14% Grapplebooster
14% Grapplebooster is one of the theoretical low% categories that is yet to have a known, recorded, RTA completion. A total of 14 items are picked up during the entire run and focuses on using Grapple and Speed Booster for level progression.
This category is possible due to a discovery by EternisedDragon that allows blue suit to be generated by incorporating a bomb explosion with a shinespark as Varia Suit is acquired.
This category would use L+R Walljumping to break the surface of the water in East Ocean (and, since it is already required, would also be used in Fish Tank). It is possible to removed this requirement, see the discussion below.
Contents
Prerequisites
To finish this run, you need to know how to:
- Mockball
- Infinite bomb jump
- Mochtroid clip
- Horizontal Bomb Jump across East Ocean while carrying a blue suit
- Cross West Sand Hall without Gravity Suit, Hi-Jump Boots, or Ice Beam while carrying a blue suit
- Fish Tank Climb
- Navigate Maridia without Gravity Suit, Hi-Jump Boots, or Ice Beam
- Lava dive without Gravity Suit or Hi-Jump Boots
- Zebetite skip
Collected Items
- Morphing Ball
- Bombs
- Charge Beam (for bosses)
- Grapple (for climbing Mt. Everest with a blue suit)
- Speed Booster (for generating a blue suit to escape Draygon's entry chamber and Zebetite skip)
- Varia Suit (to survive MB2's rainbow beam)
- 3 Energy Tanks (Terminator, Hi-Jump Boots, and Kraid) (to survive MB2's rainbow beam)
- 1 Missile Pack (Awakening) (to open red doors and defeat MB1)
- 3 Super Missile Packs (Early, Spore Spawn, and Wrecked Ship (Left)) (to open green doors and defeat MB1)
- 1 Power Bomb Pack (Red Brinstar Elevator (Lower)) (to open orange doors)
Since it can be difficult to survive the hell run to Speed Booster (from the Gamet well and back) without pausing and with only two Energy Tanks, the Brinstar Reserve Tank can replace one of the Energy Tanks listed above for partial pause abuse. It can also potentially be utilized similarly in other areas. Note that such utilization can cause a substantial loss of real time in a speedrun, but could save game time as game time would cease not only during pause screens, but would also cease for any frame that Samus is at 00 energy, including those during pause fade-outs.
Alternatively, the player can instead choose to acquire a third Energy Tank before the Speed Booster hell run, such as the one in the ceiling of blue Brinstar.
Regarding lava dive - as the player has neither Gravity Suit (meaning gravitation jump is not an option) nor Hi-Jump Boots (meaning the "GT Code" category method of simply walljumping up is not an option), they must use either the EternisedDragon method or the sniqwc3 method for completing the dive (or carry a spikesuit). Note that just like Reverse Boss Order, Speed Booster should be disabled during this, otherwise it will hinder horizontal momentum, making it much more difficult to execute properly and leaving Samus with less energy.
Theoretical Route
The route can follow 14% Iceboost up until Varia, except skipping Ice and going to Crocomire to get Grapple.
Since Main Street cannot be climbed from the bottom with the tube broken with this equipment, the blue suit generated at Varia must be carried up Red Tower, through Wrecked Ship and Forgotten Highway (using L+R Walljumping and horizontal bomb jumping to cross East Ocean), through West Sand Hall and then through Maridia as in 14% Iceboost.
This means that one could choose to kill Phantoon before attempting this, so that Phantoon does not have to be killed with a blue suit. This does not seem strictly necessary, but would make attempts shorter.
Note the horizontal bomb jump in East Ocean is not short.
Crossing West Sand Hall on NTSC is particularly difficult: This is done with a damage boost off of an Evir particle in 12%, except that now one has to do it with a blue suit. This requires performing a mid-air morph/unmorph, which decreases jump height making the damage boost even more difficult. On PAL, the increased jump height means one does not have to do a damage boost. This should still be possible with a blue suit. Thus, completions of this category should probably be attempted on PAL.
Fish Tank is further reason to attempt this category on PAL, since this must be climbed with L+R Walljumping. On NTSC, this is considerably more challenging.
After making it to Mt. Everest, the category may become easier than 14% Iceboost since no enemy climbing has to be done: One must simply grapple through Mt. Everest, grapple up Aqueduct, walk through the Botwoon hallways (killing Botwoon), and then grapple through Halfie Climb Room and Colosseum.
The Draygon fight should also be easier than 14% Iceboost, since one would have the option of grapple jumping to escape her room rather than having to snipe kill.
To escape Maridia would either require left wall underwater walljumps in Botwoon Energy Tank Room, performing a Grapple-Bombjump-Jump in this room, or going through East Cactus Alley Room. None of these options are easy. Also, one would probably traverse West Sand Hall again (although now without a blue suit, but still no Ice so still considerablly harder than 14% Iceboost).
After this, the category would proceed like 14% Iceboost again. The only major differences would be: WRITG should be done with IBJ (or the precise wall jump), the Ridley and Mother Brain boss fights would be longer (like 14% Speed vs. 14% Ice), and the Speed Zebetite Skip would have to be done.
The above hopefully emphasizes why this category has yet to be done.
L+R Walljumping
Theoretical PAL method: Avoid underwater walljumping altogether
On PAL, it is possible to get through East Ocean with a Grapple-Bombjump-Jump and infinite horizontal bomb jumping.
On PAL, it is theoretically possible to climb Main Street with enemy boosts, Grapple-Bombjump-Jumps, one shinespark, and the initial gravity jump.
It is theoretically possible to use a closing doorshell to get a slopespark. This can be done above Mt Everest, and then this spark can be used to get to Botwoon. I have seen a clip of this, but it was NTSC and reproduction on PAL seems to not work.
It is possible to use a Grapple-Bombjump-Jump to cross Botwoon's Energy Tank Room, in either direction.
Using Grapple-Bomb-Hanging, it is possible to charge a spark and convert it into a spikesuit in Colosseum. This could then be used to escape from Precious Room after Draygon.
Using all of this above tech, it is possible to get through all of Maridia with Speed Booster and Grapple on PAL, without any underwater walljumping at all. This route also wouldn't use a blue suit, instead using spikesuits and slopesparks. It would also avoid Fish Tank Climb.
Although these individual pieces have been tested, stringing them all together would be quite a feat. Perhaps the one upside is being able to save pre-Draygon. Saving pre-Botwoon could be done, but then a Grapple-Bombjump-Jump would have to be done to get back to Everest and generate the needed slopespark.
Tested method with Fish Tank Climb
This method would work on either NTSC or PAL.
By using an appropriate speed jump and some tricky movement, it is possible to perform a gravity jump at the broken tube and get up past the first part of main street, with a flash suit. Note this could be used in the PAL method above as well.
Then Fish Tank Climb would be done without L+R. The spark would be carried to pre-Botwoon.
Similarly to the PAL method, Grapple-Bomb-Hanging would be used to charge a spark and convert it to a spikesuit in Colosseum. This spark would be used to escape Precious.
Conclusions
No matter what, completing this without L+R walljumping requires the spikesuit in Colosseum. This currently requires a very tight stutter, two instances of Grapple-Bomb-Hanging as well as precisely timed Infinite Grapple Jumps, and then finishing it off with a spikesuit.
It is, thus, unclear how possible this is RTA. It has been reproduced with three savestates (at the start, and before the Grapple-Bomb-Hangings), so it should be theoretically possible. Perhaps the method can be improved with a better understanding of the tech involved.
