How to score efficiently

This guide will explain how to score efficiently and reach one trillion points before entering Stage 5 (or even before Stage 4?).

redirection notice

This guide is no longer going to be updated. Here are sources if you want to inform yourself on the game:

STG Weekly episode of Danmaku Unlimited 2, this is where I commentate my 76.7 tril Burst Extreme run and also talk about the game during another player's Classic Extreme 1cc.
https://youtu.be/rUZI3A_tbpA

Shmups.wiki page on the game. This page is currently only being worked on by me. This is where you can find all of my current findings on the scoring.
https://shmups.wiki/library/Danmaku_Unlimited_2

introduction

Hi, after having unlocked the Trillionaire achievement few years ago, I have been asked to write a quick guide on scoring in Danmaku Unlimited 2. Keep in mind that my knowledge might be rusty and if there is anything I am missing, please comment.

edit: I've returned to analyzing this game. It'll take a while but I am planning on updating this guide sometime in the future.

the three factors

The three scoring factors are displayed on the top left of the screen.



The big value at the top (16.9X) is the current multiplier.
The white value below the graze counter is the point value.
Below that is a gray value which is the TM (Trance multiplier).

current multiplier

The current multiplier gets increased by cancelling projectiles. It's quite useful to milk some boss patterns and focus on blasting some bullets away before ending the current phase.
Keep in mind that all score factors get decreased rapidly if the phase counter reaches 0.

point value

This is the base point value. Increase it by grazing bullets. However, getting hit will immediately reduce it to 0. This is why it's important not to get hit on your attempt to get one trillion points.
Tip: This value doesn't get reset after clearing a stage. During Stage 1 focus your efforts on grazing as many projectiles as possible instead of defeating enemies.

trance multiplier

The Trance multiplier is another very important factor. Everytime you clear a stage a fraction of your current multiplier will be added to it. The percentage depends on the difficulty which is why Extreme difficulty is recommended for the Trillionaire achievement.

This value multiplies the point value during Trance.

scoring factors in a table

Factor	Function	How to increase	Clear stage	Getting hit	Dying
current multiplier	multiplier value for scoring	cancel projectiles (Burst mode) / use Trance (*4)	resets to 1x	reduces value	resets to 1x
pt value	base value for scoring	graze projectiles / use Trance (*TM)	---	resets to 0	resets to 0
Trance multiplier	multiplies pt value during Trance	clear a stage (+fraction of crt. multiplier)	increases by fraction of current multiplier	---	resets to 1x

how to score

Even with good scoring factors you'll still need to know how and when to do what to score efficiently. The most important method of scoring is defeating enemies. Use Trance and shoot enemies to cash in on good score. Getting close to an enemy will also multiply the amount of points you get for destroying them.