Hello! This game is really easy, but here's some information to help maximize your time saves.

==General Information==

Tracer = Autofiring pink shot LOL = Lock-On Laser

For whatever reason, alternating mashing your tracer and LOL does exponentially more damage than either one by itself. The way I do this is by gripping the gamepad in my left hand and position my right hand to have the thumb press the A button and the middle finger press the right trigger. Then I move each of them up and down really quickly, which does wear out the hands a little but the DPS is insane. This might sound a little strange but with some practice, you get used to it. I will be referring to this as "alt fire".

THE ONLY LIFE POINT THAT MATTERS IS YOUR LAST ONE! Don't be afraid to eat damage in the name of saving time! If you cross the finish line with only half a hit point left, you still win!

Pick up power-ups as soon as you are able to, even if you're full on health. The stage will delay a while if you complete the current phase and there's one still floating around on-screen.

==Stage 1: Matrix==

-Tunnel Phase- Shoot everything, pick up powerups. Two octopodes will spawn at the end of the tunnel and can be shot, even if you can't see them!

-Drop-In Phase- Shoot everything, pick up powerups. Remember to use the tracer on the pink squiggles.

-Miniboss: Firewall- Pop the red squares and the enemies the firewall spawns asap. When the boss is exposed, mash your heart out on it. You can chunk about 1/3 of its health on the first exposure, and then finish it off on the second exposure.

-Firewall Phase- This is basically an autoscroller, but cracking the walls is a little faster than getting hit. Use the tracer for the walls.

-Tower Phase- Killing a Helix Swimmer will expose a core of the Tower. Pop the core, repeat until done.

-Panels Phase- Pop the panels. Use your Overdrive on every third section (the complex ones).

-ORB! 1 Phase- The best way to do this is to use alternating fire, which gets the boxes out of your way while simultaneously hitting the sparks. Remember to go after orange sparks! Panels will then spawn. They ALL start at the center, near the orb, so be mashing your LOL!

-Dragon Phase- Alt fire mash the dragons.

-ORB! 2 Phase- Use your LOL to pop the orange sparks. You win!

==Stage 2: Evolution==

-Roots 1 Phase- Pop everything. There's nothing you can do to avoid being shot at, so just don't get shot if you can spare the time. Gate is four orange right next to each other.

-Roots 2 Phase- Pop everything. Jellyfish and Long-Bois will shoot at you. Be careful of them! Clear out fish if you have time, since they mess with your targeting. Gate is six orange right next to each other.

-Ravine Phase- Remember the order in which shellfish appear and deal with them in order. Gate is eight orange spaced apart.

=Boss: The Whale= -Sea Phase- Shoot the barnacles off the whale with your LOL. The smaller Rays can be targeted and shot, so be aware of that and make sure they don't eat your lock-ons. This is easy but missing one costs you a lot of time, so pay attention.

-Space Phase- Literally exactly the same thing as above. Everything is bright, so watch the circles for targeting.

-Phoenix Phase- Pop the orbs on the phoenix's feathers to unlock the core. Use overdrive if you need to get rid of bullets. Then core is unlocked when it is red, then just alt fire it to death. You win!

==Stage 3: Beauty==

-River Phase- Pop everything. If you're fast, you can pop two butterflies with alt fire before they go invuln. Gate is four purple right next to each other.

-Swamp Phase- Pop everything. Spike Balls need to have their arms popped with the LOL. Be quick! They fire off bullets fast. Long bois may or may not make this phase go faster, I haven't tested. Gate is six purple, three next to each other on opposite sides.

-Tube Phase- Pop everything. You will probably be shot at. Gate is eight purple, two next to each other on four sides of the gate.

=Boss: Lotus=

-Withering Phase- Alt fire the core to death. There will be a ton of bullets if you aren't fast.

-Petals Phase- Hit the red petals to unlock the core, then alt fire it to death. Bullets will disappear if you expose the core!

-Rainstorm Phase- Alt fire the core. RIP your wrist.

-Flowering Phase- Shoot the lotus to open it, then alt fire the core. You win!

==Stage 4: Matrix==

-Birth Phase- You literally do not have to do anything here. Clear bullets maybe.

-Gears Phase- Pop everything. Watch out for dragons! The cogs on the side pillars do nothing, but the eight cogs blocking your path do need to be cleared, otherwise you take damage. Gate is eight purple in a row, two next to each other with a blank space between.

-Cyberspace Phase- Pop everything. The wall hitboxes are on the side and are pretty finicky, just hold the LOL for these if you need to. Gate is eight orange, placed in seemingly random spots.

=Miniboss: Body & Soul= This boss is pretty self explanatory. Watch the bodies to see where they are currently vulnerable, especially for Soul. Try to pop Body first, since the LOL is easy.

-Transit Phase- Pop everything. The cars and satellites are very annoying to hit, so take care with them. Gate is eight purple, four in a row traveling around in opposite directions.

-Network Phase- Pop orange with the LOL, pop purple with the tracer. Prioritize shiny panels first, as they will shoot you if left alone. No gate.

-Satellite Phase- Yellow panels are for the LOL, purple panels are for the tracer. The panels will flash to indicate where you need to look to find shootable panels. Prioritize whatever you're most comfortable with. Remember that shooting a wrong panel speeds up its timer before it shoots at you!

=Boss: Time & Space= Orange for LOL, purple for tracer. Shoot whichever one is active and pop overdrives if you need to clear bullets. Good luck. If you're at a marathon, definitely ask for serious time here. Don't be afraid to eat damage, but don't kill yourself doing it. You win!

==Stage 5: Journey==

DO NOT USE YOUR OVERDRIVES UNLESS YOU ARE ABOUT TO GAME OVER. YOU NEED THEM.

-Matrix Phase- Shooting the orange blocks will turn them blue. The goal here is to make all the blocks blue, but the stage will eventually continue on regardless. Testing needs to be done to see if it's faster to just pop blocks as they appear, or if you should do it properly.

-Beauty Phase- Pop the petals and alt fire the core to death. When the lotus flowers, ignore the bullets and just alt fire it to death. You will take damage, but that's fine.

-Evolution Phase- Pop octopodes as best you can, then pop the barnacles on the big whale, then the mini whales. Clear out fish if you have time.

-Body & Soul Phase- It's just like the miniboss before but now it's divided into three running men for body and soul each. There's no vulnerable areas anymore either, so go nuts.

=Final Boss: Lumi=

-Orbs Phase- Time to use those Overdrives! Pop one overdrive on Orbs 1, one on Orbs 2, and the last on Orbs 3. Doing this saves a total of about six minutes.

-Fish Phase- Pop the fish. The LOL is easiest for this. Pop the sparks when the core becomes vulnerable. Repeat.

-Dragons Phase- Alt fire the dragons to death, then pop the sparks when the core becomes vulnerable. Repeat.

-Cutscene Phase- LET'S GET AWAY FLYYYYYY AWAAAAAAAY~! ♫

-World Tree Phase- Pop orbs. Once the melody begins to play, the game is effectively over, and enters autoscroller mode until the end. Hitting a perfect score bonus with the LOL may begin this process earlier, but testing needs to be conducted.

Once the "A: Dive Out" prompt appears after the total stars, the run is over.

You win!