GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

For posting and requesting strategic gameplay tips on shmups!
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EOJ
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GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by EOJ »

ARCADE Mode [Ver 4.0]
Quick scoring summary:
Basically you get your counter up to 1000 and your multiplier up to 10,000 (or as close as possible) by absorbing red and blue rings. Shot gives you red rings that build up your counter, while laser gives you blue rings that build up your multiplier (some characters have it reversed). There's a proximity effect in this similar to the one in Galuda 2 and MFBL. Press A+B to go into fever (like DS), and you can use shot or laser to leech skulls off enemies and you won't have any suicide bullets to deal with. For high scoring, though, you need to use your lock-shot on groups of multiple enemies, often in the background (a la Soukyuugurentai). When they die they release slow homing suicide bullets (a la Galuda 2's zesshikai mode). When you let off lock shot these suicide bullets are converted to skulls. Time a lock shot right as the counter goes back down to 0, when there are lot of suicide bullets on the screen, and you can instantly respawn it back up to 1000 and go right back into fever mode (similar to the recharge technique in Deathsmiles, but much easier). Rinse and repeat. You can do the 'recharge' over and over in some levels (dozens of times), unlike DS where you could only do it once or twice in a level. It gives the game a very fast pace, and smooth rhythm.

There are no bouncing skulls (that break into smaller skulls) to deal with as in DS. You just absorb everything you can. Skulls you miss just fall off the screen.

In regard to leeching skulls off enemies with your shot, some characters can do this more effectively than others. Lei is the best at this, and he plays much differently from the other characters due to this. You can go through some stages with Lei just doing this and score well.

Your multiplier and counter carry over from stage to stage, but they max at 10,000 and 1000, respectively (just like the original DS). If you die you only lose 10% of your multiplier, which is quite nice. Your multiplier does not reset to zero when you exit fever mode, as it does in DS. It stays the same.

There is more to it, and there are some more advanced scoring techniques you can use with each character, but that's the gist of it.


X360 Mode/ IIX Mode
Basic stuff:
-Try and get your multiplier to 10,000 before you go into power-up mode. If you are around 7000+ and get a bunch of suicide bullets on the screen, you can often power up and get to 10K right away as well.
-If you power up and are not near 10k, try and use lock-shot on enemies, they will release light blue crowns which max out your multiplier faster
-Don't hold shot or laser down through an entire level. Get a dozen or so blue homing missiles near you, let off your fire button, wait a second or two until their trailing lines turn red, then cancel them with lock-shot. Rinse and repeat. Holding shot or laser through crowded parts of a level can really hurt you as the homing missiles can easily whip around and knock you from behind. Remember that while in power up mode touching enemies doesn't hurt you.
-When you get down around 200 on the counter in power up mode, try and get as many blue homing missiles on the screen as possible, keep them near you, and cancel them when the counter is around 20. This will allow you to refill back up to about 6000 on the multiplier if you time it right. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower, depending on the character, and different factors in spots of stages.
-In some stages you really need to use lock-shot while in power up mode to take advantage of all the enemies lurking in the background. Once you have a bunch of suicide bullets (sperm-type) tracking you, let go of lock-shot when your circular meter is about to close at the top.
-Boss milking involves holding lock-shot while in power up mode until suicide bullets appear, then let go of lockshot and they turn into red rings. Do this right as your counter is about to expire and you can refill back up to 1000 on the counter. Charge your multiplier by using shot (not laser) while near a boss, and you will do minimal damage to a boss, allowing you to power up when a lot of bullets are on the screen, "power down" with the aforementioned lock-shot>suicide bullets>red rings technique, and repeat a couple times for a nice score boost.
-Try and deliver the final blow to the bosses with the lock-shot. Not just because it lets you fight the TLB, but if you have a lot of suicide bullets on the screen from holding the lockshot, these all convert into skulls at the end, giving a lot of points
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bitkid
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by bitkid »

Do you have any info on how to play the Arrange mode? Its really trippy with all the super slow bullets on the screen but I don't understand what I'm supposed to do with them.
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by BulletMagnet »

Check about three-quarters of the way down this page for a summary.
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by bitkid »

Awesome thanks!
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by Vexorg »

I've been playing for a few days now, and I've managed a 1CC in arrange mode (minus the extra stage) at level 2 for all levels (level 3 is still a bit much for me at this point) but I still don't quite understand what the best method to run up scores in this mode is. I've figured out the mechanics reasonably well, but just can't seem how to apply them. When I got the 1CC, it was around 890m for a final score, with about a 10,000 on the counter at the end.
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EU03
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by EU03 »

I've been tearing my hair out while trying to get the blue suicide bullet trails to turn red, but I think I've figured it out.
I noticed that it seems that it will only trigger if your counter is maxed at 10k. I haven't fully tested this fact, and anyone is welcome to disprove it, but it seems to work for me.
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ratikal
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by ratikal »

EU03 wrote:I've been tearing my hair out while trying to get the blue suicide bullet trails to turn red, but I think I've figured it out.
I noticed that it seems that it will only trigger if your counter is maxed at 10k. I haven't fully tested this fact, and anyone is welcome to disprove it, but it seems to work for me.
I've tested it, it only works only when the multiplier is at 10000. Is there any way to speed up when they turn red or no?
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by Tyjet »

I believe the blue bullets turn red when they are about to dissappear. Leave them on the screen for a minute and they will turn red regardless if you are not at 10K.
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EU03
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by EU03 »

No, I believe that the red aura on the bullets are completely different from the trails. It's only an indicator that you've had the bullets on screen too long and better cash them in; they have no affect on your scoring. A yellow trail with a red aura will only still yield crappy red or blue rings.
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DEL
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by DEL »

I have some questions on X Mode.

I've just started playing this game and I understand the basics of power-up mode, but I'm experiencing wildly different game completion bonuses :?: :?
For instance, I played badly with Follett and had a low score just before destroying Boss Satan Claws,but somehow got awarded a big game completion bonus which tripled my score.
Then I played much better with Lei and had a score more than twice as high as my Follett run before destruction of Satan Claws, but got a tiny game completion bonus?!? & an overall much lower score.

What the Hell? - What's the final Boss destruction bonus made up of? Lives remaining at the All? Bombs not used? - Wot?

Or is the game completion bonus not that important? How much can it boost up your overall scoar?

btw. I just tried Level 3 all the way for a laugh and when I reached Satan Claus he was about 20X harder than usual and hardly taking any damage. If he isn't the very last Boss, then I don't see the point of making him so insane on level 3.
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ratikal
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by ratikal »

DEL wrote:I have some questions on X Mode.

I've just started playing this game and I understand the basics of power-up mode, but I'm experiencing wildly different game completion bonuses :?: :?
For instance, I played badly with Follett and had a low score just before destroying Boss Satan Claws,but somehow got awarded a big game completion bonus which tripled my score.
Then I played much better with Lei and had a score more than twice as high as my Follett run before destruction of Satan Claws, but got a tiny game completion bonus?!? & an overall much lower score.

What the Hell? - What's the final Boss destruction bonus made up of? Lives remaining at the All? Bombs not used? - Wot?

Or is the game completion bonus not that important? How much can it boost up your overall scoar?

btw. I just tried Level 3 all the way for a laugh and when I reached Satan Claus he was about 20X harder than usual and hardly taking any damage. If he isn't the very last Boss, then I don't see the point of making him so insane on level 3.
Whoa, can you post the numbers for me please and the amount of lives/bombs left? This sounds kind of interesting.
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DEL
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by DEL »

ratikal - I've only just started playing this game for 2 days now, but here is some info. One instance would be reaching Satan Claws with a meagre 2000000000 and then ending up with 4200000000 upon destruction of Satan Claws. Lives remaining - 2. Bombs remaining - I guess 1 and 3 from the unused life.
Another example would be one of my very first credits - Follett arriving at Satan Claws with just 700000000 and this ballooning 4X to 2800000000 upon destruction of Satan Claws. Lives remaining 2. No bombs used on Satan Claws and 1 lifed Satan Claws.

Other more proficient Satan Claws ALLs received almost no game completion bonus. eg. Lei arriving at Satan Claws with 2000000000 and ending up with 2200000000 upon destruction of Satan Claws.
The only thing I noticed is that the game completion bonuses were (perhaps) way higher when I 1 life/no bomb Satan Claws. But I'm really not sure.

I have a lot to learn on this game.

Congrats on your big score :!:

Also, its probably common knowledge, but I got an achievement from simply waiting for the timer to run out between stage 1 & 2.
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by Chaos Phoenixma »

That's a glitch. You need to download the patch in order to get the clear bonus to work as it should be. The patch also allows the 6 billion point achievement to unlock since it's glitched without the patch.
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DEL
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by DEL »

Thanks Chaos Phoenixma. I've never connected it to the net, but I'll try.
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Re: GD: Deathsmiles II Ver 4.0 & Deathsmiles IIX

Post by Xeno »

What other extends are there in this game besides the score based ones and how do you get them?
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