Neutral Armor

The Neutral Armor is the standard base Armor Set from Mega Man X8. The base Armor itself gives X no enhancements on its own. However, it has the ability to mix and match parts of the Icarus Armor (I Parts) and Hermes Armor (H Parts) to give the Neutral Armor a customized mix of individual abilities. Having a complete single-colored set of parts in the Neutral Armor will grant X an Armor System with glowing parts, which also unlocks the Giga Ability of that specific armor (usable by pressing the Special Weapon button whenever X isn't equipped with any Special Weapons, or by selecting the Giga Ability Weapon). Unlike previous armors where usage of those Giga Abilities permanently drains the weapon energy, the weapon energy can be recharged over time whenever X is your main Hunter for the mission.


 * Icarus Armor - An Armor system that focuses on attack power and aerial abilities. The Armor Parts are colored Red.
 * Foot Parts I - X's jumping height is doubled, allowing X to reach higher places where he won't be able to reach normally. Jump height will now be the same as Zero's Double Jump, making X accessible to ledges in places where Zero is needed to gain access to.
 * Body Parts I - Damage done to X is halved with the elimination of recoil from the damage. All the life energy bars lost will turn red and are recoverable if X is switched with his reserve Hunter to recover all his damage. However, if X is switched back before all the red energy bars are recovered, those bars will be lost permamently.
 * Arm Parts I - All shots will be upgraded by one charge level. The new level 3 charge shot is a powerful blue laser (similar to the attack used in X's version of the Double Attack) that can strike through multiple enemies at once, breaking their defenses and dealing damage to them at the same time. X will freeze on the ground or in mid-air when he fires the level 3 charged shot.
 * Head Parts I - X will create a force field while jumping that can damage enemies and can also destroy certain ceilings with this attack. However, the force field dissipates when he descends.
 * Giga Ability - When the armor set is complete, X can use the Giga Crash. Like the previous version, it will attack all on-screen opponents. The damage dealt is strictly proportional to the amount of weapon energy X has at the time of activation. The recharge rate for this Giga Ability is the slowest.


 * Hermes Armor - An Armor system that focuses on movement speed and mobility. The Armor Parts are colored Blue.
 * Foot Parts H - X's movement speed and dash speed is doubled with the added bonus of shadow-dashing through enemies. The abilities are doubled again when X-Drive is in effect.
 * Body Parts H - X will take 2 units less of damage than he normally would. Against enemies that only hit for 1 or 2 units of damage, X is completely invulnerable. Invulnerabililty period is doubled when X-Drive is in effect.
 * Arm Parts H - X's level 3 charged shot will fire three level 2 charged shot projectiles in a spread-out fashion, extending his attack width and range, and can break defenses. X also obtains a level 4 charged shot, which fires five level 2 charged shot projectiles on top of being able to break defenses, when the X-Drive is in effect.
 * Head Parts H - X-Buster charge speed is doubled with this Part equipped; when X-Drive is in effect, it is quadrupled.
 * Giga Ability - When the armor set is complete, X can use the X-Drive. Upon activation, X will receive a ability boost within all of the component Parts in his Hermes Armor. The enhancement will last until the weapon energy is drained or a character switch is made. The recharge rate for this Giga Ability is faster than that of the Icarus Armor.
 * Ultimate Armor - A hidden Armor System with the Neutral Armor as its base armor, with its parts colored Purple. See Ultimate Armor.

Trivia

 * The overall design of the Neutral Armor causes X to strongly resemble the anime character and Tatsunoko hero Casshern, a character and series highly influential to the entire Mega Man series.