Forums → Game Walkthroughs → General tips for Bullet Heaven

Just saw this on the front page and decided to make a thread about it since I haven't seen any yet.

Bullet Heaven is a new game made by Kupo707 (who also made those Battle Fantasy games). But as the title suggests, this time the game is a shoot-em-up instead of an RPG.

For those of you who don't know, a "bullet hell" is a relatively modern sub-genre for shoot-em-ups. The obvious difference between a more classic shoot-em-up and a "bullet hell" is the obscene amount of bullets that can fill the screen at any given time. So the name Bullet Heaven is an obvious reference to this genre and should give you an idea what to expect.

I haven't completely beaten the game yet(I'm only on level 9 as I type this) but I thought I'd give you some tips anyway:

1.)Use the keyboard instead of the mouse controls

Main reason is that as the game progresses, the amount of bullets basically explodes to ridiculous amounts and I find keyboard controls more precise for that. If you find that mouse works better for you - go ahead and use those instead ;P

2.)Use Natalie

I haven't unlocked the other two characters but Nathalie seems like the best out of the 3 characters I have so far. One reason is that her main weapon has a homing effect so you can kill things without moving around too much. Less moving --> Less bullets getting in your way --> Less damage

Another reason is that her subweapon circles around her which means you can attack enemies behind you, or enemies you might not reach in time with your main attack.

I'm not exactly sure how to unlock her but I think it's related to your rank after stage completion. I know for sure you can get her before level 5 so you might want to go back and increase your rank a bit to unlock her. If you don't have her then.....

2.a) Use Nolegs instead

I prefer Nolegs to Matt because it seems his main weapon fires a little faster and a higher charge gives you a spread shot effect. His sub-weapon rocks too, but only if you can charge it high enough.

Since Matt mostly fires straight ahead (charged main shot remedies this a LITTLE bit but not as much) he really isn't suited for taking on large enemy formations if you can't get close (his sub-weapon is brutal at close range)

3.) Don't rely on your auto-fire

This isn't your typical Gradius-type shooter. Holding the button down DOES help but sometimes you might want to let your main weapon gauge recharge first. The reason for this is that your main weapons special abilities (Matt get's a sword-like shooting formation, Natalie gets homing, Nolegs gets spread shot) are only available when the gauge is filled by a great deal.

The one exception to this rule are boss-fights because you want to concentrate on avoiding the flood of bullets instead of charging your weapon.

4.) Use your bomb

Since it gets refilled for every stage you have no excuse NOT to use your bomb really. They especially come in handy during boss-fights since they also remove all bullets on screen. (Side note: Matt starts each level with an additional bomb)

5.) Upgrade that item magnet

Just because it seems the least useful doesn't mean you should ignore this. Upgrading this means you don't have to go out of your way to collect the hearts that the enemies drop. This ability is a life saver for bosses so you should make upgrading it a top priority since it also earns you more coins (and it's pretty cheap to upgrade).

6.) What to upgrade?

If I had to make a list It'd be something like this:

1. Main Weapon
2. Base Damage
3. Sub Weapon (depends on your character, if you don't use this switch with number 4)
4. Item Magnet
5. Hit Points
6. Movement Speed
7. Bombs

Of course this is just a personal list so you're free to upgrade as you see fit

7.) Grinding money?

A good level for this is the first bonus level which you unlock by getting 5 S ranks (atleast I did when I got the bronze metal achievement). The whole stage is just one boss fight but it's relatively simple with a little practice and should get you a few hundred coins

8.) General tips for boss fights

Of course since I only have thought one boss so far this might change a bit later on but I'm sure the same general strtegies apply:

-Stay in the back unless there are no bullets

-Use bombs to remove bullets

-High item magnet to collect hearts between phases easier

-Don't bother charging shots just fire away

-Don't bother aiming either

In fact, don't even look at the upper half of the screen, just keep concentrating on avoiding bullets near you and fire away, you'll win eventually. Bosses (or atleast the first boss xD) are big enough so you'll hit regardless.

9.) USE FOCUS

This might be the most important tip of all. Even if you use mouse controls there's on keyboard button you HAVE to use if you want to survive: The shift key for focus

Focus slows down your character so that even more precise movement is possible and it does another thing: Showing your characters hitbox

See that skining dot that looks like a bullet? That's your hitbox. In other words, as long as you can avoid letting bullets hit this hitbox you won't take any damage. So even if an enemy bullet overlaps with your characters hair or something......don't worry about it. Just make sure to avoid letting hitbox and bullet collide and you'll be fine.

Make sure to use, abuse and love focus because you'll have a hard time otherwise.

10.) If all else fails, upgrade health/grind more money

Main reason should be obvious I think.

So those are the tips I have so far. If anything else comes to mind I'll probably add it in later (like infos about those other characters and maybe survival when I actually try it)