Assault Android Cactus: A guide to beating Medulla (Low-Intermediate)

Channel:

Cavalcadence

Subscribers:

328

Published on April 17, 2015 5:43:52 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dODd1I3tyg

Game:

Assault Android Cactus (2015)

Category:

Guide

Duration: 5:33

7,082 views

47

Assault Android Cactus (PC/Steam)
Early Access Version 150411 (2015 Apr 11)


WHAT IS THIS VIDEO?

This video is a guide to help you beat stage 5-5 (Medulla) for the first time. It is not a guide on how to S+ her or get a high score... just to beat her. =)


A few preliminary notes:
- I'll probably only do 1 video this time, since doing 4 videos (like I did for Justice) is quite a lot of work, and players of higher skill levels should fairly easily be able to adapt the strategies presented here.
- I'm labelling this as "Low-Intermediate", because it's a little more advanced than a basic Beginner level... but then, if you made it to Medulla, you probably are too. =)
- I used Cactus mainly because of the strength of her Flamethrower, but the fact that her primary weapon has no damage penalty for range is also quite useful, especially in the final Phase.


BASIC STRATEGY (Low-Intermediate):
- Stay within Flamethrower range. Use the Flamethrower a lot. When you get knocked down, get up and immediately use the Flamethrower. If you hear the "secondary is fully charged" beep, definitely use the Flamethrower.
- Get the Battery, even if it means getting knocked down.
- If a Powerup is Red or Yellow, wait for it to turn Blue. Immediately after grabbing Blue, use the Flamethrower as much as possible (Shutdown gives you a damage bonus!).

If you've seen my Justice guides, you'll notice that this is very similar to the "Low-Intermediate" Justice strategy. =)


Slightly more advanced strategy (add one or more of these to the above strategy if you find you're running out of battery against Grey Justice or an earlier Phase):
- If your Flamethrower has charged more than halfway (watch the meter at Cactus' feet), use it immediately, instead of waiting for a full charge or your next knockdown.
- Dodge when you can do so without getting out of Flamethrower range.
- If a Powerup is Yellow, and you can avoid getting knocked down long enough for it to turn Blue, you'll have a larger Flamethrower charge (more damage!) to use during the Shutdown.


Phase index, info, and notes:

0:09 Phase 1: Dome 1 (attack color: blue)

0:38 Phase 2: Grey Embryo
- Because Grey Embryo tries to move away from you, you can "herd" him anywhere you want. I move him to the side of the arena here, for better visibility during the next Phase.
- By keeping pace with his movement, you can avoid most of the missiles and some of the bullets.

1:02 Phase 3: Dome 2 (attack colors: blue & red)

1:33 Phase 4: Grey Vespula
- Don't worry too much about dodging Grey Vespula's flowers and vines, and just focus on staying a constant distance (about one flower width) from her.

2:05 Phase 5: Dome 3 (attack colors: blue & purple)

2:43 Phase 6: Grey Justice
- If one of Grey Justice's heads explodes near him, he will take damage from it, but it's probably not enough damage that you should spend Flamethrower time away from him to try to get it to happen.

3:21 Phase 7: Nexus Core
- If you don't mind being knocked down, this Phase is actually pretty easy, due to the fact that both the snakes and lasers can damage Medulla. =)
- Stand between a spawn location and Medulla. If a snake spawns, leave it alone. If a spark plug spawns, either destroy it (and hope a snake appears next) or if a neighboring location already has a snake, you can just move there instead.
- When the snake attacks you, it'll also damage Medulla. Also, if the laser attacks you from behind, it'll damage Medulla when you get knocked down. =)

4:03 Phase 8: Intrusion Countermeasures!
- In this Phase, you start with a completely charged battery, but there are no battery drops.
- Your primary weapon will automatically power up to Level 4 (Max). If you get knocked down, it'll go back to Level 1 or 2 (depending upon how quickly you get up), but when you get up, it'll quickly power up to Level 4 again.
- With Cactus, I've found that a fairly safe & effective strategy is to stay on the edge, and keep moving. Which means instead of enemies in every direction, mostly, you'll only have to worry about enemies to the front and back... and sometimes to one side.
- Diamonds will rush you if they're close to you and you turn your back on them.
- Cubes (large and small) will explode if you touch them, so if you get knocked down, you can use a combination of Flamethrower and direct touch to get rid of a lot of cubes during the momentary invulnerability when you get up.


Hope that helps, and good luck!


More AAC boss guide videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlu6OXit_2acpcPTQ6MGx1qf1CQkeW-wu

Update 13 notes (2015 Apr 09):
http://steamcommunity.com/games/250110/announcements/detail/208631063954544505

http://www.assaultandroidcactus.com/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/250110/

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