Here's a list of pars. These aren't my personal bests or anything; I just did a casual playthrough of all of them (not rushing, keeping mistakes, etc.) and added 5 seconds to whatever I got. Hopefully that makes things more accessible to start out. No restrictions on how you approach the planetoid. Use whatever loadouts you want and whatever methods you want. The only rules are that it must be a completely new playthough of the level and all items must be collected. Timing starts upon reset load-in and ends upon launch as Sophia or entering the portal as Jason. Area G is not included as I feel that a boss rush is a completely different type of challenge.

A-1 00:47 A-2 00:55 A-3 00:45

B-1 00:30 B-2 02:30 B-3 00:33 B-4 00:42

C-1 01:20 C-2 01:27 C-3 01:10 C-4 01:10

D-1 02:45 D-2 01:50 D-3 02:35 D-4 01:01

E-1 01:33 E-2 00:45 E-3 01:37

F-1 03:00 F-2 03:29 (long) / 00:23 (Short)

Hey! I completed Planetoid B-1 in 16 seconds and found it pretty rewarding. Would anyone be interested in competing for best time on other planetoids or small challenges (or try to beat my B-1 time)?

Hello! I want to make some guides for defeating bosses and I want to make them accessible to players of all skill levels. To clarify, I'm talking about all the named mutant bosses, not the arenas or minibosses. Please feel free to share your knowledge in this thread! This is part of my goal to make a beginner or intermediate 100% Guide so please be as detailed as you can. Here is what I have so far, in order of appearance in my route:

Edit: now that I'm finally on the boards I've updated this post with better info!

Mockrantula

• Look for opportunities to use your counter

The best time to counter Mockrantula herself is toward the very end of the timing window, when her spawn are still close enough to be taken out in that same hit. This will be useful to you if you find yourself low on health and ammo!

• Don't chase it around the room

Guess which web it will swing on next and shoot/bomb it.

• Grenades can help clear the swarm

Mine Mite

• Get to center and wait for opportunities to counter
• Fire into his face
• Seems weak to Wide (blaster level 9)
• Don't move too much if he shoots at you

There is an extremely faint sound cue for when he lays mines. It sounds like the toms in Mega Man 2 (the music for the post level screen for instance). Now that I've figured out what to listen for I can just close my eyes and counter whenever I hear it.

Hexa Biby

• Look up and shoot

Tap left or right intermittently to follow it. Once you get a rhythm down you can easily keep it in your sights!

• Don't neglect your health!

Gonbei

• You can counter his sickle throws and takeyari charges

Don't be afraid to get close to him. If you bait his throws in a favorable direction you can lay into him until they return. You can even use counter invulnerability to get past his flash grenades.

• Placing mines along the field may help you

While he's in the bamboo forest, stand still and lay a mine near you. When he charges, step to the side and let him run into the mine. If you time it right you can even hit him with a counter too!

• SECRET: If you trample a certain amount of his crops he gets double attack power!

If you stun Gonbei, there is a chance that he'll actually strike you with his takeyari. I don't know what causes this, but he only seems to do it if you're within melee range.

Zavira

• Weak to Shift Up Attacker
• Weak to Seeker (blaster level 4)
• Use your S-Attacker to keep your distance if he's too close.
• Fire at him as he circles around you (bombs and mines can also be effective if you have poor aim)

I only recently learned Jason could strafe in top-down mode. Always remember to read the instructions! (Also use strafing to fire at Zavira when he squares up on you.)

Gathervira

• If you wail on his crystal fast enough you can finish each round without taking damage or moving
• Shoot until his health bar stops depleting
• Start from the bottom door and work up to the top
• When in the Zavira rooms, S-Attacker will give you brief invulnerability to spikes, should you land in them. Be careful!

If you're anything like I was, you may find yourself forgetting to re-enter Sophia and jumping off Gathervira as Jason. Don't panic! Pause the game and use Fred to teleport back to Sophia.

Unknown Cell-046

• As far as I can tell, its exact pattern is random. However, it will never attack the exact same way twice.

I may be wrong on that. I need to do more research.

• The standard method for beating it is with grenades but your blaster works too!
• Proximity mines can help you multitask

As far as I can tell, there's absolutely no way to make the fight significantly faster.

Defend Them All

• Phase 1: Get to the top; once there keep yourself off-center and fire at him diagonally.
• Burn into his arm missiles as they approach. If done right you'll go past them and be able to continue your attack unmolested
• Phase 2: After he finishes shooting the air, get to the top of the screen again. If you're fast enough you'll be able to land as it loads in.
• Fire diagonally as you were before. When his shield regenerates, short-hop, burn and turn around. If you do this smoothly enough you'll be able to keep attacking from the other side.
• Phase 3: Just wail on him while he's on the ground. If you're too slow you'll have to go back to phase 1 to finish him.

Eir

• Just shoot her
• She seems weak to Burn Spark

To clarify, a combination of shooting at it and Burning into it will help you drain Eir's HP fast. When Kanna busts out the drill, hold still until the last second and burn away. The trail of flames will do damage.

Cerbeboss

• Blue: Try to stay a respectful distance and get in shots where you can
• Grey: Get as close as possible and let him have it!
• Yellow: Get a safe distance away and shoot him while you can

Hexa Missiles can be used to strike from a distance and the bounce you get from the electric beams can help replenish SP.

• When heads start exploding it might be the time to just tank damage and go wild

This depends on how fast you are. That Blue sphere that chases you around is not to be taken lightly.

Mighty Mine Mite

• Same as with Mine Mite

Garuda

• Throwing Stars: He'll appear in the center of the field. He'll throw sets of stars at you while retreating into the air.
• Space Mines: He lays some mines in the air above you. They can be shot out the way. He'll show up in the center when he's done. Don't shoot the mines when they're buzzing.

If a shooting star hits one of these, a pair of stars will shoot across the floor in opposite directions.

• Low Charge: He'll ram you twice in opposing directions. The first will come from the side he went off screen in the background. Burn with him as he does this.

As it turns out, this charge will actually try to match Sophia's elevation before Garuda appears on screen.

• Missiles: He'll launch a wave of missiles at you and hide off screen. Moving in a single direction is usually enough to avoid getting hit. It is possible to shoot him while he's hiding.

I manage to defeat Garuda by shooting it off-screen in my 2/27/21 run if you're interested in seeing that in action (around 1:57:50)

Octa Biby

• Same as Hexabiby
• Use Impact to keep the bees and larvae off you

Leibniz

• Moving in a broad circle will help you stay prepared for anything.

Not necessary once you learn how to fight him but this can help you get there

• Whip: He'll stand menacingly for a moment before dashing behind you with his whip. This can be countered but only with good timing. You'll be safest if you run away as this happens.
• Shuriken: He launches a giant laser shuriken at you. It's easy to avoid but dodge it at an angle to prevent a follow up attack.

I still have no idea what this angle is

• Shield: shoot it once to for a counter-able attack. It pulses five times.

I haven't noticed a difference between your standard counter and the S-attacker for this shield. S-Attacker will close the gap between you, allowing for faster spamming if your blaster has a sprite limit.

Atom

• Burn into his shots

The timing for this is difficult

• You do basically no damage when he's atomic, you might as well cling to the walls and wait him out

Wall Stall will help you save SP during this phase

• Use impact to disrupt his missiles and smoke trail
• Don't waste SP!

Lay into him while his atomic power cools down It's easy to lose track of your health if you come into this fight seeing red. Remember to check Spohia's status from time to time.

Dig-rawler

• Activate pillars early

Not necessary. They can be used to throw the puffer mutants into his mouth if you have no other options.

• You can counter his eyes
• Charge is effective (blaster level 8 )

In my most recent run, I discovered that Wide (blaster level 9) also damages him. I could swear that I tried such a thing in the past and that it never worked. Either way, his mouth needs to be open. It seems like almost all your blaster settings can damage him now.

• F-Sphere and grenades directly into his mouth are effective
• Your whip will most easily push those spike enemies into his mouth

Area G Boss Rush

Planetoid G-1 Garuda

• Same as last time, except he generates a shield

He's particularly weak to the Revol-Buster. You get more damage from it and it can even break his shield! NOTE: although it's not faster (that I know of), you can make the boss fight harder by countering everything Garuda throws at you. The throwing stars are countered by Auto Cluster, the Mines are countered by Hexa Missiles, the Missiles are countered by Impact Wave and the Charge is countered by the Repulsion Upper. You will see a purple explosion for some of these. It's hard enough staying alive to get to this point but I did notice his charge was way more powerful before he killed me.

Planetoid G-2 Gathervira

• Same as last time

Cerbeboss

• Weak to F.A. Blast! (You cannot pre-charge the blast.)

Invem Them All

• Same as last time

Planetoid G-3 Mighty Mine Mite

• Same as last time

Unknown Cell-046

• Same as before
• Fire is interesting

Mockrantula

• Same

Liebniz

• Same as last time but he's more powerful
• You can now chain together up to four whip counters
• Watch out for his desperation phase

The Vector Reflector can be used when he calls in his missile strike. It's very satisfying!

Planade G

• The higher you fall the more power you sap
• If you're not getting good results, it might just be easier to slam into him as much as you can, regardless of distance
• Try to get the rotation timing down. It's longer than it feels.

Capell

• Don't be afraid to use your Unchained DDF to slow him down
• Where your starting jump is might influence the platforms that appear but I'm not entirely sure on that yet

It appears your position corresponds to a certain pattern

Dig-rawler

• Easy
• Don't waste time countering his eyes

Capell

• Bind and shoot!

Octa Biby

• Same as Hexabiby and Capell

Drolrevo

• If you have Bind and Spark mapped as shortcuts, you can launch bubbles in one stroke
• You have to mash through the dialogue

Drolrevo Mastro

• Same as Eir, honestly
• Dialogue directly before and after this fight is skippable

Hey all! I wanted to share my shortcut setups.

On Gaia-Sophia I set Impact to ZL and Burn to ZR. Impact is a great tool for getting enemies off you from any direction, and Burn is not only useful for speed but it grants invincibility to some things and is useful in a number of boss fights. I find myself using them often.

On Jason, I've mapped grenades to ZR and S-Attacker to ZL. Grenades are an all-around useful tool, and so always having them ready seems like a good idea. Plus I can keep the sub-weapon button open for more niche things. S-attacker doesn't get much use normally but it's great for fast movement and can one-shot certain enemies.

On Andreia I set Spark to ZR and Bind to ZL. Spark and Burn are basically the same thing and although I don't use the missiles, the triggers feel better to me for Bind.

What are some of your setups?

It was the adblocker. Thank you!

There is no follow button anywhere on the page

Going through my account settings theres a "Followed Games" option but it's empty with no apparent way to fill it. Going to my game's page doesn't help either. Can I only follow games I submit runs for?

Hello! I'm Cat and I decided to start getting into speedrunning shortly after quarantine began. After replaying one of my favorite games a couple days ago I've decided to take the leap a couple days ago and begin my journey. I don't even own a capture card yet but I figure no time like the present to start developing technique at least.

My first goal is to 100% Blaster Master Zero 2 in about 3 hours. After a pretty casual playthrough yesterday--one where I kept getting lost, listened to music, died a bunch of times--I think that this goal is realistic, even if I'm not the most dexterous person out there. After that, who knows! I've also had an interest in streaming lately, so maybe that could be fun down the line.