======================
C.16: The Beast Within
======================
Objectives:
* Defeat Mikhail
* Free Beast from Mikhail's trap
* Talk to Professor X in Avalon

Areas:
* Beyonders Sanctum (X)
* Mikhail's Warship (X - Change Team only)

Items:
* Danger Room Disc Qualifying Exam 200: When you enter the Sanctum, it
  is behind a large stone in an alcove to your left
* Data disc: From the Xtraction point in the Sanctum, go to the opposite
  corner of the room and look behind the stairs
* Tech station (+4 Focus): in the Sanctum, in the corner opposite the
  Xtraction point, go up the stairs, through either door and to the
  corner room, put out the fire at the base of the column and the station
  will come down
* Weapon cache: Beyonders Sanctum in the room where you fight Omega Red

Recommended Team:
* See below

In the first large room you enter, look along the left wall for an alcove. 
The Qualifying Exam 200 Danger Room Disc is hiding behind a large stone.

From the Xtraction point, go down the stairs and head for the opposite 
corner of the room. There's a stairway here, and a data disc is hiding to 
the left of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, go through either door 
and to the corner room where a large column dominates the center of the 
room. Put out the fire burning at the base of the column and it will lower 
to reveal a +4 Focus tech station.

Once you've finished your collecting, head through the door next to the 
Xtraction Point and fight your way to the mini-boss battle against Omega 
Red. He's not that tough, just hang in there and hit him with your powers. 
Once he's down, the real fun begins.

Search Omega Red's room for a weapon cache, then save your game and stock 
up on energy and health packs. You should be able to carry at least 22 of 
each (20 from having at least one character at level 20+ and 2 from finding 
the first eight data discs). Use the glowing portal in Omega Red's room to 
enter Mikhail's Warship. Once past his initial group of minions, you'll 
find an Xtraction point. All you can do at this one is Change Team.

Beyond you'll begin what is, arguably, the hardest boss fight in the whole 
game. The fight against Mikhail has three stages, each harder than the 
last:

1) Mikhail clones himself. Individually, these guys aren't all that tough, 
but being mobbed by 15 or 20 Mikhails isn't fun or easy. An Xtreme or two 
here really helps.

2) Mikhail shields himself and turns the four shield generators into 
minions. In order to take down the shield, you have to lure each minion 
onto a pad, kill it while it's on the pad, whereupon it turns back into a 
console and you can Use it to turn off one of Mikhail's shields. Minions 
killed when not on a pad turn into consoles, but you can't use them. And 
then Mikhail turns them back into minions.

After the first shield is down, Mikhail starts sending out a rotating beam 
that damages you and knocks you down, forcing you to play jump-the-energy-
beam with him.

Now, you're probably wondering how, exactly, you are supposed to accomplish 
all this.

Good question.

First, you can recognize when a minion is in the right place because a red 
arrow will show up over its head. When you see that red arrow, blast it. 
Don't use powers with Knockback, because you DON'T want to knock it back. 
Likewise, don't use Telekinesis or Levitation to throw it around. 
Immobilizing powers (such as Iceman's Freeze Beam) are best.

You can lure foes onto the pads by setting your teammates to Defensive AI 
and keeping them grouped around you with the Call Allies button. This fight 
takes patience and a certain amount of luck. But, keep at it, the worst is 
yet to come.

3) When Mikhail loses his shields, he becomes quite happy. You see, he now 
gets to open a can of whup-ass on you and he will enjoy this very much. 
Mikhail is TOUGH, and he has a couple of very annoying powers. One, he can 
turn random objects in the room into minions, so you can't just pepper 
Mikhail, you have to worry about his lackeys as well. Second, Mikhail can 
slow down time and you start moving in slow motion while he speeds up and 
he can come and have his way with you.

Yeah. It's that bad. Of course, in addition to his main powers, he can hit 
for a fair amount of damage and he has a ranged attack and he can stun you 
and he can knock you down. But, it's all good, right?

Again, patience and luck are key. One way to survive this battle is to use 
Nightcrawler (or Deadpool if you've unlocked him) and, whenever Mikhail 
slows time, teleport to the opposite side of the room. Mikhail will 
concentrate on the human-controlled player, so he'll chase after you 
without bothering your companions.

Another helpful thing is to go on a rampage around the room, destroying 
objects before Mikhail can turn them into minions. A highly destructive, 
wide-range power works well for this (such as Colossus' Thunder Clap). As a 
side benefit, you'll get some item drops, including, hopefully, energy and 
health packs.

Finally, Mikhail seems most susceptible to melee damage, so having 
characters who can add melee damage (especially elemental damage, like 
Iceman and Sunfire) can be a big help. Keep the flaming fists of fury up, 
get Mikhail into a corner and just whale on him.

However you fight Mikhail, you'll want your highest-level mutants in this 
battle. The higher the level, the better. There's no one specific way to 
defeat him. Go all tank or all ranged, just be sure you go all out. Don't 
be surprised if you get through this battle with one hero left, clinging to 
life by a thread.

Ladd Everitt contributes the following battle strategies:

"1) In Stage One with the multiple Mikhails, one thing I discovered is that 
you do NOT have to stand your ground and fight once all his clones pop up. 
I knocked down a few of them and then started to circle around the bridge 
(the board is huge). I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were 
barrels EVERYWHERE around the perimeter (and down the stairs) on this board 
and they were pleasantly well stocked, particularly with health, which was 
crucial to me in winning this and the next two battles. I was literally 
able to wander around unmolested when there were still several Mikhails 
left and plunder and restock my entire team. Then, once I was ready to 
fight again, I was able to isolate the remaining Mikhails and pick them off 
one or two at a time. This made it MUCH easier than trying to stand and 
fight.

"2) During Stage Three of the battle, once the shields come down and you 
fight Mikhail himself, I found a gem of a strategy. This strategy is to 
NEVER LEAVE THE AREA YOU START THE BATTLE IN. You start this fight in a 4-
way intersection with white floor underneath you. If you keep your team in 
this intersection and never leave, Mikhail has NOTHING to turn into a 
minion. I fought him using Nightcrawler and without ever teleporting I was 
still quick enough to run around and slice him with sword attacks until he 
dropped. I only got hit 2, maybe 3, times the whole battle, and I never 
faced a single minion."

Once Mikhail is down, don't worry about the new objectives. It's all over 
but the shouting. Sweep the room for tech bits, health and energy packs and 
other flotsam, then take the new door that's opened up. Once the scientist 
runs away, destroy the computer console, talk to Beast and take the portal 
back to Avalon.

Talk to Professor Xavier to begin the next Act.