Reactor Tips & Tricks:
The first technique to learn is how to deal with the hostile particles. The attract mode says it best: "Keep particles between you and the wall". Obviously you can't kill the particles without being able to knock them into the wall, and they will hug the core if you let them. Practice bouncing with them and learn to keep control of your ship when it gets hit. Watch how they bounce off you, because if you try to follow up a hit and the particle went off at an unexpected angle you will throw yourself right into the wall.
The second technique to learn is the one that will make or break your score.
When the core changes into a vortex, you MUST know how to deal with it if
you don't want to lose all your ships. Always try to move with the vortex
as it spins around. Be careful, because it periodically slows and reverses
the direction of its spin. If it catches you circling in the wrong direction,
you will instantly be sucked in and killed. But if you move with it,
there is a moment when it grabs you where you can quickly spin the trackball
in the direction you were going to skirt the edge and be thrown clear (though
hopefully not into the wall).
There are several effective ways to use decoys to your advantage, rather
than just as a desperate defensive measure.
1) Plant a decoy right next to a set of control rods. If the hovering
particles don't want to hit the rods, help them out a little. Remember,
knocking in both sets of control rods is worth an extra decoy, though you
can't have more than eight at any time. Generally, I use decoys this
way on vortex levels when the size of the core is making me nervous.
2) Set a decoy inside a bounce chamber. The particles will follow it
in and start bouncing off the walls, netting big bonus points. The risk
is that if you can't get out before the particles come in, you will die, which
is why I prefer method...
3) Set a decoy at the mouth of a bounce chamber just before the level starts.
Preferably a level with Nucleons or Leptons, as they break into multiple particles
when they start bouncing around in the chamber, and the points add up in a
hurry. Station yourself at the entrance, and knock any that bounce out
back in. This can net 3,000+ points if played right.
Don't waste your decoys. If nothing else, each one you have at the end of the game is worth 500 points, and several times I have had enough unused decoys to net an extra ship and keep playing when my game would otherwise have been over.
It is generally not advisable to try for bounce chamber points on vortex levels. Most players have trouble killing all the particles quickly enough as it is. Time spent gathering bounce chamber points is time not spent killing particles. This is not a problem on core levels, but a large vortex is practically automatic death.
If the solid core has practically filled the chamber, get the enemy particles on the opposite side, turn your shield off, and retreat into a bounce chamber (if possible, if not hug that core). The hostile particles will either die quickly or knock in a set of control rods trying to stay off the wall. If you're steady and keep your shield off you will outlast them every time.
Here are some additional hints:
1. First and foremost is to be able to move your ship in a very controlled
and subtle manner. Any sudden, rash movement will spell death most of
the time.
2. Control rods- Getting to these early when there aren't so many
to knock out is a key to higher scoring. As you know, knocking both
sets out will give you an extra decoy. The more of these, the better.
3. Bounce chambers- I never use decoys on anything but the chambers.
I prefer the lower one as it has more room to accommodate my movement.
Remember to always use decoys in the chamber in the later waves of each round
as there are more particles to bounce around and thus higher scoring per decoy.
I plant a decoy right before the beginning of a new set of enemies.
This time right before the new set begins enables me to slip into the chamber
(usually just a bit inside the entrance), drop the decoy and clear out of
the way. Now, as the new set of enemies begin to appear, they will head
for the chamber. As they all gather in there, I now move my ship over
to the entrance of the chamber with the energizer on and pretty much just
keep bouncing any stray particles back into the chamber. This is where
the points can really add up! When the later boards come up with the invisible
walls, I use a very simple trick to find the entrance of the chamber. I just
put my finger on the screen where the chamber entrance is and that serves
as a kind of landmark for me so that I don't go crashing into the wall.
You can see where the entrance is briefly in between waves.
Your suggestions are very much on target in dealing with the vortex (I hate the vortex!). I still use the chamber on the vortex rounds, finding that I'm fairly safe as long as I stay on the outer edge of it.