Author Topic: Post-midboss added enemies/fixed-length stages  (Read 1868 times)

Karisa

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Post-midboss added enemies/fixed-length stages
« on: May 22, 2016, 07:38:44 AM »
Many stages in Touhou spawn additional enemies depending on how quickly you defeat the midboss, to keep the stage from going below a specific length (and keep it synced to the music). Also called "bonus" enemies, though it's debatable whether some are a bonus (such as the infamous SA stage 5 popcorn fairies). Sometimes they're useful for scoring, while other times it's more profitable to graze or otherwise farm the midboss. I'm curious how common they are.

Note that some fixed-length stages will last longer if you take an especially long time on the midboss (such as by stalling out both a nonspell and a spell for graze), even if it has post-midboss timed enemies. I'd guess this is to prevent skipping almost the entire second half, as can occur in EoSD stage 1 and 5 for example.

Not sure if I made any mistakes here. Also it's not a very polished list; maybe adding more detailed descriptions later. It's hard to describe enemies that are mostly all fairies.

SoEW - 1, 2?, 3?, 4 both midbosses
LLS - 1, 2, 3?, 4 both midbosses
MS - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Extra
EoSD
  1 (extra enemies can be nice for reaching full power sooner in stage 2)
  2 (mostly a waiting period with no enemies, I think?)
  4?
  5
PCB - 1, 2, 4
IN - none?
MoF
  1 (notably some enemies spawn during the midboss on Easy/Normal if you wait long enough)
  2 (fairies drop star items-- very important for scoring!)
  4 (bullet walls-- Momiji or these, your choice)
SA-- all sets of post-midboss enemies drop some star items in this game, important for increasing PIV in the 1-death scoring routes
  1
  2 (aimed bullet ring fairies)
  4, second Orin only since the first is timed
  5 (the infamous popcorn fairies)
  6 (5-way kunai birds, the only case of any enemies after the midboss in a Touhou stage 6)
UFO
  1
  2 (circle-bullet fairies spawn in varying number)
  5 (large fairies drop extra UFOs and lots of items, encouraging bombing Nazrin)
GFW - none?
TD
  1 (spirit trios on alternating top corners)
  2 (3-4-5 waves)
  3 (blue fairies from left-right of screen)
  4 (fairies from the top and spirits in the lower corners)
  5 (single/double large fairies alternating)
DDC - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Extra (one of the few instances where this occurs in Extra)
LoLK
  1, both Seiran appearances?
  2
  3 (flowery rings)
  4 (arrow fairies in top right, highly profitable for invincibility grazing)
« Last Edit: May 22, 2016, 07:51:15 AM by Karisa »

Chill Observer

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Re: Post-midboss added enemies/fixed-length stages
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2016, 03:25:17 AM »
I think it's also probably worth noting how many post-midboss enemies are present for said stages, as well as mid-boss behavior if you either speedkill it or time it out.
From there, it's easier to determine whether or not it's better to quickly defeat the midboss or just time it down for the graze.

I know that a couple of scoreruns skip the Orin midboss in stage 5 entirely, meaning that it gets the maximum amount of green point items for that route. But some others speedkill or time down the midboss instead.
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