Hellsinker intermediate / advanced mechanics

[Lethe]

This is an abridged/rewritten/reorganized version of content put up on shmups.wiki, posted here for redundancy and easier reference. Currently the focus is on technicalities that are most relevant to scoreplay, with strategy advice as a secondary concern. Many of the game's mechanical details are confounding, it's very easy to placebo yourself over what's really happening, and info isn't as widely disseminated as for general strategy.

This thread assumes the reader is familiar with the game's layout and basic mechanics. If not, refer to the game manual.

All of the information here originates either from Beetle-Omiwatari, from me, or from twilightex.

Basic roles by character (Spirits play), STELLA
Spirit Raising / Pooling
Extends, invincibility
Suppression, graze range, sealing
Items, item collection
TERRA, Shrine of Farewell
Misc. Spirits
Token values, list of freeze cancels
Tools / memory addresses

[Lethe]

Basic roles by character (Spirits play)

Each character's strengths emphasize exploiting different facets of the system, which the following table attempts to summarize. Although every source of Spirits will ultimately need to be integrated, it may be helpful to get an idea of what you'll be relying on.

Importance of mechanics
Executor	Much more important	Relatively more important	Relatively less important
Deadliar	Gradual value raising Item collection	TLB kills	Nothing!
Fossilmaiden	Gradual value raising TLB kills Item collection	Nothing!	Grazing Tick points Extend bonuses
Minogame	Grazing	Extend bonuses	TLB kills
Kagura1	Tick points Destructive value	Extend bonuses	Gradual value raising
Kagura2	Grazing?	Nothing?	Everything else?
Kagura3	Extend bonuses	Gradual value raising TLB kills Grazing	Tick points
Kagura4	Destructive value TLB kills	Tick points Grazing	Extend bonuses

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STELLA

To score Spirits effectively, STELLA level A must be maintained in 99% of circumstances, as almost all sources of Spirits scale with it. Most Segments feature a way to increase STELLA rapidly early on. Such tricks should be the first things one should learn when playing for Spirits.

• Segment 1 Lead: Repeatedly hitting the invulnerable part of the MONO-WINGs will cause them to drop lots of LUNA Chaff which can be collected for STELLA. Clearing waves quickly will cause more MONO-WINGs to appear.
• Segment 1 Behind: Quickly clearing the opening waves will spawn lots of zako whose bullets can be Suppressed for LUNA Chaff. Afterwards, a green STELLA item and two MONO-WINGs appear.
• Segment 2 Lead: UNCHAINing the enemies at the beginning and then quickly clearing the following kamikaze zako will produce up to 3 green STELLA items.
• Segment 3 Lead: Destroying the tailguns of the two CLIONEs will produce a green STELLA item each. Another appears in the middle at TIMER ~7.
• Segment 3 Behind: ZINC-OWLs drop lots of LUNA Chaff when shot at.
• Segment 4: Approaching the HONEYCOMBs in SECTOR 03 will cause them to drop a ring of LUNA Chaff. MONO-WINGS appear in SECTORs 05 to 08.
• Segment 5: No trick, must be built up gradually with efficient play.
• Segment 6: Rapidly hitting one or both of the 1000KNIGHTS while performing the opening graze will accelerate STELLA gain drastically.
• Segment 7: Destroying the 6 high-value ORNITHOPTERs at TIMER ~17 will produce up to 6 green STELLA items.
• Segment 8: Two green STELLA items appear at the beginning. The STELLA increase over time does not stack with itself: wait in the enemy SEAL zones for a couple of seconds between collecting each.

The easiest way to accidentally drop STELLA is by Suppressing bullets for too long. Be mindful of when your Suppression is active and how you can play around it. Playing with Adept eliminates this concern.

The way STELLA is preserved between stages is a bit convoluted. The minimum STELLA level increases cumulatively over the course of the game based on the player's survival performance. The amount of STELLA lost also increases based on survival performance. In conventional circumstances, this results in survival mistakes granting a small boost at the start of the next stage in exchange for a small long-term penalty. At least one route has abused this to manipulate a higher starting STELLA for a critical stage (the current Kills WR).

[Lethe]

Spirit Raising / Pooling

Inner Spirit Raising is a mechanic that allows you to increase the kill value of targets by hitting them rapidly. There is also a parallel, somewhat more traditional tick points mechanic, which is based on similar principles as Spirit Raising. There are various confounding elements which prevent the two systems from being too symmetric or simple to optimize.

Common to both systems

• Hitting multiple targets simultaneously enhances the pooling efficiency for all of them. It doesn't matter if the targets are indestructible or have a value or not.
• Most subweapons have a penalty flag which reduces their per-hit efficiency. A notable exception is Minogame's Reality Hedge (both versions). This penalty does not necessarily make subweapons bad; some are still the best option for a given character or situation.
• Efficiency is halved when the boss flag is active. This applies during boss fights, for the whole of Segment 5, and between the Segment 6 Slug Lady midboss and the second half of the stage.

Specific to raised inner Spirits

• Every hit landed on a target generates pooled Spirits, modified by STELLA level. The kill value of the target grows based on the total number of pooled Spirits.
• The pooling rate vastly improves as the player gets closer to the target. At STELLA level A, each pointblank hit is worth roughly 471% of each long-distance hit. Bear in mind that being close to the target also increases the raw hit count via aura damage, potentially by a factor of hundreds depending on character.
• Value raised in non-essential parts of enemies typically also contributes to the value of the core.
• Growth efficiency is halved after each of two thresholds. As displayed on the practice chamber dummy, these are at ~40960 (internal value 0x14000) and ~450560 (internal value 0x78000) pooled Spirits.

Specific to tick Spirits

• Every 3 frames, a value derived from the number of delivered hits is checked against a stage-specific threshold. If the hit count exceeds this threshold, Spirits are awarded based on the amount of excess. In effect this means tick points depend on concentration of hits rather than gross number of hits spread over whatever time period.
• STELLA level increases the effective hit count, and a stage-specific modifier decreases it.
• The number of Spirits pooled scales up by 1/24th of the total number of SLAVEs that have been UNCHAINed. For example, 1200 total UNCHAINed = +50 = 150% tick point pooling.
• Pooling more than 21.4 Spirits in a single interval will overflow the range and wrap around, awarding a negative value instead. This bug is mostly a concern for Kagura1 who is vulnerable to it throughout Full Sequence Order runs.

A full breakdown of the tick point mechanics can be found in this Youtube post. Many elements described there are shared by both halves of the system.

[Lethe]

Extends

Extend bonuses are a massive proportion of most characters' Spirits scores. Especially for characters with poor item collection capability, balancing extend potential versus immediate score gain is one of the main challenges in routing. Compromises are not trivial to evaluate due to run-to-run variability and the indirectness of exponential gains from Running Spirits and the Shrine.

Extend rates
Executor	Base NECESSARY	Growth per extend
Deadliar	20	+2
Fossilmaiden	18	+3
Minogame	23	+1
Kagura1	22	+1
Kagura2	19	+2
Kagura3	28	0
Kagura4	16	+3

Sources of extends
Item / Trigger	NECESSARY
Life Chip	-1
Ingot	-0.05
LUNA Crystal or Frozen Crystal	-0.004
Reliquia	-0.05
Per frame, boss flag off	-0.0008
Per frame, boss flag off, on last life	Additional -0.0008
Per frame, Segment 8 boss	-0.001
Starting a new Segment	-4
Losing a life	-2
Losing another life within 30 seconds	Additional -2
Per frame REGEN ASSIST is active	-0.025 (1 death) to -0.0025 (4+ deaths)
Blue crystallized spirit	-0.5
Red crystallized spirit	-2

Extend bonus value
Type	Spirits
Immortality	80 + (40 * prior Immortality count)
Spirit BREAKTHROUGH	200 + (40 * prior Immortality count)
Kill BREAKTHROUGH	160 + (40 * prior Immortality count)

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Invincibility mechanics

Invincibility abuse is a significant part of scoreplay for any character. Typically this involves clipping through objects, intentionally trapping oneself inside objects, and supergrazing. Invincibility from taking a hit cannot be used to graze.

Invincibility from Discharge
Executor	SOL 3 iframes	SOL 4 iframes	SOL 5 iframes	Notes
Deadliar	60	90	120	Maximum hold delay: 40
Fossilmaiden (Curtain Raiser)	n/a	n/a	144	Maximum hold delay: 90
Fossilmaiden (Bacillus' Cloak)	n/a	n/a	180	Doesn't cause a bullet cancel
Minogame	100	140	190
Kagura1	30	60	90
Kagura2	250	310	370	Invincibility only when player is in contact with bomb area
Kagura3	80	140	200	Maximum hold delay: 70, continuous bullet cancels during delay
Kagura4	30	60	90

Delayed Discharges grant iframes over the entire delayed period in addition to their normal time. There is a 1 frame gap between pressing the Discharge button and any iframes being applied.

Other sources of invincibility
Event	iframes
Minogame Yellow Blank	36 + up to 145
Extend	120
Respawn or autobomb	120
SELF ECLIPSE	10
"Discharge available" sound plays	12
Scripted stage events etc	xxx

Invincibility sources overwrite the current iframe timer with their own value. Invincibility from gaining an extend is added on top of the current timer instead, allowing for iframe stacking. Minogame's Yellow Blank is immune to being overwritten, as are the following Discharges: Fossilmaiden (Raiser, during delay only), Fossilmaiden (Cloak), Minogame, Kagura2, Kagura3.

[Lethe]

Suppression

In Solidstate/Aspirant, the Suppression Radius is activated by not firing main shot for 60 frames. In Adept, it's activated by holding the shot button for 20 frames. Fossilmaiden activates Suppression via her subweapons instead.

Suppression Radius
Executor	Radius size
Typical	6400
Fossilmaiden (Anchor)	4200
Fossilmaiden (Lance)	2800 (main body) 3600 (Saraba-maru)

Needles in contact with a Radius have an increased FINELINE value. Use it whenever possible when grazing needles. Due to the implications of autofire, Kagura1 is incapable of doing this and must settle for inferior graze rates.

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Graze range, sealing


Green: Small mode range; pink: Big mode range; red: Forbidden Shell range

• Small mode is always active while main shot is being fired.*
• In Solidstate or Aspirant: for Deadliar and Minogame, big mode is active only while the Suppression Radius is active. For Kagura, big mode is never active.*
• In Adept: big mode is active irrespective of the Suppression Radius.
• Fossilmaiden always has big mode active when not firing main shot.

* Unless Kagura1 and charge attack is ready, but this is probably a bug.

The sealing range for a given enemy is (enemy-specific value + player's graze range), updating dynamically if the graze range changes.
The seal range hints enabled by the Emphasize:Seal Zone setting always display (enemy-specific value + 5000).
Enemies stay sealed for 55 frames after exiting the seal range.

[Lethe]

Items, item collection

There is a hard limit of 512 simultaneous items. Items spawned past the limit fail to appear. Keep this in mind when aiming for large bullet cancels.

During their initial upward movement, Life Chips and SOL pieces shift slightly on the x-axis so that they fall towards the player. If you're not collecting them immediately, staying relatively close to these items as they appear can allow you to herd them into a trajectory that will be convenient later. Conversely, Reliquia fall so fast that pre-positioning is necessary to not miss them.

Item types have differing collection ranges. Minogame adds +500 to these values, and Kagura adds +300.

Item collectradii
Item	Range
LUNA Chaff	1600
Reliquia	3200
Crystallized spirit	3300
LUNA Droplet	3400
Others	3000

Options have their own collection range of (item range / 2) + (subweapon range * 0.75). Due to how massive these ranges are, Deadliar and Fossilmaiden basically trivialize the item collection minigame outside of Tokens play.

Subweapon collectradii
Executor	SW range * 0.75	Example real range
Deadliar (chain level 1)	4650	~6150
Deadliar (chain level 2)	4800 to 9577 (proximity to Deadliar)	~6300 to ~11077
Deadliar (deploy)	5400	~6900
Fossilmaiden	3750	~5250
Kagura2	1800	~3300

[Lethe]

TERRA

When TERRA reaches 0, the player is sent to the Shrine of Farewell on the next stage transition. Note that the loss from exiting a Segment applies before the stage transition. TERRA never falls on Segments 1B and 2B for any reason.

Sources of TERRA
Event	Effect
Autobomb	-6
Losing a life	-10~20, see below
Losing another life within 30 seconds	-20~40, see below
Losing a Life Chip	-1
Losing a Revive item	-25
Losing any other item except LUNA Droplets	-0.01
Exiting a Segment	( 60 - number of cleared stages^2 ) * -0.5 - 10
Exiting a Segment in Solidstate	Additional -8
Exiting Segment 5	Additional -15
Exiting Segment 6	Additional -30
Exiting Segment 7	Additional -380
Gaining an extend	+7
Collecting a Reliquia	+0.05 on Segment 3L, else +0.2
Destroying KAREIDOSCOPE once (FATE CONTROL)	+2.5

The TERRA loss from dying is increased by:

• The number of deaths on the current Segment
• The number of misses in total, including autobombs
• Each STELLA level below A before the death

The TERRA loss from dying is mitigated by:

• A stage-specific modifier
• 3+ deaths on the current Segment

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Shrine of Farewell

Shrine bosses have differing levels of damage resistance during each pattern. Most of the time, damage resistance is applied unconditionally for a few seconds after the boss first appears; after that, it's removed whenever the player is within close range. Little or no damage resistance is applied between patterns.

Each pattern runs on discrete cycles which can be determined by the LIMIT timer (also describable as keyframes or framerules). When a pattern ends, the boss will hover in the middle of the screen and do nothing until the next cycle is reached. By timing a pattern switch immediately after the start of a new cycle, the upcoming pattern can be speedkilled easily.

Crystallized spirits are awarded as follows.
Take ST as (STELLA level - 1).
For boss first and second attacks:

• (ST + 9) - (misses on pattern * 4)
• If (ST / 3 + 6) is greater, then use that instead

For boss third attack:

• (ST * 3 + 9) - (misses on pattern * 6)
• If (ST / 2 + 12) is greater, then use that instead

For Kaname Stones:

• ST + 9

After defeating all patterns, the crystal total becomes:

• floor((ST * 12 + 100) * (crystal total - 300) / 100 + 300)

[Lethe]

Running Spirits

"Interest" on your stage Spirits passively accumulated over time. Gaining more Spirits earlier in the stage = more profit. This does not apply when the boss flag is active.

The rate at STELLA level A is double that of level 1; at level A, it typically works out as +1% Spirits per ~13 seconds. Additionally, a flat quantity of Spirits is awarded per frame, derived from STELLA level and a stage-specific value. The flat bonus makes up the majority of the running income until the Spirits count reaches several thousand.

Segment 5 maze route

For Spirits scoring, there are two candidates of which route to take. All SOL floors consecutively, or SOL F1 → SOL F2 → wallclip → LUNA F2 → LUNA F3 → SOL F3.

Segment 5 route
Route	Life Chips	GOLDEN-ARMs	Maximum duration
Full SOL route	118	24	~251 seconds
Wallclip route	128-131	~20	~242 seconds

The full SOL route is more profitable if the Life Chips from the wallclip route do not result in an extra extend. Precise routing can make the difference either way.
For Tokens or Kills scoring, SOL F1 → SOL F2 → wallclip → LUNA F2 → LUNA F3 is the longest route which ends on LUNA side, maximizing the total enemy count.

TLB value

Destroying the TLB grants 7 Spirits each time, and destroying it 7 times increases its value by 7. The following formula represents the total TLB value:

• Σ[n=1,y] 7 * floor((n/7) + 1)

Where y denotes the times you destroyed the TLB. For example destroying the TLB 79 times (kill value shown as 70) will be around 3479 Spirits.

[Lethe]

Token values

Token values
Item	Decimal value	Fraction of 1 Token
LUNA Crystal (0)	0.05000	1/20
LUNA Crystal (1)	0.05750	~1/17.3
LUNA Crystal (2)	0.08050	~1/12.4
LUNA Crystal (3)	0.11883	~1/8.41
LUNA Crystal (4)	0.17233	~1/5.8
LUNA Crystal (5)	0.24116	~1/4.14
LUNA Crystal (6)	0.32533	~1/3.07
Frozen Crystal	1.50000	3/2
LUNA Droplet (stage)	0.16225	~1/6
LUNA Droplet (boss)	0.04050	~1/25
Reliquia	0.08333	1/12
Ingot	0.06666 to 0.17916	1/15 to ~1/5.58

Ingot value is internally (STELLA level - 1) * 150 + 800.

While the boss flag is active, the stage Token count decays at a rate of (Token / 300000)+0.00025 per frame. For example at 4307 Tokens you will lose 1 every ~1.14 seconds.

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Sources of freeze cancels (FSO)

Frozen Crystals have an implausibly high Token value for how easily overlooked they are. Maximizing gain from freeze cancels is essential to getting a good Token score. For unspecified multi-part or CHAINed enemies, it can be assumed that destroying the core or MASTER is what triggers the cancel.

FSO freeze cancels
Stage	Enemy name	Number available
1L	COFFIN	2
1L	Rex Cavalier (wings)	4
1B	COFFIN	3
1B	Quiet Minstrel (core)	2
2L	UNNAMED 452 (Sinistar)	1
2L	UNNAMED 447 (small stone)	5
2L	UNNAMED 447 (large stone)	2
2L	Scarlet Queen (talon)	2
3B	C-MOON	2
3B	Sunken Bishop (arm)	2
4	SWALLOW'S NEST	4
4	URCHIN	2
4	UNNAMED 450 (SECTORs 20-31)	16
4	UNNAMED 443 (SECTOR 32)	Respawning
5	KAREIDOSCOPE	Respawning
7	UNNAMED 499 (MASTER on left)	3
7	UNNAMED 500 (MASTER on right)	3
Shrine	Kaname Stone	4
8	UNNAMED 389 (giant crab)	Respawning

[Lethe]

Tools / Memory addresses

For Steam v11

Stage Spirit totals
Address	Type	Description
hs_dx9build.exe+71266C	4 byte	Base kill values and NUTCRACK
hs_dx9build.exe+712670	4 byte	UNCHAIN bonuses
hs_dx9build.exe+712678	4 byte	Running Spirits
hs_dx9build.exe+71267C	4 byte	Pooled Spirits
hs_dx9build.exe+712680	4 byte	FINELINE bonuses
hs_dx9build.exe+712684	4 byte	Stage end bonus
hs_dx9build.exe+712688	4 byte	Immortality bonuses

Spirits from items, special income such as shooting at GARLAND, and TLB kills are not represented in the above.

General scoring
Address	Type	Description
hs_dx9build.exe+712658	4 byte	Hit buffer
hs_dx9build.exe+712698	4 byte	Total Spirits
hs_dx9build.exe+7126A4	4 byte	Stage Spirits
hs_dx9build.exe+7126B8	4 byte	UNCHAINed enemy total
hs_dx9build.exe+712650	4 byte	Gem level (0 to 27936)
hs_dx9build.exe+712674	4 byte	Unmodified Tokens
hs_dx9build.exe+7126AC	4 byte	Modified Tokens
hs_dx9build.exe+9705B4	4 byte	Shared stage modifier
hs_dx9build.exe+71265C	4 byte	Stage hit buffer threshold
hs_dx9build.exe+466938	4 byte	Stage hit buffer modifier
hs_dx9build.exe+71C9AC	4 byte	Character tick Spirits multiplier
hs_dx9build.exe+45386F	Byte	Boss flag

Survival / extend related
Address	Type	Description
hs_dx9build.exe+71CE60	4 byte	Frames since last death
hs_dx9build.exe+71C484	4 byte	Pattern miss count
hs_dx9build.exe+71C498	4 byte	Stage miss count
hs_dx9build.exe+712648	4 byte	Immortality count
hs_dx9build.exe+7126BC	4 byte	Total miss count
hs_dx9build.exe+712644	4 byte	Extend count since BREAKTHROUGH
hs_dx9build.exe+712640	4 byte	NECESSARY
hs_dx9build.exe+71C480	4 byte	SURVIVABILITY
hs_dx9build.exe+71CE68	4 byte	iframe countdown

Other resources / settings
Address	Type	Description
hs_dx9build.exe+71264C	4 byte	TERRA
hs_dx9build.exe+71C44C	4 byte	SOL
hs_dx9build.exe+71C450	4 byte	LUNA
hs_dx9build.exe+71C454	4 byte	STELLA level
hs_dx9build.exe+71C458	4 byte	STELLA
hs_dx9build.exe+71C430	4 byte	Subweapon charge
hs_dx9build.exe+71C9A4	4 byte	Subweapon supercharge
hs_dx9build.exe+71C408	4 byte	Bootleg Ghost
hs_dx9build.exe+71C434	4 byte	Equipment ID
hs_dx9build.exe+71C43C	4 byte	Graze range
hs_dx9build.exe+71CEA0	4 byte	Speed modifier (10000 = 100%)
hs_dx9build.exe+97052C	4 byte	Stage ID
hs_dx9build.exe+9705B8	4 byte	Character ID

Triggers
Address	Type	Description
hs_dx9build.exe+46690C	4 byte	Stage frame timer
hs_dx9build.exe+712568	4 byte	SATISFACTION adder
hs_dx9build.exe+712578	4 byte	SATISFACTION sub-level step
hs_dx9build.exe+7C6FD4	4 byte	GARLAND hitpoints (20000000 skips)
hs_dx9build.exe+712554	4 byte	Segment 4 SECTOR, also used on Seg 6
hs_dx9build.exe+466990	4 byte	CLAMMBON wave controller (final pattern triggers when >135)
hs_dx9build.exe+7C6F78	4 byte	Phase/wave timer (can be used to skip around on the final boss)
hs_dx9build.exe+712694	4 byte	Bullet cancel score (element of 2L boss kernel qualifier)

For v1.009
Additional Information Mod Cheat Engine script: Youtube post, direct download

[CStarFlare]

I've never read this article of the shmups wiki and I'm blown away by the depth of information here. Thank you for this.