Total Completion

Brief explanation on game mechanics and score system, and then a level by level breakdown of ways to get the full 3 stars and par requirements.

Solar Flux

Guide dictionary

Suns
Raise your heat within a radius dependent on the type, may or may not have orbits, must be heated or cooled down by plasma to clear each level. Produce solar flares when shot on most levels.

Plasma
After collecting free floating balls of these, you gain the ability to fire a shot in a straight line by clicking on a sun.

Planets
These always have an orbit around them, and notably do not kill you on impact. Usually casts a shadow for cooling down your heat meter.

Asteroids
Come in different sizes, some are stationary and some move, they kill you on touch and you cannot shoot plasma through them.

Mines
Always have orbits as well. Start beeping when you are within its field, regardless of whether the orbit locks you in or not. Explodes and causes instant death afterwards. On some levels, you can stay in for a longish time, while others are nearly instantly fatal. Ramming a mine does not hurt you, similar to planets.

Orbits
marked outlines that show the gravity field of large game objects. If you haven't thrusted in the last half second, you will be locked into a perfectly circular orbit clockwise or counterclockwise depending on what direction you are moving. Takes some time to lock you in, so extremly skinny orbits should be entered diagonally.

Force Fields
Laser walls that bounce you back when you touch them. They don't reduce speed. You can shoot plasma through them. Some flicker on and off, while others are always on.

Black Holes
Objects that cause anything near them to gain momentum toward their center, which destroys anything passing it, including your shots, loose plasma, and even the sun on one occasion.

Single Thrust
A single click will move you in the opposite direction. If you are in an orbit and do this in the direction you are currently moving, you will fly out of the orbit and in the same direction, which is a technique needed for almost every fuel objective level.

Slingshot/ricochet
When you shoot plasma at a sun, it can pick up loose plasma between you and the sun, shaving off extra seconds.

Flares
A wave that comes out of a sun and propels you, blocked by shadows and extreme distance, will be added to your momentum if you try to thrust through it(often making you fly diagnolly) or pick you up in its wake entirely, causing total changes in direction. Later levels have suns that produce flares at timed intervals, but you can make one on most levels by shooting plasma into the sun.

Station
The thing you start each level in. Once you are locked into its orbit you will ignore heat damage and regenerate fuel, does cast a shadow, but only matters if you are not locked in. The special launch you do at the beginning of each level gives the same speed as a single thrust, and does not cost fuel. Going back to a station does not give you another launch, only an orbit.

Shadows
Cast by asteroids, planets, the station, and mines. Block heat and flares, and allow you to regenerate shield points. Shadows move with whatever they are cast by if the planet itself is orbiting a sun, or otherwise moving relative to it.

Ship
Player controls this ship, which attracts loose plasma within a certain distance of it, and can accelearate in any direction by clicking opposite that direction. You have to cancel out momentum to change direction though, so burning you can burn through your fuel points if you have to make 180s. Dies if you run out of fuel, shield points, or crash into certain objects.

Heat/Shield
You have 100 shield points, which run down when you are range of a sun. Some have line of sight heat, while others can only affect you if you are within their orbit, and special ones don't affect you until you are are locked in their orbit. They lower your shield points at different rates, and you can tell what you are dealing with by the suns, which are color-coded. While in a shadow, or otherwise out of heat range, your shield points will regenerate.

Launch
The fuel free launch from the station. Important for getting three stars on every level.

Stars
Every level has three par goals. Three stars is the highest rating. Every level breakdown explains how to get this. It's possible to outscore the par goal on most levels, the exception being the fuel levels.

Controls
Thrust by clicking, you move in opposite direction of where you click relative to the ship. You can hold it down on time and heat levels, but other levels restrict your fuel, either by scoring or extreme size and a need to conserve it. You explode if it runs completely out
Mouse three can zoom and unzoom, this lets you cancel the launch if you activate it while holding the key down but haven't released it, and lets you shoot from further away.
Shooting. When you have plasma clicking on a sun will fire a shot from your ship's current position straight toward the sun. Right click opens tha pause menu, which is the fastest way to restart levels if you know your score is low.

Even though the initial launch from the station has its own control, it should be treated as a single thrust or flare ride for purposes of angling into orbit.

Helios

Training

1-1
1-2
1-3
1-4
1-5 All of these are unscored and messing with my charather limit.

Ignition
First set of levels, basically an extension of training.

2-1 Blast off 10 second par.

Thrust at one of the plasma, shoot the sun so you can slinghot the out of the way one on the right, and then turn as best as possible to get the other one.

2-2 Slingshot 1 fuel par

This level and next teaches you how to single thrust jump between orbits.

2-3 Leap of Faith 1 fuel par

You'll be using this in half of all fuel requirement levels, so remember, a single click in the opposite direction you want to go as soon as you get to the point of the orbit where you begin turning and moving in said direction (usually around one of the planet's "corners")

2-4 Heat Shield 0 heat par

Grab one of the two plasma's orbiting the planet, fly to the right , shoot through the plasma to have your shot collect it and add it to the sun, and start thrusting so you are behind a shadow by the time the flare this creates reaches you. Then repeat on the other side. You can't get as close as the two stationary plasmas are to the sun without heat damage.

2-5 Scavenger 20 second par

This level teaches you something important. You collect plasma much faster if you are opposite {clockwise/counterclockwise) of the orbit that they are flying in. Aside from than that, you just have to manage whether you want to slingshot the bottom right planet's plasma or know how to turn around well enough for it not to matter. Avoid orbit locks if you have to move exactly horizontally. (just keep thrusting while inside the circles and it dosen't affect your momentum).

Voyager
Nothing terrible unique about these levels.

3-1 Two Suns 0 fuel par

This is the first flare ride in the scorable game. Launch into one of the orbits, and as you are moving the direction you want to go (around the corner again) click on the sun to shoot it and the flare that produces will knock you out of the orbit in that direction, and into the other planet's orbit.

3-2 Zig Zag 0 fuel par

See 4-4

3-3 Bend 25 heat par

Grab one, shoot as late as you can and still slingshot the plasma close to the which you can't pick up and then grab and shoot the third plasma as soon after as possible.

3-4 Solar Slingshot 0 fuel par

Launch straight at the lone plasma and then wait a second or 2, then shoot the left sun, you should be orbiting the first planet clockwise, after this shoot the bottom sun as you round the corner so that the flare sends you up, get your shield healed by the top planet's shadow, and then shoot the left sun again as you round that one's corner to get to the last planet and finish the level.

3-5 Snapshot

This is just about riding flares from one planet to the next after shooting the suns in the corners. To make it easy, do all the jumps clockwise (with clockwise orbits) or all counterclockwise.

Solar Prism
These levels are all about unintuitive tricks and... angles...

4-1 Heat Vision 40 heat par

You aren't scored on fuel usage, so don't wait around to get put in the flare riding position, just shoot after you pick up the third plasma and then fly to the other line, then you can slingshot that sun after you pick up just one.

4-2 Second to last 0 fuel par

See 5-4

4-3 Dead End 25 second par

The first shot should be made the first time you get to the lower left of the planet's orbit. The solar flare is tricky to deal with since you have to squeeze through the instant death asteroids, but playing safe slows you down a lot. Afterwards you can fly straight at the other two plasma and shoot their two suns.

4-4 To and Fro 2 fuel par

The idea is to launch from the station into the planet, then use a single tap thrust to fly into the plasma by the sun, shoot it to ride a flare back to the middle, and do the same to the other side. Okay. Welcome to the first chapter of the game~ To get this funky angle right, look at the shadow the planet casts, when your ships is one width(of itself) from leaving the shadow, then is the right time to start the thrust. This assumes you were lucky enough to orbit the planet at middle distance and not on the edge of orbit line.

4-5 Archer 0 fuel par

Launch as far to the right of the top plasma as you dare while still picking it up, then ignore heat damage and wait until you are literally about to touch the sun. shooting it now will magically angle you into the right plasma. After you pick this up just wait until there is a straight line to the bottom plasma and then click on the right sun for the pretty normal flare ride to the last plasma.

Evolution
An interesting hodge podge of levels that are easy to beat, but hard to beat fast.

5-1 Cooldown 12 second par
Constantly thrust. Fly to the topmost plasma and fire it to slingshot the one on the top right, then collect the middle, and bottom left ones. Instead of trying to make two shots, just keep flying straight down and you'll be in the perfect spot to slingshot the bottom center and bottom right plasma in one go, which is sometimes easier than shooting from the bottom center plasma in time.

5-2 Supernova 10 second par

Fly to the one of the left middle plasma, don't collect the center top and bottom plasma, but do go a little inbetween the height of the two to your right. Then click the sun, not in the center, but exactly parralel to you (not quite the very bottom/ top), as you are doing this, you should lightly boost once or twice in the opposite direction for the finickiny process of doing a 180, then collect the other left middle plasma and line up a slingshot of those two. If you did it in less than 8.4 seconds, the sun won't have gained 11 yet and these 6 will plasma will be all you need.

5-3 Dying sun 20 second par

It won't need as much plasma the faster you go, so you should only be routing to pick up 7 of the balls, easy to get under 15 seconds here.

5-4 Path of Light 0 fuel par

Right angles makes this very easy. just point straight up, left, down, and finally a single diagnol northeast.

5-5 Shadows 0 heat par

You have to stay in a single shadow for the entire level, and have to continually adjust your thrust so you don't go too fast and overtake it or miss any plasma (don't have enough fuel to make a second lap). Once you have all plasma, you can get to the far point of your shadow and shoot at the sun before boosting down left with your shadow while the planet moves out of the way of the slow moving plasma shot, or you can get to the stationary planet and snipe the sun from there.

Beyond
The first set of bonus levels aren't as tricky as those to come and aren't as nailbitingly fast as some of the regular levels around this point.

6-1 Spiral 12 second par

Fire counterclockwise aiming for the outer orbit, this one has wonky gravity that will pull you in really close, so take advantage to bounce back outside, the 5 point plasma means you will need more than you expect, so once the orbit locks you, fire quickly as you pick up the plasma and you can finish the level right before the plasma blows you out. This means you can finish the level in 12 seconds without fuel at all! If you do use it still go counterclockwise to take advantage of the plasma moving toward you.

6-2 Icarus 0 Shield damage.

Huge level. the heat of this sun doesn't reach outside of its orbit, so you can freely thrust to the planets, pick up their plasma, and fly back to the station for fuel. Use the asteroid shadows to get the plasma in far orbit of the sun. Three of your six shots must slingshot one of the plasma's next to the sun. you should have plenty of time to thrust behind a planet or the station to dodge flares if you are far out enough. Patience is everything here.

6-3 Rapid Fire 0 Fuel

Self explanatory level. Launch into the orbit and then rapidly click on the sun. The end.

Oceanus

Asteroids
These levels feature moving asteroids which retain their lethality from the stationary ones in Helios, as well as more complex mazes for non moving ones. Your ability to use your thrust your only defense.

1-1 Asteroid Field 16 second par

Fly through and once you have the 3rd to last plasma, click on the sun, since the rest are in a line. The ship cannot make sharp turns, so start a downleft/ downright thrust while still moving right or left respectively to get through the s-bends. This is important for many timed levels to come.

1-2 Outskirts 20 second par

The flares can slow you down by knocking you off course. This level teaches you that they will not pass into shadow regions. Thrust from one shadow to another to beat the level. Remember to wait until there's an opening before shooting.

1-3 Asteroid Belts 22 second par

There are orbit locks besides the outer line. You will enter them quickly if going at a slower speed. Going counter clockwise lets you pick up the plasma sooner. The sun is intimidating, but actually you have more than enough time to look for a good shot. Keep in mind the travel time for your plasma shot, and get close to negate it, otherwise fire just as they are uncovering.

1-4 Clusters 50 second par

The asteroids around the second station are destroyed when you fully restore the first sun. Going the opposite direction of the orbiting plasma throughout the level lets you pick them up faster and sets you up directly for the next jump to another orbit.

1-5 Checkpoint 3 fuel

One of the most technical levels in the early game. After launching into the first planet orbit you have to single thrust into the second one so that you are orbitting clockwise. You don't get much time to set up the angle because you can die to heat damage if you complete 2 full circuits of this second planet. After this you will get to the mid station to heal you. You have to single thrust off here to the next planet, and then use your last fuel to fly straight at the plasma between you and the sun. The flare jump here has to be straight or you won't hit the second plasma. This means you have to think about the time it takes for the plasma to move and the flare to travel to you. The last flare jump lets you get sloppy thankfully, and after you've gotten in orbit of the final planet the level is over.

Orbital
I have no idea why these levels are so early in the game. All of them feature blinking force fields which have deceptive timing to get past, half of them REQUIRE you to fully zoom the camera out, and almost none of them let you slow down at any point when going for the 3 par score.

2-1 Force Fields 11 second par

Before you launch from the station, you should zoom out all the way with the mousewheel. You want the first wall to be ON, for about a second before you come out of the station, and it will disappear as you are moving toward it at full speed. After hitting the bottom left plasma you can just reach the sun and slighshot the bottom right and far right plasmas. You have to begin turning around as you do this toward the top left plasma, and as soon as you get it (be as close to the right side of it as possible to keep sun onscreen), you have to repeat the trickshot.

2-2 Corriders 26 second par

You want to launch from the station just as the first one is blinking on, this will get you through it and set up the cycles perfectly for the rest of them. After that, just fly through the level with constant thrust, but don't lose speed when you are cornering, or you have to park by some of the laser walls.

2-3 Revolve 15 second par

I like to launch literally as soon as you get control of the ship, and then thrust. This will barely get you through the first wall without breaking, then I go to the bottom plasma. Do not fire it when you pick it up. Next you should fly up and right so that you are just next to the middlepoint, I usually fire my plasma here to slingshot the right one. Finally you should continue a bit furtherup right before going for the top plasma, shoot as soon as you pick it up, and you just may have beaten the level.

2-4 Phase 25 second par

The easiest one, you have to fly around the entire level. the closeryou get to hitting the first wall just as it disappears does the most to keep the others on the same cycle, so you won't have to slow down going to the end or going back. Collect the middle left plasma left, as getting it early will make the plasma walls less friendly.

2-5 Barrier 21 second par

Don't worry about how much fuel you use. Fly into the shadow the left mine casts, but instead of orbiting, you should thrust out of it so you stay in place. then wait a second for the bottom right plasma to reach the top of its orbit before you slinghost it by shooting the right sun. After the flare has passed, start boosting to the top side and get in the top right mine's shadow before repeating the process. Do not shoot too early, you need to wait a little bit on both shots to get the moving plasma in position.

Oceanus continued

Orbital
These black sheep levels feature a unique physic toy, a planet that pulls you in and that you can't orbit lock on. Like normal planets it doesn't kill you on contact, and you can thrust as necessary because they are timed levels. Later levels try to get you up to speed on overlapping orbits

3-1 Dwarf 15 second par

Launch upwards and right ward to pick up the first plasa and get high enough to slingshot the next outer orbit plasma. Then constantly fly down, to pick up one inner and the bottom most plasma, fire them to snag the outer plasma in front of the sun. Immediately fly close in to grab the last plasma (going clockwise) and fire it ahead of you to just beat the clock.

3-2 Dwarves 24 second par

Start by launching counter clockwise into orbit around the normal planet. zoom out before you collect the second flare, and click on the sun as soon as you get it to slingshot one of the plasma around the other normal planent. Then boost up into clockwise orbit around the left "dwarf:. You will collect 2 plama before reaching the top. Use fuel constantly after this point to collect it's third plasma, and then fire a shot to slingshot the second plasma around the top right planet. Continue boosting to get to the other dwarf and pick up it's 2-3 plasma. You can get 5 seconds ahead this way.

3-3 Multi Orbit 0 fuel

Launch into the small planet's orbit. Make sure you ram the planet so that it dosen't make you orbit fast. (Immediately firing straight up for a counter clockwise orbit is the easiest way to do this.) Wait and you will collect a plasma. When the next plasma is in line, fire into the sun to slingshot it, the flare is now in position to knock you into the big planet's orbit instead of space. You will pick up one more of the plasma balls orbiting the sun from here, and then you can slingshot the last one anytime.

3-4 Cog 0 fuel

Obviously you need to orbit the outer planet. The important thing is to orbit it fast. To enter the orbit cleanly, wait till you can launch into it straight right across the top for a clockwise orbit, or straight down/right for a counter clockwise orbit.

3-5 Outer Rim 60 second par

Launch into the first planet's orbit counter clockwise. You will notice that some asteroids block your way out, so when you are at the bottom of the orbit, thrust up, and you will fly out straight to the right, from there burn fuel to get to the next orbit, and go ahead and go around the same way as the plasma this time. You can use as much fuel as you want here. The sun's flare will push you into the station. If you wait until you are in position. It will refill fuel, but don't go around more than once, and if your fuel is at 70 leave as soon the orbit will throw you upwards. You cannot lose speed easily while in this deadly orbit, but if you go clockwise to get past the outer ring, it will be extremely easy to get into the inner ring. When you have picked up the last plasma, fly in between the rings instead of waiting for a gap to open up.

Abyss
These levels test your ability to factor in the direction you are heading when coming around the corner of a planet like no other. Timing is of the essence.

4-1 Star 6,7,8,9 0 fuel

Launch onto the planet orbit so you orbit it counter clockwise, this makes getting to the next one easier. If you orbit it clockwise, the straight upward jump will be easier. It's possible to make the third jump either war, but clockwise is easier if you have problems, try waiting a tiny bit longer on the second one to get a sliver of rightward momentum before the flare lifts you. The mid flight plasma shot is trickier than it looks, since the time the plasma and flare have to travel mean that firing too late will send you flying northeast instead of straight up. Once you reach the last planet its just one more unblocked shot to victory.

4-2 Delta 8 fuel par but possible score of 3 fuel

Fire into the left orbit clockwise, but make sure that you barely skim the outer most extense, since you need to be inside it for about half a second before it will lock you, so firing carelessly will mean hitting the sun. When you reach the curve of the orbit, you must immediately single thrust toward the top star, but when you are halfway there, fire a shot through the beams to the opposite star on the right, be careful here. You can lightly kiss the thrust if you are flying toward the sun at a shallow angle, but don't let it go higher than 5. Leap from the top sun's curve toward the right sun, once again shooting a single flare across the middle to the left sun, and get into orbit of the right star, jump out either straight across to the middle or to the station, and then shoot straight up to the center star. If the escape thrusts are too hard, you can wait longer in each orbit and aim to bounce into the force field between stars which is more controllable. If you do it this way, you must still jump out of orbit with a thrust, but its easy to aim for the middle of the fields at a shallow angle.

4-3 Loops 0 fuel

Multiple ways to beat this one, but launch straight at the left non-moving planet for a counter clockwise spin. Fire the plasma when it will bounce you into the moving left planet (about two full orbits), now that you are on this one, wait till it intersects the other moving planet. You will need to fire this flare in advance, but if you are a little too early, you are sometimes pushed into close orbit of the right non moving planet, and can just use its plasma to push yourself to the end. Whichever side you visit second can be done in either moving 1st-stationary 2nd, or stationary 1st, moving 2nd, but you must launch into close orbit of one or the other to start with. When making the jump a same side moving planet to its stationary one, you can use its bulk as a break instead of praying that you won't fly past it- planets don't kill you for crashing into them.

Hyperion

Meteors

These huge asteroids will kill on contact, and if you are slow, may destroy planets, causing any plasma currently orbiting them to fly off in all direction. Speed is your best friend here.

1-1 Meteor 12 second par

The pentagram is easy to disassemble. Launch into the bottom left plasma, fire it to slingshot the bottom right, use fuel to move into the middle one and get rid of the far right plasma, then the flare will push you into the left plasma, which you can slingshot through the top most one by clicling on the upper edge of the planet.

1-2 Meteor Race 32 second par

As long as you aren't silly and don't fire into the sun until you have everthing, all you have to do is go from one orbit to the next. You can use your unneeded fuel to speed the process up. Always orbit in the opposite direction of the plasma of course.

1-3 Showers 20 second par

Only the third meteor is an obstacle. Instead of stopping altogether, you can boost straight left to avoid it. This is an easy level.

1-4 Extinction 25 second par

Continnally boost after launching at the left planet, and you can orbit it counterclockwise without losing speed. As soon as you get the first plasma, click on the bottom of the sun, to slingshot one of the middle star's plasma, and then do the same with the second and the top of the sun. Be careful not to let a planet intercept these shots. Afterwards, get the plamsa from the top left, and then fly to the bottom right. If there's anything left, snipe it now.

1-5 Clockowrk 45 second par

Orbit in the opposite direction as the plama whenever possible. For the planet right below the second station, you can grab two plasma, fly to the station, and then slingshot the third one, while the station orbit holds you out to the left. This will eliminate the meter threat for the upper planets, just orbit them cleanly and you win.

Mines
These levels introduce mines, these always have orbits, but explode if you stay inside them for a varying amount of time per level. Like planets, they do not kill you for physically ramming them. These levels encourage dancing in and out of their orbits to reset the explosion timer.

2-1 Mine 15 second par
If you go to the top side first, there will be a four plasma line up just a hair to the bottom of the mine shooting from the left side by the time you get back. Don't underestimate the flares on this level. Every shot will either push you far to the left, or slow you down, so try to finish in 3-4.

2-2 Mines 15 second par

Hit one of the orbits going the opposite direction as the plasma, briefly go out of the orbit to reset the mine (should be just after picking up the third ball) and then fly through the laser as it flickers off. Make sure you hit the second mine going opposite the plasma as well. Letting the first orbit pick you up a second time helps with the timing for the laser.

2-3 Mine Cubed 28 second par

Launch into the lone plasma coming clockwise toward you (center orbital) and immediately fire low, getting rid of two more plasma balls. The flare will push you into the top right mine, so pick up it's plasma, and then click on the sun again to slingshot another one of the plasma orbitting the center mine. Then fly to the bottom right, making sure to pick up the last plasma orbitting the middle before doing the other mine. It's easy to shave off 5-7 seconds by this method.

2-4 Mine Resurrection 30 second par

Don't rely on orbitting the mines. Since the planet will usually lock you into it's mid orbit instead. You can make sling shot attempts fly around the left mine, slingshot one of the plasma's orbiting the top mine, fly to the south mine, collect it's plasma's finish off the top mine, and then just run for whichever mine's left. Unless you hit the same mine's flare twice, it's faster to just collect all the plasma before firing.

2-5 Minus One 32 second par

Timing the laser's and avoiding death by fuel loss are your main issues. For your first trip, grab 2 plasma, and then clean out either the top or bottom, then fly down the right hand side of the center mine and use a flare to knock you out of it. This should remove the three it has left. Get to the the last mine without bouncing off a laser and then just fly right; you can shoot the sun from here instead of wasting time doing it from the middle.

Hyperion continued

Ricochet

These levels bring the laser fields back in force, but now they are your means of transportation instead of a roadblock or timed wall like they used to be.

3-1 Jacob's Ladder 0 Fuel

Launch straight at the nearest plasma, and watch as you leisurely hit all of those diagonal lines before ending the level by shooting the sun.

3-2 Corner 2 Fuel

You want to hit the first two planets counterclockwise. The plasma is lined up as before, but the you want to go straight up when you leave the first planet, and then straight right for the second. Once you've made it to the last orbit, your golden.

3-3 Double Barrel 25 second par

The sun is constantly losing its percentage, so you have to go up fast. Zoom out so you can shoot it easier, and try to click on its far right or left so you can slingshot plasma ahead of you. After every 30-40 shot, switch to the other mine's orbit. Always go the same direction as the plasma to make up for the sun being offscreen when you go near the bottom of the orbits.

3-4 Ping Pong 0 fuel

Very annoying, use your first plasma right before you are parallel (so that you are parallel when the flare hits you) If you did it right, you will bounce left-right on the bottom edge of the mine's orbit, alternate shots into each sun so that you never fully orbit the mine, it helps to let yourself bounce the forcefield before firing, otherwise you might get blown diagonally and set the mine off.


3-5 Margins 0 fuel

You only want to orbit the planet's counterclockwise. To do this, look at the dotted line as you point at the first plasma, and make sure it's a tiny bit to the right of it's center. Strangely enough, when you use the flare to escape the planet the goal is to go as straight up as possible. This will get you a counterclockwise orbit and in perfect position for the last three plasma up top.

Cronus

These bonus levels challenge you to become a pool master, demanding technical shots and very careful aim. They don't pose much of a brain teaser though.

4-1 Pinpoint 1 Fuel

Despite the name, every one of the moves you have to make is outlined by plasma. Launch counter clockwise into the first mine orbit, and use a single tap thrust to move onto the line, make sure that you are moving diagonally toward the line before you do so, this level is very technical. If you bounce perfectly, you will be set up for the flare, you have to nail this one too, but its not too problematic if you are orbiting clockwise which you will be if you got the first escape orbit perfectly. Then repeat once you go to the top right. You'll probably get this second jump on your first try. One really short shot is all that's left of the level.

4-2 Crossfire 0 Fuel

For the first shot, I waited until your ship is touching that horizontal line coming out of the end point on the force field, the seccond shot, I just went instantly, and that usually let me drifft through the horseshoe, you shouldn't need to shoot again until you have all three plasmas in the maze, just do it instantly or you will orbit the planet the wrong direction. The planet shot is basic, but the shot at the bottom actually has to be done within frames of you picking up the third ball, so I suggest shooting when 3/4 after getting the second ball since you will pick up the third one before the flare hits you and you can immeidately fire it again, and not get pushed out of the bottom orbit, the last shot is a no brainer.

4-3 Prism 0 Fuel

I'm going to have to make a screenshot. Launch so you bounce just slightly above the midpoint of the right wall. If you do it just right, you will slowly drift through the entire level, spending just enough time in the shadows in the corners to not die, and picking up three of the four plasma shots. Seriously Timing isn't required, you don't need to do anything but wait after making that perfect launch. If you did it right, you will end up orbiting the station, the only plasma you are missing is between you and the station, so you can use unload all of the plasma at once.

Cerberous

Flux
These levels introduce stars that flare automatically on timed intervals, like the supernova levels, however, their percentage is not increasing, and this time the focus is on learning how to ride these neutral flares.

1-1 Flare: 0 Fuel

The first level is simple, and is here to teach you to time your launch, unlike other levels many of these reward you for waiting before you launch. This one is really generous though, with a straight line for you to fire toward, if the flare sends you at a weird angle, you can still win if you manage to hit the planet's orbit, simply firing your plasma up the other leg of the V. It's good to practice here until you can reliably collect all the plasma in one go though...

1-2 Sailor: 0 Fuel

It looks imposing, but it still gives you guideline plasma for your launch. Watch the time between the flares and remember that they don't change order, by now you should have a kind of muscle memory for the speed of the ship, don't forget to consider this before you launch.

1-3 Wave: 0 Fuel

You go back to riding your own plasma in this level. The plasma is still in a line, but there's a twist, you will have to shoot at a percent that caps a sun at 90% to change direction , and then quickly again before you pick up 20%, being one of the easier levels where you will have to fire twice.

1-4 Flow: 19 second par, possible to get 13.5 or less

I didn't use a very pretty way of beating the level, wait till the sun on the right flares and passes you, then immediately launch to the up ward plasma near you, and thrust your way to the right, when you collect the mid plasma, you are in the perfect position to slingshot the third one on the right sun , don't worry about the black hole messing up your aim on this one, if you are at about 7.5 seconds, the two upcoming flares shouldn't throw you around too much, just keep thrusting left, and collect the plasma at the bottom of the map, don't bother getting the one at the top, since the black hole will slow you down too much, you can slingshot the plasma perfectly into the upper sun's last plasma from just a little more right of where you pick up the far bottom one.

1-5 Adrift: 0 Fuel
This level is set up so that you can fire to the southern-most plasma and get bounced back by the flare by launching as soon as the top sun's flare passes. Remember that the sun on the right will still produce flares, so that after you drift diagonally toward it, you can bounce back and up. If you reach the upper-most plasma the flare will send you into perfect position to line up the one in the middle for a final shot.

Dark Stars
First encounter with black holes, which can affect your movement, free plasma, your shots, and rarely the objects. While some orbits have moved uncollected plasma in earlier levels, black holes will outright destroy them, and their middles are impassible, even shooting through the edges of one will alter the flight path a lot.

2-1 Black Hole 14 second par

The black hole grows and will eventually suck in the plasma. It's best to launch and then thrust toward either the top or bottom plasma, you can slingshot the one nearest the sun with it. When the flare hits you, you should fly with it, mainlining speed on black holes is similar to orbiting, except it has to be done manually. Fly in a crescent back toward the station, and grab the last plasma, fire it immediately and you should be good to go.

2-2 Singularity 15 second par

The two plasma on the bottom of the screen are closer to the blackhole than the others, so you should start by collecting the bottom left and slingshoting the other. You will need to go through the edge of the black hole to collect the one in the upper left and center top after, but since you will be going clockwise the hole time it won't slow you down as much. For the last shot, remember that plasma flies straight to the part of the sun you click on.... in this instance, you must click on the middle of it, because shooting at the top or even far left of it will miss the 5th plamsa, which you don't have the privilege of reaching any other way.

2-3 Event Horizon 20 fuel

This level has too dangers; the speed at which the heat from the red suns kill you and a black hole that will grow to cover most of the map, by the time it eats the second sun, it will be big enough to make you waste extra fuel in thrusting, and can make a shot bend back over 180 degrees. My approach is technical. Do not launch until the orbiting planet is about to reach its furthest left point. This is to ensure you do slow orbits clockwise. You will able to go around the planet 2 times this way, but it's playable with only one. When the planet reaches the top, you should thrust down and left, the single tap effect will still make you go out of the orbit, and hover extremely slowly above the shadow. When you get to about 70% on shield, thrust toward the big planet on the right at a deep angle, getting in counterclockwise, but still picking up the plasma on the left of it. This can be done with 11 fuel. The seemingly instant heat range instantly ends once you are within this planet's orbit. Adjust so that you are locked into the inner orbit lock with the plasma, if neccesary,and pick up all of them with one pass. Thursting off of the planet will take two fuel, because if you try with one it's sluggish orbit will grab you again. Snipe the sun by clicking on its top most edge to counter the black hole.

2-4 Stasis 60 fuel

If you launch straight, wait till you are between the 2nd and 3rd plasma, and then shoot the top sun so that you slingshot a third ball. This gets you to the bottom right plasma on 0 fuel. It's simple to get to the bottom left plasma (picking the bottom T plasma up on the way and shooting the south sun) with 10-15 fuel. Return to the station to counteract shield damage. Then lauch to the top left plasma, and use another 10-15 fuel to get to the top right. Be careful not to over fill the suns, they only need 3 each.

2-5 Edge 0 fuel

This is a simple flare riding level. To get the excat idea of what angle you will fly off. put your mouse at exactly the center of each sun. Make sure that you launch at a cardinal direction to prevent making it harder than it needs to be.

Cerberous continued

Odyssey

These stages bring back mines in force, and also ask you to move through shadows, sometimes for shield points, but more often for mere survival.

3-1 Journey 100 shield par

You have to use the shadow of the mine, watch out for the middle of the two suns, when the shadow will suddenly change sides. Remember that you must be behind the mine every time you set a flare off. You have enough fuel to simply fly around the mine, so don't bother locking into it's orbit.

3-2 Entrance 19 second par

This is simple. Gas it up. You will not make it if you wait to bounce off the sides of the laser fields. Keep in mind that if you go too sharply northwest or northeast, you will lose speed changing direction. Also fire into the first star only after you have flown to the top side of it, so it dosen't push you back.

3-3 Furnace 300 shield par

Fly for a plasma, and immediately fire it into the sun. Make sure you don't hit a mine on the way out. Then do this again. For best results fly straight for the plasma, and then flare ride straight out. After You've done two the other two plasma in one dive and shoot them into the sun. You can orbit lock for the plasma's diamter if you come at a 45 degree angle and brake a little. Only try to collect two once it's okay to die.

3-4 Dark Matter 100 shield par

I find it easier to go for the moving planet. Wait in the shadow of the planet to the right of start until the moving planet intersects it before tranferring. You need to brake constantly, because of how small it is, and you won't get to lock into an orbit. At the end, wait in the shadow for the plasma to come to you, dash left, click on the sun, and dash back into the shadow.

3-5 Escape 150 shield par

Your shield will regenerate, so be liberal. Cruise as close as possible around each sun as it comes up so that you can immediately boost away at the 45 degree angles when you get to the other side, following the guideline plasma. The sharp turn at the start is unavoidable, but you can limit the need for such action later. Remember to zoom out for the last star. You can't get close to it due to heat levels anyway.

Void

The final set of bonus levels. All of them put your ship in extreme danger of dying to shield damage even though none of them score you on that.

4-1 Lair 60 second par time

Heat only seems to affect you when in orbit lock of the suns, but you have enough fuel to just fly in their orbit, so don't worry about even though the shield drops extremely fast. I like to fly the left sun, pick up two plasmas, use a flare to collect 1-2 from the center sun and get near the right sun, where I do the same thing. Then back on the left sun, I get the last of the plasma orbiting it, and ride back to the right, where there will always be 2 remaining in its orbit, this must go to the center. Then I fly up there and throw whatever I missed into the right if needed. It;s important to just use the thrust to hover just out of each sun's orbit instead of riding it, which saves you all sorts of trouble, and flares can be used liberally since almost everything counts as shadow on this level.

4-2 Black Hole Sun 16 fuel possible score of 7 fuel

Take the lower path counter clockwise, since the plasma for every planet is moving clockwise. A simple single thrust will get from planet to planet until the 4-5th one, depending on your speed. once here, the blackholes will have grown to where they make the orbits take longer to lock. you can do the last three jumps either by going wide and using mid path thrusts (only 1 to 3 fuel used though) or by waiting on an orbit, letting it fling you near the sun, and using flares to regain speed and get to the next planet's orbit. Keep in mind that this will put you and your shots near the black holes themselves, so it might backfire. You can get three stars without doing this.

4-3 Hydra 120 second par

The heat kills you really fast, but you have time to refuel, so feel free to use as much thrust as you want. The plasma comes down in waves of three, so collect it and fire it into the suns, being careful with the ones toward the middle, since if your plasma slingshots any coming down you could use too much. Try to get 3 waves of plasma before refueling, or it will bunch up and it will be extremely hard to pick it up in batches of 30. Only one "safety" sun is able to take a large shot, so try your best to stop it from bunching up. It's tempting to constantly brake by changing direction in the shadow, but you will need to go into the sunlight and intercept a wave as it comes down to prevent getting overwhelmed. You can untangle the plasma if it bunches up, but it will take a careful thrusts and will eat up time, so try to keep the place clear for the easy early waves, and allow yourself a single intentional bunch up for the 60 plasma sun.

[Rayshack]

Nevermind, I got it. Thanks for the guide, mate.

[Rayshack]

Dude, I'm seriously confused on what you did for 1-4 in Cerberus...

[Murphy's Lawyer]

Any chance of any videos?

[Reality]

So... I forgot that Helios and Oceanus were actually tricky<

Anyway, the guide is now truly complete.

[Reality]

I have to use virtual keyboard to take screenshots on my new computer since it's not windows, but they're coming. And yes, I'm finally going to finish Helios.

[Reality]

I'm adding stuff erratically now, but I'm reaching the word limit per section all the time, and divided on how I will cut it up so everything will fit.

[Reality]

Version 1: Just the bonus galaxies, expected deadline for final product is Sunday evening
Planning on using UGC screen recorder for hardest levels, and possibly a Let's Play of entire game later. Going to stick to write ups first for 3/3/14 version.