Purgatory Mode

## Interface

Purgatory Mode consists of a series of special stages under Stage Mode. It is a deviated mode of play that offers 12 special stages with the end goal of this mode being to obtain God of War upgrading materials.

Purgatory Mode can be accessed in the Stage Mode interface, via a purple button on the upper right side of the screen. Upon entry, players will notice a new layout, comprising of only 12 stages. To progress, players have to simply clear the entire course of battles.

Be advised though: This mode is called ***Purgatory (Read:Hell)*** for a reason...

## Stage Layout

Each stage consists of varying enemy waves, with a total of 3 boss ships. As mentioned, players only have 3 attempts with 6 minutes to clear all these obstacles.

Be advised that these enemies are not your usual fare. From fighter planes all the way to the boss ships, every enemy has greatly increased armor and will require some serious firepower to bring down effectively.

You will also face the threat of Sudden Missiles and Mines that appear at sequenced intervals. Be warned that there are two types of Sudden Missiles here, the regular ones and variants that can **shift their trajectories to the left or right.**

## Gameplay

When the Stage is entered, players will immediately notice a 2-minute timer counting down at the top of the screen. That's all the time you have to fight with ***your current loadout.***

The mode actually runs on 3 attempts, all with 2 minutes each, giving a total play time of effectively 6 minutes. Every time the timer runs out, players are forced to select an entirely fresh set of equipment for the next two minutes, and then again for the third & last time. Previously used equipment will have "Unusable" marked next to them (reason being they ran out of energy) and cannot be selected. Strategically speaking, a player would be required to own at least 3 sets of usable (and relatively powerful) equipment to beat this game. Note that Peacemakers are disabled in this mode.

Should a player get his fighter destroyed, an attempt is considered used and all remaining time on the current timer is forfeited. The current loadout they are on is also rendered unusable.

Then, should a player fail to claim victory after 3 attempts, the game ends with your 25-energy cost returned to you, similarly to normal Stage Mode (Thank you TS, you're too kind really).

If the player wins, rewards are then distributed.

* If the player destroys the end boss just as the timer runs out on the last attempt, it is counted as a defeat. This makes every second on the clock as important.

Click on this link to access the Mech Armour listings.

There are a lot of unnecessary time wasters in this mode, from waiting for waves to appear, from waiting for Sudden Missiles and bombs to fly by/explode, that moment of lull just waiting for the boss alert, boss transformation sequences- all these added can waste about a good 1 minute in all total, and is terribly frustrating for any player.

Having your strongest loadout begin first isn't wrong either. But consider well the enemy you are up against, as some weapons will fail dramatically, either by design or player's poor use.

## Tips

No one likes to have their effort and time wasted, so here are some tips you can try out for maximal experience.

* *I must always first emphasize*, for those experience slowdown and latency in graphics, **avoid** using **graphic intensive firepower** parts like Liberty Titan. Because the timer does not factor into the graphical lag you are experiencing, the slowdown causes you to lose damage potential while the clock continues ticking away normally in real-time.

* **Take note of weapons that do not agree with one another**. No matter how powerful, the best rated weapons will not perform well if used incorrectly. Starlight Blast and Meteoric Portal, are particularly picky with your positioning, as these weapons lose efficiency from being fired too high up or out of the screen.
* There are 3 ways to boost your firepower early -
	+ Golden series armour can bolster your power level per hit if you're lucky enough. However, it carries as much risk since you must be able to take enough hits. While this method is easiest, it is inconsistent and potentially frustrating.
	+ With Pilot Roy's skill, you can sustain power levels or go into Overload when you see fit. Because Pilot skill stocks do not reset, you can save those power stocks for a chain of Overload attacks.
	+ A little more difficult to obtain, the Pilot Angelina's skill can immediately grant Overload power to the player, at the cost of HP. Players need to be cautious with this method. Unless you have consistent ways to restore HP, it can become unusable after once.
* Prior to the timer running out, attempt to crash and destroy your fighter at the last second. The burst of power-ups can fuel your next engagement, potentially providing you with 1 or 2 Overload charges if well managed. This is advantageous as a normal switchover of equipment provides no extra benefit.

## Extra Information - Power Levels

It has been tested that the stated power limit does not influence your ability to do damage. 4 experiments were conducted with variables-

**Stage 4** as a test zone, with a **13181** power requirement
 Switching to a loadout that is lower than the original.
 Intentionally starting out low, to see if the low-power warning influenced your ability

At first the 1200-Power limit that occurred in Stage Mode came to mind. The boundaries within and beyond 1200 was tested and suspicion began to set in. All weapons were still doing damage despite being nearly 2000 points away from the Stage's limit. Then the part exchange segment was tested where low grade 4★ components replaced the initially superior 24,000 loadout.

Things got even more suspicious during the 3rd test where the power limit is clearly way below what is required, and the weapons were still dealing visible amounts of damage, even to the boss ship. To seal the deal, the last test was conducted.

**Stage 9** as a test zone, with a **21818** power requirement-

And the results were clear - despite having a 14,000 discrepancy, the strongest part itself was able to inflict significant damage while the 2 minimalist parts could inflict almost nothing even to fighter craft.

That said, you must not neglect your armour strength. Even with sufficient armour value, having a power level lower than the requirement will subject you to extra damage.