To do:
- Add gifs of ship animation next to character portraits.
- Add gifs of weapons being used.
- Add clips of how to perform each zero flourish.
- Add a scoring tierlist.
Welcome to the Special Weapon Guide! Blue revolver got a huge update many months ago and it seems like there is no guide to how the weapons work. While the game can be straight forward with how some mechanics work. Sometimes you want that cutting edge tech to help you get a higher score than others with the weapon of your choice. Especially since Blue Revolver Double Action is largely unoptimized in terms of its special weapon records. I will try to explain everything I know about the special weapons in the game. Let's start off introducing the characters:
Mae
Main weapon: Power shot, rotating options. Holding shot pulls the options towards the middle.
damage: high
Val
Main weapon: Follow shot, shots follow your movement and can be held with shot button.
damage: medium
Dee
Main weapon: Wide shot, holding shot will narrow the range of the shot.
damage: low
Note: All characters have the same speed. By going to options > gameplay > Movement Speed. You can change the ship's movement speed to slow, medium or fast(default).
Special Weapons
I will include the weapons strengths and weaknesses alongside its perk, zero flourish and how to perform it. In addition, I will include the weapon's difficulty of use and scoring difficulty in my opinion ranging from 1 to 5 stars ★☆.
Zero flourish: Starting a combo with your special weapon without flourish. Therefore a zero flourish. It's useful for obtaining additional gold.
Defense weapons have a special property where the button hold tick damage does not generate gold upon killing an enemy. Keep that in mind As this is an intended weakness for defensive weapons.
Mae's weapons
Plasma Lancer
- Jack of all trades, Master of none.
- Random variable range. around 40 to 60% of the screen.
- Damage can fall off. using the weapon up close is advised.
- partial piercing. It can hit many lined up enemies Because the lancer slows down on first enemy hit then lingers for a bit.
- Perk: More ammo generated through bombs.
- Zero flourish: press and hold the weapon button briefly. Depending on how you move and how many enemies are lined up vertically you can get up to 5-6 hits.
- Difficulty of use: ★★☆☆☆ Straightforward but with some interesting characteristics.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ Players might face the problem of running out of ammo if not managed well. Therefore damaging high HP enemies with main shot will help save some ammo.
Hyper Laser
- Has to wind up before blasting the laser. But the wind up animation has a hitbox point blank dubbed 'anticipation bullet'. This is incredibly useful for advanced scoring.
- Laser usage slows down the ship.
- tapping the weapon button to abuse the anticipation bullet doesn't waste ammo which in turn gives you free flourish activation.
- Limited range, but potent damage.
- Perk: Increased focus shot damage.
- Zero flourish: Very rarely can get a 2 hit zero flourish. Still not useful and the weapon is still strong without it.
- Difficulty of use: ★★★☆☆ Takes some time to get used to the slowdown and pointblanking.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★☆ While pointblanking saves ammo. You won't be able to always use it. The player has to be aware of the movement slowdown and wind up with solid timing and positioning.
Vortex Barrier
- Defense weapon.
- Generates blocks around the ship that cancel bullets.
- The projectile can only be thrown vertically.
- A full charge of the weapon takes a lot of ammo.
- Weapon can use one fully charged barrier within a flourish. Partial charges are recommended for a bigger score yield.
- Perk: Start with an extra life.
- Zero flourish: Vertically lined up enemies can give you high amount of hits.
- Difficulty of use: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to use.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★☆☆ Needs more testing..
Cluster Missile
- Fast fire rate and shorter cluster explosion compared to other cluster missiles.
- A bit tough to aim the missile at the right enemy, but in turn ammo usage is 4 per missile.
- Deals high damage when spammed. Helps with speed killing boss patterns you despise.
- Perk: No flourish extend fall off meaning longer flourishes as long as you keep killing enemies.
- Zero flourish: Up to 2 or 3 missiles can be shot before you flourish depending on the height of the ship. Easily gets 6 to 8 hits.
- Difficulty of use: ★★☆☆☆ Straightforward but keep in mind the missile is shot from the back of the ship and takes a bit to launch.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★☆ A few important things to note. It's difficult to make sure the missile hits the target. The player can also use the back of the ship to instantly hit the target(it's really satisfying). Lastly, utilizing the perk is important to get the most out of a flourish.
Arc Caster
- Tracks an enemy then kills 4 more enemies near it.
- Low damage.
- Ship needs to be close for the caster to track it. But it still can miss the enemy despite being close.
- Perk: Bomb supplies give 2 bombs instead of 1.
- Zero flourish: For some ungodly reason despite hitting up to 5 enemies at the same time. Arc caster absolutely cannot zero flourish. Attempting it will activate flourish with the amount of enemies you hit. I REPEAT DO NOT ZERO FLOURISH WITH ARC CASTER.
- Difficulty of use: ★★☆☆☆ Player has to be a bit close for the caster to hit, other than that it's easy to use.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ Same points as plasma lancer. Otherwise you'd waste lots of ammo on one high HP enemy. Also the perk has to be kept in mind as it might change the player's route or add more opportunities with the additional bomb.
Hyper Laser
- Not to be confused with mae's hyper laser. This works differently.
- 1 Use spends 10 ammo, shoots a high damaging laser for a few seconds then turns off.
- The laser can stay active even when the it visually fades out.
- Despite the narrow sized vertical laser. There is no slowdown and you can sweep the screen with it.
- Perk: Higher unfocused shot damage.
- Zero flourish: one use can always yield 8 hits with enough enemies.
- Difficulty of use: ★☆☆☆☆ While it shoots in intervals it feels natural once you get your hands on it.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ Zero flourishing is essential to scoring with this weapon. Once the player adds zero flourishes to his routes ammo usage has to be addressed.
Stasis Field
- Defensive weapon
- With enough bullets stored in the field. It can be more destructive than most offensive weapons.
- Dependent on rank being high for more bullets to fling back.
- Every use is 10 ammo. Holding the weapon button will eat up slightly more ammo the more you hold.
- Can change direction of bullets while releasing(try a fighting game motion input!).
- The released bullets can spread out to catch more enemies in its way.
- Perk: Easier extend milestones(reduced by 10%).
- Zero flourish: One field release always guarantees 8 hits with enough enemies and bullets.
- Difficulty of use: ★★★☆☆ The directional releasing and bullets leaving the field are a bit tough to get used to. Dynamic release is a bit niche though.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★★ This weapon plays differently from usual weapons. High rank maintanence and great execution is required to score with it. It's perk cannot be utilized if the player does not know how to score with it.
Cluster Missile
- Up to 2 missiles can be active at the same time.
- Very active. Has to hit a target to start the cluster explosion.
- 10 ammo per missile.
- Perk: Longer flourish time.
- Zero flourish: 1 missile can give an 8 hit zero flourish.
- Difficulty of use: ★★★★☆ Same points as mae cluster with the addition of having limited clusters on screen.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★★ The combination of how it works in addition to it's perk. The score route is unique compared to most weapons.
Fractal Salvo
- Best coverage in game.
- Really efficient at decimating enemies. Incredible damage.
- 12 ammo per use. Always at risk of running out of ammo if scoring.
- Perk: Refills ammo after stage clear.
- Zero flourish: Can zero flourish reliably if positioning at the bottom middle of the screen with enemies lined up. Can sometimes flourish at 2 hits if unlucky.
- Difficulty of use: ★☆☆☆☆ Very easy.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★☆☆ Tough zero flourish and can easily lose you points. A few bad shots and you'd run out of ammo. Despite that It's super efficient.
Pierce Lancer
- Shoots a burst of lancers with one use. Spends 12 ammo.
- Pierces like the name implies.
- Unreasonably high damage.
- Perk: Slightly increases both unfocused and focused shots.
- Zero flourish: one burst and good movement can give you enough hits with enough enemies.
- Difficulty of use: ★★☆☆☆ The short burst forces the player to have good movement and positioning.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ Can easily run out of ammo especially when zero flourishing. Piercing can help with deleting more enemies in addition of having easy access to other techniques with it's potent damage compared to other weapons.
Gun Buckler
- Defensive weapon.
- Summons shield in front of ship then shoots back bullets that has damage and fire rate proportional to the bullets you absorbed.
- 20 ammo per use.
- Very restricted. Once you use the weapon you can't cancel it early.
- Has an open gap between the shield and the ship. Don't get hit.
- Perk: Larger counterbomb window.
- Zero flourish: It's great as long as you absorb enough bullets and avoid killing enemies with the shield itself. Otherwise it will flourish.
- Difficulty of use: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to use.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★☆ High rank maintanence is a must. Very limited and awkward to use. In my opinion this is the worst scorer in the game.
Cluster Missile
- Up to 2 missiles can be active at the same time.
- Very active. After a set distance the missile explodes instead of requiring a target.
- 10 ammo per missile.
- Perk: Longer flourish time.
- Zero flourish: 1 missile can give an 8 hit zero flourish.
- Difficulty of use: ★★★☆☆ Same points as val cluster. But the missiles don't need to hit the enemies to explode.
- Scoring difficulty: ★★★★★ Same points as val cluster.
