How to Win at Space Defender: Shooter Tips & Strategy
Space Defender fires for you, so all of your skill goes into flying. You have three lives, power-ups to collect and a boss every fifth wave that gets tougher each time. Staying alive long enough to build up power is the key to big scores, and these tips will help you do it.
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Keep moving, stay low
Standing still makes you an easy target. Keep drifting from side to side near the bottom of the screen, which gives enemy shots the longest distance to travel and you the most time to react. Avoid touching enemies too: crashing into one destroys it but also costs you a life.
Collect the right power-ups
Multi-shot adds extra streams of fire and can be stacked twice, but it wears off after about twelve seconds. A shield absorbs one hit and also lasts about twelve seconds. Hearts add a life, up to a maximum of five. Grab multi-shot whenever it is safe, and save the chance of a shield for when a boss wave is near.
Target the tanks
Big, slow tank enemies take several hits to destroy, but they are worth the most points of the regular enemies and drop power-ups far more often than smaller ones. Focus your fire on tanks when they appear. Fast darts and swooping enemies are worth fewer points and are more about dodging.
Beat the bosses
Every fifth wave, a boss arrives. It attacks in turns with rings of bullets, aimed bursts and rapid fire, and below half health it attacks faster. Stay low and watch for the gaps in the bullet rings. Each boss has more health than the last, so arrive with multi-shot if you can. A defeated boss drops a multi-shot plus a heart or shield.
After you are hit
When you lose a life you get a short moment of safety. Use it to move into a clear area, not to chase power-ups through heavy fire. The same applies when a shield breaks. Patience after a hit is what keeps a good run alive.
A hit also knocks your multi-shot down one level, so expect less firepower for a moment. Do not panic. Re-centre your ship near the bottom, wait for the current attack to pass and then work your way back into position under the enemies, where your automatic fire does the most damage.
Questions
- How many lives can I have?
- You start with three, and hearts can raise that to a maximum of five.
- Which enemies drop power-ups most often?
- Tanks. They drop power-ups far more often than smaller enemies.
- Do power-ups last forever?
- No. Multi-shot and shields wear off after a short time. Extra lives stay.
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