@lizardsarecute THANK YOU!!! IT WAS A TRIAL. also also. i have more tips for taking on rhythm tower if youre semi bad at rhythm like i am. i was. super bad at it in the beginning. like. i failed to get to even the 10th floor in the first 5 or so tries hsdkjhflk. but i realized some things as i tried again after s ranking some stages. so like. this is sorta a guide

its obvious but the most important thing is TIME. and you only get more time from certain things. perfect beat hits, perfect parries, enemy kills, and successful rhythm attack sequences (there could be more but these are them most important ones. in order too tbh)

just Landing beat hits is not good enough. you should also try your best to hit perfect. you dont get time for good beat hits. mixing up combos matter less in this mode, and sure the time you get at the end of the floor depends on your final score/rank, you can make up for the difference in time by continuously landing perfect beat hits. and also spamming partners helps keep your combo up, the higher combo you have, the better the score multiplier is i think, so partners can help you reach s rank anyways (sometimes). the reason i use only light-light-light-light or heavy-heavy-heavy combos IS BC I SUCK AT SWITCHING UP THE ATTACKS ON BEAT.... doing other combos fucks up my sense of rhythm that i fuck up the beat hit. (also the light attack combo is one of the faster combos)

(also i THINK certain combos give you more time? i havent had the brain capacity to study this tho.)

so yeah. tldr: make sure you hit perfect beat hits. try to follow through on combos even if youre gonna whiff an enemy. bc even if you whiff, youll at least gain time. the only time i abort out of a combo is to parry an attack

BIG TIP THO: RIGHT after you finish a fight BEFORE you move onto a new floor, DO QUICK BEAT HIT (X+A). if you land it right , YOU CAN GET AN EXTRA 3 SECONDS. and if youre fast you might be able to sneak in 2 beat hits.

okay enough about beat hits. parrying is so essential to rhythm tower bc perfect parrying gives you time. honestly theres not much i can say about this other than try to parry always. though this is coming from a guy who never dodges. (dodging around a lot is just idle time i feel in rhythm tower. you should be constantly laying on the pressure attacking so you dont lose time. better to parry than dodge)

for specials i use hibiki and pick me up. pick me up is so important. its nice that you can heal before you start a floor. but also hitting it perfectly during fights ALSO gives you 3 seconds. hibiki i use against z shield enemies when i can afford it. waiting for macarons cooldown SUCKS. i consider them time suckers tbh.

also this is my chip line up

i REALLY like high risk high return and i wish i could use it at level 3... bc you HIT SO MUCH HARDER AND THUS BEAT STAGES FASTER.... but AUGH. literally roquefort is the only reason i have it at lvl 1. it was too risky for him.... parry health is at lvl 3 also bc of roquefort. id say having either of the battery chips is pretty solid for rhythm tower to for pick me up and hibiki (or whatever special attack you use). actually maybe the other battery chip is better than parry charge now that i think about it. hm. i should swap that out for my next attempt.

oh and for kales phase two. when you cant attack him, you should still do beat hits even if its not AT him. light attack combo or quick beat him. maybe quick beat hits bc its faster. you really want to avoid idling in rhythm tower

anyways this turned longer than i thought. i hope this helps. if youre better at rhythm than i am you might fair better. but this is what i did take it on with my rhythm impaired ass. rhythm tower required you to play a bit differently i feel. at the very least it make you pay more attention to the beat hit circles kjsdfhbjdskjfhjl