Little Devil Special Technique - Perfect Imperfection

This guide is meant for people that are aiming for top 100. Ever looked at those ridiculous high scores? You hit everything perfect, but can't finish with Little Devil Marija? What if I told you there is a way?

This Guide

Ever tried doing some songs on Little Devil Marija, only for it to be impossible, no matter how perfect you play? You look at the highscores and it's clear it's been done with her, accuracy percentages are all about 98% in the top 100. I always thought these were cheaters. Two years later, I've figured out that these scores are indeed legit. And though it might be difficult, it is definitely doable. This guide will go in depth into what I've personally dubbed "The Little Devil Special Technique".

These are my other guides.
High Score Characters/Elvin Combinations
All Hidden Sheets + Unlock Conditions.
Steam Achievements
Getting Better - A Journey from Noob to Top Percent

Side-By-Side

Below is a side-by-side I made on the "The 90's Decision - MYUKKE" from Happy Otaku Pack Vol.11 on difficulty 7. Now, when you play this song perfectly as Marija, you can't finish it. However if you play it with the Little Devil Special Technique, you can finish it. In the video you can exactly see how the technique affects Marija's health pool.

Click here for Youtube link in case the player in the guide itself is being difficult.

How It Works

To put it simply, the Little Devil Special Technique looks at when Little Devil Marija doesn't lose health and utilizes it to its maximum potential. The following sections will go over the six techniques that make up the full Little Devil Special Technique.

Also, as a general tip, enable the Early/Late pop-ups in your settings menu. It will help you out with the following techniques (and also just makes you a better player on the long run).

Toggle it on in the Display tab in Settings.

Easiest Technique - The Mash Enemy/Boss

The easiest way to save health points is by making the most of the Mash Enemy/Boss.

The Mash Boss and Mash Enemy. Despite their different names, they work the exact same way.

Pros

• Super easy to pull off.
  
• Saves big on health.
  
• Does not have to affect scores.

Cons

• Perfectly getting all the hits in AND sitting out the entire Mash enemy is difficult. Only really a problem for people doing runs to get that sweet number 1 spot.

How It Works
This technique is very straightforward. Little Devil Marija does not lose health for as long as she's hitting a Mash Enemy. Therefore, it is advised to hop onto them as early as you can. From there on, mash slowly. If you don't get the maximum amount of hits in that the Mash Enemy allows, you can stay on it for the maximum duration.

(So for people that weren't aware, Mash Enemies have a maximum amount of hits they can take. So it isn't about how fast you can tap in a given amount of time. If the Mash Enemy can only take 100 hits, you hop off immediately upon reaching that amount of hits, even if you still had a few seconds of mashing left.)

Maximum Health Gain
The amount of health you can save on these enemies varies. It depends on how long the maximum duration for the Mash Enemy is set. So a Mash Enemy that you can mash on for like ten seconds and takes 200 hits to clear, you could save almost 15 health on. (By rough estimation.) Mash Enemies that stay on the screen for three seconds that take 40 hits you can only save like 4 health on.

Exception
So unfortunately, despite them being Mash Enemies, this technique does not work on mash enemies that take 1 hit. You cannot save time on these, even if you would hop on early. Ones with very little button presses are difficult to save health on, but it's not impossible.

Early Hop-on

You generally don't need to do the following thing, except if you try to save a few health to get an extra perfect instead of a great, or if you really need some extra health. Latitude and Dandelion's Daydream are songs that require you to be aware of the following.

You can be considered Early or Late on a mash enemy. If you have it enabled in settings, you will occasionally see it pop up at the end of the mash enemy. Now this is deceptive, because the Early/Late reflects how early you were on the first hit of the mash enemy, the moment you jumped on it. Like sheets, this means that if you hop on a mash enemy early, you can save a fraction of health. Generally you don't need it, but for example the aforementioned songs straight up require it.

There's unfortunately also a little caveat here. If there are enemies before the mash enemy, you need to hit those first before you're allowed to hop on. Even if there's only enemies on the bottom row and nothing on the top row, you cannot start mashing the top row in hope you hop on earlier while you're still hitting the enemies in the bottom row. Mash enemies are programmed in such a way that you need to clear everything in front of it before you can hop on. Now this is specifically an issue for the hard track of Dandelion's Daydream, because enemies are right in front of all mash enemies. For you to be able to hop on early on these, you need to hit the enemy in front of it as Early Perfect as you can and immediately hop onto the mash enemy.

Basic Technique - Early Sheet Hop-On

This technique is the bread and butter of the Little Devil Special Technique. Because sheets are the most common thing you can save time on, you'll often be using this technique to save some precious health points.

A properly executed Early Sheet Hop-On

Pros

• Easy to pull off
  
• Sheets are common in most tracks

Cons

• Affects your score negatively, because you will often have to hit 'Great' instead of 'Perfect'
  
• Easily throws you off your rhythm

How It Works
Marija doesn't lose health points when she is on a sheet. Health stops ticking down the moment she hops on the sheet, no matter how early or late she is. Which means that if you hop onto the sheet as early as possible, you can consistently save 2-4 health points per sheet.

It should be mentioned that this technique also works on single hit sheets. (The ones that look like a single star) They're still a sheet and can be sat out for longer.

Also it should go without saying, but don't forget to sit out the entire sheets. Hopping off early is bad.

Situational Advice
So there's a few details you should keep in mind. You can ignore these tips if you're first trying to master this technique. These are mainly here for people that mastered it and want to get the smallest of advantages.

• This is important for people that care about their score. You can hit a sheet early and still hit an early "Perfect" and save like one HP. (Also hitting it late "Perfect" causes you to lose one HP over a perfect "perfect" hit and two over an early "Perfect") You are almost always forced to do this with the next tip, so keep it in mind.
  
• So when a sheet is on its own, you can hop onto at the earliest possible moment. However, sometimes there's an enemy just before a sheet. This actually makes the window on which you can save health smaller. Now yes, this is a problem and makes a few tracks impossible on Little Devil Marija despite this technique. But these are the best sheets to early "Perfect" on. I recommend picking these ones over stand-alone sheets when figuring out on which sheets you want to save health and which ones you want to get full points on and have your fever bar fill quicker.

Situational Technique - Earliest Heart Hit

Very rarely, you might just not make it to the heart and you sadly hit 0 HP. But there might still be a way to save the run. This technique is very situational, but might just make the difference.


An Enemy with a Heart attached

Pros

• Often not even necessary, only needed when cutting it close on a few HP.
  
• Easy to pull off.

Cons

• Affects score negatively.
  
• Can't be used in all tracks, requires it to be attached to an enemy.
  
• Ultimately gives you 2 hp less to work with.
  
• This technique can really get on your nerves by how close to death you are.

How It Works
Now unfortunately this technique only works on hearts that are attached to enemies. With normal hearts, you should just not pick them up late, bump into them as early as possible.

You see, hearts have the same hit box as a note, BUT the heart attached to the enemy follows the enemy's hit box. And you can hit an enemy way earlier than you could a heart or a note. Which means that if you hit an enemy with a heart as early as possible, you can get to that heart earlier than hitting it perfectly.

Now do keep in mind this doesn't actually give you more health for the entire track. If anything it lowers your final health by two points. This is because you have to hit the enemy attached to it early "Great". This both gives you a lower score and you don't regenerate 2 health for not hitting it "Perfect".

Now if you want to see the technique in action on a song that requires it, the video below showcases a song where the technique is required. Pay attention to health at the second heart.

Also my condolences for anyone trying this song with Marija, it's a tough one. You will never see my obscene amount of outtakes for that video.

Situational Technique - Latest Heart Hit

This is a continuation on the earliest heart hit, except you do the complete opposite. I don't actually think a song requires this technique, but a future update might have one. GOOD/BAD NEWS EVERYONE! ULTRA HIGHER in Neon Abyss on difficulty 7 makes use of this technique on the first heart. It's literally the only song I know of that uses this.

This technique would only be used if a heart tops of your health. In this case, hitting the heart as late as possible (and this means it doesn't even have to be attached to an enemy) would give you about two hp more by the end of the song. I don't think a Great hit on an enemy is advised. If anything, it evens out the health gained and gives you a lower score.

The only situation where you couldn't pull off this technique is when the heart would be positioned on a sheet. You could delay it on the beginning of a sheet hypothetically, this might actually give you a bit more hp to play with and avoid having to hit a Great on the start of that sheet.

Again, this is highly situational. Keep it in the back of your head in case you get really stuck.

And here's a side-by-side, because I had to verify. The one that uses the late hit has one more health to play with after the first heart. (Pause the video to see the differences, I have them perfectly synced with one another.)

One More HP Technique - Late First Hit

When all else fails, you can sneak out one extra HP at the beginning of a song. (If the song allows for it.)


A Late "Perfect"

Pros

• Easy to restart if you mess it up.
  
• Does not affect score.
  
• You could use it on any Marija song that allows for it, even if it is not required, it can make things easier.
  
• So situational there's only like 3 tracks that need this.

Cons

• If it's mandatory to use to finish the song on Little Devil Marija, it means you have to be perfect in every other Little Devil Special Technique department.
  
• Can't be used on every song.
  
• A bit of a pain to pull off on some songs.

How It Works
Marija's health starts ticking down in a song after the first Gear, Note or Enemy, whether you hit it or not. If you hit the first enemy perfectly, you don't regenerate two health, because you are already at maximum health. Now if you hit the first enemy late but still "Perfect", the following happens:

• Because according to the game's logic you're already past the first enemy, Marija's health starts ticking down.
  
• If you now hit a late "Perfect", Marija's health gets topped off again.

Simply put, this means you can get one extra hp to work with by doing this small little technique. And sometimes, that one hp is all you need.

Sadly enough, this technique only works on Enemies (Gemini, Small, Big, Invaders and Hammers) and Notes. This unfortunately does not work on Gears, Boss Attacks, Mash Enemies and Sheets. You even lose one health if you do this on a Sheet, Boss Attack or Mash Enemy, so stay perfect on those. (Sidenote: You always lose 1 health on a sheet, even if you would hop onto it before the song officially starts. Seems like something that's hardcoded in how Little Devil Marija works.)

Extra Situational Technique - Early Gemini Hit

So this is a continuation of Situational Technique - Earliest Heart Hit. The logic is the same, so are most of it's pros and cons. But instead of a Heart, it's early perfect hitting a gemini enemy . Especially after a long silence you might be cutting it close to failing a song. Hitting an early perfect might just drag you across the finish line. This is super situational, and as far as I can tell generally only matters at the end of a song. The only example of me ever needing it was when I was trying to get 100% accuracy on Philosopical Wanderer on difficulty 6. It's all the way at the end of the video. If I hadn't hit the gemini enemy early, I would have failed the track as I would've dipped to 0 hp. The little boost in health made the difference. This only worked because Gemini enemies grant 4 Health, as they're considered a double hit.

And of course this technique is super situational, as it requires a Gemini Enemy in a danger spot. This technique might also work on normal enemies, but the health gain might be so small that I haven't found a track yet that would possibly require it.

Practice Tracks

Technically you can practice on any tracks that are in my guide (High Score Characters/Elvin Combinations) that specifiy you need the Little Devil Special Technique to clear them. Now some of those are arguably much more difficult than others. So here are a few personal recommendations.

For owners of Muse Dash (No DLCs)


INTERNET OVERDOSE（Aiobahn feat.KOTOKO） - "NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD" theme song, Default Music, Difficulty 6

For owners of the Just As Planned DLC


The 90's Decision - MYUKKE., Happy Otaku Pack Vol. 11, Difficulty 7


tiny lady - Chicala Lpis, Happy Otaku Pack Vol. 5, Difficulty 6

Tips For Squeezing Out The Most Of Your Score

So lastly, if you're still here and have mastered the technique and you are still on the hunt for the highest possible score, then let's get into details. So let's list all the tips I have in regards to getting high scores on Little Devil Marija Tracks specifically.

• Turn on your Manual Fever. Always. Else you're never going to get that number 1 spot.*
  * Except for a handful of songs due to how manual fever triggers differently than automatic. Edge case, really.
  
  
• Always try to apply the technique in this order: Mash Enemies, Late First Hit, Early Gemini Hit, Early Sheet Hop-On (Perfect), Earliest Heart Grab, Early Sheet Hop-On (Great). This is simply for the sole reason that the first four can be applied without affecting score, the heart grab has the least impact on score and a higher return value and Early Sheet Hop-On (Great) is simply going to cost you points.
  
  
• Figure out where the Technique is needed. This is especially important for the Early Sheet Hop-On and the Earliest Heart Grab. If there's 20 sheets, but you can finish the song with only using the technique on 10 of them, then you can perfect the other 10 and get a higher score. (Which ones you pick for these is also important. Later ones have a better score multiplier, but you might want to get a few earlier to get a better Fever timing.)
  
  
• After applying the technique, this is where you figure out your fever timing. It will be different from a perfect run with another character. This is probably going to be very time consuming, so be patient.
  
  
• Sharing is caring. Think you have the best possibly strategy? Share it. I know it's tempting to keep that good knowledge for yourself. In my opinion it feels better to level the playing field. Get everyone involved. I enjoy it a lot more like this. (Hence why my guides exist in the first place.)

Other Guides

These are my other guides.
High Score Characters/Elvin Combinations
All Hidden Sheets + Unlock Conditions.
Steam Achievements
Getting Better - A Journey from Noob to Top Percent

[FarisSF97]

Ahh no wonder the top 100 usually have 98 or 99% accuracy. Interesting technique.

[ＢＡＫＡ！]

Tysm, now i can spend more time in this game

[I love memes!]

TY

[Rosemagwin]

Update y'all, Extra Situational Technique - Early Gemini Hit just got added

[fumi.1432.uwu]

I´m really happy about it!!!! I even got to top 39!!!! I find that funny because it is the only 95% in the top :v I need to improve that >:3

[Rosemagwin]

Congratulations :D Heracles is rough, that's awesome!

[fumi.1432.uwu]

OMG THANK YOUUUUU I was able to pull off heracles lvl 6 with those tips!!!!!

[DeRockProject (jongyon7192p)]

Even though I'll never be this good, this is an absolutely fascinating read I recommend to anyone. A rhythm game turned into a puzzle game!

[Rosemagwin]

Just a heads up for anyone returning to this guide, an edit was made to the Situational Technique - Latest Heart Hit section. The newest update finally has a song that can make use of the technique.

[422X]

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