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Double Dealing Character/Gameplay/Strategy/Extra

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< Stage 6   Double Dealing Character strategy 

Summary

The Extra stage of DDC features fairly easy road sections. They are easy to memorize, and you can acquire a lot of extra lives from them. On the other hand, bosses are very difficult this time, with a lot of purely skill based attacks. Final boss has some of the most destructive normal attacks yet. The bosses don't take damage from bombs during spell cards, so base their usage solely around your own survival. Some spell cards can be learned, and for those you really should do some practice with Spell Practice mode to improve your chances. The best character type for initial clearing has to be Marisa B. Against destructive normal attacks, having a bomb that'll allow you to easily plow through them is invaluable. Other good options are Reimu A (ease of dealing damage, another strong bomb) and Sakuya A (a very easy to use and useful bomb for this stage).

Road 1

Your very first enemies are red and blue fairies. Take out the red fairies immediately, then micrododge the bullets from blue fairies while you finish them off. Against the next wave of red fairies, kill some of them initially, then do a full rotation around the screen before killing the rest of them. Next are laser-shooting orbs. Note that all shots are aimed. At one point the orbs will come from both sides. This is a great time for a bomb - the item count will likely be high enough for a life fragment. Next enemies will barrage you with bullets. The best thing to do here is remember the spawning order and kill every enemy quickly. If you're fast enough, you'll even have time to go beyond point of collection for items. But it's not something you absolutely have to do. Also, memorize the point in time at which the middle boss appears. When it happens, all remaining items are collected automatically, and there's no need to force yourself up to get them.

Midboss (Tsukumo Benben & Tsukumo Yatsuhashi): Normal Attack 1

Benben is using her laser scores and occasional aimed bullets, Yatshuashi fires omnidirectional notes. You should start with defeating Benben (she's the left one): she shoots more bullets, and it's not that hard to collect the items she leaves using point of collection.

An example tactic: start in front of Benben and damage her as hard as you can. Once Benben starts firing, escape to Yatshuhashi's right side, leading the aimed bullets there. Once score bullets start moving, go back in front of Benben.

Depending on your luck and timing, you might not be able to collect the items left after Benben. When you see that happen, just give up on them. By the way, if you defeat the midboss, without dying or using bombs, you'll receive 2 fragments at once. That's not a bad reward - you should try learning and mastering their attacks.

String Music: Storm Ensemble

This is a very nasty pattern: intersecting bullets with curvy paths. Focus, keep reading the paths and dodge. Luckily, the density isn't that high, which allows you to see most of the situation and make better decisions on dodging. The paths are actually spirals in nature, which makes the card a poor man's version of a winder pattern, if you prefer. Dodging this card as you would a winder - one wave to the left, one to the right, etc - may be an easier tactic.

For this and following spell cards, you need to defeat either one of the bosses to finish them. Note that the bosses have separate health, so there's no point in attacking both of them.

String Music: Joururi World

There are two patterns at work here. One boss will shoot reflective bullets that bounce of walls in a spinning fashion. The other will shoot notes with curvy paths. Every once in a while, bosses switch. The easiest tactic for this one seems to be - choose the one with curvy bullets, attack her and watch out when reflective bullets fly by the walls near you. Watch the center of the screen to see which parts of the screen will be safe from reflective bullets. Alternitavely, if you can't keep up with the pace, just dodge horizontally at the bottom. This is a fairly difficult card, and bombing here is a good option, but low-power character types might have to resort to using 2 bombs.

Road 2

This is the first Extra stage in the history of Touhou Project which has optional enemies for defeating the midstage boss early, so your experience may differ in the beginning of this section.

For orbs, watch their lasers closely and micrododge. Going beyond point of collection is almost impossible when you're fighting against them (unless you're playing as Marisa). If you defeat the boss early, you will face some bonus fairies. They can be killed easily, and if you can collect items from 4 of them at once, it will be enough for a x2.0 bonus. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to use a strong bomb during the midboss fight just to fight more of these fairies.

For the part when you're attacked by big yellow bullets, Reimu A can take one side herself and leave her rod on the other side. Going above point of collection is insane at this moment, and is not recommended. For next orbs, attack them right from below. One orb drops enough items for a bomb fragments, two drops - enough for a life fragment. You can get either 4 bomb fragments (which is easier) or 2 life fragments (which is harder) through them. The choice is yours.

For the final aimed attacks, stay on the right side and spin around. Don't forget to go beyond point of collection one last time.

Boss (Horikawa Raiko): Normal Attack 1

There are 2 ways to dodge this: either stay at the bottom, or go with the flow of the bullets. Staying at the bottom is much harder, as the gaps are so narrow, going with the flow is a much better tactic.

Depending on boss movements, good gaps may appear in different locations every time, keep an eye on them. Mind the walls - cutback as soon as you reach them.

First Drum: Raging Temple Taiko

Drums descend from above. One of them has a skull mark. If you destroy any of the drums, they release an 11-way shot after death. The skull drum releases the same shot if it hits the bottom (that is, if you don't destroy it).

There are 3 ways to dodge this card.

The first one is to only shoot when to create a way through the drums, not destroying any unnecessary drums. Wait for an opportunity to attack the boss and only damage her when you see a clear path for your bullets. This tactic is easier on your dodging skills, but requires patience and endurance.

The other tactic is to destroy everything you see and make your way through the chaos. This is way faster, but requires a lot of intense dodging.

The third one is to try to timeout the card. If you have the opportunity to destroy the skull drum, do it, but if it requires some inconvenient movement, just ignore it as well. Keep in mind that you don't receive any items for timing out the card (no fragment, no bonus).

Boss: Normal Attack 2

When collecting items above point of collection, do not wait for the fragment to spawn, as the first bullets start before it even appears!

Focus on the space in front of your character and push through the pattern. If you don't see an opening right away, wait a bit - it often appears as the bullets fly closer to your character. Bullets aren't erased immediately after the attack, so don't let your guard down.

Second Drum: Vengeful Spirit Aya-no-Tsuzumi

Spirits that fly to the edges of the screen and spawn "arrowheads" of oval bullets that fly vertically or horizontally. Also, double barrage. And this barrage is the biggest threat. Even during the most difficult moments that can occur with the arrowheads, you're still much more likely to die from the barrage. Keep watching the screen and moving to safer location. Lower right corner seems to be the safest in general.

Boss: Normal Attack 3

Bullets that reflect off the walls. This one is a lot like Star's attacks from Fairy Wars. Either keep dodging while trying to predict bullet movement, or use a bomb, which is a saner tactic.

Third Drum: Three Strikes at Midnight

Three drums appear. Each drum emits large bullets from both of its sides. The drums on the sides keep rotating, and the drum in the middle moves horizontally. The drums are indestructible.

While the side drums are in diagonal or up position, shoot the boss. When they're horizontal, relocate. Make sure you don't shoot the middle drum. Don't come close to the sides, they're the most dangerous. Out of all of Raiko's spell cards, this is the most deterministic one - practice it well and you should have no problem with it.

Boss: Normal Attack 4

Same as normal attack 1, but with faster bullets. Dodging this one at the bottom of the screen is suicidal. While the bullets are faster, the dodging path is easier to see as well. It's important to start this attack right - you have to be in front of the boss and completely ready - you don't want to get started in some corner. Don't worry about items - they will fall to the right of the boss, and they're not hard to pick up.

Death Drum: Land Percuss

The pattern starts as a high-density omnidirectional wave, but then the screen starts to shake (a lot like during Master Spark attack in IN), causing the bullets to scatter. The shake lasts for a long time, and the bullets are too fast to wait for it to calm down. You'll have to start planning your dodges before the shaking ceases. Some people report dizziness from shaking as well. While you should start moving during the shake, dodging during it might not be the best idea as it's hard to see your own hitbox during the shake. Keep in mind, that the bullet-type danmaku you're going against have very narrow hitboxes, and you'll often be able to survive almost hopeless situations. If you find yourself completely unable to dodge the wave, retreat to the corner and wait for the next shake - maybe this one will help you.

Boss: Normal Attack 5

You will have time to go beyong point of collection, but it will be very short. This attack is a lot like normal attack 2, but with 2 bullet sources and a lot more dense because of it. The tactic is the same - avoid the lumps of bullets and cut through. However, as this attack is extremely hard, bombing is a much better way to do it. If you do intend to dodge it, try cutting through the waves left to right.

Fifth Drum: Den-Den Daiko

Curvy lasers from sides + barrage of light bullets. Read the paths of lasers and don't get in their way. The lasers here (as well as in Eighth Drum) are different from what you're used to, and are much thicker (they're pretty much as thick as their graphic). Do not think about sinking your hitbox into them. As the time passes, the barrage becomes more intense. By the way, Marisa B bomb shield does not protect from lasers, so don't stay inside of the shield (same goes for Eighth drum).

Boss: Normal Attack 6

This is a variation on normal attack 3. The gaps are a bit wider, but the bullets are faster and fired more frequently. If you calm down and focus your mind on dodging, it's doable. But it's still extremely difficult, so bombing is recommended.

Sixth Drum: Alternate Sticking

Boss keeps rushing to sides, shooting barrages of smaller and bigger light bullets. The smaller bullets are shot randomly, but the larger are aimed at the middle. This card has a timeout protection (it gets really intense after some time), so it's important to get through it quickly. Marisa B bomb works very poorly here as well. You need to find the best tactic that works for you: bombind, pushing through with normal attacks and intense dodging, or actually trying to time it out (may be easier for some).

Boss: Normal Attack 7

A mixture between normal attack 1 and 2 patterns. The density is fairly low, but the bullet speed is high. Bombing advised. If you stay at the bottom of the screen just a bit to the right of the boss, the first pattern will be almost harmless to you and you'll be able to focus on the second one.

Seventh Drum: High Speed Taiko Rocket

You're dealing with 2 types of drums here. The first are waves of 10 rocket drums that fly to the bottom of the screen. Their exhaust leaves red bullets. The second type of drums explodes into 11-way bullets, these come 2 at a time.

You can't avoid rocket drums at the sides, so stay below the boss and dodge there. When rocket drums follow the explosive drums, let the rocket drums pass first, then dodge the bullets from explosive drums while moving to the origins of those bullets. Staying at the very bottom will help with explosive drums, but will also make rocket drums harder than they need to be.

The first wave of rocket drums has a safe zone just below the boss. Use it to deal some heavy damage from the start.

Boss: Normal Attack 8

Normal attack 1 with wider patterns. There are no paths you can take to dodge, so you'll have to use the tiny gaps between bullets. Or better yet, use a bomb.

Eighth Drum: Thunder God's Anger

Curvy lasers + light bullets barrage.

Watch the positions and paths of the light bullets - they'll help you estimate the locations of the next bullets so you can dodge them in advance. With time (or damage to the boss), boss will emit more and more lasers.

Blue Lady Show

As per tradition, all Extra stages have endurance cards, and this it. 75 seconds. The pattern can be a little hard to understand the first time, but you're dealing with 4 bullet sources, one in every corner. Bullet slowly rotate around the screen. The spell card is divided into 3 stages, each lasting for 25 seconds. For stages 1 and 2, you want to dodge the bullets wave by wave, avoid dodging multiple waves at a time.

During stage 1, dodge counter-clockwise, during stages 2 and 3 - clockwise. At stage 3, the boss starts shooting aimed rest marks at you. The tactic doesn't change, but the execution becomes much more difficult.

When stages change, stay near the middle - this'll allow you to easily see the pattern changes. The note marks always fly out in the same fashion, but the rest marks during stage 3 are aimed, and therefore not as predictable. Move to the bottom of the screen and focus on dodging them.

If you play as Sakuya A, there's a tiny window at the very beginning of the card that allows you to hit the boss with a Silver Blade. If you manage to do that, never let go of the focus button. The slowdown effect still works, and the spell card will end without even reaching stage 3. Also, dodging the first two stages will be much easier as well.

Pristine Beat

At first, you'll be against rest mark waves and light bullets. The rest mark waves are odd-way, if you stand in one spot, they won't hit you.

This card is divided into 4 stages tied to boss health. For stages 3 and 4, you'll have to dodge rest marks and light bullets simultaneously. The best option you have is to limit the horizontal movements as much as possible and dodge mainly with vertical movements, so you can ignore the light bullets. After stage 4 starts, you will also be shot by aimed omnidirectional notes. It doesn't the tactic though.

If you try to timeout the card, the last stage will forcibly start at 30 seconds to it. Lasting for 30 seconds during stage 4 is extremely hard, but if you have bombs (or better yet, lives!) left, it's actually a better idea to try and time the card out.

This is an even better idea if you're using Marisa B. She can live throught the last 30 seconds with just 3 bombs. In fact, if you only have 2 bombs, you'll likely be fine.


< Stage 6   Double Dealing Character strategy