The unofficially official Star Fox Zero high score tactics thread

[SF Redd 116]

I'm quite surprised that this hasn't been done yet, but anyhow.

In advanced, this thread will have spoilers.

You have been warned.

In this thread, I aim to have a discussion about, as the title suggests, the best tactics to use in Star Fox Zero to get the highest score you can. I'd like this to be veteran and newcomer friendly, so I'll be going through the basics, and then getting into some more specific and advanced stuff.

So for those who don't know, the scoring system in Star Fox games tends to be quite simple. Score is calculated in HITS in most games. If you shoot a single fighter down, you'll get 1 HIT. In Star Fox Zero, as with Star Fox 64, if you use a charge shot and hit the ground, but kill an enemy with the shot's splash damage, you'll get a HIT+1. Additionally, in Star Fox Zero, if an enemy ship is falling from the sky after being shot, and you destroy it before it explodes, you'll get an additional HIT+1. So, if you've got a group of three enemies, the best way to get the highest score possible would be to individually damage each of them with charge shots(because three HIT+1's give a higher score than one HIT+3), and then shoot them out of the sky before they explode, each giving a HIT+1. Those 3 enemies just turned into 12 HITS. Simple, right? Of course, it wouldn't be feasible to do this with every single enemy in a stage. There just isn't enough time for that, so you've got to take what you can get.

Now we've got the basics out of the way, let's move on to some other stuff

Notes:
If you have hyper lasers and pick up a laser upgrade, you'll get an extra HIT+3
Same with bombs. If you have the maximum amount of bombs, and you pick up another, you'll get a HIT+3.
For most stages it's best to use the Black Arwing. While t may get frustrating if it gets you killed due to it's low health, it can make or break a score run, since it can kill enemies quicker, giving you more time to get points from other units.
I've found that using full gyro is better, because with it you'll always have control over where you're aiming.
Remember to hold down the L button to prevent lock on with your charge shots.
In some stages you'll see ships which have Andross' face carved into them. Shoot the faces for extra HITS.

Corneria 1:

Phase 1:
This stage starts out straightforward. Shoot the enemies over the water as they come in. The chainsaw ships will give a fair few HITS if you keep hitting them with charge shots. You'll likely have to break to get as many points as you can.
When you reach the part where a row of buildings gets destroyed by a chainsaw ship, don't boost through. Shoot the ship with charge shots, then go to the left of the buildings, where you'll find some Venomain tanks. There's some more enemies to the right, so make sure you get those.
After you save Slippy, go straight down. You should be able to get HIT+1's from the turrets if you're accurate enough.
Once you re-enter the urban part of the city, take out the mechs on the right and centre, but go left to get the two fighters. If you shoot the stands holding up the bridge with charge shots, you'll get points from the tanks that are on the bridge.
Once you reach the double tunnels, always go under. There's no need to go over, because you can destroy the enemies above and below at the same time if you shoot at the top of the tunnels with charge shots.
Always stay on the normal path for this. You'll get much more points than if you go for Aquarosa. You may be able to get similar points if you don't save the Cornerian carrier and shoot the surrounding enemies, but this is untested.
When you reach the river, go left around the rock formation. Some more enemies will appear.
The same happens just up ahead, when you see two mechs. Go to the far left around the rocks and more enemies will appear.

Phase 2:
There's a hidden laser upgrade atop a building. Land on it with the walker and the upgrade will appear.
Destroy the tanks on the bridge first with charge shots to get extra hits.
If you destroy 10 enemies, you'll get an extra 5 HITS.

Phase 3:
Destroy all of the small turrets before you deal with the large turrets to get the most points possible.
Destroy one of the bottom large turrets to reveal missile launchers. Use there missiles to destroy the other three turrets. This can be very tricky, but it gives more points than if you were to just shoot them.
Don't destroy the core of Androssa; you'll get more points by destroying all of the turrets.

That's just Corneria for now. I'll be updating this every so often to include different locations.

If I've missed anything, please let me know. I'd like to have a good discussion about this.