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Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype - Road Map and Trophy Guide


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Credit to Ryukori for the banner.

 

Overview

+ Estimated 100% trophy difficulty: 6/10

+ Offline: 14 (1(G) 2(S) 11(B))

+ Online: 0

+ Approximate time to 100%: 15+ hours

+ Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 3+

+ Missable trophies: None

+ Glitched trophies: None

+ Cheats: No cheats

 

 

Introduction

 

Fans of the original Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer are prepared for this and know what they're in for, those new to the series can and should expect a bit of a learning curve. People with shmup experience in general will be in good shape, but many of the mechanics in Söldner-X 2 are unique to the game and will require some getting used to.

 

Step 1: Beginner Playthroughs + Key Collecting

 

You'll want to start by setting your difficulty down to Beginner to familiarize yourself with the gameplay, levels and enemy patterns. Your primary focus should be on collecting keys in order to unlock additional stages. You start the game with only Stages 1-4 available. Collecting 4 keys in one of them will unlock Stage 5, collecting 4 keys in at least three stages will unlock Stage 6, and collecting 4 keys in all six will unlock Stage 7. You will very likely not locate the requisite amount of keys in one playthrough, though it is technically possible (consult 'Key Explorer' for locations). More likely this will take you between 3-5 playthroughs, at about 30-45 minutes per run. This serves an additional purpose of leveling up your ship, unlocking challenges as you go. By the time you're done with this stage, you will have unlocked:

 

1. Ready for the junkyard

2. Piece of rock

3. System liberated

4. Not that difficult at all

 

Step 2: Completing Challenges

 

Challenges are the key element of the game, and are unlocked as soon as you graduate to Level 2 Rookie. Your ship will level up over time as you accumulate kills, unlocking additional challenges that can be completed from the Challenge menu on the main screen. Challenges must be initiated from this screen, and cannot be simply achieved from playing a normal game -- though keys you locate in challenges count towards your collecting and kills you accumulate contribute to your leveling up. Head to this section and begin knocking out what you can. Six challenges are required for their own trophies, and six more are needed to complete the 'Challenge Master' gold. Consult that section for the list of challenges, as well as the recommended optional challenges. There are a total of 17 challenges, so you'll have ample room to choose based on your own strengths. By the time you've gone through this part, you should have:

 

5. Survivor

6. Collector

7. Action Fan

8. Chain Expert

9. Profiler

10. Rating Expert

11. Challenge Master

 

Step 3: Final Cleanup and Focus

 

Your remaining three trophies will come from a combination of playing time, luck, and a little bit of skill. Collecting an accumulated total of 77777 chain rings will come through standard play. Shooting down a rare enemy will also depend on luck and probability throughout your play, and may already be earned. Stick to focusing on finding the last key in each of the seven stages, and the others will come naturally. There are a few different methods discussed under 'Key Explorer' on how to most effectively do this, but the likelihood of certain keys appearing are subject to semi-random elements that will keep you from obtaining all of them easily. Be patient, persistent, and stick to it. A rare enemy shows up periodically during this process, in case you haven't found one. Check the included videos and any necessary replays from the leaderboards for tips on how to obtain all keys. This step will net you the final three trophies:

 

12: Lucky Number 7

13: Can't hide from me

14: Key Explorer

 

Additional Notes

 

Players can choose between three different ships, each with two specialty weapons and a rotating third based on pickups. Two ships are available as soon as you start, the third is unlocked through completing the 'Assassin' challenge (unlocked after reaching Pilot Level 7). Difficulty starts out with Beginner and Normal. Clearing the game on Normal unlocks Hard, clearing the game on Hard unlocks Extra Hard. Chaining – your ability to string together kills to earn powerups – also makes a return, albeit in a very different format. Gone is the method of switching weapons, replaced with floating rings onscreen (think Sonic the Hedgehog) that must be collected before they disappear. Filling up the chain bar releases various powerups, health ups, weapon upgrades and score multipliers. This changes things quite a bit, since rings can be difficult and compromising to get to. Familiarize yourself with all these elements, and you'll be surprised how comfortable the game becomes in fairly short order.

 

SideQuest toned the difficulty down considerably in this offering. 'Normal' difficulty is tantamount to 'Beginner' on the original Söldner-X, and Extra Hard is not that much harder. Completing each difficulty grants you extra continues, as does finishing challenges and collecting all 5 keys from each stage. By the time you're done, you can play through all 7 stages with well over 30 continues. The only hard parts of this game are the race to the top of the leaderboards, and two of the challenges, none of which are required for 100%. By the time you do have all these trophies, however, you'll be a full-blown shmup expert and come back to this often. This is a fantastic game for entry-level novices to become comfortable with the genre.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/01.jpg Ready for the junkyard (B)

Complete the first stage ('Zeus Sector') at any difficulty level

 

The first of a few easy trophies to start the game. Knock the difficulty down to Beginner, keep clear of the bullets, protect your ship, and kill enemies as fast as possible to keep the scatter across the screen down. The boss is fairly simple and fires some basic spread patterns. The trickiest part is when he goes invisible and fires away, just patiently wait for him to reappear. The fastest way to knock out all the bosses is to save at least one shock wave and one limit attack. Each boss is taken down in phases of damage. The most efficient use is up to you, and varies by boss.

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/02.jpg Piece of rock (B)

Complete the third stage ('Ethia Ruins') at any difficulty level

 

See: 'Ready for the junkyard'. Simplest boss of the bunch. Destroy the turret on his forehead for Phase 1. Pummel the eye with concentrated damage for the rest of the duration. Use your shockwaves and limit attacks as you see fit. He'll eventually spit insect-like enemies from his mouth, which can be easily destroyed with your focused weapon like Magma or Beam. The Bounce Laser is surprisingly useful as well.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/03.jpg System liberated (B)

Complete the fifth stage ('Turady Deep Sea') at any difficulty level

 

See: 'Ready for the junkyard'. You will need to collect at least 4 keys in one of the first four stages to unlock Stage 5. This boss is arguably one of the most annoying, due to his extremely small target spot (Expect to spend at least 10 minutes beating him on the 'Bow Knowledge' challenge). He'll start by moving up and down, firing bullets while being flanked with enemies. Keep the fire concentrated on his eye. Once you've knocked him down a bit, he'll start to move around the screen, extending his arm at your ship (four times per cycle), then receding to the upper right corner and firing his blaster. Hang tight in the upper left corner during the extension part (he can't hit you there), and duck to the bottom right when he starts firing away. In the final phase he spins around the screen laying mines, and makes three complete passes around the screen before stopping again. Stay in the bottom left corner for the first two, then move to the top left for the third. Deliberately set off any mines nearby so you don't hit them later.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/04.jpg Not that difficult after all (B)(H)

Complete the seventh stage ('Van Krist Labs') at any difficulty level

 

You will need to collect at least 4 keys in all six of the previous stages to unlock Stage 7. The boss requires precise flying with your ship and efficient use of your special attacks. During Phase 1, six domes will appear at the end of spikes that you'll need to hit. This is an area that gets EXTREMELY cluttered with bullet fire and is a perfect time for your limit attack. During Phase 2 the spikes close in and shift, requiring you to maneuver quickly through thin passages to the eye. Use your shockwave as soon as you reach him, and pound away as much as you can. If you have the flame weapon from the third ship, you can finish this phase in one cycle. You'll usually need two. Phase 3 is the easiest, consisting of generally blowing up each of the six spikes while homing rockets are fired at you. Take care to destroy them before they reach you, and the spikes will take care of themselves.

Edited by Terminator
Replaced broken banner.
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http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/05.jpg Survivor (B)

Clear challenge 'Survivor'

 

Complete the first three stages at any difficulty level without losing any ships. Follow the advice from 'Ready for the junkyard', as it's generically sound advice for completing this. It's easily completable on Normal, but if you're having trouble set your difficulty to Beginner. The only thing that matters here is not dying. Don't go out of your way to collect rings or powerups (other than health) if it poses any risk of collision with other crafts, which is the fastest way to blow yourself up.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/06.jpg Collector (B)

Clear challenge 'Collector'

 

Collect at least 999 chain rings while playing the second stage at any difficulty level. You may use continues. Very little margin for error here. You'll want to blow up virtually everything in the level, and should have at least 715 rings going into the boss (but after the final round of attack jets). From there, just maintain a solid level of attack. When the boss is down to the last phase before blowing up, you should net the 999 rings.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/07.jpg Action Fan (B)

Clear challenge 'Action Fan'

 

Clear all seven stages at any difficulty level on fixed play rank 'B'. If you aren't familiar with the dynamic difficulty system by now, here it is in a nutshell: Your playing efficiency earns you a grade in real-time, ranging from G (Poor) to S (Ultimate). Setting your difficulty in the options determines the damage done to your ship, while the efficiency rating determines the number of enemies and density of the bullet patterns on the screen. This challenge fixes the dynamic difficulty at 'B', (third-hardest behind 'S' and 'A'), making this a bit sticky if you haven't spent any time on harder difficulties. Focus on protecting your ship. Pay more attention to maneuvering through the patterns than killing enemies. The rating at the end of each level doesn't matter. Also, you get no continues.

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/08.jpg Chain Expert (B)

Clear challenge 'Chain Expert'

 

Play the fourth stage at any difficulty level and release at least 16 chain extras. Harder than it sounds, at least in this level. Focus on enemy destruction and ring collection. Play right up to your ship's capacity, using shockwaves and limit attacks to clear the screen and colliding with opponents heading offscreen if necessary.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/09.jpg Profiler (B)

Clear challenge 'Profiler'

 

Clear the fourth stage at any difficulty level without missing any enemies (3 errors are allowed). Unlocked after completing the 'Little Gunner' challenge. You will miss at least one, due to only being permitted one path while dodging through the islands (unless you have the Spread weapon equipped). Pay close attention to enemies that spawn directly on top or (more often) at the bottom of the screen, and kill them quickly. Clear the light-armored enemies first, then focus on the heavyweights (who tend to stick around a lot longer). There are little satellites that leave a larger ship that are very difficult to track down once they leave. Your best recourse for those is to shoot them before they deploy. Thankfully there are no enemies during the boss.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/10.jpg Rating Expert (B)

Clear challenge 'Rating Expert'

 

Play the second stage at any difficulty level and receive a 'B' rating or higher on the victory screen. After all the practice with 999 chain rings, this should be a walk in the park. Your two main priorities are killing as many enemies as possible (at least 350ish), and finishing the boss battle as fast as you can (in 3 minutes or less). Using your shockwaves and limit attacks on it will greatly expedite the process.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/11.jpg Lucky Number 7 (B)

Collect an accumulated total of 77777 chain rings

 

Not nearly as much of a grind as it sounds. You'll average between 800 and 1000 chain rings per level, taking about 11 hours of total playtime to earn the trophy. This will come naturally as you play through the game and focus on the challenges.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/12.jpg Key Explorer (S)

Collect all 35 secret keys

 

Good news and bad news for key hunters. The Good: You are allowed to stage select from the main menu instead of having to play through the entire game. The Bad: There are a variety of built-in variables that will keep you from obtaining all keys in your first run. Make no mistake, this will be the most time-consuming trophy of the bunch. Stages 1-4 are available on your first run. Stage 5 requires 4 keys from one of those four stages before you can proceed. Stage 6 requires 4 keys from any three stages to unlock, and Stage 7 requires 4 keys from all six available stages.

 

Keys are found in the following places:

 

1. Inside enemies (Stages 1-5).

2. Inside icicles and rocks (Stage 6)

3. Inside lockboxes (Stage 7)

 

Most of these are present every time you play, which means every time you go through a level and shoot the same enemy/icicle/box, the key will be there every time. However, EastAsiaSoft has confirmed the following conditions are in play for the remaining keys to appear:

 

1. Play Rank of 'D' or better

2. Play Rank of 'B' or better

3. 'Spawn Probability', in which the item has a 50% chance of appearing during a particular playthrough.

 

Some keys (notably key #5 in Stages 6 and 7) are subject to both the Spawn Probability and requiring a play rank of 'B' to appear. While we're doing our best to compile a guide of locations, your best bet is to check the Söldner-X 2 high score leaderboards –> here <–, click the Details link on someone's high score, and see who may have a run of the keys you need. Once you find one, go to the High Scores section of your game, locate the score on the Top 10 online leaderboard, hit "Replay", and select it. You will be able to watch that user's game in real-time to observe their strategies and key locations. (I'll also note that this is by far the coolest feature of Söldner-X 2, and critical to learning some of the more advanced techniques of play.)

 

Capturing keys requiring a play rank of 'B' can prove difficult for people unaccustomed to the dynamic play rank system. There is however, one fantastic place to key hunt: The 'Rating Expert' challenge. Since it locks your dynamic rank at 'B', that criteria is automatically met for all keys except ones that don't appear due to the 'Spawn Probability' one. Set your difficulty to 'Beginner', learn to avoid the denser bullet patterns, kill every enemy you can, and within a few playthroughs you should have most of the keys. New keys you have not yet discovered will be tagged "New", and obtaining them will flash up a confirmation message onscreen. Once you've located the 35th and final key, the trophy will appear immediately. There is no need to complete the stage or your game.

 

Alternative Method

 

When playing on Extra Hard difficulty, your dynamic play rank defaults at 'S'. It remains there until you get hit, or miss enemies (at which point it drops to 'A', then 'B', and so on). By deliberately timing a game-over in a given level, you can use a continue, restart at 'S', and make a mad dash for your necessary key. This allows you to level select (as opposed to playing 'Rating Expert' repeatedly), though it obviously presents its own set of challenges.

 

Videos

 

The following key location videos have been put together courtesy of Vinster, who utilizes the alternative collection method. At the moment, only levels 5, 6 and 7 are available. These are not meant to illustrate any method of play, rather they're designed to show where the keys are located.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc1uduchRnQ]Soldner-X 2, Stage 5 - All 5 Secret Key Locations[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyeZwvKrsJ8]Soldner-X 2, Stage 6 - All 5 Secret Key Locations[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BYLPHwzB1k]Soldner-X 2, Stage 7 - All 5 Secret Key Locations[/ame]

Edited by RageousX
Markup cleanup
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http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/13.jpg Can't hide from me (S)(H)

Shoot down a rare enemy

 

You really can't miss this once you know you're looking for it. A giant black orb flashing and glowing with the words "RARE" comes floating across the screen. Shoot it down, collect the pickup, presto. Likelihood of a rare enemy appearing depends on your dynamic play rank. *As far as I can tell* they do NOT appear during fixed-rank challenges. Don't think you can queue up Action Master and knock it out.

 

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/images/trophies/390/14.jpg Challenge Master (G)

Unlock and successfully pass 12 or more challenges

 

There are 17 total challenges you can earn. Here is the complete list:

 

1. Survivor - Complete the first three stages at any difficulty level without losing any ships.

2. Evasion Master - Play the second stage at any difficulty level without defeating any enemy except the boss and without losing any health. (Three collisions are allowed!)

*3. The Invincible - Clear all seven stages at any difficulty level without losing any ships.

4. Action Fan - Clear all seven stages at any difficulty level on fixed play rank 'B'.

5. Action Master - Clear all seven stages at normal or higher difficulty level on fixed play rank 'S'.

6. Chain Expert - Play the fourth stage at any difficulty level and release at least 16 chain extras.

7. Collector - Collect at least 999 chain rings while playing the second stage at any difficulty level. You may use 'continues'.

*8. Assassin - Clear the fourth stage at normal difficulty level or higher within a time limit of 7:45min. You may use 'continues'.

9. Profiler - Clear the fourth stage at any difficulty level without missing any enemies. (3 errors are allowed)

10. Key Guide - Collect at least 24 keys during a single play-through at any difficulty level.

*11. Little Gunner - Power up any weapon to MAX on any difficulty level before reaching the sixth stage.

*12. Power Gunner - Power up at least two weapons to MAX on any difficulty level before reaching the seventh stage.

13. Rating Expert - Play the second stage at any difficulty level and receive a 'B' rating or higher on the victory screen.

*14. Rating Master - Play the sixth stage at any difficulty level and receive an 'S' rating or higher on the victory screen.

15. Cooperative Expert - Clear all seven stages in 2-player mode at any difficulty level.

*16. Bow Knowledge - Clear all seven stages at normal difficulty level or higher using only the bow weapon.

17. Ultimate Space Rogue - Clear all seven stages at an ultimate fixed nightmare difficulty level. You may use all 'continues' you have available!

 

Six of these challenges (Survivor, Collector, Action Fan, Chain Expert, Profiler, Rating Expert) are required for aforementioned trophies, starred with an *asterisk are the six others that are recommended for simplicity. If you have a second player who is open to these kind of games, substitute the easy Cooperative Expert for the more difficult Bow Knowledge. Most of these challenges will unlock through the leveling system (viewable under 'Awards' from the main screen), which raises based on your total amount of kills. The final challenge 'Ultimate Space Rogue' unlocks when you hit Level 15. Others will unlock after completing other challenges or collecting a prerequisite amount of keys. You should achieve most of them during normal play. This is the levels list:

 

Level 1 - Novice

Level 2 - Rookie (2000 kills)

Level 3 - Casual Pilot (2250 kills)

Level 4 - Amateur (2531 kills)

Level 5 - Junior Pilot (2847 kills)

Level 6 - Freelancer (3203 kills)

Level 7 - Regular Pilot (3603 kills)

Level 8 - Advanced Pilot (4054 kills)

Level 9 - Pro Pilot (4561 kills)

Level 10 - Senior Pilot (5131 kills)

Level 11 - Experienced Pilot (5772 kills)

Level 12 - Very Experienced Pilot (6494 kills)

Level 13 - Widely Known Hero (7305 kills)

Level 14 - Galaxy Idol (8218 kills)

Level 15 - Galaxy Superstar (9246 kills)

 

The number of kills is the number required to reach the next level, not cumulative. You'll need 67,215 kills to reach Level 15. The time needed strictly depends on your play rank, because that dictates the amount of enemies that appear. A stage in which you spend most of your time at play rank 'D' may have only 300 enemies, while the same stage at level 'B' may have closer to 450. Some stages have over 1000 enemies. It strictly depends on your playing style.

 

Hat Tip

 

Special thanks to WhiteAlexander, StarFoxMania and Stoyan for contributing to the discovery process and general trailblazing. Cheers to Vinster for the key location videos and additional strategy.

Edited by RageousX
Editorial Sweep
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The first hidden trophy is indeed awarded for completing Stage 7: 'Van Krist Labs' on any difficulty. The name of the trophy is "Not that difficult after all".

 

To unlock the seventh stage you will need to get at least 4 keys in all the previous six stages.

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The second hidden trophy is "Can't hide from me", Shoot down a rare enemy. Silver.

 

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4088/1000613m.jpg

 

The in-game tutorial suggests that the higher your rank, the better the chance a rare enemy will appear. You won't have to worry about spotting them though if one shows up, they get highlighted and "RARE" shows up in large red letters above it.

 

I'll also have to point out the part about Key Explorer, "Stages 1-4 are available on your first run. Stage 5 requires all 20 keys from those four stages before you can proceed.", is not accuarate. Stage 5 is unlocked by finding at least 4 secret keys on just one stage. Stage 6 is unlocked by finding at least 4 secret keys on three stages and stage 7 is unlocked by finding at least 4 secret keys on the other six stages. Selecting the locked stages in the "Start Game" menu should confirm this.

Edited by WhiteAlexander
Clarification on spotting a rare enemy, key corrections
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We should make a thread for the Key Locations. Would be better and more userfriendly. I'll start to write down the locations for the first stages, if there are more people interested in an own thread i'll make one tomorrow.

 

Rageous can then add the thread to this guide, when it's complete.

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I found most of the keys from the first 5 levels (still missing 3 or 4), but I didn't uncover any in stage 6 after a couple of attempts. Anyone have any luck finding those?

 

I came across one of those 'Rare' enemies, but I thought it was an item and tried to pick it up. Doh.

Edited by jacklum
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For the stage 6 keys, try destroying icicles and rocks. You'll be able to tell which kind can be destroyed as they'll of course flash when you hit them. I found most of the keys in the stage that way.

 

I also went head-first into the rare and died the first time, whoops. :o

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Key 5 from world five isnt actually obtained by shooting an enemy. It only appears when you have released 15 extras throughout the stage. The 16 release is the key.

 

Bloody annoying as I keep killing the boss with the chain bar only half full on the 16th extra grRRrRRRRRrrRrRrrrr!!!!

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martson2: For world 5 key 5 all you have to do is go slow on the boss. The easiest part to do that is at the end of the battle when he is all broken up. The boss starts spinning and placing mines 2 times. Ater that sequence he will start shooting again and 3 waves of 6-7 small enemies will spawn. Hitting those gives a lot of chain rings. Repeat a few times and you should get your key.

 

Still missing a few keys myself.

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I dunno. I scored C on a couple of them during the Normal playthrough just due to sloppy play... that actually doesn't seem too terribly difficult. Now, on Hard or Very Hard, that might take a bit more practice.

 

Are you referring to that challenge?

 

If so, note that it's the play rank S (the "dynamic difficulty" one) that'll stay constant. You can't use continues and 3-5 shots will destroy you. :p

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Number of enemies killed and other criteria were mentioned for the action fan trophy. May I correct you if I can, that for this trophy you don't need to play well to keep the dynamic rank b or better. The rank is FIXED for you. The whole point of the challenge is to survive with 1 continue, with bullet patterns that match the b-rank difficulty. So dodging and playing safe is more important than going for a big score. Of course you don't wanna play too conservatively either because you won't chain as many extras to help you survive.

 

For the "can't hide from me" trophy I just beat the game on hard and as soon as you start any mission on extra hard difficulty, your dynamic rank will automatically be set to "S". Because achieving an "S" dynamic rank is almost impossible when you play on hard mode or lower, it is much easier to just beat the entire game on normal, and then on hard, and once you start any mission in extra hard mode, this trophy will be yours guaranteed. It's not a grind at all because you will be going for the 77,777 rings trophy anyway, plus this game is so much fun too :)

Edited by StarFoxMania
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Stage 4 key 5 will only drop from an enemy that spawns just before the boss if your rank is at least B.

 

Stage 7 key 5 will only drop from a destroyable box just before the boss (at the bottom of the level, below some mines). The box doesn't even show up if your rank is below B, and even then the key won't always come out of it. Keep trying.

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Stage 4 key 5 will only drop from an enemy that spawns just before the boss if your rank is at least B.

 

Stage 7 key 5 will only drop from a destroyable box just before the boss (at the bottom of the level, below some mines). The box doesn't even show up if your rank is below B, and even then the key won't always come out of it. Keep trying.

Thanks a lot, and key 3 from stage 7?

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That one has to be #3, because #4 is in a box on the bottom after the multi-paths, directly below the circulating enemies and before the gatekeeping mini-boss. Key #5 is after the gatekeeper, when the screen speeds up: You have to duck through 2 or 3 columns and haul ass to the very bottom of the screen to bust open the box (Which only appears with a B rating or better) before the screen thins out into the tunnel. Just a note: You'll probably die trying.

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