"Placeholder Sign [I can't think of a name]" (Spell Card Help Topic IV)

[Zil]

Okay, so I've captured all pre-Stage 10 scenes in Shoot the Bullet bar four of them. I was hoping for some advice on the four I don't have.

Scene 5-5
Scene 6-8
Scene 7-1
Scene 9-2

Thanks in advance.

5-5 was the first scene that really stumped me. I don't think there's much of a trick, just move in a giant circle and take pictures right when she releases the next wave of bullets.
6-8 I don't remember very well. Try not to get walled, and think of how you would dodge if the attack were vertical instead of horizontal.
7-1 is pretty simple if you do it right. Fot the first blue part, I seem to recall being far away is a good thing or something (no need to stay under the boss)
9-2 I actually have a technique for this one Start in the upper corner, and loop all the way down across the bottom of the screen, and into the other upper corner. From there take the picture. The idea is that she's aiming the bullets in your general direction, and that pictures are much easy to take when you're alongside the boss, due to the landscape orientaion.

I have replays of those last two that might be useful
stage 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZg1OwCDVDE
stage 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FLJcLoCnRg

[Elysia]

Wow, thanks, that was fast!

6-8 and 7-1 get. Still haven't worked out a clear path for 9-2, but I think I can manage it with a bit of practice.

Screw you 5-5, I'd rather get back to attempting Bar of the Ten Kings. (I know how to do that one, it's just a matter of execution.)

[Puffy]

Wow, thanks, that was fast!

6-8 and 7-1 get. Still haven't worked out a clear path for 9-2, but I think I can manage it with a bit of practice.

Screw you 5-5, I'd rather get back to attempting Bar of the Ten Kings. (I know how to do that one, it's just a matter of execution.)

9-2 is pure dodging
5-5 is somewhat circling

[Zil]

Supposedly there is some kind of safe spot for Kogasa's Parasol Star Memories on Lunatic. Can anyone tell me just where that is?

[I have no name]

Right below Kogasa, about foot level on the boss sprite for the hitbox of your character I think.
Using SanaeB (at least on hard, don't take my word on this for lunatic) at full power is an easy capture though.

[Zengeku]

Right below Kogasa, about foot level on the boss sprite for the hitbox of your character I think.
Using SanaeB (at least on hard, don't take my word on this for lunatic) at full power is an easy capture though.

Same thing for Lunatic if you are at full power. I think MarisaA is somewhat the same too but I haven't used her for a very long time so I don't really remember.

[Zil]

Speaking of Sanae B, should I be using her rather than Reimu? Her non-Reimu-sized hitbox really annoys me, but it seems like lots of people use her anyway. I realize her shots tend to trivialize the stage elements, but that's not really neccessary, and I feel like Reimu is better for bosses.

[I have no name]

My first clears of UFO on each difficulty were with the following shot types:
Easy (to get a feel for the UFO mechanic): SanaeB
Normal: MarisaA (first attempt with her ever too, one of most random clears)
Hard: SanaeB
Lunatic: no.  just no.
Extra: SanaeB, did it again recently with ReimuA

It really comes down to personal preference, obviously I prefer SanaeB, who can outdamage ReimuA when shotgunning.

On the topic of UFO, is there any way to make Flying Fantastica easier?  It's the one spell I lack consistency on (to the point of 0 captures, despite trying to get it) in the Byakuren battle, which I'm trying to perfect.  I can do everything else consistently aside from the 3rd NS, 3rd spell and 4th NS.

[Elysia]

How do I do StB EX-6 (Five Colored Turtles)? I tried micrododging it, but that seems impossible, I've only gotten two pictures once (and that was dumb luck).

[ark]

Speaking of Sanae B, should I be using her rather than Reimu? Her non-Reimu-sized hitbox really annoys me, but it seems like lots of people use her anyway. I realize her shots tend to trivialize the stage elements, but that's not really neccessary, and I feel like Reimu is better for bosses.

If you don't have much trouble with the stages, go with ReimuA. She is better for bosses (more damage). Especially for The Boss.

[Zil]

How do I do StB EX-6 (Five Colored Turtles)? I tried micrododging it, but that seems impossible, I've only gotten two pictures once (and that was dumb luck).

It's actually a static pattern that is aimed at you. It takes some semi-complex streaming along with memorization. I've a got a replay here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Vm8sVTctA
I wish I could say something other than "do what I did," but I'm afraid that's the best I got. At least you can study the pattern and find your own way through maybe. (The spell in question starts at 4:26 I think)

If you don't have much trouble with the stages, go with ReimuA. She is better for bosses (more damage). Especially for The Boss.

Okay, that's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure, thanks.

[I have no name]

On the topic of UFO, is there any way to make Flying Fantastica easier?

Since it never got answered.

Also, Dragon's Necklace.  I'm tired of having Kaguya attempts end on it every time, any tricks for it?

[Zil]

I once saw a safespot for Dragon's Necklace in a Youtube vid. It seems you can just jam yourself in the upper left corner and it won't hit you. I'm not sure if the video was Lunatic or not though. I've never tried it myself, though I imagine it results in a timeout rather than a capture.

EDIT: I just tried it out and it does not work on Normal and Easy. For Hard and Lunatic it works but is not reliable at all. Reimu's homing amulets, and Ran now that it occurs to me, can of course hit Kaguya while you're up there, but like I said, it's not a reliable trick.

EDIT 2: You said "Dragon's Necklace," so I assume that means the Normal incarnation of the spell. If that is the case, then I think I've cooked up a pretty reliable way to abuse that spell I don't want to type it all right here for potentially no reason, so uh... just confirm if you meant Normal mode or not.

[Skyler]

All of these are on PCB Hard.
Alice's midboss nonspell always gets me. The one leading to her spellcard, not when she comes in right as the stage starts.
Her first boss nonspell, too. Is there any reliable way to dodge the white bullets? Oh, and Chalk-White Russian Dolls.

[Zil]

All of these are on PCB Hard.
Alice's midboss nonspell always gets me. The one leading to her spellcard, not when she comes in right as the stage starts.
Her first boss nonspell, too. Is there any reliable way to dodge the white bullets? Oh, and Chalk-White Russian Dolls.

The mid-boss nonspell is static. so just memorize a way to dodge it. Sometimes she might move differently, but if you do the same thing every time, she should too.
The boss nonspell is easier if you move to the edge of the screen. Doing that basically halves the number of bullets coming at you, since the dolls that go off the edge don't shoot.
For Chalk White Russian Dolls, stay away from the bottom of the screen. The higher up you are, the better. Personally, the way only that spell ever gets me is if I accidentally collide with Alice herself, so... yeah.

[I have no name]

I once saw a safespot for Dragon's Necklace in a Youtube vid. It seems you can just jam yourself in the upper left corner and it won't hit you. I'm not sure if the video was Lunatic or not though. I've never tried it myself, though I imagine it results in a timeout rather than a capture.

EDIT: I just tried it out and it does not work on Normal and Easy. For Hard and Lunatic it works but is not reliable at all. Reimu's homing amulets, and Ran now that it occurs to me, can of course hit Kaguya while you're up there, but like I said, it's not a reliable trick.

EDIT 2: You said "Dragon's Necklace," so I assume that means the Normal incarnation of the spell. If that is the case, then I think I've cooked up a pretty reliable way to abuse that spell I don't want to type it all right here for potentially no reason, so uh... just confirm if you meant Normal mode or not.

Yes, I meant normal mode.  In addition to Reimu and Yukari, Youmu and Remilia can also damage Kaguya from the blindpot on lunatic (in fact, I used Youmu to capture it from there)  I'm interested in hearing this strategy, I'm sick of this card ending attempts before they really begin.

[Zil]

Dragon's Necklace
Alright. I find this to be much easier than doing it normally, but it's pretty funky, so you'll still want to practice it I think. These here replays demonstrate the trick...

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=16921
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=16922
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=16923

What you do is move up over the first wave of bullets, landing right in front of Kaguya. Stay there for a bit then move over, still near the top of the screen. She should shoot two laser blobs now, otherwise you moved too early, so you'll want to learn the timing, or just count the number of waves. The round bullets should just be falling down, the laser needles should be spread out, so it's easy to dodge them near the top corner. After dodging the needles, move back towards Kaguya and slip past her. It's very easy to go over her, but under works too if she creates a laser blob over her head, and you'll be doing more damage. If she walls both over and under, then dodge the needles like before, though she shouldn't do that, since she never does a "double shot" twice in a row. After that, slip past her. You want to keep doing that so she doesn't get too close to you and back you against the wall.
Doing it like this lets you take advantage of the general safe-spot right in front of Kaguya, and makes the circle bullets irrelevent. All in all, it's still not "trivial," but it's definatley much easier, especially with practice. I recommend watching those replays, because this is pretty hard to describe. Hope this helps!

[I have no name]

I couldn't get that method to work, but I did find a good strat for the first 4-5 laser sets.  In-stage though I was never in position for it.

[Seppo Hovi]

I did some Kaguya's cards on normal not too long ago, since I found out that I had forgotten how to do most of them.

Dragons Necklace actually is able to be tricked with some horizontal movement, but I do find the easiest way to dodge the card in the middle.

However, here's me meddling around the lasers horizontally.
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=16505

[Luna Scarlet]

Hi hi~
can anyone give me advices how to pass through each and every spellcards and non-spellcards of kanako normal mode, pls...
i dont have a efficient way on beating her...

[I have no name]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pZiuC2vMsI
A perfect run of Kanako on normal I did.
The first nonspell is just reading and dodging.
The first spell I have a strategy for, start off to the left, stream to the left edge of the lasers, dash to the right, stream leftward until you're at the right edge of the gap between the lasers, dash left, repeat.
The second nonspell is streaming, ReimuA and MarisaC can do it without streamturning
The second spell is twitch dodging
The 3rd nonspell I have no idea how to do consistently, counterclockwise circles around midscreen seems to work.
The 3rd spell I penetrate the metal bullets then dash up to alternating sides to avoid the knives
The 4th nonspell is 3 types of streaming
The 4th spell is more streaming, I hate this one.
Mountain of Faith is ridiculously fun and you just dodge the card waves, it's tricky until you get the hang of it, at which point it becomes easy.

[LeviLamprey]

Umm, could I please get advice on Kogasa's spellcard series beginning on 'Forgotten UMbrella Night's Train' and continuing up to its H/L equivalent? I have yet to cap it with out bombing. I've gotten very close with Sanae-B and Reimu-A, but not all the way.
Also, all these replays are incredibly helpful for general spell review (and to watch Lunatic players :>), and I appreciate all the amazing examples people are churning out/looking for to help others.
*watches Dragon Bullet*

[Zil]

Kogasa's last spell
If you think of the areas covered in blue amulets as "triangles of unsafety" and just avoid them entirely, it's pretty easy to handle on Normal. When the umbrellas (I think that's what they are?) appear from the top of the screen, they shoot amulets downward, so you'll want to move away from them. If the umbrellas appear from the bottom, then they shoot upward, so you shouldn't get hit by them as long as you stay near the bottom of the screen. Often you get a situation where they're moving up on the left and down on the right. In that case stay close to the bottom of the upward moving ones and you should be safe. It's fairly simple once you see the pattern. On Hard and Lunatic, you get horizontal tunnels that you're forced to move through. The strategy shouldn't change much on Hard, but on Lunatic you can't really avoid the amulets entirely, since they fan out more. You'll actually have to do some dodging, and I find that moving midway up the screen can help. I'm not too familiar with Lunatic UFO though, so I can't offer great advice for that one.

These are timeouts of the spell on Normal and Hard. I could've taken the time to do it on Lunatic, but I don't think watching a replay of that would be any more helpful than seeing the Hard version, (and I really didn't feel like trying that stage over and over for a timeout. )
Timeout Normal
Timeout Hard

[Elysia]

I just tried to pacifist MoF Extra, and reached Kanako's second spellcard on my first attempt without getting hit, only to realize "hey wait a minute my normal method relies on getting its health down before it becomes dangerous" - and sure enough that card faced me with the Game Over screen.

So, yeah, any advice for pacifying this one?

[ARF]

I just tried to pacifist MoF Extra, and reached Kanako's second spellcard on my first attempt without getting hit, only to realize "hey wait a minute my normal method relies on getting its health down before it becomes dangerous" - and sure enough that card faced me with the Game Over screen.

So, yeah, any advice for pacifying this one?

It's just vertical streaming. Make sure you're at the center of the screen, tap slowly upwards for the first wave and then tap down for the second, repeat until timer reaches 0. Good luck in your pacifist endeavours, pacifist is probably the coolest way to play the game! 

[J.O.B]

You don't even have to tap, just run up and down when it goes grey.

[GuppyForce]

Or you can go in circles, with one circle for 3 sets of bullets.

[Zil]

Does anyone have a good path for "Night with Overly Bright Guest Stars" on Lunatic. I really don't feel like figuring it out myself.

[Zengeku]

This one is good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjL1jYOHTSs

[Zil]

Somehow I knew Zengeku would provide the replay. Many thanks; Now I can perfect that silly stage. :derp: