Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara/Strategy

Lace specific scoring / strategies but generally applies

Stage 1 Boss: Caramel & Maple Pink

• Damage distribution strategy in favor of getting Shot Kill when the boss times out which includes the score gain from reaching Time Out.
• Phase 1 & 2 share the same HP pool.

Phase 1 (8 Cycles)

• Open with 10 Laser Shots during the boss intro for "free" Tic Points.
• Objective is to destroy both arms before the phase times out.
• Every other attack is a Double-Pronged bullet attack that comes out in 4 volleys (if rank is raised, otherwise 3.) Use this attack for grazing on the side of the boss, inching out of the way for each volley.
• If both arms are not destroyed, you'll have a smaller window to launch full-scale scoring on Phase 2 as you'll still need to destroy the Middle Cannon in a cycle which replaces more lucrative patterns versus if it's destroyed.
• If the boss uses the arms for example 3 times in a row from the beginning, you can optimize the scoring on this phase by destroying one arm in one cycle with 9 shots (in respect to raised rank) which will destroy it in a single cycle.

1. Then on the 2nd cycle, go 8 shots on the remaining arm and you may wait a few cycles to finish off the arm, in order to use the Double-Pronged attacks for extra graze score in the meantime. The boss tends to use the Missile Arms once every few cycles - though there is a certain amount of randomness.
2. Probably by the 5th cycle, it's time to take the kill on the remaining arm, in fear of getting bad RNG where the arm isn't used again in that phase.
3. When you kill the remaining arm with a single shot at the beginning of the cycle, you'll also have extra time to graze the front of the boss as this will prolong the phase shift "cutscene".

Phase 2 (10 cycles)

• Use the "3-Count" method for Phase 2 (after arms are destroyed)

1. Count in your head: # of Cycles, then # of Additional Shots, then # of (point blank) RCs. = (0,0,0)

• The overall goal here is count your damage with this method so that you can consistently reach the time out, as well as earn the Shot Kill bonus (100k versus 10k for RC).

1. The boss will be primed for the Shot Kill once your counter is ready.

• Example counts that work:

1. (10,2,4) = 2 RC's during Time out. Shoot during your last RC.
2. (10,8,3) = 1 RC during time out. (so wait for the boss to lower if feeling confident)
3. The difference here is that 6 Laser Shots is the equivalent damage to one point blank RC (~23HP according to the MAME overlay). So because of the 8 additional shots, it's one less RC to finish.

• Additional Shots specifically refers to the number of Laser Shots you'll do while grazing the mandatory Double-Pronged bullet attack.

1. OR for example: If you accidentally damaged the boss during phase 1 - which usually occurs if you don't get out of the way for the Missile Arms when you start shooting them. Usually can be identified if the boss flashes on damage.
2. Go for RC Cancels on the Double Pronged attacks to get as much graze as possible.
3. Typically only one Shot+RC cancel will occur, so you'll shoot, as well as cancel an RC if it isn't frame perfect cancel. Count these Laser volleys and add them and keep track in your "3-Count"

• The first goal is to destroy the Middle Cannon so you can then have the most dense bullet patterns to absorb with your RC. This enables the brunt of the scoring through RC'ing a big green spam pattern.

1. Example: You're on the 4th Cycle, For 3 of those cycles the middle cannon appeared, when the Middle Cannon appears always shoot it 8 times as soon as its missiles are shot from the source. The middle cannon should be destroyed after 20 shots, but sometimes it varies an extra 2 or 3 shots on the 3rd cycle.
2. You must add any additional shots on the middle cannons past 20 Shots (Any past 4 shots on cycle 3) to the '# of Additional Shots' count.

• Once the Middle cannon is destroyed, the boss can use a spammy green bullet attack that is perfect for RC'ing point blank to absorb the bullets for big chunks of score.

1. This RC usage will be counted in the "3-count" i.e. (5,1,1)
2. The boss will typically use this at least 2 times. As the cycles get closer to 10, say, at cycle 7, if you haven't gotten any of the Green Spam, you'll have to make up the damage with 6 Laser volleys (equivalent to an RC) during the Double Pronged attacks. If you do 6 volleys, instead of adding it to '# of Additional Shots' just convert it into an a single RC count.

• So, ideal RNG here would be first 3 cycles it uses the Middle Cannon. Then you get 3 or 4 Green Spams + RC's before the 10th cycle.

1. If you reach your damange quota early, you'll get a little extra score, especially if there is more Green Spam to block with your shield.

• If the boss times out around the middle of the screen, it's full time-out pattern will spread out on the screen. This is ideal in the scenario that you can do 2 RC's to finish the boss.
• When you unleash the final deathblow RC, commit to firing your Lasers and 95% of the time you'll be rewarded the Shot Kill 100K bonus. A convenient design choice!

1. If you don't count your damage properly, you may not get the kill when you expect to. It's not the end of the world if you die from the Time Out pattern. You can still reach Max Stock lives later on.
   
   
   

Stage 2 Boss: Socie Soar

Damage distribution strategy in favor of getting Shot Kill when the boss times out which includes the score gain from reaching Time Out.

• Phase 1 & 2 share the same HP pool.
  
  

Phase 1

• Open with ~16 Laser Shots during the boss intro for "free" Tic Points.
• The majority of score will come from shooting the Buzzsaws that are deployed every other attack with Rapid Shot as to avoid damaging the core HP.
• 1 of 2 attacks are chosen at random inbetween the Buzzsaws and both of these attacks have a random duration, but usually lasts at least ~5 seconds.

1. Aimed Blue: A small amount of blue bullets are aimed at you.
2. Aimed Pink Spread Shot with gap in the middle.

• For Aimed Blue: Use forward Rose Hips and charge your RC. Once charged, you can safely attempt graze along the propeller of the boss. The boss will move around randomly but never go into the middle/bottom of the screen, be wary of being rammed.
• For Aimed Pink Spread Shot: Use Back Rose Hips so that you can collect graze within the side spreads. Enter with caution, too steep of an angle of entry will allow a bullet to flank your side.
• For both of these attacks you can anticipate when and where the boss will stop moving. You may collect about ~3000-4000pts of graze as the buzzsaws initialize inbetween 2 prodded arms for just a moment. Then assume position to gather Laser tic off of the buzzsaws.
• It's ok to inflict some damage to the boss as the buzzsaws exit the screen, it's worth the little bit of damage dealt to gather buzzsaw tic points.
  
  

Phase 2

• This is a grueling and slightly unpredictable phase with a lot of intricacies that you'll have to consider when fighting until Time Out, ultimately looking for a Shot Kill (100K) that should be consistently achieved.
• The boss will consistently use 2 attacks, but the frequency they are used is dependent on the rank. It will also continue to be able to use the 2 Phase 1 attacks that aren't Buzzsaws.

1. An aimed quad laser volley. (The first volley is randomly aimed!)
2. Deployed Middle Pod (5K shot kill) that fires a spread shot from its upper side. The HP of this pod will be determined by Rank, and will gain HP as the fight progresses in time. This HP durability change over time will be your main indicator for identifying when to close out the fight with the Shot kill.

• The third attack is unleashing 2 Back Pods that fly around randomly, shooting aimed destructible bullets at you. It is random if these Back Pods are even used at all, but rank will also influence its frequency of use (unconfirmed). There is a visual que of these pods vibrating before they are released.

1. These Back Pods are entered into the attack selection pool which includes the 2 Phase 1 attacks (Aimed Pink, and Aimed Blue).
   
   

The general scoring flow of Phase 2:

• Start with dodging the quad laser, bait the laser just beneath the boss' wing where you will gain graze from the boss, the quad laser. Additionally, shoot the wings and gain tic. If executed proper it's over 10K for this action alone. You will be repeating this action constantly through out the fight when the boss allows.
• Middle Pod will deploy. Destroy it immediately with a combination of Rose Hips (RH) and a Rose Cracker (RC). Try to snipe the kill on it with your Shot for the 5K bonus versus 500pts for RC kill. Immediate destruction will give you more time to perform the previous action as well as be prepared for the ensuing variety of attacks.
• When Back Pods come out, you have options for dealing with them.

1. You may destroy them when they are not lined up with the boss to mitigate boss damage.
2. You may also allow them to live to gather zan from their destructible bullets.
3. A decent strategy can be waiting for the Middle Pod to re-deploy, then begin shooting them as your shot will overlay the Middle Pod, Back Pods, and Boss at the same time, gaining hefty tic points.

• If you allow too many Back Pods to live, you are faced with the ultimatem of dealing with their destructible bullets which may pincer your position in tandem of the previously mentioned attacks. If you're caught without your shield charging you are forced to dodge (and charge) or shoot the bullets out of your way. It can be dangerous to stray too far to the left or right of the boss as you can get pincered by the various attacks and your attack coverage will diminish at these positions. Stay vigilant with your path of action here.
• As the fight carries on, notice the HP growing on the Middle Pod. Then gauge how much damage you've dealt on the boss over all.

1. At higher rank you'll be forced into clearing out the screen by shooting the back pods repeatedly as well as dealing damage to the boss. How many times you do this will differ, but take note of how often you are forced to clean up the chaos (and thusly are dealing damage to the boss.)

• You'll be grabbing medals from the Back Pods, as well as avoiding the Wide Shot upgrade (unless you want it for crowd control), and you also have the option of setting up Rose Hip or Shot Specials if needed here by skipping the respective powerups.
• Once you're used to what kind of HP your Middle Pod has near the end of the fight (perhaps practice this by attempting to time out the boss in practice,) you will likely be put into a situation near the end of the fight where you're desperately clearing out the screen and dealing damage to the boss. Try to stretch the fight out until this moment so that you can snipe the boss for a shot kill. It's not that unrealistic to get the Shot kill consistently with enough practice.
• Practice makes perfect. Counting damage will be difficult here but you do have a window of leniency given you have the Middle Pod to gauge when the fight is close to the end. If you know you haven't had to shoot Back Pods much, and thusly haven't shot the boss much, consider shooting the boss more to get it primed for destruction. The Middle Pod's durability is your best indicative tool here so pay attention.