Why in the blue hell would anyone be attempting an unarmored run if they suck badly enough that the Nightmares are capturing the Reploids, anyway? The only area where that should remotely be a problem is Metal Shark Player, as there's one Nightmare which is particularly tough to nab in time without a screen-wide move. And even that is not impossible, I know because I've collected every power-up as both X and Zero without ever obtaining a special weapon.
Ever played MegaMan 1, 2, 3, or 8? You're also not going to finish X2 without Damage Barrier abuse, another grounds on which many criticize X6. And good luck getting to Shadow Devil with Gaia Armor in X5 (possible, yes, but a pain in the absolute ass).
Getting screwed by equipment choice, or weapon energy in the case of earlier games, is nothing new.
-Rapid 5
-Shot Eraser
-Power Drive
-Speedster
-Quick Charge
-Overdrive
-Damage Converter
-1 Life Up
-2 Energy Ups
...which of those are you having trouble beating the game without?
You are crystal clear. I simply consider your argument invalid. I do not consider the usefulness of equipment to be a flaw. If among 7 different solutions to a spike wall you cannot find ONE that suits you, that's your problem. If you lack the ability to determine minimum requirements then you should not be attempting minimal runs in the first place.
Look, it's not that I'm incapable of doing it (as you should very well know by now), it's that I find it ridiculous that you need those parts in the first place. Yeah it's usually easy to get the parts, but the very fact that these parts can theoretically be missed is my issue with the system. In no other X game do you really need a part to advance (again, unarmoured), so I find it stupid that all of a sudden it's needed here.
I was only counting the X games when it came to weapon use to advance, by the way... I'm well aware of the Classic series segments where weapons are needed. Then again, you have to get the weapons anyways, so using them in that one spot and switching back to the buster is just fine (which you can't do for parts in the middle of a stage, as you obviously know).
Also, damage barrier abuse is kind of a part of minimal runs in general, depending on the game. Besides, it's not like you need to get a part to have said damage barrier >_>'
Anyways, I'll stop here. We obviously view this differently, and there's no convincing one another from what I can see. It's a waste of time and space to go on, so that's the end of that from my end.