Ruldra wrote:
By testing everything individually. Some enemies change their attack patterns when rank is high, so you use them as reference to check if rank has increased. For example, the ships at the start of stage 2 has an extra bullet added to its attack when rank is high. And Dratrion, like you said, shoots 4 waves of bullets instead of 2.
So, to test the no-missing variable, reach Dratrion without dying and don't pick up any items. If its attack pattern changes, then you know it affects rank. Repeat the process for everything else.
Oh, simple methods like that. Thought you meant some stuff with the cheat system.
Anyways, I did some tests:
1) zero items from stage 1, various combinations of many items+legend sword/items only/legend sword only and Dratrion shot only 2 waves - even with 23 items and only one being a special
2) 6 items from stage 1 including the 3 specials and only the legend sword from st2 - 7 items total - and Dratrion shot four waves this time.
Either:
1) specials increase the rank by much more
2) rank changes between stages and never during them
I'll do more tests involving charging the hell out of st1 and st2 and getting no specials and stuff.
Maybe lv8 spam is the way to go on a low rank run, avoiding all specials there are.
EDIT:
3) 23 items from stage 1, a completed set, a whole lot of duplicates from st2 and 33 items at the end - Dratrion shot 2 waves.
4) 2 items, 1 special from st1, another from st2 - and Dratrion shot 4 waves.
Some sort of a temporary conclusion - Items don't increase the rank at all or by very little(possibly unless you get a full set), while specials blast it high.
Next - 2 sets 1 special. Let's see how it goes.
EDIT: And 2 waves again.
3 specials in st1 resulted in no extra bullets at the beginning, but he still shot 4 waves.
So while sets probably have an effect on the rank, a special adds more than double of what a single set would.
Not sure if duplicates count, as the rank was somewhat acceptable after picking a ton of legends that I already got.
Either way, avoiding specials seems to be the way to go.