Ship Details (Part 5)

Ship Details (Part 5)

Vani-Vith

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, Shuriken/Boomerang
Weak against: Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken

Ship Class: Offensive
+

Main Weapon: Spark Fusor

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
• Projectile Speed = Medium
• Reload Time = Fast
• 3 forward firing slow moving projectiles in an upward chevron pattern
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): A+
Survivability (Community Missions): A+

• Vani-Vith's playstyle is that of moving around constantly to deal Spark Fusor damage to Invaders.
• (+) Teleport aids the positioning of firing the Spark Fusor too.
• (+) In particular, this is what aids Vani-Vith in lining itself up with turrets for turret popping.
  • Annoying bullets like MIRVs force you to retreat momentarily, but Teleport puts you back in position quickly.
• (=) The Spark Fusor takes 2 hits to take down a Vulture's turret.
• (+) However, one Vorpal Lance is enough to take down a turret if required.
  • Try to wait for a turret and some upfield Invaders to line up properly.
• (+) Vorpal Lance + Teleport is one of the best Aura - Zen combinations.
  • Wait for the Invaders to line up, then quickly Teleport there to use Vorpal Lance immediately and make optimal use of Vorpal Lance's piercing capabilities.
  • You can pre-charge Teleport in anticipation for this.
  • Bear in mind you will lose some DPS if you hold on to Teleport for too long.
• (+) Teleport is a great escape tool, particularly from tracking lasers and boomerangs .
  • This makes Vani-Vith such an all rounded ship, being able to use Teleport both offensively and defensively.
• (=) Vorpal Lance's Vorpal Wake to clear bullets is generally not used much, since Teleport covers Vorpal Wake's escape function.
• (-) It is difficult to use the slow moving Spark Fusor to pop off difficult-to-reach turrets on a Condor or Roc .
  
  • Thankfully, Teleport helps a bit in keeping yourself aligned to try your best to pop it off.
  • This technique can be helpful against deadly turrets that are essential to take down.
• Vani-Vith also moves around the field a lot from side to side to aim its Spark Fusor and Vorpal Lance .
  • This means Vorpal Wake isn't terribly useful since there isn't a lot of up and down movement.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A+

• (+) The Spark Fusor is somewhat piercing as each burst consists of 3 projectiles.
  • It can hit 2 Sparrows in a column (maximum 3, but it's quite rare).
  • Thus, try to line up 2 Sparrows in nearby columns.
  • This really helps in early wave speedrunning.
• (+) Similarly, 1.33 bursts of the Spark Fusor (in other words, 4 projectiles of the Spark Fusor) also kills an Unprotected Raven .
  • This means you can destroy 2 Ravens in 3 Spark Fusor bursts.
• (+) Where necessary, abuse Teleport to change position quickly if the Sparrows and/or Ravens are too far apart.
  • Using Teleport also makes sure that when you land, a Spark Fusor burst fires so positioning can be more accurate.
• At the start of new Acts, know where the Sparrows and Ravens are going to be.
  • Use Teleport to manage when the next burst of Spark Fusor is going to go off and position yourself properly.
• The slow moving nature of its Spark Fusor means that in order to optimise it, Vani-Vith has to go right in front of Invaders to take them out quickly in early Acts.
• In later Acts, Vorpal Lance now takes over the job and the Spark Fusor becomes support damage to larger Invaders.
  • However, at the end of a wave with only few small Invaders left, go close up to these Invaders to take them out.
• (-) Unfortunately, because the Spark Fusor is slow moving and can be difficult to hit Invaders, speedrunning with Vani-Vith can get annoying as times can fluctuate a lot.
• (-) Vorpal Lance also depends on a lot of RNG to get good lineups.
• (+) The "Tele-frag" kit is a major plus to its speedrunning ability, being able to consistently pull off many optimal Vorpal Lance shots.

Fun Factor: S-

• (+) Vorpal Lance action for satisfying piercings.
• (+) Extremely fun Aura - Zen combination.
  • The "Tele-frag" kit (Vorpal Lance + Teleport ) is definitely one of the most satisfying to pull off, with huge satisfaction from a real "peek-a-boo" surprise.
• (=) Somewhat kinetic ship, Vani-Vith moves around a fair bit.
• (-) Mundane Spark Fusor. Moves slowly, and has a very dull impact sound.
• (=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Vani-Vith were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Vani-Vith was only introduced into Phoenix 2 in v2.0.
• Vani-Vith is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical.
  • If you zoom in to the arms of Vani-Vith, there is a slight shine on the left shoulder that is not present on the right side.
  • There is also a slight shine on the right elbow that is not present on the left elbow.
• Vani-Vith's Spark Fusor used to be Shield Breaker before it was changed to High Impact in the v3.0 update.
• A 3D perspective of Vani-Vith is featured in the TouchArcade of Phoenix 2, alongside with Saber in Prometheus Array. This image was designed by Rogier van de Beek.
  

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Apexes

Epsilon (Vorpal Lance Twin Lance) - ¢25.000

Value: A+
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): A+ [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): A+ [No significant change]

• (+) Takes out a few more Ravens a bit more easily with the same amount of Vorpal Lances .
• (+) Doubling of Vorpal Lance width increases bullet clearance range, especially useful in bullet heavy missions.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): S- [++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S- [++]

• (+) Makes chasing down Sparrows and Ravens significantly less frustrating.
• (+) Takes out a few more Ravens and Sparrows a bit more easily with the same amount of Vorpal Lances .

Fun Factor: S- [No significant change]

• (+) More enjoyable due to less frustration from less need to chase down a few more Sparrows and Ravens .
• (+) Just a good quality of life apex.

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Sigma (Teleport Extended Clearance) - ¢35.000

Value: B-
Cost vs Utility: B

Survivability (Daily Missions): A+ [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): A+ [No significant change]

• (+) Opens up viability for Vani-Vith to be used in Shuriken/MIRV missions, as the increased clearance in Arrival EMP range can mean a lot to eliminate more MIRVs on screen with one Teleport .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A+ [No change]

Fun Factor: S- [No change]

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Zephyr

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Dart/MIRV, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, General - No Lasers, Shuriken/Boomerang
Weak against: Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken

Ship Class: Defensive
+

Main Weapon: Photon Rails

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Weapon Class = Interruptible Burst
• Rate of Fire = Fast
• Projectile Speed = Fast
• Reload Time = Fast
• 2 inner forward firing side-by-side projectiles, quickly followed by 2 more outer forward firing side-by-side projectiles
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): B-
Survivability (Community Missions): B-

• (+) Synergy between Point Defence and Kappa Drive allows you to spam Point Defence a lot.
• (+) The capability to generate Point Defence with Kappa Drive means that if played correctly, with the exception of boomerangs , Zephyr is quite invincible in any mission with purely bullets.
  • Simply graze darts and use the smallest size of Point Defence to get you out of any bullet tight situation.
• (=) The interruptible burst of Photon Rails is a bit strange to handle.
  • Thankfully, the downtime is pretty limited.
• (-) The interruptible burst of Photon Rails, and the strange spread of the Photon Rails means it does not work very well with Kappa Drive .
• (=) The slight spread of the Photon Rails means it can be a bit difficult to align all 4 projectiles of the Photon Rails on a turret to pop it off.
• (+) Fortunately, Point Defence backed up by Kappa Drive allows you to usually hold your place well enough to ensure the turret is popped off before moving on to the next one.
• (+) Against boomerang heavy missions, use Kappa Drive to carefully graze dart streams and dodge boomerangs and/or between pellets released by MIRVs .
• (-) No laser defence. Make sure you have enough Point Defence Aura to strafe and escape lasers aiming for you.
• (+) Point Defence allows you to quickly eliminate the first wave of MIRVs that come your way.
• (-) Unfortunately, after that, the shurikens start flooding in which becomes too much for Point Defence to eliminate.
• Start on one side of the field in Shuriken/MIRV missions.
  • Use Point Defence to try and eliminate all bullets, until you see shuriken launchers locked on to you.
  • Then, slowly inch the other side.
  • Use Point Defence to eliminate the rest of the shurikens and pellets (from launchers and exploded MIRVs ) that come into the lane towards you.
  • Only use Point Defence when these shurikens are extremely near you, otherwise you will waste unnecessary Aura .
  • When in the shuriken cloud made by T4 shuriken launchers, don't use Point Defence to eliminate MIRVs before they explode. Simply let them explode.
  • Only use Point Defence to eliminate MIRVs after the shuriken cloud has mostly dispersed from the field.
  • Prioritize the elimination of MIRV Bloomers if they exist.
  • Otherwise, kill the Ravens with rapid firing MIRV launchers.
  • If there is not enough Aura to eliminate MIRVs after the shuriken cloud has dispersed, stay on the emptier side and activate Kappa Drive to let it generate Aura for you.
    • This is faster than diving right in and exploding MIRVs since you don't need to dodge the pellets released.
• Use Kappa Drive between waves, or when you need more Aura to eliminate bullets to escape a tight spot.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): C+
Speedrunning (Community Missions): C+

• (-) No offensive Aura or Zen .
• (-) Zephyr's Photon Rails are easily interrupted by Kappa Drive .
  • Therefore, try not to use Kappa Drive where possible.
  • This is quite difficult since only the Photon Rails can deal damage.
  • Cutting DPS from the Photon Rails is inevitable when you need to get out of sticky situations.
• (-) The straight firing nature of the Photon Rails means it is difficult to switch targets quickly.
  • The slight spread of the Photon Rails, allows it to catch Ravens and Sparrows .
• (-) 2 projectiles of the Photon Rails are required to kill a Sparrow , which makes chasing down Sparrows a pain.

Fun Factor: C+

• (-) Kappa Drive means usually slow gameplays.
• (=) Average Photon Rails impact sounds.
• (-) Rather strange handling of the Photon Rails.
• (-) No offence at all, so slow gameplay.
• (=) Normal ship core position.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Zephyr were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Zephyr was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.

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Apexes

Beta (Kappa Antigrav) - ¢10.000

Value: C-
Cost vs Utility: A

This apex makes Zephyr slightly less of a pain to play as you can burst fire Point Defence for a brief moment whenever you kill an Invader to aid your sideway movements to another Invader.

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [+]

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): C+ [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): C+ [No change]

Fun Factor: C+ [No change]

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Epsilon (PD Bullet Detonator) - ¢25.000

Value: A+
Cost vs Utility: B

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [+]

• (+) Deals damage against smaller Invaders in front to eliminate them faster if used at the right time.
• (=) Otherwise, Bullet Detonator apexes don't increase survivability for ships that don't really go into close combat.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A- [++++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B+ [++]

• (+) Very powerful against bullet heavy missions, especially Dart/MIRV missions.
  • In Shuriken/MIRV missions, Point Defence Bullet Detonator also deals heavy damage against Invaders.
  • However, it is easy to run out of Point Defence fast.
  • Be precise in knowing when to start spamming Point Defence such that all the bullets eliminated are on top of Invaders.
  • This is usually tough since shurikens fired by downfield Invaders tend to take up a lot of Aura , especially if they are T4 shuriken launchers.
• (+) Get up in the face of Invaders to maximize this apex.
  • Be prepared to retreat since Point Defence runs out fast, and the only other means of damage is the Photon Rails, which isn't particularly powerful.
• (-) The relatively lackluster damage of the Photon Rails makes it quite hard to keep up the Point Defence Bullet Detonator.
  • Kappa Drive only helps between waves to start with a bigger Point Defence Bullet Detonator Aura .
• (+) Beyond that, Kappa Drive may be used after downing a huge Invader like a Vulture to get rid of the remaining smaller Invaders via Point Defence Bullet Detonator.

Fun Factor: A- [++++]

• (+) Being able to generate lots of Point Defence Bullet Detonator means a lot of opportunities to deal damage against Invaders at the start of a wave.
• (-) However, the lackluster Photon Rails damage means Point Defence Bullet Detonator is hard to sustain after the first few seconds or so.

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Baqlor

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, General - No Lasers, Shuriken/Boomerang, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, General/Boomerang, General, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Shuriken/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV

Ship Class: Defend to Attack
+

Main Weapon: Serrator Laser

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Capacity = 450ms
• Weapon Class = Interruptible Burst
• Reload Time = Medium
• 3 lasers on both sides angled away from the vertical in increasing angles, the inner ones being fired before the outer ones
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): X
Survivability (Community Missions): X

• (+) Easiest Mega Bomb ship to use. Ever.
  • You hardly need to worry about wrong positioning due to Chrono Field .
  • Just drop in a Chrono Field , and charge Mega Bomb such that Fusion Core hits the biggest Invader on screen. That's all. It's so easy to use.
• (+) Use Mega Bomb every medium wave and above.
  • Mega Bomb can run into long Charge Times , but it doesn't matter since Chrono Field protects you.
  • You can say that Ravens and Sparrows practically don't exist in such waves.
• If you don't feel comfortable, you can choose not to charge waves that do not contain Eagles , or has only 1 Eagle together with only Ravens and/or Sparrows .
  • 1 Eagle with Herons is still a good opportunity to charge Mega Bomb .
• (+) Use smaller Chrono Fields to exit safely from the bullet mass if you cannot get out of the dart mess built up from the previous Chrono Field.
  • Remember to quickly plan your escape route to a safer spot.
• (+) Use Chrono Field to aim the Serrator Laser at Invaders.
  • Deploy Chrono Field such that it compasses at least 2 columns of Invaders.
  • Try to deploy Chrono Field midfield or higher, as the Serrator Laser is not effective downfield.
• (-) Since Baqlor has no means of bullet clear, the field can get pretty messy with bullets when Mega Bomb Charge Times get very long.
• While less viable in Shuriken/MIRV missions, you can still use Chrono Field to continuously Chrono Hop to a safer spot.
  • Try to charge at a spot with less Ravens so you won't be faced with so many MIRVs exploding.
• (=) Baqlor's spread Serrator Laser is slightly more difficult to pop turrets with.
  • However, Chrono Field allows you to stay at point blank range of the turrets to pop them off easily.
  • It usually takes 2 bursts of the Serrator Laser to pop off a Vulture's turret.
• Then, use particles collected from Mega Bomb to Chrono Hop to the other side of the Vulture to deploy a second Chrono Field and eliminate more turrets.
• (+) Baqlor's capability to destroy difficult-to-reach turrets on Condors and Rocs is surprisingly good.
  • Simply just stay on one side of the field, and poof, unknowingly, these turrets disappear after a while.
  • Be sure to graze off some bullets to pull off small Chrono Fields where needed.
  • Otherwise, conserve Chrono Field for the next wave (if applicable).
• (-) Baqlor's only negative comes in the Serrator Laser, since its interruptible burst nature make it a bit awkward.
  • Not allowing the burst to complete will result in subpar damage from the corner lasers which makes it even more awkward after exiting an Mega Bomb charge.
  • Therefore, always allow the burst to complete.
  • Fake charge Mega Bomb if needed to make sure the Serrator Laser only starts firing when Invaders are fully on field.
  • This flaw, however, does not stop Baqlor from becoming one of the most survivable and speedy ships out there.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): S
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S

• (+) The capability to spam Mega Bomb makes Baqlor go very fast.
  • Use Mega Bomb every medium wave and above.
  • Mega Bomb can run into long Charge Times . But it doesn't matter because Chrono Field protects you.
• (+) The capability of Baqlor to always land Fusion Core on larger Invaders boosts its speed even further.
• Optimizing the Serrator Laser is of essence to cut off several seconds.
  • Ensure one burst of the Serrator Laser fully completes before charging the next Mega Bomb .
  • Otherwise, only the outer Serrator Laser will go off, which is difficult to land on Invaders.
• One burst of the Serrator Laser, if it is a critical hit, takes out 2 Unprotected Ravens .
  • Otherwise, it takes 2 bursts of the Serrator Laser to take out 3 Unprotected Ravens.
• One burst of the Serrator Laser can take out up to 4 Sparrows .
  • If the 4 Sparrows are spread throughout the field, it is difficult to eliminate them all.
  • But if they are on one side of the field, it is easy to eliminate the Sparrows .
• A critical hit will take out one Unprotected Heron , but a non-critical hit will require 1.5 bursts of the Serrator Laser to take out an Unprotected Heron.
• One burst of the Serrator Laser can take out 2 Unprotected Sparrows and 1 Unprotected Raven .
• Energy management is a very important part of playing Baqlor.
  • While you should always land Fusion Core at the most optimal spot, this does not mean that you should just absorb all the particles.
  • If lots of Invaders have died because of Mega Bomb , deploy a second Chrono Field before Aura overfills.
  • When done correctly, you get more time inside the Chrono Field to destroy Invaders/turrets that you want to.
  • You also get a big enough Chrono Field Aura size to charge Mega Bomb for the next wave.
• (+) Chrono Field's Phase Out allow you to peek outside the Chrono Field to catch pesky Sparrows or heavily damaged Ravens outside the reach when inside Chrono Field.
  • Do this quickly and then jump back into the Chrono Field .
• Deploy Chrono Field as central as possible so that you don't have to Chrono Hop from one side of the field to the other side of the field.
  • Although Chrono Hopping is a great skill to get around, doing so wastes particles which may not allow you to set up Mega Bomb for the next wave.
• It is usually only necessary to destroy one side of the Vulture's turrets.
  • This allows you to stay on that side safely without using another Chrono Field , and deploy Chrono Field just before the Vulture goes down.
• There is a 1s cooldown between Serrator Laser bursts.
  • You can continue to engage touch for about 0.5s after the cornermost Serrator Laser fades.
  • Knowing the reload time of the Serrator Laser allows you to fake charge Mega Bomb as late as possible to maximize every opportunity to cool down Mega Bomb.
• (-) Speedrunning can get a bit frustrating with Baqlor since Mega Bomb Charge Times can get very long.
  • RNG means that you need to pray for good convergence, otherwise Invaders may all be not on top of Fusion Core .
• In the presence of pellet MIRVs , try to explode all of them at the same time so that you can use Phase Out to deal with the wavefront of all pellets being emitted from the MIRVs.

Fun Factor: S

• (+) Abusing Mega Bomb to no end is just a lot of fun.
• (+) Baqlor has a pretty dull but soothing Serrator Laser impact sound.
• (-) The Serrator Laser can be frustrating to use because of its interruptible burst nature.
  • If not terminated properly, this will cause the cornermost lasers to go off after exiting Mega Bomb , which is frustrating.
• (=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Baqlor were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Baqlor was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Baqlor is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical. If you zoom in to the space just above the Baqlor's core, you can see that the white marks on both sides of the ship is a bit different. The right side's mark is slightly more white and slightly larger than the left side.
• The Phi Apex of Baqlor, being one of the most popular apexes, is commonly referred to Phiqlor in Phoenix 2 communities.
• A 3D perspective of Baqlor was featured in the Instagram page of Firi Games in a promotional poster, alongside with Saber in Prometheus Array.
  

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Apexes

Lambda (MB Fast Charge) - ¢30.000

Value: S+
Cost vs Utility: S

Survivability (Daily Missions): X [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): X [No significant change]

• (+) Faster Mega Bomb Charge Times mean you can get out of charging Mega Bomb more quickly.
  • This means energy management is more forgiving, as a smaller size Chrono Field can still sustain through the potentially long Charge Times of Mega Bomb .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): S+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S+ [+]

• (+) Possible to charge Mega Bomb even in lighter waves in earlier Acts.
  • It may be worthwhile to charge in waves as light as one Eagle and only several other Sparrows , 2 Herons or 3 Ravens with Sparrows around.
  • This requires a lot of experimentation on whether it is worthwhile to charge Mega Bomb on light waves.
  • Note that Charge Times can add up massively.
    • Thus, if you find some waves taking longer than 4s to charge (except Rocs and Condors since it is a long time before they are on field), consider if there is an Mega Bomb that you should forgo.
    • Make sure that your Chrono Field doesn't fade before Mega Bomb goes off if your Charge Times become extremely long.
• (+) Easier to catch Invaders before they run away from Fusion Core , especially Herons .

Fun Factor: S+ [+]

• (+) Even more Mega Bomb spamming.
• (+) Less frustration on Invaders avoiding Fusion Core .

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Phi (MB Shield Breaker) - ¢45.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: S

Survivability (Daily Missions): X [No change]
Survivability (Community Missions): X [No change]

• (+) Extremely viable in all Shielded missions.
  • Even Shuriken/MIRV missions are doable due to how strong Baqlor is at surviving.
  • It will take more skill than normal though.
• (+) Instantly wipes all Shielded Ravens on field with an Mega Bomb .
• (+) Wipes Shielded Herons with Fusion Core is landed on them.
• (+) Extremely good synergy between Mega Bomb Shield Breaker and Serrator Laser.
  • Mega Bomb Shield Breaker ruthlessly tears down the shields of Invaders quickly.
  • The Serrator Laser can then deal critical hits on Invaders with their shields downed.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): X [++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): X [++]

• (+) Land an Fusion Core on a Shielded Roc .
  • Then, after 3-4 bursts of the Serrator Laser, charge yet another Mega Bomb to land Fusion Core on the Roc .
  • The full advantage of the Shield Breaker nature of Mega Bomb is realized, which makes the Roc go down even faster.
• (+) By landing Fusion Core on a Shielded Vulture , less than one burst of the Serrator Laser is required to down the shield.
  • If Fusion Core should not be landed on the Vulture (if there are 2 Shielded Herons / Eagles ), 2 bursts of the Serrator Laser is required to down the Vulture's shield.
• One burst of the Serrator Laser can still take out 1 Shielded Raven & 2 Sparrows .
• One burst of the Serrator Laser can take out 4 Shielded Sparrows in one horizontal line.
• (+) Very easy to land Top 1% in Marshal missions with this apex, which is insane for a ship that is not Full Offence.
  • It becomes very easy to get Top 1% since FO ships can be difficult to pilot well for Top 1%.

Fun Factor: X [++]

• (+) Expanded viability in Shielded missions.
• (+) Ruthlessly decimates Shielded Invaders.

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502-Q8

Strong against: Shuriken/Pellet, Shuriken/Boomerang
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/MIRV, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken

Ship Class: Defend to Attack
+

Main Weapon: Plasma Compressor

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
• Projectile Speed = Very Fast
• Reload Time = Fast
• Single, fast, forward firing projectile fired once every 0.5s
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+
Survivability (Community Missions): C+

• (-) Difficult to handle Plasma Compressor.
  • It's fast, doesn't have a good visual cue on when it's firing, and is very thin.
• (-) Particularly, this makes hunting down Sparrows a nightmare.
• (+) The fast moving Plasma Compressor makes popping turrets quite easy.
• (-) However, it takes 2 shots of the Plasma Compressor to down one turret on a Vulture with its shield downed.
  • This is quite a lot to ask, given you still need to down the shields of Vultures and above.
• (+) Phalanx allows you to clear out bullets for survivability.
• (+) Phalanx is also your only mobility tool to move around to target different Invaders.
  • This will require you to do tons of diagonal shoveling.
• (+) Phalanx allows you to charge Mega Laser more safely.
  • Deploy Phalanx just before you snipe down the last Invader on screen
  • As the Plasma Compressor projectile moves forward, swipe back down to charge Mega Laser .
  • If it misses, try again and repeat this process.
• (-) Terrible against lasers .
  • Phalanx just isn't a good defence against lasers .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): B+
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B

• (-) Considerably long intervals between bursts of Plasma Compressor.
  • It is best aimed at larger Invaders.
• Use Mega Laser to try and take out smaller Invaders like Ravens and Sparrows .
  • Ensure that there are larger Invaders behind to absorb the rest of the Mega Laser damage where possible.
  • It is a good idea to charge Mega Laser slightly offset center to one side and adjust from there.
• Optimizing the Plasma Compressor is key.
  • This involves lots of moving around and diagonal Phalanx shovelings.
• (-) Very slow against Sparrows .
  • If there are quite a lot of Sparrows , charge a Mega Laser and pray that the Mega Laser takes out as many Sparrows as possible.
• (-) Almost impossible to break shields before firing Mega Laser due to how fragile Phalanx is.
  • It doesn't help that the Plasma Compressor is a very slow main weapon that takes a lot of time to strip off shields.

Fun Factor: B-

• (+) Constantly moving about the field using Phalanx means 502-Q8 has pretty high mobility.
• (+) Slightly dull but soothing Plasma Compressor impact sound.
• (-) Slightly difficult ship core position since 502-Q8 is blue in color, and is a tall ship.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of 502-Q8 were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• 502-Q8 was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• 502-Q8 is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical. If you zoom in to the bottom of the ship, you can see that the intricate wirings at the thruster is asymmetrical.
• 502-Q8's Plasma Compressor used to be Armor Piercing before it was changed to Shield Breaker in the v3.0 update.
• 502-Q8 was named after the dev thought of a theme for the name, looking back at existing names. The name 502-Q8 just popped up since it sounds cool and fits the themes.
• 502-Q8 is amongst the cheapest ships to fully upgrade (to 6-6-6) and get both its apexes, coming in at only ¢24.800 (¢500 for buying 502-Q8, ¢9.300 for fully upgrading, ¢5.000 for the Alpha Apex & ¢10.000 for the Beta Apex), assuming you buy everything with your own credits (including buying to unlock the ship itself).

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Apexes

Beta (Double Phalanx ) - ¢10.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+ [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [No significant change]

• (+) Slightly safer to charge up Mega Laser due to more bullets being able to be abosrbed.
• (+) Allows for slightly more bullet clearance for slightly better mobility.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): B+ [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B [No change]

Fun Factor: B- [No change]

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Alpha (Main Weapon Volatile Plasma) - ¢5.000

Value: A
Cost vs Utility: X

This apex gives 502-Q8’s Plasma Compressor a blast damage of 2 in a blast radius of 100. 2 indirect blast damage kills a Sparrow , implying the blast damage is Shield Breaker in nature. The impact damage DPS of the Plasma Compressor is reduced from 31.25 to 26.25. Since the Plasma Compressor has a reload time of 0.55s, this means 4 blast damage is dealt within 1.1s, which is a mild reduction in DPS if the blast damage does not affect a second Invader. Here's how the impact blast of this apex looks like:

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+ [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [No significant change]

• (+) Gets rid of pesky Sparrows more easily, especially those with lasers .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A- [++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A- [++]

• (+) Eliminates Sparrows much faster.
  • 2 blast damage kills a Sparrow .
  • Helps out significantly especially in early waves of some Acts.
• Aim down cornermost Sparrows first, so that some of the Sparrows at the center get affected by the blast damage , and can be taken out by aiming at other Sparrows.
• Aim down Ravens first as well, since Sparrows get also get affected by the blast damage .
  • By taking down Ravens , you may kill another one or 2 Sparrows along with it.
• (+) A bit faster overall due to additional blast damage being dealt on top of the impact damage of Plasma Compressor.

Fun Factor: B [+]

• (+) Less hunting down of Sparrows , which is the biggest annoyance of 502-Q8.

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Dragonfly

Strong against: Shuriken/Pellet, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/MIRV, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, General - No Lasers, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser

Ship Class: Offensive
+

Main Weapon: Twin Miniguns

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Spread = Medium
• Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
• Rate of Fire = Extremely Fast
• Projectile Speed = Fast
• Spray of bullets in a general forward direction with some randomness in spread
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): C
Survivability (Community Missions): C

• There are 2 ways to pull off an Mega Bomb for Dragonfly:
  • Mega Bomb just as the wave fully arrives.
  • Unload a stockpile of Ion Cannons on Invaders with dart launchers/spreads and other turrets that would kill you, then charge Mega Bomb .
• (-) Obviously, the first way is a lot more ideal since you don't have to fire Ion Cannons .
  • However, this is usually very difficult for Dragonfly since its Twin Miniguns are continuously firing.
  • It doesn't help that because it has so many individual projectiles, it is very hard to estimate how much left is required to eliminate the last Invader on field.
• (-) With the first way, it is also possible to use Ion Cannon as the finishing blow to the last Invader on field.
  • However, this wastes one counter of Ion Cannon .
  • In addition, one Ion Cannon projectile does a measly 10 damage .
  • Thus, you risk Ion Cannon not being able to finish off that Invader, and have to either use another Ion Cannon, or use the Twin Miniguns to finish off the job.
  • Either way, you waste particles or won't have time to charge Mega Bomb properly.
• (-) The second way is to let the wave arrive fully, then very quickly go around the field to stun Invaders.
  • This can be very difficult if too many dart launchers/spreads are around.
  • To go around and stun very quickly is already a difficult task since Ion Cannon has a small stun radius.
• Target to stun only turrets that are dangerous at that very moment.
  • These include dart launchers/spreads, MIRV Spreads/Bloomers and possibly shuriken launchers/spreads that can be considered at point blank range.
  • Pellet Spreads are usually not dangerous at this stage.
  • Boomerangs and lasers (even speed lasers) are not considered dangerous.
    • Speed lasers can be avoided quite easily.
  • Spinners of all kinds, EXCEPT pellet spinners (wall) are not considered dangerous for this stage of stunning Invaders.
• After stunning all the turrets that are considered dangerous, find the most suitable spot to charge Mega Bomb top optimize Fusion Core to land properly.
• (+) All Ravens should be dead after Mega Bomb goes off, and some Herons may also go down by landing Fusion Core on them.
• (+) At this point, even though you had previously exhausted all, if not most of your Ion Cannons , you should be able to get them back.
• With these newly stocked Ion Cannons , stun the other dangerous turrets such as spinners and finish off the wave.
• The second way of setting up Mega Bomb tends to be a bit more common due to the better ease to do so.
• Ion Cannon is only useful against larger Invaders.
  • Try to get them to hit Vultures , then Eagles .
  • You may have to go around Herons and Eagles to stun Vultures .
• (-) The thin spread of Twin Miniguns make it difficult to move over from stunning one side of the field to stun the other side of the field.
  • This means a lot of navigability issues and a lot of dodging is needed.
• (+) The slight spread of the Twin Miniguns mean it's slightly difficult to pop off turrets.
  • However, Ion Cannons allow you to get up close to turrets of any kind, even difficult-to-reach turrets on Condors and Rocs .
  • This negates the spread of the Twin Miniguns and allow you to get up close to the turrets for turret popping.
  • In fact, turret popping is a huge part of Dragonfly's survivability, and is relatively easy to do so.
• If you are faced with a Condor or a Roc , you can pop off all their turrets.
  • Instead of continue to fire the Twin Miniguns, charge Mega Bomb wherever most appropriate for the next wave (skip if it is the last wave).
  • The Condor or Roc will self-destruct, and the Mega Bomb will be ready for the next wave.
  • You can do this on a Vulture too, but you cannot land Fusion Core on it.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A

• As a general guide to charging Mega Bomb , the first option mentioned above (use Ion Cannons to finish off Invaders of a wave) is preferred.
• However, if there are dart launchers/spreads or high tier pellet spinners (wall), only the second approach of charging Mega Bomb is doable.
• To compare the approaches, figure out what is possible for the first approach.
  • If the Mega Bomb position is ideal enough, the first approach is good to go.
• However, if the second approach allows you to land Fusion Core on 2 more Invaders (obviously, Heron and above) compared to the first approach, then the second approach is the way to go.
  • Landing Fusion Core on 2 more Invaders mean an additional 80 damage, higher than what 2s of Twin Miniguns would do if you didn't charge Mega Bomb beforehand.
  • Not to mention, it is also the safer option.
  • This can sound ironic, as although speedrunning is less about safety, a safer option means better consistency in speedrunning overall.
• Landing Fusion Core on Vultures means that you cannot eliminate all the Vulture turrets before the Vulture itself dies.
  • It can sometimes be a better option to not land Fusion Core on the Vulture.
  • If so, strip all turrets from the Vulture .
  • Once done, charge Mega Bomb to land it correctly for the next wave.
• In lighter or medium waves, use Ion Cannon to deal damage to Invaders where appropriate.
  • Always keep enough if you need to use the second approach to charge Mega Bomb (use Ion Cannons to stun Invaders before charging Mega Bomb)

Fun Factor: A

• (+) Because Dragonfly's Twin Miniguns and Ion Cannons are both forward firing damage mechanisms, you will have to move around a lot and move quickly.
  • Because Ion Cannon stuns Invaders, this allows a quite a lot of freedom when moving around.
• (+) To stun Invaders quickly to allow for this amount of freedom, move very fast initially.
  • Dragonfly can be a rather high adrenaline ship, especially so in the beginning of waves.
• (+) The rapid firing Twin Miniguns means you will score a lot of critical hits, which is definitely pretty satisfying to hear.
• (=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Dragonfly were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Dragonfly was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Dragonfly's wings are slightly translucent, allowing the background behind Dragonfly to be seen.
• Dragonfly is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical. If you look at the crystal dome just above Dragonfly's core, you can see that the extreme right side of the crystal dome has a slight dark stain on it.
• Dragonfly's Twin Minigun is the fastest firing main weapon in the game at 0.025s, meaning the shortest rate of fire time.
• Dragonfly Epsilon is one of the few apexes with an additional hidden change as well, changing its main weapon into a sort of rainbow colored laser gun, tightening the spread of the main weapon.
• The lasers of Dragonfly Epsilon do not really follow the colors of the rainbow, but has 5 colors which are yellow, green, blue, purple and teal.
• It's funny that this ship is named Dragonfly when it looks much less like a real life dragonfly. This is compared to Reaper which looks closer to a real life dragonfly.

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Apexes

Epsilon (IC Blast Amplifier) - ¢25.000

Value: S-
Cost vs Utility: A

This apex also changes its Twin Miniguns to a spread of lasers, that also has a tighter spread. The lasers are like beams with instantaneous/zero travel time. I will refer to the main weapon for Dragonfly Epsilon as Twin Laserguns. Here's how the Twin Laserguns look like:

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+ [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [+]

• (+) Helps to clear up lighter and medium waves more quickly where Mega Bomb is not practical.
• (+) Tighter spread of the Twin Laserguns allow for slightly easier turret popping

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A+ [+]

• (+) Particularly effective against Herons and Eagles .
• (-) A bit more difficult to use Ion Cannons against Vultures , and yet still be able to let the Vulture self-destruct and charge Mega Bomb .
• (+) Kills off Condors and Rocs more quickly since they have excess health even after destroying all their turrets.
• (+) Tighter spread of the Twin Miniguns (actually, more like Twin Laserguns) allow for easier handling and less spillage.
• (-) Might be a bit more difficult to set up Mega Bomb , only if you choose to use the Twin Laserguns to finish off the last Invader.
• (+) Much faster in cleaning up waves of Ravens and Sparrows especially in early Acts where Mega Bomb is not practical.

Fun Factor: A+ [+]

• (+) Significantly more prominent Ion Cannon damage dealt.
• (+) The rainbow colored Twin Laserguns are easily a spectacle that is worthwhile.

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Gamma (IC Overcharge) - ¢15.000

Value: D-
Cost vs Utility: B

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+ [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [No significant change]

• (+) Stuns all turrets of Condors with only 1 Ion Cannon , making Condors a lot more survivable.
• (+) Possible to stun all turrets of a Vulture with only 1 Ion Cannon .
  • This requires very precise positioning.
  • Given their lower health, it's easier to simply stun the whole Vulture with 2 Ion Cannons.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A [No change]

Fun Factor: A [No change]

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Hime

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, General - No Lasers, Shuriken/Boomerang, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, General/Boomerang, General, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Shuriken/Pellet/Laser
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV

Ship Class: Lightfury
+

Main Weapon: Spirit Lash

• Average DPS = 25
• Homing = Perfect
• Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
• Rate of Fire = Fast
• Projectile Speed = Fast
• Fast moving homing projectiles that fire forward with a random initial angular displacement
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): S
Survivability (Community Missions): S

• (-) Spirit Lash's DPS is pretty lackluster.
• Hime relies a lot of Mega Laser to deal majority of damage to Invaders.
• (+) The lack of a need to aim means you can focus on dodging.
• (+) Extremely intuitive ship core position.
  • Very easy to dodge bullets. You don't even need to explicitly look at the ship core to dodge, given it's in the middle of the X shape of Hime.
• It's best to always deploy a Chrono Field before you charge an Mega Laser .
  • While it is not always necessary, it will guarantee your safety.
• (+) Chrono Field is a great tool against laser fire.
  • Deploy just before the lasers fire.
• (=) Hime can pop turrets if required.
  • This requires you to deploy Chrono Field on top of the Invader turrets you want to pop off.
  • Then go into close combat and pop off the turret.
  • It'll take a bit of time to do so though.
• Refrain from going upfield as that will collect too many particles, resulting in overflow.
  • Conservation of particles is key for Hime.
• It would likely be necessary to chain Mega Lasers , one after the other.
  • Sometimes you get heavier waves and face a scarcity of particles.
  • In which case, chaining Mega Laser is of necessity.
  • Deploy Chrono Fields one after the other, with each Chrono Field for one Mega Laser would be the ideal strategy.
  • Judging the optimum time to start charging the next Mega Laser is key.
  • You need to roughly know how long a certain size of Chrono Field will last.
  • Then start charging Mega Laser so that Chrono Field would almost expire when Mega Laser is charged.
• (+) A Chrono Field with half the radius of the full Chrono Field size is sufficient time to charge an Mega Laser , provided Mega Laser has almost completely cooled down.
• (+) 3/4 of a full Chrono Field size is sufficient to sustain chaining of Mega Lasers .
  • Remember initial Mega Lasers require less charging time, so a smaller size for earlier Mega Lasers is sufficient.
  • Charge Mega Laser increasingly upfield starting from the bottom of the screen, so that you can slowly collect particles for more Chrono Fields .
• You can also deploy a smaller Chrono Field less than half of full size inbetween bigger Chrono Fields so that Mega Laser has time to cool down.
  • However, if the next Chrono Field is already 3/4 of full size, deploy it after the previous one fades and charge Mega Laser accordingly.
• This is when conservation of particles is key.
  • You want to grab just enough particles to create the optimal size of Chrono Field for such circumstances.
• Important thing is don't panic, and only deploy Chrono Fields after making use of the 0.5s Phase Out time.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A-

• Even though Hime has pretty lackluster DPS, Mega Laser deals a lot of damage.
  • Knowing when to use Mega Laser and great knowledge of Mega Laser cooldown is key in speedrunning.
• (+) In waves with a Vulture and several other Invaders, you can fire Mega Laser 2 times if the second Mega Laser's damage is not wasted.
• (+) In fact, in waves with Condors , charge up to 2 Mega Lasers .
• Generally speaking, you shouldn't be charging a 3rd Mega Laser almost consecutively because it'll take wayyyyyyy too long to fire.
  • Even when dealing against a Roc , a 3rd Mega Laser will be detrimental to survival in later waves.
  • The Charge Time of Mega Laser will become too long, and it becomes faster to just use the Spirit Lash to deal damage.
• Always aim to hit the cockpit of Armored Vultures and Eagles to maximize damage.
• Aiming at cockpits of Condors and Rocs can get a bit more difficult, especially with multiple Mega Lasers chained together due to their slight random movement.
• Charge Mega Lasers whenever you can.
  • A good guide is if you have anything more than 1 Heron and 1 Raven in the path of Mega Laser , it is a good idea to charge Mega Laser.
• (-) As you can't move when charging Mega Laser , there will be speedrunning RNG from Invader movement, especially when some Invaders completely avoid the Mega Laser.
• While Hime's Spirit Lash is pretty fast, they also can get pretty funky because they curve.
  • This implies that the Spirit Lash has some travel time.
  • It is possible to charge Mega Laser slightly earlier as the last of the Spirit Lashes hit the last of the Invaders.
  • Particularly, if the last surviving Invaders are Ravens and Sparrows , it is easy to estimate roughly estimate how many more Spirit Lashes are needed to finish them off.
  • You should not charge forward to finish off Invaders at close range as the wave ends, as you should focus on charging Mega Laser as the last of the Spirit Lashes go off.
  • Stay away from the Ravens around 3 Hime's height so that the Spirit Lash will hit them properly, unless you intend to go Invader Riding.

Fun Factor: S-

• (+) Hime's Spirit Lash is pretty satisfying to hear.
• (+) The Spirit Lash It is also very fun to watch in action, particularly when maxed as the firing rate is very fast.
• (+) You can spam Mega Laser like crazy.
• (+) Hime has probably the most intuitive ship core position in the game, being in the middle of it's X shape.
  • Piloting Hime definitely feels like one of the easiest and a real joy.
  • Dodging is probably one of the easiest with Hime, and anyone looking to learn dodging (at normal speed) should pick up Hime.
• (-) Hime's Spirit Lash actually causes a tiny bit of screenshake (it's really hard to notice the screenshake unless you specifically look out for it).
  • But it's so tiny it's quite hard to perceive it.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Hime were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Hime was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Hime is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical. If you zoom in to the yellow part just above Hime's core, you can see that the line patterns are slightly asymmetrical.
• Hime's Spirit Lash used to be Shield Breaker before it was changed to Armor Piercing in the v3.0 update.
• Hime means princess, which was also mentioned by the dev himself (though it can be used to refer to any woman of substantial beauty and grace). Specifically, Konohanasakuya-hime is the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes in Japanese mythology; she is also the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life.
• Here's a representation of Hime made by one of the game artists, Romano Molenaar:
  

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Apexes

Lambda (ML Armor Piercing) - ¢30.000

Value: S-
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): S [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): S [No significant change]

• (+) Invaders go down faster since more effective damage is dealt.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A [+]

• (+) Significantly easier to go faster, especially in denser waves, since Mega Laser always does the full 170 damage now.
• (+) No more worrying about landing Mega Laser onto Vultures' , Condors' or Rocs' cockpit to deal effective damage.
  • Just charge Mega Laser wherever convenient.
• (+) Freedom of positioning anywhere so long Mega Laser hits something also aids a left-to-right (or vice versa) Mega Laser sweep of Invaders when there is a large Invader behind to absorb the rest of the damage.
  • Allows you to continuously replenish Chrono Field to pull off consecutive Mega Lasers until the large Invader is finally destroyed.

Fun Factor: S [+]

• (+) A very good quality of life apex such that you don't have to worry about the specific positioning of charging Mega Lasers , given how many times you'll be doing it.

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Epsilon (ML Double Shot) - ¢25.000

Value: S-
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): S [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): S [No significant change]

• (+) Use the 2 Mega Lasers to snipe off 2 turrets from a Vulture .
• (+) This is enough delay time between each Mega Laser to quickly go over from the leftmost to the rightmost turret on a Vulture (or vice versa).
  • This can be particularly helpful for deadly turrets.
  • Sniping off both of these cornermost turrets on a Vulture may become difficult in later waves because you risk the lack of particles and thus dying when moving over to the other turret to snipe off.
  • Even so, you can just get rid of at least one dangerous turret and the turret beside it as well.
• (+) You can deploy the Chrono Field at the new location where you snipe the second turret if required.
  • This might require some luck since it may not be easy to get enough particles for it due to the quick turnover as you head over to the 2nd turret to snipe down.
  • This means that you may waste particles since you would leave the old Chrono Field behind.
    • However, since the second Chrono Field where you snipe the second turret would probably not be very big, you can simply hop back to the first Chrono Field.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A [+]

• (+) Deals against dense waves very effectively, particularly waves with only Herons or below, since overflow Mega Laser damage is very likely.
  • Simply split the Mega Laser into 2 columns, thus increasing coverage in such dense waves.
• Always hit the cockpits of Herons or larger for each Mega Laser that goes off for maximum speed.
  • This bypasses the armor damage reduction.
• For Eagles , don't land both Mega Lasers on the Eagle unless there are other Invaders Herons or larger.
  • Split one Mega Laser to one Eagle , and the other to another Invader Heron or larger.

Fun Factor: S [+]

• (+) Potentially very different gameplay style.
• (+) Turret sniping on this apex is easy and fun.

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Hunter

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/Boomerang/Pellet, Shuriken/Boomerang
Weak against: Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken

Ship Class: Double Defence
+

Main Weapon: Hyper Blaster

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
• Projectile Speed = Very Fast
• Reload Time = Fast
• 2 fast, forward firing, side-by-side projectiles
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): B
Survivability (Community Missions): B-

• (-) As the Hyper Blaster is side-by side, it can be hard to pop turrets off.
  • It takes 3 well landed Hyper Blaster bursts to pop off a turret from an Armored Vulture .
• (+) Teleport should be used to delete MIRVs .
• (+) Phalanx is a very important backup and helps shovel away bullets to allow breathing space.
  • Push forward with the Phalanx .
  • This may sometimes need to be done more than once, especially in Shuriken/MIRV missions.
  • Shoveling helps Hunter deal with spinners pretty well.
• Hunter relies on extreme mobility around the side of the field it is on.
• Keeping the side of the field you are on clean since Hyper Blaster's forward firing and Invader RNG movement require lateral space.
• (+) The speed of the Hyper Blaster projectiles allows you to be downfield.
• (-) As Phalanx breaks quite easily, stay downfield so you won't get showered with too many bullets at close range.
• (+) Use Teleport to change sides of the field after you are done eliminating all Invaders up to a Heron on that side of the field.
• To look for a suitable spot to go to, first charge Teleport in advance.
  • While in time slowdown, look for the MIRV cluster as downfield as possible.
  • Don't just look for the region with the most MIRVs .
  • Make sure that around this MIRV cluster, there aren't too many other MIRVs around.
    • This might require you to wait a while and let the Teleport charge run until these MIRVs exit the bottom of the screen.
• After the arrival spot is deemed safe, Teleport there and immediately deploy Phalanx , and shovel everything else away.
  • Be quick since there will be a lot of MIRVs in front of you which will likely explode as well.
• You may need to do this twice because some MIRVs explode on your way up when shoveling upwards.
  • Try to only use 1 Phalanx because Hunter doesn't kill fast.
  • You may not have enough particles to replenish Phalanx counters , so dodge the remaining pellets released by these MIRVs .
• In other mission types, use Teleport and Phalanx in alternate turns.
  • Use Teleport first.
  • Then deploy a Phalanx to create breathing space.
  • Try to survive for a while in this situation with the cleared out space.
  • Repeat the cycle.
• (-) Lasers are a problem for Hunter.
  • Use Teleport to avoid tracking lasers .
  • When arriving at your new location, you may need to deploy Phalanx straight away to clear out more space.
  • Never go head on with tracking lasers since Phalanx will melt too fast.
• (-) Laser Spreads can also pose a problem.
  • Follow the laser spreads, but use Phalanx to shove away bullets while moving in sync with the laser spreads.
  • Retreat downfield before the laser spreads fire to avoid potentially dying when Phalanx breaks since it is hard to judge whether your ship core is directly underneath the lasers .
• When faced with straight firing lasers , Phalanx shouldn't have too much of an issue
  • However, be prepared to deploy another Phalanx before the previous one breaks.
• (-) Unfortunately, as all of its defences have small effect, only clearing out that many bullets (Phalanx ) or getting you out for only a while (Teleport ), Hunter can be quite easily overwhelmed.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): C+
Speedrunning (Community Missions): C+

• (-) The fast firing Hyper Blaster is extremely difficult to optimize.
  • Try not to have both shots of the Hyper Blaster land on one Sparrow , as only one shot is necessary to kill a Sparrow.
  • Thus, try to split it to have one burst hit 2 Sparrows .
  • Since Sparrows move so fast, it's just a ton of RNG involved, since the Hyper Blaster fires so fast and so quickly.
• (-) In Shuriken/MIRV missions, the clean-up after eliminating most of the field is a huge headache.
  • The remaining MIRVs fired by Ravens before they died will be troublesome to deal with.
  • This wastes a lot of DPS in trying to clean them up.
• Bear in mind Teleporting means lost DPS, so avoid Teleport-ing if you can for speedrunning.
• Instead, try to use Phalanx to move around.
  • Regulate your Phalanx counters effectively so you won't run out.
  • Try not to use Phalanx if you don't have to.
  • Usually faster bullets like darts and boomerangs are a good reason to use Phalanx to move to another side.
  • But for slower bullets like pellets and shurikens, if there is a clear enough path to the other side, conserve a counter of Phalanx .
• Unfortunately, optimizing the Hyper Blaster is all you can do, and it has no means to deal additional damage from its Aura and Zen .
• Use Teleport as a positioning tool if getting over from one side of the field to the other is too difficult via movement.

Fun Factor: B+

• (+) Because of the fast firing Hyper Blaster and Phalanx + Teleport combination, Hunter has a fast paced, kinetic, and constantly on-the-move playstyle which is very fun.
• (+) The Hyper Blaster is also rather satisfying to hear in action.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Hunter were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Hunter was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Hunter's Hyper Blaster used to be High Impact before it was changed to Armor Piercing in the v3.0 update.
• Hunter's Hyper Blaster is the only main weapon in the game where its projectiles' hit circles increase as it is upgraded.
• Hunter Alpha is often made fun of in Phoenix 2 communities due to how useless it is perceived to be.
• Hunter is featured in a 3D perspective in the banner of the Phoenix 2 FaceBook page, alongside with Exarch and Antioch in an alternate war-striken background of Ceres Major.
  
• Here's a sketch of Hunter drawn by the dev himself with an Apple Pencil:
  
• Here's a rejected apex design of Hunter that never got used. Notice how the ship core isn't added in yet. According to the devs, the ship core graphic is only added in by themselves only after the final drawing is received.
  

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Apexes

Alpha (Teleport Departure EMP) - ¢5.000

Value: D+
Cost vs Utility: A

This apex creates a small Bullet EMP with a radius of 80 (normal Teleport Arrival EMP has a radius of 50) at the spot it Teleported away from.

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): B- [No change]

• (+) Increase in margin of error when Teleport-ing to a new location.
  • Given the mess of bullets everywhere, there may either be insufficient time to properly decide where to go, or no safety zone where MIRVs won't explode around you everywhere.
  • Departure EMP helps in cleaning up pellets from exploded MIRVs when you teleport once again quickly, so your second new arrival location will not have pellets coming from awkward angles.
• (+) Acts as a mini pseudo Phalanx , since you can shovel upfront, then Teleport slightly behind such that the bullet clearance from both Departure and Arrival EMPs slightly overlap each other, creating more vertical clearance space.
• (+) May help in eliminating more MIRVs from MIRV Bloomers/Spreads.
  • Make your way all the way into the Vulture’s cockpit before the MIRVs from its MIRV Bloomers/Spreads fire, and then pre-charge Teleport .
    • You may also start off the wave with yourself already being in the cockpit of the Vulture to save a Phalanx counter.
  • Wait until the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads fire.
  • When the MIRVs get close to your ship core, teleport away to either side of the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads, before the MIRVs can explode.
  • This results in a pretty significant reduction in MIRVs , which translates to better survivability.
  • It also puts you close to one of the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads to take it out quickly and give you better breathing space.
    • However, it may simply be easier to just take out one of the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads from the get-go before it is allowed to fire.
    • While this is a valid point, aiming the Hyper Blasters is difficult.
    • Remember it takes 3 bursts of the Hyper Blaster to take down a turret. This means that the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads may fire before it is destroyed.
  • However, this specific technique can only be used once per wave.
  • Also requires extremely good estimation of when the MIRV Bloomers/Spreads are going to fire when they first appear so as to make your way into the Vulture's cockpit at the right time.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): C+ [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): C+ [No change]

Fun Factor: B+ [No significant change]

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Gamma (Double Phalanx ) - ¢15.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [+]

• (+) Helps a bit more in faster bullet hell missions since the 2 Phalanxes absorb a bit more bullets which can help especially against darts.
• (+) Also helps very slightly in Shuriken/MIRV missions since a bit more shoveling distance is possible.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): C+ [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): C+ [No change]

Fun Factor: B+ [No significant change]

• (+) A bit better at shoveling bullets.

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Gladius

Strong against: None in particular
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/MIRV

Ship Class: Safer-FO
+

Main Weapon: Plasma Missiles

• Average DPS = 25
• Homing = Average
• Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
• Projectile Speed = Slow
• Reload Time = Fast
• 4 rather slow moving and slightly homing projectiles fired in a general forward direction with an initial slight spread on both sides
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): C
Survivability (Community Missions): C+

• (-) Unimpressive Plasma Missiles.
  • Although the homing is Average, the Plasma Missiles hit Invaders reliably enough.
  • The wide spread of the Plasma Missiles means smaller Invaders such as Sparrows will still get hit.
  • Useful if Vorpal Lances didn't manage to get rid of them.
• The Plasma Missiles are just support. The bulk of damage comes from Vorpal Lance .
• (-) Poor turret popping capability from the spread of the Plasma Missiles.
• (+) Turret popping can be achieved using Vorpal Lance if required.
  • However, the shield needs to be taken down first.
• (+) The constant Vorpal Lance spam from Vorpal Lance + Kappa Drive is both offensive and defensive.
  • The offensive aspect is obvious: taking out Ravens very quickly with Vorpal Lances without them standing a chance to flood the field with bullets.
  • The defensive aspect comes from both using Kappa Dodge, as well as using Vorpal Wake to escape tight situations when you are completely trapped.
• Focus on eliminating Eagles first.
  • 2 Eagles side-by-side can be instantly vaporized by 3 Vorpal Lances thrown at it.
  • If they align, make sure your 3 Vorpal Lances hit these Eagles first.
  • Then use Kappa Drive to get their particles.
  • Sweep the remaining field of Ravens .
  • Eagles can contain deadly turrets which can quickly overwhelm you if not careful.
    • The sub-par Plasma Missiles doesn't deal enough damage to eliminate the Eagles quickly.
• If the Eagles do not align, throw 2 Vorpal Lances at one of them.
  • Align these Vorpal Lances with Ravens in front or behind the Eagles.
  • If the Eagles later converge, throw one more Vorpal Lance to finish off the first Eagle.
  • Then throw another one at the other Eagle to align with Ravens .
• Herons are less of a concern and there is no need to use 2 Vorpal Lances to get rid of them instantly.
• (+) Remember that Vorpal Lance comes with Vorpal Wake .
  • This is a very important defence for Gladius to escape dire situations.
  • Can be useful when facing larger Invaders, such as Condors and Rocs . Use Vorpal Lance to get out of jail, but use it only as a last resort.
  • While Vorpal Lance riding is possible with shuriken walls, it's difficult and may not be reliable to predict where the shurikens will go while riding up the Vorpal Lance.
• Use Kappa Drive to slow down and figure out the best way out of a sticky situation where you are stuck, rather than always resorting to using a Vorpal Lance to get out of it.
• (-) No defence against lasers .
  • Take out Ravens with annoying tracking lasers or laser spreads.
  • Laser spreads on bigger Invaders are generally less of a problem as they move around less quickly.
  • Beware of fast tracking lasers from Herons or larger. Snipe down these turrets as soon as possible if you can't dodge them.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S-

• (+) The constant Vorpal Lance spam means that when aimed right, Gladius wrecks dense waves easily.
• (-) Because of the Plasma Missiles' wonky homing , it is much better to go in close to Invaders to hit the Plasma Missiles effectively.
• Try to eliminate from left to right fashion (or vice versa) as this will make the Plasma Missiles much easier to aim at Invaders.
• Strip the shields of Herons before firing Vorpal Lance where possible. However, prioritize destroying the Ravens behind it.
  • As such, it's a good idea to pre-fire one burst of Plasma Missiles to hit on the Heron before you fire the Vorpal Lance at that column.
• As the wave arrives, immediately spam Vorpal Lance across the appropriate columns, particularly targeting Ravens .
  
  • Make sure to have at least 2 Vorpal Lances stocked up before the next wave arrives fully.
    • Having the full 4 Vorpal Lances stocked up is the most ideal scenario.
    • Don't worry about overflow. So long you disengage Kappa Drive when you reach 4 Vorpal Lances , it is perfectly fine.
  • Don't bother about the Plasma Missiles, they are just supporting DPS.
• If the lineup after throwing the first 2 Vorpal Lances is not ideal, try the following strategy:
  • Engage Kappa Drive , but throw yourself in the direction of the other side so that Kappa Drive is active yet you are still moving.
  • Continue to do this as you regain some counters of Vorpal Lance .
  • When the opportunity strikes, immediately throw the Vorpal Lances .
• Try not to use Kappa Drive midwave as that will cut DPS from the Plasma Missiles.
  • However, using Kappa Drive is justifiable if you do not have enough Vorpal Lances .
    • You must have a column that is worthwhile to throw a Vorpal Lance after exiting Kappa Drive .
  • Make sure you have killed enough from other Vorpal Lances .
  • Generally, if you have eliminated 2 columns worth of Invaders, then you have a chance to earn back a Vorpal Lance to throw one more midwave.
• At the end of the wave with only one Raven or 2 Sparrows left on one side of the field, it is alright to retreat back downfield.
  • Don't be on the same side of the field as the remaining Invaders to force the Plasma Missiles to turn towards the remaining Invaders correctly.
• After throwing all Vorpal Lances required, try not to stand too far away from Invaders.
  • If necessary, try to be on one side of the field so that the Plasma Missiles will try to target one side.
  • Being in the center of the field is the worst thing possible because some of the Plasma Missiles will go left, others will go right.
• The end of a wave is also the opportunity to spam Kappa Drive so that you get all the particles required to replenish Vorpal Lance counters to burst fire them in the next wave.
  • Spam Kappa Drive , but also spam it such that you try not to sacrifice DPS from the Plasma Missiles.

Fun Factor: A+

• (+) Constant spam of Vorpal Lances and eargasm of piercing sounds.
• (+) The Plasma Missiles make a strong impact sound, especially when all of them hit the Invaders at the same time.
• (+) Kind of a visual spectacle to watch the Plasma Missiles.
• (-) However, the Plasma Missiles' homing are pretty wonky, which makes it quite frustrating to handle.
• (-) A pretty fast speedrunning ship, yet Kappa Drive makes that feeling of speedrunning conflicting since gameplay is slowed down a lot.
• (-) A lot of RNG when speedrunning with Gladius since it is a Vorpal Lance reliant ship.
• (=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Gladius were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Gladius was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Gladius is VERY SLIGHTLY asymmetrical. If you zoom in to the region below the 2 vertical lighted lines (which are below Gladius' core), you can see that the lights on Gladius' internal systems are asymmetrical.
• Gladius' Plasma Missiles used to be Armor Piercing before it was changed to Shield Breaker in the v3.0 update.

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Apexes

Epsilon (VL Twin Lance) - ¢25.000

Value: A+
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): C+ [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [No significant change]

• (+) Easier to get out of sticky situations with a wider width of bullet clearance.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): S- [++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S [+]

• (+) Significantly easier to catch more Invaders in the initial wave Vorpal Lance sweep.
• (+) The same amount of Vorpal Lances can destroy more Invaders and also deal more damage against some bigger Invaders.

Fun Factor: S- [++]

• (+) Less frustration in chasing down Invaders since Vorpal Lance can kill more with the same number of counters of Vorpal Lances.

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Gamma (Kappa Antigrav) - ¢15.000

Value: A-
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): C [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): C+ [No significant change]

• (+) Easier to get out of sticky situations where the situation is extremely dire since you can gain one charge of Vorpal Lance faster.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [No significant change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): S- [No significant change]

• (+) Helps in mid-wave where you find a very good opportunity to fire another Vorpal Lance .
  • Helps to get a Vorpal Lance mid-wave much faster by engaging Kappa Drive and fire the Vorpal Lance before opportunity slips away as Invaders decide to separate again.
• (+) Helps if the next wave arrives too quickly because the Vorpal Lance sweep destroyed every Invader of the previous wave.
  • The next Vorpal Lance sweep can be carried out with greater haste.

Fun Factor: C- [No significant change]

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Lokie

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Shuriken/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/MIRV

Ship Class: Balanced
+

Main Weapon: Tremor Field

• Average DPS = 34.375
• Spread = Wide
• Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
• Rate of Fire = Fast
• Projectile Speed = Very Slow
• 8 slow moving projectiles fired forward with a slowly increasing divergence from the center
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): B
Survivability (Community Missions): B

• (=) A slow burner of Invaders. The slow moving projectiles from Tremor Field allow it to stack damage slowly upon Invaders.
• (+) Just sit back and relax for early waves and let the Tremor Field clear the field of Invaders.
• It's generally ok to just sit downfield and let the Tremor Field deal damage.
  • Only move upfield if you need to collect particles for Laser Storm .
• Make sure your Laser Storm is big enough to always reach Invaders.
  • If not, head upfield slightly to allow Laser Storm to deal damage.
• (+) Tremor Field's DPS is surprisingly pretty strong, so Lokie can kill quite fast.
  • Coupled with Laser Storm , Lokie eliminates Invaders pretty fast.
• (+) Personal Shield shields against bullets and lasers alike.
• (+) Launching Laser Storm just before using Personal Shield is very useful.
  • You can stay safe and let Laser Storm and Personal Shield laser reflection do the work.
  • Then wait for a few more Invaders to be destroyed, or bullets to be cleared before exiting Personal Shield .
• (+) Using Personal Shield Phase Out, you can clear some bullets on your way out, which is useful for hopping bullet lanes.
• (-) Tremor Field's spread makes it hard to pop turrets off.
  • Lokie generally relies on killing the entire Invader.
  • However, it is possible to go point blank range with a Vulture's turrets to take out 2 turrets on one side.
• (-) Personal Shield is Lokie's only defence, which has limited defence against bullets.
  
  • Luckily, Lokie clears out Invaders pretty fast.
• (-) Shurikens are one of Lokie's biggest weakness.
  • Eliminate these turrets if possible.
• (+) Personal Shield is great against a shuriken cloud headed for you, with no space to escape.
  • Allow Personal Shield to activate, then use Phase Out to get past the shuriken cloud.
  • Note that Personal Shield Phase Out is ineffective at crossing large distances, so figure out the shortest path to escape the shuriken cloud.
    • Usually, you would do so as downfield as possible.
  • Attract all shuriken launchers to one side in order to thin out the shuriken cloud.
    • Retreat to the extreme side of the field, then use Personal Shield Phase Out to escape the shuriken cloud.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A

• Always retreat downfield between waves to allow the Tremor Field to stack.
  • This applies more so for transitions between Acts.
  • Because of how slowly the Tremor Field moves, do not retreat all the way downfield.
    • About slightly less than one height of Lokie away from the playable edge of the screen is a good gauge.
• When the first wave of an Act arrives, for early Acts, advance forward with the Tremor Field briefly to stack just enough layers of the Tremor Field to kill Sparrows quickly before they scatter everywhere.
• Advance forward together with Tremor Field for later Acts (probably Act 3 and above) to finish off the last of Invaders in the wave.
  • This allows you to collect particles for Laser Storm .
  • Particle overfill is not a huge issue for Lokie since Lokie kills fast.
  • It is not advisable to go above 2/3 of the screen to collect the heavier particles.
• In early Acts, because of how little and small Invaders are there on field, it's easier to just sit back and let Laser Storm and the Tremor Field do the clean-up work instead of going upfield.

Fun Factor: A

• (+) It's really fun to build up projectiles on screen. Tremor Field looks awesome on field.
• (+) One fun thing you can do is to advance forward with the projectiles, creating a nice blanket of projectiles.
• (+) Everything (except Personal Shield ) about Lokie is golden...literally. The ship is gold, Tremor Field is gold, and so is Laser Storm .
• (+) Great impact sound by the Tremor Field.
• (=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Lokie were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Lokie was only introduced in Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Lokie is slightly asymmetrical, compared to most other ships. On closer inspection, there are intricate wirings that are different on both sides of Lokie.
• Lokie's Tremor Field used to be High Impact before it was changed to Armor Piercing in the v3.0 update.

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Apexes

Alpha (PS Supersize) - ¢5.000

Value: A
Cost vs Utility: S

Survivability (Daily Missions): B+ [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): B+ [+]

• (+) Catches more lasers for laser reflection damage.
• (+) Improves survivability since the significant increase in distance for Personal Shield Phase Out means you can get yourself out of tight situations such as a mess of darts, or even to eliminate pellets from MIRVs .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A [No change]

Fun Factor: A [No significant change]

• (-) The whole apex is pretty much blue, which makes it harder to see the ship core.

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Delta (LS High Power) - ¢20.000

Value: A+
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [No significant change]

• (+) Kills Invaders much faster.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A+ [+]

• (+) The high DPS of Lokie is increased even further.
  • Can kill very fast, with a speed that comes close to many speedrunning ships/apexes.
• (+) Very little risk of particle overflow.
  • Feel free to go right in to kill Invaders at point blank range if required for end wave clean-up.

Fun Factor: A+ [+]

• (+) A good quality of life apex which makes Lokie faster and more fun to play with.
• (+) Enhanced visual treat from more golden stuff on field.

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Barret

Strong against: Shuriken/Boomerang
Weak against: Shuriken/MIRV, Dart/MIRV, Dart/Boomerang/Laser, Dart/Pellet/Laser, Lasers Only, Laser/Pellet, Laser/Shuriken

Ship Class: Offensive
+

Main Weapon: Boson Cannon

• Average DPS = 31.25
• Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
• Rate of Fire = Fast
• Projectile Speed = Fast
• Alternating left-right forward firing projectiles
  

Survivability (Daily Missions): B
Survivability (Community Missions): B-

• Very technical and topsy-turvy gameplay that involves a lot of hit and run.
  • By topsy-turvy, Barret has to either Teleport upfield to stun priority targets, or head upfield by movement to do so.
  • Invaders with spinners are the first priority, followed by those with tracking lasers .
  • Requires quick thinking and reflexes. It may not be for everyone.
• The idea is to Teleport behind smaller Invaders downfield and stun the large Invader behind.
  • Then, move back downfield to deal with the rest of the Invaders.
  • The inverse can be done if the Vulture is in front.
    • Stun the Vulture immediately.
    • Then go upfield to take out the smaller Invaders.
• If there are a lot of smaller Invaders in front, find tight clusters of Invaders to throw Ion Cannons on.
  • One Ion Cannon will stun the cluster of Invaders.
  • Then Teleport behind them to stun other targets.
  • Remember to reserve enough Ion Cannon counters for the larger Invaders since those tend to have more dangerous turrets.
  • It is ok to leave out stunning a few smaller Invaders.
• Teleport is used to escape tracking lasers .
  • While it is possible to escape misaligned darts your way in more General-type of missions, due to dart speed, it is generally difficult and requires a lot of anticipation.
  • This is where Barret falls short because even though there are so many charges of Ion Cannon , it may not always be possible to escape fast tracking lasers from Ravens or Herons .
  • This may quickly put a strain on Teleport .
• Prioritize Ion Cannon on Vultures or above, or Eagles that carry dangerous turrets such as spinners or fast tracking lasers .
  • If no Eagles are around, stun the Herons .
• If there are lots of Ravens downfield, sweep across the Ravens to stun as many as possible, then reserve 1 or 2 counters of Ion Cannon for larger Invaders behind.
  • If it's a Vulture , remember that an Ion Cannon to the cockpit stuns both the middle turrets.
    • It is not always necessary to stun the cornermost turrets if they are not dangerous (although cornermost turrets are usually the more dangerous ones).
  • Eliminate at least one side of the Ravens first so that you have a clear path to the Invaders upfield.
  • Before the stun expires, re-stun the Invaders upfield using the particles from downfield Ravens .
• (+) The Boson Cannon is pretty good at popping turrets,
  • This is not a priority until all intended targets are stunned , and most of the smaller Invaders are down.
  • It is better to keep targets stunned rather than pop off turrets because it's easier.
  • The Boson Cannon takes a while to pop off turrets.
  • Thankfully, when the smaller Invaders are destroyed, it is easy to get into close combat to pop off turrets while they are stunned .
• (=) As with most Ion Cannon ships, Barret suffers against crowds but excels at Condor and Roc battles.
  • Since a Condor might come with 4 or more Invaders in front, go behind them all and stun the Condor first.
  • Then try to stun the Eagles or Herons .
  • Generally, don't bother to Teleport behind to destroy the 4 Ravens that can appear behind the Condor since they are usually not a huge problem if the Condor is kept stunned.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): B
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B-

• (-) There's not much way to optimize other than to Teleport or move around to ensure the Boson Cannon is always hitting Invaders.
  • Particularly for earlier waves, you can Teleport around to get to Ravens and Sparrows so that the Boson Cannon will miss much less.
  • Don't overabuse Teleport since it will become slower if overworked. Once every wave is fine.
• (+) A single Ion Cannon can clear out 2 or 3 Sparrows clustered tightly together.
  • It's usually rare to pull off such a shot due to rapid Sparrow RNG movement.

Fun Factor: A

• (+) Barret is one of the more unique ships to play with, as its gameplay is very tactical.
  • You have to Teleport here and Teleport there to carry out precision strikes of Ion Cannon .
• (+) Very fast paced gameplay when a wave first comes in.
  • It cools off after the initial stunning of Invaders on field, so you have time to breathe.
• (-) Kind of annoying to deal against Sparrows and Ravens because Ion Cannon doesn't do much damage .
  • Take them out with the Boson Cannon, which is unfortunately quite slow.
• (=) Despite the left-right alternating Boson Cannon, the hit circle of each projectile is quite big, reducing chances of missing.
  • Aim based on what's directly in front and don't care too much of the alternating.
• (+) Small ship, so quite an easy ship core positioning to grasp.

Trivia

• The base form and apexes of Barret were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
• Barret was only introduced to Phoenix 2 at v2.0.
• Barret's Boson Cannon used to be Shield Breaker before it was changed to High Impact in the v3.0 update.

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Apexes

Epsilon (Teleport Explosive Arrival) - ¢25.000

Value: S-
Cost vs Utility: B

Survivability (Daily Missions): B+ [+]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [+]

• (+) Solves the issue of dealing against crowds of Ravens and Sparrows . Teleport on top of them and they are gone.
• (+) Thus, much faster to clear out Invaders in front to continuously keep larger Invaders stunned .

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): A+ [+++]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): A+ [+++]

• (+) The Teleport Explosive Arrival wrecks all Unprotected Ravens and Sparrows alike.
• (+) No more need to stun Ravens .
  • When a wave first arrives, start off with one Teleport Explosive Arrival.
  • Then quickly stun the larger Invaders such as Eagles or above (Herons if there are no other larger Invaders on field).
  • Finally, go back to using Teleport Explosive Arrival on the remaining Ravens .
• Generally, reserve Teleport Explosive Arrival for Ravens since the Boson Cannon and Ion Cannon are weak means to deal against them.
• Thus, try to use the Boson Cannon against Sparrows .
  • Ravens are plentiful in this game so don't worry about not being able to utilize Teleport Explosive Arrival.
  • Of course, find good opportunities to catch Sparrows together with Ravens .
  • If there are 1 Raven and 2 Sparrows in range of the Arrival range of Teleport , it's a good idea to take advantage of that.
• You can occasionally use a Teleport Explosive Arrival on a Heron if Teleport is not too overworked.
• Stress use Teleport Explosive Arrival to destroy ALL Unprotected Ravens on field.
  • Then allow Teleport to cool.
  • If there are only Ravens on field, spam Teleport Explosive Arrival until there are only 1 or 2 Ravens left on field.
  • Finish off the Ravens with the Boson Cannon.
  • If Teleport is taking too long to charge, consider leaving 3 Ravens alive to destroy with Boson Cannon to allow Teleport to cool.

Fun Factor: S- [++]

• (+) Say goodbye to all your Raven troubles.
  • No more Raven crowds to burn through slowly with your Boson Cannon or Ion Cannons .
• (+) Extremely satisfying to watch all Unprotected Ravens disappear from the field quickly.

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Beta (IC Blast Amplifier) - ¢10.000

Value: A
Cost vs Utility: A

Survivability (Daily Missions): B [No significant change]
Survivability (Community Missions): B [+]

• (+) Slightly more effective against Ravens and Sparrows .
• (+) Thus, slightly faster to get to larger Invaders to stun them.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): B+ [+]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B+ [+]

• (+) Throwing Ion Cannons on crowds of Ravens takes them out more quickly.
  • It now only takes about 2 Ion Cannons to clear out Ravens .
• (+) Sparrows get caught in the blast radius when dealing against Ravens a lot more easily as well, taking them out more easily too.
• (+) Effective dealing against Sparrow crowds.
  • Using Ion Cannons to clear out Sparrows , especially in early waves is a very good idea.
• Be careful not to run out of Ion Cannon counters as you still need to stun larger Invaders.

Fun Factor: A+ [+]

• (+) A lot more responsive damage from Ion Cannon .
• (+) Much less chasing down Sparrows with the Boson Cannon.

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