"This is your Burning Hand..."
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| Geometry Wars: Galaxies |
| Drone Strategies |
| FAQ |
|____________________________|
| |
| Latest Version: 1.03 |
| Date: 11.22.08 |
| Written by: Kilroy84 |
| Email: [email protected] |
|____________________________|
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Before I begin,
I would just like to say thank you
to everyone who has contributed.
If it weren't for you guys, this guide would
look the way Meryl Streep's skeleton would
look if you made it smile and walk around
the party being extra nice to everybody.
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*** Table of Contents ***
Section N - Note about Contributing
Section I - Introduction
Section II - Latest Version Details
Section III - Questions & Answers
Section IV - Trials Of A Jedi
Section V - Drone A.I. (and Geoms)
- General Info
-- How Drones Gain XP
~ Tip #1: The Loseis Wall
- Drones
-- Attack
~ Tip #1: First In, Open-Ended.
-- Defend
~ Tip #1: No Gold, Yet Effective.
~ Tip #2: Defend My Backside, Not My Rear!
-- Collect
~ Tip #1: Gold Is Money.
~ Tip #2: Size and Experience.
-- Snipe
~ Tip #1: Not There! There!
-- Sweep
~ Tip #1: Obstruction Is Good...
~ Tip #2: Passing Through The Crowds.
~ Tip #3: Spawn Kills.
~ Tip #4: Crowds Are Good Things.
~ Tip #5: Another Wall Tactic.
~ Tip #6: Walls Are Trivial.
~ Tip #7: Retro Evolved... Evolved.
-- Ram
~ Tip #1: Ram Likes The Zoo.
~ Tip #2: Good And Bad. It's Hilarious.
-- Turret
~ Tip #1: Not So Great, But Not Much Time.
~ Tip #2: Everything Moves In Circles! Yeah!
-- Bait
~ Tip #1: Worthless.
~ Tip #2: The Ikea Nesting Ground.
~ Tip #3: Co-Op. Relenting. Detrimental.
~ Tip #4: Weavers... Begone!
Section VI - Planet-Class Strategies
- General Info
-- CLA: Classic
-- MAS: Massive
-- SUR: Survival
-- BAT: Battle
-- FLI: Flip
-- VAR: Variety
- Varpente*
-- MIN: Mines
-- ORB: Orbit
-- ZOO: Symmetry
-- ROC: Meteors
-- LOS: ???
-- VIR: Virus
-- POR: Portal
-- Lambda Galaxy
Section VII - Old Version History
Section VIII - Special Thanks, Email, and Whatnot
* Varpente: It's radically different than the other VAR- planets,
so it deserves it's own section.
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| Section N - Note about Contributing |
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Before I start off, let me just say that despite having
the time to write this FAQ, I'm forcibly doing this on the
little free time I have. So, I'm just asking that if you have
ANYTHING to contribute, try to take a couple minutes
out to whip up whatever you feel my FAQ is missing
and could benefit from.
A short email saying how the guide was helpful
is always great as well -- It shows me what I'm doing
right and I could go from there in a future update.
I appreciate anything that's sent. Even the garbage! :P
Thank you, space monkeys.... and enjoy.
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| Section I - Introduction |
|___________________________________________________|
Semi-short and semi-sweet. This is my third [finished] FAQ,
with the other two just below.
This FAQ is centralized around the Drone A.I. and
respective strategies, but there are other tidbits
scattered everywhere that are sure to impact someone.
Plus, planet-specific strategies for each and every Drone are present.
May sound like a walkthrough, but my intention is to focus more on the deeper,
not-so-obvious areas of Galaxies. Thus, I will not be covering Retro Evolved
or the multiplayer aspects of the game. But whatever, label it as you will.
My other two FAQ's.
Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike - Arcade Games FAQ
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/rebel_strike_arcade.txt
Star Fox: Assault - Game Script
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/561297/36164
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| Section II - Latest Version Details |
|___________________________________________________|
Version 1.03 -- 11.22.08:
- Just made some minor aesthetic tweaks,
so the guide is a little more eye pleasing.
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| Section III - Questions & Answers |
|___________________________________|
If the sophisticated areas of my guide don't
shed light on your mysteries, here's a
'cut to the chase' section that will hopefully
fill in the gaps. It's before everything
so that it's harder to miss. :P
Q: How many Drone behaviors can you have
active while fighting on a planet?
A: One.
Q: Can you opt to not have a Drone in Galaxies?
A: No, it's forced upon you.
But a low-level Bait should work well enough.
Q: Can you use Drones in Retro Evolved?
A: Nope.
Q: In Multiplayer, can you use Drones?
A: Again, no. MP is human-oriented only.
Q: So, that means you can't fully control
a Drone alongside your standard ship?
A: Sadly, no. I do like this concept, however...
Q: Did you know you can use old motor oil to fertilize your lawn?
A: ... This is not as easy as it sounds...
Q: What's your name on the Leaderboards and
why don't you actively talk about your scores?
A: As perceptive as I may be, I suck compared to
the top 20 or so scorers out there...
Mainly due to the fact that I have a life
outside of Geometry Wars.
It's Kilroy, by the way.
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| Section IV - Trials of a Jedi -- The Essentials to Master Geometry Wars |
|_________________________________________________________________________|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now it's time to head for Dagobah to learn the ways of the Force.
This might sound a bit confusing and ludicrous at first, but it does work.
It's a real life technique, so listen up, maggots!
And before I even begin the lecture,
this can be compressed into just one action:
Meditation.
The ability to use the Force can help greatly in Geometry Wars,
as well as in nearly all other videogames and real life, for that matter.
All that you must do is clear your mind of all
conscious thought, worry, and assumption. Let your
subconscious play the game for you.
Focus your train of thought only on the game
itself and nothing else without letting your mind tell you,
"If I lose a life now, 1st place is out of reach."
If you can allow your mind to go blank (Yes, that IS possible),
then you should be able to use the Force and react to
what is ahead of you before the time it would normally take your brain to
respond to it.
Basically, what you are doing is telling your mind
to shut off all unneccesary switches and dedicate
whatever remaining power it has to focus on the game.
* * *
Oh yes, are you having trouble sleeping?
Try playing some music at low volume
while you fall asleep.
The OSTs Forgotten Depths and Torvus Bog
from the Metroid series work
incredibly well for me.
As do many piano arrangements.
Rainstorms also PWNzor my conscious awareness.
The results? Wake up more refreshed,
reduce your daily hours of sleep
and you might even wake up more easily.
* * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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| Section V - Drones (and Geoms) |
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===== Section V - General Info =====
Drones are new to the Geometry Wars series; adding the element of an A.I.
helping you out in various ways
(regardless of whether you would want it's help).
There are eight known classes of Drones that you can select from,
however only the Attack Drone will be available when
you begin a new campaign. The rest of them you must buy via
Geoms, which are the currency of Geometry Wars: Galaxies.
Geoms actually serve seven purposes;
they allow you to purchase Drones, Planets and Galaxies,
earn extra lives, smart bombs and weapon changes and
probably most importantly, depending on if you're
shooting for a high score or medal, score multiplying.
It starts out at 1x and maxes out at 150x, which is
obtained by collecting 150 Geom pieces.
A couple more bits of info about Geoms, the first of which is submitted
by zero42g from GameFAQs and slightly edited by
the faceless author of this guide, as this spans several of zero's posts:
"I've found that there can only be a maximum of [1,060~] Geom's
on the screen at one time. [...]
I obtained the 1,060 Geom count by using the Sweep Drone and
staying on one side of a wall where the Geom's would collect
on the other side. the Sweep keeps them 'alive' on the other
side of the wall, they keep piling up and eventually no other
Geom's will appear when you kill enemies.
After I noticed this happening a few times, I decided to pause
and write down my Geom count before/after I grabbed them.
I did this ten times to get an average.
The majority of the time it came up with 1,020.
The other numbers I got were 1,010, and 1,030.
It seems the programmers decided to limit it to a number
that would get you the 150 multiplier, and that
it slightly changes in range due to the type of Geom's you collect."
~ ~ ~
The other bit I'd like to mention explains how zero42g's strategy
works. When you near a Geom piece, you should notice it being
pulled towards you. You should also notice that, if left neglected,
Geoms will eventually fade away. As they attract themselves to you,
they will NEVER disappear. So, that's how zero's tactic works.
Oh, and as they pull themselves inward, Geoms may escape
your 'black hole effect,' if you are going faster than they are.
So, try to keep your distance... but don't LOOK like you're
trying to keep your distance. I don't know -- fly casual!
~ ~ ~
Also, Drones have ten experience levels, each with 100 XP needed to level up.
Concerning extra lives, bombs and weapon changes,
you'll need this much to obtain them:
Extra life: 5,000 Geoms (Thanks to bowsersenemy)
Extra bomb: 7,500 Geoms (Thanks to bowsersenemy)
Weapon Change: 350 Geoms (Thanks to darkeagle177)
+++ How Drones Gain XP +++
R0YB0T here on GameFAQs deciphered that XP is not accumulated
via your Geom count or score. This is what he had to say:
-------------------------
"What determines the amount is only the amount of time
you play a world for. It doesn't matter what your score is or
how many Geoms you collect or how many times you die.
Knowing this makes leveling up the drones really easy.
You can just choose a drone, any drone, and the pick the first world
(Trainer EIS).
Even just standing there you will still last long enough
to get 10 exp points for your drone without doing anything.
So all you have to do it pick the 1st level and just leave the DS [or Wii]
alone until you die in a minute or so, and repeat that process.
You can try to find a level which does this more efficiently,
but the 1st level seems to be the best.
I always get 10 exp points for any drone without doing
anything on the 1st level.
For drones that attack you may want a more difficult level
because the drone will get so good at killing,
your ship will live too long, and make leveling up much slower."
-------------------------
As R0YB0T implied, you won't begin earning XP the second you begin a planet.
I've constructed a timeline indicating the earliest length of time that you
must play a planet for in order to earn the amount of XP given.
Now, the timeline by far isn't complete yet and I haven't heard about
there being any limit on how much XP someone can obtain in a single run.
This applies for all planets, by the way.
* * *
10 XP: Time you lasted ... 0:25.
20 XP: Time you lasted ... 2:10.
30 XP: Time you lasted ... 3:15.
40 XP: Time you lasted ... 4:02.
50 XP: Time you lasted ... 5:25.
60 XP: Time you lasted ... 7:00.*
70 XP: Time you lasted ... 7:53.*
200 XP: Time you lasted ... 10:38.*^
The rest: ... Unknown.
* These are rough estimated made by zero42g.
Obviously, I have yet to pinpoint the exact transition times.
^ I'm just noting the efficiency of
the 25 seconds strategy, as 25 * 20 = 8:20.
This particular time will net you +70 XP.
* * *
~ Tips ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Loseis Wall ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by Pete.)
"If you go to Loseis planent, in the epsilon galaxy you can make it
so no ever harm you. In the beginning of the match you place
your ship near the center of the map, stay there for awhile only
shooting enemies and making sure not to move. the come towards you,
after a few min every enemy on the board will be stuck against
the one wall, and no more will spawn. You can then leave your DS
on a long as you want, gaining XP."
* * * * *
Also, since I'm only covering the Drones of Geometry Wars: Galaxies,
here is a link to the DS Walkthrough. It's an excellent guide,
but the main reason why I'm directing you over there is
because I am not going over the enemies of the game
and oceanshoreview covers them quite well.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/file/939732/51338
~ ~ ~
And now that that's settled, here are the known classes.
===== Section V - Drones =====
~~~ + + + All of my Drones are at level 10,
so remember to take that into account
when deciphering the usefulness of
my strategies. ~~~ + + +
=== - Attack Drone - ===
Cost: Available right off the bat
Description: The Drone will stay next to the player ship,
shooting in the same direction, boosting the forward facing
firepower of the player. As this behavior increases in power,
the Drone's weapon will become more powerful and it's forward-facing
aim will become more accurate and it will
widen it's spread of fire.
** Recommended planet-class: ORB- **
Recommendation: Bigger planets that allow enemies (and yourself) to
spread out relatively freely. Small planets, not so much.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Attack will change it's rate of fire as well as it's type of shots
as it levels up.
At level 1: Single shot. 1/4 second between shots.
Not that accurate.
At level 3: Changes to a twin cannon that it slightly faster
and more accurate.
At level 6: Goes from a twin cannon to a three-bullet spread.
+-+-+-+-+
~ Tips ~
1) For me, this Drone has proved to be more useful in larger, open grids. Say
you're getting rushed by a swarm of enemies from multiple directions and
you're focusing on just clearing a single path in order to play chicken.
The few extra enemies that this bot would hit could very well make the
difference between running away and dying, especially since it's sometimes
difficult to spot enemy ships through all the bullets and explosions.
I wouldn't recommend this when fighting in a confined area.
Ram or even Defend should be better choices, in my opinion.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ First In, Open-Ended. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Invaluable. I usually use this on most open stages as you suggest. I default
to this drone when doing a stage for the first time."
=== - Defend Drone - ===
Cost: 3,500 Geoms
Description: The Drone sticks to the rear of the player ship, shooting behind.
This behavior will start out with the Drone only shooting directly backwards,
building to the Drone being able to snipe within a wider arc, making it's rear
defense more effective. It will also benefit from increasingly more powerful
weapons.
Recommendation: Like Attack, it's useful in vast areas, but may also prove
superiority in small grids as well.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
At level 1: Single shot. 1/4 second between shots.
Not that accurate.
At level 3: Changes to a twin cannon that it slightly faster
and more accurate.
At level 6: Changes to a tri-cannon unlike your own;
much slower, yet still effective.
At level 8: Tri-cannon's rate of fire becomes significantly
faster.
At level 10: Changes to a five-round burst that
has/is near the same ROF as yours.
+-+-+-+-+
~ Tips ~
1) It may not as powerful as Attack, but the fact that it shoots behind
you can be invaluable if you're focusing mainly on what is in front of you.
This may be obvious, but still worth noting.
This Drone also directly serves as a player-
operated secondary weapon, so multi-tasking from your front side to the
back whilst aiming more or less in the same direction should be
accomplished without too much hassle.
2) While in large, open maps, Defend can become a powerful ally.
Position yourself relatively in the middle of the openness,
now act as if both you and Defend are Turret drones;
shooting in a circular motion. With both of you creating
spinning line of fire polar to each other,
most enemies will get obliterated easily.
Just be sure to do this when you're not in any
immedaite danger.
You should be able to do this on smaller grids
as well -- Just be sure to increase your
revolution speed to compensate for the
naturally smaller distance between
you and the enemy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ No Gold, Yet Effective. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by J L)
"Defend makes Greens mostly irrelevant. This is awfully nice on many stages,
but I don't think I've ever gotten a Gold with it - I've always needed the
extra oomph of some other drone. The Gamma whirlpool stage might have been a
Defend stage - using its fire to kill in the center and antipodes while I
defended my bunker. It was highly effective, I just don't remember whether it
was my final route."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Defend My Backside, Not My Rear! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Never used except to level. I would rather this drone fire the opposite
direction of my movement* rather than the opposite direction of my _shots_for
it to be more useful to me."
=== - Collect Drone - ===
Cost: 14, 500 Geoms
Description: The Drone does not have a weapon, instead it seeks out and
collects Geoms from the grid space. As this powers up, the Drone will make
quicker direction decisions, speed up and be able to collect more Geoms.
** Recommended planet-class/planet: Varpente **
Recommendation: Anything but grids with several walls in place.
This bot will get stuck trying to phase through impassable
areas like you wouldn't believe.
~ Tips ~
1) If you are just feeling that you should be the only
one going on the offensive, choose this squeaky guy.
No weapons, only a stomach that thrives on Geoms.
This is the best choice of Drones if you are interested
in grabbing a ton of money quickly while not having to worry too much about
personally doing so. This particular Drone also helps you out greatly, even
on the lower levels. So, feel free to just bang out wave after wave of
enemies while your Collect Drone chases after most of the
Geoms in the vicinity.
2) I'll note this next tip in the planet-class section as well,
but sitting in the middle of a SUR- map, Surduo should do nicely,
mimicing Turret while Collect runs around grabbing most of the Geoms
has proven to be an excellent strategy for me.
You don't have to worry very much about where you are
seeing as how you're camping, plus most of the enemies
on SUR- planets are Grunts, so Weavers and other more vicious
pursuers are a rare find, if at all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Gold Is Money. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by J L)
"You say to use the Collect drone "if you're not after a high score".
This isn't quite true. The reason? The score multiplier.
This does not go up with kills, but with collected Geoms.
There are quite a few grids where it's difficult or impossible to
collect the Geoms from most of your kills - whirlpool grids stand out,
as you're often hunkered in a bunker shooting a pool off the screen. There
are also some grids - largely battle grids - which start off relatively easy
and then suddenly jump into survival mode.
The difference between reaching 150x multiplier before or after those first
few waves can make all the difference to your score. Finally, classic grids
where enemies assault equally from all sides mean that their Geoms are
usually spread out with no clear concentrations.
A more minor factor is that on grids which allow you to collect additional
smart bombs, they appear to be based on Geom totals - on those grids, remote
collection can be helpful even when you're at 150. The Collect drone's been
"the" route to Gold on a few stages so far,
and it's "a" route to Gold on a few more."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Size and Experience. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Collect: after seeing that geoms affect getting extra lives/bombs I find this
drone to be more useful in large stages. Much more useful once leveled up."
=== - Snipe Drone - ===
Cost: 28,000 Geoms
Description: This relies on the Drone using the new Beam weapon to snipe high
priority targets. Based on a simple order of danger, the Drone will target and
snipe targets with it's focused beam, which because of it's sustained damage,
can eliminate a multi-hit enemy in a single attack. As the upgrade builds, the
targeting and target choosing will improve, with the fully powered sniper able
to pick off hard targets.
** Recommended planet-class: FLI- **
Recommendation: Great for killing enemies in a line or creating escape routes.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Snipe will attack more types of enemies as it levels up.
Here's what I've got so far:
At level 4: It will begin attacking Spinners, Tiny Spinners, Snakes and Darts.
At level 5: It will begin attacking Wanderers.
+-+-+-+-+
~ Tips ~
1) The weapon this Drone uses gets stronger and faster with each level up.
It's beam also acts as a high-frequency weapon of sorts; being impervious
to collisions.
2) When surrounded, Snipe is quite the fly-by-night character.
Sometimes, it is hard to determine what Snipe will go after.
This makes for on-the-fly decisions imperative at times.
Geometry Wars may require quick-reflexes, but on planets
like Battetra, Snipe's got your balls!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Not There! There! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Snipe: I like it.. however it is programmed to not target the things I'd
want it to kill. UFOs, vortexes and other enemy spawn-type monsters the
Snipe drone will not target. It seems to only target closest enemy really..
if it's a line of blue diamonds coming at me great, but otherwise I'd rather
have Attack/Ram for offensive assistance."
=== - Sweep Drone - ===
Cost: 57,000 Geoms
Description: The Drone cannot fire, but instead continually orbits the player,
smashing enemies that get in it's way. As the upgrade builds, the radius of
orbit decreases and speed increases, making the Drone into a useful,
shield-like defense, especially in a thick group of enemies.
** Recommended planet-classes: MAS-, SUR-, BAT-, VIR- **
Recommendation: Smaller areas means more Touch Of Death from this Drone since
enemies will group more closely to each other.
Sweep also loves a crowd.
*NOTE*
Several people have written in detailing how useful Sweep is
when using it's self-declared "Wall Tactic."
So, I just wanted to emphasize how effective this strategy is.
*END NOTE*
~ Tips ~
1) I've found that at the lower levels,
Sweep isn't all too useful as a shield, per se.
However, once you get up to level 6, it should noticably and often
help you out without you even trying.
2) Let Sweep take care of Spinners, the larger ones.
In one blow, Sweep will annihialate the Spinner and
both of it's Tiny Spinners.
3) Play chicken with Weavers and let Sweep orbit right into them.
4) Snakes are also easy kills considering how slow they are.
Hunt for groups.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Obstruction Is Good... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by J L)
"Sweep is great in some mazes, most notably Gamma Flieis. It wound up being my
route to Gold on that stage, and on a few other stages. In any obstructed
stage, the ability to kill through walls and around the corner is valuable.
Usually not a Goldwinner, though.
Playing it and avoiding firing for as long as possible is
a great proximity drill, boredom avoider and multibooster (because enemies it
kills are inside Geom sucking range) in slow early parts while you're
learning a grid. Usually not a route to Gold for me,
but I think it could be in a lot of situations."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Passing Through The Crowds. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by Turkeynutz)
"The best use that i can find for it is on the yellow Los levels, the enemies
will get stuck on the walls in very large numbers, and you can sit on the
other side and let the sweep drone wipe them all out in one sweep.
I also find when the enemy count is to large to imagine,
the sweep drone will let you pass throughthe large crowds
with much more ease than say the attack drone would.
Hope this helps!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Spawn Kills. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#3 (Submitted by Len)
"You can stay in a known spawn-point of shapes using sweep, and it'll
basically clear out all of the enemies there (if you have good timing).
Not a great tip, but I use it from time to time. I prefer Snipe, or
Turret drones for survivability purposes (as living gives you more points.)"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Crowds Are Good Things. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#4 (Submitted by C�sar)
"First, sorry for my english. This is not my native language.
The sweep drone can be very useful in the levels with that yellow
little things (that things grouped together that multiply).
If you Sweep Drone has enough level, you can pass trough this mass of
enemies with no problem because the drone will destroy anything.
If you has good multiplier the point counter will go up very fast."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Another Wall Tactic. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#5 (Submitted by Greg)
"On the tightly enclosed levels, sometimes you can side up to a wall and
use the sweep to kill enemies that collect on the other side of the wall,
relieving a lot of the pressure you're getting."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Walls Are Trivial. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#6 (Submitted by Bryan)
"When it's fully powered it will wipe
out 95% of slower moving enemies.
There's also a really great tactic, if you hide behind a wall, the
drone can swing around and kill the enemies that collect on the other
three sides of it, which means that you only have to sit there and
cover one side, while the geoms stream in. Makes some of the hardest
levels trivial."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Retro Evolved... Evolved. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#7 (Submitted by Chezne)
"This little baby is my favorite in a lot of stages.
In stages with the moving block obstacles that you cannot shoot through
this can prove invaluable when in a pinch.
Probably the biggest use for Sweep, however, is stages where the stage
is flooded with enemies and you're running circles around the board dodging,
much like the defense technique in Retro Evolved.
My primary weapon fire is concentrated on shooting open
a path for my escape, while the Sweep drone takes
out any quick enemy that sneaks up behind with relatively
high effectiveness at max level.
[Summary]:
As stated above this is my favorite for obstacle stages and flood stages."
=== - Ram Drone - ===
Cost: 90,000 Geoms
Description: Like Sweep, the Drone does not fire, but instead targets enemies
around the player and rams them, killing them like a jack hammer.
As the upgrade builds, the Drone will take longer trips away from the player,
with a wider targeting arc and an ability to
prioritize harder to kill enemies.
** Recommended planet-classes: ZOO-, LOS-, POR- **
Recommendation: Smaller grids work well with Ram, but it may still prove
useful in the larger planets as well.
However, do *NOT* rely on it on BAT- grids;
too chaotic.
~ Tips ~
1) This thing is essentially worthless when it's still at level 1.
Albeit, once the level 2 mark hits, it will become noticably helpful;
making ramming runs about once a second. But at this early stage in
experience, said runs are short-winded. However, as your XP grows,
so will this A.I.'s intelligence, so feel free to appreciate
Ram's later abilities.
2) Something else that is note-worthy about Ram and could help
many players out -- Ram attacks Weavers.
I don't know what level it begins doing this at,
but I've seen it from level 3 and on.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Ram will eventually begin to shoot bullets as it levels up.
The direction it fires is still unknown, but
I'm certain that it's not directly related to
it's ramming direction.
At level 6: Ram will begin to shoot a sinlge bullet,
speed is about 1/4 of a second and is dependant
on when you shoot - that's when it fires.
At level 7: It begins attacking Darts and Asteroids.
At level 8: It's ROF is that of your initial gun's.
Although, it's still a single-shot weapon.
+-+-+-+-+
Also, Scott has informed me about possible A.I.
differences on the DS version. Some of his info
are repeats of what is just above, but before I
received his email and updated my FAQ,
I had already tossed said info in my guide.
Plus, I'm assuming all is the same for both versions,
but thanks to experience with other multi-platform
games, I felt it necessary to not expunge any details.
~ ~ ~
"This is on a DS; I'm not sure if the Wii version acts the
same.
Here's what I've discovered so far:
- At level 10, it fires.
- The direction of fire appears unrelated to your ship. It
seems to pick a random direction every few seconds.
- The rate of fire is about the same as your ship's original
guns, except with only one bullet instead of two.
- It fires only while you're firing.
What I don't yet know:
- Whether it fires during levels 1-9.
- What determines the direction of fire.
- Whether it fires while ramming, or only in-between. It's
really hard to tell without recording the screen and stepping
through frame by frame.
:)
"
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ram Likes The Zoo. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by J L)
"Ram isn't so hot in general, but it wound up being my route to Gold on Delta
Zooeis. The thing to remember is that the next target is picked from its
perspective, not yours, so it likes groups and *you* have to keep an eye on
where *it* is. It's only effective when enemies are bunched in a line, but
when they are it can really wreak some carnage - like twenty kills a second
carnage. I followed it around, trusting it to keep one side mostly clear,
and got Gold the first time after an evening of other strategies."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Good And Bad. It's Hilarious. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Hilarious to watch at max level. I tend to find it strays from me too much
and usually causes more harm than good, especially on Massive stages or
stages with lots of those pink diamonds that split.
Makes short work of Virus stages."
=== - Turret Drone - ===
Cost: 150,000 Geoms
Description: The Drone has the ability to deploy as a sentry gun and then
attempt to destroy targets within 360 of it's vision,
at a fixed distance away.
As the upgrades builds, the distance it can target and the frequency of
firing increases. As does the frequency and time of deployment.
** Recommended planet-classes: CLA-, FLI-, VAR-, ROC- **
Recommendation: I can see it being helpful on most grids.
Arguably the best Drone.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
At level 3: It's type of fire will change to that of
a three-bullet spreadshot.
At level 6: The ROF increases nicely,
as does it's RPM.
+-+-+-+-+
~ Tips ~
This is probably the best Drone when at level 1, often deploying into a turret
and shooting for roughly one full circle. The upgrades only make it better.
Try having Turret deploy at one end of the grid, while you
go wreak havoc on the other end.
It's pretty effective... I've found that it is, anyway.
Albeit, I've noticed two downsides to Turret:
1) In planets that are constructed like mazes, i.e. the ZOO- and LOS-
planets, Turret is bound to fail. This is because when Turret's deployed,
it's direction of fire moves slowly; bad enough to aim directly at a
wall for a noticeable peroid of time.
2) If you're playing on a grid where the number of enemies is can be
relatively contained in a certain area
(i.e. planets such as Masduo, where you must break apart
larger, idle forms of enemies to find their normal counterparts).
This is because the MAS- grids (among many others)
are much larger than the screen itself,
so it may very well activate a Blackhole or
crack open an Asteroid that you simply didn't
feel like dealing with just yet.
Turret also partially mimics Attack when it's not deployed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Not So Great, But Not Much Time. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by Chezne)
"I don't think I've given it the same time as Attack or Sweep. If the Turret
had a bit of AI and focused on groups of enemies instead of just spinning in
that circle I'd like it more. To be honest I have not maxed turret to full
yet so it may get better."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Everything Moves In Circles! Yeah! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by crewnumber169)
"A little tip when using the turret: On levels where lots of gravity wells
spawn the turret can activate ones offscreen, and before you know it
you are being attacked by a bunch of little circles.
Also, positioning your ship on top of the turret and rotating your fire
it time with it but facing the other way can clear a very large area of
enemies, including green squares and purple squares and their spawn.
Although sometimes green squares can just run around the outside.
An alternative to this is doing the same thing but rotationg in the
other direction so your shots meet every 180 degrees.
If you're being chased by enemies and your turret starts firing,
just get on top and join in. It looks lovely
and it is surprisingly effective, especially when levelled up!"
=== - Bait Drone - ===
Cost: 300,000
Description: The Drone can take on a player-like attract behavior. It will
switch on this ability and lure attracted enemies away from the player ship,
allowing the player to move more safely and pick off resulting clusters.
As the ability upgrades, the frequency and duration of
Bait behavior increases.
** Recommended planet-classes: ZOO-, VAR-(all), MIN- **
Recommendation: There are better Drones out there, but best on planets with
where Grunts or Spinners dominate. ZOO- planets especially.
Being surrounded is not a good thing in Bait's case.
I like to see Bait as more of a second
player, if you will, yet it's still not that handy.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Experience Level Changes
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
At level 3: Bait will fire a single round every 1/4 second
while pausing inbetween every few seconds,
providing that you fire as well. It won't fire in your
direction and from what I've seen, appears to
attack everything.
At level 4: It will attract the Mutated type.
At level 10: Bait's weapon will radically change.
It will start out with a twin cannon
with an ROF that matches your starting cannon's.
Then, for an unknown reason, it will change to a
tri-shot with the same ROF as it had before
and vice-versa.
Oh, by the way...
both Geom count and score tally
have been ruled out as possible causes
for the weapon transition.
+-+-+-+-+
~ Tips ~
1) This Drone is only useful against enemies that pursue you,
yet even guys like a Wanderer really don't care for it.
I plan on compiling a list of enemies it attracts,
but both Spinners and Grunts seem to want to
make love to the thing.
2) Although, Bait doesn't attract Weavers,
it does however, ATTACK them.
Keep this attribute in mind if you
don't want Snipe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Worthless. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#1 (Submitted by J L)
"I've got Bait fully upgraded, keep giving it chances but for me it's pretty
much worthless. Even at max level it only spends half its time in Attract
mode, the audio cues tell you only when it's changing not what it's *doing*,
it wants to start off near you for some reason, and it
DOESN'T ATTRACT GREENS.
It feels great when you get to murder a seething mass of pinks
from across the map, but it only happens when you could have
handled things anyway. So far, when the chips are down
this drone doesn't save your life, doesn't boost your score,
doesn't get you anything and can't be relied upon to change the way you play;
it might have some vague beneficial effect, but compared to the others it may
as well not exist."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Ikea Nesting Ground. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#2 (Submitted by Chezne)
"Bought it just to say I had it. The Lure effect doesn't last long
enough to impress me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Co-Op. Relenting. Detrimental. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#3 (Submitted by J L)
"I have relented a little bit on the Bait drone. Its main mode is still a
bucket of rotten scum - if anything it's actively detrimental in crowds,
because when it kicks on the enemies suddenly aren't following the right
behavior patterns. It's hard to "dive" through a pink wall when they can
change direction at any moment instead of skidding past you.
The secondary mode, though, is...interesting.
It fires when you do, and unlike all other controlled
drones the fire doesn't necessarily bear any relation to where you're firing.
It's hard to tell the algorithm - ideal observing conditions occur when
you're busy - but it may be as simple as "closest enemy to the drone".
What this creates is
A. the valuable "crossfire" effect that constrains greens and
B. generally less dense enemies;
it just wanders in and out doing its ownthing,
and enemies everywhere get a bit less dense without you having to worry about
its position. In the end I don't think any benefit from this is enough to
overcome the terrible main function, but it is there and it's probably the
closest feeling to playing co-op with another person."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Weavers... Begone! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
#4 (Submitted by Drew)
"I figured I'd put in my two cents and share that I have the Bait drone
maxed out, and it does not attract the green guys.
Thanks for the FAQ, it was nice to have when I first started playing."
____________________________________________________
| |
| Section VI - Planet-Class Strategies |
|____________________________________________________|
===== Section VI - General Info =====
Planets are the so-called "levels" of Galaxies. And as far as the
Single Player campaign is concerned, there are 64 of them,
spread out through ten different galaxies. Each planet itself is
comprised of a two-dimensional grid that is never identical to one another.
You might have one planet with a rectangular-shaped grid and two smaller
rectangles inside the larger one acting as walls.
Most galaxies and planets aren't accessible until you buy them with Geoms,
save for each starting planet in each galaxy as well as the three planets
in the opening galaxy, Alpha, which is free as well.
Also, something that should be kept in mind when hunting for
the best planets regarding whatever intrigues you is that the prefixes for the
planets help to determine their general itinerary.
And the names are derived from the Greek alphabet,
along with the Attic dialect of the language
for the numbering system.
Here is the low-down of the planets
and what they apparently mean, originally submitted by SwordOfZork.
*Please note: Anything in brackets was added by either myself
or anyone else other than SwordOfZork.
An asterisk will point to Special Thanks
if someone sent the tip in.*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"From what I can gather, the three letter prefix tells you what you can expect
in that type of level. After that, it just has a number identifier
for that level.
Heres what I can determine:
Planet Type:
Trainer - Introduction Levels (2)
CLA - Classic. Plays similarly to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
MAS - Massive. Contains large versions of enemies that explode into
many small enemies.
SUR - Survival. No bombs, and only one life.
BAT - Battle. Enemies spawn very quickly.
FLI - Flip. Contains blue boxes [or Flippers] that roll around the stage.
VAR - Variety. Different types of enemies take turns spawning, often relative
to your position.
MIN - Mines. Level contains mine layers. Kill enemies with mines for
extra point multipliers.
ORB - Orbit. Everything circles around the center of the level.
Direction changes often.
ZOO - [Symmetry.] Level contains tunnels and small areas,
[that are symmetrical and complex in overall design.]
ROC - [Rock.] Waves of red squares [or Meteors] will fly through the level.
[Unlike UFOs and NUFOs, these guys can hurt you.]
LOS - ??? Level contains tunnels and small areas.
VIR - [Virus.]* Contains yellow pentagons [or Cell Masses]
that quickly multiply.
POR - Portal. Level contains a portal that sends you to a different portal.
Planet Number:
1 - Eis
2 - Duo
3 - Tris
4 - Tetra
5 - Pente
6 - Hex
7 - Hepta
(Number doesn't necessarily fall in this order)"
===== Section VI - Planet Classes =====
I'm separating the planets into their respective classes and going from there.
Keep in mind that not every planet may apply for a given strategy,
however, I will make an effort to distinguish
between them when need be.
I will also rate the Drones in terms of usefulness.
If anyone believes I've misjudged a Drone,
I am kindly asking that you space monkeys
email me informing me that I'm a moron
and I'll add your input to the guide.
=============
CLA - Classic
=============
This is referring to the following six different planets:
- Claeis
- Claduo
- Clatris
- Clahex
- Clatetra
- Clapente
Also, J L sent in a tip regarding Clahex, here it is:
~ ~ ~
"After a week's playtime I finally broke through Epsilon Clahex
last night - it's interesting, along the way I came up about
3 mill short with I think 6 of the 8 drones, including Bait.
In the end it was Attack that claimed Gold, but I implemented
some subtle strategic changes and I think the others could have
gotten there if they'd happened to be in rotation at the time."
~ ~ ~
Attack (2)- Awesome, especially on higher levels.
The open areas serve as a double-edged sword;
they give you an opportunity to gain some distance
between yourself and your Drone, thus potentially
allowing for more kills since your Drone isn't aiming
directly in your line of fire.
The hinderance to this tactic is that you could be left
vulnerable when surrounded. This is more a problem of
Attack shooting generally where you're shooting,
but that's why there are eight different Drones.
Defend (6)- See Attack's open-area weakness.
I don't see it bringing in nearly as many
Golds as Attack on CLA- planets,
so have fun when hunting for them.
That aside, the 'circles' strategy works well.
Collect (3)- The CLA- planets all have large, generally open grids,
so naturally the Collect Drone will prove useful.
I've seen people say that it's not very handy to have
once you've reached 150x,
but when going for a high score, you want to survive
as long as possible and this
includes increasing your number of lives via Geoms.
Grab some extra offense or defense to lower the number of enemies
or rely on your own skills while Collect racks up the dough
for your lives and bombs. You decide.
Snipe (5)- Snipe is good. I like it.
Open area + impregnable laser = potential escape routes.
Just be ready to move when it does create one.
Sweep (4)- Sweep is more useful on the SUR- and BAT- planets.
Of course, it's shield attribute is nothing to scoff at.
It's certainly better than Ram.
Play chicken when you can.
Ram (7)- Not the best thing to have out there with you.
It might also run off somewhere when you need it close by.
Although, it can open up the score a bit, you are also running
the risk of not being protected as these are wide-open maps.
Follow it like a lost dog if you want it to be useful,
but on Ram's higher levels, that may be difficult.
Turret (1)- Turret is pretty effective here.
It will probably save your life several times
without you even realizing it.
Lower levels included.
Bait (8)- Bait.... I'd rather eat glass. As mentioned in another section, this
Drone does not work well in surrounding crowds.
Worst one to pick. I can't even conjure up a strategy for it
other than "Do not use it!"
Albeit, if you are lonely and desire the feeling of
a second player, I suppose Bait could possibly
give you some solace.
=============
MAS - Massive
=============
This is referring to the following five different planets:
- Maseis
- Masduo
- Mastris
- Mastetra
- Maspente
Attack (4)- As you progress deep into the MAS- planets,
regular enemies tend to spawn quite often in masses.
So, when that happens implement the CLA- tactics.
Asteroids? Kill the lot of 'em as soon as they begin
to break apart. Once you start allowing them to roam freely,
that's when you'll inadvertently bust them open;
possibly giving yourself unneeded attention.
Defend (3)- It may be difficult to keep track of the Asteroids
as you control fire in opposite directions,
so try to keep an eye on that.
Other than that, the 'turret' tactic sounds like
a useful idea.
Collect (6)- Given the relative ease of being able to
slaughter masses up close, I'm not so sure
that Collect would be a wise choice to make
when shooting for a Gold.
Albeit, now that I've said this, I'm sure someone
will email me their two cents and prove me wrong...
Snipe (5)- As a general rule, you'll usually find Weavers
scattered amongst the rest of the hordes of enemies.
Thus, Snipe could be a wise choice.
Snipe will also attack Asteroids [at some higher level].
So, if at all possible, have Snipe take care of them
while you deal with the rest of the enemy geometry.
Sweep (1)- Sweep can break apart Asteroids in one hit
and on the second round fell the smaller counterparts
to reveal the regular bunch.
That and standand Sweep tactics should do you well.
Oh, you also have the best method of crowd control
with Sweep by not having him stray away anywhere.
Ram (7)- Ram will attack Asteroids. This is good and bad.
The good: Saves you the trouble of hammering it yourself.
The bad: If you're saving Asteroids to kill them at certain
times, Ram may very well spoil your day.
The ugly: The exerting force that Asteroids' explosions
cause may very well spoil Ram's day due to you
having died from the consequence of kinetic force.
Turret (2)- Great. The 'circles' tip provided by crewnumber169
can be implemented quite well here. Since Asteroids
can usually be dealt with at your discretion,
use the aforementioned strategy once you've broken
the parts up into the individual
enemies to wipe them out almost effortlessly.
Bait (8)- Grunts are guaranteed to appear at some point,
but this thing is still relatively worthless.
==============
SUR - Survival
==============
This is referring to the following five different planets:
- Sureis
- Surpente
- Surduo
- Surtris
- Surtetra
Attack (2)- It's hard to distinguish who is better:
Attack, Sweep or Turret. This will depend on
the player ultimately, but being able to plow through
and create a pocket to escape out of is always helpful.
Just remember to keep an eye on your Drone as to
smother it - This strategy is worthless if it's
running off somewhere.
Defend (5)- Defend could prove somewhat useful here.
Somewhat small map + constantly being surrounded =
It's advised that you concentrate fire in more than
one place at one time.
Granted, Sweep would be better.
Collect (4)- Seeing as how you don't earn any extra lives or bombs,
you are merely using this guy to grab Geoms.
That may not be as bad as it sounds, though.
Sitting in the middle of a SUR- map, Surduo should do nicely,
mimicing Turret while Collect runs around grabbing most
of the Geoms has proven to be an excellent strategy for me.
You don't have to worry very much about where you are
seeing as how you're camping, plus most of the enemies
on SUR- planets are Grunts, so Weavers and other more vicious
pursuers are a rare find, if at all.
Snipe (6)- The Neutron is Snipe's weakness.
Surtris and Surtetra are not recommended
planets for Snipe. Not to mention, Snipe's
ROF sucks as well.
Sweep (1)- Remember what I noted about Defend?
This guy can really help you out before you even
realize it due to all of the potential spawn kills
that Sweep will grab.
Of course, playing chicken isn't a bad option, either.
It's one of Sweep's better qualities, anyway!
Ram (8)- Depending on when and where this thing activates,
it can serve as your workhorse or a lazy piece of crap.
Ram can pull it's own weight...
however, *DO NOT* let it get stuck in a corner!
It enjoys this for the spawn kills, but it serves
as it's own death warrant. Sure, it may guarantee
a kill wherever it's at, however that is just a
SINGLE kill out of a full circle's worth of enemies.
It can also potentially traverse the whole map
in a single ram run depending on where you're playing.
Turret (3)- Great. Spending a lot of time deployed means
netting potential spawn kills. This also applies
to the BAT- planets as well.
Bait (7)- Many SUR- planets have Grunts, the blue diamonds,
as the dominant species, if you will. Bait knows how
to attract them from the ghet-go, so you... may
want to consider it when trying to survive
for a while.
Albeit, this would probably classify as a
personal challenge more than anything.
============
BAT - Battle
============
This is referring to the following seven different planets:
- Bateis
- Batduo
- Battris
- Battetra
- Batpente
- Bathex
- Bathepta
Attack (5)- I'm not sure this drone is all that great here.
Sure, you're fighting masses of enemies
which can be awesome for Attack,
albeit, a lot of times said masses will surround
you. Plowing through a line won't help very much
as the void will usually be filled back up
shortly thereafter.
So, what should you do?
Play chicken and make an effort
to not get surrounded.
Defend (3)- For Batduo, Battetra and Bathepta,
Defend proves much more useful than most drones.
I'm talking about it's 'turret' strategy here.
Collect (4)- Because so many groups of enemies can potentially
spawn one after another, it's generally difficult to grab
most of the Geoms yourself without being
'six feet from the edge.'
So, reaching 150x could very well take a long time.
Thus, let Collect do the work for you.
The offset to this is that you *MUST* learn
how to fight on your own amongst potentially
100+ on-screen enemies that are all in a race
to expunge your accomplishments.
Snipe (6)- Despite the tongue-in-cheek quality of enemies
that BAT- planets deliver, Snipe still isn't your best bet.
Think about it's seemingly arbitrary targeting.
Sweep (1)- Shield, For The Win!
Let Sweep handle the Spinners and Weavers.
Snakes can also be tossed in that list as well.
Ram (7)- The maps are too large *and* chaotic for Ram
to do any serious damage. The only thing
that I can suggest is to try and stay near it.
Turret (2)- You have open grids and Turret, plain and simple.
Use strategies wisely!
Bait (8)- As useful as it's lure ability may seem in theory,
it will probably just mess up your planning
when you are watching Spinners or some other
quick-moving/gullible enemy.
==========
FLI - Flip
==========
This is referring to the following six planets:
- Flieis
- Fliduo
- Flitris
- Flitetra
- Flipente
- Flihex
Attack (7)- It's hard for this Drone to be
effective what with the Flippers
prohibiting any fire outside of
Snipe's laser.
I didn't get very far with Attack, so
I can't say very much about it.
Defend (6)- It may be better than Attack, but
the Flippers still reduce Defend's usefulness.
Although, since it's not always right next to you,
you could use the Drone as a primary weapon
when your own bullets aren't doing the job.
Collect (5)- The Flippers can be a pain in the ass
if you're trying to go after Geoms.
Likewise, so can be hitting far away geometry.
But for whatever reason, I've had better
results with this connoisseur than with
the first two Drones.
Snipe (2)- Snipe rocks for a single reason:
it's laser will phase through Flippers.
Plus, since these grids are less hectic
than say, BAT- planets, it should be
more effective in that you'll have an
easier time predicting where Snipe will shoot.
Sweep (3)- The 'shield' tactic is awesome here.
Other than that, it's standard Sweep
maneuvers.
Ram (4)- Ram can also pass through Flippers
during it's ramming sessions.
This should be helpful for the same reasons
Snipe should be.
Turret (1)- Despite that a lot of it's fire will be
expunged by the Flippers, this guy will still
prove that it is a 'top-tier' Drone.
What works well for me is the
Drone-at-one-end-and-you-at-the-other
strategy. Since you can't always shoot from
end to end yourself, a lot of effort is being
saved by doing this.
Bait (8)- As usual, Bait doesn't offer much to the table here.
Add in the Flippers hindering your freedom
and you could be trapped between one or two and
an enemy being lured by Bait. This more or less
guarantees your death, if not then
the use of a half-wasted bomb.
=============
VAR - Variety
=============
This is referring to the following five planets:
- Vareis
- Varduo
- Vartris
- Vartetra*
- Varpente**
* Early on, a Mine Layer will spawn.
Not sure how many more appear,
but take into account my notes
about the MIN- planets.
** This planet will actually have it's own Drone
breakdown, seeing as how it's so radically
different from all the others thanks to
a single attribute increase...
Attack (3)- You have open areas, so a good strategy
might be to just stay in a relatively small area
(keep a mental circle or box if said area)
and just try to keep everyone out of it.
For the most part, you won't get bombarded
heavily enough where you'll need to escape
time and time again...
Save for when Spinner waves arrive.
Defend (5)- Standard Defend maneuvers...
... But try to speed up the RPMs when
mimicing Turret.
Again, imagine that mental circle or box.
Collect (8)- Despite these grids being open and free,
it's still quite easy to grab Geoms at an acceptable
rate. A good chunk of your kills should be
medium range at best.
I didn't find it very hard, anyway.
Snipe (7)- I know what I keep saying about Snipe's
impregnable laser, but the truth of the matter
is that I've lasted longer with other Drones.
I'll conjure up a real strategy sooner or later. :P
Sweep (4)- Standard Sweep and you should be fine.
If you can manage it without dying,
let Sweep take care of the Spinners
and Weavers when applicable.
Ram (6)- Ram has proved to me that it can
take out a lot of Spinners during their
assaults. It will go anywhere to kill,
so don't think it will hover around you
all the time.
Turret (1)- Call me lazy...
... Use standard Turret tactics.
Bait (2)- Bait truly shines here. I'm serious.
It has no problem attracting Spinners,
so shoot away and grab whatever leftover
Geoms you may find. Just watch out for Weavers.
Oh, and pay attention to Bait's lure activations;
a gullible Spinner might crash into you
if you don't.
========
Varpente
========
There are two main reasons why I chose to alienate
this planet from the rest of it's class:
1) The grid size is freaking massive.
2) The main onslaught that you will face here
is a near-constant flooding of Spinners.
I've found that the best strategy is to hole yourself
up in either the North, South, East or West Poles
when the first wave arrives.
It will come shortly after the first wave of Snakes
show up.
Attack (5)- More frontal attacks are what you need.
But I've seen better Drones.
Defend (8)- I'm telling you to essentially jump into
a foxhole, so why would Defend be a good choice?
That's a good question.
During Spinner flooding, Spinners/Darts/Grunts/
Weavers may randomly spawn at the poles in
1's and 2's, give or take. Defend may help kill them
shortly after they spawn, but Sweep is much better
suited for this task.
Collect (1)- It may not attack at all, but while you're
busy with the Spinners it can be pretty difficult
to grab a considerable amount of Geoms.
I reached 150x after dying in no time flat
thanks to Collect. Gold was nice and easy...
relatively.
Snipe (7)- I know what I keep saying about Snipe's
impregnable laser, but the truth of the matter
is that I've lasted longer with other Drones.
Sweep (4)- Read Defend's strategy and always be
on the lookout for pole spawns.
Once any appear, let Sweep deal with them.
Ram (3)- Ram has proved to me that it can
take out a lot of Spinners during their
assaults. It will go anywhere to kill,
so don't think it will hover around you
all the time.
Turret (6)- See Snipe, honestly.
Bait (2)- Bait truly shines here. I'm serious.
It has no problem attracting Spinners,
so shoot away and grab whatever leftover
Geoms you may find. Just watch out for Weavers.
===========
MIN - Mines
===========
This is referring to the following three planets:
- Mineis
- Minduo
- Mintris
This subsection, at the moment, will be substantially
smaller than all the others. Why? Because in my book,
the only Drone worth a damn is Bait.
Using Bait, you can rely on it to attract the
Grunts, Spinners and whatever else may be on the list.
And these guys *WILL* show up often.
That's not all. Make an effort to avoid enemies
without having to resort to bombs until a fairly large
group of these guys are active.
Wait for Bait to make itself seductive...
Now, you can set up a chain reaction
with the mines once Bait shuts it's feature off.
(Or, if it's near some mines)
Bam! Instant score hike.
A good example:
One time on Mintris, I was at roughly 30 million in points.
Had a large group Grunts, Spinners and NUFOs
get expunged by the mines.
My score then turned into 245~ million.
Obviously, my score multiplier was racked up a bit,
but you get the idea.
===========
ORB - Orbit
===========
This is referring to the following two planets:
- Orbeis
- Orbduo
- Orbtris
Attack (1)- You need more power up front,
I don't care what your strategy is.
I just stayed in one general area
and shot where ever the oncoming
enemies were and didn't do much else.
ORB- planets can be difficult, but that's
moreso depending on where you are
as opposed to the Drone that you are using.
The further out you are, the safer you are...
generally speaking.
Defend (7)- It's almost worthless because
once an enemy gets behind you,
odds are that it will just keep on going.
Even on Orbduo with all of the Weavers,
I don't recommend this one.
Collect (2)- The orbital pull can really make it
hard to grab a cluster of Geoms sometimes,
so concentrate on everything else;
you're gonna need to when the next wave arrives.
Bunker yourself up.
Snipe (6)- Just haven't found it all that useful.
Nothing else to say.
Sweep (3)- When fighting almost everyone head-on,
you're bound to let someone slip through.
This is why Sweep is here.
Ram (5)- Ram rams a lot here. Just go about your
bunkered routine and give Ram it's freedom.
Turret (4)- There are a bunch of walls scattered everywhere,
but Turret still serves it's purpose decently well.
When the opportunity arises, park the deployed
Drone in the center of the grid.
Bait (8)- lol Bait lol
==============
ZOO - Symmetry
==============
This is referring to the following three planets:
- Zooeis
- Zooduo
- Zootris
Attack (8)- I haven't found Attack to be all too
useful here. The narrow passage ways and
overall cramped feeling of the grids
haven't allowed Attack to keep up
with me enough where it won't shoot
at a wall half of the time.
Defend (5)- Much better than Attack.
Defend's movement patterns seem to
be different than his, plus shooting in the
opposite direction *should* allow for it's
bullets to have a chance to hit enemies
at a rate that's actually tolerable.
Collect (4)- It's not too bad here.
Although, you can gain extra lives
and possibly bombs, Sweep or Ram
should be better choices.
Since the grids are so tight, you'll
probably want some Defensive help
rather than this connoisseur Drone.
And just as a reminder:
Collect likes to get stuck on a wall
while chasing after a Geom.
So, just be sure to baby-sit the thing.
Snipe (6)- Eh, didn't do very much for me.
As theorized, most of it's shots stopped
dead at a wall.
Sweep (2)- Standard Sweep maneuvers.
Peroid.
Ram (1)- Ram's favorite type of grid.
I don't even have to make an effort when shooting
for Gold with this Drone.
If you are having trouble surviving, just
follow it. With the narrow passageways,
it's not hard to do so.
Turret (7)- Think Attack, only slightly better due to
it's 'turret' trait.
When it prepares to deploy, lure it near a
corner or spawn point. Otherwise, it's
essentially useless.
Bait (3)- Grunts and Spinners make up most of
the ZOO- planets' enemies, so Bait will
actually help you with great effort.
=============
ROC - Meteors
=============
This is referring to the following two planets:
- Roceis
- Rocduo
- Roctris
Attack (3)- The enemy flow is generally
passive enough for you to not
have to worry about your six.
Once you reach 150x, turretize.
Defend (6)- See Attack.
Collect (8)- You have one life, no bombs
and zero opportunities to obtain
either one.
Plus, the grids are usually not
heavily populated, which gives
you room to move around.
Snipe (7)- Snipe works well when there are
enemy groups forming a line while
in pursuit. This rarely ever happens
on the ROC- planets.
Sweep (2)- Standard Sweep jargon.
On Roctris, I see Sweep as the best
Drone to go out there with.
Only because of the small-as-anything
Mayflies that will constantly spawn for
as long as you are alive.
Ram (4)- See Bait.
Turret (1)- Standard Turret strats, for the win.
Bait (5)- You'll eventually have Spinners
come after you, not to mention the
Mayflies on Roctris. While you're
distracted by the Meteors, Bait will be
taking care of most everything else.
=========
LOS - ???
=========
This is referring to the following three planets:
- Loseis
- Losduo
- Lostris
- Lostetra*
* This planet will also have it's own dedicated
breakdown for the Drones - Thanks to all of
the Gravity Wells that enjoy spawning there...
But that will be for the next update.
It's the only planet outside of Lambda's
that still needs to be covered.
Attack (7)- Remember how I suggested that
Attack be used in more open areas in
order to be fully effective?
Yeah. That combined with the fact that
a lot of times, you won't be rushed by an
onslaught of geometry when you bank
around a corner will usually result in
wasted shots by either you or Attack.
Defend (6)- Keeping what I said about Attack
in mind, Defend gives you the advantage
of being able to cover at least two areas
in a corridor, depending on how large it is.
Collect (8)- For the most part, at least
with the way I play, my LOS- kills
come at short range. So, I really don't
see much need for Collect here.
But that's just me, I realize there are
others who have different styles of fighting
the enemy.
Snipe (5)- Snipe does well taking out
the Grunts and Spinners, but ultimately
it seems to fall short in protection once you
start to get in the "higher ups" of the levels.
Sweep (2)- Standard Sweep.
Ram (1)- Ram should be your best option
on Loseis and a top-tier for the others.
Refer to the Loseis tip found way above
and just let Ram take care of most of the
enemies. Just sit back and watch your
pet Drone be loyal.
Turret (4)- Despite the LOS- planets having multiple
corridors, walls and whatnot, Turret still manages
to hold it's own. Having it camp at an intersection
or a spawn point is always helpful. The fact that
many of the pathways aren't terribly narrow also
contributes to Turret's glory.
Bait (3)- Outside of Lostris, Bait is essentially
on it's home terf. Grunts, Spinners,
Protons and the like can all be seen here
every minute of the fight.
Plus, like Ram, it can be your workhorse
on Loseis concerning the Gravity Wells.
===========
VIR - Virus
===========
This is referring to the following two planets:
- Vireis
- Virduo
- Virtris
Attack (5)- I've had to watch my back
a number of times and have been
forced to divert attention from one
thing to evade another.
Don't worry too much about PWNing
the Cell Masses; you can do that
on your own.
Defend (3)- Takes care of Cell Masses
quite nicely. Add in it's regular
uses and you've got game.
Collect (8)- Meh... You're free to move around
half the time, especially if you
constantly keep the Cell Mass population
to a minimum.
Snipe (4)- Snipe isn't too shabby.
It will attack Cell Masses, Mutateds
plus many other annoyances.
Albeit, there are better Drones out there.
Sweep (1)- With all of the potential
Mutateds you could see, Sweep
may prove invaluabe.
It's normal uses have proven to be
highly effective for me.
Ram (6)- If Ram was programmed to plow
through the Cell Mass groups without
hesitation, it would be more useful.
Turret (2)- Turret will take care of Cell Masses
by blowing them the frick away.
Sure, logic should tell you to wait until
they reproduce into something that
Legion would be proud of, but as long
as you make an effort to not attack them
when Turret is *undeployed*,
you should do just fine.
Bait (7)- Your main problem will probably
be the Mutateds, and even if they're not,
Bait still won't be of much help.
These are mostly open grids, remember.
And as far as I know, it doesn't attract Cell Masses.
============
POR - Portal
============
This is referring to the following planet:
- Poreis
First, let me start off by saying that I see Poreis as having similar
Attributes to the CLA-, MAS- and ZOO- planets.
Thus, you may want to refer to them
as well as whatever you take in from here.
Attack (7)- Roughly around the time you should get Bronze,
the enemy will begin surrounding you.
On the left-side, Grunts, it's respective
Asteroids and Spinners will be the
main problems you'll probably deal with.
On the right-side, just replace the Grunts
with Wanderers. ...Anyway...
This isn't very good if you have Attack.
Defend (6)- Act as if both you and Defend are Turret Drones.
Not the best idea when Repulsors arrive, but hey...
At least you have a strategy for everything else!
Collect (2)- With using Wormholes to escape and the Asteroids
pushing enemies and yourself outward as they blow up,
it can be hard to collect Geoms quickly.
But I'm just going by personal experience
and playing style. I'm sure others will
think otherwise.
Snipe (5)- When you're constantly surrounded,
Snipe isn't really the best idea out there.
I've found it to be better than Attack, though.
Sweep (3)- Just use normal Sweep tactics and try to take out the Asteroids
using the Wormhole Invincibility tactic.
Ram (1)- Once the enemies start appearing in constant waves,
you can leave Ram at one side of the grid while you jump in a
Wormhole and fight on the other side. This tactic has worked
well for me, especially since if you leave one side unattended
for a bit, Asteroids can really pile up -
Usually forcing you to use a bomb
due to all of the exerting force that exploding Asteroids
will cause to you and the other enemies.
Or, if the above tactic doesn't work out well for you...
Just fight on one side for the whole game with your Drone.
I suggest that you choose the left side as Grunts hand out
more points than Wanderers.
Turret (4)- See Ram.
Bait (8)- Bait really does have it's uses.... but it's horrible on Poreis.
I do plan on devising a strategy on how to at least get to
Silver, though.
But that, however, will all be in good time. :)
=============
Lambda Galaxy
=============
This section actually wasn't written by me,
but by pOOtinAnnY from GameFAQs. Thanks man!
It details all of Lambda Galaxy,
with every drone covered.
Lambda Galaxy: Welcome to the top of the leaderboards.
�Top of the leaderboards?� you might ask, �but I�m just a lowly gamer,
not fit to sit among the top 10 of the Geometry Wars: Galaxies
leaderboards!� Well... welcome to Lambda.
There are a few levels here that, if you are patient,
could prove to be your sole ticket to top.
Enjoy crushing the overall scores of everybody else that worked hard
for their spot near the top by being lucky enough to have a friend
who has the DS version or rich enough to buy both. Well deserved!
So if you are having some trouble managing getting gold on some of
these levels, here is a guide, level by level,
for which drones proved most effective for me.
=========
Roczeroth
=========
As a whole, this is a pretty slow moving level.
No matter what drone behavior you chose, you can stick to the middle
and act as your own turret, getting a ridiculously easy gold every time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (4)- It does work really well, but I still feel that it is
much easier to have your back side covered at all times.
Defend (3)- Defend is great for running circles of fire.
As asteroids come from the front and back of you often
in this level, it does a clean sweep of most enemies.
There are not very many
instances where you will need to take on many things at once,
thus, I would favor defend over attack.
Collect (8)- Teh suck. It gets you 150x multiplier quickly,
but besides that is a complete waste of time.
You can�t gain any bombs or extra lives in this one.
Snipe (7)- Snipe actually works pretty well for awhile,
because there is not much of a concentration of enemies
apart from the asteroids.
Kill the asteroids and snipe will take care of most of
the others, at least up to around 50 million.
Sweep (2)- Sweep will save your life on multiple occasions here.
When it starts getting harder around 50 million,
it will kill many of those enemies that you just missed.
Ram (5)- From what I can tell, ram does not target the asteroids,
which is actually a pretty good thing.
The asteroids should be a pretty easy kill for you,
and ram will do a pretty good job of cleaning up
the rest of the enemies around.
Turret (1)- The best for this level.
When it is inactive, just simply stick around the middle
and survive. While it is active, do whatever; it will
take down virtually everything that the level has to offer.
Bait (6)- There are not enough enemies to actually justify using bait.
Even in the times when they do spawn, it is just a matter of
chance whether the drone is activated or not.
=========
Flizeroth
=========
I hate these levels with a passion.
In my opinion, they go against everything that is geometry wars.
For me, no drone behavior seems to be as effective as I would like.
Apart from testing them for this guide, I would never even consider
using anything but the top 2, maybe 3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (5)- It can be decent at times, but the fact that the flippers
get in the way so often, it is way to hard to accurately use.
With the use of generators, attack can be very helpful
in clearing out large groups of enemies to get to the source.
Defend (6)- Same as attack, but at least you can (depending on flippers�)
cover multiple sides at once.
Collect (7)- It can be great at times, but I�ve also seen it get stuck
on some of the barriers in the level.
Overall, I feel like that on a level where virtually all
of your attacks are stopped before they reach the edge
of a level, you need something else
that can attack, not just collect.
Snipe (2)- There are a few in-level barriers that snipe cannot shoot through,
lessening it�s effectiveness in these type levels,
but as it does still shoot through flippers,
it can be extremely effective.
Sweep (1)- It does a great job of killing through the flippers,
It will kill a lot of enemies that you otherwise
would not be able to touch.
Ram (4)- Ram does a good job of taking out a lot of the
simple enemies on the outside, but when a gravity well fills,
it seems to get overrun too easily
Turret (3)- Too many of its bullets are stopped by the flippers
and in-level barriers. At times, it may be effective,
but other times it can be rendered completely useless.
Bait (8)- Basically, don�t use it.
It just adds more confusion to
an already confusing level.
=========
Clazeroth
=========
For me, the hardest level in the game.
It starts fairly simple, but when you hit 9 million points,
you will begin to understand what I mean.
The enemies spawn continually and you will be dead if you even
almost think about blinking. Good luck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (1)- This is the most controlled and consistent drone
you can get, and what you need in this level is
control and consistency.
This is the only drone that I�ve gotten gold with
on this level, and few other drones have gotten me close.
Defend (4)- At first, this drone sounded great to me,
but as I quickly found out, I was often cornered
in the level. As a general rule of thumb,
the defend drone does not work well
when it is shooting directly into a wall.
Collect (8)- You would hope that the extra collecting
would get you enough lives and bombs to hold on
in this level, but a prerequisite for collecting
is killing, which for me, at least, was never enough.
Snipe (3)- As most drone behaviors in this level, it works great right away,
but around 9 million it falls apart.
There are way too many enemies spawning for the
snipe to take care of.
Sweep (5)- It will take care of many enemies that you can�t handle
on your own, but again, there seem to be too many
at harder difficulties.
Ram (6)- It works great right away, but when you get to the
difficult part around 9 million, you need a better companion.
Turret (2)- Turret will rock anybody who gets in its way.
The problem is that a lot will stay out of its way...
especially when it isn�t deployed.
And even though that window may be a
few seconds when leveled up completely, it�s still too big.
Bait (7)- Doesn�t do a lot of good.
If you get lucky, it can help out a ton,
but luck can last you only so long,
and it isn�t likely that it will last you until gold.
=========
Minzeroth
=========
OK, high scoring level. Most drones pale in comparison to the top few,
but here is a review of them all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (3)- Attack is nice because it will help you out of those tight
squeezes when you are stuck in a corner.
With it, you can count on doing a lot more killing,
rather than relying on mines, but sometimes
the firepower can be necessary to simply find a mine.
Defend (7)- On this level, you want to have control of exactly where
you shoot. The more guys you kill with the mines, the better.
Defend will go about killing far too many guys that
probably aren�t even a threat.
Plus, when it does get harder, you will often be
cornered, rendering defend useless.
Collect (1)- Collect is great for gaining lots of lives
as well as bombs. There are plenty times when
you simply need to survive, and picking up geoms
is the last thing on your mind.
Especially in a level like this, where there are
huge amounts of enemies that are pretty
easy to kill, collect is the way to go.
Snipe (5)- It works pretty well against the mobs in this area
to help clear paths to bombs, but there are
defiantly better drone behaviors to go with.
Sweep (4)- Sweep is amazing until spinners start coming.
It just can�t hold up to defending
well against mobs of them.
Ram (8)- If you want to play a round where the majority
of your time is spent being angry at your drone,
this is a good bet. It always seems to kill when
you want it to stop and stop when you want it to kill.
Turret (6)- At first, it might annoy you that it is taking mine kills,
but later on, you will be happy that
it is letting you get to those mine kills.
Bait (2)- Draws everything away from you as you detonate the bombs.
The end.
=========
Orbzeroth
=========
My overview of drone behavior on this map is strongly based
on my style of playing. From what I have read of Kilroy's,
we are pretty opposite on this level.
I tend to stay in the middle of the level and shoot outward,
while Kilroy stays out and shoots in. Depending on your preferred
style on this level, you may want to refer to his notes
if you are having trouble with getting the gold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (5)- Attack is decent if you have an extremely quick eye
and can catch a neutron being flung at you,
but otherwise it pales in comparison to other behaviors.
Defend (1)- Defend is great for staying in the middle,
and setting up your own turret. It gets hectic often,
but usually things spin around you before they can get in.
You have to be quick, but you should be able to kill
them before they reach you. Be ready to move a bit
for grunts, shoot in circles to clear away weavers,
and shoot in a straight line to clear out anything
that is spinning in a circle outside of you.
Collect (2)- While I did not get my highest score possible
with this drone behavior, it was extremely effective
in collecting geoms that I could not reach.
It is a huge help in gaining lives and bombs,
as well as reaching the gold.
Snipe (6)- For the most part, it is worthless.
It doesn�t necessarily help you with the guys
that close in on you in a split second,
which is what you need.
Sweep (7)- The slower something is moving, the more effective sweep is.
In this level, enemies are often flung far faster
than their usual pace, rendering sweep much less effective.
Ram (3)- It isn�t too bad, as long as you don�t mind it
staying away from you. There is little hope of
actually sticking close to it in a level that
throws you around like this.
Turret (4)- Turret can work, but will leave you open for attack
sometimes when you need it most. It can get you the gold
if you give it some time,
but chances are it will take a bit of work.
Bait (8)- Yeah. I used it and had no idea that it was even there.
=========
Porzeroth
=========
I still haven�t figured out a strategy that I particularly
like for this level. I find myself doing a bit of everything
and only doing a mediocre job.
I�ve managed gold, but only by less than a million.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (4)- While running loops around the outside
of the entire level, I found attack to be
fairly effective. If things get sketchy,
you can hop in a portal, but note that the drone
won�t be following you anytime too soon.
Defend (6)- No matter what I did, I usually found that my drone
was shooting directly into the wall for a huge
majority of my runs. Fairly worthless for me.
Collect (5)- It can help you climb to 150x multiplier quickly,
but it isn�t too likely that it will be helpful past that.
If you want it to be effective,
you shouldn�t use the portal or head to the middle
of the level. Even then, I have seen it get stuck at times.
Snipe (7)- It often gets preoccupied by something on the
other side of a wall that it cannot hit.
It spends a majority of its time making useless shots.
Sweep (1)- Ok, so here�s the deal.
There is only one reason that sweep is number one
on this list, and that is because it is, in all
technicalities the best way to actually get the gold.
It is also probably the most pansy way
of doing it as well, but here you go.
On the left portal side, move to the corner directly
to the bottom right of the portal (the higher
of the two corners). From there, sweep will kill everything
that is to the right of you and virtually everything that
comes from the top right of where you are.
Now all you have to do is sweep up and down to your left,
and there you go, instant gold medal.
If can�t get the gold medal by doing that, you�ve got problems.
I just played for a solid 40 seconds with
my eyes closed after the level had reached
its hardest potential. 40 seconds!
Try doing that on the first level. You can�t.
Because geometry wars wasn�t meant to be played this way.
Alas, if you just can�t get the gold and you think
that you need it, be my guest. You could probably break
a billion on this level if you really wanted to waste
that much of your time in this little nook.
Ram (3)- Ram is pretty effective because it does not
require you nearby to operate.
Leave it on one end while you fight on the other.
Turret (2)- Once the turret is deployed on one of the sides,
head to the other and tear things up.
If it gets to hectic, head back through the portal
to your deployed turret and all should be well.
Covering two areas at once is pretty effective
in attaining the gold.
Bait (8)- I�ve never seen it do a single good thing for me on this level.
=========
Maszeroth
=========
This level is really your average MAS level.
Whatever worked on the other ones
will probably be about the same here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drone Breakdown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attack (2)- One of my favorites on this level.
You can be specific on what you break open and
when you break it open. Take your time breaking
one open at a time, and you should be fine for gold.
Defend (5)- It's good, as it covers both ends of you,
but it often makes more of a mess than
it fixes when it breaks open unwanted asteroids.
Collect (7)- It really isn�t all that hard to pick up the geoms
that the enemies drop in this level as they are
generally bunched together pretty tightly.
Any kind of extra firepower is more helpful than this.
Snipe (6)- It will take out some of the threats that you
can easily lose track of (weavers) but it also
will create more threats by breaking open asteroids
that you don�t want to be broken open yet.
Sweep (1)- I found myself getting pinned in a corner a lot
in this map, and the close range sweep got me out
of a lot of really tight situations.
It can buy you the time you need to pick off
some of the smaller enemies before
moving onto another larger asteroid.
Ram (4)- Ram works pretty well in this level,
except for the fact that when you don�t want
it to break open another asteroid, it won�t listen.
Use at your own risk.
Turret (3)- It�s the best of the behaviors that you can�t
really control in terms of breaking up asteroids.
Bait (8)- Again, bait is fairly worthless.
Later in the level there are some mobs that will
be drawn away from you, making things a bit easier,
but there are always better options.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And that�s it for Lambda. Best of luck on finishing out those gold medals!
_____________________________________
| |
| Section VII - Old Version History |
|_____________________________________|
This is where you will find the old, now mostly useless
version updates; moved for simplicity.
==============================================================================
Version 1.02 -- 05.19.08:
- Added a Q&A section,
found just below.
- Added zero42g's Geom count
and XP timeline info.
- Worked on the XP timeline myself as well,
motivational thanks to zero42g.
==============================================================================
Version 1.01 -- 04.16.08: Lambda Galaxy is up!!!
Complete for every planet with every drone.
Huge sole thanks to pOOtinAnnY from GameFAQs
for emailing me his strategies.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that, man!
==============================================================================
Version 1.0 -- 02.29.08:
- Moved old version history to a new section that's
just before the Special Thanks, etc.
This section now only displays what the
latest update has contributed to the guide.
- The entire planet-class section
is posted and anyone is free to send in tips for that as well.
- Added level 6, 8 and 10 A.I. changes to Defend.
- Added level 6, 7 and 8 A.I. changes to Ram.
- Added an entirely new section that should be found
just under all of this tendentious code.
I recommend that you read it;
it feeds your mind.
Should also prove fun if you can manage it properly.
:)
- Removed Tip #2 from Bait's section as it's ability
to lure Weavers is pretty much unfounded.
- Added my recommended planet-class
concerning each Drone. This is for reference.
- Added one of my own tips to Defend, Collect,
Snipe, Turret and Bait.
- Added three of my own tips to Sweep.
- Made some minor cosmetic adjustments
to make the guide easier to read.
- Added a tip by Drew:
[Bait: Weavers... Begone!]
- Added a tip by crewnumber169:
[Turret: Everything Moves In Circles! Yeah!]
- Added a DS version comment for Ram,
found just after it's experience level changes.
Submitted by Scott.
==============================================================================
Version 0.93 -- 01.03.08:
- Added to the section of how XP is gained.
Now, you will see a timeline of when you earn certain amounts.
- Added level 1, 3 and 5 A.I. changes to Attack.
- Added level 1 and 3 A.I. changes to Defend.
- Added level 3 A.I. change to Turret.
- Added level 3, 4 and 10 A.I. changes to Bait,
as well as confirming that on levels 3-10,
Bait *WILL NOT* attract Weavers.
- Labeled all tips, minus my own, on my own.
- Added my own tip about Ram.
- Added my own tip about Turret.
- Added a massive tip by J L:
[Bait: Co-Op. Relenting. Detrimental.]
- Added a general leveling up tip by Pete.: The Loseis Wall
- Added some Geom info by both bowsersenemy and darkeagle177.
==============================================================================
Version 0.92 -- 12.18.07: Assuming everything has gone
according to plan, my FAQ is NOW cross-linked with the DS version.
- And confirmation of Drone A.I. acting the same
in both the Wii and DS versions is thanks to
trannyscience from GameFAQs.
- Added level 4 and level 5 A.I. changes to Snipe.
- Added level 3 A.I. change to Bait.
- Added massively helpful tips submitted by J L:
[Defend: No Gold, Yet Effective.]
[Collect: Gold Is Money.]
[Sweep: Obstruction Is Good...]
[Ram: Ram Likes The Zoo.]
[Bait: Worthless.]
- Added a tip by Turkeynutz:
[Sweep: Passing Through The Crowds.]
- Added a tip by Len:
[Sweep: Spawn Kills.]
- Added a tip by C�sar:
[Sweep: Crowds Are Good Things.]
- Added two tips by Greg:
[Sweep: Another Wall Tactic.]
[VIR definition]
- Added a tip by Bryan:
[Sweep: Walls Are Trivial.]
- Added a tip by Skin9flint17:
[Bait: It Will Learn The Art Of Attraction.]
- Added a tip for each Drone by Chezne:
[Attack: First In, Open-Ended.]
[Defend: Defend My Backside, Not My Rear!]
[Collect: Size and Experience.]
[Snipe: Not There! There!]
[Sweep: Retro Evolved... Evolved.]*
[Ram: Good And Bad. It's Hilarious.]
[Turret: Not So Great, But Not Much Time.]
[Bait: The Ikea Nesting Ground.]
* His most detailed.
- Also, thanks to J L for pointing out my misunderstanding
about the Collect Drone. In short: it can grab you many Golds.
***
Oh, and you'll find two contradicting attributes
for Bait under it's own sub-section in Drone A.I.
Inquiry requested.
***
==============================================================================
Version 0.91 -- 12.7.07: R0YB0T has informed the DS board how
XP is earned. No Geoms, no score, just time.
- Also allowed a number of sites to post my FAQ.
Located in Section V.
- However, I haven't gotten around to finalizing any of my
planet-specific strategies yet, albeit some are ready
in my head, I just need to type them up. Thank you classes and work!
==============================================================================
Version 0.90 -- 12.1.07: FAQ is up, obviously. All drones have a
base structure regarding how they operate plus some tips from myself going
into further detail. No planet-specific strategies are written yet,
but thanks to SwordOfZork, I've at least posted what each of the
prefixes generally mean, so at least that important info is there.
More strategies are to come as people along with myself make them public.
_____________________________________________________
| |
| Section VIII - Special Thanks, Email, and Whatnot |
|_____________________________________________________|
- Special Thanks to:
- SwordOfZork: For providing the base information used to determine
what the different prefixes mean and how the respective
planets appear to operate.
- R0YB0T: For realizing how Drone XP is gained.
Your perception is appreciated.
- trannyscience: For confirming that both the
Wii and DS versions have the same Drone A.I.
- J L: For providing numerous and sophisticated
tips for many of the Drones. Good stuff, man.
I'm glad you're sacrificing yourself
for the greater good.
- Turkeynutz: For his Sweep Drone tip.
- Len: Decided to help out via a tip for Sweep.
- C�sar: Sent in a tip for the Sweep Drone.
- Skin0flint17: For his tip on Bait... Albeit,
it's purged now but at least you put the
thought into my head and the FAQ.
- Greg*: For his tip concerning Sweep.
Also, for identifying VIR planets; Virus.
Could've done it myself, but he beat me to it...
- Bryan: Sweep Drone tip. It's what's for dinner.
- Chezne: For his detailed Sweep Drone tip,
plus his shorter contributions for all other Drones.
If it wasn't for you, man... Snipe wouldn't have jack
as far as reader-tips are concerned.
Thanks for the support!
- Pete.: For his general tip on gaining experience on Loseis.
- bowsersenemy: For inadvertedly motivating me to post
the Geom counts for an extra life and extra bomb.
- darkeagle177: For posting on the board the Geom count
that marks the first weapon change.
- Drew: You contributed to the Bait inquiry;
helping the case that it does not attract Weavers.
- crewnumber169: Your "little" tip for Turret is awesome.
It's beautiful ownage, really.
- Scott: For his Ram Drone tip concerning the DS version.
- pOOtinAnnY: For submitting all the strategies posted
for the Lambda Galaxy. Good job.
- zero42g: Uncovered the rough limit of how many Geoms
will appear on-screen at one time.
Also, helped me out with the XP timeline and
and at the time of writing this, seems to be
continuing to help. Thanks man.
- CJayC and SBAllen: For creating and currently maintaining GameFAQs,
an awesome site with extremely helpful guides and
other information, respectively.
- Chuck Palahniuk: There is a very deep meaning behind the opening and
closing quotes of this FAQ. It may not have very much to do
with Geometry Wars, but it's still very significant and
worth looking into.
If you have seen or read Fight Club,
then you should already be aware of the
several references scattered throughout the guide.
Besides, it's my FAQ. Slide.
Oh, by the way... Enjoy Metroid? Enjoy Metal?
www.MetroidMetal.com has really awesome
metal iterations of many Metroids tracks,
all for free.
- Email: [email protected]
Subject Heading: Geometry Wars FAQ
Just be sure to include that and your email should be read.
If you DID include that heading, but I never replied to you,
chances are it's because your email went into my Spam folder
and I missed it while sifting through it all to look for
anything that was wrongly placed there.
So, if that happens, send it again.
- Legal Info
Currently, my FAQ is known to be posted at...
- www.GameFAQs.com
- www.supercheats.com
- www.cheatplanet.com
- www.gamesradar.com
These guys have the rights to distribute this FAQ. If you wish to post my FAQ
on your website, please email me first. You cannot directly post my FAQ on
your website. You can, however, post the link to the "FAQs & Guides" page
on GameFAQs. You cannot alter this FAQ or take credit for it in
any way, whatsoever. I've worked hard on this FAQ and at the very least
deserve a little credit for it.
"... You're one step closer to hitting bottom."
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