Link Power

Link Power (abbreviated as LP), known as Kizuna Ryoku (キズナリョク) in Japan, is a system from Mega Man Star Force 2 and 3, revamping the BrotherBand mechanic from the first game.

Overview
In the first game, a BrotherBand gives a HP boost and a fixed ability depending on which version that Brother is playing. With the Link Power mechanic, the player instead gains Link Power with each BrotherBand he forms. This Link Power grants the player the ability to equip Ability Waves, and it can unlock some areas and items.

In-game Brothers are now kept in a separate interface from the player's real-life Brothers, allowing the player to fill all 6 Brother slots with real-life players without risking BrotherBands with in-game characters. The amount of Link Power granted by a BrotherBand increases as the player, or that Brother, has completed more of the game (inclusive of post-game content). Link Power granted by an in-game Brother is increased by completing that NPC's sidequest after the main story is completed.

In Mega Man Star Force 2, NPC Brothers (including the player's Auto Brother) award a maximum of 100 Link Power, while real-life Brothers award up to 150. The maximum Link Power a player can have is 1300 (400 in-game and 900 from 6 real Brothers)

In Mega Man Star Force 3, the player can form BrotherBands with more NPCs than simply Geo's friends, resulting in a maximum of 900 in-game Link Power. Real Brothers award a maximum of 130 Link Power, and more if they are in the same Purpose team with the player, with 50 LP for the first Brother and 10 more for every additional one. Furthermore, engaging in Wi-Fi battles with Brothers grants the player 1 more LP, up to a maximum of 120. This totals a maximum of 1900 Link Power a player can have.

Ability Waves
Ability Wave (アビリティウェーブ), Ability for short, is a system that is similar to the Navi Customizer from the Mega Man Battle Network series. Each Ability Wave contains a slash, followed by a number. This number depicts how much Link Power the Ability Wave requires to be equipped by Mega Man. Naturally, stronger Ability Waves consume more LP than weaker ones, and rarer versions of Ability Waves consume less LP than commonly found ones.

Ability Waves are commonly found in Mystery Waves located all across the EM Roads. In addition to this, the player may encounter a Hertz in-battle. The Hertz is deleted if the player even touches him with a single Buster shot, requiring the player to lure the viruses away from inflicting harm to the Hertz while staying off the row on the battlefield where it is located. Certain chip attacks (such as Radar Missile) will also target the Hertz as though it were an enemy. However, if the battle is finished with the Hertz intact, the player rescues him. In Mega Man Star Force 2, the Hertz immediately rewards the player with an Ability Wave, while in Mega Man Star Force 3, Hertzes are collected and can be returned at the Mr. Hertz Square in exchange for strong Ability Waves.

Noise Changes also award special Ability Waves after completing a certain number of battles, much like how Style Changes in Mega Man Battle Network 3 award NaviCust programs. These Ability Waves also take up much less LP than other commonly acquired versions.

List of Ability Waves

 * HP+50, HP+100, HP+200, HP+300, HP+400, and HP+500 - Increases HP by the displayed amount.


 * UnderShirt (アンダーシャツ) - Whenever Mega Man would be deleted while he has more than 1 HP, his HP instead falls to 1.


 * Float Shoes (フロートシューズ) - Mega Man is unaffected by the negative effects of panels.
 * Air Shoes (エアシューズ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Mega Man can stand on holes.


 * First Barrier (ファーストバリア) - Mega Man begins the battle with a 10 HP Barrier.
 * First Aura (ファーストオーラ) - Mega Man begins the battle with an Aura that deflects attacks of under 100 damage.


 * Reflect (リフレクト) - Successfully blocking an attack inflicts 50 damage down Mega Man's column.


 * Super Armor (スーパーアーマー) - Mega Man cannot flinch.


 * Flash Body (フラッシュボディ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Immunity against Blinding and Confusion.
 * Gravity Body (グラビティボディ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Immunity against Gravity.
 * Paralyze Body (パラライズボディ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Immunity against Paralysis.
 * Freeze Body (フリーズボディ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Immunity against Freezing.
 * Bubble Body (バブルボディ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Immunity against Bubble.


 * Mega Class +1 (メガクラス＋１) - Mega Man can place 1 more Mega Class card in his folder.
 * Giga Class +1 (ギガクラス＋１) - Mega Man can place 1 more Giga Class card in his folder.


 * Charge V (チャージＶ) / +V-Shot (プラスＶ, Plus V) - Charge Shot spreads in a V pattern on contact.
 * Charge Cross (チャージクロス) / +X-Shot (プラスクロス, Plus Cross) - Charge Shot spreads in an X pattern on contact.
 * Charge S (チャージＳ) / +Spread-Shot (プラススプレッド, Plus Spread) - Charge Shot spreads to all surrounding panels on contact.


 * Charge Wood (チャージグリーン, Charge Green) / + Wood Panel (＋グリーンパネル, + Green Panel) - Charge Shots have a 50% chance of creating Grass panels where they connect.
 * Charge Ice (チャージアイス) / + Ice Panel (＋アイスパネル) - Charge Shots have a 50% chance of creating Ice panels where they connect.
 * Charge P (チャージＰ) / +ParaPanel (＋Ｐパネル, + P Panel) - Charge Shots have a 50% chance of creating Paralyze panels where they connect.
 * Charge Sever (チャージゼツエン, Charge Zetsuen) / + GNull Panel (＋ゼツエンパネル, + Zetsuen Panel) - Charge Shots have a 50% chance of creating guard-nulling panels where they connect.
 * Charge Poison (チャージポイズン) / + Poison Panel (＋ポイズンパネル) - Charge Shots have a 50% chance of creating Poison panels where they connect.


 * Quick Gauge (クイックゲージ) - Doubles the rate at which the Custom Gauge fills.
 * Side Select (サイドセレクト) - Mega Man Star Force 2 only. Mega Man automatically gains the ability to select cards within a row.


 * Auto Lock-On (オートロックオン) - Mega Man's lock-on now has infinite range and is permanent.
 * DiagLock (サークルサーチ, Circle Search) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Mega Man can automatically lock-on to surrounding panels.
 * SideLock (サイドサーチ, Side Search) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Mega Man can automatically lock-on the left and right columns.


 * Lightning Sword (イナズマケン Inazuma Ken) - Mega Man Star Force 2 (Zerker) only. Mega Man begins the battle with the Thunder Zerker form.
 * Wind Star (フウマシュリケン Fuuma Shuriken) - Mega Man Star Force 2 (Ninja) only. Mega Man begins the battle with the Wood Ninja form.
 * Dinosaur Rock (キョウリュウセキ Kyouryuu Seki) - Mega Man Star Force 2 (Saurian) only. Mega Man begins the battle with the Fire Saurian form.


 * Anti Damage (カワリミ, Kawarimi) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Timely press Up and Y Button for feint and attack.
 * Ace Program (エースＰＧＭ) / Joker Program (ジョーカーＰＧＭ) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Program to harness and cotrol Noise power.
 * Area Eater S (Ｓエリアイーター, S Area Eater) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. All support cards are changed to Area Eater.
 * Double Stone S (Ｓダブルストーン, S Double Stone) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. All support cards are changed to Double Stone.
 * Panel Format S (ＳパネルＦ, S Panel Format) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. All support cards are changed to PanelFormat.


 * Humor Word (ユーモアワード) - Conversations with Omega-Xis becomes humorous.
 * Humor Buster (ユーモアバスター) - Changes the sounds of the Mega Buster to dog barks.
 * Humor Buster 2 (ユーモアＢ２) - Mega Man Star Force 3 only. Changes the sounds of the Mega Buster to cat meows.

Trivia

 * In one of the Humor Word conversations from Mega Man Star Force 3, Omega-Xis finds an unknown Ability that changes him into Leo Kingdom.