Gravitronix Playing Tips

Have you picked up Gravitronix on WiiWare and need some tips to get to the expert levels of the game?  Well here you go, straight from the developers themselves. 

Single Projectile Techniques

The following advanced techniques can be done with only a single projectile. We’ll cover these first as they contrast with techniques that involve multiple projectiles.

Repel Beam Aiming
The repel beam is one of the most useful tools in the arsenal of a skilled Gravitronix player. It allows the most rapid turnaround of an incoming attack while requiring very little downtime for the player. Attempting to constantly repel incoming attacks in random directions will often do more harm to you than good. Thus, it’s vital that you learn how to properly aim with the repel beam.

The repel beam will immediately cancel all momentum on a projectile and apply a new vector. This vector depends upon two factors: the position of your gravity platform relative to the projectile and the timing of your button press.

The repel beam fires in a half-circle, with the point of origin being on your gravity platform itself. If a projectile is to the left of your gravity platform when it is struck by the repel beam, it will be redirected to the left. At what angle it will be deflected will be determined by the position it was to the point of origin.

By a general rule, the closer you allow a projectile to get to your shield pieces before repelling it, the more shallow the angle of repulsion will be. By waiting until the last possible moment before repelling, you can send shallow shots into adjacent territories. This will require a good deal of timing to perfect.

Alternatively, you can aim the projectile for any other location on the arena. This relies upon having good precision with the twisting controls and having enough time to line up your shot.

Sweeping

One of the more devious techniques to use on adjacent opponents, “sweeping” involves avoiding the use of the repel beam and instead using the push beam to gently sweep a projectile into an adjacent territory.

To sweep successfully, you’ll need to be ready for an incoming projectile heading for the edge of your territory. Fire and hold your push beam while approaching the edge of your territory. If done correctly, the projectile will enter your push beam and will have its course altered just enough to crash into the territory adjacent to yours. Be aware that, while doing this, the remainder of your territory is vulnerable.

Orbiting

A difficult but useful technique in Gravitronix is orbiting. Orbiting only works on the sphere and pyramid, but can be a good way to throw a surprise attack at an opponent.

Orbiting tends to happen completely by accident while firing the capture beam. If the projectile enters the force of the capture beam perpendicular to the force of the beam, there’s a good chance the projectile will orbit the center of your capture beam for a period of time, so long as you continue to hold the capture beam.
You can use orbiting to your advantage by releasing the projectile at just the right moment and sending it at an enemy territory.

Cube Accelerating

The cube has quite a few uses in Gravitronix, but it’s slow speed balances it out. Fortunately, you can use the push beam to apply additional force to the cube even after you’ve fired it or repelled it.

After firing or repelling the cube, simply continue to hold the push beam and you will apply additional speed to the cube as it leaves your territory. This is especially useful when trying to hasten the departure of a charged cube from your territory and into the territory of an opponent.

Wall Bouncing

If there are dead zones in a match, you can use them to your advantage by bouncing projectiles off of them and into your opponents’ territories.  Although not technically a multiple projectile technique, wall bouncing is best done when you know you’ll have another projectile to send at your opponent just as the wall-bounced projectile is arriving in their territory.

Multiple Projectile Advanced Techniques

Cube Distraction

Placing pressure on your opponents is key to success in Gravitronix. The cube has the unique distinction of being able to apply that pressure with a 3-5 second delay, giving you plenty of time to capture another projectile and fire it when it will arrive in the enemy territory at the exact same time as the cube.  Ideally, you should send the cube at one end of an enemy territory and send your second attack at the other end. If you’re about to become the victim of this technique, try to distract your opponent with an attack of your own or strike the cube with another projectile to disrupt his/her plan.

Cube Ricochet

Due to the cube’s immense mass, it’s possible to ricochet projectiles off of it and into an adjacent territory.  I advise that you wait until the cube is not spinning so that the angle of the shot will be more predictable.

Nudging

Your gravity platform will move slower while it’s carrying a captured projectile, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make use of the captured projectile as either a shield or to push a projectile into an adjacent territory.  While nudging, be careful that a projectile doesn’t get stuck between your captured projectile and your shield pieces. The result will be disastrous.

Flint and Tinder

Quite possibly the most risky but enjoyable technique to pull off in Gravitronix, the “flint and tinder” involves charging a cube, pushing it at an opponent’s territory and then detonating the cube with a second projectile before they can capture the cube (which would neutralize the explosive charge) or detonate it themselves.

This is an INCREDIBLY risky maneuver as a wary enemy player or stray projectile could detonate the cube before it leaves your territory, but if timed correctly, it is one of the most devastating attacks in the game and can damage an entire shield wall of an opponent in a quarter territory.

V-Shots

A “V-Shot” is done by capturing a projectile, waiting until another projectile is incoming (a non-cube) and then quickly firing the first projectile at an opponent and then hitting the 2nd projectile at them with the repel beam.  I wouldn’t recommend this one until you’re comfortable with the control scheme, as it’s easy to mess up and get hit by the incoming projectile or, if one of the projectiles is charged, have them collide and detonate near your shield pieces.

Y-Shots

Much like the V-Shot, the “Y-Shot” is intended to send two attacks at your opponent at once. Unlike the V-Shot, the Y-Shot involves using another projectile mid-arena to create this effect. You’ll probably want to use either a sphere or pyramid with 2-3 speed marks to create the right effect.  Although the pyramid arcs after being fired from capture, it will NOT arc if it strikes another projectile before it arcs, meaning you can use it to start a Y-Shot all the same.