This boss hates me so much!
Hoping to one day 1 life this stage, so close now - I'm going to keep training! It's the bit at the end of the largest spiralled attack that still gives me The Fear. I'm still just praying I make it!
Psyvariar 2 - System
Buzz:
The action of a shot ("cartridge") passing through your mecha's Buzz Field.
The Buzz Field is the highlighted circular area surrounding the player character, this field represents the area of effect of the Buzz System. The player's destructable hitbox is only a few pixels dead centre of the Buzz Field. Each time a shot or object passes through the Buzz Field it counts as 1 Buzz. The key to Psyvariar is to learn how to interact with enemy shots and surf them rather than evading - you have to un-learn a lot from playing past games. Buzzing shots increases the Neutrino gauge explained next:
Neutrino:
Buzzing enemy shots will fill the Neutrino Gauge; each time the gauge completely fills, a short shield will activate and the player character will gain 1 level. Each time a shield activates, the Neutrino Gauge will reset to 0. However it is possible to refill the entire Neutrino Gauge and activate another shield while your current shield is still active - this is called a Shield Chain. The rate the Neutrino Gauge fills is determined by the gauge's colour; Red is least active while Blue is most active. Buzzing shots while the Neutrino Gauge is closer to Blue will rapidly fill the gauge and allow for Shield Chains in rapid succession - enabling the player to dive into the heart of enemy attacks in safety. A Red Neutrino Gauge will fill very slowly, during this period the player must carefully adjust the Neutrino Gauge position in order to trigger a shield at the precise moment an enemy attack commences.
Rolling: (2 types)
A Buzz normally occurs the instant an object 'leaves' your Buzz Field. With Rolling activated, the action of an object entering OR leaving the Buzz Field will count as a Buzz - this effectively doubles the Buzz rate. Rolling is triggered by rapidly opposing movements on the stick; up/down, left/right or any of the diagonals. There are 2 types of Rolling movement available:
* Soft Rolling: This is when you trigger the rolling action quickly then hold the stick in any direction, the rolling will only stop if the stick is returned to neutral. This Rolling method is useful against the screen egde, holding the stick in one position against the edge of the screen will allow the player to spin on the spot.
* Hard Rolling: is an art and something you REALLY need to get to grips with to get good at Psyvariar. With Hard Rolling, you keep the opposing joystick movements going while moving. This jittery moth-like movement greatly increases the speed of the player character and the rate of Buzz.
Bodily crush:
The most accurate and effective weapon against the enemy is the player mecha itself, ramming into an enemy while a shield is active will deal very heavy damage. As the aim of Psyvariar is to maximise Buzz, the trick is to only destroy enemies once you have Buzzed as much out of their attacks as possible.
Point Blank Buzz:
This is a major gameplay change over Psyvariar Revision - now you get a massive Neutrino boost if you Buzz an attack at point blank. The first good place to do it is during the stage 0 boss against it's red orb attack. During Green or Blue Neutrino phases, position the character directly in-front of the boss, activate Hard Rolling as the orb attack commences and you will activate multiple shields in quick succession to pass through the attack safely. The rule of point blank is that if done right you get a shield as soon as the shots contact your field so you are in no risk or death.
Cartridge Break:
Contacting an enemy shot with your character's hitbox during a shield activation will destroy the shot.
Stage Difficulty Gates:
Area 1, Area 2 and Area 3 are split into 3 difficulties. The better you do through the earlier Area the more Buzz will be made available for you in the next, after a couple day's worth of play Easy and Normal become distant memories:
-------------NOR----HARD
AREA-1 ↑LV24 ↑LV35
AREA-2 ↑LV48 ↑LV64
AREA-3 ↑LV88 ↑LV120
Transformations - your ship will evolve at these levels:
LV28 ↑LV118 ↑LV288 ↑LV348
