Learning About Phantoon's patterns

Reeve

Edit history:

Reeve: 2012-05-11 09:51:37 pm

Reeve: 2012-05-10 05:26:35 pm

Reeve: 2012-05-10 05:23:29 pm

Reeve: 2012-05-10 04:45:25 pm

Reeve: 2012-05-10 03:09:32 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 03:05:17 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 03:03:36 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 03:01:37 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 03:00:03 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 02:56:35 am

Reeve: 2012-05-10 02:55:37 am

2012-05-10 02:55:09 am

I was practicing the two rounds on Phantoon and decided to take some notes from his patterns. Also i never timed his patterns to see if the difference between one and the other are really big, and i don't know if anybody did it before, so i thought it could be interesting for anyone who wants to speedrun this game.

FIRST ROUND

In the first round Phantoon can spread his flames (the moment when he will be vulnerable to be attacked) in six different positions. He can give you a fast a medium or a slow pattern and that can make all difference in your final time in the game. I measured the patterns from the frame he starts to move around the screen to the frame he starts spreading his flames and the results are: In the fastest pattern, from the moment he starts to move to the moment he starts spreading his flames he takes only 1 second. In the medium pattern he takes 6 seconds to start spreading his flames from the moment he started moving. In the slowest pattern he takes 12 seconds (ouch) to spread his flames.

After Samus hits Phantoon for the last time in the round, it takes three seconds for him to apear and start moving again (if you get a fastest pattern on second round he will be spreading his flames 4 in-game seconds after you hit him in the first round, 3 seconds to apear and start moving and 1 second to spread his flames and be vulnerable). You can see below the difference of time between his patterns for the first round and the position he will spread his flames.

PATTERNS:

FASTEST (1 SECOND)
Down Left (Phantoon will start moving to the left)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the right)

MEDIUM (6 SECONDS)
Down left (Phantoon will start moving to the right)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the left)

SLOWEST (12 SECONDS)
Middle (Phantoon will start moving to the left)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the right)

SECOND ROUND (OTHER ROUNDS)

I tested the strategy only for first and second round as i usually go for a Two rounds fight, but i'm quite sure that the first round is the only one with different patterns, in the other rounds after that Phantoon will only have the patterns as shown below. Again, the positions shown below are where he will spread his flames.

PATTERNS:

FASTEST (1 SECOND)
Upper Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)
Down Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)

MEDIUM (6 SECONDS)
Upper Right (Phantoon will apear in the right side of the screen)

SLOWEST (12 SECONDS)
Down Right (Phantoon will apear in the right side of the screen)
Upper Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)
Down Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)

After the first round, if Phantoon apears in the left side of the screen he will give you the fastest or the slowest pattern and in both cases his spreading position will be determined if he swoops down or up. If he swoops down then he will spreads his flames in the bottom left area, but if he swoops up when starting his movements, he will spread his flames in the top left area. If he apears in the right side of the screen he will give you the medium or the slowest pattern both beeing in the right side, but in the medium pattern Phantoon will spread the flames closer to the ceiling and in the slowest pattern he will spread the flames in the bottom of the room.

Considering these informations, a two rounds fight with the slowest patterns in both rounds can be 22 seconds slower than a two rounds fight with the fastest patterns in both rounds. If anyone is going for three rounding Phantoon, it can be 15 seconds slower than a two rounds fight (3 seconds for Phantoon to apear again and + 12 for the slowest pattern).

Thread title:

I was practicing the two rounds on Phantoon and decided to take some notes from his patterns. Also i never timed his patterns to see if the difference between one and the other are really big, and i don't know if anybody did it before, so i thought it could be interesting for anyone who wants to speedrun this game.

FIRST ROUND

In the first round Phantoon can spread his flames (the moment when he will be vulnerable to be attacked) in six different positions. He can give you a fast a medium or a slow pattern and that can make all difference in your final time in the game. I measured the patterns from the frame he starts to move around the screen to the frame he starts spreading his flames and the results are: In the fastest pattern, from the moment he starts to move to the moment he starts spreading his flames he takes only 1 second. In the medium pattern he takes 6 seconds to start spreading his flames from the moment he started moving. In the slowest pattern he takes 12 seconds (ouch) to spread his flames.

After Samus hits Phantoon for the last time in the round, it takes three seconds for him to apear and start moving again (if you get a fastest pattern on second round he will be spreading his flames 4 in-game seconds after you hit him in the first round, 3 seconds to apear and start moving and 1 second to spread his flames and be vulnerable). You can see below the difference of time between his patterns for the first round and the position he will spread his flames.

PATTERNS:

FASTEST (1 SECOND)
Down Left (Phantoon will start moving to the left)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the right)

MEDIUM (6 SECONDS)
Down left (Phantoon will start moving to the right)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the left)

SLOWEST (12 SECONDS)
Middle (Phantoon will start moving to the left)
Upper Right (Phantoon will start moving to the right)

SECOND ROUND (OTHER ROUNDS)

I tested the strategy only for first and second round as i usually go for a Two rounds fight, but i'm quite sure that the first round is the only one with different patterns, in the other rounds after that Phantoon will only have the patterns as shown below. Again, the positions shown below are where he will spread his flames.

PATTERNS:

FASTEST (1 SECOND)
Upper Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)
Down Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)

MEDIUM (6 SECONDS)
Upper Right (Phantoon will apear in the right side of the screen)

SLOWEST (12 SECONDS)
Down Right (Phantoon will apear in the right side of the screen)
Upper Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)
Down Left (Phantoon will apear in the left side of the screen)

After the first round, if Phantoon apears in the left side of the screen he will give you the fastest or the slowest pattern and in both cases his spreading position will be determined if he swoops down or up. If he swoops down then he will spreads his flames in the bottom left area, but if he swoops up when starting his movements, he will spread his flames in the top left area. If he apears in the right side of the screen he will give you the medium or the slowest pattern both beeing in the right side, but in the medium pattern Phantoon will spread the flames closer to the ceiling and in the slowest pattern he will spread the flames in the bottom of the room.

Considering these informations, a two rounds fight with the slowest patterns in both rounds can be 22 seconds slower than a two rounds fight with the fastest patterns in both rounds. If anyone is going for three rounding Phantoon, it can be 15 seconds slower than a two rounds fight (3 seconds for Phantoon to apear again and + 12 for the slowest pattern).

Behemoth

2012-05-10 12:28:38 pm

Excellent Post for beginners to get to grips with this boss. With this info a player can plan the battle ahead. So for example, at the start of the fight, Phantoon starts moving right, so you get ready for a possible flame spread. If he doesn't you get ready for Phantoon to do a medium pattern, and so on.

It should also be noted that depending on which direction Phantoon goes at the start, either left or right, dictates what medium pattern will be (either the left or right one) if he fails to do the fast pattern.

One last thing is that it IS possible to get fast pattern on round 2 when Phantoon starts from the right, though it is extremely rare. This is on PAL at least.

Reeve

Edit history:

Reeve: 2012-05-10 05:28:22 pm

2012-05-10 05:26:00 pm

Thanks for the help, Behemoth. I edited my post with some of your information and corrected some mistakes.

Btw, i never got that fastest pattern going to the right in second round, so it could be kinda a glitch or a PAL thing. So i'll keep testing to see if i can get it.

Gari

2012-05-10 11:03:20 pm

I can confirm Phantoon opening immediately on the right on ntsc, I saw it yesterday for the first time ever doing some phantoon practice with savestates. Before then, I didn't think it was possible.

Behemoth

2012-05-11 12:11:38 pm

Was this on round 2 ?

Gari

2012-05-11 03:09:07 pm

Yes, this was in round 2 after a successful pb combo. I was shocked to see him open up immediately since before that I believed he could only open up at mid speed or slow speed from a right spawn.

behemoth

2012-05-11 07:16:42 pm

Nice !. yeah it is damn rare