A genuine guide on how to beat a Danmaku game

A genuine guide on how to beat a Danmaku game, from a guy that beat many Danmaku games. Words to live by and life advice.

The Beginning

I've been playing Danmaku seriously for just over eight years now and Danmaku Unlimited 2 was my gateway game into a life long journey of self discovery, mountains of 1ccs and some really nice high scores. Danmaku is my church and I attend religiously, and in my opinion it is the greatest of all game genres, both in players and in the titles they play. I have been where you are now, confused, alone and dying way too much, so I am going to teach you the mindset you need to win a pretty basic game. Danmaku is not for everyone! If you are not willing to give away a part of yourself to succeed, you never will. If your background is in turn based games or Balatro you are too slow and should play a game like Raging Blasters or Soldier Blade instead; come back here after you have beaten it. Know that difficultly is an art form its going to take some time; depending on your will and skill, it could take a very long time, I need you to understand that before you move on.

The Honor

Before we talk about the basics, we need to talk about the importance of the 1cc. The 1 Credit Clear or beating the game without continuing is of the highest importance. Anyone can press continue over and over again, a 1cc proves you can actually play the game; that you understand and respect the game. The fundamental mindset of an individual on their journey to a 1cc is incomparable to the experience of a credit feeder, this is not an experience that can be explained it must be experienced. There are no shortcuts to winning in Danmaku, you ride and die by your skill level and willpower, perception and ability to adapt. There is no way around this fact, if you do not like it, go back to your looter-shooter-rogue-souls-lite. Above all else never cheat, lie or be fake in your play, you are not alone in your sin, you shame us all.

The Choice

Picking the right game is very important. If you do not enjoy playing the game, do not bother. If you do not like a game enough to die dozens if not more times on your quest, do not bother. If you do not like the soundtrack, do not bother. If the controls feel like crap, do not bother. If the game is too hard you will become frustrated, if it's too easy you will get bored. Unless you are playing a game for clout, there is no reason to play a game you hate. A lot of people can and will cut their journey short by putting too much time into the wrong game. Don't play bad games, and don't listen to anyone that doesn't like your choice; they will never 1cc anything anyway. Play a game to play it, don't play it to post TAS'd clears of super easy mode Ketsui on Youtube, gross.

Here's a list of games if you need inspiration: https://shmups.wiki/library/Shmups_Wiki:List_of_shooting_games.

The Learning

Give up on your notions of how a game should be played. Learn from the game, learn from others, enforcing 'your way' will let you be blind to an easier way, a better way. If you're good enough to be able to force your will, you don't need this guide, good luck to you.

I'm not going to get into great detail on how to 1cc Danmaku Unlimited 2, it's been done here

Danmaku Unlimited 2: Scoring/Mechanics Guide 

A Guide for Danmaku Unlimited 2

By: Coro

General guide to how mechanics and scoring works in DU2.

and here https://shmups.wiki/library/Danmaku_Unlimited_2, but the basics are as followed:

-Use the laser to erase the bullets and raise the multiplier.
-Stay close to the boss and large enemies, this will produce blue orbs that charge your laser and Trance. During trance distance to large enemies and boss does not matter.
-Use Trance to deal huge damage and erase nearby bullets. This state also multiplies your multiplier by four.
-Being hit during Trance isn't counted, you use lose the current Trance.
-Stay close to bullets but out of your hit-box, this is called a graze and will charge more Trance.
-Do not save Trance for a rainy day, every second with a full Trace meter is another second not charging a new Trance; this goes for your laser too. Use Trance liberally, if you think it's enough, it's probably not.
-You will need to play the game multiple times to unlock the best weapons and more ADS hits. It is very possible to beat it without any unlocks, but Focus 3 does massive damage and will make your journey much easier.
-3 Focus, 3 A.D.S, 3 Lives and no points in anything else. Use whatever setup you want though, I'm not here to write your song for you.
A warning: Do not trust the steam cloud, backup your save data! Unless you really like unlocking ACE over and over.

If you can not figure something out after giving it a honest try, look it up. Various online resources such as the Shmup wiki https://shmups.wiki, YouTube, and System11 https://shmups.system11.org/index.php have large amounts of knowledge you can soak up during your downtime. Understanding the internal workings of a game is halfway to mastery; and since no one plays this ♥♥♥♥, you can't ask anybody, so look it up. It's not cheating, you need all of the help you can get. Theory isn't execution and knowing isn't doing. During your quest you'll be spending large amounts of time alone, you need to be able to become independent in your learning.

The Dance

Grab a keyboard, gamepad or arcade stick, use whatever you like the most. Do not get suckered into buying more equipment until you have cleared a few games, your pc and keyboard/pad is way more than enough. Make sure you play the same game on the same settings using the same controller each time; this will build muscle memory faster and bring you to a 1cc quicker. Use the game's option menu to setup the buttons how you like. Always check a game's menu before you play it for the first time; I am floored by the number of people that do not do this. If your game has a tutorial, play it; you're not above the help it will provide. Learn to tap instead of holding the movement keys down, especially when dodging bullets. Learn to press your diagonals properly and with consistency. If you're pressing the wrong buttons when things get heated, you need more practice. Learning proper movement will serve you well as it's one of the few skills that carry between games. Move with grace, don't get shot in the face.

The Attack

Get in there! Come on, get in there! Do not get pushed to the bottom of the screen, never be on the bottom of the screen. You are the Pomeranian and the enemies are the socks. Laser, trance, laser, trance again, don't kill bosses with laser, it gives less laser. Hear that "hooon" sound? Press the trance button and shoot him harder! Try not to laser in a 'Hooon', but if you think you're going to die; press the laser button again. No laser? Get some, get close to enemies and shoot. Dead enemies can not shoot you and killing them before they can fire will greatly increase your odds of living. Be as aggressive as you can without being shot, then push it more, get closer, don't be a wuss. Do not give into fear, do not think about failure, do not get mad if you do; when your head is empty you will play stronger.

The Death

Losing a life with trance available is of the greatest shame. Believing you are better than you are and getting hit because of it, is not conductive to the path of the 1cc. Shoot them, don't get hit sounds like awful advice, but it's really all you need to do to beat the vast majority of Danmaku games. You will die more times than you will be able to count, that does not matter. Death is how we grow harder, better, faster. If you are not learning from your deaths, there is little hope for you and your journey. Every time you die ask yourself why and how can you avoid that fate next time. Make sure you eat, hydrate and sleep enough as these will add even more failures if not taken care of. Play to win, but know you will lose a lot. Do not think too much, remember, if your head is empty you'll play stronger. Part of playing Danmaku or any game really, is learning to manage your emotions. You are only a failure when you give up; winners maybe quit for the day, but will never stop long term.

The Work

While you are on your journey to 1cc a game you must play it everyday. You may play other things and do other things, but you must play that game everyday. This will become easier with time and you will be able to play more credits per day. Playing a lot is the quickest way down the path; it also keeps your hard earned muscle memory intact. Do not play a game on easy mode for any reason; this isn't how the game was meant to be played and 1cc on easy/novice isn't legit. Even if you do get a 1cc on easy, you'll have to relearn the game again to clear on normal; this isn't always true, but it's true enough to be a hard rule. Do not play if you are injured, hungry or depressed, it will only make it worse. Unless you are semi pro or higher level do not use stimulants, it's not worth it. We die, we learn, we put in the work, we die, we learn, we put in the work; repeat this process until you get your desired results.

The End

Thank you for reading and I hope this was somewhat helpful to you and your quest. If you follow the advice above and never give up, your journey is all but guaranteed to succeed. It does not end here of course; there are better games and higher highs to achieve. Never forget you need more practice and that it never ends, skill is only for rent. The best way to get better is to play more, the best way to get worse is to stop.

Please always try your best, but if your best isn't enough see the section about picking the right game. For the newer player I might recommend:

-Blue Revolver has less and faster bullets and also a banger soundtrack. It's a good game if you're learning to bomb correctly
-eXceed 2nd is like Ikaruga but way more fun, too bad you can't buy it on Steam anymore. It's a good game for learning how to get up close
-AssaultShell is similar to DU2 it has more technical stages and is a bit harder
-Gunvein is a bit more for the intermediate player, good someone working on their routing skills

If you have questions or comments, I read everything and will answer you.

Ah hey, part two came out.

Danmaku 2, Danmaku Harder. 

A Guide for ASSAULT SHELL

By: dlupal

A genuine guide on how to beat a Danmaku game, from a guy that beat many Danmaku games. Words to live by and life advice.

Oh wow, an even better guide!? (part3)

The Tao of Danmaku Expanded Edition 

A Guide for DoDonPachi Resurrection

By: dlupal

"If you don't know what to do after you read this, there's probably something wrong with you" - Theresa, Holder of 2 1ccs, "The Summit" and the 2nd Highest Blue Revolver Normal score, for a girl.

[dlupal]

Cool, keep putting it down out there!

[x20spec]

Excellent writing dlupal. Your piece has highlighted just how 'all over the place' my brain has been for so many years and inspired me too to try harder at focusing, so I too can one day claim to have 1cc'd a game in the genre which has delighted me for some fifty years.

I'm going to give RagingBlasters my full attention.

Many thanks for sharing your knowledge!!