KPDR Room Strategies

Purpose

This page exists as a compendium of room strategies for any% KPDR. The goal is to create a full list of possible strategies which are humanly doable for each room as well as the time difference between them. Ideally, each strategy will have a video to go with it. Time estimates are done on a best effort basis and should be updated if you have a better estimate.

Strategies which are typically impractical for runs such as the TAS jump in Amphitheatre will be under a separate “Usually impractical in runs” section of the room.

Ceres 1

• Moonfall with a turnaround on the ground
• Hold right+a while coming down the elevator to do a short jump (6f slower)
• Running right then jumping off the first platform (?f slower)

TAS does a turnaround while in spinjump pose to set up the moonfall, saving the frames of turnaround animation while on the ground.

Ceres 2

• Do a short hop while holding L/R to magnet feet onto the the platform

Ceres 3

• Jump before running off each ledge so you have downwards momentum when you pass the ledge

Ceres ridley

Hit Ridley’s tail 5 times (15 damage each). When exiting, stand to the right of the door so you can build up momentum before entering the door.

Ceres 3

This room uses slopes not used anywhere outside of Ceres which can cause magnet feet (being on two slopes at a time for 75%*75% = 56% horizontal speed rather than 75%. Run up the stairs if you feel lucky or do a short jump up the stairs for consistency.

Ceres 2

• Tile boost
• Do a short hop and run through the room (?f slower)

Depending on steam rng, you may have to jump earlier. If you see steam just before the platform as the room loads, you can run up to the platform. Otherwise, you have to jump earlier to avoid getting hit by that steam.

Ceres 1

Jump through the door in the previous room to enter at a higher position. Do one walljump on the right to get to the middle platform then jump up the platforms on the right.

Landing site

Run to the left and through the door. Don’t armpump off downwards slopes or you can fall off.

Parlor

Top half:

• Moonfall
• No moonfall (15f slower)

Bottom half:

• Downback
• Non-downback (?f slower)

The non downback method is a useful strategy when learning the game.

Climb

• Moonfall (weave)
• Moonfall (non-weave) (~10-20?f slower)
• Non moonfall (~4 seconds slower)

Pit room

• With ledgegrabs
• Without ledgegrabs (?f slower)
• Downgrabs (?f slower)

The jumps are way more forgiving if you don’t go for ledgegrabs

Elevator room

You must have no horizontal momentum to be able to use an elevator. Hold L/R to Stop on a Dime for every elevator.

Morph ball room

• Shoot the block after morph while falling [behemoth]
• Crouch to shoot the block after morph (~10f slower) [zoast]

Construction zone

• Crouch, shoot out the blocks, morph and do a downback while falling and shooting [zoast]
• Do a short hop then shoot out the blocks on the right and shoot down while falling (?f slower) [behemoth]
• Crouch, shoot out the blocks, morph, and roll down to the bottom (~20f slower)

Shooting the blocks while falling is needed if angle down is not bound and is a choice some top runners who have angle down bound. Staying in morph the entire fall is a very practical strat for people learning the game. Jumping into this room is faster if you are doing a crouch and shoot strategy.

Impractical for runs:

• TAS shoots out the blocks to fall faster. Humans can do a similar strat, but this is impractical for runs.

First missile room

You can pick up the missile with a turnaround on the ground or a walljump check.

Mockball as you exit this room.

Construction zone

Stand on the far left side of the first row of destroyable blocks. Shoot up, jump and morph.

Morph ball room

Run off the platform, then jump onto the elevator.

Pit room

• Dboost off the first laser [oats]
• Shoot left immediately when entering and jump to the first platform. Jump, shoot right, then continue left (without a dboost) (?f slower)
• Shoot up immediately while entering the room (?f slower) [behemoth]

Shooting up and shooting left are approximately the same speed so this is a stylistic choice.

Climb

Most of the room:

• Walljump climb [oats]
• Legdegrab (just_defend/behemoth climb) (?f slower) [behemoth]

Exit:

• Quick exit - static climb [zoast/behemoth]
• Normal exit (?f slower) [oats]

Both the walljump and ledgegrab climbs can be done with or without the quick exit.

Parlor

Bottom - there are a variety of ways up this room through a combination of walljumps and ledgegrabs. All are approximately the same speed. Choose whichever you are most comfortable with.

Top - do a series of walljumps and ledgegrabs to get to the top

When mockballing, spend as little time in the air as you comfortably can because you move faster on the ground than in the air.

Unmorph immediately once you start falling [zoast?] or when you reach the bottom since fallspeed resets when you unmorph [behemoth/oats].

Flyway

• Jump, shoot 2 missiles, shoot 3 angled down
• Shoot 5 missiles when standing next to the door (?f slower)

Shooting missiles earlier will save time, but is also tricky when learning the run. Start with shooting missiles in front of the door and switch to shooting them earlier when you are comfortable with it.

Bomb torizo

• 5 pea shooter shots -> 7 missiles
• Double safe spot (10 pea shoooter shots -> 6 missiles) (~2? seconds slower) https://youtu.be/1yhi4dEZ6as?t=2668

The double safe spot strategy is significantly easier and is recommended when learning the game.

Flyway

Land on the platform at the end of this room as early as possible

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

• Right side alcatraz [most players]
• Left side alcatraz (?f slower) [twocat/static]

Most people choose a left side alcatraz.

To avoid getting pushed up by the bomb, you can either jump and morph or shoot as the bomb is going off. Both are approximately the same speed.

Terminator

Entrance

• Armpump down the slope
• Enter the room at full runspeed (at least 6 tiles) then hold L, shot, and left until you have killed three geemers (?f slower)

The setup to enter the room is way easier and almost everyone does that rather than armpumping. You can armpump everywhere in the room except for the tile directly after each mushroom.

Exit

• Kill the two wavers with missiles and open the door with your beam
• Run through the room spamming your beam, hit the waver, and exit (~20f slower)

Not using missiles and pausing to pick up a drop will be necessary if you don’t enter the room at full missiles. Hitting a waver after the etank is not a problem, you won’t need the extra 10hp.

Green Pirate Shaft

Run through every pirate, taking damage as needed and using iframes to go through other pirates. Killing pirates with missiles is possible, but not recommended because it’s slower and harder when combined with having to farm for missiles later. Killing pirates and farming for missiles is useful to learn as a backup strat.

TAS dboosts off the pirates, but this is not practical for humans.

Mushroom Kingdom

Armpump through the room, do shorthops over both kagos without hitting the mushrooms.

Green brinstar main shaft

Run off the ledge, shoot two beamshots down, then open the door.

• Shoot the door while falling
• Land then open the door (?f slower)

Shooting while falling is not recommended until you have practiced that strat extensively.

Early supers room

Mockballing with a lower jump height is slightly faster. Unmorph while half under the gate, hold R, and shoot. Walljump up to early supers.

Depending on your timing, the wavers will be in different locations. Dboosting off wavers or just jumping then holding left are both options. Dboosting saves surprisingly little time (~10f?)

Hold down while picking up supers and fastfall through the two blocks (turnaround animations are longer when fastfalling).

Green brinstar main shaft

Jump down the left side, shoot the door and run through.

Dachora pit

Entrance

• Kago through the zeela and mockball
• Shoot the rio and do a short hop over it into a mockball (?f slower)
• Do a full jump over the rio into a mockball (?f slower)

Kagoing through the zeela allows you to jump through the door into the room, getting you a better door transition. Shooting the rio allows you to do a shorter jump over it, saving time because you spend less time in the air.

Farming the rio

• Don’t lay a bomb until after laying the first bomb to break blocks [zoast]
• Roll back and forth 2 times, once after laying the first two bombs [oats] (?f slower)
• Roll back once after the first bomb [behemoth] (?f slower)

Not farming the rio is a perfectly ok option.

Exit

• Shoot the door and mockball
• Shoot the door and armpump

Both are acceptable options, armpumping is slightly faster (frames) with very fast mashing, mockball is slightly faster otherwise.

Full jump over the rio into a mockball then not farming the rio is recommended for someone learning the game since spending less time in the air will only save frames.

Big pink

Roll or armpump through the entrance depending on how you entered the room. Roll or jump off the ledge.

Downback section

• Downback
• Don’t downback (?f slower)

Downbacking is definitely faster, but not downbacking is ok if you have not learned downbacks yet.

After the downback

• Land on the first platform and soft unmorph, run left and jump before the farmpoint
• Fall all the way and run under the rio (?f slower)

Grab the missiles (this is slightly faster with a walljump check) and lay a bomb to enter charge beam.

Charge unmorph

• Fall to the bottom, soft unmorph, shoot charge, and jump up to charge
• Unmorph in midair, shoot charge, and land one above the bottom (?f slower)

Charge exit

• Up in two
• Up in three (?f slower)

Up in two requires jumping at the last frame which is hard to get, but free to go for in every run.

Charge exit (part 2)

• Morph after your head hits the ceiling after the last walljump
• Morph before your head hits the ceiling after the last walljump (?f slower)

This comparison is here since morphing after your head hits the ceiling is a subtle thing which is easy to not know to do. Morphing while rising will result in a full jump height, losing time in many places.

Big Pink exit

• Jump, downgrab, jump, morph
• Jump, morph, go into the hole (?f slower)

Doing two separate jumps is faster, but mechanically intense. Doing two jumps will not be faster without significant mastery of many movement mechanics so a single jump is definitely recommended for your first 100-200 hours of speedrunning this game.

Green hill zone

Entrance

• Jump off and mockball
• Run right without jumping (?f slower)

Exit

• Dboost off the bug
• Run to the right without dboosting off the bug (?f slower)

Jump through the door as low as possible to fix the door transition.

Noob bridge

Enter the room with a full charge. Kill the first cac and grab the super. Run across the bridge, with a charged shot. Release the charged shot angled down at the end of the bridge to kill the cac for a super. Shoot the door while falling and mockball out of the room.

Red tower

Lay a bomb as early as possible. Unmorph, downback, and shoot to get past the section next to xray. Fall down the left side, shoot the door and jump into it at the right height to fix the door transition.

Bat room

• Particle dboost
• Dboost off the bat

Both are approximately the same speed.

Below spazer

• Charge your shot while moving forward
• Shoot a charged shot before moving forward (?f slower)

Collect the cac drop and exit through the door.

Maridia tunnels (combined)

For each room with a door, hold a (partially or full) charged shot going through the door. Do not hold shot once through the door. Alternatively, don’t hold any charge going through the door and hold shot through the door. This allows you to shoot as early as possible going into the room.

Warehouse entrance

• Crouch quick entry [oats]
• Jumping quick entry (?f slower) [static]
• No quick entry [hundo map strat]

Crouch quick entry is slightly faster. Do not do quick entry if you don’t have 5 supers going into this room.

Warehouse zeela room

Entrance

• Turnaround kago into a softmorph [antinomy]
• Morph kago into a bounce (?f slower)
• No kago

Unmorph while holding L/R to shoot the door while crouched.

Exit

• Walljump
• Jump and expand hitbox (exit spinjump pose) (?f slower)

Party zone

Entrance

• Shoot the kihunter then the block without jumping
• Jump over the kihunter (?f slower)

Exit

• Downback
• No downback (?f slower)

Kraid hallway

Shoot three missiles at the three pirates then kill minikraid with a super or 2 missiles if you have 0 or 1 supers (you want to exit the room with 5.

• Run through minikraid’s missiles, tanking them [jack]
• Jump over minikraid’s missiles (?f slower)

Kraid gedora

• Jump and dboost from the second pillar [jack]
• Jump and dboost from the bigger platform (?f slower)

Shoot the gedora as early as possible. Enter the door with a walljump check to save a frame or two.

Kraid

• 2 missile quick kill
• Charged shot + 4 supers quick kill (?f slower)

Stay morphed for as long as possible for lag reduction. Once drops appear, run through them, jumping once then shoot the door to exit.

Varia

Exit

• Shoot then shorthop
• Hold left+jump during the fanfare (?f slower)

Kraid

These rooms are combied because the strat chosen in Kraid affects the gedora room greatly.

Kraid Jump

• Short hop in Kraid
• Big jump in Kraid to fix the door transition

Exit

• Mockball
• No mockball

The higher you jump, the better the door transition you will get.

Kraid gedora

If you mockballed, unmorph, gapskip, then dboost out [jack]

If you ran through the door, jump to the platform, then dboost out.

Dboosting high [link to galamoz movement tutorial on dboosting] is needed to dboost all the way to the last platform.

Kraid hallway

Kill minikraid with 2 missiles or a super (2 missiles if you have <2 supers). Kill the pirates with missiles, open the door with a beam shot. Jump through the door to correctly position the kihunters in the next room.

Party zone

• Walljump, shoot the door, jump and set up a mockball in the next room [jack]
• Walljump, run left, shoot the door while running and fall down (?f slower)

Attempting to shoot out the door is difficult, but free to go for.

If you miss the jump into the room or miss the first walljump, the kihunters will be out of position. Morph after your walljump to get out more easily if this happens.

Warehouse zeela room (no etank)

Picking up the warehouse etank is recommended until you have at least a sub 50 pb.

Hit the zeela and get hit onto the platform. Use the iframes to exit without killing the any zeelas [jack]

Warehouse zeela room

Shoot the door and run through. Flashing item select (hold item cancel then hit item select) on missiles can make the next room easier.

Warehouse etank

Shoot a missile up to kill the beetoms. Jump through the door with as much runspeed as you can to set up the next room. This will lose some time in this room, but make up for it in the next room.

Warehouse zeela room

Walljump off the far right wall, jump up, shoot the door and exit.

• Exit without farming
• Farm the two zeelas above the door (?f slower)

Warehouse entrance

• Shoot a super and mockball out
• Exit without a mockball (?f slower)

Business center

Jump off the elevator to save a few frames

• Optimal fall (unmorph, downback, hit no platforms) [jack]
• Soft unmorph on platform next to ice, spinjump fall down (~20f slower)
• Fall the entire way down in ball form (?f slower)

The optimal fall is very input heavy and one of the other falls is recommended for someone learning the game.

Hi jump e tank

Start holding charge when you enter the room so you have a change to kill the nova. Angle down during the jump because you do not charge while in spinjump pose. Alternatively, use a missile to kill the nova.

Picking up the etank on the way in is recommended to increase the chance you get an ammo drop from the nova.

Killing the nova

• Quickdrop, immediately shoot down, then open the door
• Shoot a charged shot while falling (?f slower)
• Land, crouch, and shoot the nova (?f slower)

Falling

• Unmorph as soon as you start falling then softmorph
• Stay in ball the whole time (?f slower)

Unmorph, shoot the door, and jump through it to exit.

Note: skipping hijump missiles is an advanced strategy which makes ammo management much tricker until wave and is not covered here.

Hi jump

• Jump, shoot both blocks out without losing momentum [jack]
• Hit the wall and shoot down (?f slower)
• Crouch, shoot twice (?f slower)

Jump out the door.

Hi jump e tank

Ledgegrab twice, roll under, pick up missiles, bomb the block to exit, shoot the door.

Jump through the door to set up walljumps in the next room, run through the door to set up ledgegrabs.

Business center

• Walljumps [jack]
• Ledgegrabs (?f slower) [topsy]

Jump through the door as low as possible to set up the best door transition.

Cathedral entrance

Kill the two dessgeegas. One missile and one beamshot will kill them, but using two missiles is a good beginner strategy. Pseudoscrewing the first desgeega then mockballing under the second is a good backup if you have no missiles.

Downgrab the last platform to get the best door transition possible.

Cathedral

Entrance

• Mockball on the pillar
• Jump to the pillar and run off (?f slower)

Pseudo screw through the geruta (ideally, you will miss the geruta and pseudo screw through the nova) then shoot the nova with a missile, open the door and exit.

Rising tide

• Upper route [zoast]
• Mockball and roll under (?f slower)

Jump up, shoot the door, and exit after the lava starts to slow you down.

The upper route is significantly more difficult and not recommended for people learning the game.

Bubble mountain

Killing the cac

• Shoot the cac with a charged shot before jumping [jack]
• Shoot the cac with a missile after your walljump (?f slower) [most people]
• Pseudo screw the cac (?f slower)

To walljump while holding a charged shot, release shot once you are in spinjump pose and do not hit shot again until you are ready to fire.

Exit

• Shoot a super over the waver then dboost off the waver
• Kill the waver, open the door, and jump over (?f slower)

Dboosting off the waver is difficult and not recommended for people starting to learn the game.

Bat cave

Hold angle up and shoot immediately upon entering the room

• Shoot, run forward + shot, gapskip, jump into the hole
• Shoot, crouch, shoot, run forward, jump into the hole (?f slower)

This room is very mechanically intense. Shooting the bat then crouching and shooting out the hole is a beginner friendly strategy.

Jumping through the door while exiting fixes the door transition and saves frames despite it not looking aesthetically pleasing.

Impractical for runs

• Uppercut [oats + sweetnumb 2p1c video]

Speed booster hallway

Mockballing is an option if you are not able to armpump fast.

Done optimally, using regular missiles on the door, with a stutter loses about 10f.

Speed booster

Typical item collection [show tas video to demonstrate an optimal jump]

Speed booster hallway

Shoot the door open just as you reach the top plateau. Jumping through the door to fix the door transition is an option if you feel confident you can hit the bugs in the next room.

Bat cave

Run right into the bugs with speed echoes (or shoot them if you jumped through the door).

• Dboost off the bat
• Exit without a dboost (?f slower)

Bubble mountain

Short hop, fall, open the door, and run through.

Single chamber

• Short hop over the edge, kill the alcoon with a missile
• Run off the ledge, downback, kill the alcoon (?f slower)

If you plan to open the door with regular missiles (?f slower), also kill the viola for lag reduction. Doing a gapskip rather than a jump may give a better door transition.

Impractical for runs

• Dboost low off the viola (?f faster)

Double chamber

Entrance

• Run through the door and jump to the second platform
• Jump through the door in the previous room (best door transition) and directly to the first platform (about the same time?) [twocat]

Running through the door is recommended as you are learning the game.

Attempt to shoot the gate open as you jump off the second platform. If you miss, shoot it as you land on the last moving platform. Get as much runspeed as possible, jump, then walljump up to wave.

Exit

• Open the door with supers
• Open the door with regular missiles (?f slower)

If you have only one super, it is recommended you use that here rather than opening the door into the double chamber.

Wave

[link to TAS video to show optimal collection]

Get full runspeed as you leave the room to set up a jump in the next room.

Double chamber

Do a full jump left.

• Kago through the crumble blocks
• Fall through the crumble blocks without a kago (20?f slower)

Exit

• Shoot the door open before jumping
• Jump at the end of the second hump and shoot the door open after (?f slower) [jack]
• Jump later (?f slower) [red scarlet]

If you get too much runspeed, you may not jump high enough. There is a backup where you walljump off the namihe then the platform if you don’t get enough height.

Single chamber

• Open the door with an uncharged wave shot [jack]
• Two missile door open (?f slower)

Bubble mountain

• Moonfall + bomb spread [antinomy]
• Moonfall off the ledge without a bomb spread (?f slower)
• Jump off the ledge (?f slower) [jack]

Jumping off the ledge without moonfalling is recommended for people learning the game. Spamming shot down then angled down shots will kill the first nova.

Farming room

Spend as little time in the air as possible.

Frogway + Save room

Shoot twice to create a larger window for opening the door. Do a small hop through the door to jump through the save point to the other side.

Business center

• No farm [jack]
• No farm walljumps [Z after ridley]
• 2 farm (?f slower)
• 3 farm with walljump before the third nova (?f slower)
• 3 farm without walljump before the third nova (?f slower)

Maridia tunnels (combined)

Hold left+shot coming up the elevator and hit dash soon after you start to move. Release dash at the start of the first tunnel room to avoid bonking the door. Shoot and stop on a dime immediately after entering the third room to get maximum run speed going into below spazer.

This is not going to cover alpha spark.

Below spazer

Shoot, jump, shoot, collect the drop, jump to the tile left of the maw, and exit. Hold angle up through the door to shoot the bat immediately upon entering the next room.

Bat room

Shoot the bat as soon as you enter then dboost off the particle. The optimal exit is to walljump check the door while moving up to set up the fastest walljump in the next room, but this is difficult.

Red tower

Walljump up the red tower then do a running jump into walljump to get past the bottom segment.

Top of the red tower

• Downgrab [jack]
• Hero shot (~2s slower)

There are two options to get the hero shot past the fourth ripper

• Get the ripper on the screen early enough that it has time to move out of the way (2 fast walljumps)
• Get the shot past the ripper before it spawns (two slow walljumps or a running jump and no walljumps until you hear the blocks break)

With spazer, getting the hero shot past the fourth ripper before it spawns is required.

Impractical for runs

• Running jump into angle down to avoid the walljump just below xray

Hellway

Shoot immediately upon entering for an extra farm. Dboost low off the first set of spikes (dboosting high can send you into the upper vileplume). Dboost off the right spike of the last upper vileplume.

Caterpiller room

• Stay in ball and fall down the right side [jack]
• Spinjump off the left side and go to the right side of the next platform [static]

The static strat is fast and easy enough that it should be the default most new runners learn.

Alpha power bombs

Dboost off the first set of enemies, collect pb’s and dboost back.

Line up against the door as it opens, hold dash and run through then release dash going through the door to get the perfect jump height for the next room.

Caterpiller room

With the right amount of runspeed from the room before (standing against the door, holding dash until going through the door then not holding dash), samus will jump straight to the second platform. With the right amount of runspeed, it is possible to jump up two more platforms as well (or jump to each platform).

Exit

• Shoot up, jump, shoot the right cac twice, lay a pb, jump, shoot the upper cac [jack]
• Lay a pb near the door, jump up and farm the cac and shoot the upper cac (?f slower)
• Lay a power bomb at the bottom and farm a catepillar (?f slower)

It’s best to kill the second cac after picking up the drop from the first to get health if you are at 4 supers going into the room.

Elevator room

Lay a pb at the ceiling and jump through the door as early as possible. This is faster than laying the pb at the bottom of the room because it reduces lag.

Crateria kihunter room + Moat

Bottom

• 1 farm - pseudo screw one crab then lay a pb [jack]
• 2 farm - lay a pb and collect both farms (?f slower)

After a 2 farm, shoot up while running off the platform to open the shotblock as early as possible [link oats/sweetnumb’s tutorial]

Shinespark charge

• Shortcharge into a gapskip [jack]
• Wait for the block to respawn for an easier shortcharge (?f slower)

Waiting for the block to respawn is recommended when learning the game.

Exit

• Oceanfly/missile fly West_Ocean#Ocean_Fly
• Spark in this room across the moat and charge a second spark for the ocean (1-2s slower)

Not going for Ocean fly is recommend when learning the game. Sparking in the moat is a health preservation strategy.

West ocean

Intentionally bonking the wall near gravity is a health preservation strategy.

At the platform after the first set of grapple blocks, there is a 45 degree block followed by a single (rather than two) square block. This means that sparking too low has a small risk of bonking at that platform.

WS entrance

Shoot the door open as speed echoes first appear.

WS main shaft

Shoot down after going past the ledge above the shot blocks. Shoot down then right while going past the next ledge then optionally shoot angled down. To shoot out the last blocks, unmorph then optionally downback (or just hold right+angle down) and shoot. It is possible to make it down without bonking without downbacking.

WS basement

• Speedball [jack]
• No speedball (20?f slower)

The speedball is only faster once stutter 3’s short charges are mastered.

Phantoon

• “Proper” xfactor + doppler [jack]
• Dopplers (?f slower) [behemoth]
• Hybrid xfactors (?f slower) [popplars]

Phantoon will open its eye after 1, 6, or 11 seconds (fast/mid/slow) and will go left or right. There is a pattern for round 1 and for all future rounds for a total of 6 eye open positions in round 1 and 6 in future rounds. It is very helpful to memorize these. Expect to take significantly more more damage and have more deaths at phantoon until you memorize the eye open positions.

Do a running jump out of phantoon to set up a mockball.

WS basement

Mockball, jump over the robot, jump to the platform, and jump through the door.

Jump through the door as far to the right as possible for the best door transition.

Impractical for runs

• Dboost off the atomic (~30f faster)

This consumes 20hp which makes it usually impractical for runs.

WS main shaft

• Static strat (avoid the need for a bomb to push you upwards) [jack]
• Shoot up, shoot straight at the height of the jump, lay a bomb, shoot angled up, morph (?f slower)
• Shoot all blocks out then lay a bomb (?f slower)

Shooting all blocks out before laying a bomb is the least mechanically demanding strategy in this room.

WS left supers

Run into the room, hold shot to preserve speed while running off the ledge, angle down to compress samus’ hitbox over the first spark, and jump to supers.

• Shoot the door then pick up supers and dboost off the ceiling spark [Z]
• Dboost without opening the door first (?f slower) [jack]
• Jump to the door without a dboost (?f slower)

Shooting the door open before dboosting has a very tight timing.

WS main shaft

The ledgegrabs here are tricky, but become easier as general sm mechanics improve.

• Run through the atomic
• Charged shot + missile to kill the atomic (?f slower) [jack]
• Kill the atomic with 3 missiles (?f slower)
• Roll under the atomic (?f slower)

Jump through the door running right to set up an attic spark [topsy] Jump through the door running left to set up a speedkeep attic [jack]

WS attic

• Attic spark [topsy]
• Speedkeep attic (?f slower) [jack]

Despite being slightly slower, the speedkeep attic saves about 75 health, making it good for 3tank runs. Descriptions of both exist below.

For attic spark, mockball under the kihunter, lay a power bomb. Unmorph while holding L/R to shoot the atomic (a missile will give a little lag reduction). Run to the left to charge a spark then spark at the right height.

For the speedkeep attic, shoot a missile then super to kill the first kihunter (optional: shoot the atomic to the left with a missile). Do a stutter 3 and jump with speed echoes to kill the next kihunter and atomic. Shoot a charged shot or super to kill the atomic then jump and mockball. Hold L or R when unmorphing from the mockball to maintain speed echoes. Jump to kill the last kihunter and atomic.

West ocean

Jump down the first hole. Run to the left, jump over the pit, and shoot the blocks out at the right time. Softmorph in the hole. After unmorphing, shoot angled down then straight to kill the bug and go through the door.

Bowling path

• Pseudo screw through the first waver then dboost off the second
• Hold shot going through the door, dboost off the first waver and collect the drop [jack]
• Farm more than one drop (?f slower)

Bowling alley

• Bowling spark
• Jump through the spikes (~3s slower)

Bowling spark will optimally end with hitting the chozo to end the spark early while also being high enough to land on the chozo’s hand without hitting the ground.

Gravity

Be careful not to run through gravity without collecting it!

Moonfall out of this room to save additional frames in the next room.

West ocean

Entrance

• Moonfall
• Non-moonfall (?f slower)

Exit

• Jump directly to the top ledge [jack]
• Run under the last platform of the ocean and do two jumps (?f slower) [Z]

Shoot the door as early as possible and get as much runspeed as possible into the moat to set up the moatball.

Moat

• Moat bounceball [jack]
• Moatball [Z]
• Jump over the moat without moatball (?f slower)
• Fall into the moat and go under the pillar (?f slower)

Jumping over the moat is best regardless of whether the moatball is missed or not.

Crateria kihunter room

Jump under the kihunter (without moatball) or roll under and soft unmorph (with moatball). Shoot out the shotblocks.

Farm

• Shoot a charged then uncharged shot to farm one crab [jack]
• Pseudo screw to farm one crab (?f slower)
• Pseudo screw then 2 missile to farm 2 crabs (?f slower)

Caterpiller room

Run/jump off the elevator platform then morph and unmorph to avoid bonking.

• No farm
• 1 farm (~1s slower)
• 2 farm (~2s slower)

Hellway

Dboost off the first set of ceiling spikes then the right spike of the second to last upper vileplume.

Red tower

Moonfall at the top of the red tower saves ?f.

Without moonfall, it is possible to fall down the right or left side of the section with the rippers. Unmorph to avoid bonking and bomb out the platform. Unmorph, shoot, and downback, fall down the left side of the lower rippers and jump through the door at the right height to get the optimal door transition.

Bat room

• Bat dboost [jack]
• Particle dboost
• Mockball (~40f slower)

Below spazer

Shoot, jump to the last platform above water, shoot, jump to the middle, shoot the door, jump end and run through.

Glass tunnel

The tube will break when you make your first input after the pb animation has gone on for sufficiently long.

Jump to the first platform, shoot up, then do two walljumps to exit [jack].

There are a variety of options in this room, all approximately the same speed so more testing will need to be done on running jumps to figure out what the optimal strategy here is.

Main street

Do two walljumps to get up to the ledge. Shoot the door while running forwards. Jump on the last frame before the door transition to get the optimal jump into the next room.

Fish tank

Jump up to the first ledge

• Do two walljumps, expand your hitbox to go through the middle of the door for the best door transition
• Do two walljumps then walljump off the wall to the right of the door (?f slower door transition)

Mt. everest

Run to the right, charge a spark, and diagonal spark to the top right of the room.

The optimal spark charge is a non stutter “half” tap - pressing run eariler than a normal one tap. The goal is to get speed echoes exactly when reaching the position to spark from. Getting speed echoes early means run could have been held for longer, getting into position faster.

For the low health no spark backup (~2.5s slower), do a running jump from the middle platform then a walljump to get up to the next ledge. Do another walljump to get up to the top right [this really needs a video]

Crab shaft

Shoot angled down immediately when entering this room. Fall down the hole, run, jump, shoot a super, mockball, and select pb’s before exiting.

Doing this room optimally is incredibly difficult and the backup strats are straightforward and not too much slower.

Aqueduct

Lay a pb when entering the room, stay in morph or do quickdrops as the pb explodes to fall to the bottom. Walljump up, shoot the door, and jump into the door in spinjump pose to set up a walljump in the next room.

Botwoon hallway

Walljump up, shoot (shooting while on the ground will ensure the bottom block of the three gets broken), choose the spot to land based on what type of shortcharge you plan to do.

• Jump through the door with speed echoes
• Land and run through the door (?f slower)

Jumping through the door is very difficult and not something to attempt while learning the game.

Botwoon

There are two options to set up the xfactor - running across the room for timing or timing the charge with the music [link to oats/sweetnumb’s tutorial]

Botwoon has four patterns in round 1 and the only real way to consistently be able to shoot 6 supers is to memorize and learn to recognize these patterns [link to video with botwoon’s 4 patterns]

Botwoon e tank

Jump the sand starts to set up the mockball. Kill the puyos with missiles (or shoot them while running in to set up beamshot kills).

Halfie climb

• Full halfie
• Halfie (~6s slower)
• Running jump + no halfie (~7s slower)

Not going for the halfie when learning the game is recommended. The halfie only saves about a second and leaves you with less hp going into draygon.

Colloseum (no halfie)

Jump over the first pit and mockball. Walljump up the first ledge. Do a running jump over the spike and walljump up the next ledge. Dboost high off the spikes above the 2x2 grapple block to the top of the other 2x2 grapple block. Jump from there into a single walljump, run off the ledge, and open the door.

Pre draygon

• Moonfall
• Non-moonfall (?f slower)

Shooting angled down while falling will save ?f over shooting after landing.

Shorthop while holding down during the gedora death animation to cut ~5f off the door transition.

Draygon

• Two spark [behemoth]
• Three spark (?f slower) [jack]

When first learning the game, it’s common to have 20 supers and to kill draygon by shooting supers at her.

Getting a spikesuit saves ~5s. Getting a bluesuit only saves ~2.5s and getting a bluesuit is often overprioritized, costing runners time.

Space Jump

[link tas video for optimal jump]

Draygon

With a bluesuit, armpumping here is incredibly important.

Pre draygon

Jump up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Colloseum

Bluesuit: charge the bluesuit on the top platform of the previous room then do a spacejump at the waterline and spark at the top of the jump. For more safety, hold the bluesuit until at the top of the colloseum.

Spikesuit: same as with a bluesuit charged in the previous room

Non bluesuit:

• Whomple jump
• Non whomple jump (~1s slower)

To do the whomple jump, get runspeed from the previous room, do a spacejump at the waterline and keep runspeed through the entire room. The easier non whomple strat is to get to the top of the room, get runspeed then spacejump across. Going for the whomple jump is free so is always worth going for.

Halfie climb

• Kill both mocktroids
• Kill one mocktroid (?f slower) [jack]
• Kill no mocktroids (?f slower)

Killing mocktroids is a very minor lag reduction strat. If you don’t kill the first mocktroid, make sure not to shoot the door until there is only one mocktroid on screen or there will be more lag.

Hold shot after opening the door to start a charge for the next room.

Cactus alley 1

• 2 farm [jack]
• 3 farm (~1s slower)
• 4 farm (?f slower)

For 2 farm, go into the room holding a charge. Do two spacejumps and unspin to finish charging to shoot the bottommost cac and fall directly to that platform. Shoot another charged shot to kill the last cac and exit the room.

For three farms, land on the far right platform, kill the first cac, run to the left, shoot a charged shot at the bottom cac while falling, collect the drop, spacejump to the left, kill the last cac and exit the room.

Only 4 supers are needed exiting cac alley 2 and there is another cac to farm there so a 4farm should only be used when in healthbomb range.

Jump through the door for the best door transition.

Exit

• Spacejump at the waterline [jack]
• Walljump (?f slower)

Cactus alley 2

Jump over the ledge (jumped through the last door for best door transition), shoot down to kill the middle cac. Run off the ledge with the correct amount of runspeed and hold down to enter angling down pose to fall through the door with the best door transition. [jack]

Butterfly room

Get runspeed and jump through the room.

Plasma spark room

• Jump to the left of the topmost fish [jack]
• Jump far to the platform to the right of the topmost fish and jump to right part of the island. Gain full runspeed and walljump up (?f slower) [freyas]

Making it to the left of the fish is very mechanically intense and is not recommended for people first learning the game.

Kassiuz Room

Entry

• Jump to the platforms without shooting [jack]
• Angle up going into the room and shoot two beamshots to kill the first choot [antinomy]

Exit

• Walljump up the right side [jack]
• Walljump up the leftside and dboost off the topmost choot (?f slower) [hotarubi]

Plasma tutorial

• No farm
• Farm (?f slower)

Plasma

Jump into the room and morph. Lay a pb in the middle of the room to hit each wall pirate once.

• Antinomy plasma [antinomy]
• Hundo map plasma (?f slower) [Z]

Plasma is a very tricky room to do optimally. Variants of the hundo map plasma without the dboost are beginner friendly.

Plasma tutorial

Farm the puyo pyramid and run through the room.

Kassiuz Room

Fall. Landing the optimal distance from the door will give you more runspeed through the door.

Plasma spark room

Entrance

• Spacejump for height [jack]
• Walljump for height (?f slower)

Walljumping for height is more natural and easier, but a bit slower.

Exit

• Shoot the door while running
• Shoot the door aiming directly down (?f slower)

Enter the toilet bowl in angle down pose to optimally set up the next room.

Oasis

• Softmorph at the top and roll to the bomb block [jack]
• Bounce to the bottom (?f slower)
• Run off the first platform then soft morph on the second platform (~30f slower)

Break the right bomb blocks, open the door and hold a charge going into the next room.

West sand hall

Shoot a charged shot after entering to kill the first evir. Spacejump through the room.

Crab hole

• Jump through the room and roll into the hole from the right side after shooting crabs [jack]
• Jump over the hole, shooting down, then enter the hole from the left (?f slower) [oats/sweetnumb tutorial]
• Hold angle down entering the room to stop, shoot, then roll into the hole (?f slower)

Stopping then shooting the crabs is a very consistent and beginner friendly way to do this room.

East tunnel

• Full runspeed spacejump
• Less than full runspeed spacejump (?f slower)

Timing for the first spacejump is much less tight without full runspeed.

Business center

Morph then unmorph to avoid bonking the platform.

Ice gate room + Ice acid room

• Blueless ice gate + spacejump through the acid room [jack]
• Speed bounceball through the door + jump through the end of the acid room (?f slower) [Z]

Going for blueless ice gate room is risky and costs 15? seconds if missed. Jumping and speed bounceballing through the door is recommended when learning the game.

Jump through the door when exiting the acid room.

Ice snake room

Mash down when entering with a jump to morph into the hole. Shoot the bugs to set up a dboost. Doing this room without a dboost is ?f slower, but much easier and a solid backup if the dboost is missed.

Ice room

Don’t hold immediately after turning around to not bonk the door. Jump through the door at the end to set up a mockball.

Ice snake room

Spacejump mockball. Don’t bonk the door to get more runspeed. Exit the room with a partially charged shot to shoot immediately in the next room.

Ice acid room

Mockball to exit the room.

Only lower route will be covered. Lower route is more beginner friendly since the nutella refill exists and is also slightly (~1s) faster when done optimally.

Ice gate room

Lay a pb immediately. Run through the enemies below (shooting creates lag). Optionally farm a pb off the first dessgeega (~15f slower) so you can go for the kronic boost without being fast pillars committed.

Croc crumble shaft

• Jump through the door and quickdrop through [Z]
• Moonball [antinomy]
• Run off the platforms and fall (~20f? slower)

Running off the platform is by far the easiest method and not much slower. Moonball can be done by walljump checking the door in the previous room or by holding L/R when entering the room then doing a forward moonfall.

Croc speedway

Run through the room. Shoot the door at the door when running through the last set of speed blocks. Spacejump through the door.

Acid snakes tunnel

Spacejump through. Get as much runspeed as possible when going through the door if you do not plan to take the nutella refill. If you do plan to take the nutella refill, spacejump to the door.

Nutella refill

Taking this refill loses about 5s with optimal spacejumps or about 2.5s if you miss the jump into this room.

Norfair yapping maw room

Spacejump through the room

Kronic boost room

• Kronic boost
• No kronic boost (~2s? slower)

The timesave from the Kronic boost is in the lavadive room.

Lava dive

• Kronic boost
• Dboost off the namihe (~1s slower)
• No dboost (~2s slower)

Without a dboost running off the platforms and pseudo screwing about the same speed (within frames of each other).

Jump through the door when exiting to land on the elevator.

LN main hallway

Run to the right and spacejump. Mockball/bounceball through the door or run through the door with a charge for the lag reduction fast pillars setup.

Fast pillars setup

• Kill 2 pirates with a charged shot and grab the drop [jack]
• No lag reduction (?f slower)

Exit with a shortcharge for fast pillars setup or run through the door if you plan to destroy the pillars with power bombs.

Pillar room

• Fast pillars (top shelf)
• Fast pillars (no top shelf) (20?f slower)
• Blue pillars (60f? slower)
• Destroy pillars with pb’s (?f slower)

Blue pillars only loses about 40f over no top shelf making this an inefficient place to spend health in LN when entering with low health.

WRITG

Bottom

• Lag reduction (shoot up, kill the top right pirate) [jack]
• Freeze the top right pirate [antinomy]
• No lag reduction
• Kill all the pirates (?f slower)

Killing all the pirates is the safest strat when learning the game. More detailed timing information is needed for the different strats.

Top

• 3 ledgegrab [jack]
• Running jump [twocat]
• Walljump [behemoth]

All of these strats should be about the same speed.

Exit

• Jump and morph over the pirate
• Kill the pirate (?f slower)

Amphitheatre

Do a series of spacejumps to lose height. The ceilings in the terrain make a good marker for where to spacejump. After crossing the bottom of the overhang, do a walljump, then two spacejumps to get up. Do a running jump to get to the middle platform and jump over the last pirate [Z]

Falling then doing a walljump off the left side at the right height is ?f slower, but another option for doing this room.

Falling to the floor is ?s slower.

Hold a charged shot angled down to shoot immediately on entering the next room.

Impractical for runs

• TAS jump - this is a frameperfect jump which saves ?f

Red kihunter shaft

Shoot an angled down shot immediately upon entering. Fall in the hole, do a downback, and shoot down. Shoot a charged shot down (and far enough to the right) to hit the second kihunter twice and the third kihunter once. Shoot another charged shot to kill the last kihunter.

Exit

• Lay a pb to destroy the bomb blocks
• Do a bomb spread next to the pillar (?f slower)

If fast pillars was missed, a bomb spread is necessary to avoid running out of pb’s.

Wasteland

• Hitbox through two dessgeegas, jump, then lay the pb with only one dessgeega on screen for lag reduction [jack]
• Hitbox the first dessgeega, then do a short hop mockball and lay the pb above the second flower tile.
• Roll under the first dessgeega (hope for good rng for a big hop) and lay the pb above the second flower tile [ov]

Rolling under the tiles is a surprisingly good strat and mechanically challenging to beat. As of this writing, 4th place any% ov just rolls under the dessgeegas.

Exit

• Double kago through the platforms (50 damage)
• Kago through both platforms with spike damage (30 damage) (?f slower)
• Kago through the first platform with spike damage only (15 damage) (?f slower)
• Do not kago through the platform (?f slower)

Not kagoing at all is the safest option for someone learning the game because it preserves health.

Metal pirates room

Entry

• Kickless entry [antinomy]
• Entry with kick (10?f slower)

Shoot twice to make the pirate not kick.

Killing the pirates

• Trigger both pirates then hit the first twice and second once with the first charged shot [antinomy]
• Trigger one pirate at a time, kill them with horizontal shots at ground level (2s slower) [kipp]
• Trigger one pirate at a time, kill by jumping then shooting down (4s slower)

The fastest strat here is difficult, but the others should be accessible to people learning the game.

Plowerhouse room

• Plowerhouse (33 damage) [jack]
• Run through the bottom of the room and jump out at the end (40? damage, ?f slower)
• Spacejump over the top of the room (0 damage, ?f slower)

Most of the time gained/lost is in the next room.

LN farming room

Spacejump through the room and shoot out the gedora.

Ridley

Too complicated to cover here.

LN farming room

Get runspeed on the 2 wide pillar because that has a gap on each side, giving ~4 effective tiles for runspeed [link gala’s movement tutorial]

Opening the door with a missile instead of a beamshot saves a frame or two of lag. Dboost off the viola to enter the next room with iframes if you do not plan to spacejump over the next room.

Plowerhouse room

• Reverse plowerhouse (33 damage) [jack]
• Run through the acid without doing reverse plowerhouse (40? damage, ?f slower)
• Spacejump over the room (0 damage, ?f slower)

Metal pirates room

Without reverse plowerhouse, shoot the first pirate while running through it to not take damage then jump just before the second pirate, shoot the door, and jump through the door.

Wasteland

Entrance

• Clip through the pb blocks [behemoth]
• Don’t clip through the pb blocks (?f slower) [ov]

Clipping through the blocks is only helpful when combined with a speedball exit.

Exit

• Speedball [jack]
• No speedball (?f slower)

Roll right, bounce off the spike or flame, unmorph, shoot up (ideally while crouched) and jump through the door.

Red kihunter shaft

Morph out of the jump through the door.

• Pb to break the blocks
• No pb (?f slower)

Kill/hitbox through the kihunters and jump through the door.

LN fireflea room

Do a series of ledgegrabs while holding a pseudo screw and a walljump off the second to last fune. This room is mechanically difficult to do optimally, especially the last ledgegrab which must be tight to not get hit by the last fune.

Shoot a beamshot and let go of dash at the same time to run through the door without bonking.

LN springball maze room

Spacejump through the room and up to the second ledge. Jump through the door when exiting.

Three musketeers

Entrance

• Spacejump through [jack]
• Non spacejump strat (?f slower)

3 musketeers

• Hitbox/dboost off the kihunters (50 damage optimally)
• Kill the kihunters (?f slower) [jack]

With Jack’s strat of killing all three with two shots, it’s difficult to justify not killing the kihunters without very high health.

Single chamber

Entrance

• Quickdrops
• No quickdrops (?f slower)

Walls

• Regular bombs
• Power bomb (?f slower)

Using a power bomb creates a lot of lag so is not recommended unless you are having trouble laying bombs in the right spot. If you go fast enough with the regular bomb strat, you will get a nice dboost off the viola when exiting.

Bubble mountain

Farm the cac, lay a pb, and exit.

Frogway

Shooting twice will result in missing the door less often.

Business center

See the previous trip up the business center for strats. Farming is not recommended since you have ice now.

Warehouse entrance + East tunnel

Wait a second to hold dash after shooting the door to avoid bonking. Do the same in the tunnel. Jump while exiting the tunnel to set up a spacejump in the next room.

Glass tunnel

Spacejump up. With enough runspeed from the previous room, a single spacejump is enough to get up to the top platform.

Main street

Spacejump up, jump through the door to set up a spacejump in the next room.

Fish tank

Spacejump, land on the ledge, shoot the door, and spacejump up. Exit the room through the center of the door for the best door transition.

Mt. everest

Spacejump up. Jump through the door on the left side for the best door transition.

Sephyfish room

Spacejump at the waterline then walljump. The optimal exit is soft unmorphing, shooting, running off the ledge, holding down while falling to compress samus’ hitbox to make it over the gap, selecting supers, and holding angle up through the door to set up a shot in the next room. [jack]

Caterpiller room

Hold angle up when entering the room and spam shot to shoot the gate as soon as you enter. Mockball then walljump off the platform to exit. [jack]

Crateria kihunter room

Do a series of ledgegrabs to get up. Shoot the door on the first piece of elevated terrain after going through the hole. Shooting the kihunter with a missile will help guarantee samus does not run into a frozen kihunter.

Landing site

Shoot the door while underneath the last overhang.

Parlor

Do two full spacejumps then speedball through the bomb blocks.

Terminator

• Shoot then mockball out [jack]
• Hold a charge shot, do a running jump, let go of shot, and shoot the door open after landing (?f slower)

Setting up a shot to go off after landing is a very easy and consistent strat.

Green Pirate Shaft

Shoot the pirates while going down. Collecting every drop is ?f slower and an option.

Statues hallway

Shoot the door open while running past the third beacon.

Statues room

• Moonfall exit
• Non-moonfall exit (?f slower)

Get as much fallspeed as possible while falling through the vanishing blocks.

Tourian elevator

• Spinjump into the acid
• Run off the platform and downback (?f slower)

Running off the platform and downbacking is a very consistent method for this room.

Metroid room 1

Optimal strats

• Kill individually
• Group the metroids (?f slower)

Other strats

• Stop in the acid to shoot the second and third metroids (?f slower)
• Go over the platforms while killing the metroids (?f slower)

The metroid rooms are very difficult mechanically and almost everyone uses easier strats here when learning the game.

Metroid room 2

• Softmorph, roll to the right and freeze the metroids by the door [jack]
• Run to the bottom left of the room and group the metroids there (30?f slower)

Running to the bottom left is much less difficult than grouping the metroids by the door.

Metroid room 3

Jump up to the ledge, shoot a beamshoot then a super to kill the first metroid. While running forward, shoot another beamshot then a super. Ideally, shoot the last metroid while in the air and jump through its drops. [jack]

Grouping is another option but is ?f slower.

Metroid room 4

Run off the second platform and softmorph in the corner. Unmorph over the door and group the three metroids.

Killing the metroids with regular missiles will help set up a dboost off a rinka when exiting which will save health in the next room.

Blue hopper room

• Rinka dboost
• Hopper dboost
• No dboost (?f slower)

Dust torizo room

Shoot the torizo and the door with the same shot. Shooting twice will create lag.

Baby skip room

Spacejump across the room to the cutscene.

• Baby skip
• No baby skip (~20s slower)

Without baby skip, get grabbed immediately for an optimal exit. A missed babyskip can lose over 30 seconds.

Seaweed room

Shoot down and open the door with a super. Go left to the health refill if needed.

After getting a health refill, stop on a dime when entering the room and shoot. Shooting while moving forward will result in a beamshot going over the bottom set of seaweed.

Gedora room

Spacejump across the room and shoot the gedora. Moonfalling out of the room will save ?f.

Rinka shaft

Shooting the door while falling will save ?f.

Mother brain's room

Zeb skip

• Downback zeb skip
• Spinjump zeb skip (?f slower)

Third zeb

• Spacejump through the third zeb
• Land on the third zeb (?f slower)

There are so many different strats for mb1 that it makes more sense to link videos rather than try and describe it. [jack] [zoast] [behemoth]

MB3

• 4 shots per jump method
• 3 shots per jump method (?f slower)
• Noob corner (~2s slower)

Standing in the corner and angling up is a good strat.

Escape room 1

When over the door, tap right for 1f. Going back right after going too far left will result in a bad door transition, but stopping horizontal momentum immediately after being over the door will give a good door transition.

Optionally morp through the door to set up a downback in the next room.

Escape room 2

• Downback
• Non downback (?f slower)

Escape room 3

Hold shot then angle down after running off the ledge to maintain momentum.

Escape room 4

Entrance

• Spinjump through the door and walljump up to the top left platform [jack]
• Spinjump through the door and walljump to the middle platform (?f slower)
• Run through the door without a jump (?f slower)

Moonfall

• Moonfall
• Non moonfall (~1s slower)

Walljumping and ledgegrabbing up are approximately the same speed.

Climb

• Behemoth spark
• Right side spark (?f slower)

To clip through the platform at the top, start a diagonal spark while crouched.

Impractical for runs

• Left side spark (?f faster)

Parlor

Many possible strategies [link jack/behemoth’s]

Landing site

Hope for good steam rng!