Looking for some tips for the Ibara stage 2 boss

[Strikers1945guy]

I know some of the basic tricks for the first form and stuff but I'm really no master. I can defeat the rest of it with a hadou on the next form then kill the flamethrowers and wheels and then for a "strategic withdrawl" but that feels lousy >_>

Is there a solid Ibara Strategy Thread out there? I searched and found this but its pretty old and the info is scattered throughout the pages:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=7667

If thats all there is I apologize. Thought there might be one kicking around with most solid info presented at the front like many other awesome strategy guides here.

[cools]

Learn to dodge.

[Strikers1945guy]

Found this post in that thread by Icarus which is SUPER helpful incase anyone else needs some help on this boss

> BOSS STRATEGY - MIDI <

Midi is the first big test of a player's skills, as she has four different forms that need different playstyles to handle, and her attacks are varied and often of a trapping style. With a bit of practice and some foreknowledge of her attacks, she can be handled comfortably.

--> Player: Icarus // Midi, No Miss (XVID - 20MB)

I will split up Midi's strategy into four different sections, each one dedicated to each of her different forms, with information on how to safely handle each form, as well as point information for those wishing to maximise their score from her.

• PHASE ONE:
  Her first phase is essentially a large flying turret, with one of the more difficult patterns to dodge in the game.
  
  
  
  Since the turret itself takes a few seconds to appear, you can stay underneath it and deal a lot of damage before it has a chance to attack. Once it starts to fire, you must get above it, as it's primary attack is a very wide spread of needle bullets, and a large sword bullet from its main turret, all aimed at your position.
  
  While her actual movements are all determined at random (and thus cannot be easily influenced), her aiming method is very easy to predict. First, imagine there is an invisible horizontal line tracing through the very center of the flying turret, like so:
  
  
  
  Now, whenever you are underneath this horizontal line, the turret will always try to rotate itself to always aim in your direction. However, when you are above the horizontal line, the turret will try to rotate to aim at you, but is unable to rotate higher than the horizontal line. You can use this fact to always create a safe area for yourself, by staying above it while you try to look for an opening in its attack cycle.
  
  During this phase, you should aim to destroy the bayonet on the front of the turret using your Shot for 30,000pts, and to destroy her quickly before she times out.
• PHASE TWO:
  The second form is also a flying craft with a more dangerous range of attacks. Since this form is also flying, it also has erratic movements, making it a lot harder to predict.
  
  
  
  Your primary aim is to destroy the two sets of front spikes that have two turrets each attached to them. These must be destroyed as quickly as you can manage, as these turrets in question will fire streams of slow-moving aimed bullets at you which, if not properly managed, can trap you in a corner, leading to a death. The easiest way to do this is to stay directly underneath the flying ship, a little to the side so you can stay clear of the large sword bullet fired directly downward, and tap to dodge as you fire. If you make large sweeping movements, so will the bullet streams. If you can fix your rear Option in place, then lock it so it fires at a shallow angle towards the flying ship, and you should do a bit of extra damage as you dodge.
  
  Once you manage to destroy one side, quickly nip across to the other side and repeat, taking care not to bump into anything.
  
  Once you have destroyed both front spikes, try to take out the retracting turret mounted on the front (the one that fires the sword bullets), it should be easy to do so now that you have only the wide spread to deal with.
  
  After the retracting turret is destroyed, you can either concentrating on destroying the flying ship outright, or you can try to take out the two back propellors for added points. These two propellors will fire a wide sweep of needle bullets once the front spike on that side is destroyed:
  
  
  
  If you manage to destroy a propellor, it will switch to a wide spread of small blue bullets instead, which is harder to dodge.
  
  
• PHASE THREE:
  This phase is a lot more straight-forward than the previous two, as the boss form is a ground based one, meaning no erratic movements. You still have to watch your own movements, however, as all of Midi's attacks (save for the flamethrowers) are aimed at your position, so you have to be careful not to trap yourself.
  
  
  
  Firstly, you will want to try and destroy the two flamethrowers on each side. They are easy to predict, as there will always be a tone/soundeffect sounding before they activate, plus you can see then unfolding before they fire.
  
  The flame streams themselves always fire straight down the screen (and off the bottom, so there is no chance of you nipping underneath a flame stream), however the flamethrower will also fire an additional spread in your direction. This spread is always aimed, and if you make large sweeping movements, you can end up with a trapping attack with no holes to move through.
  
  The best way to dodge the spread attack is just to sit in position until it has finished firing - it will always fire four sets of spreads - and then tap dodge into a hole. The less movements you make, the larger the gaps you can create. For those uncomfortable with tap-dodging through the pattern, you can lure the pattern to fire off the side of the screen, or off the bottom, and move up and around to the top of the screen.
  
  After you have destroyed the two flamethrowers (you can collect them if you wish, but be mindful of their effect on rank), you can opt to destroy the two side boxes mounted on the back of the tank to get Napalm weapons. To do this just use your Options to damage them, taking care to dodge the bullets from the two small turrets mounted on the front.
  
  Once done, you can also opt to destroy the two small turrets on the front of the tank, to trigger the triangle spread attack.
  
  
  
  To destroy the small turrets, use Option fire to damage them, taking care not to do too much damage to the body. Since the turrets will fire at set intervals which are easy to predict, use this to time your attacks. Take care, though, as once one of the turrets are destroyed, the box turrets on the tank's back will start to fire the triangle attack. This attack is always aimed at you, and covers a very large area, so if you aren't comfortable with dodging it, don't try to trigger it.
• PHASE FOUR:
  The final form is tricky to handle, as its main attack covers the width of the screen, and is aimed in your direction. Add to that a slow-moving, intermittent needle spread and a single, regularly fired sword bullet travelling down the screen, and you have a lot to handle. The pattern can be passed safely though, as long as you make small tapping movements.
  
  
  
  The best way to approach this pattern is to trigger the fourth form when the tank starts to move across to the other side of the screen. From here, start on the edge furthest from the travelling direction - if the tank is about to move left, start attack from the right edge away from the wheels and vice versa - and tap to dodge the spread pattern, following the tank as it moves across the screen. This way, you can keep attacking the main body and not the wheels, as destroying one or more of the wheels will cause the tank to stop moving altogether, often trapping you as it travels off the bottom of the screen.
  
  
  
  Once the main initial spread attack has finished firing, the front guard will lift up and fire a spread pattern consisting of a large clump of bullets with a few strays out in a pseudo-threeway pattern. Again, make only small tapping dodges to pass the pattern, and keep attacking the main body.
  
  
  
  If you still haven't destroyed the tank at this point, it will fire a combination of the initial spread and the pseudo-threeway. Keep attacking, or use a standard bomb to damage the main body, and you should defeat Midi before anything serious happens.