Mixed Bullets & Lasers

Brief Description: Very generic missions that feature all kinds of common bullets. Thankfully, MIRVs and boomerangs are not in the mix.
Mission Intel:
General Difficulty: Hard to Very Hard
Laser Density: Medium
Other Bullets: Darts, Pellets, Shurikens
Invader Weaponry Notes:
Both Pellet Spinners (Lane) and Pellet Spinners (Spiral) can appear.
Only Shuriken Wave Launchers can appear. Shuriken Launchers do NOT appear.
Cone Lasers & Speed Lasers do NOT appear.
Other Notes:
All Invaders are non-Sinister.

Example of a General (−Boomerangs) mission type (Marshal S2):

Click on the various Invader weaponry mission intel icons above to go to the relevant sections to know how to deal with different types of bullets and lasers . The generic mission type means all Auras and Zens have no particular advantage overall. It depends from mission to mission which one dominates over another.

Getting an Ogon Is Fine badge on this mission type is difficult. Prepare to strafe accurately and quickly to dodge fast tracking lasers .

General (−Pellets)

Brief Description: This is a very difficult mission type that can be quite fast paced due to boomerang presence, topped up with speed lasers. Thankfully, MIRVs are not in the mix.
Mission Intel:
General Difficulty: Very Hard
Laser Density: Medium-High
Other Bullets: Darts, Shurikens
Invader Weaponry Notes:
Shuriken Wave Launchers tend to appear more frequently than Shuriken Launchers, but both can appear.
Spinners (Dart or Shuriken) rarely appear in this mission type.
Cone Lasers do NOT appear.
Low to Medium amounts of Speed Lasers can appear.
Caged MIRVs only appear at Commander rank.
Other Notes:
Since Speed Lasers do not appear in bronze and silver ranks, this mission type does not appear at those ranks.

General (−Pellets)	Unprotected	Armored	Shielded
Ships/Apexes strong against this mission type	Baqlor Torrent Nimbus Shogun Sigma Jeria Sigma	Krillou Jericho Photurius Hime Saber Trinity Shogun	NC-150 Razor VI Phoenix Yigothu Njörun Jeria Veil Sigma Baqlor Phi
Speedrunning Ships/Apexes	Fujin Buhloo Geist Elyon Baqlor Corsair Uhb Wraith Nimbus Kibarrax Naya Shogun Sigma AB8/Klyn Sigma Icarus Sigma Starless Sigma Jeria Sigma	Krillou Havoc Photurius Ex04239 Von Braun Saber Shogun Icarus Neni Mistral Juggernaut Lambda Kibarrax Lambda	Proxymar Exarch Scuuxun Starless Banshee Jeria Monsoon Warden Veil Sigma Phoenix Delta Baqlor Phi Luna Tau & Omega Naya Phi
Fun Ships/Apexes to try on this mission type	Fujin Cinnri Buhloo Geist Vani-Vith Baqlor Barret Torrent Corsair Uhb Wraith AB8/Klyn Nimbus Reaper Claymore Naya Wrackr Epsilon Xaniea Lambda Shogun Sigma Predator Delta Icarus Sigma Starless Sigma	Krillou Photurius Ex04239 Von Braun Hime Saber Shogun Predator Icarus Cinnri Lambda Juggernaut Lambda Xaniea Lambda Prime X Epsilon Sakura Epsilon Zephyr Epsilon Widget Tau	NC-150 Jn'Dur Razor VI Gladius Yigothu Exarch Luna Warden Veil Sigma Phoenix Delta Czar Lambda Elyon Lambda Xaniea Tau Arietis Lambda Baqlor Phi Reaper Tau Zimitr Delta Naya Phi

Example of a General (−Pellets) mission type (Marshal S2):

Survival

Auras & Zens
- (+) Bullet EMP can be quite useful to dodge boomerangs and also clear off shurikens at the same time.
- (+) Teleport helps to get away from boomerangs , and also to get past shuriken clouds.
- (+) Kappa Drive helps to dodge boomerangs , and sometimes darts.
- (=) There's generally no important turrets to eliminate in this mission type, as the dart, boomerang and laser turrets all come in roughly equal proportions. This makes Auras that target turrets pretty neutral.
- (-) It's difficult to charge Mega Bomb here since the pace of the mission is so fast, and it's easy to get shot point blank by darts.
Try to switch sides of the field. As the boomerangs fire, go over to the other side of the field, and repeat.
- However, this can be difficult due to presence of shurikens. You either have to try and survive the boomerangs by predicting their path, or find a way to clear off bullets to switch sides or block them off. Otherwise, try to head as downfield as possible and duck underneath the shuriken clouds.
Try to target high tier boomerang turrets to pop off first.
- Spinners, while rare, should be taken note of. High tier spinners still cause a lot of problems, so eliminate particularly T4 shuriken spinners if they appear, or T3 and T4 dart spinners if they appear.
- On long battles such as against Rocs and Condors , eliminating boomerangs are essential to survival.
T4 tracking lasers also exist and can be rather plentiful. However, having 1 or 4 T4 tracking lasers usually does not make a huge difference in difficulty.
- On the other hand, T4 shuriken launchers (spread) are often more deadly, so try to go for those first.
Click on the various Invader weaponry mission intel icons above to go to the relevant sections to know how to deal with different types of bullets and lasers .
Getting an Ogon Is Fine badge on this mission type is difficult but possible. You have to be very skilled in dodging speed lasers well to succeed here.

Speedrunning

Auras & Zens
- (=) Since boomerangs appear more frequently than darts, it's still possible to use ships that have Mega Bomb effectively in speedrunning this mission.
  - This is because boomerangs tend to be inaccurate when charging upfield.
  - Just don't get too close to T1 Boomerangs .
No specific advice, click on the various Invader weaponry mission intel icons above to go to the relevant sections to know how to deal with different types of bullets and lasers .

Fun

(+) This is a fast paced mission, especially when you are speedrunning.
(-) However, the presence of speed lasers coupled with so many other kinds of bullets, especially boomerangs , can make this mission a nightmare to deal with. Trying to dodge fast darts, boomerangs and speed lasers with presence of shurikens around can be very difficult. Thankfully, there are no pellets (and particularly, pellet spinners) to deal with.

Dart/Boomerang/Laser

Mission Intel:
Other Bullets: Darts
Laser Density: High
General Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Brief Description: A very fast paced mission with fast moving darts and boomerangs, coupled with a bunch of lasers. Expect lots of boomerangs in higher ranks.
Invader Weaponry Notes:
Cone Lasers can appear.
Speed Lasers do NOT appear.
Other Notes:
This mission isn't available in bronze ranks since boomerangs don't appear in bronze ranks.
Invaders are Sinister only if they are shielded.

Dart/Boomerang/Laser	Unprotected	Armored	Shielded
Ships/Apexes strong against this mission type	Geist Gorthaur Baqlor Torrent Nimbus Centurion	Jericho Photurius Atlas Hime Lokie Saber Antioch Trinity Shogun Widget Centurion Tau	NC-150 Yoth-Hola Razor VI Phoenix Essin Yigothu Njörun NC-271 Jeria Baqlor Phi
Speedrunning Ships/Apexes	Fujin Buhloo Geist Elyon Baqlor Corsair Uhb Wraith Nimbus Centurion Naya	Krillou Havoc Photurius Ex04239 Von Braun Saber Shogun Icarus Neni Mistral Juggernaut Lambda Centurion Tau	Proxymar Exarch Scuuxun Starless Banshee Jeria Monsoon Warden Veil Sigma Phoenix Delta Baqlor Phi Naya Phi
Fun Ships/Apexes to try on this mission type	Fujin Cinnri Buhloo Geist Vani-Vith Baqlor Torrent Corsair Uhb Nimbus Reaper Claymore Centurion Naya Wrackr Epsilon Tillat'Or Gamma	Photurius Atlas Ex04239 Von Braun Hime Lokie Saber Antioch Shogun Icarus Cinnri Lambda Juggernaut Lambda Xaniea Lambda Prime X Epsilon Widget Tau Centurion Tau	NC-150 Razor VI Essin Yigothu Exarch Banshee Warden Phoenix Delta Czar Lambda Elyon Lambda Xaniea Tau Baqlor Phi Reaper Tau Zimitr Delta Naya Phi

Example of a Dart/Boomerang/Laser mission type (Marshal S2):

Survival

Auras & Zens
- (+) Point Defence works very well here due to the fast pace of the mission. Also, there do not tend to be a lot of darts, so using Point Defence to eliminate darts is a practical solution. Point Defence is also an excellent defense against boomerangs , especially when there aren't a lot of other bullets around. Not to mention, the high density of lasers in this mission make Personal Shield a great counter offence.
- (+) Personal Shield works very well against the high density of lasers in this mission.
  - It also works well against boomerang onslaughts, although this is secondary. But you can combine both functions (reflecting lasers and deflecting boomerangs) in one usage of Personal Shield .
  - Personal Shield Fade Out also allows you to break through dart lanes to escape death.
- (+) Vorpal Lance works to get rid of Ravens with annoying cone lasers .
- (+) Kappa Drive helps to dodge boomerangs , and sometimes darts.
  - (-) But it doesn't help to dodge against lasers , obviously.
- (+) This is one of those missions where Phalanx Reflector apexes can start to shine. Having no laser MIRVs to deal with means being able to reflect a majority of lasers if you go close enough to catch as many cone lasers as possible, while letting all the tracking lasers track you.
- (=) Barrier is able to hold up against the amount of darts and boomerangs in this mission type. However, be careful not to deploy barriers that are too small or you'll still get bombarded by darts, boomerangs and lasers alike.
  - The fast pace of the mission means that it may not always be easy to go upfield and deploy barrier optimally as well. Deploying barriers downfield may mean that the barriers may break or enter Fade Out state before the lasers can fire. This is problematic as lasers can leak through the Phasing Out barriers and kill you unexpectedly.
- (=) Barrier Reflector apexes can find some use here, but not all waves have a lot of lasers , so there would sometimes be a confusion of whether to deploy barriers as per normal upfield, or downfield to reflect lasers.
  - That being said, for waves with a lot of lasers , the laser reflection damage makes these annoying waves (that often contain a lot of cone lasers) trivial.
  - Unfortunately, there are no laser MIRVs to utilize more reflection damage, so always make sure your barriers can last the initial onslaught of darts and boomerangs .
- (=) There's generally no important turrets to eliminate in this mission type, as the dart, boomerang and laser turrets all come in roughly equal proportions. This makes Auras that target turrets pretty neutral.
- (=) For Chrono Field , due to the lack of bullets in this mission type, it may be slightly difficult to pull off Chrono Hopping. This is especially so when boomerangs tend to arrive downfield earlier than darts.
- (-) The fast pace of the mission, and how fast boomerangs can reload mean that Teleport ships can struggle here. Avoiding lasers can also be really difficult.
- (-) There's not a lot of bullets to eliminate here, and eliminating bullets aren't very useful since it's easy for bullets to flood the field again. Therefore, Bullet EMP and Reflex EMP aren't very useful here.
  - In addition, Bullet EMP also runs the risk of resetting boomerang turrets, causing them to fire again almost immediately, making it kind of useless. If you are using a Bullet EMP ship, try to use smaller Bullet EMPs.
    - The good thing is, it's quite easy to graze for energy, so you can use Bullet EMPs frequently.
  - That being said however, Bullet EMP still helps to reset lasers . Even though you will also reset boomerangs , at least you can live past one round of laser fire, which buys you some time.
- (-) It's difficult to charge Mega Bomb here since the pace of the mission is so fast, and it's easy to get shot point blank by darts.
- (-) Phalanx , given that it still breaks easily, is very bad against this mission type, since it does not last long. Also, Phalanx's usage of shoveling makes it difficult to strafe to the other side of the field, something that is frequently required for this mission to avoid boomerangs .
  - While shoveling upwards work to avoid boomerangs , this puts you at risk of being shot point blank by darts.
  - If you retreat after shoveling, this puts you at risk of crashing into boomerangs .
The general strategy for this mission is to keep on switching sides of the field. As the boomerangs fire, go over to the other side of the field, and repeat.
- Start the wave at one side of the field. Before you switch sides, try to ensure ALL the boomerang turrets are firing at you.
- You basically want to synchronize them to fire all at the same time as one burst. De-synchronization of boomerang turrets can cause a lot of problems.
- It's ok if some boomerang turrets fire slightly earlier than others. Just make sure they all fire such that you have just enough time to be as downfield as possible to dodge the first of the boomerangs that fire.
Sometimes, going upfield a little bit, around the centerline (or slightly above) helps, especially when the darts in the wave are light. This allows you to re-direct boomerangs away from downfield.
- This allows you to set up offensive Zens for the next wave more easily.
Circling around Invaders can help a lot.
- Circling avoids Ravens with annoying cone lasers . Before they fire, you can circle around the Invaders.
- Circling confuses dart spreads which can buy you time. Since the dart density is not very high, it is not exactly deadly if some dart turrets are slightly desynchronized, just like how it's very hard to synchronize all boomerang turrets. Not having too many dart spreads also mean that it's easier to use the extreme left and right sides of the field to simply circle around them without having too much fear that they will fire.
Get rid of especially T4 dart spinners as soon as possible, as these make dodging boomerangs and other darts really tight.
Get rid of T4 tracking lasers if you do not have some form of laser reflection damage, since these track really fast and can kill you easily.
T1 Boomerangs can be treated as darts, but just be careful of the slight curve path that they take, as well as their tendency to speed up the longer they are on field.
- Also be careful for hidden boomerangs that can be hard to see among the mess of darts on field.
Getting an Ogon Is Fine badge for this mission type is usually manageable. You can usually camp upfield, and move slowly upfield to avoid darts.

Speedrunning

Auras & Zens
- (+) Goliath Missiles can work very well here, since using Goliath Missiles require you to be upfield to fire them accurately to hit. This is because it's quite easy to confuse the dart turrets, so you usually have enough time to fire your Goliath Missiles, then quickly come back down before the dart spread turrets lock on to you. Just be careful not to crash into random darts fired from T1 and T2 dart launchers.
  - It generally helps to start from one side of the upfield, then go to the other side. Then head downfield from that side. You may even sweep in an S shape if you need to exhaust even more Goliath Missiles that can be useful.
- (+) Mega Bomb may be difficult to charge here, since bullets come in so fast. However, this does not mean Mega Bomb is not usable. In some waves, it might be possible to charge Mega Bomb all the way upfield. This is to buy you some time as dart turrets need time to turn around a 180° to fire at you. Also, the slightly lesser amount of dart turrets also mean that it can be possible that there are a few safe spots to charge Mega Bomb.
  - You can also play a gamble against boomerangs for Mega Bomb , so long you charge Mega Bomb closer to the center of the field. T1 Boomerangs can often be slightly inaccurate in firing at short range (but not point blank), allowing you to perhaps survive. Meanwhile, other boomerang turrets will likely simply just fire boomerangs around you and become useless.
- (+) Point Defence is a very good positioning tool since the bullet density isn't very high, thus it is easier to use Point Defence to get up close to Invaders.
- (=) For Mega Laser , it might be a good idea to end off a wave by offsetting yourself to one side of the field, and be very upfield. This distracts boomerangs to fire around you, keeping downfield clean of boomerangs. Therefore, after the boomerangs has fired and the last Invader(s) has/have been downed, you can safely retreat downfield to charge Mega Laser without fear of being hit by boomerangs unexpectedly.
- (-) Bullet EMP ships will find trouble trying to get close to Invaders, since it is mostly a one-time use, and darts will quickly flood the field again.
  - However, the Bullet EMP Destructive Wave apex will still do quite well if used correctly.

Try to eliminate all T1, T3 & T4 dart turrets. Doing so allows you to go point blank with Invaders easily. Remember that boomerangs are ineffective at close range, so after you eliminate these dart turrets, boomerangs can become quite useless.
- It's likely necessary to eliminate T4 dart spinners as well due to how dense it can get. However, where possible, leaving dart spinners alive means getting a lot of free grazing energy.
You can play a gamble against T2 dart launchers, since you can stand still and they will pass by your ship core perfectly. Just remember. Don't. Move. A. Muscle. If you intend to do this of course.
- This is a very good strategy for ships with Mega Bomb , since the fast pace of the mission often make it difficult to set up Mega Bomb. However, this can also apply for charging Mega Laser if need be.
- In particular, try to offset your ship to the side of Ravens that do not have the T2 dart launcher. For example, in a wave, if the Ravens have the T2 dart launcher on the right side, then charge Mega Bomb more towards the left side of the field. Doing so is less prone to dying by RNG as Raven movements can sometimes misalign the T2 darts and kill you. Allowing a larger angle for T2 launchers to spin around alleviates this problem quite significantly.

Fun

(+) This is a very fast paced mission that is very fun to play, especially when you are speedrunning.
(+) Playing the left right game with boomerangs can be fun, like playing cat-and-mouse game with the boomerangs.
(+) The high amount of lasers also mean that Personal Shield can be a very fun counter offence.
(+) Top it up with Super Reflect for extra juicy damage.
(+) To add on top of the fun with lasers , there are no speed lasers in this mission, which make Super Reflect much easier to use. Or simply, just using Personal Shield in general.
(+) This is the only mission type where it's practical to use Phalanx Reflector apexes, since most of the lasers fire at the same time during the first burst.
(=) It can be a bit difficult to use Barrier Reflector apexes here, since not all waves have a lot of lasers to reflect. Sometimes you have to deploy barrier upfield to survive more bullet heavy waves, but in other laser heavy waves, you have to deploy it downfield to reflect lasers. It can get a bit confusing and takes a few runs to find out which waves to use the Barrier Reflector apex ability. Only once you know the waves well enough, then you can have fun with Barrier Reflector apexes.

Dart/Pellet/Laser

Mission Intel:
Other Bullets: Darts, Pellets
Laser Density: High
General Difficulty: Hard
Brief Description: Characterized by a rather high amount of darts and lasers (both tracking and spread lasers).
Invader Weaponry Notes:
Both Pellet Spinners (Lane) & Pellet Spinners (Spiral) can appear.
Cone Lasers & Speed Lasers do NOT appear.
Other Notes:
All Invaders are Sinister.

Dart/Pellet/Laser	Unprotected	Armored	Shielded
Ships/Apexes strong against this mission type	Geist Baqlor Torrent Nimbus Centurion	Jericho Atlas Hime Lokie Saber Antioch Trinity Shogun Widget	NC-150 Yoth-Hola Phoenix Essin Yigothu Njörun NC-271 Jeria Baqlor Phi
Speedrunning Ships/Apexes	Fujin Buhloo Geist Baqlor Corsair Uhb Wraith Nimbus Centurion	Krillou Havoc Ex04239 Saber Shogun Icarus Neni Juggernaut Lambda	Proxymar Exarch Scuuxun Starless Banshee Jeria Monsoon Warden Veil Sigma Phoenix Delta Baqlor Phi
Fun Ships/Apexes to try on this mission type	Fujin Cinnri Buhloo Geist Baqlor Torrent Nimbus Reaper Centurion Tillat'Or Gamma Gorthaur Beta Heechi Delta Qhelqod Gamma	Atlas Ex04239 Hime Lokie Saber Antioch Shogun Icarus Cinnri Lambda Juggernaut Lambda Marauder Beta Widget Delta Stinger Epsilon	NC-150 Essin Yigothu Exarch Warden Phoenix Delta Czar Lambda Baqlor Phi Valkyrie Gamma Njörun Gamma Reaper Tau Zimitr Delta

Example of a Dart/Pellet/Laser mission type (Marshal S2):

Survival

Auras & Zens
- (+) The presence of a lot of darts can make Bullet EMP useful here, since you can inch your way around the field to graze and build up Bullet EMP easily.
  - Doing this is very advantageous, since you can fire off a huge Bullet EMP 1s before the lasers all fire to reset them all.
  - Bullet EMP also works against pellet spinners very well.
- (+) The presence of many lasers here make Personal Shield very viable here, since it can deal against them and is an effective counter-offence.
- (+) Vorpal Lance or Goliath Missile to eliminate pesky Ravens with annoying lasers .
- (+) Point Defence works well to eliminate bullets just before laser fire to aid dodging lasers.
- (=) Barriers can hold quite ok in this mission type since the bullet density isn't that heavy. However, deploying barriers upfield can be a challenge. To make it easier, you can eliminate all dart turrets before the current wave ends (so don't bother with pellet or tracking laser turrets) so it'll be easier to quickly head upfield to deploy the barrier before the next wave starts.
  - Barriers also hold reasonably well against lasers , so long they aren't in Fade Out state.
  - Deploying last minute small barriers around yourself can defend against any laser onslaught if desperate.
- (=) Ion Cannon can help to stun annoying Invaders on one side of the field that have lasers . However, it struggles against upfield Ravens or Herons that have these annoying cone lasers.
  - One solution is to go upfield and stun these pesky Invaders before coming back down. Doing so slightly desynchronizes the lasers, which means you can switch sides of the field between bursts of lasers . Note that this comes with disadvantages associated with desynchronized lasers, having to take note of lasers more often while dodging bullets.
- (=) Barrier Reflector can be quite difficult to use here, since you need to block both bullets and lasers . For waves with a high density of lasers, barriers can be deployed downfield to maximize the apex ability.
  - It becomes quite awkward, as trying to switch from deploying barriers downfield (in laser heavy waves) to deploying barriers upfield (in more bullet heavy waves) is a challenge, especially in the presence of darts.
- (=) Phalanx Reflector is ideal against lasers in this mission type since they usually go off at the same time on the first burst. However, Phalanx itself suffers slightly against this mission type since the bullet density is not that high, and shoveling too far upfield can cause you to be shot blank by darts.
- (-) As mentioned, Phalanx can be difficult to use due to the need to shovel upfield for effective usage.
- (-) The fast pace of the mission, having quite a lot of darts and lasers , mean that Teleport can be hard to use. It is also slightly hard to find good spots to Teleport to, especially when dart spreads flood the field.
  - Teleport can be used to change sides of the field just before lasers fire. Be sure to bait the lasers to one side first.
- (-) It's difficult to charge Mega Bomb here since the pace of the mission is so fast, and it's easy to get shot point blank by darts.
Moving slowly in this mission helps, since it is quite dart heavy.
Attract all the tracking lasers to one side first, then strafe to the other side just before they fire.
- An exception is when the tracking lasers are all of T3, which means a double laser. You can simply stand still and they will not kill you. In this case, deal against cone lasers and ignore the T3 tracking lasers.
  - Don't do this if the T3 tracking lasers are on Ravens that are not all the way upfield.
Getting an Ogon Is Fine badge on this mission type is quite difficult, but possible on easier missions due to the lack of shurikens.

Speedrunning

Auras & Zens
- (+) Reflex EMP usually works much better for speedrunning since it is fast charging.
- (=) Although there are many lasers in this mission type, Barrier Reflector can be difficult to use here since some waves don't have many lasers. The rather high density of bullets also mean that placing barriers downfield may not always last long enough for Barrier to reflect the lasers.
- (-) It's difficult to charge Mega Bomb here since the pace of the mission is so fast, and it's easy to get shot point blank by darts.
  - Charging all the way upfield is not recommended since the darts around can make it extremely difficult to head back downfield.
Click on the various Invader weaponry mission intel icons above to go to the relevant sections to know how to deal with different types of bullets and lasers .

Fun

(+) This is a fast paced mission that is fun to play due to the lack of annoying shurikens, boomerangs and especially speed lasers . The bullets in this mission type are quite manageable.
(+) Using Personal Shield to reflect the many lasers in this mission type is incredibly satisfying. No speed lasers to deal with here as well.
(=) Barrier Reflector and Phalanx Reflector apexes can be quite difficult to fully utilize here.

Mixed Bullets & Lasers

Phoenix II —FAQ (IOS)

FAQ (IOS) by light_rock_zz

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Mission Types