Sora 100% Achievements Guides

This is a guide for newbies who want to get 100% Achievements in this game.

Overview and Tips

Sora is the first Bullet Hell game that I played. I had spent around 55 hours on it (mostly on the DRM-free version) before getting all the Achievements. When I first played this game, I had to replay Stage 7 and Stage Ex countless times just to finish them on Rank D, and now I cleared both with rank S and no Damage. During the process, I have learned some easy way to get all the Achievements done. Sure you can brutal force all the Achievements by trying hard and practicing a lot, but if you can exploit how certain attacks or bosses work, you can save yourself some time and still get the Achievements.
So, first, assuming that you have learned the basic controls for this game in the Tutorial Stage, I hereby present a few tips for this game, from a newbie's perspective:

• 0. Practice! Practice! Practice!
  In Bullet Hell games, practice is probably the most important factor. There is nothing that can help a person legitimately get 100% Achievements without practicing. This guide cannot substitute practicing, but it can reduce the practice time to get certain Achievements faster.
  
• 1. Weapon and Combo Tips
  While there are a lot of weapons in this game, only 3 of them are actually useful. By using these, you can complete most, if not all, Achievements. They are listed in the order of usefulness as follow:
  + Bazooka: When combined with Dash/Cancel, Bazooka will become the most powerful damage dealer in the game. Basically, you just need to hit the Dash button and Bazooka button simultaneously and quickly to create a missile rain.
  + Zapper: Having the highest damage output per hit and capable of destroying live ammunition, Zaper can reduce the game difficulty overall just by constantly abusing it. Also, the weapon can be used to block many undashable attacks by holding down Zapper button. Therefore, some Achievements cannot be completed while using Zapper.
  + Pulsegun: Some bosses have some kind of barrier around them, like Stage 6 Star Breaker, and Pulsegun can bypass it. Also, Pulsegun can stun certain bosses. Finally, Pulsegun has the highest Hyper Damage of all weapon. Keep in mind that the weapon is only useful when fired after charged, preferably charged 3 times.
  + (Honorable mention) Accelerator: It basically slows down everything while draining your Hyper bar. Not really useful though, but may come in handy, especially in getting one Achievement.
  
• 2. Dashing Tips
  Instead of holding down the Dash button, remember to press it constantly. This is quite important. First, while holding the dash button, you cannot turn 180 degree. Sora will go into a circle instead of turning back instantly. Second, pressing Dash constantly works really well with Bazooka as mentioned above.
  
• 3. Mode and Difficulty
  While practicing is indeed a good thing, you only need to play these two modes to get all Achievements: Story Mode on Easy difficulty and Match Mode on Easy and Special difficulty. Match Mode can be unlocked after you have beaten Stage 7 once. So you just need to practice on these modes fluently to get all the Achievements.

Unconditional Stage-clearing Achievements

The following 8 Achievements can be completed after you have finished a stage. There is not much to talk about them because they are quite the basic steps for you to play this game. If you fail, try again!. It is just that simple. (for the Stage Ex, if you have problem fighting with Hime, check below)


First Mission
Cleared stage 1

Defeat Alte on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Sticks and Stones
Cleared stage 2

Defeat Tsih on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Uncertainty
Cleared stage 3

Defeat Mira on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Reunion
Cleared stage 4

Defeat Sham on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Ultimate Weapons
Cleared stage 5

Defeat Nath on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Touched with Fire
Cleared stage 6

Defeat Star Breaker Phase 1 on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.



Unbroken
Cleared stage 7

Defeat Star Breaker Phase 2 on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode.
If you have problem while fighting her, check out my strategy at the Defuse Achievement. You don't even have to destroy all the warheads for this one.



To the Sky
Cleared EXTRA stage

Defeat Hime and Suguri on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode. There are three others Achievements (all of which are among the most difficult ones to get) involve fighting with the two bosses. If you are having some difficulty, try my strategy on Dance Like a Flower and Gotta Go Faster below.

Weapons Unlocking Achievements

While some of the weapons can be unlocked another way by fulling certain condition, all of them will be automatically unlocked after a set number of play times. For a full list of weapons, their damage, unlocking conditions and other properties, head HERE [suguri.wikia.com].


This Is My Rifle
Unlocked the first weapon

Play 5 games and you can unlock Beam Rifle (S).



Weapon Collector
Unlocked 10 weapons

Keep playing...



Weapon Specialist
Unlocked all weapons

It is incredibly obvious that if you unlock this Achievement, you must have unlocked the other two. Unlocking this Achievements means unlocking the Accelerator, the weapon that requires the most play times to get: 100 times. So basically, just play 100 times (Retry in mid-game does not count). This should not be a problem anyway, as you will gradually accumulate them while playing (unless you are a pro! :D ).

Boss-fighting Achievements (Part 1)

These Achievements involve some kind of special condition while fighting with the bosses of the game.
Since all of these below Achievements can be done on Easy Match Mode, so unlock Match Mode Easy to try again (and again) in case you fail.


See You
Defeated Tsih while she's stealthed

When Tsih becomes stealth, she cannot be locked by weapons, but there are still lots of way to damage her. You can aim the direction manually at her with your weapon, stay close to her and abuse the Zapper or use a Hyper, especially when her HP is low enough to kill her right away.



Broken Reflection
Defeated the Ultimate Weapon without being hit by reflected beams

Nath can create some barriers, which can reflect beam or laser attacks, but only in front of him. So basically, to get this Achievement, just Bazooka and dash right above him while attacking.



Unseen
Defeated Alte without being spotted by the Search Light

The easiest way to get this Achievement is to stay close to her and abuse Dash/Bazooka. This will deplete her HP very fast and destroy the search light right after when it was deployed.



A Clean Break
Defeated the Breaker without being hit by bombs

Completing this Achievement needs observation. Basically, you need to avoid two type of bomb. One type is hidden bomb and the other will create two, vertical and horizontal, flames when explodes. You should use Pulsegun for this fight, because, when charged and fired, it can destroy the hidden bombs, not to mention bypassing her flame barrier.



Good Moves
Defeated Mira without being hit by rolling blades

Similar to A Clean Break, this one needs good observation. If you can't manage to dodge everything yet, just focus your attention on the blades, even if that means letting yourself hit by the knifes. On last bar, Mira creates 3 spinning blades around him. Finish him quickly at this point, using Pulsegun charged and, better yet, its Hyper. On a side note, the blades can be destroyed by Plusegun, but that won't help much since you need to fire a fully charged Pulsegun 4 times to destroy a blade.



Crowd Control
Defeated the Operator after defeating 30 wisps

Keep in mind that you have to defeat 30 wisps in the battle with Sham, so killing a bunch of those before in Story Mode of Arcade Mode won't help at all. You should try not to damage Sham a lot when killing the wisps to limit her strength by keeping her HP on the first bar. After killing 20 wisps, abuse Zapper on her till she dies and naturally you should kill 10 more wisps in the process. Personally, I got this Achievement by just using Zapper.

Boss-fighting Achievements (Part 2)

These last three Achievements are separated because Steam does not have enough space for me to write them all in and also because they are significantly hard.


Gotta Go Faster
Defeated the Guardian in under 1 minute

For this Achievement, you may want to stay close, but not too close, to her and use Dash/Bazooka combo. If you stay really really close, she will damage you, a lot, and you, if not die, will not be able to damage her in time, so i would avoid using the Zapper. If you stay too far, your attack accuracy will be reduced, as Suguri's battlefield is special, due to is enormous size. So I guess you have to figure out the suitable range on your own. Also, on her first and second HP bar, if you see Suguri using any attack that involves going to the edge of the giant circle/battlefield and creating a barrier around herself, just retry. You are not doing it fast enough.



Defused
Defeated the Breaker phase 2 after destroying all warheads

First, someone made a guide just to get this Achievements. If you want to read his strategy, head here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=599541838

In my strategy, I will obviously use Bazooka, Zapper and Pulsegun. Now the Achievement said Phase 2. It means you have to clear this stage (Phase 1 is the fight in the previous Stage with her),

- First HP Bar:
+ Charge your Hyper bar to max before finish her. Try to loose at little HP as possible.
In general, you can attract most of her attacks (the bomb, the pink beam/dot and the fire) by dashing up/down or left/right on one side of her, and when the bombs are about to explode, dash to the opposite side, damage her a little by Dash/Bazooka and repeat the process. Stay away from the edge to avoid the fire, and the bombs won't damage you, even when you touch them, before they explode. Done correctly and you should loose no HP and have 3 Hyper bar.

- Second HP Bar:
+ Stay close between two warheads and, if you are lucky, the warhead will open next to you. Kill it with a Zapper Hyper or Dash/Bazooka combo and get a way from it quickly because the thing will explode.
It takes 5-6 Bazooka missiles, or a single Zapper Hyper, to kill a single warhead, so if you start using Dash/Bazooka right at the moment when it opens, you can destroy the warhead before it starts working. Destroying a warhead gives you more space for dodging.
+ Dodge her attack.
The bombs are easy to dodge, as they will not fly pass the warheads.
The laser is harder to dodge. If you haven't had enough space, dashing in circle around a warhead while she is shooting, preferably near a corner, and you are safe. If you have lots of space, just dash up/down or left/right.
The flame and the ice are annoying, They are not hard to dodge, but you should pay close attention to them. You had better kill a warhead before it starts using these attacks.
+ Pay attention to your locked target.
It is very easy for you to attack the wrong target. You may attack Star Breaker or an inactive warhead while trying to damage the active one, and could probably waste a Hyper.
All in all, if you are lucky, the warheads will open near you and you can kill them instantly. If they don't then you will have to wait, and your chance of taking damage will increase. So keep trying.

- Final HP Bar:
If you know the right formula and this Phase will become the easiest Phase.
+ When the battle start, damage her as much as possible by Dashing/Bazooka.
+ When she summons some red/blue circles flying around her and shooting pink laser, completely stop attacking her and dash along the beam. What you are trying to do is to raise the Hyper bar. Keep an eye on her laser. When this attack ends, you should have at least 2 Hyper Bar charged.
+ When the circles disappear, abuse Dashing/Bazooka quickly to deplete her HP to half. That is when she starts using gigantic bombs and large laser beam.
+ When she does, use 2x Pulsegun Hyper and dash to the lower right corner and abuse Dashing/Bazooka until she dies.
Done correctly and you will not lose a single HP.



Dance Like a Flower
Defeated the Dancer without being hit

I think she is quite hard, compared to other bosses. Practicing fighting her without losing any HP many take a while.
Like other bosses, the lower her HP goes, the more aggressive she becomes. So you may want to spend most of the time fighting her on her first bar, little time fighting her on the second bar and probably 3 seconds on her last bar. Don't worry, it's doable.
Ok, first, remember, Hime usually uses icicle-like attacks and they come in two color: red and blue. While both can be blocked by Zapper, only the red one can be dashed through. This obviously proves that the developers love blue and hate red.

+ On her first bar, Hime's attacks are still very simple. Stay close to the edge, far from her and only approach when you have a chance. With a little practice, you can dodge them with no problem. Then come her Special Attack on the first bar. (Check the .gif)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=633464983
This one is a joke. Just use Zapper to block the entire attack. What interesting is that after she use the attack, she will stand immobilize for a while so take that chance to abuse Dash/Bazooka on her and deplete her HP as much as possible BUT not enough to let her reach the second bar. Basically let the last HP of her first bar clinging.
Why? So that she doesn't use stronger attacks and the next time, after she has been immobilized for using her 1st bar Special attack, you can abuse Dash/Bazooka on her again but this time, most of the damage will be on the second bar. :))

+ On the second bar, she will surely be more aggressive. If you have become fluent in dodging her attack on the first HP bar, you just need a bit more practice, observation and accuracy. By now you are likely have 3 Hyper Bar fully charged, so use one. Here come her 2nd bar Special Attack (Check the .gif)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=633466679
Basically, you can just to to the lower left corner and use Zapper block. The bad news is it will fail 10% the time, as the laser can still hit you. However, the good new is it will work for 90% the time. After that, damage her using Dash/Bazooka until she reaches her final bar.

+ On the last bar, she will use two spinning blades. This is arguably the most difficult attack to dodge, so let me show you how I did it. (Check the .gif)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=633469309
Remember, dash through the red and avoid the blue. It may take some time to practice but you will get it eventually.
After she finish the attack, she will, like in her 1st bar Special Attack, stays immobilize for a bit. That's when you should abuse Dash/Bazooka on her to deplete her HP as much as possible. When she can move again, things will get nasty. How nasty? You don't need to know. Use Zapper Hyper on her 3 times, and, since after using the Hyper, you will be come invincible for a moment, keep using Dash/Bazooka on her until she dies.
Achievement done.

Special Difficulty Achievements

These Achievements can be unlocked by fighting bosses on Match mode Special difficulty. In order to unlock a boss on Special difficulty, you must beat it on any lower difficulty with at least Rank B. So go and beat a boss on Match mode Easy with rank B or higher to unlock it on Special Difficulty.
Important note: DO NOT USE ZAPPER
If you use Zapper, even if you beat the boss, it won't count toward these 4 Achievements. Check the Weapon information if you want to know more.
So when you start doing these Achievements, replace it with something like Accelerator.
You need to kill at least 5 bosses on Special Difficulty to get this Achievement. As to purpose of this guide is to help you get the Achievements fast, beside Suguri, I suggest killing these 4 bosses: Alte, Tsih, Mira and Sham. They can be speed-killed, as in killed within 45 seconds and before the boss uses his/her Last Bar Special Attack, which can be quite disastrous, considering it is the Special Difficulty we are talking about. Also, speed-kill is probably the best method to help new comer, as it requires much less dodging skill and more strategy skill, which I can cover.


Harder than Hard
Defeated a boss on Special difficulty

While there are a lot of weaker bosses, I suggest killing Suguri. It helps you to practice a lot. For more information about her fight, read below.



Three Stars
Defeated three bosses on Special difficulty

We will be fighting Atle and Tsih, considering that you have beaten Suguri. Needless to say, retry if you fail.

Atle fight:
- When the battle screen pop up, you can charge before you can move, so charge the Pulsegun to max. Then fire it in the correct moment, before Atle can summon two Search Light. This will stun her.
- Approach her and abuse Dash/Bazooka. Also, you may want to stay close, above or under her, to the right so that one of your missiles can destroy a Search Light after she recovers from the stun.
- From this point, stay close and fly around her and keep abuse Dash/Bazooka to drain her HP and avoid some of her attacks.
- When she has 1 bar left, use Pulsegun Hyper on her, and keep abuse Dash/Bazooka.
- When she lost all her HP, dash away from her or you will instantly lose.
Check the .gif for full fight.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=632223798


Tsih fight:
- When the battle starts, don't move, just press firing Bazooka straight ahead. You can hit her with 3-6 missiles by doing this.
- After that, dash to the lower edge of the screen, right below her. The reason for doing this is that on the fight time she pull the rock, she will pull it from the left and right side while staying in the upper-half of the screen, so the best way to dodge it is to go under.
- When she turns visible, approach her, but not to close to avoid her beam, and abuse Dash/ Bazooka. You must also dodge the rock too. It's quite depends on luck, as there are certain positions that, if she pulls the rocks from it, will be less dangerous than others.
- Tsih will enter stealth mode for a certain period of time, but if you can deplete her HP fast enough, to the point when she loses an entire bar, that time will reset. In other words, if you damage her fast enough, she will never enter stealth mode again.
- When she reaches her last bar, use Pulsegun Hyper . This should stun her for a while, long enough for you to abuse Dash/Bazooka and finish her.
Check the .gif for full fight.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=632218195



Five Stars
Defeated five bosses on Special difficulty

Now for Mira and Sham. Again, retry if you fail.
Mira fight:
- When the fight starts, move near to the lower-right corner. This should lure Mira to appear there.
- Stay close and abuse Dash/Bazooka on him. You just need to pay attention to dodge the blades, and the tornado later. Don't mind the knifes and the dots. Sure you can lose, but just retry.
- If you deplete his HP fast enough, when he summons 6 blades around him, he should have 40% of his second bar left. If you deplete his HP to one-third of his second bar before he summons the blades, stop attacking instantly.
- Immediately after he summon 6 blades around him, he will rush toward you. Dodge that and dash along the dots trace to increase your Hyper Bar.
- Then he will summon two tornadoes, twice. During that time, hit time 3 times with fully charged Plusegun. Done correctly and his second bar should have a little HP left.
- Then he will rush toward you again. Dodge that and dash along the dots trace to build your Hyper bar. By now you should have two Hyper Bars filled.
- This steps is a little tricky. Wait for like half a second and approach, then throw two Pulsegun Hyper at him and abuse Dash/Bazooka right after that. Done correctly and you should eliminate him. (You have to wait because if you use Pulsegun too soon and he may as well disappear. You should know it when you try.)
Check the .gif for full fight.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=632192278

Sham fight:
- In this fight, you can dash through the dimmer blocks, so keep that in mind. When the fight begin, dash through the dimmer block, right toward her and trigger lots of bombs to explode. Sure you will lose HP but when you do, you will stay invincible for a brief moment, which can be used to eliminate all the bombs around her by touching them.
- Then after that, stay close, really close to her and use Dash/bazooka combo. Avoid the screen edges.
- When her first bar is depleted, she will fire four electric beams. You should dodge them so pay attention.
- After that, just keep abusing the familiar combo.
- When she has less than 1 bar left, use Pulsegun Hyper and finish her up with Bazooka.
Check the .gif for full fight.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=632210527


Ultimate Showdown
Defeated the Guardian on Special difficulty

Probably the most difficult fight you will face. The best I can do is to provide you with the tips for her Special Attack on every bar, and you will know why.
+ On her first bar, her Special Attack is standing of the edge of the circle and fire a bunch of laser and missiles. When she prepare the attack, stay near her, on the edge of the circle, When she starts firing, start dashing along the circle edge. Don't dash too fast though. Done correctly and you should dodge everything after covering like 85% the circle.
+ On her second bar, she will be firing 4 pairs of missiles that will explode very huge. Stick with the edge to dodge the first two pair, and, probably, use one Hyper (just one) to turn invincible and avoid the later two.
+ On her last bar, she will sacrifice all her HP for a Final Attack, and you bet it's going to be hard to dodge, really really hard. It has 3 phases, Phase 1, she summon something like celestial objects, four of them, and firing beam. You can dash through the beam, but stay away from the edge, as when a beam touch the edge, it will explode and damage you, even when you are dashing. Phase 2 add more beams, two objects and they all move faster. Phase 3 add more beams, one object and every thing moves fast like hell. This is probably the only time in the game the Accelerator becomes helpful (with 3 Hyper Bars). But don't let your self take damage, as that will likely be the end-game for you. You cannot win without practicing to raise your reflex and accuracy.

Good luck getting the hardest Achievements in this game

Conditional Stage-clearing Achievements

I suggest doing those Achievements because finishing a stage is certainly more time-consuming than finishing a boss. Plus, when you are able to kill Suguri, nothing is impossible now. So go back to Story Mode Easy and start the mission. There is not much to talk about at this point.


Extraordinary Specs
Cleared stage 1 with rank A or higher

Defeat Alte on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



By a Rockslide
Cleared stage 2 with rank A or higher

Defeat Tsih on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



A Lone Protector
Cleared stage 3 with rank A or higher

Defeat Mira on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



A New Promise
Cleared stage 4 with rank A or higher

Defeat Sham on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



The Strongest Weapon
Cleared stage 5 with rank A or higher

Defeat Nath on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



Fire and Brimstone
Cleared stage 6 with rank A or higher

Defeat Star Breaker Phase 1 on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher. This one took me significantly more retry than other Achievements in this group.



Unbreakable
Cleared stage 7 with rank A or higher

Defeat Star Breaker Phase 2 on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



To the Blue Sky
Cleared EXTRA stage with rank A or higher

Defeat Hime and Suguri on either Story Mode or Arcade Mode, with rank A or higher.



Perfectionist
Cleared a stage with S rank

I suggest trying to get this on the Extra Stage in case you haven't get it from doing other stages. After all, you could kill Hime without taking damage, kill Suguri in one minute and kill her on Special difficulty.

Sora Achievement

Finally, the most difficult Achievement to get.


Sora
Cleared all achievements in Sora

If you have gotten the other 33 Achievements and somehow couldn't get this one, please burn your PC.


HAVE FUN PLAYING SORA.

[ffleader1]

@Martin
I do agree that Mira is hard. I also tried to do Speedkill Star breaker and Nath before Mira but that just does not work.

[Martin]

Mira is easily the second hardest boss on SP mode, even harder than Hime I'd say. I don't have speedkill strats for any of the SP bosses, for most of them I just dodged and sniped them with pulsegun at a distance.

I did all the SP bosses recently. These are what I found to be from easiest to hardest: Alte, Tsih, Sham, Star Breaker, Nath, Hime, Mira, and Suguri. If it wasn't for Suguri's final attack, she'd be way easier than the rest...

[ffleader1]

@nlolicon
Glad I helped. :D

[me]

Thank you for this guide! It took me a lot of time, but this really helped me achieve the speedkills and Dance Like a Flower. Thanks again, great guide.