Ship Details (Part 8)

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FAQ (IOS) by light_rock_zz

Version: 4.4 | Updated: 11/18/2024
FAQ of the Month Winner: January 2020 | Highest Rated Guide

Detailed Stats & Strategies for Below Ships & Apexes (Part 8)
Lorilou	AB8/Klyn	Polaris	Icarus	Mirage	Marauder	Lyova	Qhelqod	Nimbus	Widget

Lorilou

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

Ship Class: Lightfury
+

Main Weapon: Quad Phaser

Average DPS = 21.25
Target Tracking = Instant
Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
Rate of Fire = Medium
Reload Time = Medium
4 successive sets of 4 instant tracking lasers where all the lasers will always target the same target

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

(+) No aiming required.
(-) As Quad Phaser has low DPS, survival is very important for Lorilou despite its Lightfury class nature since Lorilou isn't a fast ship.
(+) Excellent synergy between all of Quad Phaser, Phalanx and Mega Laser .
(+) Because of the long duration of the uninterruptible burst nature of Quad Phaser, when the first of the 4 Quad Phaser beams fires, you can start charging Mega Laser .
- This is useful at the end of a wave if the burst is last one that clears the wave.
- You can start charging Mega Laser much earlier before the next wave arrives.
- When the next wave arrives, Mega Laser will be readied much faster.
(+) Phalanx protects you from the bullet mess when charging Mega Laser .
- This allows you to safely charge Mega Laser as the last burst of Quad Phaser finishes off the previous wave.
(-) Phalanx does not last long against many bullets.
- The faster the bullets, the shorter Phalanx will last.
- You might need to sacrifice one counter of Phalanx to shovel away bullets in front of you, especially if many slower bullets hit your Phalanx within Mega Laser's Charge Time .
  - If not, the slower bullets will break your Phalanx , and the faster bullets will kill you.
  - Charge as downfield as possible, especially in the presence of boomerangs .
- Then deploy the second Phalanx to charge Mega Laser .
Mega Laser is your primary damage, and Quad Phaser is secondary damage.
- Therefore, abuse Mega Laser as much as possible.
In waves anything heavier and/or denser than 3 Herons and 2 Eagles , Mega Laser should be used twice.
- It's ok if Phalanx breaks while charging the 2nd Mega Laser , so long you can quickly dodge bullets after firing Mega Laser.
(+) Lorilou's Quad Phaser is instant tracking , allowing you to move anywhere without losing damage.
- Useful when trapped somewhere in the midfield and very near a vertical border of the field.
- Deploy Phalanx and shovel forward until you are behind larger Invaders like Vulture , Condor or Roc .
  - You can charge Mega Laser if the Charge Time isn't too long, and Mega Laser ride upwards too.
- After reaching the top border, head to the other side of the field very near the other vertical border and go back downfield.
- This is the loop maneuver, which is very useful when trapped.
(+) When confronted with lasers , use Phalanx to push yourself upfield and avoid the lasers.
- Be careful not to go point blank with dart turrets as Phalanx cannot cover you (due to the gap between the Phalanx and your ship's core).
(-) The Quad Phaser is weak and struggles to pop off turrets.
- It is also instant tracking , so it's not easy to direct it to the turret you want destroyed.
- Being in front of the turret helps, of course.
- One burst of the Quad Phaser pops off a turret of a Vulture , but only if it scores a critical hit.
- Lorilou doesn't automatically re-target another turret after popping a turret off.
- You need to manually shift yourself to redirect the Quad Phaser, which is a flaw since you have to face with all the bullets and lasers .
(+) Surprisingly viable for Shuriken/MIRV missions.
- Due to how slowly bullets move in Shuriken/MIRV missions, one Phalanx can lasts long enough for one Mega Laser to be charged.
  - It's not always required to deploy Phalanx if you don't have many MIRVs that will explode while you sit on any vertical border.
- One Mega Laser is usually enough to clear off the side that you are on.
  - Simply camp on that side and let Quad Phaser do its job at killing Invaders.
  - It will be slow because moving to the other side is difficult, but Lorilou gets the job done.
  - Always get rid of all MIRV Launchers on your side.
- Use Phalanx to shovel away as many shurikens headed towards you as possible.
  - Remember not to deploy Phalanx too late as there is some distance between your ship's core and Phalanx.

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

(+) Try to align Lorilou's ship core with 2 Sparrows in a straight line.
- Especially in early waves, as one beam of Quad Phaser can kill 2 Sparrows .
(-) Justifiable to use Mega Laser against just one Eagle since Quad Phaser is slow at killing Invaders.
Anything heavier and/or denser than 2 Herons and 2 Eagles , Mega Laser should be used twice.
- You can also use Mega Laser against 2 columns of 1 Heron and 2 Ravens each, although this might miss a few Ravens due to their RNG movement.
- It's ok if your Phalanx breaks while charging the 2nd Mega Laser , so long you can quickly dodge bullets after firing Mega Laser.
Against Condors and Rocs , you can charge 3 Mega Lasers against them.
(+) Abuse Mega Laser . Always. Abuse. Mega Laser. Even if it can take up to almost 4s to charge it.

Fun Factor: A+

(+) Very fun synergy between all of Quad Phaser, Phalanx and Mega Laser .
(+) Despite the low DPS of Quad Phaser, the impact sounds are impactful and strong.
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Lorilou were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Lorilou was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.3.
Lorilou is the only ship capable of making ghost copies of itself, which happens as each beam of Quad Phaser fires.

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Apexes

Gamma (Double Phalanx ) - ¢15.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Better shoveling capability.
(+) Better defence against bullets when charging Mega Lasers with long Charge Times .
- Can make a difference between pulling off another Mega Laser or not.

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

Fun Factor: A+ [No change]

_{Back to All Ships/Apexes}

Epsilon (ML Focused Beam) - ¢25.000

Value: A-
Cost vs Utility: B

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

(+) More Mega Laser damage means taking out larger Invaders more quickly.
(-) Thinner Mega Laser means higher chance that less effective damage is dealt in denser waves due to RNG movement of especially Ravens and Herons .

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

(+) Huge DPS boost to heavier waves.
- You may be able to cut down using one Mega Laser , which saves a lot of time due to the long Charge Times of Mega Laser.
(=) More difficult to get rid of denser waves with lots of Ravens and sometimes even Herons due to RNG movement, but good lineups can still happen.

Fun Factor: A [-]

(-) Smaller Invaders such as Ravens and Sparrows can escape the thinner Mega Laser more easily, and you might waste more damage from Mega Laser Focused Beam than normal Mega Laser.

_{Back to All Ships/Apexes}

AB8/Klyn

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

Ship Class: Balanced
+

Main Weapon: Proton Diffuser

Average DPS = 37.5
Spread = Medium
Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
Projectile Speed = Slow
Reload Time = Fast
32 projectiles fired in an expanding X pattern, with 10 projectiles forming the upper half of the X, 22 forming the lower half of the X

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

(+) Great double defences to keep up AB8/Klyn.
(+) The high 37.5 DPS of the Proton Diffuser means that AB8/Klyn can kill fast enough to sustain the double defences.
(+) If the next wave has arrived and still quite a lot of bullets on field, you can use Reflex EMP rather than Point Defence to clear them first, since Reflex EMP is an AoE form of bullet clearing.
- This can also damage a few downfield Invaders.
(+) Reflex EMP is a very good backup when Point Defence Aura runs low and trapped in a corner.
(+) Primarily, remember there are 2 ways to use Reflex EMP :
- At the start of the wave, which is preferrable since you can also deal AoE damage .
- Well into the mid-wave after running out of Point Defence Aura and backed into a corner.
(+) Better to use Reflex EMP somewhere near the center of the field when the next wave arrives to deal AoE damage so that the you can kill off Invaders a bit faster to sustain Point Defence .
- Point Defence is a backup as you retreat after using Reflex EMP as an offence.
In Shuriken/MIRV missions, use Reflex EMP to eliminate the first wave of MIRVs .
- Wait until all the MIRV launchers start firing before charging Reflex EMP to avoid using Point Defence to cut through remaining bullets from the previous wave and shurikens launched in the current wave.
- Then use Point Defence to surgically cut through shuriken clouds.
- Trigger MIRVs to explode and eliminate their pellets via Point Defence .
  - If the field is light on shurikens, plow through the shurikens and directly eliminate MIRVs before they explode, saving even more Point Defence Aura .
(-) Because of Proton Diffuser's spread, it is difficult to pop turrets off.
- It is not much of an issue as AB8/Klyn can have a more sit back playstyle, playing downfield.
(+) The spread of Proton Diffuser isn't big.
- Quite a lot of damage is focused at the center which deals great damage to Invaders in front of AB8/Klyn.
(-) Lasers are AB8/Klyn's greatest weakness since it has no means to deal with them directly.
- Use Point Defence to plow through enough bullets to allow a safe path to avoid lasers .

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

(+) The highly damaging Proton Diffuser allows AB8/Klyn to go pretty fast.
(+) Proton Diffuser's damage is focused at the center, making it easy to deal great damage by being close to even small Invaders like Ravens .
(+) As a whole, Proton Diffuser's spread isn't very wide so it's not hard to land majority of projectiles on Invaders.
(+) The Proton Diffuser is a slightly slow moving, which allows it to be stacked.
- When opening up a wave with Reflex EMP , start from as downfield as possible, then throw yourself into the center while charging Reflex EMP.
- The Proton Diffuser projectiles will hit Invaders together with Reflex EMP , dealing extra damage rather than staying at the center of field before the wave arrives.
- If the timing is correct, Proton Diffuser + Reflex EMP immediately destroy Unprotected Ravens at different horizontal positions on field, even if behind Vultures .
- To optimize this, you can fake charge Reflex EMP to pace the Proton Diffuser, although this requires wave memorization to know exactly what is the best time and position to charge Reflex EMP.
(+) You can continue to stay aggressive and get right up in the face of Invaders, using Point Defence (which gets rid of fast bullets quickly)
- Remember not to stand too close to a dart spread.
- Standing back by 1.5 - 2 heights of AB8/Klyn is a good gauge.
(+) For heavier waves, Reflex EMP can be used twice for damage .
- However, this may mean slightly delaying the opening Reflex EMP in the next wave.
For waves that are not ideal to use Reflex EMP , against Ravens and Sparrows , stand a bit downfield, then charge towards the Raven(s).
- Sparrows will die from the Proton Diffuser projectiles that spread out, and charging into Ravens should kill them more easily.
- It takes about 1.5 bursts of the Proton Diffuser to kill Ravens , since the first burst is a bit further back.

Fun Factor: S-

(+) The Proton Diffuser is fun to watch in action.
(+) The Proton Diffuser feels great to handle.
- The speed of the projectiles feel just right.
- The interval between bursts is very comfortable.
(+) Fun impact sounds from the Proton Diffuser.
(+) Reflex EMP also makes for some nice AoE damage .
Point Defence is also great to hear in action.
(+) Intuitive ship core positioning, being in the center of the chevron shape of AB8/Klyn.
- Being a very short ship in terms of height also means that it's easy to find the ship core as well.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of AB8/Klyn were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
AB8/Klyn was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.3.
AB8/Klyn is the shortest ship in terms of height in the game. It is also the widest ship in the game.
AB8/Klyn is a 2 part name thought of by the dev.
According to the dev, AB8/Klyn looks like a human ship, so he wanted a name that sounds like something humans could make up. And given humans, we like to shorten or abbreviate long names.
The name AB8/Klyn sounds fluid as it is easy to pronounce. According to the dev, AB8 is pronounced as aaj biiii 8.
The second part of the name Klyn was supposed to be longer, but it was shortened to a single syllable because it sounded better with the first part of the name AB8. It is not clear what the longer name was.
There were even reddit discussions about how to pronounce AB8/Klyn. Someone there pronounced it as Brooklyn. One of the discussion threads is this link as follows:
https://redd.it/d2hhzy
It was teased by the dev that Klyn is a reference to a space battle where its predecessor played a pivotal role, so it was sort of an homage. However, it was just made up on the spot when asked.
It was also teased that AB8 is the successor to the AB6, which was a very successful, but ageing attack ship.
- Coincidentally, it launched around the same time as the AB9, successor to the AB5, which is the sleeker brother, more aimed at intercepting.
- Similarly, this was likely made up on the spot when asked.

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Apexes

Sigma (REMP High Damage) - ¢35.000

Value: S+
Cost vs Utility: X

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

(+) No more Unprotected Ravens to deal with.
(+) Very advantageous to use Reflex EMP as a wave opener to kill Unprotected Ravens instantly.

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

(+) Crushes Unprotected Ravens , killing them instantly.
(+) Massive AoE damage to Invaders all around, given how easy is it to setup Reflex EMP .
Be careful of Reflex EMP cooldown, since AB8/Klyn kills fast.
- With this apex, AB8/Klyn kills even more quickly.
May be beneficial to charge Reflex EMP even if not fully cooled down at the start of another wave back-to-back, especially if it is a heavy wave.
- Be careful not to get shot point blank, since you'll be charging it in the middle of the field.

Fun Factor: S+ [+]

(+) Watching all Unprotected Ravens go POOF is super satisfying.

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Delta (PD EMP Laser) - ¢20.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: S

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

(+) Absolute cakewalk in Shuriken/MIRV missions.
- Deals against even the toughest of such mission types, even in Shielded or Armored Shuriken/MIRV missions.
- The extreme energy efficiency to clear bullets (in terms of bullets cleared per energy) is why this apex is insane at survival.
(+) Tap Point Defence rhythmically to eliminate just enough bullets to continue to be able to hold your position. Or just retreat a bit.
- Don't stand too near to spinners or MIRV Launchers.
- Don't use Point Defence to eliminate Super MIRVs, because it's more efficient to simply explode them and eliminate the MIRVs or pellets released instead.
(+) Use Reflex EMP whenever running low on Point Defence Aura .
- Then go forward to try and collect particles to refill.
Still try to use Reflex EMP as a wave opener to deal AoE damage .
(+) In the case where particles are very scarce, a bit of grazing will allow you to always fire off one Point Defence laser to save yourself.
- Retreat as you do this however, as grazing can be difficult against shurikens and pellets in many directions.

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

(+) Allows you to always stand close, or even right in the Invaders' faces to deal maximum damage from the Proton Diffuser in Shuriken/MIRV missions.
(+) Even allows you to stand between 2 cornermost T3 MIRV Bloomers on a Vulture and still survive.
(+) Allows you to stand close to Doomsday Super MIRVs without fear as well.
(-) Only shuriken launchers pose a problem, just stand back a bit so you won't get shot at point blank range.
- You can try to be so close to shuriken launchers for an inside graze.
- But this is usually very difficult because there are multiple shuriken launchers.

Fun Factor: S- [No significant change]

(+) Significantly easier to pilot in Shuriken/MIRV missions.

_{Back to All Ships/Apexes}

Polaris

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

Ship Class: Balanced
+

Main Weapon: Gamma Blasters

Average DPS = 31.25
Target Tracking = Fast
Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
Rate of Fire = Fast
Projectile Speed = Fast
2 streams of projectiles which fire in the direction of a single target tracked

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

(-) Horrible synergy between Gamma Blasters and Kappa Drive .
- Because the Gamma Blasters is a continuous stream, using Kappa Drive cuts DPS from Gamma Blasters.
(-) If you need to abuse Kappa Drive to Kappa Dodge, you'll have to cut DPS to ensure survival.
(=) For a 31.25 DPS ship with fast target tracking , the Gamma Blasters are decent.
- However, even with fast tracking, it takes some time for the Gamma Blasters to change targets, leaking DPS.
- Stay downfield to allow slightly better target switching.
(-) The target tracking but not homing nature of the Gamma Blasters mean that the Gamma Blasters might lock on to targets you do not want to.
- This makes it a bit frustrating to target rapidly moving smaller Invaders since the projectiles might miss.
- Largely, the fast speed of the Gamma Blasters negate this, but it might still happen for Sparrows .
Use Kappa Drive between waves (just as the last Invader is defeated and the next wave is arriving) to minimize DPS loss.
(+) Easy to refill Ion Cannon counters between waves since Kappa Drive is engaged between waves.
- You can spam Ion Cannons quickly to stun the entire downfield after the wave has fully arrived.
- Go behind these downfield Invaders to stun larger Invaders upfield.
(-) The need to Kappa Dodge in heavier and tougher waves mean significant cut in DPS, making surviving such waves more difficult when you need to clear them out fast.
(+) Luckily, Ion Cannon is excellent against Condors and Rocs .

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

(-) Pathetic damage from Ion Cannon .
- It can help with clearing Sparrows out faster though since you can clear out 2 or more Sparrows with one Ion Cannon .
- Reserve Ion Cannons to clear out Sparrows opportunistically.
- Otherwise, throw Ion Cannons on Invaders with shields downed (to take advantage of the Shield Breaker nature of Gamma Blasters).
(-) Bad synergy between Gamma Blasters and Kappa Drive means tougher and heavier waves are difficult to speedrun.
Avoid using Kappa Drive where possible, except between waves.
- The Gamma Blasters' projectiles move fast.
- A slight bit of pre-firing is nice but not necessary.
Optimizing the Gamma Blasters by shifting yourself in front of the next target rather than waiting for the target switching.
- Generally, you don't need to be too far upfield.
- Keep the Gamma Blasters generally pointing straight ahead.
- Try not to have the Gamma Blasters streams cross as that can get confusing.

Fun Factor: C+

(-) Horrible synergy between Gamma Blaster and Kappa Drive .
(-) Tougher waves are a huge slog because of Kappa Dodging and cut in DPS. Really not fun in such waves.
(-) Not as much Kappa Drive usage compared to other Kappa Drive ships since it is only ideal between waves,
(-) Not a fast ship anyway, making gameplays still pretty slow nevertheless.
(+) Pretty cool impact sounds from Gamma Blasters.
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Polaris were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
While all ships bank / tilt to one side when moving, Polaris has a reduced degree of banking compared to most other ships.
Polaris was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.4.

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Apexes

Gamma (IC Blast Amplifier) - ¢15.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: S

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

(+) Faster to take out dense waves, so less problems from Ravens .

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

(+) Easier to catch more Sparrows .
(+) Faster in clearing out dense waves.

Fun Factor: B [++]

(+) More responsive Ion Cannon damage .
(+) Takes out more Sparrows per Ion Cannon .

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Beta (IC Overcharge) - ¢10.000

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): B [No change]
Speedrunning (Community Missions): B- [No change]

Fun Factor: C+ [No change]

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Icarus

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: Inferno Laser

Average DPS = 37.5
Capacity = 800ms
Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
Reload Time = Very Slow
Thin, forward firing, sustained laser that does not follow your ship once fired

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

(=) The highly damaging Inferno Laser takes out any turrets in its wake.
- However, the firing interval between each Inferno Laser is quite long, so pick carefully on which turrets you want to eliminate.
- If you need a turret to be quickly popped off, throw 2 Vorpal Lances at it.
- The better solution is to use one Vorpal Lance to damage Invaders in front of the turret but still aim Vorpal Lance to deal damage to the turret.
  - Inferno Laser then takes out the Invader in front, and spillover damage to the Vulture pops that turret off.
(+) Vorpal Lance also destroys upfield Invaders quickly.
(+) Teleport is a great defence in the case where the offence doesn't play out as intended.
(-) Icarus is somewhat weak to lasers .
- Make sure to get rid of lasers first on Ravens first or these will get overwhelming for Icarus.
- Get rid of at least one side of Ravens on the field so it becomes much easier to survive.
- The last resort is to use Teleport to get away from the lasers .
- Bigger Invaders such as Herons move slower and are less of a threat in terms of lasers . Inferno Laser does very well to destroy them.
Eliminate Ravens first when they arrive on the field by sweeping Vorpal Lances across the field as quickly as possible.
(-) The Inferno Laser is notoriously difficult to handle.
- In initial stages, it is better to let the Inferno Laser handle larger Invaders such as Herons and above.
- Let Vorpal Lance handle smaller Invaders.
- It's not too bad if you miss smaller Invaders with Inferno Laser since Vorpal Lance deals against them.
- Unfortunately, the best way is to simply use Icarus more and get a feel for it.
- Over time, so you will instinctively know the exact time the next Inferno Laser burst fires, to judge it against your expected movement of Invaders.
- It will never be perfect because of RNG movement, but do your best to read Invader movements.
(+) If not possible to sweep Vorpal Lance across the field, the "tele-frag" kit of using Teleport to get into position and then throwing a Vorpal Lance immediately works very well.
- No need to wait for upfield Vultures or Eagles to arrive before doing firing Vorpal Lances for the purpose of survivability.
- Vorpal Lance takes care of downfield Ravens so you can focus Inferno Laser on dangerous turrets on the Vulture .
(+) Eagles can be wiped very quickly.
- One burst of Inferno Laser + 1 Vorpal Lance kills an Armored Eagle .
- 2 Inferno Laser bursts, which isn't very long, destroys an Eagle as well.
- No need to spend 3 Vorpal Lances down the middle of Eagles unlike most Vorpal Lance ships.
(-) Icarus against endless dart streamer Sparrow waves is extremely annoying.
- You may wish to reserve a Vorpal Lance or 2 in such waves so that you can quickly get rid of a few Sparrows first.
- Or use Vorpal Wake to cut through the dart streams.
- However, it is still best to use Teleport to get out of it where possible.
While it is possible to look at the way Icarus' wings fill up to determine when Inferno Laser is going to fire, it is much better to get the feel of Inferno Laser's burst timings instead.

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

(+) The insane DPS of Inferno Laser makes Icarus very fast.
- One full burst of Inferno Laser deals 78.75 damage.
Icarus requires a lot of practice and predictive Invader movement in order to optimize Inferno Laser, especially in early waves against Ravens and Sparrows .
- There's no other way to get better at speedrunning with Icarus other than to practice and get a strong feel of the timing of the Inferno Laser bursts.
If downfield Ravens arrive before an upfield Vulture , use Teleport to pace Inferno Laser so it doesn't fire off too quickly, wasting the rest of the Inferno Laser.
- If Inferno Laser is already charging up, Teleport to the correct location just before Inferno Laser fires, similar to the "tele-frag" kit when using Vorpal Lances .
- Don't be too anxious to use Vorpal Lances . The larger Invaders behind should also absorb the Vorpal Lances for speedrunning.
Inferno Laser is somewhat of a Vorpal Lance , especially in denser waves.
- Mentally splitting waves into columns is very important for Icarus.
- Assign one column for Inferno Laser, and one column for each Vorpal Lance .
- Partition based on the layout of Ravens and Herons on field.
- A full burst of Inferno Laser takes out 3 Ravens just nice.
(-) The Inferno Laser and Vorpal Lance are conflicting means of damage.
- It is important not to let them come into conflict with each other.
- This is why splitting waves into columns is essential.
- NEVER fire both Inferno Laser and Vorpal Lance at the same time unless the column has at least 1 Heron and at least 1 Raven together.
  - This means don't fire Vorpal Lance even if the column has just 3 Ravens .
- In some cases, because waiting for good lineups is very difficult, Inferno Laser is first priority, since it doesn't fire as quickly as Vorpal Lances , which you can easily control.
(+) 1 full burst of Inferno Laser wipes any affinity of Herons .
- The full burst must land entirely on a Shielded Heron to kill it, Sparrows cannot block the way.
(+) 1 Vorpal Lance + 1 full burst of Inferno Laser kills an Armored or Unprotected Eagle .
- Throw one Vorpal Lance in-between 2 Eagles so that 2 bursts of Inferno Laser take out both Eagles.
- No need to use 3 Vorpal Lances to instantly eliminate Eagles , unless you are overflowing on particles and at full 4 Vorpal Lance counters.
- If there are 4 or more Eagles that can be crushed with Vorpal Lances , throw 2 Vorpal Lances to damage all of them before they separate.
(+) Vorpal Lance sweeps Ravens ruthlessly and damages larger Invaders.
- Meanwhile, Inferno Laser tears through larger Invaders quickly.
(-) Sparrow killing with Icarus really sucks.
- Both Inferno Laser and Vorpal Lances are not great options against Sparrows.
- Killing Sparrows optimally requires playing Icarus for some time and understanding when the next burst of Inferno Laser would go off.
- It also requires a lot of prediction of where Sparrows would go next, which takes a lot of practice.
- Predicting where Sparrows would go is never perfect because RNG can sometimes make them change course suddenly without warning. There is no way around this and you can only pray for the best.
- It is not a good idea to use Vorpal Lances against Sparrows unless there happen to be 3 in a column, since it is better to use them against Ravens .
Use Vorpal Lance to kill a single Raven in early Acts 1 - 2 to progress through them faster.

Fun Factor: A+

(+) Satisfying Inferno Laser impact sounds. Just another day of barbequing and sizzling Invaders for a tasty meal.
(+) Powerful Inferno Laser that tears through Invaders easily.
(-) Extremely difficult to handle Inferno Laser.
- Against smaller Invaders, a lot of prediction is needed.
- The long intervals between Inferno Laser bursts also take a lot of getting used to.
- Icarus is a ship whose main weapon takes a long time to get used to, compared to most other ships.
(+) The "tele-frag" combo of using Teleport and immediately using Vorpal Lance is very fun to abuse.
(-) Sparrow hunting is a huge bummer with Icarus due to their RNG movement.
- It requires a lot of trying to predict their movement, and then suddenly they change direction at the last second and avoid the Inferno Laser.
(-) Slightly strange ship core positioning, also due to the asymmetrical and skinny build of Icarus.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Icarus were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Icarus was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.4.
Icarus is the only ship that starts with the letter "I".
Icarus is asymmetrical, unlike most ships.
While all ships bank / tilt to one side when moving, Icarus has a reduced degree of banking compared to most other ships.
The Sigma Apex of Icarus, being one of the most popular apexes, is commonly referred to Sigmarus in Phoenix 2 communities.
Icarus' 4 wings start to glow, filling up from bottom to top as the main starts to charge its next shot, and fires when it reaches the top. It then depletes the glow in the same way after the main fires.
According to the dev, he is surprised at how people are fast with Icarus. To quote:
i'd put my money on Icarus never being a fast ship
lo and behold
people are fast with it :X

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Apexes

Delta (VL High Capacity) - ¢20.000

Value: C
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Helps in an extra push for some deadly heavy waves, especially those with 4 Eagles or more.
(+) Helps those less experienced with Icarus since Inferno Laser by itself, is already capable of taking out many waves without too much Vorpal Lance assistance.

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

Fun Factor: A+ [No change]

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Sigma (Teleport Explosive Arrival) - ¢35.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: X

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

(+) Powerful apex that reduces the amount of time spent on some waves.
Can be difficult to pull off Teleport Explosive Arrival, especially for less experienced players since going near to Invaders is not good for the long charging time of Inferno Laser.

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

(+) Very powerful in Armored and Unprotected missions.
(+) Banishes Sparrows easily.
- Extremely useful throughout, since both Vorpal Lances and Inferno Laser are inefficient at dealing against Sparrows .
- Very worthwhile to charge Teleport and wait until just before time speeds up again (which is about 7s in real time) to find the optimum time to use Teleport Explosive Arrival, just to catch more Sparrows in the arrival range of Teleport.
  - Of course, don't do this too much, as quick decisions are more ideal, but this is an option.
- Stress use Teleport Explosive Arrival to destroy Sparrows .
(+) Eliminates many Invaders significantly faster.
- 1 Teleport Explosive Arrival on an Unprotected Raven destroys it instantly.
  - Don't use Teleport Explosive Arrival on just one Armored Raven as there is no point to severely damaging it.
    - Unless the Teleport Explosive Arrival eliminates some Sparrows .
  - While possible to use Teleport to reposition yourself and damage one Armored Raven as well, it's not very recommended since the amount of time saved is very little.
  - It can also be useful against a column of an Armored Raven in front and a Heron behind, since severely damaging the Raven will also allow the Inferno Laser to kill both the Raven and Heron.
  - If it's a Heron in front of a Raven , it is faster to use Teleport Explosive Arrival on the Heron, and throw a Vorpal Lance to kill them both instead of waiting for the Inferno Laser to fire.
- 1 Teleport Explosive Arrival on an Armored or Unprotected Heron + 1 Vorpal Lance into the cockpit of an Armored Heron kills it instantly.
  - For Unprotected Herons , obviously, it doesn't matter where Vorpal Lance lands on the Heron.
- 1 Teleport Explosive Arrival on an Armored Eagle and one Inferno Laser takes it out just nice.
  - Against Unprotected Eagles , unfortunately, 1 Vorpal Lance + 1 Inferno Laser is still required. Teleport Explosive Arrival is unfortunately insufficient damage to replace 1 Vorpal Lance.
- 2 Teleport Explosive Arrivals on a Vulture reduces the need for one more Inferno Laser.
  - This assumes you only throw 2 Vorpal Lances to eliminate other Invaders.
  - 3 Vorpal Lances means only needing one Teleport Explosive Arrival to reduce the number of Inferno Lasers.
  - Try to land the Teleport Explosive Arrival on the Vulture's cockpit.
- 2-3 Teleport Explosive Arrivals on a Condor or Roc reduces the need for one more Inferno Laser.
Don't use Teleport to pace Inferno Laser anymore since it should be reserved for pure AoE damage.
- Unless you want to use it on a Heron or above to reduce the number of Inferno Lasers or Vorpal Lances .
Teleport Explosive Arrival should be used on the above scenarios to reduce the number of Inferno Lasers or Vorpal Lances required to eliminate these Invaders.
- Otherwise, allow Teleport time to cool down.
- For Vultures , if Teleport is taking too long to charge, skip using Teleport Explosive Arrival to speed up killing them and allow it to cool for the next wave instead.
- For Condors and Rocs , use Teleport Explosive Arrival sparingly so Teleport can cooldown for the next wave, if any.
  - Otherwise feel free to use it after the Inferno Laser go off, since doing it before that will mess up your aiming on turrets.

Fun Factor: S+ [++]

(+) The new interactions Teleport Explosive Arrival with Inferno Laser and/or Vorpal Lance to kill Invaders is very fun to abuse.
(+) Significantly much less Sparrow hunting when Teleport Explosive Arrival can blow them out of the sky easily.
(+) This is really the best Teleport Explosive Arrival Apex out there.
- No other ship with this apex has such drastic changes to how fast they can go aside from obliterating Unprotected Ravens .
Be prepared for extreme frustration when speedrunning on a very high level with this apex.
- Both Vorpal Lance and Teleport Explosive Arrival, being 2 different forms of AoE damage is subjected to extreme RNG.
- The small Arrival EMP range of Teleport means it is difficult to land Teleport Explosive Arrival's AoE damage optimally without significant RNG.

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Mirage

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

Ship Class: Offensive
+

Main Weapon: Plasma Rays

Average DPS = 25
Capacity = 800ms
Target Tracking = Instant
Weapon Class = Interruptible Burst followed by Uninterruptible Burst
- (Cone Triggered - Synchronous)
Rate of Fire = Fast
Reload Time = Fast & Slow
A pair of instant tracking lasers that fire 7 successive short bursts on a tracked target within an 120° forward arc in front of the ship (Does not fire if unable to track), before both lasers fire a final sustained forward firing burst which has no tracking

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

(-) Rather difficult to use Plasma Rays.
- The many instant tracking beam bursts followed by the final straight and long beam burst can be difficult to follow.
- It takes quite a bit of getting used to and it's a rhythm to catch.
- This means you need to plan how you want to land your final straight beam burst, whether you want to use it on the cockpit of a Vulture or sweep a bunch of Sparrows .
- Ironically, this means despite being advertised as an instant tracking main weapon , you have to aim, and the aiming can be annoying.
(+) Nightfury is usable every heavy and/or very dense wave.
(+) The highly damaging Nightfury , coupled with its massive bullet clearing capabilities from both Bullet EMP and Nightfury, makes it very suitable for Shuriken/MIRV missions.
The Nightfury isn't actually one gigantic beam.
- It is actually 3 Mega Lasers side-by-side, which is why it can pop 2 turrets beside the cockpit of a Vulture .
- If aimed in a certain way, you can also see the Nightfury being split due to Eagles resisting the Nightfury for a short while.
- The 3 purple shining laser pods when charging a Nightfury isn't just aesthetic apparently, it tells the true nature of the Nightfury.
- The middle beam of Nightfury starts slightly below the other 2 to clear bullets in front of your ship core more effectively.
(=) Average turret popping capability.
- Difficult to pop off turrets using the many instant tracking beams in one burst of the Plasma Rays.
- The final straight firing burst of Plasma Rays eliminates a turret on a Vulture if the shield is downed.
- Nightfury is also a great turret popping tool.
  - If the Vulture is more upfield and blocked by downfield Invaders, Nightfury can pop up to 2 turrets on one side when used properly.
(=) Often difficult to charge Nightfury in the center of the field in Shuriken/MIRV missions, unless the wave features a downfield Vulture .
- This does not matter, just charge Nightfury where comfortable.
- This is because MIRVs left over from the previous wave usually make it difficult to stay close to that side.
(+) After Nightfury fires, if you are short on Aura , go forward with it to collect particles from destroyed Invaders.
- Otherwise, head over to the other side to eliminate other Invaders, or launch Bullet EMPs to eliminate MIRVs .
Nightfury usually eliminates most of the shuriken clouds and majority of Eagles due to its high damage.
- Thus, shurikens are usually little concern.
- Sometimes a Bullet EMP will be needed to clean up the rest of the shurikens.
(=) In laser heavy missions, in the absence of speed lasers, because the first round of lasers only go off after around 4s after the wave arrives, there is a lot of time to charge Nightfury between waves and Acts.
- In the presence of speed lasers , position yourself such that the speed lasers will trigger but cannot kill you.
  - This is harder than it sounds. A good guide is to try to be at either side of the field, so you are not directly under a speed laser when the wave arrives.
- Do not overabuse Nightfury since the Charge Time Recovery is Super Slow.
- You can move forward with Nightfury and launch Bullet EMP to reset all lasers .
After firing Nightfury , the side of the field you are on should be clear of most threats.
- There may be a few Invaders left on that side, which Plasma Rays can take care of.
- Then, surgically take out the rest of the Invaders.
- Go upfield to the top edge of the screen to allow time for Nightfury to cool down.
In all 3 mission types, you can control when the next wave arrives by letting each instant tracking beam burst go off one at a time.
- Simply let go to attempt charging Nightfury after one tracking beam burst fires.
- It may be beneficial to waste the final straight beam burst so the next wave can be tackled with better ease.
- As the last Invader dies to the final straight beam burst of Plasma Rays, Nightfury can be charged to completion a bit faster.
(+) As Mirage's Plasma Rays is mostly instant tracking, positioning is mostly not an issue for survival.
- However, when faced with MIRV Bloomers, try to go in the middle of the rings of MIRVs to fire off a Bullet EMP (after firing Nightfury to clear out earlier waves of MIRVs).
Don't be afraid to go in-between clusters of MIRVs to launch a Bullet EMP , so long you do it quickly.
(-) In other mission types with faster bullets, especially darts and boomerangs , try to let the final straight beam burst of Plasma Rays finish off the wave to safely charge Nightfury .
- Use Nightfury every 2 waves in Act 4.
- In Act 5, if the wave is heavy enough, you can charge Nightfury for the next wave after that.

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

(+) One round of Plasma Rays takes down 2 Ravens of any affinity.
- For Shielded Ravens , there will be some spillover damage which can be used to damage another Raven or kill some Sparrows .
Due to the need to aim the final straight burst of Plasma Rays, Bullet EMP is an important positioning tool to line up for the final straight beam burst.
- You don't have to wait for a full size Bullet EMP to use it.
- Based on the rhythm of Plasma Rays, try to use Bullet EMP about 2 or 3 bursts before the final straight beam burst to allow for re-positioning time.
- This applies for dense waves with many Ravens , as it's not important to reset Ravens' turrets.
- Use the final beam burst of Plasma Rays on larger Invaders where possible.
- In early Acts, sweep with the final straight beam burst.
  - Be prepared to use Bullet EMP to facilitate the sweep, especially against Sparrows .
(+) Using Nightfury well can make it go quite fast.
- However, at best, you can only pull off Nightfury once every heavy and/or dense wave.
- For very heavy waves with more than 4 Eagles (which implies Herons and/or Ravens with 4 Eagles), it might be possible to pull off 2 Nightfurys in Shuriken/MIRV missions.
- Overabusing Nightfury is not ideal as you risk Invader shields re-generating.
A single Nightfury is enough for a Condor .
- If accompanied by Eagles , 2 Nightfurys is possible.
- Strip the Condor's shield before firing the Nightfury to take full advantage of the Shield Breaker nature of Plasma Rays.
  - Charge Nightfury just as the final straight beam burst goes off, firing Bullet EMP to ensure a clear space if required.
  - As such, make sure Nightfury is cooled down enough so that there is enough time to charge and fire it before the Condor's shield re-generates.
For Rocs in Shuriken/MIRV missions, because bullets are so slow, pull off 2 Nightfurys against it.
- Make sure the first one is charged before the Roc fully arrives.
- Take down the Roc's shield first.
- Launch a full size Bullet EMP to reset all the Roc's turrets (or at least the front turrets)
- Then charge the second Nightfury .

Fun Factor: S-

(=) The handling of Plasma Rays is both good and bad.
- The instant tracking Plasma Rays are nice, but the number of instant tracking beams and the duration make it quite hard to land the final straight beam burst.
(+) Awesome audio rhythm to the Plasma Rays.
- Landing the final straight firing beam burst to end off the rhythm is such an awesome sounding reward, literally.
(+) Awesome looking Plasma Rays in action as well.
(+) The Nightfury is an experience like no other.
- The Nightfury charging sound is such a cool and unique sound.
- The firing sound of Nightfury is also cool.
- The visuals of Nightfury as it fires, darkening the background behind it is awesome.
- Of course, not to mention the Nightfury itself looks absolutely gorgeous.
(+) Very satisfying bullet clearing from Nightfury .
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Mirage were designed by Romano Molenaar.
Mirage was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.5.
Mirage is one of the 5 ships that got brought over from Phoenix 2's predecessor game, Phoenix HD.
Mirage's Zen, while similar to Mega Laser, is basically a super buffed version of Mega Laser. Nightfury is a unique Zen .
Plasma Ray's firing pattern bears similarities to its Phoenix HD counterpart.
- Mirage in Phoenix HD also has both instant tracking lasers and straight firing lasers.
- However, the yellow sweeper lasers from Phoenix HD are not implemented in Phoenix 2.
Ships in Phoenix 2 no longer have descriptions, but since Mirage was brought over from Phoenix HD, the description given to Mirage in Phoenix HD is: Laser frigate equipped with the Nightfury laser which activates when the ship does not move. Interestingly, this statement is entirely true even in Phoenix 2.
In Phoenix HD, the Nightfury is one laser, compared to in Phoenix 2 where the Nightfury is actually 3 Mega Lasers side-by-side.
- The smallest enemy ships stop the Nightfury for a short while in Phoenix HD, while only 1 of the 3 beams will be blocked by the smallest Invader in Phoenix 2 for a short while.
- The Nightfury in Phoenix HD has 3 stages, each one of increasing width and DPS. The third stage is the same width as Mega Laser at Ultimate Level. The Nightfury in Phoenix 2 is MUCH wider, almost 3 times the width of Phoenix HD's Stage 3 Nightfury.
- However, when Nightfury is charged in Phoenix 2, the beams coming out of the laser pods on Mirage is about the same width as the Stage 3 Nightfury in Phoenix HD.
Mirage is one of only 2 ships which has 2 different types of main weapon , one that is instant tracking beams, and the other that is a forward firing set of beams.
According to the devs, the balancing of Mirage, including its main weapon and the unique Nightfury Zen took around 2 months, including prototyping, testing, playing, changing playing, etc. At some point of time testing, Nightfury was limited to only a few uses per game.
You can also view some additional renders and versions on Mirage in the following link: https://www.behance.net/gallery/2423514/Mirage
Here's how Mirage looked like in Phoenix HD:
Here's an early sketch version of Mirage in Phoenix 2:
Before the v4.0 update which introduced Apex forms, the Omega Apex of Mirage was teased on the Phoenix 2 Reddit:
Mirage is featured in the newest game preview video of Phoenix 2 on both iOS and Android game stores.

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Apexes

Omega (BEMP Increased Stun) - ¢50.000

Value: B-
Cost vs Utility: C

This apex increases the maximum stun duration of Bullet EMP from 0.6 to 1.2s.

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

(+) The extra stun time means a delay in turrets firing again, which is useful to re-position yourself at the other side of the field if required.
- This is especially so against fast bullets like darts or boomerangs .
(+) More stun time means less bullets to deal with later.
(+) Can potentially save you one Bullet EMP on laser heavy waves since multiple Bullet EMPs will stack up enough stun time to take out these lasers before Bullet EMP runs low.
(+) Allows possible viability in some missions with faster bullets such as darts or boomerangs .

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

(+) Can mean all the difference in being able to fire a Nightfury or not, which matters a lot in speedrunning since firing one more Nightfury means another 300 damage .
- This is more easily felt in Shuriken/MIRV missions since bullets are so slow in that mission type.

Fun Factor: S- [No change]

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Delta (BEMP Extended Range) - ¢20.000

Value: B
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Given its viability in Shuriken/MIRV missions, this apex enhances the bullet clearing capabilities, making Mirage easier to use in these missions.

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

Fun Factor: S- [No change]

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Marauder

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

Ship Class: Defensive
+

Main Weapon: G.O. Cannons

Average DPS = 25
Homing = Very Good
Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
Rate of Fire = Fast
Projectile Speed = Fast
Reload Time = Medium
5 successive sets of 2 homing missiles, each fired from one side of the ship

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

Notorious reputation of camping. This ship really loves its personal space.
(+) Use Kappa Drive to generate Phalanx after Phalanx and shovel bullets away to no end.
(+) With no need to aim, it is really a perfect camper.
- This also means not needing to deal with majority of MIRVs .
(-) Lackluster DPS from the G.O. Cannons, so not able to kill fast enough for particles to sustain Phalanx counters .
- You might need to generate quite a lot of particles yourself through Kappa Drive , which requires understanding of the G.O. Cannons' burst to maintain DPS.
(-) Automatic aiming from the G.O. Cannon projectiles means being unable to concentrate firepower to focus down certain Invaders. Be prepared for long battles.
(-) While the homing is good enough to hit Invaders accurately, it's not accurate for turret popping.
When cornered, shovel as much as possible, then retreat back to the corner. Rinse and repeat.

Speedrunning (Daily Missions): D
Speedrunning (Community Missions): D

(-) There's no way you are speedrunning with entirely defensive options.
(-) Very difficult to optimize the G.O. Cannons.

Fun Factor: C-

(-) Low DPS and constant Kappa Drive spamming to keep yourself alive means very long battles.
(=) Average impact sounds from G.O. Cannons.
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Marauder were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Marauder was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.6.
Marauder is also the name of an enemy ship in Phoenix HD, Phoenix 2's predecessor game, which has 2 turrets, identical to a Raven in Phoenix 2. Despite this, there is absolutely no relation in the naming as the dev says that the name Marauder is cool. Here's how Marauder looked like in Phoenix HD:
Marauder is one of the only ships in the game where its apexes have a different thruster configuration/location than its original base form.
- It is also one of only 2 ships with both apexes having such different configurations from the base form and each other.
- The base form has only 2 thrusters, while the Alpha Apex has 4 thrusters all lined up in a row and the Beta Apex has thrusters in a 2×2 configuration.
Marauder 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 Marauder, ¢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).
As a teaser to the v3.6 update where Marauder was released, these were a few teaser screenshots for Marauder on Discord as follows:

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Apexes

Alpha (Kappa Antigrav) - ¢5.000

Value: C+
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Slightly easier to survive when you have no Phalanx counters left and desparately need one to shovel and create space around yourself.
- Killing an Invader makes it quicker to regain a Phalanx counter .

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

Fun Factor: C- [No change]

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Beta (Phalanx Reflector) - ¢10.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: S

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

(+) Viable for laser heavy missions.
(+) No more need to hide against lasers , just let them come.
- Be sure to replace Phalanx before it breaks.
- 3 Phalanxes are sufficient to survive a heavy onslaught of lasers , 2 for less laser heavy scenarios.
(+) Very effective against speed lasers since damage will be dealt back to Invaders.
- You can survive against speed lasers very well with Phalanx since they don't do much damage compared to normal lasers.

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

(+) Laser reflection damage increases speed on laser heavy missions.
(-) Not able to effectively catch lasers from laser MIRVs .
- Try to trigger laser MIRVs near to you for maximum damage, but don't count on them for damage.
- Instead, gather all the tracking lasers onto you and slowly head upfield to catch as many laser streams from laser spreads as possible.
(+) Can use Phalanx to reflect lasers outside of laser heavy missions to deal damage back to Invaders too, increasing speed slightly.

Fun Factor: B [+++]

(+) Very fun against laser heavy missions.
(+) The laser reflection is a spectacle to watch.
(-) Slightly difficult to catch the rhythm of deploying 3 Phalanxes , one after each other to sustain laser reflection and not die.

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Lyova

Ship Class: Double Defence
+

Main Weapon: Photon Shredder

Average DPS = 31.25
Capacity = 400ms
Weapon Class = Uninterruptible Burst
Reload Time = Medium
2 sets of 5 tightly packed forward firing side-by-side lasers on each side of the ship, with the outer lasers firing first

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

(+) Lyova's double AoE bullet clearing capabilities keep it alive for very long.
- Being able to alternate between using both means of bullet clearing makes Lyova very survivable.
Use Bullet EMP as your first response to counter bullets, before resorting to Reflex EMP later when Bullet EMP is less than 1/3 of its full Aura size.
(+) The Photon Shredder is great for turret popping.
- 2 bursts (both sides of the burst hitting the turret) makes quick work of dangerous turrets.
- Bullet EMP can be used to quickly go over to the other dangerous turret on the other side of the Vulture .
(+) Easy to reach difficult-to-reach turrets on a Roc or Condor .
- Use Bullet EMP and Reflex EMP to position yourself properly.
- Do this quickly to ensure your survival in these long battles.
Be careful to conserve Bullet EMP if the next wave has larger Invaders in front.
- Use Reflex EMP to clean up the previous wave's bullets.
Don't be afraid to go in-between clusters of MIRVs to launch Bullet EMP , so long you do it quickly.
In Shuriken/MIRV missions, Reflex EMP is primarily a defence tool, used interchangeably with Bullet EMP .
In other mission types however, Reflex EMP can be used to deal damage at the start of a wave.
- Can also be used mid-wave for defence in heavier waves.
(-) Somewhat weak to lasers .
- Use Bullet EMP to reset lasers where possible.
- If Reflex EMP is used for AoE damage at the start of the wave, it becomes easier to survive waves with many lasers since you can focus down Invaders with laser spreads or fast tracking lasers more easily.

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

(+) Always land Reflex EMP at the center of the field, using Bullet EMP as positional tool if required.
(+) Use Bullet EMP as a positioning tool to land the Photon Shredder properly.
1 burst of Photon Shredder takes out 1 Unprotected Raven (or 1 Armored Raven if aimed correctly at its cockpit).
- A critical hit will damage a Raven behind it, but not take it out.
Reflex EMP + 1 burst of Photon Shredder takes out 2 Unprotected Ravens .
The short burst of Photon Shredder can take out 2 Sparrows realistically in the same column or on one side of the field.
- A critical hit potentially takes out 3 Sparrows .

Fun Factor: A

(+) Rather satisfying impact sounds from Photon Shredder.
(+) Very easy to handle Photon Shredder with a very comfortable rhythm to it.
(+) Very satisfying bullet clearing from both Bullet EMP and Reflex EMP .
(+) Decent AoE damage from Reflex EMP .
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Lyova were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Lyova was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v3.6.
The wings of Lyova are VERY SLIGHTLY translucent, being able to only really see the thrusters of Lyova, but not the background.
The Tau Apex of Lyova, being one of the most popular apexes, is sometimes referred to Tauyova in Phoenix 2 communities.
Here's an image of Lyova with a horizontally offset version of the main weapon, just to show at what vertical position the lasers start from. This was asked by Network2501 on the Discord which the dev responded to with this image.

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Apexes

Lambda (REMP High Damage) - ¢30.000

Value: A+
Cost vs Utility: B

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

(+) Destroys Unprotected Ravens instantly, so no more trouble from these pesky Invaders.

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

(+) Instantly destroys Unprotected Ravens .
(+) Deals more damage to other Invaders around too.
May be beneficial to charge Reflex EMP even if not fully cooled down at the start of another wave back-to-back, especially if it is a heavy wave.
- Be careful not to get shot point blank, since you'll be charging it in the middle of the field.

Fun Factor: A+ [+]

(+) Watching Unprotected Ravens go POOF is very satisfying.

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Tau (BEMP Destructive Wave) - ¢40.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: S

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

(+) Potentially destroys Unprotected Ravens instantly, so no more trouble from these guys.

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

(+) Because Lyova has 2 forms of defence, there are just times you don't quite need Bullet EMP especially in certain waves where you can inch around the field to avoid bullets.
- Can now use Bullet EMP for damage rather than letting it do nothing.
(+) Bullet EMP Destructive Wave + Reflex EMP combo instantly wipes Unprotected Ravens and Sparrows clean off the field.
- Therefore, much less chasing down of Sparrows and Ravens with Photon Shredder.
(+) Bullet EMP Destructive Wave by itself deals against Sparrows so well since Bullet EMP is quickly refilled by the Bullet EMP Destructive Wave + Reflex EMP combo in previous waves.
With the correct control of how much particles to take in, Sparrows are irrelevant to chase after, except in Act 1.
Ravens in Act 3 onwards also gets obliterated, so you just focus on Herons and above.

Fun Factor: S [++]

(+) Obliterating Ravens and Sparrows alike is super satisfying.

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Qhelqod

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

Ship Class: Defend to Attack
+

Main Weapon: Uqtor Bolts

Average DPS = 31.25
Weapon Class = Continuous Stream
Rate of Fire = Fast
Projectile Speed = Very Fast, then Slow
2 sets of vert fast forward firing projectiles, until a certain distance where they abruptly reduce speed

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

(+) Mega Bomb crushes all Unprotected Ravens .
You can stay rather downfield (about 1/3 from the bottom border does fine) after Mega Bomb .
- The Uqtor Bolts are fast and accurate enough to hit Invaders reliably.
(+) Can frequently deploy barriers upfield to take advantage of the inner lining .
- The forward firing Uqtor Bolts allows bullets to cool off until all barrier(s) are upfield.
- Take your time to collect all particles from the devastation Mega Bomb left behind.
- Then deploy a barrier to charge Mega Bomb for the next wave.
- No need to reserve barriers at hand since Mega Bomb kills off all Ravens on field to gain back particles quickly.
- If there's not enough time to deploy a barrier upfield, then deploying a single downfield barrier around yourself to setup Mega Bomb also works.
  - More relevant against the next wave after a Condor or Roc .
(+) Charge Mega Bomb very near to the edge of the outer barrier , with your ship's core just behind the outer edge of the barrier.
- Can even use Fusion Core to wipe out Unprotected Herons or heavily damage Eagles .
(+) Charge Mega Bomb every wave Act 4 and onwards.
- Remember you can take it slowly at the end of a wave.
(+) Easy to pop off turrets with the Uqtor Bolts.
- Don't need to be near to turrets since the fast traveling speed of Uqtor Bolts is very reliable.
- The small horizontal distance between streams of Uqtor Bolts mean that landing both streams of Uqtor Bolts is easy.
- Don't be too downfield (especially in Act 5 and 6) since Uqtor Bolts will suddenly slow down after a distance.
(+) Against lasers, a barrier around yourself works very well.
- Accumulation of barriers upfield also protect you well.
- Standby a small barrier at hand when there are many lasers on larger Invaders.
(=) Aim to land Fusion Core on Eagles where possible since Qhelqod struggles slightly against Eagles.
(-) Obviously, Qhelqod struggles with Rocs and Condors .
- Graze as much as possible to pull off small barriers .
- Leave one barrier at hand for the next wave, if applicable.

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

(+) Crushes all Unprotected Ravens and even Unprotected Herons .
- Barrier also makes it easy to land Fusion Core on Herons .
(-) The fast traveling speed of Uqtor Bolts make it a bit harder to deploy barriers upfield quickly before the last Invader dies.
- Take out the most upfield Invaders last.
- If the upfield Invaders are all gone, try to deploy barrier to position yourself to charge Mega Bomb just below the outer barrier.
(+) Very easy to pull off Mega Bomb after Mega Bomb due to Barrier reliably defending against bullets when charging Mega Bomb.
- Generally, Mega Bomb for every wave Act 4 and above.
- Waves with only one Eagle and Sparrows are not worthwhile to charge Mega Bomb .
- Waves like one Eagle and 2 Ravens may not be worth charging Mega Bomb if the next 2 waves go down quickly.
Try to sneak in a few barriers upfield, especially when dealing against larger Invaders, to make Mega Bomb easier to setup for the next wave.
- If the upfield barrier cannot hold, ensure you have the smallest deployable barrier at hand.
(+) Fast traveling speed of Uqtor Bolts which are easy to handle.
- The Uqtor Bolts suddenly slow down after a certain distance traveled, but it's not too much of an issue.
- Easy to optimize Uqtor Bolts, barring the slight leak of some projectiles when switching targets.
  - Not a huge issue since all Ravens and Sparrows would be destroyed by Mega Bomb .
  - In early waves, target switching is important. But Uqtor Bolts projectiles aren't particularly powerful so missing a few isn't a huge downer.
Try not to deploy additional barriers downfield as it will hinder setting up Mega Bomb for the next wave.
- The Uqtor Bolts are fast and powerful enough to have enough downfield space to dodge bullets and lasers .
- No need to go up close to Invaders if all barriers are down.
  - The time difference is small if you are near or slightly further away, so even 1/3 of the vertical screen space is near enough.
(-) Not a great idea to go up close to Ravens to hit Uqtor Bolts.
- The very fast speed of Uqtor Bolts can sometimes go right through Ravens and miss them entirely, especially if you are playing at 60 Hz.

Fun Factor: A+

(+) Ease of Mega Bomb setups make obliterating Ravens easy and very satisfying.
(+) Great impact sounds from Uqtor Bolts.
(-) Going too near Ravens can sometimes make Uqtor Bolts slip past them.
(+) Easy to handle Uqtor Bolts, although the Uqtor Bolts projectiles slowing down after some point is strange, but manageable.
(=) Average ship core positioning.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Qhelqod were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Qhelqod was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v4.1.
Qhelqod is the only ship that starts with the letter "Q".
The Gamma Apex of Qhelqod, being one of the most popular apexes, is commonly referred to Gamqod or Gamqhod (the latter is a supposedly miswritten version that is somehow used frequently) in Phoenix 2 communities.
Before Qhelqod was released in v4.1, there was a teaser screenshot on Discord by the devs.
Qhelqod is one of 4 ships where its apexes have a different thruster configuration/location than its original base form. Qhelqod's Gamma Apex has 6 smaller thrusters instead of one huge thruster. The Beta Apex and the base form have identical thruster location/configuration.
Qhelqod Gamma is one of the only ships that is non-Full Offence that got a Best of Badge badge , which was possible in some laser heavy missions.

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Apexes

Beta (MB EMP Core) - ¢10.000

Value: B-
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Helps on some rare occasions where you can rush forward after charging Mega Bomb to place Barrier slightly more upfield safely.

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

Fun Factor: A+ [No change]

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Gamma (Barrier Reflector) - ¢15.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: X

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

(+) Extremely viable in all laser heavy missions, even those of different Invader affinities.
(+) Place all barriers downfield to reflect lasers like no tomorrow.
(+) Being able to place multiple barriers downfield always keeps up the laser reflection .
- Mega Bomb helps a lot at sustaining particles required to keep on placing new barriers downfield.

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

(+) Placing barriers at the end of a wave, before Invader lasers fire has an advantage to charge Mega Bomb while the remaining Invaders are destroyed by their own lasers.
- This allows Mega Bomb to finish charging more quickly for the next wave.
- Kill Invaders who are not useful in dealing laser reflection damage to prevent laser reflection RNG in targeting them and fading away after that.
- Deal enough damage to bigger Invaders such that the reflected lasers will kill them.
(+) In Unprotected laser heavy missions, lasers from Ravens and Herons you can land Fusion Core on can be utilized for laser reflection damage.
- Deal some damage to larger Invaders such as Eagles for like 1-2s.
- Then charge Mega Bomb under the protection of barriers .
  - Only aim to land Fusion Core on one Heron , since it will be a long time before you can release Mega Bomb .
- Let Invaders fire their lasers and the lasers to fade away.
- Release Mega Bomb to destroy all Ravens (and any Herons you landed Fusion Core on)
  - Because you need to survive an entire round of lasers , it is difficult to land Fusion Core on multiple Herons upfield unless they are very near to your barriers .
- This is very useful especially against upfield Ravens with many lasers that are useful for laser reflection damage.
(+) The insane synergy in letting barriers do the laser reflection work after deployed and charging Mega Bomb .
Place barriers such that laser MIRVs can be triggered without hitting the barriers, but can catch as many lasers from these laser MIRVs.
- This can sometimes involve placing barriers slightly more upfield (or even at the top corners of the field) if the laser MIRV Bloomers or Spreads are more upfield.
For more speedrunning tips on this apex, visit the website below:
https://p2myth.club/docs/Cookbook/Qhelqod

Fun Factor: X [++++]

(+) Huge massacre of Invaders in laser heavy missions is incredibly satisfying.
- Even Condors and Rocs aren't spared as die much faster.
- It might take slightly longer for Condors and Rocs in Laser/Shuriken missions though, since these Invaders might be equipped with more shuriken launchers/spreads.

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Nimbus

Strong against: Dart/Pellet, Shuriken/Pellet, Shuriken/MIRV, 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: None

Ship Class: Versatile
+

Main Weapon: Twin Disintegrators

Average DPS = 31.25
Weapon Class = 2 Independent Uninterruptible Bursts
- (Cone Triggered - Independent)
Reload Time = Medium
2 independent forward firing lasers that only fire when separately, are in range of a target

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

(+) The Twin Disintegrators are very capable of popping off turrets.
- One burst is enough to pop off a turret on a Vulture .
- Stun EMP makes it very easy to strip a Vulture of 2 turrets before the stun expires.
(+) If you can only afford one Stun EMP , take out the dangerous turrets first.
(+) If you can afford 2 Stun EMPs , take out the fast firing turrets like boomerangs or darts first.
- Then take out the dangerous turrets.
- Leave Doomsday Bombs for last because they don't matter for Nimbus.
(+) The Cone Triggered nature of Twin Disintegrators hardly leaks DPS except when switching targets as the burst continues after the targeted Invader dies.
(-) Beware of Nimbus' off-sync Twin Disintegrators which can occur when not properly positioned below Invaders, or after exiting Reflex EMP .
- Try to be directly in front of an Invader, even for Ravens or Sparrows , as off-sync Twin Disintegrators are difficult to handle.
- Best is to fire Stun EMP first, have both Twin Disintegrators beams fire off at the same time, then charge Reflex EMP .
- When charging Reflex EMP , charge underneath a turret so that the Twin Disintegrators beams stay synced.
- Firing Stun EMP first makes movement to target turrets easier when a new wave arrives.
If the Twin Disintegrators go off-sync, there's no need to bring them back into sync.
- This will happen between wave or Act transitions, so just live on with it.
(-) Can't target the hull of Condors and Rocs .
- If cornered to a vertical border, the Twin Disintegrators won't fire, which is a problem since no damage is done.
During the stun time , focus on eliminating smaller Invaders first, then move on to larger ones.
- When the stun time is just about to expire, fire another Stun EMP using particles from destroyed smaller Invaders and repeat this process.
(+) No problem with Rocs or Condors .
- Stay downfield and aim the Twin Disintegrators beams so that one of them is directly in front of a difficult-to-reach turret, and the other is on a front row turret.
- Stay in that position and to let Twin Disintegrators pop off both turrets.
- A critical hit destroys both turrets after one burst.
- Otherwise, 2 bursts of Twin Disintegrators eliminate both turrets.
- Try to reserve enough particles for a second Stun EMP , to destroy 2 difficult-to-reach turrets, which makes survival much easier.
- Doomsday Bombs are trivial for Nimbus since it will never be upfield when fighting a Roc or Condor anyway.
- Don't ever be upfield above the front row of turrets as it is very difficult to trigger Twin Disintegrators to fire that way.
(+) Reflex EMP can be used defensively in heavier waves.
- If the wave only has Eagles or larger, reserve Reflex EMP for defence.
- Fire off Stun EMP first to try and kill one Eagle first.
(+) Reserve Reflex EMP for waves with lots of Sparrows equipped with Caged MIRVs .
- Especially for earlier waves where there is little dodging space and Sparrows are more frequent.
- Allow Reflex EMP to cool between waves.
- If there are only Sparrows with Caged MIRVs in that wave, you can opt to kill all but one Sparrow, and allow Reflex EMP to cool down.
Use Reflex EMP to eliminate annoying dart streamer Sparrow infested waves.
- This gives enough particles for Stun EMP in the next wave since these waves don't provide enough particles.
- Then stun all Invaders in the next wave long enough for a second Stun EMP .
- Fire the second Stun EMP and charge Reflex EMP (only if there are still quite a lot of Invaders left).
- If there aren't many left, reserve Reflex EMP for the next wave.
In Shuriken/MIRV missions, launch Stun EMP before Reflex EMP to ensure Sparrows die first.
- Reflex EMP gets rid of pellets from Caged MIRVs , along with all the annoying Ravens that fire MIRVs so quickly.
- Prioritize to hit the optimal Reflex EMP to destroy all Ravens since their MIRV Launchers can be very annoying.
- If there are still remaining Ravens , eliminate them before Herons .
- Then eliminate shuriken launchers closer downfield.

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

(+) With 2 forms of AoE damage, Nimbus is a beast at crowd destruction.
- In particular, the Stun EMP + Reflex EMP combo straight out crushes Unprotected Ravens .
(+) Depending on how you like it, you can go 2 ways to utilize this powerful Stun EMP + Reflex EMP combination.
The more common way is to use Reflex EMP first, then immediately follow up with Stun EMP to wipe out all Unprotected Ravens on field.
- Because Stun EMP keeps the field rather clean of bullets, you can then go about killing everything else after that.
- Eliminate the smaller ones next, which includes Herons . Then Eagles .
If the field is full of bullets, use Stun EMP first to stop more bullets from flooding the field.
- Use the stun time to damage larger Invaders, such as Eagles and Vultures .
- Leave the Herons alone if possible.
  - We want to maximize the AoE damage of Reflex EMP on Herons .
  - The remaining health of Herons after Stun EMP + Reflex EMP would be too low, resulting in overspill damage from one burst of Twin Disintegrators.
- Find your way to the center of the field as quickly as possible and charge Reflex EMP in the center of the field to get rid of all Ravens .
It is important to have both sides of Twin Disintegrators go off at the same time.
- Make sure to align to any turret such that both Twin Disintegrators beams fire together.
- When charging Reflex EMP , be underneath a turret just before the wave fully arrives.
- After exiting Reflex EMP , both sides of Twin Disintegrators will fire at that turret so they will be well synchronized.
- To deal with de-synchronized Twin Disintegrators severely hurts speedrunning.
(-) Try to avoid the cockpit of Vultures .
- The way Twin Disintegrators work is that each of Twin Disintegrator beam only fires when there is a target in front, which are either cockpits or turrets.
- The detection of the Vulture's cockpit isn't 100% reliable, unfortunately.
(-) Because of the way Twin Disintegrators work, do not go near Invaders or Nimbus will not fire.
For missions with Caged MIRVs , reserve your Reflex EMP for waves with more Sparrows .
- Using Stun EMP leaves a mess of bullets on field.
- To go fast safely, use Stun EMP on waves with lesser Sparrows , and use Reflex EMP on the next wave.
- However, dodging between pellets released by Caged MIRVs to set up Reflex EMP will be difficult.
In early waves, learn to sweep well with Twin Disintegrators.
- At best, one sweep wipes out 3 Ravens if all are damaged by an Stun EMP close to full size.
- Usually, one sweep wipes out 2 Ravens damaged by Stun EMP .
- Wiping out 4 Sparrows all side-by-side with Twin Disintegrators is difficult but possible.
- Wiping out 3 Sparrows , or 4 Sparrows in a square formation, is much easier.
  - Sweep with Twin Disintegrators instead of using Reflex EMP in this case, and reserve Reflex EMP for the next wave, even if it's wave 1-1.
  - If wave 1-2 is also just 3 Sparrows , use Reflex EMP on wave 1-1.

Fun Factor: S

(+) Both Stun EMP and Reflex EMP's AoE damage is very fun to pull off, especially when used in conjunction.
(+) Crushing Unprotected Ravens from the Stun EMP + Reflex EMP combo is super satisfying.
(+) Super easy to setup Stun EMP from Reflex EMP , or Reflex EMP from Stun EMP since they complement each other so well.
(=) Mixed feelings in the handling of Twin Disintegrators.
- The Cone Triggered mechanism sometimes make it hard to synchronize both Twin Disintegrators beams to fire at a turret.
- Also initially quite difficult to understand how Twin Disintegrators would work.
- When fully synchronized, Twin Disintegrators are easy and straightforward to handle, and easy to sweep the field.
(=) Average Twin Disintegrators impact sound, they sound quite powerful but are pretty muted.
(-) Very awkward ship core positioning.
- The complicated design of Nimbus also makes it hard to track the ship's core.
- It can be common to die from the very backward placement of the ship core.
- Thankfully, Nimbus' Aura Zen combination is very strong.

Trivia

The base form of Nimbus and Nimbus Epsilon were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Nimbus was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v4.2.
The Sigma Apex of Nimbus, being one of the most popular apexes, is sometimes referred to Sigbus in Phoenix 2 communities.
Before Nimbus was released in v4.2, the dev teased a screenshot on the Discord.
Nimbus is the only ship where the firing of the main is asymmetrical (Levels 1-3) and does not appear to follow any discernible pattern.
Nimbus has the most unique propulsion system in the game, as it does not use modern or futuristic engines to produce cool looking afterburners. Instead, it uses an early jet engine which produces a lot of smoke.
Unlike the other ships and apexes in the game that were all designed by Romano Molenaar and Rogier van de Beek, the design of Nimbus Sigma was done entirely by the dev himself as he didn't like the sketches for some other apexes, and had an idea himself.
Here's an apex design of Nimbus that had a very cool icy theme to it that was never used:

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Apexes

Sigma (SEMP High Damage) - ¢35.000

Value: X
Cost vs Utility: X

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

(+) Kills Invaders significantly faster.
(+) Viable even in Shielded and Armored missions, since a full size Stun EMP + Reflex EMP wipes out Ravens of any affinity.

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

(+) Able to use even a 1/3 of full sized Stun EMPs to wipe out Sparrows .
(+) Able to use 1/2 full sized Stun EMPs + Reflex EMP to wipe out Unprotected Ravens .
(+) Easy to wipe out 3 Unprotected Ravens damaged by Stun EMP by sweeping with Twin Disintegrators in early waves.
(+) 2 full sized Stun EMPs entirely wipes out Unprotected Ravens .
- In dense waves of Ravens (and Sparrows ) only, you don't even need Reflex EMP anymore.
(+) A good size of Stun EMP allows you to more easily sweep Twin Disintegrators to completely destroy all 2 or 3 Ravens in early waves.
By carefully regulating particle intake, you can constantly wipe out Unprotected Ravens easily.

Fun Factor: S+ [+]

(+) Obliterating Sparrows and Ravens much more easily and more frequently is incredibly satisfying.

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Epsilon (REMP Extended Range) - ¢25.000

Value: A-
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Better bullet clearing capabilities.
(+) More safe in killing upfield Sparrows and Ravens with Reflex EMP .

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

(+) Able to stay behind larger Invaders so the Twin Disintegrators fire immediately after Reflex EMP , and still have Reflex EMP reach all upfield Invaders.

Fun Factor: S [No change]

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Widget

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

Ship Class: Defensive
+

Main Weapon: Omni Projectors

Average DPS = 25
Laser Beams = 6
Weapon Class = 2 independent Uninterruptible Bursts
Reload Time = Slow
2 independent sets of 3 lasers fired from the ship's left side that immediately switch to the next target once target is destroyed, preferentially targeting the left side

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

(+) Having 2 forms of defensive abilities, Widget is able to keep up for quite some time.
- However, Point Defence doesn't last long and Personal Shield has very limited bullet clearing capabilities.
Try to graze off darts to rebuild Point Defence Aura .
(+) Personal Shield to deal against lasers .
(+) Better against missions with more fast moving bullets like darts and boomerangs rather than slow moving bullets.
- Both Point Defence and Personal Shield are able to effectively deal against boomerangs in particular.
(+) Personal Shield has limited ability to deal with shuriken clouds.
- Personal Shield Phase Out eliminates a small cluster of them to escape.
- Wait and only exit Personal Shield at the right time to use Phase Out to cut through the shuriken cloud or through boomerangs .
(-) Struggles against pellet spinners since the pellets are spread out, move slowly and quickly flood the screen.
(+) Point Defence gives huge freedom to move around in laser heavy missions
- Point Defence's MIRV Defence means that only spread and tracking lasers are of concern.
- Beware of pellet spreads and spinners as those will drain Point Defence quickly. Use sparingly to get past pellet walls.
(-) Less than ideal Omni Projectors target the left side of the field more than the right side of the field.
- In waves with an Eagle on the right side of the field, the Eagle continues to survive for a long time.
  - This hurts survivability if the Eagle has dangerous turret(s).
- If there are many Ravens downfield, up to 4 Ravens may survive for a long time.
  - This means dealing against another 8 turrets for a long time.
(-) Random targeting nature of Omni Projectors that also doesn't stay on a target means being ineffective at turret popping.
(-) Possible to somewhat force Omni Projectors to hit some Invaders on the right side of the field by being very near the right border and be close to Invaders, but this is unreliable.
It is generally better to stay on the left side to eliminate the left side of Invaders faster rather than staying on the right side and potentially spreading the weak DPS across both sides of Invaders.

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

(-) No offensive abilities.
(-) Completely automatic aiming with weak DPS.
- Using Personal Shield to try and pace the Omni Projectors is very difficult because both beam bursts of Omni Projectors aren't synchronized.
(+) In laser heavy missions, Personal Shield laser reflection damage gives a slight boost to speed.

Fun Factor: C

(-) There's not much to do with Widget other than to dodge bullets and use your Aura and Zen when threatened.
(+) Fun to reflect lasers using Personal Shield .
(+) Great impact sounds from Omni Projectors.
(+) Quite fun to watch the beams from Omni Projectors, like a mini light show.
(-) Frustrating targeting mechanism of Omni Projectors since they don't target the right side of the field.
(+) Kind of a stress free ship otherwise, with reasonable degree of freedom to move around (at least, on the left side of the field).
- RIP left hand users though, since staying on the left side of the field means less maneuvering space for your piloting finger or stylus.
(+) Easy ship core positioning, being in the center body of the ship which is also a circle shape.

Trivia

The base form and apexes of Widget were designed by Rogier van de Beek.
Widget was only introduced into Phoenix 2 at v4.2.
Before Widget was released in v4.2, there were a couple of teaser screenshots by the devs on Discord. The rightmost image is tagged as "t34s3" by the dev on Discord, which is still unknown what the code really means.
Widget is asymmetrical, unlike most ships.
While all ships bank / tilt to one side when moving, Widget has a reduced degree of banking compared to most other ships.
Widget is the only ship that makes a sound when the main weapon fires WITHOUT hitting Invaders. It is much softer than the impact sounds of Omni Projectors. It's easier to hear it by activating the Point Defence tutorial for Widget.
WARNING! Don't try to see this for yourself unless you are absolutely sure that you can unsee it, because trying this will NEVER make you look at Widget the same way again.
- Rotated 90º clockwise, Widget looks like some kind of weird cartoon helicopter with cartoon eyes.
- You can somewhat make out a mouth as well.
- Widget looks a little bit strange for a bicopter helicopter/duocopter design (because the 2 turbofans don't look like they are side-by-side, also 1 looks bigger than the other).
- Widget's closest parallel is probably the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson from the Avatar movie series.
- However, the devs have confirmed that there are no inspirations from this fictional bicopter helicopter/duocopter.

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Apexes

Delta (PS Super Reflect) - ¢20.000

Value: B+
Cost vs Utility: B

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

(+) Super Reflect makes up for the Omni Projectors' weak DPS against Condors and Rocs .
(+) Point Defence helps in making slightly safer Super Reflect setups.

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

(+) Very powerful against waves with many lasers situated upfield, this apex deals against such heavy waves very effectively.
(+) Any laser heavy wave is bound to be vaporized quickly, especially if the lasers are coming from upfield.
- Be alert since the super reflected laser sometimes goes back to the turret and eliminates the source of the super reflected laser.
(+) On some occasions, it can be beneficial to stress charge Super Reflect to destroy heavier waves faster.
- This usually applies against waves with laser MIRVs as you can sit on top of a laser MIRV as it is triggered to Super Reflect all of its 5 or 9 lasers .
- This requires experimentation and a lot of skill to know when to charge a Personal Shield Super Reflect that has not cooled down completely.

Fun Factor: B- [++]

(-) Difficult to land Super Reflect as the loud impact sounds from Omni Projectors that can mask the sound of lasers firing.
- This is one of the harder Super Reflect apexes to play.
(+) The additional lines on the body of Widget (only for this apex) lights up like electrical tubes, which is pretty cool.

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Tau (PD Bullet Detonator) - ¢40.000

Value: A-
Cost vs Utility: A

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

(+) Can help eliminate some Invaders a bit faster in the initial part of a wave.
(-) Not easy to utilize the Point Defence Bullet Detonator ability due to Widget's weak DPS.

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

(+) Very powerful against bullet heavy missions, especially Shuriken/MIRV missions.
(+) The automatic aiming nature of Omni Projectors make this apex very suitable for turret riding since no DPS is lost.
(+) If you can't turret ride, stay a lot more upfield so that bullets produced are quickly eliminated by Point Defence before the bullets are away from the Invader.
(+) The left-to-right aiming problem of Omni Projectors works in favor of Bullet Detonator.
- The spawn point of Omni Projector beams are far away from the turret.
- This means you won't destroy the spinner producing the bullets to keep up both Point Defence and Bullet Detonator damage.

Fun Factor: B [++]

(+) Actively encourages turret riding which is very risky but very well rewarded.
(+) Crushing Invaders quickly with Point Defence Bullet Detonator when turret riding is done right is extremely satisfying.
(+) This is a very different playstyle for Widget with huge rewards.
(-) If you cannot turret ride well, this Bullet Detonator apex is very difficult to realize its effects well.
- The lackluster DPS of Omni Projectors makes filling up Point Defence fast difficult.

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Ship Details (Part 8)

Phoenix II —FAQ (IOS)

FAQ (IOS) by light_rock_zz

Table of Contents