RQ: Shot strength differences in Progear
RQ: Shot strength differences in Progear
Does anyone of you know of the differences in damage the various Progear shot types cause. As an easy example: imagine you've reached Volvox, the first phase. You place yourself in the top left corner and blast away. If you want to maximize damage, would you want to use the fighter (i.e. Bolt) or the gunner (i.e. Rivet)?
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Muchi Muchi Spork
- Posts: 1413
- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 2:53 pm
Re: RQ: Shot strength differences in Progear
I think it depends on how close you are to enemies. The most powerful shot in the game seems to be pointblanking with fighter mode C button because the quicker your last bullets have done their job or gone off the screen the quicker they are replaced by new ones. So the greater the distance between you and the enemy the slower your damage will be in fighter mode. Gunner mode seems better than a long distance fighter mode for damage but I don't have an exact breakdown and I think the total damage done per second between the 3 gunners is not equal.
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BareKnuckleRoo
- Posts: 6654
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Southern Ontario
Re: RQ: Shot strength differences in Progear
It depends on ship and gunner combination. I've played around with them a lot because I like working out ship strengths, so I'm fairly confident with these assessments:
* When you're in Shot mode for either Ring or Bolt, their main gun shots do easily 80-90% of the total damage. The occasional gunner shots fired do a bit of damage, but it's quite low and almost negligible unless you're at pointblank range. When you're in Gunner mode, the yellow shots your plane fires do a noticeable amount of damage, so it's worthwhile to get in front of enemies when in Gunner mode regardless of which pilot you're using, as you'll notice it takes a bit longer to kill with just the gunner's shots hitting.
* Ring does more damage at long range in Gunner mode than in Shot mode. At long range, the shots fire with a bit of a delay in between volleys, and you won't hit with all the bursts, so using Gunner mode will give you much more consistent damage. If you can get close and pointblank in Shot mode, Ring's damage is actually quite a bit better than Gunner mode is, and is as damaging if not moreso than Bolt's is in Shot mode, but you won't be able to pointblank very often. It's actually more ideal for scoring though as there's more bullets hitting overall, so you get a bigger per-hit bonus with a high bomb counter than with Bolt.
* Bolt does enormous damage regardless of his range when in Shot mode. For damage, it's best to use Shot mode when possible and pointblank when you can. Pointblanking doesn't add much to the damage (unlike Ring), but it means the gunner's shots will hit more often/quickly, and you'll notice slightly faster kill times, but don't be afraid to stay well away from a boss and shoot at long-range. Gunner mode is a bit less damaging than shot mode, but as long as you're hitting with the yellow ship shots as well, it's not too much longer to kill enemies than Shot mode is.
* Chain is best for damage but has terrible movement speed, and has a slight damage boost when using Ring (there's a few extra explosions with each missile). Rivet is a balance between speed and damage, but her missiles have a bit of starting delay so it can be hard timing popcorn kills for scoring. Nail has the lowest damage of the gunners but is probably the best because her movement speed is great when in gunner mode, making it easy to dodge with, and her turning speed with her gunpods is the fastest so she changes targets the quickest.
Bolt is always more damaging in Shot mode. Ring has low Shot damage at long range from a target so trying to kill tough enemies at long range in Shot mode is generally a bad idea, but at pointblank range, his Shot damage is even better than Bolt's. Generally speaking, Gunner mode helps for safety/manuverability, so you can focus purely on dodging, so it's best just to use that during the final boss and worry about not getting hit rather than trying constantly to get in front of the boss, it's an endurance fight no matter what you do as it has a ton of health and several phases. The last couple will give you opportunities to use Bolt's Shot mode and just pump bullets into him from afar, but don't be afraid do go into Gunner mode if you need the extra precision to sneak through a tight pattern, it's what it's there for.
edit: I just noticed I called Nail 'Ring' at one point
* When you're in Shot mode for either Ring or Bolt, their main gun shots do easily 80-90% of the total damage. The occasional gunner shots fired do a bit of damage, but it's quite low and almost negligible unless you're at pointblank range. When you're in Gunner mode, the yellow shots your plane fires do a noticeable amount of damage, so it's worthwhile to get in front of enemies when in Gunner mode regardless of which pilot you're using, as you'll notice it takes a bit longer to kill with just the gunner's shots hitting.
* Ring does more damage at long range in Gunner mode than in Shot mode. At long range, the shots fire with a bit of a delay in between volleys, and you won't hit with all the bursts, so using Gunner mode will give you much more consistent damage. If you can get close and pointblank in Shot mode, Ring's damage is actually quite a bit better than Gunner mode is, and is as damaging if not moreso than Bolt's is in Shot mode, but you won't be able to pointblank very often. It's actually more ideal for scoring though as there's more bullets hitting overall, so you get a bigger per-hit bonus with a high bomb counter than with Bolt.
* Bolt does enormous damage regardless of his range when in Shot mode. For damage, it's best to use Shot mode when possible and pointblank when you can. Pointblanking doesn't add much to the damage (unlike Ring), but it means the gunner's shots will hit more often/quickly, and you'll notice slightly faster kill times, but don't be afraid to stay well away from a boss and shoot at long-range. Gunner mode is a bit less damaging than shot mode, but as long as you're hitting with the yellow ship shots as well, it's not too much longer to kill enemies than Shot mode is.
* Chain is best for damage but has terrible movement speed, and has a slight damage boost when using Ring (there's a few extra explosions with each missile). Rivet is a balance between speed and damage, but her missiles have a bit of starting delay so it can be hard timing popcorn kills for scoring. Nail has the lowest damage of the gunners but is probably the best because her movement speed is great when in gunner mode, making it easy to dodge with, and her turning speed with her gunpods is the fastest so she changes targets the quickest.
Bolt is always more damaging in Shot mode. Ring has low Shot damage at long range from a target so trying to kill tough enemies at long range in Shot mode is generally a bad idea, but at pointblank range, his Shot damage is even better than Bolt's. Generally speaking, Gunner mode helps for safety/manuverability, so you can focus purely on dodging, so it's best just to use that during the final boss and worry about not getting hit rather than trying constantly to get in front of the boss, it's an endurance fight no matter what you do as it has a ton of health and several phases. The last couple will give you opportunities to use Bolt's Shot mode and just pump bullets into him from afar, but don't be afraid do go into Gunner mode if you need the extra precision to sneak through a tight pattern, it's what it's there for.
edit: I just noticed I called Nail 'Ring' at one point
Last edited by BareKnuckleRoo on Fri Jul 12, 2013 3:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: RQ: Shot strength differences in Progear
Thanks for your extensive reply! I put another two or three hours in Progear on the weekend. Following your advice, I saw some improvement already, namely that non-popcorn enemies go down a bit faster. Now I only have to figure out how to reliably beat Volvox and I can attempt some 1CC runs...