Assist

**Assists** are Chai's partner skills in Hi-Fi RUSH. They are members of the team summoned through 808's spatial displacement abilities, either to remove obstacles or battle enemies.

There are three partners, obtained through story progress; after its completion, Chai can use their powers in any Tracks to uncover new collectibles or battle with a larger movelist.

## Peppermint

Peppermint is the first assist character Chai unlocks, in Track 2. Her traversal ability involves her blasters, firing electrical rounds to overload cyan barriers and activate blue buttons (and other objects) from afar. For this, Chai simply needs to hold down the Assist button and place the recticle over the relevant target.

In battle, she uses her blasters to fire 12 electric rounds at enemies to shock and incapacitate them (as long as their stun gauge is emptied) even in the air, with a medium cooldown. Much like in regular levels, she can also overload enemy barriers.

She can be upgraded with a ground Jam Combo that knocks enemies into the air, followed by an aerial Jam Combo that fires in a straight line; a hold attack that breaks barriers instantly and stuns enemies in an area of effect, and a counter that heavily damages stun gauges at the same time it incapacitates enemies. Her assist Chips decrease her cooldown, keep enemies stunned for longer, or create an electric field that affects enemies close to the target.

## Macaron

Macaron is the second assist unlocked, in Track 4. He can destroy or knock away large targets, including otherwise impervious Z-Shielded walls and obstacles - recognized by red-orange cracks and lines. Once Chai summons and lines up the recticle, the assist button must be released at the correct time to suceed, every 2 beats.

In battle, Macaron will attack twice in a small ground arc in front of him, knocking smaller enemies away and greatly damaging stun gauges, with a long cooldown. Like traversal obstacles, he can destroy Z-Shielded enemies after two hits or a special attack.

He can be upgraded with a ground Jam Combo that knocks enemies into the air, followed by an aerial Jam Combo that causes the closest enemies to bounce back into the air; a hold attack that slows down and incapacitates enemies with a gravity well, and a counter that instantly destroys Z-Shielding and pushes unprotected enemies further away. His assist Chips decrease his cooldown, attack in a bigger arc and distance, or give a small chance of instantly destroying Z-Shielding even with the basic attack.

## Korsica

Korsica is the third and final assist unlocked, in Track 8. She can put out fires and overload engines with the cyclones her staff creates, opening guarded doors and forcing machinery to malfunction and open alternate paths. When Chai summons her and lines up a retcicle, a rhythm minigame begins with a circle, indicating the correct timing to hit the assist button and open the path. Each interactable door or engine has its own sequence.

In battle, Korsica can create small cyclones to stun smaller enemies, and confuse larger enemies so other attacks cause double damage to their stun gauges, with the shortest cooldown. Like fire doors, she can put out enemies that engulfed themselves in flame, or the fire walls they created along the ground. However, Korsica usually does not attack through the assist; the enemy must be at point-blank distance as she spins her staff.

She can be upgraded with a ground Jam Combo that attacks directly in front of her (the only of her abilities that causes direct damage), followed by an aerial Jam Combo that keeps enemies in the air for longer than a launch attack; a hold attack that throws an enemy across the battlefield with a larger cyclone, and a counter that launches enemies instantly. Her assist Chips decrease her cooldown even further, increase the time enemies are stunned by the cyclones, or keep enemies in the air for longer.

## Trivia

* Peppermint is the only Assist that doesn't require a minigame to remove obstacles.