Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object/Byakuren Hijiri

Non-Spell #1

To avoid losing damage as Byakuren is moving into position for her next pattern, it helps to shoot her down when she's near the center of the screen.

(TODO: add description of this nonspell and how to actually dodge it)

Spell Card #1 | Good Omen 「Nirvana's Cloudy Way in Purple」

Good Omen is the most difficult pattern that Byakuren has.

First of all, the most important thing about this pattern is that all odd-numbered waves will be identical to each other, and the same goes for even-numbered waves. In other words, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th waves are all identical, and the 2nd, 4th, and 6th waves are also identical. If you can find a place where you can avoid both the first and second waves (relative to Byakuren's position), you can avoid all subsequent odd and even waves from that position. Finding this safespot is the core of some strategies for Good Omen.

First Strategy

First, position yourself to the left side of Byakuren (This is probably just suspicion, but it feels like this has a slight advantage).

(NOT PROOFREAD FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS)

Among the first Light Purple Bullets, remember the location of the Fastest Light Bullet.

Among the second purple light bullets, remember the location of the Fastest Light Bullet.

Finally, dodge by pressing the down key in a place where the Fastest Light Bullets do not come.

The reason for doing this is that the Fastest light Bullets are too fast to see and Dodge (At least, for me).

Starting from the second attack, it is not recommended to stick to the bottom. Because the first attack still remains. If you avoid by sticking to the bottom, you must avoid the first and second attacks at the same time. This is a disadvantage that more than offsets the advantages of holding the down key.

So you have to climb up and avoid them. Keep dodging, remembering that you shouldn't be in front of the Fastest Light Bullet. Then you will naturally be in a Safespot.

[1]

Second Strategy

Yatsuzume's Strategy [2]

TL;DW (with some updates): When the wave comes out, use the bullets from each rotation to align yourself with the sweetspot.

- The first line of fireballs is not very important; glance at them quickly to make sure you're safe, and try to notice the second line of rotating fireballs instead.

- The second line of rotating fireballs is very dense. Take a mental note of the path these fireballs take and never cross this path until the end of the wave.

- The two lines of droplets are the real killers, as they vary the most and can lock you down while the fast fireballs come in. Take a mental note of the area they cover, as this primarily defines the formation of the entire wave.

After quickly reading the first four lines, you can typically identify one of two situations:

1. The path of the denser fireball line and droplets don't cover a particular area (open omen)

In this situation, sit in the angle that's not covered by any droplets. If the wide fireball line gets in this space, it should be easy enough to move in&out of the safespot using zigzag horizontal dodging.

2. The path of the denser fireball line and droplets cover all space (closed omen)

In this situation, you're forced to go up inside the droplets, and move down with them. By going up, you don't get walled as easily by the wide fireball line + droplets, as you can backpedal down while you zigzag dodge the fireballs.

Last tip: When the last fireballs have passed you at the end of a wave, you can usually escape the droplets fairly easily by focus tapping to the left.

Non-Spell #2

There are two main approaches to dodging this nonspell. One of these approaches focuses on misdirecting the lasers and macrododging the fireballs, while the other dodges the non in the way ZUN intended (and helps teach newer players why people don't always dodge this in the ZUN-intended way).

Macro Strategy

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A demonstration of the Macro strategy for this nonspell.

Start off by getting as much damage as possible. When you hear the "charging-up" sound cue, it's time to get into position to start misdirecting. Head to the left edge of the screen, at about the height near the top of the red part of the HUD. When you hear lasers being spawned, move back down to the bottom center. For this movement, look for good lanes to move through, and try to avoid switching which lane you're in. Once at the bottom, wait until you hear the "shooting" SFX twice before dashing to the right side of the screen, again near the top of the red on the HUD. From here, wait until she begins to shoot lasers again, and repeat, this time going from right to left. While this strategy carries no chance of RNG completely screwing you over, its execution will have to be heavily practiced, as this strat is very volatile and if you lose your rhythm, it can be awkward to recover.

SOC's blog also has a good explanation of this strategy. [3]

Micro Strategy

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A demonstration of the Micro strategy for this nonspell.

For this strategy, start slightly to the left of Byakuren. When you hear the laser sound twice, begin tap-streaming the lasers to the right and slightly upwards. You should aim to finish this movement with your horizontal position roughly aligned with the rightmost lotus-cannon-thing, while vertically you should be at around the same height as the "Undefined Fantastic Object" text on the HUD. When you next hear the laser sound twice, begin slowly streaming back down and left until you get back to where you started. If you move too slowly, you'll get hit by a laser, but if you go too fast, the fireball pattern will distort and become significantly harder to dodge. For this reason, the most important thing about this strategy is to be as slow and consistent as possible.

A demonstration of this strategy is shown in the embedded video.

Spell Card #2 | Magic 「Magic Butterfly」

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One possible route for Magic Butterfly.

This spell consists entirely of aimed lasers and static butterflies. Follow the route shown in the following clip, which should work regardless of shot type and power.

Non-Spell #3

(NOT PROOFREAD) Don't stick to the bottom, and the first Pink Bullets come in the same way, so avoid areas where there are no Pink Bullets.

Spell Card #3 | Light Magic 「Magic Milky Way」

Try to dodge at a height slightly below Byakuren, and avoid the aimed stars by moving horizontally instead of vertically. Never get yourself trapped in a small laser gap.

(TODO: add better description, clarify the ideal height, and mention what to do in case of awkward gaps)

Non-Spell #4

(THIS WHOLE NON HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD) Basically, as shown in the video, you have to Dodge, Spin around, and jump from the Bottom Right to the Bottom Left as quickly as possible. And you need to Defeat it as quickly as possible so that you can start Spell 4 from the Center and do a little more damage.

[4]

Spell Card #4 | Great Magic「Devil's Recitation」

(TODO: add description of this pattern and what to do as shots that aren't reiA/marisaA)

AllenKO's Speedkill Strategy [5]

Spell Card #5 | Superhuman「Byakuren Hijiri」

This spellcard has significant bomb resistance, so bombs should be used mainly to get out of a bad situation. Do not rely on bombs for damage on this spellcard.

At the very start of the spell, Byakuren will be at the top right corner of the screen. She will follow the pattern of going to the following positions: Top Right → Bottom Right → Bottom Left → Top Left → Top Right (Repeat). Stay on the right side of the screen as she's moving downwards, then follow her to the left side using unfocused movement. From here, the bullets the bullets have already unfolded enough to make following Byakuren difficult, so try to stay in the bottom left, and avoid aggressively going for damage, even if the pattern is on low health.

(TODO: elaborate on this section)

Spell Card #6 | Flying Bowls「Legendary Flying Saucers」

Norbis's 3 Strategies Explained Video [6]

Tate's All Shot Strategies [7]

SOC's Strategy [8]

(THIS ENTIRE SPELL IS NOT PROOFREAD YET)

Description

The amulets passes over the circular warning lines. As Byakuren's health decreases, the color of the amulets will change, and the attack interval will gradually become shorter and the density will increase.

At the bottom, amulets will come out from outside the screen, so it's better to move up a little to avoid them. Cross quickly without worrying about the apparent direction of the bullet.

It doesn't look as intense, but it's a very severe final pattern that you can avoid.

The boss is also invincible while using the bomb and while your own aircraft is invincible due to being hit.

There are two types of circles of amulets: fixed and self-aiming. Fixed → Aim for own aircraft → Aim for own aircraft → Fixed → Repeat.

It's harder to get hit if you move a lot rather than dodging in small increments.

If you dodge at the bottom, the bullets will be less dense and easier to dodge, but when the bullets overlap, you will be more likely to be crushed, and if you dodge at the bottom, you will get stuck.

If you avoid it from above, the damage will be dealt better, but sometimes the bullets aimed at your aircraft will fly at ridiculous angles.

Adjust the distance by moving up and down according to the position of the line, and while the density is thin, avoid the amulets if they come close. If there is enough room between the intersecting amulets, it may be easier to dash through them.

It is possible to make it somewhat consistent to some extent (until before the red bullet is introduced) depending on the guidance of your own aircraft and the timing of killing Byakuren (the consistency of a route might differ for different shottypes).

Vertical Misdirect Strategy

For better understanding of this strategy, first let's go through a quick review of key words I will be using to describe this strategy.

Colors of the amulet : Blue - Cyan - Yellow - Pink - Red

Player's vertical coordinate : Bottom - Low - Middle - High - Above

Note that in order for these routes to stay consistent, you should try your best to stay aggressive and avoid wasting damage input; to help with consistency, the chosen routes were chosen to be easy for damage control.

Route (4.00 Power)

Character placement for each misdirect

ReimuA	Bottom	Above	Bottom	Bottom	Bottom	Bottom	Middle	Bottom	Bottom	Video
ReimuB										Video
MarisaA	Bottom	High	Bottom	Bottom	Bottom	Bottom	Middle	Bottom	Bottom	Video
MarisaB	Middle	Bottom	High	Low	Low	Low	Mid-Hi	Low	Low	Video
SanaeA										Video
SanaeB	High	Bottom	High	Low	Low	Low	Low	Low	Low	Video

Alternative Route

First Strategy

Guide the 7th Attack to the side.

Second Strategy

After the 7th attack, the attack stops, and the attack resumes at the 9th attack.

Third Strategy

Maintain high speed and defeat it with the Speedkill.