A Sub Tank (サブタンク, Sabu Tanku), sometimes written as Sub-Tank, is a recovery item from the Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, and Mega Man ZX series. They are usually found hidden throughout stages and will be added to the inventory once picked up. Unlike their counterparts from the classic Mega Man series, the Energy Tank, they are not available for immediate use, nor are they removed from the inventory when used. Once a Sub Tank has been found, picking up a health item when the character is at full health will instead fill up the Sub Tank. The amount the Sub Tank is filled is based on the type of health recovery item picked up.

Using a Sub Tank will restore health to the player until their health is back at full or the Sub Tank is empty. If the character's health is restored to full before the Sub Tank is empty, the Tank will retain the excess in the Tank, except for some games from the Mega Man X series. Most games limit the amount of Sub Tanks acquired to a maximum of four. However, some game modes, such as Expert in Mega Man ZX Advent, or attempting to keep an A ranking in some games of the Mega Man Zero series (with the exception of Mega Man Zero 4), limit the player to one or two Sub Tanks, or none.

Types[]

Life Sub Tank[]

Life Sub Tank (ライフサブタンク, Life Sub Tank) is the standard life recovery Sub Tank. In the first three games of the Mega Man X series the player can find four Sub Tanks, but in later games the limit was reduced to two to give space for the Weapon Tank and EX Item. In the Zero and ZX series the player can carry four Sub Tanks.

Weapon Sub Tank[]

Weapon Sub Tank, also known as Energy Sub Tank, is a special kind of Sub Tank (not to be confused with the Weapon Tank from the original series) introduced in Mega Man X4. They act very much the same as normal Sub Tanks, except they fill and restore weapon energy instead of life energy.

EX Item[]

The EX Item (ＥＸアイテム, EX Item) is an item introduced in Mega Man X4 that is usually placed in the same category as Sub Tanks, though it is actually quite different from the others. Picking up the EX Item allows the player to start a stage with 4 extra lives instead of the usual 2.

Mega Man X series[]

All Sub Tanks throughout the X series are found scattered throughout the game. They are usually hidden quite well and many require the use of a Special Weapon or armor enhancement. Others require some creative tricks like using an enemy attack to break a wall. Mega Man X-X3 has four Sub Tanks, Mega Man X4-X7 only has two Sub Tanks, but added one Weapon Sub Tank and one EX Item.

Mega Man X8 only has two Life Sub Tanks and one Weapon Sub Tank, but has other items that could be used to restore health and weapon energy. The Sub Tanks can be bought as Chips developed in R&D using Metals, but before that the players also needs to find specific Rare Metals in stage to unlock, except in Easy Mode.

Mega Man Xtreme and Xtreme 2 are has four and two Sub Tanks respectively, but half the number is in each of the two modes, so only Extreme Mode can find all the Sub Tanks.

In the Playstation Titles the filling of Subtanks in these X games is altered. In X4-X6 merely picking up life-capsules will fill the tank regardless of the current character's current LE but in exchange they all give the exact same percentage to the tank's capacity. In X7 the same applies for standard energy capsules but with full life ones (Such as the one found within the boss rematch area) a whole tank is filled alongside LE (If the current Hunter has the Super Recover Part then both tanks are filled instead). For X8 life-capsules have no effect on Sub Tanks and instead metals must be spent to fill them at the R&D Lab.

Obtaining a Sub Tank in Mega Man X: Command Mission is different. The simplest way to find one is by completing a storyline mission and defeating the boss. In addition, collecting four pieces of one Sub Tank hidden in the dungeons rewards the party with an extra Sub Tank. The player begins with the game with two pre-filled Sub Tanks and can increase the total number to ten.

The RPG nature of Command Mission also alters how the Sub Tanks are used. Each Tank can carry up to 100 energy used to spend on one of six options:

Sub Tanks are filled by either visiting Healing points such as the Maintenance Bed in the Hunter Base or talking to select NPC (Chapters 2 and 10) or by collecting Tank Energy from Defeated Enemies or Breaking Yellow Crystals (Coming in 10, 25, 50, 100 and ∞ versions)

In Mega Man X DiVE, Sub Tank is a DiVE Trigger that can be used only once per mission.

Mega Man Zero series[]

Similar to the early Mega Man X games, the Mega Man Zero series has four Sub Tanks in each game. However, most Sub Tanks are obtained by finding Cyber-elves, and then feeding them enough E-Crystals to allow them to fully transform them into Sub Tanks. In the first Mega Man Zero, all 4 tanks were from Cyber-elves, in Mega Man Zero 2 and Zero 3 it was reduced to two, and the other two can be found in the stages. In the Mega Man Zero 4, the Cyber-elf will no longer give Sub Tanks, and the two Sub Tanks are come from Hirondelle. Since using Cyber-elves negatively affects Zero's ranking in most of the series, perfectionists often choose to play through the Zero games with two or fewer Sub Tanks.

Different modes offer extra help or limitations as well. Hard Mode of first three games doesn't allow Zero to use any Cyber-elves, so in first game's Hard Mode he won't have Sub Tanks at all, and in Zero 2 and 3 Hard Mode limit the Sub Tank count to 2, Zero 4 is the only game that allows Zero have all 4 Sub Tanks in Hard Mode. Ultimate Mode of Zero and Zero 3 makes Zero start with all Cyber-elves used, so start with 4 and 2 Sub Tanks respectively. Easy Mode of Zero 4 makes Zero to start with 2 full Sub Tanks, and Hirondelle won't give Zero any more.

It's worth noting that the Sub Tanks found in the stages have a different appearance than those obtained by other means, although they are functionally identical.

Mega Man ZX series[]

There have been 4 Sub Tanks in each of the Mega Man ZX games, and they act the same in previous series. Since Cyber-elves are no longer used, most of Sub Tanks are found hidden throughout area, and one is rewarded as a result of the side quest. In addition, there have usually been "antique" dealers who provide the precursor to Sub Tanks, Energy Tanks, which act exactly like their classic counterpart. However, in Expert Mode of both games only has one Sub Tank that can be obtained by corresponding side quest, all other Sub Tanks found in stage are replaced with the extra large Life Energy.

Other appearances[]

• Sub Tank appeared as a material card in the Rockman X event from Dragon Poker in nine versions, three of each element. They give more experience for Rockman X characters.
• Sub Tank, named Energy Tank in-game, appeared as a Dragonware in Tower of Saviors during the Rockman X DiVE event in seven versions, each with a different mode.
• Sub Tank appeared as an equipment in the Rockman X DiVE event from Shironeko Project.

Gallery[]

Life Sub Tank in Mega Man X7

Weapon Sub Tank in Mega Man X7

Dragon Poker

Dragon Poker

Dragon Poker

Tower of Saviors

Shironeko Project

See also[]

• List of Sub Tank locations
• Tank