Touhou Koumakyou New Classic Shot Type Rankings

How to read the letters

S means the kit is the default recommendation for that goal. A means it is close and often better in a specific matchup. B means it works and will fight you. Every shot 1CCs. If a YouTube clear used B-tier on Extra, that is a player, not a rewrite of the table.

Mechanics behind these ranks—focus spreads, bomb i-frames, Patchouli elements—are on shot types. Reimu and Marisa pages cover movement. This page only orders the four letters.

First clear

S — Reimu A. Homing ofuda delete stage trash while you learn streaming. Fantasy Seal is a long, honest bomb when you press it late. Bosses take longer; that is acceptable on Easy and Normal, where the failure mode is Stage 3 and Stage 5, not Remilia’s timer.

S — Marisa A. Magic Missiles end bosses. A first Normal credit that dies on Remilia last cards often survives on A simply because the cards do not last. Thin coverage is the tax. If your deaths are side fairies, this is not your S.

A — Marisa B. Master Spark will carry a messy first run through walls you have not learned. Illusion Laser will also stall bosses, so Stage 6 can get long. Use B if bombs are the only thing keeping you in the credit.

B — Reimu B. Needles are fine. Evil-Sealing Circle is not a first-clear bomb. Short i-frames punish the exact habit beginners have: bombing after the screen is already white. Learn A first, then come back.

Lunatic 1CC

S — Marisa B. Spark length is a Lunatic mechanic. Cards that would cost Reimu B a life become a walk. You still need to not spend all three Sparks on Meiling. The laser’s strobe is annoying; the bomb is why the rank is S.

A — Reimu A. Stage portions on Lunatic are where credits go to die. Homing keeps you in the safe column. You will fight Remilia longer. If your replays die before Stage 6, A is the correct A-tier, not a cop-out.

A — Marisa A. Shorter bosses, thinner stages, Forest Blaze still exists. Players who already micrododge prefer A because Lunatic last cards are fewer seconds. Players who do not already micrododge should not copy this rank.

B — Reimu B. Extra-grade shotgun, Extra-grade bomb weakness. Lunatic Sakuya will ask for a panic clear Circle cannot give. Viable if you almost never bomb, which is the opposite of a first Lunatic.

Extra

S — Marisa A. Flandre is a health pool with a clock. Missiles cut bars. Stardust Reverie keeps the shot online, so a bomb is not a DPS gap. Patchouli midboss is still the wood line; budget a Spark-less execute or a practiced Forest Blaze equivalent and leave with power.

S — Reimu B. Point-blank needles are the shrine-maiden Extra plan. You have to stand close, which New Classic’s hitbox finally lets you rehearse. Circle remains short, so Extra bomb count is a route, not a personality. Community clears cluster here with Marisa A for a reason.

A — Marisa B. Spark still deletes a taboo you have not captured. The laser will not outpace missiles on the long last bar. Pick B if your Extra deaths are one specific wall, not if you want the fastest Flandre.

B — Reimu A. Homing peels onto familiars on several Flandre cards. You can Extra 1CC A; you will leak damage and eat timer. Use A for Extra only if you refuse to relearn movement on B or Marisa.

Scoring

S — Marisa B. Spark at the Point of Collection is the cleanest vacuum in the game. Graze while the laser exists, then Spark when the wave is worth more as items than as a bonus you were going to miss anyway. Survival Spark spam is the opposite of this rank.

A — Marisa A. Speed reaches item height. Missiles pop waves before they leave the PoC. Stardust Reverie is a weak vacuum, so you score with movement, not with bombs. High skill, high ceiling if you already survive.

A — Reimu B. Needle coverage farms stage items without walking every column. Circle can collect a small pile if you are already at height. Lower than Marisa because Reimu is slower to the PoC.

B — Reimu A. Homing is slow to pop a wave you wanted to collect as a group, and Fantasy Seal is a survival bomb you will press on sight. Fine for a first high score; not the column to chase.

Matchups that override a letter

Patchouli is a shot-select screen. If Forest Blaze is the only Lunatic brick, Reimu A can outrank Marisa A on that one credit. If Sakuya is the brick, Spark outranks DPS. If Flandre familiars are the brick, stop using Reimu A even if the rest of your Extra route is clean.

New Classic does not retune these numbers. Visible hitboxes and Spell Practice change how fast you climb into a rank. They do not make Evil-Sealing Circle last longer or make ofuda ignore familiars.

Play the column you are actually in. A first-clear S on Reimu A is not an Extra plan, and an Extra S on Marisa A is a miserable first Easy if you cannot hit a moving fairy.