive of NFBs which are considered so) inside, with no worry about cards being dimmed out. As a result, a player in finalized Noise may use many Giga Cards to create some devastating combinations.

Finalized Noises can further be customized through use of Purpose Card codes. These give abilities to the Finalized Noises, and can change their Charge Shot (as they do not have one of their own). The abilities from Purpose Card codes are shared throughout the Battle Team, and any card boosts will stack. However, these are exclusive to the Japanese version.

List of Noise Changes
While the first five Noise Changes appear more frequently in Black Ace, and the next five in Red Joker, it is possible (but rare) to acquire Noise Changes attributed to the opposing version of one's game. Rogue Noise has the same (albeit low) encounter rate in both versions.

Trivia

 * Counting all Noise Changes, including Multi Noise and Finalized noise, there are a total of 103 Noise Changes.
 * A Harp Noise was planned, but it was rejected.
 * Early drafts of the Noise Change system, as indicated by teasers, were supposed to involve MegaMan's Noise Change slowly taking form as he accumulates Noise, before fully reaching its Vibrant Noise stage at 50%.
 * It seems this system was based on Beast Out and Cross System used in Mega Man Battle Network 6.
 * Both Noise Forms and the Cross System feature 5 standard forms based on other characters and are different based on what version it is.
 * Both the Finalized Noises and Beast Out are the most powerful forms in their games (if you discount Cross Beast for the latter), are version exclusives, and are based on characters introduced in their featured game. Said characters these forms were based on also opposed on another (Acid Ace and Dread Joker for the former, Falzar and Gregar for the later).
 * The fact that Black Ace and Red Joker's concept designs were more avian and bestial respectively may also allude to them being inspired by the Falzar and Gregar Beast Outs.
 * Both the standard Noise Forms and Cross System feature fusion. The Noise Forms mix with one another, while the Cross System can be used in tandem with Beast Out