Spell Card Help Topic V: Cheeto Lasers Edition

[Zengeku]

Quite possibly. i've never bothered to figure it out but I was playing the card around half a year ago and you can actually use that space between the knives to move back in under the boss faster.

[nintendonut888]

I'll be honest: I never once figured out Misayama Hunting Ritual. I've captured it out of pure brute force, but it's ridiculous for normal difficulty. If it's any consolation, the spell card becomes something completely different on hard and lunatic, and it's more of a pure dodging card.

[Tsym]

So I just got the farthest I've ever gotten in any attempt at TD Lunatic that I've ever tried, and seeing as how I'm more or less clueless about TD in general, any advice for the attached replay would be awesome. But here's my take on where I can improve, and if anyone has any other advice, that would be great too.

Stage 1: Almost perfect, though I did feel as though I could squeeze in another trance during the Yuyuko fight. I'm just not sure if the extra risk in terms of collecting spirits earlier in the level/during the fight is worth it, or whether it can be consistently done. I'm pretty certain that I can refill my trance gauge back up to full at the beginning part of stage 2 if I do this.
Stage 2: I think I'm fine for the stage portion, but I have no idea how to handle Kyouko's non-spells. I'm just rather uncomfortable with Kyouko's mess of bubble bullets spell, so I bombed that one.
Stage 3: I'm not sure what the best trance route through this stage is, as they all seem equivalent, but I think trancing immediately after Kogasa's non-spell nets a few extra spirits, but I'm not sure. I know that if I didn't trance when I did, I definitely would have lost those bombs/life spirits, but whether a possible extra bomb spirit is worth a possible clipdeath... It's hard to say.
I have no idea how to handle Yoshika's final non-spell. It's really hard to stay under her, and I seem to get dragged to the sides a lot, which doesn't help my situation.
And yeah, I do need to practice dodging Score Desire Eater's lasers. I could have saved two bombs there...
Stage 4: I know I messed up in the beginning of the stage and missed those bomb/life spirits. I forgot where the third fairy spawns.
I really can't see a good way to dodge Seiga's midboss non-spell. Any tips?
I also have no idea where the best location is to dodge the gigantic mess of fairies after midboss Seiga. The middle seems to work the best... sometimes.
A little bit of celebration... I captured Tongling Yoshika for the first time during this run! Woooo! It's a pretty nasty spell card IMO.
Stages 5 and 6: I really have nothing to say for these. I basically only had silly deaths during them, and it was a pretty nasty end of the run, seeing as how I died with tons of bombs in stock. I just don't have a good conception of how I need to ration my resources for the final stage, which is probably something that will come with more experience. Although I do have a few questions about Miko:

1: Any tips for Royal Clan's Dance? (or whatever the one where she summons Tojiko and Futo is called). I try to make them go up, but often times that just results in a death during the second wave as I can't repeat the same maneuver. It wasn't so bad on hard, but they just move faster on Lunatic, which trips me up.
2: Guze Flash is just a nasty spell card for me. My eyes get crossed too quickly. I usually try to dodge to the left of the yellow bullets out of habit, but I get tripped up after a while. Are there any other easy "patterns" of dodging?
3: How do you dodge Miko's final non-spell? Before I could slowly move up, but somehow that doesn't seem to work anymore.

[MTSranger]

Midboss nonspell is dodging - maybe move to the side a bit.
If you time it well, you can a trance on both the life-fairies before AND partway through that noncard, which means you essentially dodge nothing.
For the circles of fairies, you can actually sit at the very bottom in the center and move left and right to kill all of them really quickly.
For the last wave where sitting at bottom middle will get you hit, just sit at the bottom left corner and let homing do the job.
Also, for the 3 waves of big swarm of fairies that shoot all kinds of bullets, why not just dodge them to one of the sides - it's a bit easier.

Here's my stage 5 route: http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=17883
You can actually trance every single life/bomb spirit. No need to bomb.

For stage 6...
Royal Clan Chaotic Dance
See timeout video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Q_Ra5GPBA
Basically for the wall waves, you have to lead them to one side, move to the other side, go to the very top, and draw a line down the middle.
For all the other waves you shoot Miko and then swing around to find a gap to get back in the middle at Miko again.

Guse Flash
See timeout video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrD7JKGwHo
Abuse the pattern and dodge between the easily spotted purple and yellow bullets.
However, be careful when they shift a bit - you will have to change lanes.

[I have no name]

GFW A1 lunatic, Stage 1, post midboss.  I have literally no idea how to approach this to get ice area in a consistent way.

[Chuckolator]

Miko's 2nd nonspell. What's the best way of tackling this?

[I have no name]

I just did it now by moving to the left and going up through gaps as I saw them.

[crystalgreatsword]

What's the best way of tackling the stage portion of TD Extra?

[PMW]

After timing out Megumi's last 3 spells in the same run, I figured a perfect was something completely possible for me. Horewer, I have some questions:

• Best way of tacking the last two stage sections? Is the green one aimed in some way, static or completely random? And in the red one are only the red bullets aimed or the yellow ones too?
• Megumi's third non-spell, is there any way to consistently capture this?

[I have no name]

What's the best way of tackling the stage portion of TD Extra?

The stage is split up into subsections which can all be handled pretty easily.
For the start you're going to want to not move, then stream right.  Grab the spirits then kill all the fairies as they spawn.  This is the "red rings" section.
The streaming part next is kind of tricky, you'll want to switch sides every third, unfocused, with Reimu.  It's easier to do than to explain, so just do what I did here: http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=23103
You'll want to trance as the spirits are about to vanish though, so you get through Nue's first spellcard too and get the spirits from that too.  You should then bomb the second spellcard, shotgunning, for even more spirits if you can't capture it, then capture the last spell.
For the next part you want to stay to one side, switching after the set of fairies spawn.  After they die, center yourself and shoot down the 3 greater fairies that spawn (center, right, left)  Grab their spirits and repeat.  Now the fairies come 2 at a time.  You should trance the 2nd set that come up and shoot them all down, grabbing all the spirits.  You are now at Mamizou.

[Tsym]

Miko's 2nd nonspell. What's the best way of tackling this?

The yellow arrows are aimed at your location, and the resulting popcorn spawns the same way every single time. It's a six way spread with the popcorn moving away from the arrowhead. The first wave is essentially static if you stay at the bottom of the screen under Miko, so find a path to the left and right side of her, and use them when you need to follow her that way. Try to stay directly under her at the bottom of the screen when she fires the next wave, then use the same path/idea, with some modifications to adjust for Miko's vertical movement and to dodge leftover popcorn from the previous wave. If you stay under her, the card should be cleared before the brunt of the third wave hits you (assuming full power Reimu/Marisa). Sometimes you may get screwed by the vertical movement though, kind of like Yamame's opener from SA.

[I have no name]

GFW A1 lunatic, Stage 1, post midboss.  I have literally no idea how to approach this to get ice area in a consistent way.

This, and a consistent method for DS EX-5 please.

[Chuckolator]

for EX-5, I usually just circle clockwise and take shots whenever she brings in new familiars. There's probably a better way though.

[I have no name]

for EX-5, I usually just circle clockwise and take shots whenever she brings in new familiars. There's probably a better way though.

That's what I've been doing, but it's still really inconsistent.  I want to try to do a 108 scene RTA and I'm more worried about this scene than 9-7 >_<

[fondue]

DS EX-2?

[Elysia]

Okay, this might seem weird coming from someone who's timed out the thing, but is there a consistent method for capturing Full Moon Pompokolin?

I've been trying to figure out something that works, but every time it seems like I end up needing to dodge near the middle and getting clipped by those bright bullets. Seems like it might have actually been easier to time this out than capture it, even with the timeout phase.

[Karisa]

GFW A1 lunatic, Stage 1, post midboss.  I have literally no idea how to approach this to get ice area in a consistent way.

You can try the method I used in this video, though it doesn't get that much ice area (also I released the third freeze too late, it was supposed to reach the fairies on the left to produce more revenge bullets to use the fourth freeze on).

Edit: Does anyone have a good route for capturing St. Nikou's Air Scroll on Hard (not Lunatic)?

[nintendonut888]

Edit: Does anyone have a good route for capturing St. Nikou's Air Scroll on Hard (not Lunatic)?

I don't have much experience with St. Nikou's Air Scroll, but I think I got the basics. Essentially, you don't want to chase Byakuren around, even though you may think you'll get more damage on her that way; you'll just get trapped when the waves spread out and die. The card is static, so learn where you're safe and when. I dunno if it's like Superhuman where you can stay in the left corner the whole card, but the card is best dodged in the corners.

[Tsym]

Okay, this might seem weird coming from someone who's timed out the thing, but is there a consistent method for capturing Full Moon Pompokolin?

I've been trying to figure out something that works, but every time it seems like I end up needing to dodge near the middle and getting clipped by those bright bullets. Seems like it might have actually been easier to time this out than capture it, even with the timeout phase.

Oh wow I was actually practicing TD extra myself just a moment ago, and your post motivated me to actually try capturing the card. It took me around 30 tries with Marisa to figure out a method, then I got it on my second try with Reimu and my first with Sanae, so I think the way I'm doing it is a somewhat consistent method. Basically the first 2/3 of the spell card doesn't matter because it's rather easy to dodge. I stay in the middle for the most part, trying to finish this part off as quickly as possible. Once Mamizou starts shooting things quicker, at around 2/3, you want to consistently redirect the aimed bullets to the corners, and dodge the bright bullets in the middle. You don't want the aimed bullets shooting towards the middle at all, as you'll just create a gigantic mess there, and it becomes even more awkward since there are a lot of bullets fired higher up and don't move off the screen with the rest of the wave. If you keep on redirecting it and moving to the middle again to dodge the bright bullets, the rest of the card is cake. I've attached my Sanae replay in case you prefer a visual representation of what I mean.

[Karisa]

I don't have much experience with St. Nikou's Air Scroll, but I think I got the basics. Essentially, you don't want to chase Byakuren around, even though you may think you'll get more damage on her that way; you'll just get trapped when the waves spread out and die. The card is static, so learn where you're safe and when. I dunno if it's like Superhuman where you can stay in the left corner the whole card, but the card is best dodged in the corners.

I've tried staying in both lower corners, but neither seems to work well for the Hard version (the right corner gets very dense on the 4th/8th waves, and the left on the 2nd/6th). And switching corners every two waves means I'm almost never under Byakuren.

[Zengeku]

The card is static, so learn where you're safe and when. I dunno if it's like Superhuman where you can stay in the left corner the whole card, but the card is best dodged in the corners.

Superhuman sure isn't static. Is St. Nikou different?

[BT]

I think both are static - but according to your position. If you stand still while she zig-zags, for instance, I'm pretty sure it'll always be the same.

[ふねん1]

I'm pretty sure no version of Superhuman is static, aside from Byakuren's movements anyway. I perform the exact same motions to start the card on every attempt, and I've yet to notice a real pattern to the bullets after they unfold. As for actual tips, I'd suggest that if the bullet patterns look too dense when you're trying to follow Byakuren to the other side, then don't be afraid to just stay put until she comes back. It's easier reading the bullets that way instead of worrying about dashing through them and getting punished for it.

[I have no name]

Would someone be willing to check out my DS score.dat and tell me which scenes have easy improvements?  I want to reach 30 million but am stuck at around 26 million (only changes from posted .dat is a SP-7 improvement by 100k and a 250k SP-4 improvement)

edit: pulled off a half a million improvement on 11-1, and then a 600k on 10-5.  Sitting on 27.2

[Zil]

3 or 4 million is easy in EX-9. Just copy the world record (which is around 5 million or something).

I'm with Funen and Zengeku about Superhuman. It's not static, though the rows of bullets will intersect at the same places every time.

[ふねん1]

I'm with Funen and Zengeku about Superhuman. It's not static, though the rows of bullets will intersect at the same places every time.

Well yeah, that's just a consequence of the fact that the bullets are left where Byakuren travels. It's like Radiant Treasure Gun or Complete Clarification really, the initial pattern is the same but the bullets merely unfold in different ways each time.

[PMW]

After timing out Megumi's last 3 spells in the same run, I figured a perfect was something completely possible for me. Horewer, I have some questions:

• Best way of tacking the last two stage sections? Is the green one aimed in some way, static or completely random? And in the red one are only the red bullets aimed or the yellow ones too?
• Megumi's third non-spell, is there any way to consistently capture this?

I would like help with this and also a way to not fail horribly at EX-5 in DS

[crystalgreatsword]

I just might be the world's most terrible UFO player.
I spent like two hours just getting to Byakuren on Normal and I didn't even make it past her second spell.
I desperately need pointers with UFO. Desperately. _{Goddamn curvy lasers...}

So... I've got some questions...

1. What's the most efficient shottypes in UFO?
2. How can I effectively dodge bullets while trying to pick up UFOs?
3. How do the Stage 4 and 6 midboss's patterns go, exactly? Something ALWAYS sneaks up on me. I find stage 4's midboss easier than stage 6....
4. Is it wise to plan bombs in this game, if I just can't figure something out? _{Goddamn Most Valuable Vajra...}

Thanks in advance.

[Tsym]

UFO is really hard, so don't get yourself down about it. I think there are very few attacks in it that have a "trick" or something, unlike large portions of IN, so you really just have to improve your random dodging if you want to do well in it. But to answer your questions:

1) SanaeB is undoubtedly the most versatile shot type in the game. Her ability to more or less trivialize the stage portions is a huge boon as it will make collecting UFOs easier, and the fact that her bomb doesn't slow her down at all will allow you to both get in the boss's face to shotgun it for a bit (does a ton of damage), and safely collect UFOs. You will have a slightly tougher time with the bosses though, as her power from the bottom of the screen isn't the best, but it's still fairly strong.
2) Read and dodge. Really though, don't try to go unfocused and make a mad dash for the UFO unless you have a clear shot at it. You want to look ahead a bit, and plan which UFOs to grab, and slowly inch towards it focused if possible. This is especially true in stage 4, as random flailing will just plain kill you. As you play more, you'll also get a sense as to how certain UFOs will fly and how to properly wait until you have a good opportunity to pick them up.
3) They're more or less static. Nue moves randomly, but the pattern fires the same way every single time, and since Nue mostly hangs around the center, it isn't that big of a deal. I believe when I did Normal, I could dodge most of the waves comfortably by staying around the bottom of the screen, about 1/4 to the right of the center.
4) Yes it's useful to plan bombs in any game if you're going for a 1cc, and for UFO especially. I think I pretty much completely bombed most of Byakuren/Shou my first time through UFO Normal.

Good luck!

[MTSranger]

I desperately need pointers with UFO. Desperately. _{Goddamn curvy lasers...}
So... I've got some questions...

1. For UFO shot types
Far focus power ranking is: ReimuA >> MarisaA > SanaeA = SanaeB > ReimuB > MarisaB
If you can handle stages well but want to shoot bosses down asap, go for ReimuA. She needs skill if you want to bomb for UFOs though.
If you have trouble shooting stuff down during stages or you are bad at collecting UFO, go for SanaeB and prepare to bomb spam bosses.

2. You can bomb for UFO collection. Abuse this. Also, plan the UFO routes cuz they start at the same color move the same way every time.

3. Static. Memorize it. For the 3rd wave go to the left side, and for the 4th wave go to the right side.

4. Bomb through everything you can't reliably dodge. In my lunatic 1cc I bombed almost everything Shou and Byakuren has, half of Murasa, and all spells for Ichirin, as well as all spells for Kogasa. Don't be afraid to bomb!

After timing out Megumi's last 3 spells in the same run, I figured a perfect was something completely possible for me. Horewer, I have some questions:

• Best way of tacking the last two stage sections? Is the green one aimed in some way, static or completely random? And in the red one are only the red bullets aimed or the yellow ones too?
• Megumi's third non-spell, is there any way to consistently capture this?

Green one I have no idea. Seems like a large clusterfuck on lunatic.
Red one only the red bullets are aimed. The yellow bullets are random and non-issue if you stay near the sides, corners, or bottom.
The down side is that you can get rammed by fairies fairly easily that way, plus the streaming is not trivial with bullets coming from many directions.