Hellsinker

Hellsinker. (ヘルシンカー) is a vertical-scrolling doujin shooting game developed by Ruminant's Whimper for PC. After a trial version was released in 2004, the game underwent sweeping changes before completion, with the full version eventually being distributed at Comiket 72 in 2007. Since 2019, enhanced versions have been available digitally on Steam and BOOTH. The game's defining features are the varied and unconventional abilities of its playable characters, its obscure and obfuscated mechanics, its three different tracked scores, and its often inscrutable lore and unique aesthetic. The story follows 4 members of the mysterious organization GRAVEYARD as they attempt to reach and infiltrate the Cardinal Shaft, a giant tower responsible for the end of the world.

AN AWESOME PRAYER
IS
CONFLICT WITH US

KEEP YOUR DIGNITY

---

General Strategy — Segment Strategy — Video Index

---

Gameplay Overview

Title screen 1 of 4. Title screens are unlocked as you progress through the game.

Hellsinker. is a four-button game with 4 playable characters (one of which has 4 different load-outs, for an overall total of 7) and 9 stages (referred to as Segments) in the main game. There are also unlockable harder versions of the first 3 Segments and 2 standalone Extra Segments. The game's three scoring systems are Spirits, Kills, and Tokens.

Controls

---

• C (Press): Main shot. Tapping 5 times per second is optimal. Tapping faster will drain LUNA while providing no benefit.
• C (Hold): Charge attack. Some shots have autofire ability as well.
• X (Press or hold): Subweapon. The mechanics of this attack vary whether the button was pressed or held, and whether the subweapon gauge is filled to level 1 or 2.
• Z: Discharge attack (bomb). Discharge attacks clear the screen of bullets and make the player character invincible for some time.
• V: Activate slow movement. The exact behavior of this button is dependent on the Speed Control setting. Fossilmaiden uses this button to control her aiming direction instead.

There are some additional controls that apply only to some characters:

• C (Tap rapidly): Additional shot weapon.
• C (Hold) + X: Additional subweapon.
• Z (Hold): Delay Discharge detonation. Invincibility is still applied immediately.

HUD

---

The lefthand side of the HUD focuses on gameplay features and contains vital information for any player.

1. Rank and Speed settings. Set before a run starts. Rank settings do not work outside Practice mode.
2. Lives. Lives are indicated by the heart containers. Max denotes the maximum number you can stock at once, set before the run. The NECESSARY counter tracks Extend progress; when it falls below 0 you earn an Extend.
3. SOL gauge. SOL determines the strength of your main shot and bombs. Levels are from 1 to 5. The number will flash red when a bomb is available.
4. LUNA gauge. LUNA determines your main shot's rate of fire. Has 3 levels, LO/MI/HI. Text will flash blue when HI, indicating maximum fire rate.
5. Subweapon gauge. Indicates the status of your subweapon. The bar indicates subweapon charge, while the rectangles indicate the level of attack available. For option type subweapons, MOUNT indicates the weapon is mounted to your character while INDEPEND indicates that it has been launched.
6. STELLA gauge. Also called rank. Levels go from 1 to 9 to A. The number will flash red when the gauge is filling and blue when it is emptying.
7. Target name. Indicates the name of the last target hit. Can be ignored.
8. TERRA gauge. After being depleted, you will detour to a bonus Segment called the Shrine of Farewell after the end of the current Segment.

The righthand side of the HUD is mostly reserved for scoring info. Players playing for survival may ignore most of this.

9. Autobomb status. If an autobomb is available, it will say so here and state how many you have remaining for the current Segment. Otherwise it will tell you why an autobomb is not available.
10. Spirit counter and gauges. The top counter represents Spirits earned from all previous segments and the bottom shows the amount earned on the current Segment. These numbers are summed at the end of the Segment. The gauges represent decimal values of Spirit gains. A full gauge from top to bottom represents 1, 10, and 100 Spirits. This allows players to easily track Spirit changes of any size, no matter how large their score becomes. If a Spirit BREAKTHROUGH is achieved, the word BREAK will appear next to the word Spirit.
11. Kill counter. This tracks the total number of kills made in a run. Like the Spirit counter, the top number tracks previous segments and the bottom number tracks the current Segment. BREAK will also appear next to Kills for a Kill BREAKTHROUGH.
12. LUNA gem. The value inside the gem tracks the current LUNA Crystal level, which determines their Token value. The number outside tracks how many more crystals need to be collected or lost to change the level.
13. Token counter. Works similarly to the other two scores aside from lacking a BREAKTHROUGH.
14. Timer. Counts the time (in seconds) since the start of the current Segment.
15. FPS counter. Tracks your FPS, to 2 decimal places (ie 6000 is 60.00). At one time it was possible to configure this to also show VRAM usage and Object Count. It is unknown if this is still possible.

Characters / Executors

Hellsinker. features four playable Executor characters, each with very different playstyles. Three of the characters are available by default, while the fourth, Kagura, is unlocked by clearing Segment 4 on a single credit.

Executor	Background	Description
Deadliar	A mysterious veteran of GRAVEYARD who has a history with Cardinal. Fights alongside the Mistletoe Tobari-Maru.	Focuses on strong but narrow attacks. Relies on his subweapon for coverage who can be freely placed to attack enemies with a small area-of-effect. His huge, high-power Discharge is his only tool for mass destruction, which can be manually delayed while still providing invincibility.
Fossilmaiden	A particularly sickly member of GRAVEYARD who has formed a symbiotic bond with her Mistletoe, Saraba-Maru.	Has a wide variety of specialized attacks, from melee range to covering extremely large areas of the screen. Can aim in 8 directions. Simultaneously the least and most mobile character. May be challenging to use before building up some familiarity. Two Discharges: a powerful bomb that flies up the screen, and an invincibility cloak with no offensive component.
Minogame	A hermaphroditic artificial sokushinbutsu confiscated by GRAVEYARD. Powerful enough to fight without a Mistletoe or equipment.	Unusual toolset focusing on strong area-of-effect attacks, invincibility, and auras. Very good at getting out of tight spots. Discharge is a more genre-typical all-range, long-duration, high-commitment attack.
Kagura / Kagura-Maru	A Mistletoe used as a living weapons platform after being crippled by feedback from Minogame. Enclosed in a armored shell, she can't do much but fight.	Four distinct load-outs. While varied, these are generally more "familiar" to other shmups than the other Executors, sharing a greater emphasis on the main shot weapon and less (ab)use of invulnerability.
	散神無 Chirijinmu Moon Cradle (Multi-Trajectory Shell)	All-rounder whose every weapon features some kind of lingering hurtbox. The best at continuous reckless shooting. Has two manually aimable subweapons, and weak Discharges that only cost 2 SOL rather than emptying the gauge. Resembles ESP Ra.De.
	劫殺 Gousetsu Ecliptic Chariot (External Gunner)	Wields an external, three-pronged turret that can be launched and retrieved freely. Poor offensive and scoring potential. Resembles Dragon Blaze.
	緋輪 Himawari Infernal Sabbath (Variable Gun)	High power main shot and no subweapon; instead, the subweapon button controls the spread of the main shot. Discharge is a traditional circular "nuke" bomb. Basic tools have high potential, but are hampered with blind spots and lack of versatility. Resembles the shot weapon from V-V.
	神弥 Omiwatari Xanthez (Anti-Bacillus Saber)	Experimental type with extremely high destruction potential limited by conditional gimmicks. Powerful, auto-aiming main shot that requires periodic reloading. Short-ranged blade weapons deal more damage with each physics object collided with; this includes some enemy bullet types, potentially stacking up to massive counterattacks. Has the most damaging and least defensive Discharge attack, a narrow laser beam.

Resources

Lives

---

The player starts with four lives. The Way of Life setting can change the maximum life cap to 6 (Moderately), 7 (Prudently), or 5 (Drastic). Please note that the game ends when you are hit with only one life icon left, not when you have zero; as such, it is better to think of your life icons as "hit points" rather than "spare lives" or "shields".

Extend progress is displayed by the NECESSARY counter, with an Extend being earned when NECESSARY falls below 0.

Item / Trigger	Effect on NECESSARY
Life Chip	-1
Ingot	-0.05
LUNA Crystal or Frozen Crystal	-0.004
Reliquia	-0.05
Per frame, before boss warning	-0.0008, or -0.0016 if on last life
Per frame, Segment 8 boss	-0.001
Starting a new Segment	-4
Losing a life	-2
Losing a life after a recent death	Additional -2
Per frame REGEN ASSIST is active	-0.025 (1 death) to -0.0025 (4+ deaths)
Blue crystallized spirit sh.	-0.5
Red crystallized spirit sh.	-2

^sh. Shrine of Farewell exclusive items.

Upon gaining an Extend or respawning after a death, the player is invincible for 120 frames. The invincibility following an Extend has the unique property of being added on top of any current invincibility time. This can be abused to stack up more invincibility, so long as the player does not activate the invincibility overwrite bug.

Gaining an Extend when at the life cap grants an Immortality bonus, awarding increasing quantities of Spirits with each bonus. Playing with a reduced life cap gives the player the opportunity to earn one or two extra Immortality bonuses at the cost of safety.

How quickly individual Executors gain Extends is determined by their Life Scale and Expand attributes. Life Scale is the starting value of NECESSARY. Every time an Extend is earned, the base value increases by the Expand value. Characters with high Expand values will find their Extends becoming comparatively rare in the late game. The base value is reset when either type of BREAKTHROUGH is achieved.

Executor	Life Scale	Expand
Deadliar	20	+2
Fossilmaiden	18	+3
Minogame	23	+1
Kagura (Moon Cradle)	22	+1
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)	19	+2
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)	28	0
Kagura (Xanthez)	16	+3

SOL and LUNA

---

SOL

---

Discharges and main shot power are governed by the SOL gauge. SOL is measured in levels 1 to 5. A minimum of 3 SOL is required to use a Discharge, with higher levels producing a more powerful and longer-lasting bomb. For all shots except Moon Cradle, performing a Discharge sets SOL to level 1; for Moon Cradle, Discharge lowers SOL by 2 levels.

The SOL gauge refills over time. For several characters, the recharge rate is improved very slightly if LUNA is low, but this has little practical use.

Executor	Maximum SOL	Time to charge a full SOL level at...
		Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Deadliar	259999	286 frames
Fossilmaiden	51199	732 frames
Minogame	259999	325 frames
Kagura (Moon Cradle)		325 frames
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)		151 frames	520 frames	213 frames	174 frames	130 frames
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)		232 frames		325 frames	1300 frames	104 frames
Kagura (Xanthez)		163 frames	237 frames	434 frames	1040 frames	26 frames

The gauge can also be refilled by collecting SOL Pieces.

Executor	Value of SOL piece
	Normal	The Great Majority (Extra 1)
Not Fossilmaiden	3200	1066
Fossilmaiden	800	266

Whenever the "discharge available" sound plays, the player becomes invincible very briefly (12 frames).

LUNA

---

The level of the LUNA gauge governs the rate of fire of your main shot. The gauge drains by a value each time the shot button is pressed, drains per bullet fired, and recovers over time.

Shots are fired in 0.2 second bursts (12 frames); pressing the shot button more than 5 times per second will continue to apply the LUNA drain on press but will not fire additional bullets. Even if the player's tap timing is imperfect, the LUNA drain will still be dramatically softened so long as the inaccuracy is no more than a few frames.

Executor	Maximum LUNA	LUNA drain when shot button pressed						Drain per bullet	Other firing modes
		Minimum	1 frame early	2 frames early	3 frames early	4 frames early	Earlier still
Deadliar	153599 Minimum: 12800	-70	-220	-320	-370	-820		-365	NARROW PIERCING: Additional -120/frame
Fossilmaiden	51199	0						0	BREAKING CHAIN: LUNA set to 0
Minogame	153599	-100	-400	-700	-1000	-1300	-2700	-400	n/a
Kagura (Moon Cradle)		-485						-105	Autofire: No extra cost
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)	140799							-90	n/a
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)	140799 Minimum: 25600							-112	OVER FIRING: Additional -235/frame
Kagura (Xanthez)	240000	0						-10000	FULLAUTO FIRING: No extra cost

The LUNA recovery rate accelerates for as long as LUNA is not spent. Having less SOL improves the recovery rate. For Deadliar and Minogame, recovery starts 8 frames after pressing the shot button (during the final 4 frames of a shot burst). For Kagura, recovery only starts when not shooting.

Additional layers of LUNA recovery can be applied by grazing bullets or by staying close to enemies (both scaling up with quantity). These factors are independent of shooting, so they also influence how long the player's LUNA lasts. Thanks to this, shooting at point-blank range can sometimes be sustained for a long time or even perpetually.

Fossilmaiden's LUNA recovery does not scale. It is always 220 per frame, or 20 per frame while firing main shot.

Xanthez's recovery rate is very slow immediately after firing and is not improved by enemy proximity or low SOL. If LUNA reaches 0, it refills much faster but cannot be spent until it fully refills. It may be helpful to think of Xanthez's shot as a "solid ammo" weapon that needs to be reloaded, as opposed to the other characters' "energy" shots that are recharging constantly.

LUNA can also be refilled by collecting LUNA-related items.

Executor	Value of LUNA item
	LUNA Crystal	LUNA Droplet	Frozen Crystal	LUNA Chaff
Not Fossilmaiden	800	160	400	1200
Fossilmaiden	400	80	120	600

Subweapon Gauge

---

The subweapon gauge determines the power (and in some cases, the type of attack) of your subweapon. It has 2 levels, is expended when you fire your subweapon, and fills when you are not using your subweapon. How the gauge behaves is character-dependent:

Executor	Charge time	Supercharge time	Supercharge behavior
Deadliar	n/a	75 frames	Firing main shot gradually depletes it to level 1
Fossilmaiden	n/a	90 frames	Fills while subweapon button is held, may not have a purpose?
Minogame	134 frames	120 frames	Firing main shot gradually depletes it to level 1
Kagura (Moon Cradle)	120 frames	Level 2: 60 frames Level 3: +120 frames	Manually charged during grenade subweapon
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)	18 frames	180 frames	Firing main shot instantly sets it to level 1, may not have a purpose?
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kagura (Xanthez)	45 frames	80 frames	Firing main shot instantly sets it to level 1

STELLA (Rank)

---

The Hellsinker. rank system is termed STELLA, ranging through 10 levels from 1 to A. The beginning of a run always sets the STELLA gauge to 1 (adjustable for practice mode only in the options) and a proportion of your ending STELLA is lost at the beginning of a new Segment. Maximizing STELLA is extremely important for Spirit scoring as it scales all sources of incoming Spirits and also enhances Spirit-relevant enemy attacks, such as the number of destructible bullets and the length of grazable needle bullets. Most Segments feature a specific trick early on for reaching maximum STELLA quickly.

The practical consequences of STELLA on the game's difficulty are small, mostly affecting bullet speed. In rare cases, differing STELLA levels will trigger different boss patterns.

Actions which will increase STELLA:

• Picking up green STELLA items, LUNA Chaff, Comets or Reliquiae
• Picking up large quantities of other items
• Collecting Spirits
• Staying close to some enemy types
• Hitting things rapidly
• Not getting hit for at least 20 seconds (reduces passive STELLA loss, effect scales incrementally over time)
• Some effects are enhanced near the top of the screen

Actions which will decrease STELLA:

• Getting hit
• Getting hit more than once within 30 seconds
• Picking up pink STELLA items
• Cancelling bullets with Discharge or with the Suppression Radius
• Staying close to the bottom of the screen

The minimum amount of STELLA preserved after completing a Segment increases over the course of the game dependent on your end-of-stage SURVIVABILITY award and your number of lives at that time.
The amount of STELLA lost after completing a Segment also increases dependent on your overall survival performance, number of Extends gained, and a stage-specific value. Notably, autobombing can reduce the amount of lost STELLA without penalizing the minimum preservation level.
A detailed analysis of STELLA preservation mechanics can be found in this post.

TERRA

---

The TERRA gauge determines the timing of the player's visit to the Shrine of Farewell, a special bonus Segment. TERRA begins at its maximum of 240; the player is sent to the Shrine after it reaches 0. TERRA will not fall on Segments 1B and 2B. As the Shrine has massive Spirit scoring ramifications, when Spirit scoring it is vital to avoid taking unnecessary hits in order to delay the Shrine's appearance for as long as possible.

Event	Effect on TERRA
Autobomb	-6
Losing a life	-10~20, see below
Losing a life after a recent death	-20~40, see below
Losing a Life Chip	-1
Losing a Revive item	-25
Losing other items except LUNA Droplets	-0.01
Exiting a Segment	( 60 - number of cleared stages^2 ) * -0.5 - 10
Exiting a Segment in Solidstate	Additional -8
Exiting Segment 5	Additional -15
Exiting Segment 6	Additional -30
Exiting Segment 7	Additional -380
Gaining an Extend	+7
Collecting a Reliquia	+0.05 on Segment 3L, else +0.2
Destroying KAREIDOSCOPE once (FATE CONTROL)	+2.5

The TERRA loss from dying is increased by:

• The number of deaths on the current Segment
• The number of misses in total, including autobombs
• Each STELLA level below A before the death

The TERRA loss from dying is mitigated by:

• A stage-specific value
• 3+ deaths on the current Segment

Items

Hellsinker. features 14 items (termed Relics). There is a hard limit of 512 simultaneous items; items spawned past this limit will not appear.

Item	Appearance conditions	Token value	LUNA value	NECESSARY value	Description/other effects
SOL Piece	Dropped by many enemies.	0	0	0	Increases SOL. Horizontal trajectory is slightly magnetized to the player.
LUNA Crystal	Dropped by many enemies.	0.05 to 0.32533 (Gem level)	800	0.004	Flies upwards instead of falling down. Contributes to the gem level. Decays the gem level if lost (level will no longer drop after reaching level 6). Can be collected in a small radius if the main shot button is not being held down, and can be auto-collected from the entire screen by using Discharge.
LUNA Droplet	Generated when a target is destroyed with enemy bullets nearby to it (range based on enemy hitbox size).	During stage: 0.16225 During boss: 0.0405	160	0	Contributes to the gem level but does not cause it to degrade if lost. Can be collected in a small radius if the main shot button is not being held down.
Frozen Crystal	Generated from bullet cancels after killing specific enemies.	1.5	400	0.004	Automatically collected.
LUNA Chaff	Generated when destroying bullets with the Suppression Radius.	0	1200	0	Increases STELLA.
Life Chip	Dropped by specific enemies.	0	0	1	Horizontal trajectory is slightly magnetized to the player.
Ingot	Generated from bullet cancels, typically after killing a boss.	0.06666 to 0.17916 (STELLA level)	0	0.05	Worth 0.2 Spirits.
Crystallized Spirits	Appear at the end of the Shrine of Farewell dependent on player performance.	0	0	Blue: 0.5 Red: 2	Either type is worth 0.5% of total Spirits earned before entering the Shrine (ACHIEVEMENT). Magnetized to a spot below the player with a randomized offset.?
Reliquia	Dropped by multi-part enemies.	0.08333	0	0.05	Worth 0.05 TERRA on Segment 3L, otherwise worth 0.2 TERRA. Raises STELLA. Moves very quickly but is significantly magnetized to the player.
Young STELLA	Appear in fixed places. Can appear in groups when fulfilling stage-specific conditions.	0	0	0	Raises STELLA level by 1 immediately, and then a further ~1/2 level over time.
Old STELLA	Appear in fixed places or when activating SELF ECLIPSE.	0	0	0	Lowers STELLA over time.
Comet	On player death, 1 is dropped per STELLA level lost.	0	0	0	Raises STELLA by 0.75 levels.
Revive	Appear very rarely under special conditions.	0	0	0	Instantly grants an extra life if the player is below max lives. Does not grant an Immortality bonus or affect the Extend count.

Item collection

---

The base collection range varies by item type.

Item	Range
LUNA Chaff	1600 units
Reliquia	3200 units
Crystallized Spirits	3300 units
LUNA Droplet	3400 units
Others	3000 units

Some characters have extra collection range which is added to the base range. This only applies when directly collecting items.

Executor	Extra range
Deadliar	0
Fossilmaiden
Minogame	500 units
Kagura	300 units

Options have their own collection range.

 (item base range) / 2 + (subweapon range * 0.75)

Executor	Subweapon	Range * 0.75	Common effective range	Notes
Tobari-Maru (Deadliar)	Chain (level 1)	4650 units	~6150 units
	Chain (level 2)	4800 to 9577 units	~6300 to ~11077 units	Range increases when Deadliar is nearby.
	Held throw	5400 units (4000)	~6900 units
Saraba-Maru (Fossilmaiden)	n/a	3750 units	~5250 units	Always active.
Ecliptic Chariot	n/a	1800 units	~3300 units	Potentially smaller than Kagura's base range.

Common Mechanics

Speed & Speed Control

---

Player movement speed is determined by character and the subweapon status they are in. Additionally, most characters have a slow movement mode which can be configured with the Speed Control setting.

Executor	Status	Distance per frame
Deadliar		560 units ————————————————→
	While aiming subweapon	140 units ———→
Fossilmaiden		448 units ————————————→
	During Anchor Device	373 units ——————————→
	During Lance Device	672 units ———————————————————→
Minogame		520 units ——————————————→
Kagura (Moon Cradle)		530 units ———————————————→
	While aiming subweapon	132 units ———→
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)	Docked	560 units ————————————————→
	Undocked	400 units ———————————→
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)		480 units —————————————→
Kagura (Xanthez)		600 units —————————————————→

Speed Control is set before a run. It determines how the player accesses slow movement. This setting has no effect on Fossilmaiden.

• Automatic: Move at 50% speed while the shot button is held (20 frame delay)
• Momentary: Move at 50% speed while the slow button is held (immediate)
• Alternative: Toggle 50% speed when the slow button is pressed
• Triphase: Cycle though full speed, 82% speed and 64% speed when slow button is pressed

Slow movement modifiers stack with other speed changes e.g. aiming a subweapon. Except in Triphase, all changes to the speed modifier are interpolated over a few frames at a character-specific rate. Speed changes in Triphase are instant.

Executor	Interpolation time of speed change
Deadliar Minogame	10 frames
Fossilmaiden	20 frames
Kagura	5 frames

Infernal Sabbath speed modifier

Infernal Sabbath has some additional effects related to the Speed Control setting, concerning the shot and subweapon buttons. Depending on the configuration, these changes may not be obvious due to only occurring for a few frames at a time, or may be disruptive. When two sources are opposing (downward trend in fast mode or upward trend in slow mode), the result is a ~76.46% speed modifier, assuming that it's even possible to stabilize it.

Speed Control	Extra Kagura3 behavior
Automatic	In addition to normal behavior, immediately switches to 50% speed while the subweapon button is held.
Momentary	Slow button not held: Trends towards 50% speed when pressing or releasing the subweapon button. Slow button not held, subweapon button held: Trends towards 50% speed when pressing the shot button. Slow button held: Trends towards 100% speed when pressing or releasing the subweapon button or shot button. Slow button held, shot button held: Behaves normally.
Alternative	Trends towards 100% speed when pressing or releasing the shot button. Trends towards 50% speed when pressing or releasing the subweapon button.
Triphase	Behaves normally.

Bootleg Ghost

---

Set before a run. Determines Auto-Rejection (autobomb) behavior. Autobombs can triggered up to three times per Segment. After an autobomb, the player is invincible for 120 frames.

• Aspirant
  • Autobombs will activate if the SOL gauge is at maximum level and the player has less than 4 lives.
  • When activated, nearly all SOL is lost. (Internal SOL value is divided by 7)
• Solidstate
  • Autobombs will activate any time Discharge is available.
  • When activated, all SOL is lost.
  • More TERRA is lost when exiting a Segment.
• Adept
  • No autobomb.
  • The Suppression Radius only activates when the main shot button is held, and activates faster.
  • Changes the graze range and seal range behavior for most characters. Details in the strategy subpage.

Suppression Radius

---

All characters have a Suppression Radius which is activated by not firing the main shot for 60 frames, or by holding the shot button for 20 frames in Adept.

The Suppression Radius takes the form of a light blue circle around the character. Its effective radius is 6400 units. It slows down many types of bullets and, for a smaller number of them, will eventually destroy them entirely. Destroying bullets with the Suppression Radius causes STELLA to fall, and produces small LUNA Chaff items which will more than recover the lost rank if collected. It also deals a very small amount of contact damage.

Fossilmaiden's Suppression Radius works differently as it is only active while her subweapons are active. It is much smaller than the other characters', and does not change with Bootleg Ghost setting. During the Anchor Device subweapon, it has a 4200 unit radius. During the Lance Device subweapon, it has a 2800 unit radius around Fossilmaiden and a 3600 unit radius around Saraba-Maru; in this case, the radius around Fossilmaiden is also less effective at destroying bullets.^?

Other weapons should be used versus destructible bullets as the Radius' suppression effect takes priority over its contact damage.

APPEASEMENT and SELF ECLIPSE

Continuously touching bullets with the Suppression Radius causes a number labeled APPEASEMENT to appear, counting down from 80 for as long as bullets continue to be inside the Radius. When the counter reaches 0, SELF ECLIPSE occurs:

• Two pink STELLA items appear at the top of the screen.
• The player becomes invulnerable very briefly (10 frames).
• APPEASEMENT is disabled for 60 frames.

The base fall rate of the APPEASEMENT counter is 0.135 per frame. Additional suppressed bullets gradually accelerate the fall rate, with each added bullet having a greater effect than the previous one. If no bullets are being suppressed, the counter instead recovers by 0.2 per frame.

SELF ECLIPSE is often a nuisance when playing for Spirits as the items it creates are undesirable and become hazards.

Discharge

---

Discharges are Hellsinker.'s bomb mechanic. They expend SOL to use, requiring at least SOL level 3 (or HI), with higher levels making the Discharge more effective. Discharges that can be delayed will grant invincibility over the entire delayed period in addition to the normal invincibility time. Unless otherwise noted, enemy bullets are cancelled into stars for the duration of a Discharge, but not for any delay period.

Executor	Discharge	Invincibility time at...			Effects of SOL level	Notes
		SOL 5	SOL 4	SOL 3
Deadliar	Carnage Raid	120 frames	90 frames	60 frames	Increased size and duration	Can be delayed for up to 40 frames. Near the center is effective for Spirit scoring.
Fossilmaiden	Curtain Raiser	144 frames			n/a	Can be delayed for up to 90 frames. Near the center is effective for Spirit scoring.
	Bacillus' Cloak	180 frames			n/a	No damaging component. Doesn't cause a bullet cancel.
Minogame	Azure Lotus	190 frames	140 frames	100 frames	Increased duration	Near the center is effective for Spirit scoring.
Kagura (Moon Cradle)	Knows Only Blazing	90 frames	60 frames	30 frames	No change	Reduces SOL level by 2 instead of emptying the gauge.
Kagura (Ecliptic Chariot)		370 frames	310 frames	250 frames	Increased duration	Invincibility wears off if the player leaves the area-of-effect.
Kagura (Infernal Sabbath)		200 frames	140 frames	80 frames	Increased duration	Can be delayed for up to 70 frames. Continuous bullet cancels while delayed.
Kagura (Xanthez)		90 frames	60 frames	30 frames	Increased power	Becomes dramatically stronger with more SOL levels.

There is a 1 frame gap between pressing the Discharge button and the activation of the Discharge, during which the player's SOL has been spent but they are not yet invulnerable.

Invincibility overwrite bug

Fossilmaiden's Curtain Raiser displaying the 1 frame start delay, then state-based invincibility during the hold period, then countdown invincibility during the active period.

Sources of invincibility are implemented in one of two ways. They can be "set-and-forget", where the invincibility timer is set once and runs down, or "state-based", where the timer is repeatedly set as long as a condition is true. Most invincibility sources do not check the timer's current value before being applied, causing them to overwrite the current set time. Practical cases where this can occur include:

• Activating SELF ECLIPSE, replacing current time with 10 frames
• Bombing after dying, or gaining an Extend, or scripted event invincibility, etc., replacing it with Discharge time
• Bombing twice in a row with Moon Cradle, replacing 90 frames with 30 frames

The following characters' Discharges use state-based invincibility and are safe from being overwritten.

• Fossilmaiden Curtain Raiser, during delayed period only
• Fossilmaiden Bacillus' Cloak
• Minogame
• Ecliptic Chariot, while inside radius
• Infernal Sabbath

State-based invincibility can be identified by the Executor turning solid white instead of flickering. An exception to this is Minogame's Discharge which uses a slightly different implementation.

Collision

---

In a departure from the genre, colliding with walls or enemies in Hellsinker. does not kill the player. Instead, they will be knocked away from the object collided with. If you are in a position to get knocked back several times (for example, wedged between two objects) your movement can become quite erratic. Collision-enabled enemies can also collide with each other and get shoved around which can create some odd situations if they are left alive.

Any time the player character is invulnerable, they are also unaffected by collision. Using invincibility to clip through enemies and obstacles is a regular part of play.

Many small enemies, parts etc do not have any physics collision and can be moved into safely. Some enemies will still cause death on collision; this is accomplished by such enemies having invisible bullets constantly inside them.

Sealing Enemies

---

When the player approaches certain enemies, a box featuring the word SEAL will appear on them. Enemies sealed in this manner cannot fire as long as you remain close to them and for 55 frames afterwards. This encourages aggressive play as many threats can be neutralized without ever being allowed to shoot. Some enemies' Spirit kill value is increased while they are sealed.

The sealing range for a given enemy is determined from an enemy-specific base value + the player character's graze range, updating dynamically if the graze range changes.

A visualization of seal ranges can be enabled by setting Emphasize:Seal Zone under Info Augmentation before starting the game, which will draw a teal-shaded hint zone with the radius base seal range + 5000 units around all sealable enemies. These hints are fixed size and do not respect the differences between characters. They will also not function during the tutorial/practice chamber or if the background visibility is set to 0.

Seal wearing off as the graze range switches to small mode while main shot is being fired. Note how Kagura's seal range is larger than the hint zone when she stops shooting (60+64px vs 60+50px).

Meanwhile Fossilmaiden's seal range is smaller than the hint zone even when in big mode (60+36px vs 60+50px).

UNCHAIN

---

Enemies marked with MASTER can be seen connected to multiple other enemies with red lines (SLAVEs). Destroying the MASTER will UNCHAIN the SLAVEs, causing them to self-destruct.

UNCHAINing is important to Spirit scoring. In addition to granting increasing numbers of Spirits for each self-destructed SLAVE, some SLAVEs will drop Life Chips or fire revenge needles to be grazed, which can contribute very large quantities of Spirits. The total number of UNCHAINed enemies also improves the tick points rate. Occasionally the reverse is true and killing the SLAVEs individually is more profitable.

UNCHAINed enemies do not contribute to the player's Kills, so when playing for Kills one must instead avoid most UNCHAINs and kill the SLAVEs individually.

BREAKTHROUGH

---

When reaching a certain threshold of Spirits or Kills a BREAKTHROUGH will occur. The first BREAKTHROUGH occurs at 5200 Spirits or 2500 Kills (whichever comes first), and the second at 6200 Spirits or 5000 Kills (whichever wasn’t the first breakthrough). Achieving a BREAKTHROUGH has several effects:

• Grants an Extend. If the player is at maximum lives, grants an Immortality bonus plus 200 or 160 extra Spirits.
• Causes a bullet cancel immediately and an Ingot cancel 65 frames later.
• Resets the NECESSARY value for Extends to its starting value, accelerating further Extends.

Carefully timing BREAKTHROUGHs for maximum Extend efficiency is worth considering in advanced scoring.

Cancellation Stars / Phantom Bullets

---

Mundanely cancelled enemy bullets (e.g. during a Discharge) turn into harmless white stars which persist for 30 frames, serving as a way to inform the player of bullet trajectories while enemy attacks are being negated. If an item cancel occurs during this situation, the stars convert into items just like active bullets do. This can enable more greedy Ingot cancels when finishing off bosses or Freeze cancels when Token scoring. Unlike real bullets, killing enemies near stars will not create LUNA Droplets.

Stars activated by a Discharge double-cancelling into Ingots.

Shrine of Farewell

---

One of the doors in the waiting room of the Shrine of Farewell. The boss order shown here is Temperament Nil, Million Lives, Al4th, and Nine Lives.

After TERRA is depleted, the player will detour to the Shrine of Farewell on the next Segment transition. The Shrine is a boss rush stage, featuring 4 bosses and 4 interstitial enemies. The order of appearance of the bosses is determined by which of the 24 doors the player selects at the beginning.

Once the player has selected a boss order and entered the Shrine proper, some special rules apply for the duration of the boss rush:

• All Spirits from prior stages are Dozed Out and taken away.
• Irrespective of performance, the boss rush lasts for between 265 and 238 seconds depending on character.
• The player has infinite lives. NECESSARY is frozen. Autobombs do not function.
• Each boss has 3 patterns, and each interstitial Kaname Stone enemy has one.
• Each pattern defeated awards a CRYSTALLIZE value depending on the STELLA level at the time and the number of misses.
• Bombing a Kaname Stone voids its CRYSTALLIZE entirely.
• Defeating all 16 patterns before the time runs out awards a final, bigger CRYSTALLIZE, and begins an extra sequence of many SCARY-STUPA enemies until the time depletes.

When All Rerics Are Sunk, Ozzed Spirits Return in the form of Crystallized Spirits, one for each CRYSTALLIZE achieved, to a maximum of 424. Each crystal is worth 0.5% of the total Spirits prior to entering the Shrine, for a maximum return of 212% Spirits. The crystals are also worth a large amount of NECESSARY, resulting in lots of Extends that will refill any missing lives and further improve Spirit scores with Immortality bonuses.

Because of the huge implications of the Crystallized Spirits multiplier, Spirit scoreplayers need to ensure the Shrine appears at its latest opportunity (after Segment 7) and avoid dying or carelessly bombing to maximize crystal count. Players aiming for Kills or Tokens will value speeding past the bosses to reach the SCARY-STUPA area as soon as possible.

Continuing

---

Hellsinker. offers one Continue upon running out of lives. Using the Continue will skip some following Segments and send the player into a fake Segment 8, kicking them back to the title screen before the last boss. Additionally, completing the Shrine of Farewell will disable the Continue system. In effect, it's functionally impossible to clear the game via Continue, and the option only exists to give a struggling player more practice.

Scoring

Hellsinker. tracks 3 different, very distinct, scores: Spirits, Kills, and Tokens.

Spirits

---

Familiar but convolutedly multi-faceted scoring.

Important specifics to Spirit scoreplay include:

• Maintaining STELLA level A at all times
• Perfect survival to maximize Immortality bonuses and Crystallized Spirits
• Grazing
• Milking enemies for Inner Spirit value or tick points
• UNCHAINing enemies for extra Life Chips, enhanced tick points rate, and direct Spirits
• Ingot cancels
• Shooting destructible bullets
• Crystallized Spirits collection technique (not relevant to all characters)

See the Spirit section on the Strategy subpage for more information.

Kills

---

Kill things number go up.

Important specifics to Kill scoreplay include:

• Destroying all parts of every enemy
• Killing SLAVEs instead of UNCHAINing them
• Speedkilling to spawn more enemies
• Waiting to kill things so they create extra things to kill
• Speedrunning Segment 4 and Shrine for more enemies

See the Kill section on the Strategy subpage for more information.

Tokens

---

All of the bullets are coming with me.

Important specifics to Token scoreplay include:

• Collecting LUNA Crystals and Reliquiae
• Timing enemy kills to create LUNA Droplets
• Frozen Crystal bullet cancels
• Manipulating enemy movement and bullets with the Suppression Radius for bigger cancels or more Droplets
• Strategic bombing or dying for item collection or repositioning
• Efficiently managing time on bosses to minimize Token decay
• Speedrunning Segment 4 and Shrine for more cancels and Droplets

See the Token section on the Strategy subpage for more information.

Unlocks & Obscurities

Unlocks

Hellsinker. contains many hidden features that must be unlocked by making progress in the game such as extra game modes, new title screens, and goodies like a cutscene viewer and music room.

Unlocked by clearing Segment 4 without continuing:

• Title Screen 2.
  

  Title Screen 2.
• Kagura, a fourth playable character.
• Segment Location, a practice mode. In order for a Segment to be unlocked in practice mode, you must reach (but not necessarily defeat) a Segment's boss, without continuing.
• Segments 1 through 3 Lead. These Lead segments are harder than the default versions (now called Behind) but offer greater scoring opportunities as a result. They can be freely selected in full runs.

Unlocked by clearing Segment 7, continue allowed:

• Title Screen 3.
  

  Title Screen 3.
• Short Mission, an abbreviated run of the game. Short Mission is truncated to 5 segments instead of 8 and allows players to pick them from a series of groupings. Progress made in Short Mission counts for the purposes of unlocks such as Segment Location or beating the game.

Unlocked by defeating the True Last Boss (Lost Property 771):

• Extra Segment 1, The Great Majority. Extra segments are selected from the title screen and take place after the events of Full Sequence Order and conclude the story. The Great Majority is a score attack based Segment.

Unlocked by clearing The Great Majority:

• Extra Segment 2, The Way of All Flesh.

Unlocked by clearing The Way of All Flesh:

• Title Screen 4. Additionally, title screens can now be freely changed in options.
  

  Title screen 4.
• Strategy Recorder, a cutscene viewer. Strategy Recorder features extra cutscenes not seen during gameplay.

Unlocked by viewing all cutscenes in Strategy Recorder, then closing the game:

• Sound Memoir, a music room. A final cutscene will play when you close the game, thanking you for your efforts. Congratulations!

Easter Eggs

• Leaving the TRANSPORTER enemies on Segment 1L alive until the boss will cause them to ram into the boss and destroy it.
• Letting the Segment 4 boss time out with all of its parts intact will cause it to drop 6 Revives before leaving.
• Letting the Segment 7 boss time out with one life remaining will cause a unique bad ending.
• In the 1.009 version of the game, the Shrine of Farewell bosses display distorted cut-up dialogue messages at the start of each pattern. This is absent in later versions for unknown reasons.

Miscellaneous Bugs

• Collision desync: In practice modes, colliding with certain physics objects can sometimes cause replay desyncs. These seem more likely to occur if the collision is near the beginning of the replay. Confirmed cases include S6 SCARY-STUPAs, S7 boss lances, S8 windmill blades, and the TLB. Full run replays don't seem to be at risk.
• TLB bullets desync: The TLB's bullet patterns may behave differently during replay playback and cause a desync. This can be fixed by restarting the game.
• Segment 5 initialization: In boss practice, the arms of the CURIOUSMEDIATOR sub-boss don't have their initial damage resistance set correctly.
• Possessed replay: In practice modes, partial replays created by quitting out mid-stage can continue past when they should have stopped, inheriting the input data from another replay saved in the same slot under a different rank setting.
• Spirits underflow: In some versions of the game, it's possible to use the tick point buffer overflow bug to wrap around a low Spirits total into UINT_MAX. This was fixed in Steam v8 / BOOTH v22.

Trivia

• Much of the game's language and terminology, and some of the enemy designs and music, are derived from the developer's previous game, Radio Zonde.

Notable examples

SOL, LUNA and STELLA are subcomponents of the scoring system. As a trio they refer to heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars), in keeping with Radio Zonde's motif of the firmament. In Hellsinker., TERRA was introduced, and the four terms were reinterpreted into pairs of complimentary opposites (sun versus moon, heavens versus earth). Some PRAYERs come straight out of Radio Zonde, such as the Segment 6 flat elongated jets and the Segment 8 pointed obelisks. Others are clearly the same "model" but with a redesign, such as the red crabs. The attacks used by Dawn and Dusk are the same as those used by Radio Zonde protagonists Mahiro and Yozora. Furthermore, the Apostles' boss music is a remix of Radio Zonde's boss 1 music. This is taken to imply that Mahiro and Yozora were transformed into Dawn and Dusk, the plausibility of which is supported by the Segment 7 bad ending. The title of said boss track, "PAST RISINGS AGAIN", is also the subtitle of Segment 7. The USE-type protagonists Nifun and Gofun are similar to Mistletoes. The bosses of stages 1, 5, 2 and 6 lend their respective names to the Kagura shottypes. The stage 7 boss, Denri, somewhat resembles Al4th, and has a similar pattern where she's shielded inside a rotating ring of orbs. The stage 8 boss, Aozora, somewhat resembles Old Rose, and drops rose bouquets upon defeat. Bird projectiles and white hexagonal plates also make an appearance.

• The name CLAMMBON comes from the short story Yamanashi by Kenji Miyazawa, where it's spelled クラムボン. In the story, a pair of baby river crabs discuss Clambon's simple life and abrupt death. It's not ever clear what Clambon is supposed to be; it's probably a make-believe by the baby crabs who are in the process of internalizing the nature of the world around them.
• The cat people encountered in the Shrine of Farewell, Nine Lives and Million Lives, are almost certainly a reference to the picture book The Cat that Lived a Million Times by Yōko Sano. Both said book and Hellsinker. have prominent themes of samsaric melancholia, and the titles of the boss cats' attacks are reminiscent of the events of the book.
• Some things were never translated into English within the game, mostly boss attack subtitles.

Untranslated things and their possible meanings

Perpetual Calendar Themed around time. Ages Circulation 巡歴セシ星々ノ軌跡 Traces of the passage of the stars Solar Dust 暁ノ儀仗・赤蜻蛉 Ceremony of dawn – red dragonfly Inversal Current 逆巻ク刻ノ奔流 Torrential reversal of time Lunatic Phantom 月ヲ詠ム真跡・薄荷蝶 Authentic lunar composition – mint butterfly Composition as in to write poetry. Alternatively "recital" would also work, but the attack sure does look like it's drawing something. Astrolabium 恒久ナル祈祷機関 Engine of eternal prayer KAREIDOSCOPE 永劫ナル回帰ノ坩堝 Crucible of endless recurrence Nine Lives Relatively normal predatory cat theme in contrast with Million Lives. Scare Swallow 気の向く侭に 燕狩り Hunting swallows at a whim Bondage Divider 影を射る眼差し 四肢を断つ刃 Shadow-piercing gaze, dismembering blade Under The Silence 彷徨う者共よ 無言のままに All you strays, remain silent Million Lives References to The Cat that Lived a Million Times. Nostalgic Pain 面影を語る爪痕 Claw marks illustrate the faint remains The claw marks left behind make you remember the cat after it's gone. Innocent Clockworks 古びた振子の舞踏 Dance of the ancient pendulum Volcanic Libido 狂った鬼灯の接吻 Kiss of the mad hōzuki Hōzuki = alkekengi or Chinese lantern plant. Al4th アルフォース (Al4th) flips into アスフォール which is an unusual transcription of "asshole" (アスホール). It can only be assumed this was deliberate. The associations of woman/moon/blood/birth/unclean/witchery are culturally worldwide, some appearing in Shinto as sources of spiritual pollution (kegare). Strange Moon 異形の月 Strange moon Inversal Baptism 錆釘の雨／逆の禊 Rain of rusty nails / Reverse purification Desperate Annulus 散華の宝冠／無尽の礫 Crown of falling flowers / Inexhaustible pebbles 散華 is sange, the Buddhist rite of scattering flowers, which is also a euphemism for a glorious death (ephemerality/transience symbolism). To "wear a crown of falling flowers" might be interpreted as bearing a mark of doom to die in battle, hence the "desperation". Maybe. Or maybe it's ironic with Al4th's profane character. Temperament Nil Themed around metaphysics and keyboard instruments. "Temperament Nil" refers to musical tuning. Tempering is the intentional mistuning of the overall scale in order to mitigate more obvious harmonic problems arising in some intervals. Some designs of tuning keys resemble hammers, like Nil is wielding. Originator's Regal ただ一張の弦 Just one string The chaser projectile plays an F note repeatedly as it travels. "Regal" refers to a small reed organ. Tuning the one key. Virginal Order 霄を模る六十鍵 Sixty keys to imitate the sleet The bumper she launches has 60 keys on it. "Virginal" refers to a small harpsichord. Playing all the keys wildly. Fatal Strings 定めを紡ぐ糸 The thread that spins destiny

• The final "boss" of the Shrine of Farewell has an incomprehensible nametag which changes constantly. These names are generated by selecting one or more entries on a list of silly titles and phrases, then randomly truncating them and mashing them together.

List of phrases

末法経典ラッケナク	廃棄されるべき奇跡ロニ・サパニ	灰色の虹ロキシーネ	網膜に灼き憑く夢想ロナトート
禁忌の厨房クラク・ノーニ	驟雨煙る終着駅ウェイス	劣情の舞踏会VAV	電装の麗人ビステクライネ
英霊《名前を入れてください》	帰らぬ巨人ゼクオ	全自動螺旋階段ネフラ・マフラ	無垢なる反復フレカルメ
コルガネ主任の六重隠蔽錠	五感を欺くナナンの黄金蟲	無量の遊び紙イラツヅリ	モーレスマ断絶交差
裏返しの逆三角ツックァノンノ	沈黙の封櫃アーアイラ	アズトローネフ人工大海	ケントラプ祝福凱歌
無記名大墳墓ココネネトネ	古の新世界エルタニル	手慰みの花輪プラッツィ	苦境を棄却する同伴者アノーン
虚妄分解浄化槽チフラ	甘露の蛇口フォキソ・ネィラ	悠久加速追悼者イエド	異端封鎖網１９９
追憶の船頭ギーシャ	サザーロ婦人の拙い星空	ムバナリ衒学追葬隊	虚ろの大王朝アーネイテ
無明なる護り手パヨン	空虚なる警報装置クヒナヴィーテ	ゲ・タリクトの遠い水面	アルクローストの認め難き道標
禁忌の少女王レクターテ	トテ・リナユトの不眠戦志	アネドミネド外典集大成	永夜の大いなる森サニル・ナクテ
完遂者キリヲが紡ぐ永久の均衡	エイブス天文大伽藍	永久遅延器官ニャククルト	オモイの日誌（新装版
イヴァ・ガレンソ久遠桟敷	エイルエンの鳥篭	週末を阻む偽終止テト・クォイン	絶え難き誘惑フォ・ムビナ・ユッソ
追憶の逆止弁フラニース	嘘吐き公爵カーチクィツァ	その名はルルル	ロイテの不確実病理図鑑
便所の蓋と呼ばれた少女Q	エーリ少年の詠む世界・第５章	遡行限界ブラン・ノクト	トゥーテヌラ大絶縁層
物部博士のめくるめく不条理	捏造楽団エラ・ルペッタ	エズの二律背反	根拠無き核心デスニテュロク
無音の鼓動プトラーニュ	イ・コヴァは羽ばたく、模造の翼で	ジェスクパ高層鎮魂塔	ナクァックの私書箱

• There are some inconsistencies between the information in the game manual and the release version. Presumably these things were true at some point and were later changed.
  • It's claimed that Extends grant only 1 second of invincibility and that normal Extends cause Ingot cancels like BREAKTHROUGHs do.
  • It's implied that manually delayed Discharges do not provide invincibility until released.
  • It's claimed that Xanthez's charge attack is an alternative way of activating the Suppression Radius. In the release version, it does not resemble this at all.
  • Several numbers are incorrect, such as some item values.
  • The images on the "game events" page feature pre-release graphics, including Executor sprites in a more detailed style.

References & Resources

1. Hellsinker on Shmuplations – 2019 developer interview.
2. Beetle-Omiwatari's Youtube – Game disassembly notes, trial version exploration, scoreplay.
3. Hellsinker. Personal Manual – One of the earliest and best quickstart guides to the game, originally written in 2008. JP and ENG.
4. Ruminant's Whimper Wiki – Japanese wiki for TONNOR games. Contains transcriptions of most of the original game text and links to various blogs, contemporary doujin circles and 2ch conversations.
5. Draft HellSinker ST by Zaarock
6. https://www.britannica.com/art/tuning-and-temperament