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--- game_modes:detonator [2025/11/04 04:33] – [Gamer Strategies] Naotyu
+++ game_modes:detonator [2025/11/16 14:52] (current) – correct emp pad positions and add links ThatOneBonk
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 ======Detonator======
-[{{ game_modes:detonator_hd_logo.svg?200x200|Detonator logo}}]
+[{{ game_modes:detonator_hd_logo.svg?200x200|Detonator logo (HD)}}]
-Detonator is a mode in [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd|WipEout HD]] where the player has to shoot masses of [[#obstacles]] while evading collisions with them. The objective is to score as many points as possible as the speed increases each of the 14 [[#Stages]], which all last one lap.
+**Detonator** is a mode in [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd|WipEout HD]] where the player has to shoot masses of [[#obstacles]] while evading collisions with them. The objective is to score as many points as possible as the speed increases each of the 14 [[#Stages]], which all last one lap.
-Detonator has not appeared in any other game in [[:wipeout_series|the WipEout series]] aside from [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd|WipEout HD]], though it did appear in [[wipeout_series:wipeout_2048#Fury DLC|the WipEout 2048 Fury DLC]] as part of the Fury campaign.
+**Detonator** has not appeared in any other game in [[:wipeout_series|the WipEout series]] aside from [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd|WipEout HD]], though it did appear in [[wipeout_series:wipeout_2048#Fury DLC|the WipEout 2048 Fury DLC]] as part of the Fury campaign.
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 ====EMP====
-The **EMP** is charged by going over **Detonator Pads**, which replace **Speed Pads**: going over 4 will allow the player to fire the **EMP** at a short distance, and each subsequent pad - up to 3 more for the total of 7 - will increase the **EMP**'s travel distance. The **EMP** acts like a [[pickups:quake|Quake]], clearing all obstacles it reaches, but rewarding less points per obstacle than hitting it personally. It is triggered by a button press - L1 by default.
+The **EMP** is charged by going over **EMP Pads**, which replace [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd#Speed Pads]] and [[wipeout_series:wipeout_hd#Weapon Pads]]: going over 4 will allow the player to fire the **EMP** at a short distance, and each subsequent pad - up to 3 more for the total of 7 - will increase the **EMP**'s travel distance. The **EMP** acts like a [[pickups:quake|Quake]], clearing all obstacles it reaches, but rewarding less points per obstacle than hitting it personally. It is triggered by a button press - L1 by default.
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 ====Bombs====
-These are bigger targets. One spawns each [[#Stages|Stage]], and it disappears if not hit before the end of the [[#Stages|Stage]]. They take two [[#Cannon]] hits - one to prime, one to clear. [[#EMP]] clears bombs immediately. When cleared, a **Bomb** rewards more points by itself than a [[#Mine]], and also explodes with a blast wave, which clears nearby [[#Mines]] for extra points. A **Bomb**'s blast wave doesn't damage the player.
+These are bigger targets. One spawns each [[#Stages|Stage]], and disappears if not hit before the end of the [[#Stages|Stage]]. They take two [[#Cannon]] hits - one to prime, one to clear. [[#EMP]] clears bombs immediately. When cleared, a **Bomb** rewards more points by itself than a [[#Mine]], and also explodes with a blast wave, which clears nearby [[#Mines]] for extra points. A **Bomb**'s blast wave doesn't damage the player.
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 =====Strategies=====
-To start off with basic strategies, you generally shouldn't ever be holding the fire button in Detonator, as missing bullets can hurt your overall score, as you'd want as many chain bonuses as possible per magazine. Single fire is the best choice for stages 6 and below. Since mines are so far apart early on that spraying would only hurt your score. Early on, you want those chain bonuses and Chamber combos.
+<note>
+Strategies are currently under construction! The content is here, but it'll be rewritten to sound better.
+</note>
+To begin, you should familiarise yourself with ship and weapons control. The Detonator ship is much more nimble than the Zone ship, so before stage 6, air brakes are recommended on most tracks to be used only minimally. The steering is normally responsive enough at this stage to maintain Cannon accuracy to hit Mines and Bombs; using the air brakes too much to assist with steering at lower Speed Class stages can cause oversteer, Cannon accuracy can suffer, and you may also cause yourself unnecessary damage from collisions. The steering is even nimble enough in the early stages to turn 180 and fly in reverse to claim any missed Mines, though by stage 6 this becomes much more risky to attempt.
-You might be asking what are chamber combos? Isn't there just chain bonuses in Detonator? Well, there is a reason the points vary with each mine hit. Each magazine counts how many mines you hit with all 15 bullets, just like chains, but chains only mark if you hit at least one mine per bullet to keep track of chains. Chamber combos keep track of every single mine hit and adds 100 points to every single mine destroyed in a single magazine, like it's counting up in 100s per magazine. So the first mine hit in a magazine would be 100 points, then 200 points for the second, so on and so forth.
+Mines are so far apart early on that single-fire is the best choice for clearing Mines and Bombs at these early stages. Since this mode's scoring system rewards accuracy, taking the time to accurately aim your shots where possible is the best course of action in most cases.  Holding full-auto Fire is also discouraged in general, as spraying blindly increases the chances of missing, which overall hurts your final score. On the faster stages (for instance beyond stage 8) Mines start to bunch together much more, and it may be tempting to begin spraying more often to avoid Mine or Bomb collisions. However, a more prudent method is to tap the fire button fast instead of holding it, and to only shoot when you see Mines. This allows for better control over how many shots you take, and likely fewer misses.
-Since each bullet can hit up to 3 mines but most of the time, you can hit two mines per bullet.  If done perfectly, you can get up to theoretically get 4500 points on your last mine, but in a normal game, being above 1500 from your last mine destroyed is a good sign. In a really good game, you keep it above 2000 points for the last few mines destroyed. So, not wasting bullets per mag is essential to getting a good score.
+The EMP, meanwhile, is a multitool weapon. It's quite normal for beginners to want to use it often, but shooting with Cannons will always give you more points in the long term. With experience, the EMP instead becomes a backup for difficult situations, like avoiding a fatal Mine/Bomb, clearing out sections of track where Mines have spawned in hard-to-shoot unfavorable locations, or resetting sections of the track with big fields of old Mines so fresh Mines can generate there.
-Another thing is not to reload unless you have to, don't sweat too much if you didn't get the 15 or 10 chain if your chamber combo is high enough. Like if you're getting 500 points from your last mine with 5 bullets left, you just reload since you can get a better chamber combo in your next mag. That one is cooked. Throw that shit in the trash and reset.
+The fresh Mines that are laid out at the beginning of each lap should be prioritized, as they provide a higher point score over the older Mines from previous laps. Any older Mines are often hit incidentally anyway while hunting for the fresh Mines and Bombs. The only thing which should take priority over fresh Mines is that lap's Bomb. Again, the Cannons are the preferred method. However, if you're about to miss detonating the Bomb, EMP use is good too as long as you claim those Bomb points.
-As for dead mines, you will hit them most of the time by accident while trying to get live mines. Prioritizing live mines first, then going for dead mines, is the general strategy.
+The most challenging part is uniting all these principles together while keeping in mind Chain bonuses, Chamber Accumulator combos and Reload timing.
+Each shot in truth fires 2 bullets side-by-side. Each individual bullet can then hit up to 3 Mines before dissipating, but given the difficulty of these perfect shots you should ideally aim to hit 2 mines per bullet where possible to gain a decent amount of points. Provided at least one of those bullets per shot hits a Mine or the Bomb, you gain progress towards a Chain bonus, rewarding 1000 points for 5 shots, 3000 for 10 shots, and 5000 for all 15 shots. Missing a shot within a magazine resets your Chain bonus progress back to zero.
-Emp use is normal if you aren't experienced, but shooting with cannons will always give you more points in the long term. Emps should only be used if you're about to run into a fatal mine or clearing out hard-to-shoot sections where mines spawned in unfavorable locations. And just big dead sections of mines to reset that section of the map for freshies.
+Meanwhile, you gain 100 point per destroyed fresh Mine, but a lesser known Detonator mechanic is that the current magazine of Cannon shots has a "Chamber Accumulator" for each additional fresh Mine hit without a missed Cannon shot, adding 100 points cumulatively for each Cannon hit on a fresh Mine. Old Mines grant a lower score, and do not contribute to the Accumulator. For example, after hitting two Mines without missing a shot, the second Mine gives 200 points, then after hitting three Mines without missing, the third Mine gives 300 points. If you have a score of over 1500 points from shooting a fresh Mine after your fifteenth shot, this is a good sign of a Chamber Accumulator being well executed. Likewise if you have a score of over 2000 points from shooting a fresh Mine after your fifteenth shot, you're well on the way to excellent execution. In a theoretically perfect magazine of 15 shots, you can expect to get 4500 points through the Accumulator on the final fresh Mine hit.
-Air brake use in Detonator should be minimal, as steering normally is enough to accurately hit mines; using air brakes is too much steering until past stage 6 on most maps.
+It's due to these effects that Reloads should be avoided unless strategically necessary. When Reloading, both the Chain Bonus and the Chamber Accumulator reset in preparation for the new set of 15 shots. Therefore the preferred priorities in a new magazine are to dedicate to high Chamber Accumulator scores from consecutive fresh Mine hits, and use the Chain Bonus as a guide for how well your Accumulator is going. For example, if you miss with a shot late into the magazine with 5 shots to go, you can aim for a 5 Chain Bonus, but if the Chamber Accumulator would only yield 500 points for the final Mine with the final shot, it's more viable to Reload and start a totally new magazine, starting a new potential for a better Chain Bonus and Chamber Accumulator later.
-For bombs, try to always clear them with a cannon, as they give more points if detonated with it. Emp use on them is fine if you happen to miss them.
+With all these factors in mind, Detonator is an extremely intense strategic game mode requiring precision and quick thinking to achieve the highest scores.
-On higher stages, like past stage 8, you can spray more often, but I try to tap the fire button fast instead of holding it to only shoot when you see mines.
 =====Gamer Strategies=====