The Totally Unnecessary Band Hero DS Drums Score Guide

[JohnnyGrey]

So I know this is almost entirely pointless, since the game wasn't even popular when it came out 10+ years ago. Nonetheless, I've been enjoying playing BH drums more than I would have thought. Mostly because the scoring system has lots of intricacies that my math inclined mind enjoyed discovering. I can tell Yaru knew most of this years ago, based on his scores, but I figured I'd publish my findings here for others to see. Two of these have significant impact on your score, and unfortunately, neither of the two are favorable from a competitive standpoint.
*Disclaimer: I've mostly only done Easy and Medium, for what's its worth.

The first special quirk is the drum fill sections. Here, your goal is to spam the buttons as fast as possible, and you get 200 points per hit, at 4x. That's right, the same as ordinary notes. Oh, and under SP, you get 400. Even on the shortest of fills, I can usually get 20+ hits, so 8000+ points in one measure. In a couple songs, like Excuse Me Mr., I got over 100 hits in the ending fill. So 40000+ points under sp. Yeah. So naturally, you ALWAYS want SP over fills.
*Fun fact: Hits during fills increase your multiplier if you're not at 4x.
Also, if you're playing with the buttons and not the drum grip, there are two buttons for green pad and two for yellow, so be sure to try to mash all six available buttons (Up, Left, Right, B, A, X)

The next special quirk is Stunts. These are featured in Guitar/Bass as well, so there may be more information already available, but I'll go ahead and break it down. Similar to SP phrases, occasionally the stunt meter will light up and you have a measure or so to activate the stunt, which brings up a mini game. There are 6 mini games that can show up, and it's completely random which one shows up. By completing the mini game you are awarded points and a quarter bar of SP (same as a normal SP phrase), as well as a 4x multiplier if you weren't already there. The points you get depend on what difficulty you're on: 2000 points on Easy, 3000 Medium, etc. The games are slightly more difficult depending on what difficulty you're playing on. Also, the points given also double under SP. If you fail a stunt, you don't get any SP or points, and you lose your multiplier.

Both the 'limitless' potential of fills and randomness of stunts are a big middle finger toward getting optimal scores. However, the variation of stunts makes it much more volatile and sometimes run breaking. The song doesn't stop during a stunt, it continues in the background while you complete the mini game. As such, for optimal scoring, you want to finish as fast as possible. Here, I will give a description and breakdown for each mini game.

Save the Roadie
This is by far the easiest and shortest mini game, especially on the lower difficulties. All you need to do is swipe up on the screen a few times. No variation and no worries about failing.
SS rank - Always preferable, never regrettable

Smash Stuff
Next easiest, and pretty similar. Here you just swipe left and right over and over, but I feel like it takes a few more times.
S rank - Still basically always worth it

Swag Giveaway
This one is also quite easy, but there's a set amount of time it has to take based on animations. The groupies are not always consistent, and there's a slight chance of missing, but it'll just cost a second or two.
A rank - Guaranteed finish, but occasionally takes a hair longer than needed.

Jump into the Crowd
This one is pretty enjoyable and quick on E/M, but I'm less comfortable trying to do it quickly on H/X. The green area to clear gets smaller, and the arrow might get faster each time.
B rank - Can be quick, but not 100% success rate.

Crowd Surf
I always have more trouble than this one than I should. Never quite sure exactly where the boundary lines are, and there are a lot more turns and places to mess up on higher difficulties. Like the previous, it's more about pass/fail than time, but rushing can make mistakes more likely. .
B- rank - More variety and more finicky than Jump

High Five
F. This. Game.
The slowest game by far, and completely random and luck based for how long it will take. It shows a crowd, and you wait for hands to show up to high five. Don't slap the babies. Sometimes multiple hands show up quick. Sometimes you have to wait like 3 seconds in between. On E/M/H/X you need to hit 3/4/5/6 hands, respectively. It's already questionably worth it on Easy.
D rank - Since it's going to take long >75% of the time anyway, it's not really worth rushing. So at least it's almost 100% consistent to complete.


So, with that laid out, let's get into"optimal" pathing. There's enough variation (and lack of activity) here, where standard squeezing takes a step back. Also, generally drum charts/points are a bit more constant throughout a song compared to guitar, so activation points aren't as volatile. The biggest guideline for SP is to save it for drum fills. After you have a sense of where the fills are, figure out how many phrases you'll need to last the whole fill, and go from there. After that, any extra activations should usually center around stunts. Remember, stunts over sp are worth double. The points given are equivalent to 10/15/20/25 notes by difficulty. Usually in the few seconds of stunt, you're not missing that many notes, and if it's close, the extra bit of SP should tilt the score in your favor. Also, if there's a slow section without many notes, stunting is definitely worth it. Again, most of my experience has been on E/M, so X might have more cases where you miss more points than you'd gain.
**Warning: Stunts can override SP phrases and even fills. These cases are when the High Five game can really ruin runs, and you might be better off skipping the stunt instead of praying for RNG. At least for SP, you only have to hit the last note of the phrase to earn SP, and there's no whammy or anything to worry about.

Finally, my own personal advanced technique. Pausing in the DS games has the same rewind function as GHWoR and RB3. I discovered that if you pause when a stunt becomes available, if you pause and rewind before you activate the stunt, you can save yourself a second or two. Using this trick on Easy with the quickest mini games, I sometimes don't even bypass any notes.



TLDR
To maximize your score, make sure you always use SP over fills, use SP before stunts when you have enough, and always pause before starting a stunt.
_________________

My thread

[JohnnyGrey]

So I know this is almost entirely pointless, since the game wasn't even popular when it came out 10+ years ago. Nonetheless, I've been enjoying playing BH drums more than I would have thought. Mostly because the scoring system has lots of intricacies that my math inclined mind enjoyed discovering. I can tell Yaru knew most of this years ago, based on his scores, but I figured I'd publish my findings here for others to see. Two of these have significant impact on your score, and unfortunately, neither of the two are favorable from a competitive standpoint.
*Disclaimer: I've mostly only done Easy and Medium, for what's its worth.

The first special quirk is the drum fill sections. Here, your goal is to spam the buttons as fast as possible, and you get 200 points per hit, at 4x. That's right, the same as ordinary notes. Oh, and under SP, you get 400. Even on the shortest of fills, I can usually get 20+ hits, so 8000+ points in one measure. In a couple songs, like Excuse Me Mr., I got over 100 hits in the ending fill. So 40000+ points under sp. Yeah. So naturally, you ALWAYS want SP over fills.
*Fun fact: Hits during fills increase your multiplier if you're not at 4x.
Also, if you're playing with the buttons and not the drum grip, there are two buttons for green pad and two for yellow, so be sure to try to mash all six available buttons (Up, Left, Right, B, A, X)

The next special quirk is Stunts. These are featured in Guitar/Bass as well, so there may be more information already available, but I'll go ahead and break it down. Similar to SP phrases, occasionally the stunt meter will light up and you have a measure or so to activate the stunt, which brings up a mini game. There are 6 mini games that can show up, and it's completely random which one shows up. By completing the mini game you are awarded points and a quarter bar of SP (same as a normal SP phrase), as well as a 4x multiplier if you weren't already there. The points you get depend on what difficulty you're on: 2000 points on Easy, 3000 Medium, etc. The games are slightly more difficult depending on what difficulty you're playing on. Also, the points given also double under SP. If you fail a stunt, you don't get any SP or points, and you lose your multiplier.

Both the 'limitless' potential of fills and randomness of stunts are a big middle finger toward getting optimal scores. However, the variation of stunts makes it much more volatile and sometimes run breaking. The song doesn't stop during a stunt, it continues in the background while you complete the mini game. As such, for optimal scoring, you want to finish as fast as possible. Here, I will give a description and breakdown for each mini game.

Save the Roadie
This is by far the easiest and shortest mini game, especially on the lower difficulties. All you need to do is swipe up on the screen a few times. No variation and no worries about failing.
SS rank - Always preferable, never regrettable

Smash Stuff
Next easiest, and pretty similar. Here you just swipe left and right over and over, but I feel like it takes a few more times.
S rank - Still basically always worth it

Swag Giveaway
This one is also quite easy, but there's a set amount of time it has to take based on animations. The groupies are not always consistent, and there's a slight chance of missing, but it'll just cost a second or two.
A rank - Guaranteed finish, but occasionally takes a hair longer than needed.

Jump into the Crowd
This one is pretty enjoyable and quick on E/M, but I'm less comfortable trying to do it quickly on H/X. The green area to clear gets smaller, and the arrow might get faster each time.
B rank - Can be quick, but not 100% success rate.

Crowd Surf
I always have more trouble than this one than I should. Never quite sure exactly where the boundary lines are, and there are a lot more turns and places to mess up on higher difficulties. Like the previous, it's more about pass/fail than time, but rushing can make mistakes more likely. .
B- rank - More variety and more finicky than Jump

High Five
F. This. Game.
The slowest game by far, and completely random and luck based for how long it will take. It shows a crowd, and you wait for hands to show up to high five. Don't slap the babies. Sometimes multiple hands show up quick. Sometimes you have to wait like 3 seconds in between. On E/M/H/X you need to hit 3/4/5/6 hands, respectively. It's already questionably worth it on Easy.
D rank - Since it's going to take long >75% of the time anyway, it's not really worth rushing. So at least it's almost 100% consistent to complete.


So, with that laid out, let's get into"optimal" pathing. There's enough variation (and lack of activity) here, where standard squeezing takes a step back. Also, generally drum charts/points are a bit more constant throughout a song compared to guitar, so activation points aren't as volatile. The biggest guideline for SP is to save it for drum fills. After you have a sense of where the fills are, figure out how many phrases you'll need to last the whole fill, and go from there. After that, any extra activations should usually center around stunts. Remember, stunts over sp are worth double. The points given are equivalent to 10/15/20/25 notes by difficulty. Usually in the few seconds of stunt, you're not missing that many notes, and if it's close, the extra bit of SP should tilt the score in your favor. Also, if there's a slow section without many notes, stunting is definitely worth it. Again, most of my experience has been on E/M, so X might have more cases where you miss more points than you'd gain.
**Warning: Stunts can override SP phrases and even fills. These cases are when the High Five game can really ruin runs, and you might be better off skipping the stunt instead of praying for RNG. At least for SP, you only have to hit the last note of the phrase to earn SP, and there's no whammy or anything to worry about.

Finally, my own personal advanced technique. Pausing in the DS games has the same rewind function as GHWoR and RB3. I discovered that if you pause when a stunt becomes available, if you pause and rewind before you activate the stunt, you can save yourself a second or two. Using this trick on Easy with the quickest mini games, I sometimes don't even bypass any notes.



TLDR
To maximize your score, make sure you always use SP over fills, use SP before stunts when you have enough, and always pause before starting a stunt.
_________________

My thread

[alexhaz64]

Wow, I know you've been playing BHDS drums a lot lately (and dominating, from what I can tell) but I never knew how unique and tricky the gameplay could be. Very interesting guide, even if I may never end up playing BHDS drums myself (although who am I kidding, of course I will try it eventually)

Definitely makes me want to try it out more though!
_________________

2:59 alexhaz64: I'm like 6th place on that song
2:59 alexhaz64: pretty neat
2:59 alexhaz64: :p
2:59 JohnnyGrey: No Alex, I don't care how good your score is
2:59 JohnnyGrey: DAMMIT
2:59 alexhaz64: XD
alexhaz64 flexes
2:59 psxfreak101: too slow on the trigger there, boyo
2:59 alexhaz64: that seems to be the case all night
2:59 JohnnyGrey: I've been too slow a few times tonight
2:59 JohnnyGrey: GDSAKj hfask
2:59 psxfreak101: XD
2:59 alexhaz64: LMAO
2:59 alexhaz64: OMG
psxfreak101 actua-loling

[alexhaz64]

Wow, I know you've been playing BHDS drums a lot lately (and dominating, from what I can tell) but I never knew how unique and tricky the gameplay could be. Very interesting guide, even if I may never end up playing BHDS drums myself (although who am I kidding, of course I will try it eventually)

Definitely makes me want to try it out more though!
_________________

2:59 alexhaz64: I'm like 6th place on that song
2:59 alexhaz64: pretty neat
2:59 alexhaz64: :p
2:59 JohnnyGrey: No Alex, I don't care how good your score is
2:59 JohnnyGrey: DAMMIT
2:59 alexhaz64: XD
alexhaz64 flexes
2:59 psxfreak101: too slow on the trigger there, boyo
2:59 alexhaz64: that seems to be the case all night
2:59 JohnnyGrey: I've been too slow a few times tonight
2:59 JohnnyGrey: GDSAKj hfask
2:59 psxfreak101: XD
2:59 alexhaz64: LMAO
2:59 alexhaz64: OMG
psxfreak101 actua-loling

[Cabanon]

nice. must be one of the rare who played this game and it was fun.
_________________

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[Cabanon]

nice. must be one of the rare who played this game and it was fun.
_________________

The Complete GH:M Comprehensive Guide To Unlock All Stuff
The Complete GH:SH Comprehensive Guide To Unlock All Stuff
The Complete GH:VH Comprehensive Guide To Unlock All Stuff
The Complete GH:WoR Comprehensive Guide To Unlock All Stuff
Wanna Know How Many Band Moments Your Favorite Song Has ? Click Here

#TeamOldPeople