Detonator

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Detonator is a mode in 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 the WipEout series aside from WipEout HD, though it did appear in the WipEout 2048 Fury DLC as part of the Fury campaign.

Stages are what make up the structure of the Detonator mode. There are 14 Stages, and each Stage lasts one lap. The player starts at Stage 1 and finishes the session when they cross the finish line at the end of Stage 14. Each new Stage spawns Mines and Bombs and increases the speed.

Because of this, a stage can be thought of as a cross between a simple lap and a Zone ( add a link) - the visual effects when the Stage increases are the same as when the Zone increases in Zone mode ( add a link), and the player also speeds up. Additionally, more obstacles spawn each stage, increasing both the difficulty and the reward, not unlike in the Zone mode.

While some Stages increase the formal Speed Class, the speed isn't actually dictated by them - rather, like in Zone mode ( add a link), the Speed Class merely represents a range of speed.

In Detonator, the player has to pilot the dedicated Detonator ship. The Detonator ship is only available in its game mode. It is smaller than other ships in the game and has a unique design. The Detonator ship is equipped with the Cannon and the EMP ability.

This ability of the Detonator ship isn't the same weapon as the Cannon (Item) ( add link). It has 15 rounds which can be reset at any time by pressing the Absorb button, though it takes a short moment to reset. The Cannon's rounds ricochet off the walls and clear obstacles. When 5, 10 or 15 obstacles are hit without missing a single round, a Chain Bonus is awarded.

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 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.

Each lap randomly spawns obstacles called Mines and Bombs on the track. They are different from the items that they share names with, but hitting them with your ship will still result in what you'd probably expect. Hitting them with the Cannon or the EMP will destroy them and reward points.

These small obstacles spawn in mass each lap, individually or in clusters. The Mines that spawned on the current Stage are considered “fresh” while any that spawned in previous Stages are considered “old”. “Fresh” mines glow and reward more points than “old” mines, which appear black and don't glow.

These are bigger targets. One spawns each Stage, and it disappears if not hit before the end of the 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Now, if you're reading this section, you're tryna go crazy on the game mode. I gotchu as the World Record holder for detonator on HD Fury, the one and only Naotyu will tell you some epic gamer strats.

FIRST Early-game Stages 1-4

Here, single fire is mandatory. Try to guarantee your shots from the mines you see, and if you pass by any more than 2 mines in the span of 5 seconds, you have exactly 5 seconds from right when you turn around to go back for them to get them. Once you go past 5 seconds of going backwards you take damage quickly. Try to optimise the timers and begin turning around half a second before 5 seconds are up to not take damage from going backwards. Keep in mind that doing this tech will cost you 9-10 hp on average, depending on how hard you hit the wall. So make it count, it's not free. (On certain maps, like Ubermall, you can turn into the path you didn't go down at the tip of the two paths joining back together and loop the two paths to clear all mines in that vicinity. You barely have enough time on stage 1-4 to do so and take 0 damage to do so, therefore, manipulating the timer they give you when going backwards.)

For mine shooting optimization, there will be a lot of general patterns you will notice when you play Detonator.

The most annoying of which is what I call the dreaded 4s. An arrangement of mines with 4 mines spread out in an even line, making it so you have to be very accurate to hit them all. I usually hit only 3 of the 4, trying to hit extra mines past the side, where I only hit 1, and just go back for it if I miss more mines past the ignored mine in that formation.

If there is a formation of mines where there are 3 mines in proximity of each other but it's 2 right next to each other and far from the pair, but in line of sight of them. Most of the time, you can shoot all three mines with one bullet if the solo mine is closer to you than the pair. Since the bullet shoots a pair of cannon fire you can have your right gun aligned with the closer mine, making it so only the right part of the bullet hits it and the left side claims the other 2 mines right down the middle of the pair to hit them both. More often than not, you'll end up doing a one-two to clear it, as the lineup for it is hard. So when going for this, be prepared to make up for it if you miss one and shoot twice instead of once.

During the early game, you have a lot of time so when it comes to Bombs you should almost always hit the mines around it and then kill the bomb. As the bomb itself, when detonated, has its own chamber combo and is based on how many were blown up in the vicinity. So you're better off continuing your chamber combo to get more chains then destroying it.

SECOND Mid-Game Stages 5-9

During this section of your run, you want to make sure you get where you should generally shoot to be consistent later. Though this would be on a per-map basis, so every map is different. But what I mean by this is shooting where the wall curves into the next part of the track, heavily taking advantage of the ricochet ability the bullets have. I'd say you can use your air brakes more now if you're confident you can hit it and reorient yourself back to normal.

As for mid-game patterns, you'll start to see more 6 mine arrangements here, which can be cancerous and infuriating when you don't hit all of them. The most common is what I call the cart formation. It looks like a shopping cart where its 4 mines in a square with the 2 other mines making the handle on the top left of the square formation. Another prominant and cancer one is the dreaded 6s. Very similar to the dreaded 4s but in a 5 mine spread with one of the spread mines being a pair with the extra being in the front in any of the 5. For these 5 mine spreads you just try and shoot all 5 since at this point any you don't hit will likely bounce off to hit other mines in the vicinity. These are the only 2 of note that come to mind. Late game knowing patterns wont matter too much.

There isn't much to keep in mind here other than to keep your HP healthy for any late-game mishaps and reload tanking. The late game is very hard.

LASTLY Late Game Stages 10-14

The reason you want to keep this in mind is that eventually it gets too quick, where giving yourself time to reload without passing by too many mines can be detrimental to your run. So when you're shooting, we don't go around the mines to give ourselves time to reload. When we become overwhelmed, we do reload tanking, where we hit one mine to slow down to have time to reload. Fairly simple, you can do it unintentionally when you can't always clear the mines in your racing line and act like you can always have ammo and don't dodge. BECAUSE MY SOLDIERS DO NOT BUCKLE OR YIELD WHEN FACED WITH THE CRUELTY OF THIS WORLD. MY SOLDIERS PUSH FORWARD! MY SOLDIERS SCREAM OUT! MY SOLDIERS RAGE!!! -Erwin Smith

Anyway, remembering where to ricochet your bullets is crucial because in each map, you want to try and section each part of the map like before certain turns, having a full clip for the incoming barrage of mines is essential to not dying and getting a high chamber combo. You don't want to worry too much about chains; you'll get them if you're lucky, but in higher stages, it's harder to optimise that.

So you mostly want to concern yourself with getting as many mines as possible in the late game. And for bombs, try and always kill them with the cannon, it will give you more points and only EMP if there is a dead zone. It won't hurt as much using an EMP late game, thankfully, to the overall score.

Late game tests your accuracy and gun work to the max, so there isn't too much to elaborate on, as most of the said strategies have already been discussed. That being said this may be a lot of info, but it will all become natural as you play more and more. Good luck with your detonator runs!

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