"Shock and Awe" Questions

[Vanquish23]

Does anyone have tips for Shock and Awe? Man, I thought these last 2 trophies would simply be a matter of time, but I've tried this mother truckin' Endless level like 10 times already and haven't had success, let alone being close to 10 nukes. I think I've probably scored 7...

By bringing up these specific requests/questions, I think I can get closer to nabbing this trophy. Please help me out guys!

1. Does surviving longer on 1 ship bring out nukes more quickly? Or do the nukes drop at scheduled timed intervals? Or perhaps depending on your score?

2. Does anyone have any benchmarks, like "must have at least 8 bombs by the 3rd nuke", something like that? This could help.

3. Since this isn't a multiplier challenge, a Ship token is obviously more valuable than a Shield token, right?

4. What do you do when swarms and waves of enemies come landing down on you? Bomb, boost, bomb, boost, rinse and repeat?

5. Do you constantly switch weapons to adjust to the varying enemies, or do you tend to stick with one powerful defense or offense, like the swirling 100% Gold Meter?

6. Which enemies do you find the hardest and how do you fight them? For me, this would be the fast, white/silver worms with red heads. I don't know whether to use Gold Meter or Ice Breaker on them, because they're tougher than the green worms and they typically approach me at all angles, fast.

[Seahawkk]

i just blew them up as soon as they spawned i got up to 7 i think it is really difficult because enemies start spawning on you

[dignant22]

i just got this trophy not 10 minutes ago. maybe its just me, but the nukes seem to drop at a timed interval. the first two or three anyway, after that i get lost in the confusion.

i didnt notice any benchmarks as far as points or multipliers were concerned.

after i got my first sheild token, i did go after any ship token i saw. extra lives definitely wouldnt hurt on endless mode.

when swarms of enemies came i tried to head for any open area on the planet, bombing as i went along. looking back a few boosts would have helped out as well.

i switched weapons when appropriate, and for those worms with the red heads, i waited until they surrounded me then boosted away from the crowd. then used the gold melter shooting behind me as i kept heading in the same direction.

took me about four days of playing on and off to get this trophy. i was plenty mad for three of them. good luck and i hope this helps a little.

[Vanquish23]

Sweeeet. I just got it!

Honestly, I must be terrible at keeping count because I thought I had just boosted through my possibly 8th nuke, and then I saw the Trophy received notification in the top-right corner. I went on to destroy 11.... sweeet!

Thread closed!

[Vanquish23]

Also, I guess should put some of my thoughts...

- After having played like a dozen rounds of Endless, I've come to realize it's very much random. With so many variables, it's very possibly to have "easier" rounds than others. For example, in the round where I just got the Shock and Awe trophy, I encountered less waves of those squirmy silver-red worms and more of those flying saucers, which in my opinion, are much easier to deal with. So basically what I'm saying is, the more attempts you give it, the higher your chances of hitting a more "favorable" round.

- Immediately after destroying a nuke, I try not to use boost unless I see a shield or ship token in the distance. This is because more often than not, a "meteor swarm" will come hailing down on you and you will need the boost to speed away.

- In most of my runs, I've noticed I've always had a few bombs (at least 3) before my final ship explodes. I guess my advice would be to use bombs more often if you face a similar situation.

- It definitely helps to be extremely focused. In this round, also, after I got off to a really, really good start (upgraded all weapons quickly, nabbed a Ship token, hadn't died yet after destroying 4 nukes), I paused the game and let it sink in for a minute, lol. I don't know if that helped, but it was something I did differently haha.

that's all from me.

[Dennis0430]

Thanks for the tips, I've been at this for days now. I've probably played it over 30 times without getting the trophy. I don't even know what my best number of nukes was because I was too focused on surviving lol.

Here's a couple of questions I have

How do you deal with those red triangle things when you get swarmed with them? I recall destroying a nuke then the next thing I know, the planet started raining those red triangles/meteors. Is bombing and boosting the only solution?

And is there a trick to getting shields/ship tokens or are those completely random as well? Sometimes I get shields on the first rock I break but sometimes I don't even see one after destroying a few nukes.

[Unorthodox]

Here's my advice; Rush.

I tried many different ways but none of them ever worked out and here's why. When you hear the voice saying "Accelerating" rocks/ice/gold/enemies/green things all move quicker. The game keeps getting faster the longer it's played, so if you spend loads of time on the first stage building up your weapons you'll pay later on.

Same goes for if you stock-pile bombs on the small ships stage, later on the things fly so fast you just don't have a chance.


In answer to your questions


1. Does surviving longer on 1 ship bring out nukes more quickly? Or do the nukes drop at scheduled timed intervals? Or perhaps depending on your score?

I'm not 100% sure on this, but in my experience the nukes seemed to drop once you have destroyed so much of a rock/ice/gold/enemy etc.


2. Does anyone have any benchmarks, like "must have at least 8 bombs by the 3rd nuke", something like that? This could help.

If you try your best to rush through, boost where you can and use your bombs wisely you should be alright.


3. Since this isn't a multiplier challenge, a Ship token is obviously more valuable than a Shield token, right?

Ship > Shield, but only slightly. I'd pick the ship token simply because when you die you get a free bomb blast. Other than that, it doesn't really matter.


4. What do you do when swarms and waves of enemies come landing down on you? Bomb, boost, bomb, boost, rinse and repeat?

Boost, if it's clear keep shooting and bomb if necessary.


5. Do you constantly switch weapons to adjust to the varying enemies, or do you tend to stick with one powerful defense or offense, like the swirling 100% Gold Meter?

I switch most of the time. Each weapon has it's pros and cons, it's up to you to chose which one suits the situation best.


6. Which enemies do you find the hardest and how do you fight them? For me, this would be the fast, white/silver worms with red heads. I don't know whether to use Gold Meter or Ice Breaker on them, because they're tougher than the green worms and they typically approach me at all angles, fast.

Triangles. They're the worst lol. As far as the worms go, boost to get some distance and use the Ice Cutter (as it has a longer range than the gold melter). If they get close use the Gold Melter. But as with any enemy, boost, shoot, bomb etc.

[Vanquish23]

How do you deal with those red triangle things when you get swarmed with them? I recall destroying a nuke then the next thing I know, the planet started raining those red triangles/meteors. Is bombing and boosting the only solution?

And is there a trick to getting shields/ship tokens or are those completely random as well? Sometimes I get shields on the first rock I break but sometimes I don't even see one after destroying a few nukes.

Bombs are your best friend here. The worst thing you can do is to overrely on boost because if you happen to believe your boost meter has replenished but it hasn't, you're as good as dead. I try to save as many bombs as possible for this particular wave of enemies (Triangles).

Also like I mentioned previously, the game IS random... so on a fortunate run, you'll only encounter 1 or 2 of these Triangle waves before you hit 10 nukes. It's a combination of using 200% Gold Meter, tight maneuvering of your ship, and bombing away at the very last second when things get too crowded. Very difficult... good luck.

In terms of shields/ship tokens, I feel that those are random as well. A good round will definitely begin when you nab one of those immediately in the first few seconds. Also, whenever you hit a nuke, save a boost and immediately scan the planet for a distant Ship/Shield token... and run towards it immediately if you see one.

[Drunken Ninja]

Good advice, I will have to try this out again soon. I tried going for this trophy once and I got to six nukes so hopefully it won't take me too long...

[UnReaL]

1. Does surviving longer on 1 ship bring out nukes more quickly? Or do the nukes drop at scheduled timed intervals? Or perhaps depending on your score?

- I believe its timed, but sometimes I feel its random. Once I blew one up, and after the second wave of rocks a nuke came down real quick. Not really sure about this but timing is the best possibility.

2. Does anyone have any benchmarks, like "must have at least 8 bombs by the 3rd nuke", something like that? This could help.

- Try to rack up as many bombs as you can. I had 25 bombs racked up and a few seconds later it went to 9. Very hectic at the end. Without plenty of bombs your chances are very slim.

3. Since this isn't a multiplier challenge, a Ship token is obviously more valuable than a Shield token, right?

- You can get both (maybe its luck?). On my try I saw 2 ship tokens, I grabbed one and let the other one turn to a shield. Shield is definitely needed.

4. What do you do when swarms and waves of enemies come landing down on you? Bomb, boost, bomb, boost, rinse and repeat?

5. Do you constantly switch weapons to adjust to the varying enemies, or do you tend to stick with one powerful defense or offense, like the swirling 100% Gold Meter?

- Won't work if you just swirl with the gold meter. Rock Crusher and Gold Melter are you first choices. On the ice and gold rocks use the Gold Melter. Boulders use the Rock Crusher. The Ice Splitter only works great if you can get it to 200% and using it against the ice, other than that no point to it.

6. Which enemies do you find the hardest and how do you fight them? For me, this would be the fast, white/silver worms with red heads. I don't know whether to use Gold Meter or Ice Breaker on them, because they're tougher than the green worms and they typically approach me at all angles, fast.

- Gold Melter against the Red "worms", Green Worms, and the Red Triangle thingies.
--The Green Worms aren't hard. You can use a bomb, but try to do it when there are plenty around.
--The Red Worms are a *********. Use bombs and boost to help you out.
--Red Triangle's: You can kill these with the Gold Melter without using anything else. When it comes down you can try to get it to follow you in a straight line. This way its easy to destroy them, but if it surrounds you than Bombs away.

--When you see a nuke, destroy it ASAP. You can boost through it and it destroys it quicker. When you have 9 nukes destroyed, don't hold back on Bombs.

[Mtown]

Thanks for the tips, I've been at this for days now. I've probably played it over 30 times without getting the trophy. I don't even know what my best number of nukes was because I was too focused on surviving lol.

Here's a couple of questions I have

How do you deal with those red triangle things when you get swarmed with them? I recall destroying a nuke then the next thing I know, the planet started raining those red triangles/meteors. Is bombing and boosting the only solution?

And is there a trick to getting shields/ship tokens or are those completely random as well? Sometimes I get shields on the first rock I break but sometimes I don't even see one after destroying a few nukes.

Same here, haha. Twice i've destroyed a nuke and thought, "YES! That HAS to be the last one..." but I had lost count because i was so focused on not dying so of course it wasn't the 10th.

I do know that the nukes are NOT on a timer. They come in either after you destroy a certain percentage of rocks/enemies OR destroy enough of those green mines with the numbers underneath. I'm not sure which. I initially thought it was the green numbered mines because I recalled getting the number to 0 a few times and then seeing a Nuke drop, but other times after reaching 0 the mines drop a big swarm of enemies so I'm not exactly sure if the nukes are tied to the numbered mines. Does anybody know if they are or is it just best to avoid blowing them up?


During the stage where the planet is completely filled by raining red triangles, the only thing you can do is bomb and boost while spinning the gold melter around. On the other stages where there are patterns of blue boxes with the red triangles, the gold melter will usually do the job on it's own and you'll only need to boost/bomb in emergencies.


I know what you mean about the ship/shield tokens and I think they are just random. There are times where I didn't see a ship or shield token for 4 or 5 nukes in a row and then suddenly 3 shield tokens appear side by side (which is such a waste because you can only pick up one...)


What I would really like to know if there's a sound effect or something that lets you know when a nuke drops. I usually don't see the nuke drop and it would be really helpful if there was some way of knowing when one had dropped to the planet.

Also after destroying a nuke, pause the game and make a tally mark on a piece of paper. That way you'll always know how many you have left to go.