How exactly does the Screw Attack work?

2013-04-17 12:24:24 pm

I've got no idea what the Screw Attack does to most enemies. I'm hoping someone knows about this, and can clear it up for me.

I've heard that it deals rapid damage while in contact with an enemy. This seems to be correct sometimes, but others, not at all.

For example, why does the Screw Attack destroy enemies such as Rezbits, Puffers, and Dark Tallon Metroids instantly, but others are almost immune to it? Why does Samus bounce off Warrior Ing and Ingsmashers harmlessly? IIRC they don't even flash red. Recently, I tried it on some Pirate Aerotroopers, and I was surprised to learn that Samus can't even hit them! They usually swerve out of the way, and the one time I did catch one straight-on, it moved backward too fast to hit. I did manage to swipe one with the side of the energy field as I flew past, but it did nothing, even thought the pirate turned red.

So Rezbits, which have far more health, are obliterated by the Screw Attack, while pirates aren't? What?

TL;DR - Why does the Screw Attack work on some enemies, but not others?

Thread title:

I've got no idea what the Screw Attack does to most enemies. I'm hoping someone knows about this, and can clear it up for me.

I've heard that it deals rapid damage while in contact with an enemy. This seems to be correct sometimes, but others, not at all.

For example, why does the Screw Attack destroy enemies such as Rezbits, Puffers, and Dark Tallon Metroids instantly, but others are almost immune to it? Why does Samus bounce off Warrior Ing and Ingsmashers harmlessly? IIRC they don't even flash red. Recently, I tried it on some Pirate Aerotroopers, and I was surprised to learn that Samus can't even hit them! They usually swerve out of the way, and the one time I did catch one straight-on, it moved backward too fast to hit. I did manage to swipe one with the side of the energy field as I flew past, but it did nothing, even thought the pirate turned red.

So Rezbits, which have far more health, are obliterated by the Screw Attack, while pirates aren't? What?

TL;DR - Why does the Screw Attack work on some enemies, but not others?

arkarian

2013-04-17 12:36:10 pm

red chamber dream

clearly damage isn't everything. one guess is that there's flags in the code that determine screw attack immunity

kirbymastah

2013-04-17 03:24:55 pm

screw attack works on many enemies; it just deals damage for frame. So the times you bounce off of an enemy, it doesn't really do much since you bonked off of them (and thus didn't stay inside for that many frames, meaning minimal damage).

I'm not sure what determines what you bonk and don't bonk off of enemies; it's probably a case by case thing rather than a general rule. But yeah, for example, if you screw attack into dark samus 4, you won't do much damage since you bonk, but if you screw attaack into its side so you travel through it for several more frames, you can do a lot more damage.

PokeyTroid

2013-04-17 05:43:18 pm

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I had a theory that it deals an instant KO to enemies whose death animation is an explosion (rather than collapsing). Maybe the devs had intended to program in a separate death animation for SA like in most other games?

MilesSMB

2013-04-17 05:57:35 pm

Rezbits don't die instantly to SA. I guess it just seems that way because you can't bounce off them.

PokeyTroid

Edit history:

PokeyTroid: 2013-04-19 07:54:25 am

2013-04-19 07:38:12 am

I tried it out today, and SA is actually much more effective than I remember.

Samus won't bounce off a Quad's head, so it's blown off easily. The body can be hit while it's spinning. Easy KO.

Warrior Ing are vulnerable to SA as well. I spun into one, and Samus bounced off. It still died though!

I'm off to Torvus later, so I'll try it out there. I wonder if I could take out an Ingsmasher if I landed right next to it? Maybe it could speed up the Chykka Larva fight?