I'd like to clarify a few details about the mechanics.
MarisaC: A high-power, missile-type shot. The bomb is like DDC's SakuyaA. Same mechanics, get hit leads to screen clear, etc., and you get half your bomb back (0.50 Power).
The bombs aren't quite the same. DDC SakuyaA's clears bullets twice, making it quite useful: a partial screen clear when you activate the bomb, and a full screen clear if you get hit (or you get 3/8 of a bomb back if you don't get hit). SA MarisaC's bomb only clears bullets if you get hit, so it's weaker. It's more like an anytime PCB border that happens to recover some power if you don't actually get hit when you thought you would.
Points are calculated by this: ([base point value] + [green point value]) * ([communication meter fullness in %] * (graze / 100))
Actually no. The graze multiplier ranges from (graze/10000) to (1 + graze/10000) depending on communication gauge, so if you have 12000 graze it'd range from 1.20 to 2.20. But point item value should be irrelevant if you're initially learning the game; score won't give you lives.
Some other things to keep in mind about SA mechanics, anyway:
- SA has among the densest patterns in the series, so the difference in hitbox size between Reimu and Marisa is more relevant than usual. That plus high power give ReimuA a notable survival advantage over pretty much any other shot (with the possible exception of ReimuC, who has a weak shot but a powerful bomb that can skip patterns if you use it on top of a boss).
- ReimuB's shot is only slightly homing, more like a forward-focus shot that happens to curve a bit. SA basically has no homing shots-- it's what originally taught me how to play with non-homing characters back when I was first learning.
- MarisaA does get 8 bombs, but in exchange they have a short invincibility time, and don't deal significant damage unless placed directly in front of a boss. Also she uses power items less efficiently:
-- MarisaA needs 12 power items to gain 1.00 power while other shot types need 20 (meaning it takes her 96 power items instead of 80 to reach full power)
-- MarisaA still only gains 2-3 power back from dying at no power (well, the standard formula: 2 at 3+ lives remaining, 3 at 1-2 lives remaining, full at no lives remaining) instead of 4-6 as you might expect
Fun shot if you're looking for something unconventional, but I wouldn't recommend her for survival.
- Timing out a boss pattern will prevent it from dropping a life part, unless it's a survival spell. (Dying on a pattern prevents the life part from appearing too, but it's clearly not worth suiciding pre-boss just to get 1/5 more of a life from the boss. You'll get a total of 40 life parts even if you die to 10 different boss patterns, as long as you don't time out anything.)
- Due to the power system, you can plan to bomb at certain parts of the game (especially during stage portions or midbosses) and still reach full power afterward, meaning you wouldn't use up any total resources.
SA is frequently considered the most difficult game on Normal, by the way.
