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Boomerangs

The zigzag bullet flies in a curve, flying faster and faster.

There are 2 types of boomerang turrets, the straight firing kind and the split firing kind.

Tiers and Patterns​

  • Tier 1 (Figure 1): Launch 1 to 6 boomerangs forward.
  • Tier 2 (Figure 2): Launch two groups of boomerangs forward, each group has 1 line, and each line has 3 to 6 boomerangs.
  • Tier 3 (Figure 3): Launch two groups of boomerangs forward, each group has 2 lines, and each line has 3 to 6 boomerangs.
  • Tier 4 (Figure 4): Launch two groups of boomerangs forward, each group has 4 lines, and each line has 3 to 6 boomerangs.

Straight firing boomerang turrets (only T1 turrets) can be treated just like darts. Read the above for tracking dart turrets as the same strategies apply. Be warned that grazing off a boomerang from a T1 turret is much more dangerous and you should only do it if you are confident of it. You do not need to destroy them unless there's nothing else dangerous to destroy. There also exist very low Mk T1 boomerang turret that will only fire 1 or 2 boomerangs per burst, and these turrets are actually of some threat as they can easily go unnoticed among the mess of other bullets.

The split firing boomerang turrets (T2 and above) are probably the most annoying turrets in this game. There are a few strategies to deal with them. First strategy is as they fire, head straight towards the mid point of the boomerang turrets, being nearly point blank with them (actually, within about 2 ship length away is fine. Assuming a typical length ship, which means not Icarus or AB8/KLYN). The boomerangs will then curve around you as you approach them. It sounds counter intuitive to put yourself nearer to danger (it takes some practice to get used to it) but it works very well. However, this strategy is not always possible due to the presence of other bullets around. In this case, you can attempt a few other strategies. Another way to avoid boomerangs is what i like to call play the left-right game. If there is space to make a dash from one side of the field to the other, position yourself at one extreme side of the field. Wait for the boomerangs to fire, then quickly dash to the other side of the field. Stay there and repeat the process. This is generally more applicable to Unprotected missions where bullets clear off very fast and allow you to do this. Boomerang turrets also behave like T3 and T4 dart tracking turrets, they only fire when they achieve a brief lock-on to your core. Because unlike darts which are less deadly, staggering the firing of boomerangs (which happens due to difference in Mk, their tracking capabilities) is a bad idea and you should allow all boomerang turrets to fire at you before you swap sides.

If you are really trapped at a corner of the field, due to pellet or dart spinners (in the case of General/Boomerang missions), try your best to be around the region of the field at about halfway and 3/4 way from the top of the screen (vertically wise). Then as the boomerangs fire, retreat to the bottom corner of the field, if the boomerang turrets are T2. If the turrets are T3 or T4, only retreat slightly towards the bottom corner such that you would inbetween the curve paths of boomerangs. If the only boomerang turrets are all the way at the back of the field and are T3 and below, you can simply just stay at a bottom corner of the field and the boomerangs will never reach you. (Bear in mind that T3 boomerang turrets will barely reach you, and it is quite dangerous)

These split boomerang turrets are of the highest priority to eliminate (even above MIRV Bloomers), no matter if you are speedrunning or not. Do not attempt to graze boomerangs from these higher tier boomerang turrets unless you absolutely know what you are doing. Also, only graze one lane of them if you ever choose to do so, as grazing the intersection point of lanes is pretty much asking for death.

The best defence against boomerangs are PD and Barrier. The smallest deployable barriers work wonders against boomerangs due to their Phase Out time which continues to block off boomerangs. PD works quite well since it eliminates bullets very quickly, but bear in mind it may not last very long due to it also clearing other bullets around it. Phalanx works quite well against boomerangs as the shoveling action pushes you out anyway, avoiding the boomerangs and even clearing bullets in front of you. BEMP does not work very well due to their one time use - the next use may have limited effectiveness due to the small radius of bullet clear. Furthermore, a large BEMP works to your disadvantage since the ult resets boomerang turrets and causes them to fire again immediately, leaving you defenseless. PS works well against boomerangs too, but bear in mind it only lasts for one burst of boomerangs and takes a long time to recharge. Furthermore, as missions with boomerangs also feature lasers, you must be careful to use PS primarily against lasers, and not boomerangs. You can use PS against boomerangs if there are no lasers in that wave. However, PS works well as you can sit for a while and wait for the right time to exit and be clear of other bullets too.