Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Ice Belt - Guide to Missile Expansions, Elemental Shot Expansions, and Energy Tanks

Completing a Samus Aran game at 100% is part of the deal. It's the cherry on top of the experience. Better or worse, fans feel we have to do it. Some of the most interesting puzzles and challenges in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Switch lie precisely in the secrets it hides as collectibles. Beyond the classic Energy Tanks and the usual explosive-ammo expansions (Missiles and Psychic Power Bombs), the game now also includes Elemental Shot Expansions for the Arm Cannon's special ammo.

And what does this mean? An even greater number of secrets to uncover! In this guide we gather every expansion in Ice Belt, the fourth area on planet Viewros: the expected frozen environment which, once you activate the Belt, begins to thaw as if it were Ice Age.

• Learn more: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Guide to all of Samus Aran's upgrades and suits

Ice Belt contains 2 Energy Tanks, 8 Missile Expansions, and 7 Elemental Shot Expansions (don't bother looking for Psychic Power Bomb expansions).

Missile Expansion 1

You've just entered the biome, you haven't even seen the zone title yet, and the Snow Wolves haven't attacked you. In the very first room, the loading bay with the crane, you'll spot the expansion behind a grated opening. Use the Morph Ball terminal on the left to open the grate. You don't need the Psychic Boost Ball or Psychic Power Bomb.

Elemental Shot Expansion 1

Right after obtaining the Psychic Lasso, in the same monitoring room in the biolabs, pull down the two service ducts for the maintenance bots that are stuck in the raised position to complete a Morph Ball circuit, then access the upgrade via the Morph Ball lift.

Missile Expansion 2

You're in the middle of searching for the TQ code fragments (which, as the game cheekily hints, stands for "te quiero") to keep pushing deeper into the Belt complex. Once you've probably collected about half of them (the first two codes), in the room at one end that serves as access to the biolabs, remove some debris with your new toy, then melt an ice barrier with the Fire Shot. Reward time.

Missile Expansion 3

In the passage leading to the surgical section there's a Morph Ball nook in a small pin-shaped side room. Roll in, circle around, and pick up the expansion.

Energy Tank 1

You've just powered up the generator using your Control Beam. Quite a show. With the Ice Belt active, the lights come on and the central heating kicks in. Circuits reactivate and the ice blocking certain mechanisms starts melting.

Before leaving the generator room on the power plant floor, note that there's a lower level on the right-hand side. Drop down in Morph Ball form, dodge the electrical discharges, and add 100 points to your total health.

Missile Expansion 4

When you descended from the biolabs to the medical wings, you saw a very conspicuous expansion in the Collection Corridor, but... you couldn't reach it yet. You had to return once the Ice Belt (the big generator) was active, letting the frostbitten Grievers open the adjacent door for you.

Elemental Shot Expansion 2

Before leaving the quarantine area, look at the cracked window on the containment doors. Destroy it and you'll be able to slip through in Morph Ball mode.

Energy Tank 2

You'll have to come back here with the Psychic Grapple, because the Psychic Lasso alone won't cut it when you need to swing yourself between grapple points and the nodes you materialize with the Psychic Visor. The upgrade is in the Ice Canyon, the exterior stretch of the medical wings where you hop between platforms in the middle of a blizzard.

Missile Expansion 5

You must return to Ice Belt once you have the Thunder Shot loaded into your Arm Cannon, in true backtracking style. On the lowest basement level (quarantine), access the room adjacent to the elevator base by removing the electrical lock.

Elemental Shot Expansion 3

If you come back to Ice Belt with the Psychic Spider Ball, you'll finally be able to reach this Elemental Shot Expansion you thought required some impossible Bomb Jump. In reality, if you exit to the left from the duct leading to the surgical section of the medical wings, you can climb and then drop down onto it from above.

Where to find the Ice Belt Scout Bot

These useful scanning and map-update bots are the ultimate tool for completionists in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. If you activate them with a Thunder Shot, they will mark on the map—with a small cross icon—every collectible remaining in the zone. Go for that 100%.

"Mechanoid: reconnaissance robot. Emits ultrasonic waves from above and displays valuable objects detected in the area. Can be activated with an electrical discharge."

The Ice Belt Scout Bot is found on the snowy plain where the Snow Wolves first surrounded you. And it works perfectly, frost and all.

Elemental Shot Expansion 4

Right next to where you found the Scout Bot there's a Morph Ball cave. Melt its frozen entrance and grab the prize.

Missile Expansion 6

Melt the ice to reveal the opening leading into the ancient temple.

Elemental Shot Expansion 5

Return to the equipment depot where you first met your new mechanical buddy to collect what you left behind, now that you've recovered the Psychic Spider Ball.

Missile Expansion 7

You can finally grab this one. On the biolabs level there's a duct leading to the lobby. Previously you could only see the entrance, but if you return with the Psychic Spider Ball you can use the yoyo move and drop a Psychic Power Bomb into each red light. Try to get them all lit at the same time.

Missile Expansion 8

In the medical wings storage area you can drop down to the lower level in Morph Ball form using a Morph Ball hologram. Then follow the Lamorn magnetic rail with the Psychic Spider Ball to claim the last Missile Expansion in this frozen biome.

Elemental Shot Expansion 6

In the lower airlock, on the power plant level, you'll see that once the generator is running, a pump connector has reactivated. Use it to open the gate and pick up the expansion at the map marker.

Elemental Shot Expansion 7

Careful: this is a LARGE Elemental Shot Expansion. On the power plant level, inside the generator's big cylinder, you can backtrack once you have both the Psychic Spider Ball to climb and the Psychic Boost Ball to launch yourself.