Any tips for the Unstoppable achievement (combo 300)?

[Acer]

Been trying to get the Unstoppable achievement for reaching combo level 300, but so far my highest seems to have been only 230. I even turned on the challenge mod to spawn extra enemies 10% of the time, but it doesn't feel like I get enough spawns in any one zone to reach 300.

I thought maybe if I got the combo timer extension, maybe I could boost between zones and maintain my combo, but the highest I've gotten is the level 3 combo timer extension, and it still wasn't even close to enough time. I'm not sure if more time would help, or if it's flat out not possible to continue the combo between zones.

Any tips? If I get the combo timer level to 5, would that let me continue the combo between zones? Or is there a different strategy to max out the combo levels?

[Fawndue]

I'll try to list a few tips that helped me get it

Use the Gatling Laser: Currently the best laser in the game, no contest. Just be sure to manage your energy well.

Use Crater Missiles: Don't be afraid to spam these bad boys, helps a ton for clearing out things and just making tougher enemies weaker so your Gatling can finish them off quick. You can spam pretty freely once you have upgraded your ship's missile capacity especially.

Ship I used was The Hammer: It has a lot of Hull but also has more Shield I think. Seems that way at least, could be wrong. Having good shield helps defend your combo as it only breaks if you run out of time or take hull damage. Dagger is also a good ship due to its high energy and fire rate but has low shield.

Pilot Max: I used Max as that extra option in leveling up helps with getting the right upgrades sooner

Mission Neonfall: While more difficult, I find it easier to keep killing Swarm on this mission due to the smaller corridor size
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Items I go for on level ups below:

Magnet: Always pick this up if it shows up, at least until you get it to level 3. But I like maxing it out to 5 in most cases. It pays for itself and let's you focus on fighting and not collecting exp. Also basically gives you your Crater Missiles back as well.

Combo Enhancer: A must imo. You can carry a combo to the next zone with a high enough level of it and with good timing on your last kill in the current zone. Kill a Swarm just before you exit the zone and then hold boost and pray for a good spawn so you can continue the combo.

Longevity Enhancer: increases time based ship augmentations by 20% at first level. This makes Combo Enhancer even stronger.

Fire Rate: This is a very important one. The more DPS you got, the faster enemies melt. One of the only upgrades I've seen that got to Level 6 instead of capping at 5 from my experience.

Gatling and Crater upgrades: I usually try to get my Gatling to level 4 at least and Crater to level 3.

Laser Drone: Works super well with Gatling. Auto aims so it can helps pick off enemies you aren't currently aiming at.

Energy given back on Crits: Another important one, should have at least level 1 of this

Combo Damage: I like this one personally as it can really increase your damage once you get a combo going, which is what you're going for so yea, helps melt faster. Not as high as others on this list but still good
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Hope this helps, it took me several attempts to get it but I know you can do it! Just keep at it, watch out for Stinger enemies, and you'll do fine

[Acer]

Thanks Fawndue, I'll give that a shot! I just unlocked Max, but hadn't tried him yet. That'll hopefully help get more combo upgrades. I didn't think to try running the Neonfall stage, but that makes sense too.

[Acer]

Multiple attempts later, still no luck, and starting to feel that literally. I feel like out of all the achievements, this one might be the most RNG based.

I feel like in most runs, there simply aren't enough enemies in a single zone to reach a combo of 300. You might be able to do if you get the arachnid bomb boss that spawns a lot of minions and intentionally don't kill the boss, but farm all the spawns instead. I came up like 20 short this way, but definitely missed a spawn wave or two due to the boss's positioning with everything else going on.

Beyond a lucky single wave, I feel like it's almost required to be able to carry on your combo from one zone into the next. But this is sooo hard to do. And it's more hard from a lucky upgrades perspective than a skill one.

From multiple attempts, you almost definitely need 4+ levels of the combo enhancer and the longevity enhancer, or the combo just breaks before you get to the next zone. And then on top of that, you need enough energy so that you can full boost between zones and still have enough left over to immediately kill the first enemy you see.

I'm just not getting the upgrades I need. It's almost a requirement to get the magnet upgrade early on, just so you have enough experience gain to hopefully get the combo enhancement upgrades. But I've had multiple runs now where, even while using Max and his +1 bonus option on level up, still don't see a magnet until I'm level 20+. In a couple of runs where I got the magnet early, I didn't get my first combo enhancement until I was on zone 7 or 8, which isn't nearly enough to make it.

The one time I did get a bunch of favorable upgrades early and was able to successfully carry my combo over, I lost the combo when I got a boss spawn in the next wave. I didn't have any energy regeneration (the one for energy on crit never appeared, and I didn't get the laser drone either), and ended up too under powered to fight everything at once and got overwhelmed by projectiles.

I don't mind that achievements can be hard to get, but this one just feels like too much RNG. Even with 4 level up options every time, there's just too many available upgrades in this game, and I'm having too many runs where the ones I need just don't show up. I've even started using the faster "glass cannon" ship, just because then I have to worry about energy upgrades less.

[Acer]

Finally got it after another 4 attempts. On my winning run I got 5 Combo Enhancers in a row, but the combo was still breaking between zones (didn't have enough energy to boost through and shoot, plus some late spawning first enemies in each zone). Managed to get 2 magnets by zone 3, but was a bit low on offense.

Lucked out and got the green warp zone thing which basically gave me like 20 free levels. I managed 5 Longevity Enhancers in there, plus more energy and weapon upgrades, which carried me through the rest of the run. Had some bad luck with the elite spawn at the start of zone 7, but after I killed him I managed to maintain my combo until the end the run and topped 600.

Glad I managed to overcome it, but still a bit salty that I basically needed the RNG gods on my side to beat it. The run prior I managed a combo of 290 at the end of one zone, but then no enemies appeared in the next zone until I passed 3 barriers. I know some people love chasing hard to get achievements, but this one's too reliant on luck for my taste.