But also yes I’d like to hear your strategy. (Sorry, I cannot edit my posts)
No apologies necessary. I have discovered the following strategy for myself, before discovering, that it was already well known in Japan. Well, what isn't, right?
Cut & Dried Opinions
Let's start with the common belief, that Lisa is the easiest character in Hyper Duel. I question that. She is the easiest character to get a good score with, true, or achieve an "S" rank at the end, i.e. beating all levels with a "Perfect" score bonus, i.e. killing every enemy in every stage. Her Special Attack runs through solid matter, thus preventing enemies from getting away. The drawback is, its already weak power gets dissected and boss-fights take considerably longer, which can cost you all your extends during the final encounter in Stage 8. Moreover, her excessive speed is hard to handle while dodging bullets, especially annoying during the fight against Nightmare.
Switching Troubles
The biggest drawback, though, is the fact, that both Keith and Lisa's Buster Gears demand constant switching into Armor mode, to balance out their weak Fighter mode guns. The switch may appear fast and plain at first, but each transformation takes several frames during which you can't fire, while enemies constantly keep firing at you. The Armor mode multiplies the size of your hit box, too, and slows you down significantly. All this led me to my first conclusion: The easiest character would be the one, who doesn't have to change into Armor mode at all... and that's Lloyd, all right.
Enter Lloyd
Lloyd's power in Fighter mode equals that of other characters Armor modes, thus making the necessity to switch into the latter completely redundant. Now all I had to do, was to consider how to exploit his bulky but slow Special Attack. The answer was simple: by using it discontinuously. His options shoot their first two rounds straight then slightly diagonal forward plus backward and continue to make a whole 360 degree turn. The whole 360° rotation is, what makes Lloyd's Special Attack slow and ineffective, since 80% of all projectiles will miss their targets and get wasted in the upper/lower parts of the screen. So, just stick to the first moments of the rotation: push the button to shoot out the first two projectiles, release the button and push it again for yet another round, starting the rotation anew. This simple hold & release mode will only shoot forward, turning Lloyd's Special Attack into the most effective one in the whole game.
The Lesson Is Clear
Finally, Lloyd's velocity is the most balanced out of all other Gears, making even Nightmares bullets very satisfying to dodge. Together with the discontinued use of his potent Special Attack and the now redundant use of the Armor mode, Lloyd becomes almost overpowered. There's one catch, though: You can kiss your high score ambitions goodbye. And since you do it to the Armor mode, too, some may consider this strategy misses Hyper Duel's spirit. Ah, well.
Hints & Suggestions
There are at least two tough sections during a Lloyd run: first the narrow passages in the second stage. Here you have to rely on your sidekicks. Gunner-type is recommended, because it can aim and shoot in every direction freely, thus effectively getting rid of the small gun-pods placed on the floors and ceilings. The second tough moment will await you during the second part of the fourth stage, when certain enemy formations start attacking you from behind. Here, I also recommend Gunner-type sidekicks. Further, you'll have to let your Special Attack rotate the full 360 degrees and at the same time move from the middle to the left side of the screen, as soon as the formations enter it, to avoid perfectly aimed bullets coming from below and above at your Buster Gear.