RQ: Ketsui level 3 boss

[aaronlg]

Hey, I'm trying to eventually 1CC Ketsui. Right now I'm just going through each section of the game, learning how to beat it without dying or bombing. I'm using Tiger, and the first part I don't really "get" is the Stage 3 boss.

Specifically, the Stage 3 boss has one phase where he shoots volleys of four curved horizontal walls, each with a gap in it. The problem is, I'm getting way too many impossible gap configurations where even if I drop the lock, my ship is just too slow to reach one or more of the gaps. I have no choice but to bomb or intentionally fly through a wall and hope I get lucky. Is there a trick to manipulate the boss into giving me more favorable formations, or some specific way I'm supposed to position myself so I don't get trapped? Thanks!

[EmperorIng]

If this is the attack I think you are describing, it sounds to me like you are just positioning yourself unintelligently. You might need to break the lock for the extra speed (Tiger is very slow), but you should think that if the blue walls the boss are shooting are trying to box you in, you should start on one side of the screen and slowly move to the other so that they aren't spreading out everywhere and blocking your escape options. Additionally you can destroy one of the boss's wings which will halve the attack's offensive power.

For the boss final, keep in mind that the final attack has a safe spot partially up the screen around the middle, as opposed to the logical spot of hiding on the bottom.

[aaronlg]

Thanks. Yeah, that's the attack. After practicing a while and watching my replays, I kind of figured out what was happening. My initial positioning was fine, but I didn't consciously notice the walls have two gaps each. The first time he launches the walls, it seems like you HAVE to zig zag into the awkward gap on the second wall, because if you take the easy one then it just blocks you from reaching either gap in the third wall.

The second time he launches the walls, I'm realizing I just have to commit to dealing damage and forcing him to bullet cancel into Phase 3. Even with one of the nacelles gone, it's just too damn hard to dodge that second volley of walls. I'm mostly just struggling with mental overload at this point, since all three of his phases are pretty relentlessly tough to track.

Are you saying there's a safe spot when he launches the balls in Phase 3? Everyone I've seen on YouTube seems to weave through the attack, ignoring the red balls and hugging one of the lines of blue balls. That's what I've been doing, too, except that I'm still pretty bad at it.

[emphatic]

Hugging the blue balls is the best way, yes.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

I posted about how much I hate the level 2 boss a few times for memery sake, but the truth is that i still struggle with it to this day. It's easily my weakest point in the game, and while I've gotten better with practice, it was just getting used to the pattern - my actual strategy is unchanged and very flimsy. To be exact, it's the container-shooting attack that always gets me. These days I usually just blow a bomb on it without a single regret.

Any advice?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Any advice?

It's a fairly tricky attack for a S2 boss that requires knowing the hitbox and being comfortable moving though lines of bullets. This is how I usually do it, for whatever it's worth. Type B's a bit easier to use as it moves slightly faster than Type A with the lock on shot.

If you're not aiming for Omote or a Ura clear and just want to learn to consistently 1-ALL it, you have tons of resources, so throwing a bomb here isn't a big deal either!

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

This helped a lot. Just going down to screen edge made the attack way easier to comprehend, lol.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm glad! Be warned that if you have to ditch the lock on to rapidly move out of the way of the blue spreadshots immediately before, your damage can suffer and instead of dodging only one set of the nasty attacks you may have to dodge 1 and a half of them or something. If that happens, the second set of blue spreadshots is more sustained and aggressive, but the attacks spawned by those boxes is basically the same.