EDIT: Also, Azinth.
Teach me your ways of the stage-long, game-long chainin'. I'm playin' Guhwaaaaaang.
Well, if you haven't, read a guide and watch some replays. You have to learn the basics of Shikigami control and how the skull meter works before you can chain. If you've done that already:
Chaining tips:
It's similar to DDP, except there are more options available and possible paths to take for keeping the meter up, since the shikigami has access to the entire screen AND you can slow down the passing of the meter by highlighting lingering bullets on screen (necessary for keeping the chain in a few places). For the most part, it's straightforward(don't kill the enemies TOO fast, keep bullets highlighted at all times, etc.), but there are a few chokepoints that you'll need to practice. These are:
1. Stage 3 - barren stretch right before Cat-Spider: Kill the birds and stream their bullets until they all leave, then highlight the lingering bullets(keep streaming as you do this to make sure you don't get hit)
2. Stage 4 - group of enemies before midboss: Kill the cannon-carts to the left slowly one at a time, highlight bullets of remaining enemies to stall for time, then kill them slowly one by one.
3. Stage 5 - streaming section before boss: Kill all the enemies on the ground with front-shot, then kill the enemies on the roof with the Shikigami. Stream/dodge bullets as you do this. This one is really hard to pull off properly. >_>
4. Stage 5 boss - He moves around constantly and uses lightning-fast attacks that often force you to move unfocused. Pepper him with Shikigami shots in between his attacks to keep the meter alive. This guy is a giant bitch tbh. Random as hell. Stay alert.
5. Stage 6... well, thb, just focus on learning how to survive this stage for now. That's most of the challenge anyway. Learning how to chain it pretty much comes naturally after you do that.
Scoring tips:
1. Keep your meter as high as possible at all times. The higher it is, the higher the point-value of the coins you create will be.
2. Kill large enemies with the Shikigami and convert their bullets to coins. Kill medium and small enemies(footsoldiers, bats, barrels etc.) with shot. The 'dropped' coins you get by killing things unfocused (both on the ground and are the highest-value coin in the game, and where you get most of your score from.(which is why Catspider milking can be worth so much). Coins via bullet cancelling are worth a little bit less, while the coin flux is barely worth anything.
3. The coin flux. After you hit 1000 chain, your unfocused shot will give you coins when your meter is glowing, much like the unfocused shot in IN. These coins are barely worth anything point-wise, but are invaluable for pumping up your chain. It's how you milk bosses with autofire, by focus-tapping. Try to work on chaining up to 1000 before the stage 1 boss. It's pretty easy to do once you learn the stage layout.
4. It's possible to timeout-milk the stage 2 and 3 bosses' first and second phases with sparse Shikigami damage to keep the meter going. These are the two hardest scoring tricks in the game by far. Approach with extreme caution.
5. Just incase you aren't already: USE AUTOFIRE
6. Panic-bombing is not allowed when trying to chain. AT ALL. Plan your bombs beforehand, and make sure your meter is at least 3/4 full before bombing, otherwise your chain is screwed.
Hopefully most of that made sense. I'm pretty bad at giving advice. :ohdear:
