Acceleration of SUGURI 2 – How to Beat Alte

by Falagar / Articles, Misc. Guides / 08 Mar 2018

This guide offers general tips to defeat Alte, as well as specific strategies for every character in the roster!

Destroy this.

This is Alte’s Searchlight Panel (or SLP), a passive satellite that must be summoned using Hyper Meter. While on the field, it provides a massive boost to the speed and homing of Alte’s 6-way missiles and beams.

Everything that makes Alte’s missile patterns threatening requires SLP to exist; without SLP, Alte’s missiles become useless, and when Alte’s missiles are useless, she becomes useless.

Alte’s Weaknesses, and how to exploit them

The vast majority of Alte’s attacks possess ballistic properties, which means any beam effective at destroying missiles is doubly effective vs. Alte. In fact, her flaw is so prevalent that her only non-ballistic attacks are her 6-Way Beam and Melee Spear, both of which are easy to punish on start-up.

Before SLP, Alte’s go-to options include the following:

1) nearby Missile Shower -> dash Submachine Gun (while hiding behind missiles), repeat every 1s.

This is one of Alte’s best ways to cover her face while attacking. While effective at stopping haphazard melee rushdown, this setup is 100% ballistic and will lose to most other attacks, particularly beams.

2) mid-range Deploy Beam Panels -> Shock Rod OR dash Submachine Gun (while hiding behind beams), repeat every 1s.

Against players that know how to cut through Alte’s missiles, Alte is forced to rely on her only beam attack. While not susceptible to destruction, they move quickly and have a more exploitable dead zone.

3) [after any hit confirm] -> Shock Rod

Shock Rod is Alte’s coup de grâce, a reliable combo ender or last-ditch attack that pins you down for incoming missiles. However, Shock Rod is slow and will immediately lose to any beam attack– dash away while shooting a quick forward-facing beam for a quick and easy combo opportunity.

4) [with SLP active] Missile Shower, Missile Shower, Deploy Beam Panels, Salvo Fire

Your first match against Alte looked something like this. With SLP on the field, escaping her wrath can feel impossible. Thankfully, dashing away from Alte’s missiles grants you a sizable amount of meter, giving you enough time to either Hyper out and slap her, or shield your way through the swarm. With practice, you can stop this from ever happening to you by destroying SLP before things get bad.

Learning how to weave between Alte’s 6-way attack, beam through her Submachine Gun and punch her in the face is by far the most effective way to shut her down in the early game. It is only when she has SLP that these attacks become harder to dodge, but SLP is so easy to destroy that she will never get the chance to play at her full potential versus experienced players.

As such, Alte’s hard counters all possess some amount of the following:

–The Perfect Answer – an attack or set of attacks that immediately and mercilessly destroys Searchlight Panel for almost no effort. Characters with The Perfect Answer are by far the most forgiving to play when fighting Alte.

–Meter Dominance – attacks that build vastly more Hyper Meter than Alte, making survival vs. missiles a cinch. Characters that win via Meter Dominance rely on tempo and Hyper attacks that adequately destroy SLP when it shows up.

–Unrelenting Pressure – rapid attack options that can keep Alte pinned for the entire game, stopping the problem before it starts. Characters reliant upon Unrelenting Pressure are effective when played correctly, but can fail if the player does not adequately suffocate Alte and destroy her SLP using meter.

In my personal opinion:

-Tsih, Kyoko, Nath, Mira, Hime and Saki absolutely destroy Alte for free.

-Suguri, Sora, Star Breaker, Iru and Nanako can defeat Alte without too much effort.

-Kae, Sham and Sumika can win against Alte when played correctly, but are liable to lose control of the match and struggle if mistakes are made.

Winning as Tsih

Has: The Perfect Answer, Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Rock Swirl, Rock Release, Throw a Rock, Beam Ball Scattering

Out of every match-up in the game, this one may be Tsih’s best and Alte’s worst. Tsih’s Rock Swirl is the perfect answer not only for SLP, but for everything Alte does. So long as you are constantly applying pressure with Rock Swirl and Beam Balls, there is no way for Alte to attack you whatsoever – and should she try to summon SLP, any Rock will destroy it in one hit.

Winning as Kyoko

Has: The Perfect Answer, Meter Dominance

Attacks to leverage: Crystal, Clean Stream, Tree of Ice

Kyoko’s strategy is two-fold: she must first set up her pylon field and build meter with Crystal and Clean Stream, then destroy Alte’s hopes and dreams with liberal application of Tree of Ice to Alte’s face. Tree of Ice is the linchpin attack that seals the deal for Kyoko – whenever Alte dares summon SLP, your job is to run up, slap her in the face, then go back to your pylons. Because of Kyoko’s high Hyper Meter gain (tied with Mira for highest in the game), keeping Alte in check becomes a simple 2-Step process.

Winning as Nath

Has: The Perfect Answer

Attacks to leverage: Reflecting Beam, Beam Reflector, Metal Chop

Nath’s game plan is reminiscent of Tsih’s, but requires a few seconds to set up; Nath needs Metal Chop to win, which requires one Extension to access. As such, your goal in Form 1 is to farm Hyper Meter as quickly as possible using Reflecting Beam and Beam Reflector, activate Extension and establish control with Metal Chop for the rest of the game. Once you have it, Nath’s Chop is all you need to make SLP and missiles a thing of the past.

Winning as Mira

Has: Meter Dominance, The Perfect Answer

Attacks to leverage: Sky-Soaring Chakrams, Swift Chakrams, Counterattack Kiri, Scorching Beam Ninja Stars

Mira uses her own version of Kyoko’s 2-Step plan: generate meter, and use that meter to destroy SLP. Mira builds exorbitant amounts of meter via Counterattack Kiri and Ninja Stars, more than enough to go 1:1 with any hyper Alte tosses at you. Keep Alte busy with these attacks, and go for an immediate Sky-Soaring Chakrams punish to combo Alte every time she summons SLP.

Winning as Hime

Has: Unrelenting Pressure, The Perfect Answer

Attacks to leverage: Sadism, Faint Breeze (Plenty), Untouchable

At first glance, Hime’s lack of ballistic clearing options can make Alte seem daunting; this could not be further from the truth. Against Alte, Sadism becomes Hime’s alpha and omega, her one way to keep Alte stunned for an eternity. Take advantage of its high speed, moderate range, early dash cancel window and ballistic-clearing properties to pin Alte into the corner, and whip out Untouchable to destroy SLP and reset the situation should Alte escape.

Winning as Saki

Has: The Perfect Answer

Attacks to leverage: Tornado Cymbal, Rolling Tambourine, Stardust Bell -> Tambourine Boomerang -> Maracas Swing

Saki is the first character so far that requires a modicum of thought to shut down Alte — her attacks, while effective, aren’t a clear-cut win against SLP at all times no matter what. Your best bet is to stick to fundamentals: set up with a few Stardust Bells, throw a Tambourine Boomerang to get through Alte’s patterns, and use a Maracas Swing to seal the deal. Your best answer to SLP is to run up and cast Rolling Tambourine, a quick stun that sets up for Maracas Swing while destroying SLP at the same time.

Winning as Suguri

Has: Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Sword Arrow, Missile (Homing), Beam Rifle (all), Hyper Arrow

Against Alte, Suguri’s best bet is to stick to her typical game plan: set up an offense with two or three Homing Missiles, go in for the kill with two or three Sword Arrows, then dash in to combo three Sword swings– repeat as needed. Sword Arrow is your biggest threat against both SLP and missiles, with Hyper Arrow as your go-to to force SLP to pop if regular Arrows aren’t enough.

Winning as Sora

Has: Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Launcher (Staggered Launch), Charged Rifle, Slash Through -> Beam Rifle

Compared to Suguri, Sora trades the consistency of Sword Arrow for massive damage on everything else. Start the round by taking advantage of Sora’s character-defining 2,700 damage melee combo: Slash Through with (Special+Sub), press (Primary) immediately after your lunge connects to fire an instant Charged Rifle, then dash cancel and repeat the process twice more.

Should you find yourself in neutral, you’ll often find success setting up well-spaced Launchers (Staggered) while looking for opportunities to cut through Alte’s ballistics with your beams, opening her up for another melee combo. Successfully combo Alte three times and the game is over.

Winning as Star Breaker

Has: Meter Dominance, Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage:

Shiver in the Invisible Murderous Intent (Stationary Bombs)

Fear the Approaching Sparks (Dash Primary)

Be Charred in the Burning Death Crisis (Crossing Beams)

Melt in the Azure Flame (Blue Melee)

Suffer from the Inevitable Death Crisis (Dash Hyper)

Move names aside… Star Breaker is best served by alternating between two play styles: heavy rushdown with her crossing beams and Azure Flame melee, and farming meter at mid-range with stationary bombs and Dash Primary (if you need immediate access to Dash Hyper).

Pressure is the name of the game; Alte can’t spam missiles if she’s getting punched in the face. Correct use of Azure Flame’s debuff should starve Alte of the meter she needs for SLP; if she does bring one out, run up and use Dash Hyper for a guaranteed punch capable of destroying that panel.

Winning as Iru

Has: Meter Dominance, Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: High Speed Photon Rifle, Electromagnetic Field, Homing Missile Pod, High Output Linear Ray

Getting the job done with Iru comes down to two things: 1) using regular Photon Rifle and EM Field as much as possible for the absurd meter gain they provide, and 2) timing your attacks to correctly punish Alte whenever she’s stationary (which she will be when she tries to attack). When your Photon RIfle isn’t enough, a pinch of Homing Missiles into Linear Ray can be a great go-to against a cornered Alte, or to clear the screen.

BIG WARNING: don’t use your Homing Missiles unless you are 100% sure they will hit Alte or her missiles; if you allow Alte to graze too many of them, you will feed her a massive amount of meter – more than enough to summon SLP and sour the round.

Winning as Nanako

Has: Unrelenting Pressure, Meter Dominance

Attacks to leverage: Shell Shot, Tentacle Tone, Shell Shot, Ether Leaf, Shell Shot, Tentacle Breath (both types), Shell Shot

Without Shell Shot, Nanako can’t get the pressure she needs to pin Alte and prevent her from attacking. Nanako is at home in the center of the arena, pushing her opponents against the wall – something she can only do with Shell Shot. Shell Shot combos into every single one of Nanako’s attacks, while also positioning her bits for a better follow-up; it must be used incessantly for you to have any hope of winning. Played correctly, Nanako can put in work with her regular toolset, saving meter only to destroy SLP and get a breather after a slip-up.

Winning as Kae

Has: Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Slash!, Sla-slaaaash!, Zooooom!, Pow!, ZOOOOOM!, POW!, Blazing BA-BA-BAANG!

Against Alte, Kae rides the razor’s edge; without adequate pressure, Alte is free to set up and whittle you down with her SLP projectile spam. Your success depends entirely on your ability to slip through the gaps in Alte’s 6-way attacks, cut through Alte’s ballistic Submachine Gun and Shock Rod attempts with Slash! (either one), and lock her down with every Zoom! in the book. ZOOOOOM!’s hitbox is actually quite large, and is more than able to destroy SLP if aimed correctly; however, the best way to win as Kae is to never allow Alte the space to activate SLP in the first place.

Winning as Sham

Has: Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Sprite Call, Sprite Release, Dwarf Call, Poly Sprite

Sham is one of the most passive characters in the game, often reliant on her opponents making mistakes and running into her slow beams to get any damage on the table. That said, the density of Sprite Call’s beams proves quite effective against Alte’s missiles and should be enough to keep yourself safe in a war of attrition. Do your best to make sure you always have your Dwarfs and Sprites active at all times, and save Poly Sprite for when you have no other options left to protect yourself.

Winning as Sumika

Has: Unrelenting Pressure

Attacks to leverage: Pretty Sword, Marble Ball, Happy Barrel, Over Limit -> Heaven’s Feather, Angel Wing

While Sumika’s pressure and damage output is no joke, she lacks the snappiness of Kae’s attacks as well as the reliability of Kae’s hypers when it comes to destroying SLP. Your best (and only) options to survive include pressuring Alte to death with Marble Balls and Pretty Swords, using Marble Balls and Happy Barrel to protect your face (and hopefully confirm a feather combo), gambling with Shiny Feather or Heaven’s Feather to steal one of Alte’s life bars, or perfectly spacing an Angel Wing to pop SLP should it come out… suffice to say, keeping SLP at bay after the fact will be your greatest challenge.

Wrap-Up

In the end, Alte’s game is impressive on its surface yet fatally flawed. Not only does a majority of the cast have the tools to shut her down before things get bad, but a portion of the roster can outright destroy her with a single move (some normal, some Hyper). Conquering Alte is all about leveraging your toolkit from the very beginning of the round; by facing her head-on and punching her in the face from beginning to end, there’s often little Alte can do to secure a win.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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