Eliminator (2 Players, cocktail)

Mastering Eliminator (2 Players, cocktail) relies on equal parts coordination with your partner and knowledge of hidden mechanics, starting with the most critical rule: never fire across your teammate’s position. Player bullets deal full friendly fire damage, so spread out to opposite corners of the arena at the start of every wave to avoid accidental takedowns. Prioritize taking out fast-moving scout drones first before targeting stationary turrets, as drones will loop around the arena edges to flank you while you focus on slower targets. Turrets have a 2-second delay between shots, so you can safely circle them to land hits without taking damage as long as you stay out of their direct firing line. Save your 3-second shield ability for emergency situations only: either when the Eliminator core fires its wide laser blast, or when a cluster of 5+ drones is closing in on you with no escape route. The shield has a 15-second cooldown, so wasting it on minor threats will leave you defenseless during high-risk moments. When fighting the Eliminator core, ignore its armored outer plating entirely: only the glowing central port that opens right before it fires is vulnerable. Land 3 well-timed shots on this port to destroy the core and complete the wave, rather than wasting ammo on its shell. Take advantage of the 10-second grace period after every wave clear to collect floating power-ups: the fire rate boost doubles your shot speed for the entire next wave, and the extra life pickup can be shared with your teammate by ramming into them if they are down to their last life. Note that the cocktail cabinet’s controls are calibrated to your seat position, so you never need to adjust your movement inputs when the screen flips orientation between turns.