Appendix G: Phoenix HD

Glossary

Appendix G: Phoenix HD

The predecessor game of Phoenix 2, Phoenix HD
Phoenix	Corsair	Trinity	Shogun	Mirage
	Striker	Phantom	Flare

Phoenix HD can be found exclusively on the iOS / Mac App Store only. Android users are currently unable to play this predecessor game. Do understand that the gameplay of Phoenix HD is very different.

Similarities:

• Both are Japanese Bullet Hell shmup games, so expect LOTS of bullets.
• Both games share the ships Phoenix, Corsair, Trinity, Shogun & Mirage.
• They both use the same custom Firi Engine.
• The touch scheme is the same for both games, the ship follows your relative touch.
• They share many type of bullets, namely pellets, darts, shurikens, boomerangs and even MIRVs.
• The Phoenix HD ships Trinity, Mirage, Phantom & Flare have a Zen too.
  
  • The Zens for Trinity & Mirage work very differently, as elaborated below.
• There are leaderboards in both games, although they work very differently (elaborated below).
• There's in-game currency in both games, although used for very different purposes (elaborated below).
• Turrets can be destroyed in both games.

Differences (All pointers relate to what is observed in Phoenix HD):

General:

• Obviously, Phoenix HD has a lot lesser ships. The ships exclusive to Phoenix HD are Striker, Phantom & Flare.
• There are no daily missions. There is only one endless mode. Thus, one game on Phoenix HD typically lasts much longer.
• Ships are bought with real life currency, except for Phoenix which is permanently free.
  • Every other ship costs $0.99.
  • You can fly a random ship that you have not bought for one flight every 24 hours.
• Leaderboards are based on per ship, and are never reset.
  • You get different medals for reaching Top x%, which is a bit similar to Phoenix 2.
    • Diamond Medal for Top 0.0001%
    • Ruby Medal for Top 0.001%
    • Sapphire Medal for Top 0.01%
    • Emerald Medal for Top 0.1%
    • Platinum Medal for Top 1%
    • Gold Meal for Top 10%
    • Silver Medal for Top 33.3%
    • Bronze Medal for Top 50%
  • These medals update as new records are registered.
  • You can set high scores and get different medals based on:
    • City
    • Province
    • Country
    • Continent
    • World
  • Phoenix HD uses your device's Location Services to place your score set in the correct city.
    • In the case Location Services is not allowed to be used by Phoenix HD, or Location Services is disabled at the time the game is ended, Phoenix HD uses your IP Address to determine the approximate location.
• You earn coins which are sometimes dropped by enemy ships. Coins can be used to buy the following single-use boosts in the Armory that last for only one game.
  
  
  • Extra Power-ups (250) - Power-up drops increased by 40%.
  • Extra Health (750) - Health drops increased by 25%.
  • Vulcan Drone (900) - Attacks enemy ships. Fires 15 bullets in each burst, each dealing 0.065 damage.
  • Point Defense Drone (1,250) - Shoots down incoming bullets.
  • Phoenix Wake (2,000) - Skip the first 20 waves.
  • Phoenix Revive (2,500) - One extra life.
• You can buy coins for real life currency at the following rates below:
  • 10,000 for $0.99
  • 40,000 for $3.99
  • 100,000 for $8.99
  • You can also get a Coin Tripler which gets 3× coins per game at $1.99. This is usually sufficient to buy most of the single-use boosts every game without ever running out of coins.
• Your adversaries are just called Enemy Ships instead of Invaders. Below shows the list of all Enemy Ships in Phoenix HD.
  • With every level cleared, their health increases by a factor of 0.005.
  • Scout = 10 Health.
    
    
    • Base Score = 25
    • Max per level = 8
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 3s
  • Marauder = 65 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 50
    • Max per level = 3
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 10s
  • Renegade = 85 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 100
    • Max per level = 2
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 30s
    • Front Turret = ×0.75 of health
    • Rear Turret = ×0.55 of health
  • Jester = 110 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 100
    • Max per level = 2
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 30s
  • Revenant = 125 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 150
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 120s
    • Left Turret = ×0.8 of health
    • Middle Turret = ×1 of health
    • Right Turret = ×0.8 of health
  • Warlord = 200 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 150
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 120s
    • Outer Left Turret = ×0.8 of health
    • Inner Left Turret = ×0.65 of health
    • Inner Right Turret = ×0.65 of health
    • Outer Right Turret = ×0.8 of health
  • Reaper = 200 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 150
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 120s
    • Outermost Left Turret = ×0.7 of health
    • Left Turret = ×0.8 of health
    • Inner Left Turret = ×0.9 of health
    • Inner Right Turret = ×0.9 of health
    • Right Turret = ×0.8 of health
    • Outermost Right Turret = ×0.7 of health
  • Harbinger = 200 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 150
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 120s
    • Outer Left Turret = ×0.65 of health
    • Inner Left Turret = ×0.65 of health
    • Middle Turret = ×0.72 of health
    • Inner Right Turret = ×0.65 of health
    • Outer Right Turret = ×0.65 of health
  • Brute = 165 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 150
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 120s
    • Front Left Turret = ×1 of health
    • Rear Left Turret = ×0.1 of health
    • Front Right Turret = ×1 of health
    • Rear Right Turret = ×0.1 of health
  • Harpy = 300 Health
    
    
    • Base Score = 175
    • Gives 50 bonus power particles upon destroyed
    • Max per level = 1
    • Next level arrives if still not cleared in 240s
    • Left arm = ×0.5 of health
      
    • Right arm (Same graphic as Left arm) = ×0.5 of health
    • Middle Turret = ×1.2 of health

Gameplay:

• More focused on dodging.
• There are 5 levels of difficulty, from to .
  • If you increase in star difficulty while playing a game, the bullet speed increase per star is a factor of 0.05 while the score multiplier increase per star is a factor of 0.5.
  • From to , for each star added before starting a game, the bullet speed increase per star is a factor of 0.08 while the score multiplier increase per star is a factor of 0.8.
  • The difficulty is automatically adjusted at the end of each game.
  • You can only reset the difficulty to minimum, not to anywhere in-between.
  • Most players play at the maximum difficulty since the score accumulates significantly slower at the lowest difficulty and it is generally easy to hit the maximum difficulty after one game. The condition is most likely to hit a score of 1,000,000.
• You have a finite health of 100.
  • Recover health by collecting health pickups that are spawned by destroying enemy ship turrets.
  • As your health goes down, everything except enemy bullets and your ship's cockpit starts to fade to black & white.
  • More fire starts to be emitted from your ship as your health goes down (which goes away as you recover health). The following are the health thresholds before the corresponding fire appears/disappears:
    1. 91
    2. 76
    3. 51
    4. 26
    5. 11 (Huge flames)
    6. 9 (Huge flames)
  • There is also a health bar at the top of the screen.
  • Only the Phantom does not have health, and dies in one hit like ships in Phoenix 2.
• For the 5 ships common to both games, the behaviour of the weapon systems are very different in Phoenix HD, since there are many more weapon systems.
  • The weapons usually feel weaker and are more spread out over different weapon systems, except for Shogun.
  • All ship upgrades are obtained during a game and only temporary. The default chance of a weapon upgrade drop appearing is 1/35.
• The Zens in Phoenix HD work differently for Trinity and Mirage.
  • For Trinity:
    • You can let the time slowdown run indefinitely.
    • Trinity Teleport is instantly available after releasing touch.
    • Its weapon systems continue firing as per normal even with touch disengaged.
    • There is also no Charge Time or Charge Time Increase after repeated use.
    • You can only teleport if you tap on a spot that is far enough from your current location.
  • For Mirage:
    • The Nightfury has 3 stages in Phoenix HD (each dealing increasing DPS).
    • The Nightfury in Phoenix HD lasts significantly longer than the Nightfury in Phoenix 2.
    • The Nightfury is much smaller in width, even at Stage 3.
    • No time slowdown while Nightfury is firing.
    • Moving while the Nightfury is active immediately stops the Nightfury.
    • There is a Charge Time, but no Charge Time Increase after repeated uses.
  • Phoenix, Corsair & Shogun don't have a Zen.
• Auras are replaced by Power-ups.
  • Power-ups have to be collected first before it can be used.
  • These power-ups are dropped by destroyed enemy ships with a chance of 1/35.
  • Phoenix HD has the following 8 power-ups:
    
    • EMP - Instantly converts all bullets on screen to coins.
    • Shield - Creates an invulnerable movable shield that encapsulates your ship for 5s.
    • Health - Fully restores your ship's health
      • For Phantom, this pickup fully restores its Ghost Mode gauge.
    • Alpha Strike (Derived from Phoenix's Tachyon Cannon projectiles) - Launches 12.5 bursts of fanned out Tachyon Cannon projectiles in a chevron pattern of 9 projectiles (last set has only 5 projectiles) over 1s, damaging Enemy Ships in its wake. Each projectile deals 1.4 damage. Maximum damage = 157.2.
    • Beta Strike (Derived from Phoenix's Helix Cannon) - Launches 20 bursts of 6 forward firing orange Helix Cannon projectiles in a chevron pattern over 2s, damaging Enemy Ships in its wake. Each projectile deals 1.2 damage. There is a cooldown time of 1.0s. Maximum damage = 144.
    • Delta Strike (Derived from Shogun's weapon systems) - Launches 3 consecutive waves of 4 fanned out Tesla Coils each over 1s, dealing damage to Enemy Ships while a tesla coil is in range of an Enemy Ship. Each Tesla Coil has a DPS of 5, and the total damage varies based on how long each Tesla Coil deals damage.
    • Gamma Strike (Derived from Corsair's Wasp Missiles) - Launches 5 waves of 6 homing wasp missiles towards Enemy Ships over 1s. Each missile does 5.5 damage. There is a 1.5s cooldown time. Total damage = 165.
    • Lambda Strike (Derived from Mirage's Sweeper Lasers) - Fires 5 yellow sweeper lasers at Enemy Ships that last 2s. Each sweeper laser has a DPS of 12.5. There is a 1.5s cooldown time. Total damage = 125.
  • You can only hold one power-up at a time.
    • Getting another power-up activates it immediately unless you get rid of the stored power-up.
  • Tap with a second finger to use the stored power-up, just like using Auras in Phoenix 2.
• Bullets behave very differently.
  • Bullets are much faster at maximum difficulty.
  • Phoenix HD has a special enemy bullet which is a comet that spawns pellets to the left and right sides as the comet travels vertically downwards.
  • There are 2 variants of bullets - brighter and blood red ones, the former dealing 10 damage and latter dealing 15 damage. (Remember that you have actual health in Phoenix HD.) MIRVs and the comet bullet deal 50 damage.
  • MIRVs trigger after a fixed amount of time and cannot be triggered by going near them.
  • Boomerangs work like actual boomerangs that will reverse after some distance.
• Turrets in Phoenix HD have very different firing patterns.
• Enemy ships have no Doomsday Weapons (so no Super MIRVs). They also don't have lasers.

Phoenix

All-round fighter with a diverse arsenal of weapons.

Weapon Systems:

• Helix Cannon (2 Levels).
  • Level 1: Cycle time of 0.3s, per projectile damage is 0.5.
  • Level 2: Cycle time of 0.667s, per projectile damage is 0.67.
• Chaingun (3 Levels). Each level upgrade introduces one new stream of chaingun projectiles on both sides, up to 3. Has a firing rate of 0.06s, with each projectile dealing 0.3 damage.
• Tachyon Cannon (4 Levels).
  • Level 1: Reload Time of 1.0s, with each projectile dealing 5 damage.
  • Level 2: Reload Time of 0.8s, with each projectile dealing 8 damage.
  • Level 3: Reload Time of 0.6s, with each projectile dealing 9 damage.
  • Level 4: Reload Time of 0.45s, with each projectile dealing 9 damage.
• Missiles (3 Levels). Each upgrade introduces one more set of 2 missiles every burst. Each missile does 10 damage.
  • Level 1: Reload Time of 2s.
  • Level 2: Reload Time of 1.7s. Delay between sets = 0.3s
  • Level 3: Reload Time of 1.4s. Delay between each set = 0.3s

Corsair

Missile cruiser with the special ability to lock on turrets for extra deadly barrage.

Weapon Systems:

• Wasp Missiles (3 Levels). Reload Time of 1.8s, releases all wasp missiles within 0.2s.
  • Level 1: 4 wasp missiles emitted per burst. Each missile does 5 damage.
  • Level 2: 8 wasp missiles emitted per burst. Each missile does 5 damage.
  • Level 3: 16 wasp missiles emitted per burst. Each missile does 3.75 damage.
• Dumbfire Missiles (4 Levels)
  • Level 1: Fires at 1.25s & 2.5s. Each missile does 12.5 damage.
  • Level 2: Fires at 1s & 2s. Each missile does 20 damage.
  • Level 3: Fires at 0.75s & 1.5s. Each missile does 22.5 damage.
  • Level 4: Fires at 0.5s & 1s. Each missile does 20 damage.
• Rockets (4 Levels). Has a reload time of 0.5s.
  • Level 1: Fires a set of 2 missiles at 0.15s. Each rocket does 3.25 damage.
  • Level 2: Fires another set of 2 missiles at 0.3s Each rocket does 4 damage.
  • Level 3: Fires another set of 2 missiles at 0.45s. Each rocket does 4.75 damage.
  • Level 4: Fires another set of 2 missiles at 0.6s. Each rocket does 5.5 damage.
• Machinegun (4 Levels). From Level 1 to 4, has a firing rate of 0.05s, 0.02s, 0.016 & 0.013s. Each projectile deals 0.5 damage.

Special - Barrage: Fires when locked on, at a rate of 0.25s and 0.5s. Each barrage missile does 0.5 damage.

Trinity

Experimental ship that slows down time and can teleport over short distances.

Weapon Systems:

• Razor (1 Level). Default weapon. Each razor on each side is treated like a laser with a DPS of 5.
• Railgun (1 Level). Reload Time of 0.6s. Each projectile deals 3 damage.
• Flak (3 Levels). From Level 1 to 3, Reload Times are 0.6s, 0.3s & 0.2s. Each flak projectile does 3 damage.

Special - Trinity Warp: Shoots a forward projectile of 3 damage upon arrival of teleport to new location.

Shogun

An advanced ship for elite pilots. Its weapons are powered by flying dangerously close to enemy bullets and ships.

Shogun has no weapon upgrades.

• There are 4 levels of Shogun's slashes, which are triggered by grazing bullets at a maximum of 17 distance away. The DPS increases between levels as such, and resets to Level 1 when you get hit.
  
  1. 7
  2. 9
  3. 11
  4. 13
• The tesla coil (when you go near enough enemy ships) has a DPS of 3.

Mirage

Laser frigate equipped with the Nightfury laser which activates when the ship does not move.

Weapon Systems:

• Tiny Lasers (5 Levels). Introduces another set of 2 tiny lasers with each level upgrade. Each set of tiny lasers has a DPS of 5.
• Laser Pods (5 Levels). Introduces another set of 2 laser pods with each level upgrade. Each set of laser pods has a DPS of 5.
• Sweeper Lasers (5 Levels). Introduces another set of 2 sweeper lasers with each level upgrade. The sweeper laser sets introduced in higher levels have faster tracking rates. Each set of sweeper lasers has a DPS of 5.

Special - Nightfury: Activates after not moving. There are 3 stages of Nightfury, and the DPS of the Nightfury in the respective stages are 11, 30 & 60.

The ships below are exclusive to Phoenix HD:

Striker

Tactical assault ship with multi-lock missile launchers.

Striker has no weapon upgrades, but the lock-on missile details are as follows:

1. Level 1: 2 damage per missile.
2. Level 2: 12 damage per missile.
3. Level 3: 4 damage for the main missile, 1 damage per missile for the 16 small missiles (per burst) fired by main missile.

Phantom

A fragile ship with high firepower and the ability to go into Ghost Mode.

Weapon Systems:

• Particle Beam (Main Beam, 1 Level). Unlocked from the start. Has a normal DPS of 20, and an Overdrive DPS of 26.67.
• Mass Driver (4 projectile cannon, 1 Level). Reload Time of 0.2s in normal mode, 0.3s in Overdrive mode (when Ghost Gauge is full). Each projectile does 2 damage.
• Torpedo (Missiles, 1 Level). Reload Time of 0.4s in normal mode, 0.3s in Overdrive mode. Each torpedo does 8 damage.

Flare

Classic ship with a destructive Overdrive ability at the expense of hit points.

Weapon Systems:

• Autocannon (3 Levels). The middle cannon.
  • Level 1: Reload Time of 0.4s, each projectile dealing 2 damage.
  • Level 2: Reload Time of 0.35s, each projectile dealing 3.5 damage.
  • Level 3: Reload Time of 0.3s, each projectile dealing 4.5 damage.
• Chaingun (3 Levels). The side miniguns.
  • Level 1: Firing Rate of 0.07s, each projectile dealing 0.35 damage.
  • Level 1: Firing Rate of 0.05s, each projectile dealing 0.5 damage.
  • Level 1: Firing Rate of 0.03s, each projectile dealing 0.45 damage.
• Missiles (3 Levels).
  • Level 1: Firing Rate of 0.8s, with a damage of 8 per missile.
  • Level 2: Firing Rate of 0.65s, with a damage of 13 per missile.
  • Level 3: Firing Rate of 0.5s, with a damage of 15 per missile.

Special - Overdrive: Throws out 64 projectiles in 8 waves, each dealing 3.5 damage over 1.6s in a fan angle of 35° at the expense of draining half of your current health. Each projectile has only 0.45s to hit before disappearing. Maximum damage = 224.

Trivia: Flare is also the titular ship in an even older game by Firi Games, Flare Elite.