A few more notes based on another evening's worth of testing.
Icarus wrote:Laser countering isn't based on timing, it seems, but rather positioning - I've countered successfully by being at scratching distance from the boss's Burst Laser before activating my own and "cutting into" the path of the enemy Laser, and always regardless of when the enemy Laser was fired. If you get the replay, you'll see me do this against Lightning Flamberge.
Yep, I was right in that the Burst Laser countering system is tied to proximity and not timing, as I was practicing my countering against Lightning Flamberge in Mission Mode (Stage 1-3 to be precise) and in one run, I missed my first Laser counter try, ducked out of the way of the enemy Laser, and got it on the second try.
There is no real easy way to counter - the only way to get it right is to learn how each boss fires its Break Laser, and be in the right place for it. Remember, some bosses sweet their Laser around.
I did originally think that the Shield glowing gold when hit had something to do with it, and in some cases, that does work, if you purposely let the boss take a hit off you so you can get into Laser counter range (eg. Lightning-F, Dark Helios). This technique isn't useful if you have no Shield, obviously.
Icarus wrote:I'd imagine that milking Great Thing would be worth a load of points too, just like in Gaiden and G before this. Especially since those small sharks GT spits out fire Burst Lasers of their own, and those drill issiles always seem to be worth a fair bit.
If I'm right in thinking, a countered Burst Laser has an extra multiplier added to it - think G-Darius here, as well as the big score boost you get for killing a boss with a counter - and if you combine that with all the stuff that's worth a lot of points on this boss, such as the small drones, drill missiles and turrets, it'll add up to a big score boost if done correctly.
And you don't even need to stock Capture Balls to do it, since a successful counter completely refills your Burst Laser bar.