Shadow Armor

The Shadow Armor is a modified version of the Gaea Armor from Mega Man X5. It keeps many of the main features of the Gaea Armor, including invulnerability to instant-kill spikes, being able to hold on to walls without sliding down them, and the lack of an air dash. The Shadow Armor sacrifices the Gaea Armor's ability to push V-Blocks while dashing for a ninja-like maneuver. If X is held while jumping, X jumps to the top of the screen. If there is a ceiling, X can grab hold of it and hang upside-down (like Zero using Hyoroga). At this point, X can fire shurikens downwards in groups of three. After several volleys, X will automatically drop down. X can also perform a short dash along the ceiling to compensate for the lack of an air dash, but this causes him to drop down after the dash is finished.

The X-Buster has been heavily modified for the Shadow Armor. X's normal shot fires shurikens, and behaves similar to the C-Shot from Mega Man X5. The direction of the shurikens are random, and can be either straight forward or slightly up or down. X's Charge Shot produces a crescent-like Z-Saber slash that can strike multiple times per slash. X's Giga Attack creates powerful spinning orange crescents that encircle him for a brief moment, severely damaging all enemies in his vicinity.

The Shadow Armor's ninja-like abilities are heavily toned down with the use of the Ultimate Buster part, as his ability to fire down at enemies from the ceiling produces no shots. This alters X's strategy into a full-on Z-Saber fighter instead of a stealthy ninja.

Trivia

 * Whereas the normal shots of the armor are reminiscent of C-shot, the Giga Attack is similar to a charged C-shot, although the latter lasts longer and acts as a shield.
 * Due to its ninja motif, some fans speculate that the Shadow Armor is the basis for the character Phantom in the Mega Man Zero series.