Heli-Cats News

Now that we have players entering mission 9 on their own, it is time to reveal the criteria so more of you can do so too. As stated in a previous post, a 1CC at mission 8 guarantees entry.

[h3]The other way to enter mission 9 using continues is by maintaining a cumulative destroy rate of 90% when completing mission 8.[/h3]

Before dismissing this as too difficult, note that many players are already achieving destroy rates above 80%. It is just a matter of being very aggressive and re-aligning a strategy with this goal. It is almost the opposite of doing a safe 1CC run. Players will want to try blowing everything up for this, even if it kills them. Don't go for score. Keep blasting at level 3. Don't hold back. Don't conserve bombs. Just go all out. That's what those credits that have been building up are for.

A few tips to help:

• The destroy rate only counts enemies that can hurt the player helicopter. This includes any attacking enemy or enemy that can be crashed into, such as the small drones. Buildings, trucks etc don't count.
  
• There is no difference in weight for each count. A mission boss counts as 1 enemy destroyed, as does a single weak drone. So these drones are now very important for getting the rate up. Don't let too many slip away!
  
• The mission end rate only displays the rate for that mission. The cumulative rate is based on the total amount of enemies for the whole game, meaning even if players had a lower rate in mission 3 or 6 (missions with a low enemy count), this can made up in the lengthier missions.
  
• Players may want to ignore the clear bonus criteria for mission 3 and simply blow up the entire train to ensure a high rate. Score is not a concern when continuing.
  
• Enemies must be visibly destroyed for them to count. For example, in mission 2, tanks that did not exit the buildings before the structures are blown up are considered missed counts!
  

Upon beating the game past mission 9, the reward offered will change the entire game. See if you can unlock it before that info is posted here. Good luck and good hunting!

If you have Heli-Cats in your wishlist, now is a good time to get the latest version. It has undergone a major rebalancing upgrade and is currently waiting for someone to get the first 1CC!

Heli-Cats's first major update changes the enemy aggression ramp in Arcade Mode. Enemy firepower has been tamed significantly in the earlier missions as follows.

Missions 1 - 3: Enemy shot speed and reload timings have been slowed down greatly.
Missions 4 - 6: The same parameters above have been slowed down moderately.
Missions 7 and above: No change.

[h3]Experienced players may find the earlier missions too easy, but will now have the flexibility to explore riskier strategies while also having more room for error.[/h3]
Even beginners can try staying at level 1 in these missions to see if they can handle it while seeing the score go up a lot more. Achieving a score of 200,000+ in mission 1 is very doable for average players now.

[h3]Cat B's damage output has been increased across all levels.[/h3]
This buff further emphasizes how Cat B's accuracy and speed rewards faster destruction. If you've been using Cat A for the safety of the wide shot, you may want to give Cat B a spin to see the difference. Cat B favors a more methodical play style instead of relying on blind firing.

[h3]The helicopter cockpit now has a glowing effect when active.[/h3]
This change aims to help players learn the hit box of the helicopter and get used to the large area. It should further illustrate that this game does not play like a bullet hell and use of the elevation change is always safer than squeezing through barrages.

Give the new changes a try and see if you can get past your previous wall! Will this update produce the first Arcade Mode 1CC?

Heli-Cats hit a milestone this week! While other popular games celebrate the number of copies sold or maximum concurrent player counts, those are all irrelevant to this tiny unknown game.

[h3]Instead, the first player outside of internal testers finally managed to reach mission 9 and complete a full arcade run, all while also unlocking cat D in the process and without the criteria being made known yet![/h3]

Here's to more of you doing so in the future. More hints and tips will be posted soon to help everyone out with the game.

This update aims to help players who find Heli-Cats's power up resource system too stressful to manage. All Cat types now have more level 3 normal shots available. Orbs also refill the meter more. Basically, there is no need to keep refilling with orbs as often, allowing players to explore and better understand the relationship of the different shots.

[h3]This changes the flow of the game depending on how one plays.[/h3]

Those who are getting better with the mechanics should find maintaining level 3 in missions and during boss encounters much more relaxed. Shot discipline is still very important and players holding auto fire constantly will not see as much benefit. Check out the Focus Shot post below to learn how it works in detail. The focus shot is not just for getting orbs. Learning how to alternate the shots brings out the full potential of the helicopters.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2262880/view/3893986782131016961

Players going for score will now have to be aware of the longer time it takes to power down from level 3. Taking risks and deliberately staying at a low level will still yield the greatest scores, but that is really for advanced players.

Overall, everyone should be able to progress further with the increased survivability.

Ver 1.0.3 Update Notes:

• Increased the amount of level 3 normal shots available across all Cat types.
  
• Increased the orb refill amounts for level 3.