Personal Questions

Miscellaneous Questions

Personal Questions

Q1: Ship Likes and Dislikes

Which ships do you like and which do you hate?

I play almost all of them but there are of course some that I use more frequently than others, for the purpose of clearing daily missions or speedrunning community missions. Now, this might be biased because many of the ships I like are just simply ships that I use on a daily basis to get an easy clear or those for speedrunning community missions.

For daily missions, I like to use Icarus Sigma for Armored missions. I use Baqlor Lambda for Unprotected missions. I use Baqlor Phi for Shielded missions. For Shuriken/MIRV & Dart/MIRV missions, I use either Phoenix Delta or AB8/Klyn Delta.

For community missions, I use Icarus Sigma & Baqlor Phi.

You can see below for some of the apexes that I like better than other apexes. Other than that, I don't have a particular preference for any ship or apex.

Lastly, I don't hate any ship/apex. It is my commitment not to and also why I remain open to trying and playing any ship or apex.

Q2: Best Ship/Apex

What is the best ship or best apex?

There is no best all in one ship, nor is there a best all in one apex. There are ships that do well across many categories, but this does not always equate to the best ship because some categories may be irrelevant to you. It really depends on your objective, which is why the whole guide is split into 5 aspects, survival, speedrunning, fun, uniqueness & beginner friendliness.

If you insist however, there are resources for that. Head over to the External Links / Resources section of this guide and you will find 2 links that are relevant. The first is my own which combines Survival, Speedrunning & Fun Factor. Uniqueness and Beginner Friendliness are not considered because most ships are not even graded in that category. There is also another link which orders all ships accordingly, from highest to lowest overall score (but this includes apexes as well), so it might work for you.

Q3: Best Main Weapon Type

What is the best type of main weapon?

This really depends on our skill level. If you are a newer player, you would prefer homing weapons a lot, because you don't need to aim which means one less element to take note of, especially when newer players will tend towards a more defensive playstyle, trying to dodge as much as they can. It usually takes a while to understand how to use your Aura, and then a bit longer after that to know how to use your Zen. This is because Phoenix 2 isn't a traditional bullet hell game, and dodging will not get you very far. At best, it will probably only get you to Colonel rank and then from there on, you'll be overwhelmed.

As your skill gets better and you learn how to use your Aura and/or Zen to defend yourself, you will usually start to develop a liking for strictly forward firing weapons, as these main weapon types will also provide some form of defence by popping off turrets effectively.

After that, when it comes to the firing cone the weapon, it kind of stops there, as no one really likes dealing with a spread type, since it gets incredibly annoying to optimize. If you replace that spread weapon with a less spread weapon with the same damage, anyone would take the switch any day.

As you get really good at using your Zen, you will now start finding that a particular type of weapon identified in this guide as uninterruptible burst as the best, since you can continue to let your main weapon fire for a while even as you start charging your Zen. This technique requires you to know your main weapon's intervals very well and position yourself appropriately such that you don't die even if you need to hold on to your touch for a little while longer.

The last thing that many would appreciate is another type of main weapon identified in this guide as Cone Triggered. This reduces the problem of damage leakage.

In conclusion, you would first love homing weapons, then straight fire weapons, but ultimately after you are good at this game, you will love uninterruptible burst weapons, and knowing how Cone Triggered weapons are a great added bonus.

Q4: Get Good

How do you get good at this game?

Be consistent. Play for a reasonable time every day where possible. Sure, you can grind your way and try your utmost best to keep trying to improve by leaps and bounds within one day or a few days, but that is probably going to involve a lot of grinding, especially on the same missions (since missions don't reset that quickly). And I can tell you that usually grinding will not always make you better, and with more grinding, you'll get more frustrated with the game, and will probably quit the game earlier than if you just take it slowly. Phoenix 2 isn't designed as a game to grind as evident by how consistently (but not that fast either) the missions rotate.

If you do want to grind, I recommend only grinding until the point you hit a run where you feel is of acceptable standard. Remember that as human, it is near impossible to achieve perfection and everything you have planned will not always go accordingly, particularly when there is invader movement RNG at play. Don't be too hard on yourself. If you really cannot clear enough waves to secure your league, then don't bother. If you know that there is this wave that gets you hard stuck, don't bother. Or at least, take a break, stop playing for a while, let yourself cool down, then look at the wave carefully and see if there's any possible strategy to beat it. But either way, don't stress over securing or clearing the mission. It's a game. The consequences for demotion or not promoting/clearing will not be any worse than if you stress yourself and insist on doing so, hurting yourself in the process.

That's for getting good enough to reach the first milestone of your Phoenix 2 journey - being able to clear almost any Marshal S4 daily mission thrown at you.

After you get good (and I do mean, really good, better than myself in terms of speedrunning if anything), if you want to get a BoB or a sBoB, be careful if you want to chase for it. Competition at the top is extremely intense. If you aren't able to top community missions in the most competitive communities almost around 80% of the time, then you aren't ready for it. I will tell you that even that I am a very good player by most standards, I myself don't bother to chase for a BoB or sBoB.

That was for getting really good and going into competitive play. However, if you are like me, and feel it's too tall of a task, there are other ways you can get good as well. You can also go about experimenting with the different ships in the game. A lot of ships aren't touched by players of the upper ranks, especially those who reach Marshal rank. That shouldn't discourage you from trying however, as if you don't want to go into speedrunning, there's not much else you can do other than to have fun. Another reason is that if I can do other ships in Marshal rank, you should be able to do so too, because honestly I'm nowhere near the top in terms of the player base. Sure, you can have fun in your existing pool of ships by trying new ways to play them, or get their apexes, but it's more limited to stick with your own ships, or it'll take too much time and savings to get those apexes, which makes ult-ing new ships a better choice. This is obviously, the path I chose because I feel that the competitive play market is too saturated, and I rather do something else.

Be bold and try crazy stuff, but do try to clear the daily mission first before you get carried away and can't clear (or even worse, demote), and who knows, maybe you'll find new ways to play some ships that even I don't know of. (Let me know if you actually do find new ways to play, I would love to know as well!) Play these ships however long it pleases you, and there's no need to be afraid of demotion as you can rely on your backup reliable ships to get you through first. Grind them if you want (I honestly do grind some of them), as you can simply swap to a new ship the next day or so once you get sick of the ship you tried to grind on. Or just play a few rounds to get a nice feel for the ship and call it a day. It is up to you. You gain enough credits to fully ult a ship in about 2-3 weeks, so over time, you'll have a large inventory to tap upon, and you can rotate back to ships you played before but haven't touched in some time.

Q5: Recommended Apexes

What are some highly recommended apexes?

You can see above for some of the apexes that I use, and I believe that all of those that I use are highly or quite highly sought after apexes. Below is a list of apexes that I either think is really worth the investment for a unique skillset, or just really enjoy and find them pretty different from many other apexes:

• Njörun Gamma: This is a very good starting Super Reflect apex as Chrono gives you leeway to screw up the timing of Super Reflect, either doing it too early (and not killing as many invaders as you wished) or too late (in that lasers would actually kill you if not for Chrono). After you've learned how to time Super Reflect properly, you can then move on to the other Super Reflect apexes.
• Luna Tau: This apex is a good start when picking up Bullet Detonator apexes, which by the way, are extremely fun once used well. This is due to how natural Bullet Detonator fits with its Close Combat playstyle, needing to go right up to the invaders to maximize the main's high DPS to kill fast enough. It also offers sufficient defences to keep it going.
• Qhelqod Gamma: Easily the most recommendable Barrier Reflect Apex, these apexes are a total blast to play in any laser mission. Heechi Delta and Gorthaur Beta are pretty fun too but most recommend Qhelqod Gamma.
• AB8/Klyn Sigma and Shogun Sigma: No doubt the best High Damage REMP apexes, both can be used in Unprotected missions for total obliteration.
• Jericho Gamma: A very useful apex to train PS usage. Using this apex will teach you how to maximize the Phase Out of PS. While Gorthaur Alpha also has Focus, Barrier is less forgiving than BEMP because it's easier to panic press BEMP to save your life than to panic press Barrier which less likely to save your life. If you screw up and don't utilize PS Phase Out to eliminate enough bullets, BEMP is a very good fallback plan.
• Atlas Alpha & Lokie Alpha: Both of these apexes have Supersize. This apex is a very underrated apex ability, as the huge increase in PS particularly allows you to Phase Out further to cross a larger region of space to clear even more bullets. Furthermore, they are only 5,000¢, so what's holding you back from sparing a small amount of credits for something that is so powerful defensively? However, you should probably get Jericho Gamma first to know how to utilize PS Phase Out well enough. As for Phoenix Beta and NC-271 Beta, why would you spend 10,000¢ when you can simply spend half the price, right?
• Zhetass Gamma: It is a bit more expensive than the other Supersize apexes, but it is more than simply having more bullet clearance from a bigger PS. The bigger PS also completely covers the Phalanx deployed, allowing you to use Phalanxes without fear of wasting and putting yourself at risk at burning down the Phalanx in order to reflect lasers optimally. Zhetass' playstyle of requiring Phalanx up as much as possible to allow the main to hit means wasting Phalanxes and wasting laser reflection damage is less of an issue with this apex. However, before you get this apex, you should be familiar with Zhetass' playstyle first.
• Tempest Delta: The thin and focused ML allows Tempest to ride up along with the ML, which is a playstyle very desirable for Tempest due to its spread main weapon. The ML is thin enough for you to graze bullets on the left and right sides of the ML. Because Tempest is most viable for MIRV/Shuriken missions, the insane amount of bullets around you will mean enormous amounts of grazing as you ride up the ML, consequently leading to a huge BEMP which you can fire off to clear the whole field once you reach upfield - which is really satisfying. The thin riding ML skill is a very unique skill that is exclusive to Focused ML ships, but in particular, it benefits Tempest the most. It is not easy to pick up due to the small error tolerance, but when pulled off very well, it's extremely satisfying. For Arietis Epsilon, it also completely refills your PD but it's not as satisfying. For Razor VI Sigma and Lorilou Epsilon, it's nothing but just extra damage.
• Phoenix Delta: Everyone's favourite because of both Destructive BEMP and the cool extra vintage missiles.
• Jn'Dur Gamma: Jn'Dur's already unique playstyle makes it a unique and fun ship, but the Gamma Apex makes it even better. The Fast Charge means that you can delay charging MB a little longer and release more Particle Disruptors, allowing even the frontline Ravens to be decimated after MB goes off. Not only that, but it allows you to pull back, then very quickly head to the uppermost edge of the barriers and charge MB as best upfield as possible, which means that you can sometimes even be able to use MBc to deal even more damage.
• Lyova Tau: Decimates both Unprotected Ravens and Sparrows with a BEMP + REMP combo, this apex is a total blast. No longer need you worry about hunting down Sparrows. Or heck, who even cares about those Caged MIRVs?
• Juggernaut Lambda: Decimates Armored Ravens and Sparrows from an MB + BEMP combo, what's not to like?
• Czar Lambda: The SEMP + Explosive TP simply decimates Shielded Ravens.
• Prime X Epsilon: If you like this ship, this apex is a must, because it makes Prime X even more enjoyable by decimating invaders faster.
• Hime Lambda: If you like Hime, this apex is a must, it makes Hime so much more fun.
• Proteus Gamma: If you like Proteus, this apex makes Proteus even more fun by making bigger explosions. I mean, who doesn't like BIG BOOM? I'm sure Jamie does ;)
• Exarch Omega: If you love Exarch or love speedrunning, this apex makes Exarch feel more smooth and less frustrating when Sparrows slip past the Phase Prisms.
• Corsair Sigma: For those who love Corsair, this apex makes Corsair even better by giving it an AoE damage means.
• Disaris Omega: This apex is a huge joy to use against Shuriken/MIRV missions, as waves with pellet spinners get wiped really fast.

Q6: Ship Balance of Power

What do you think about the balance of power in the ships?

All ships are not created equal. That's one thing for sure. It is definitely clear that some ships are significantly better than others, like how Baqlor is for sure miles better than say, Ogon. By better, i mean in the survival, speedrunning or fun aspect. I've compared some abilities side by side earlier and definitely it's not supposed to be balanced. However, in the end, I say that the different combinations of Aura and Zen define a certain quite unique playstyle for each ship, as well as their main weapon that especially would differentiate some ships, especially of the same Aura Zen combination. And this is probably what the devs desire - to make every ship feel different so that you won't regret upgrading that ship. You may or may not like that ship yourself, but that doesn't mean it applies to everyone. The devs want to make the game fun for as wide of an audience as possible by having a great assortment of different ways to play the game.