Today we speak one of the few people who have participated and cleared all SSSS missions to date.

Who are you?

I am both < A Bystander > and AYBABTU. Originally AYBABTU was created as an alternate account for test flights and messing around with more off-meta ships but eventually it became a pretty serious account as well. < A Bystander >

How did you find Phoenix II?

I played the original Phoenix HD for some time and was around almost since the very beginning of Phoenix II, started playing it as soon as I found out it existed. < A Bystander >

What daily league are you in?

I am stuck in S4 League. < A Bystander >

What community are you in?

I play both toucharcade and the Bullet Hellspawn community. toucharcade is a pretty old community and has a lot of veteran players. Bullet Hellspawn is the official community of the Phoenix II Discord server and can get rather competitive. < A Bystander >

How often do you normally play?

My typical playtime is no more than 1 hour for clears, more if I’m chasing a #1 spot. < A Bystander >

Do you use a stylus and how do you practice?

I’ve always played with my fingers, using a thumb for movement and my other thumb for aura activations. Others may find it more effective to play using a stylus since it does not obstruct the screen as much. < A Bystander >

How many ships do you have unlocked and What was the first ship you purchased?

I currently have all ships unlocked. As for my first purchased ship, I don’t quite remember but early on I flew a lot of EX04239. A lot of EX04239. < A Bystander >

Have you played other shmups before and if so what are some of them?

Haven’t really played many shmups prior to the Phoenix games, its become my primary shmup game at this point. I did watch a lot of Touhou gameplay though. < A Bystander >

What’s your favourite and least favourite ship and why?

My favorite ship is EX04239, its Phi apex to be exact. Its the perfect combination of firepower, firepower, and more firepower to deal with invaders in the blink of an eye. No need to dodge if there aren’t invaders left to make bullets 😛

As for my least favorite ship, it’s rather difficult to say. There are a lot of ships which wouldn’t necessarily be considered viable, but most are still fun to play. Personally, one of the ships I most dislike flying is Sakura as its main is a giant pain to optimize. There are other pilots who can fly it very effectively though, clearing some of the toughest missions with it. < A Bystander >

What’s the hardest thing about Phoenix II?

The most difficult part of Phoenix II, at least from my observations, is being patient and playing more casually. I don’t mean this from a gameplay standpoint but rather from how you approach progression in the long term. From the discussions I have seen, sometimes players feel that the credit costs are too high or that the rate of credit gain is too slow, and I agree that the prices can seem overwhelming, especially to new players who have an enormous list of ships to obtain. However, high credit costs does not mean that you should furiously grind levels, nor is it to be seen as a paywall. Through gradual play and improvement of skill, credits roll in consistently. By design, the game’s daily missions are intended to be just that, played daily. There is no urgent need to gather all 80-odd ships immediately, just take it slowly and enjoy the game for what it is. Avoid focusing too heavily on the list of ships you don’t have and instead try to get the most fun out of each ship you play. This way you can both avoid burnout and keep things interesting in the future. On this note, a little bit of advice for those who are having trouble clearing missions: invest efforts into a ship with Bullet EMP aura. Bullet EMP is, from my experience, a gamebreaking ability which grants nearly infinite survivability once it is mastered. Not only is it reliable even at low upgrade levels, it is also seen on many Common rarity ships, making it readily available through the Warp Gate. This includes ships like Tempest and Veil which are incredibly reliable, remaining solid options even well into S4 leagues. For even further defense, Phoenix and Jericho combine their Bullet EMP aura with a Personal Shield zen, becoming nigh-unstoppable walls against both bullets and lasers. Just keep one more thing in mind: sometimes the best defense is a good offense. < A Bystander >

How many Apexs do you have and what’s the next one you want?

I have a good number of apexes, mostly chosen for their fun factor or uniqueness. Some apexes such as Delta Von Braun and Sigma Fujin provide a direct boost to weapon effectiveness while other apexes such as Lambda Czar and Gamma Essin can completely change its playstyle by significantly altering an ability. Other apexes are simple quality-of-life improvements such as Alpha Jericho and Omega Exarch which both improve the efficiency of their main weapons, producing a more satisfying experience and increasing their effective DPS. Some other apexes are far off the beaten path, with ones such as Gamma Vuxine chosen simply because I liked flying the ship (no seriously the sentinel apex is g a r b a g e). Bottom line is, choose an apex first based on how fun you feel it would be to fly. Even if the apex itself isn’t particularly useful, as long as you like flying the ship, any apex can be the right choice. < A Bystander >

If you could add anything to the game what would it be and why?

If there was one feature I would add to the game, it would be a more detailed stats page for ships and abilities. As it is, the information given on a ship’s stats page is helpful but can be rather difficult to comprehend. I myself have experienced the confusion of trying to decipher what “Damage Output” meant when I first started playing, only figuring out it corresponded to a ship’s DPS much later. Better descriptions for ship abilities can help newer players make more informed decisions about their upgrades and avoid upgrading something which may not be in their best interests. < A Bystander >

What advice do you have for new players?

As previously mentioned, this game is not intended to be very tedious or grindy. Just play a little every day whether it be during a lunch break or to pass some time, and the credits will build up slowly but surely. If a ship’s playstyle evades your comprehension or a mission seems too insane, look to the community for help, there will always be someone willing to help or resources to guide you in the right direction. But above all else, play the game for its fun and don’t get too caught up in the competition. < A Bystander >

Where can people find you within the P2 landscape? (reddit, lobi, qq, discord, twitter)

I am active mainly on Discord, look for me there as < AYBABTU >. I also happen to have a Youtube channel filled with speedruns and the occasional meme ship 😛 < A Bystander >